Lords Of The Arena-Heroes Upgrade Guide

Basic leveling up

Right now, there are two main ways to level up your heroes in the game. Let's analyze each of them in more detail.

 Method 1. Leveling up: you upgrade your main hero team (plus equipment and abilities) and one or two replacement heroes as far as you can, up to your Lord Level. 

Advantages of this type of leveling up: 

 ✔ You are almost guaranteed to defeat any enemy whose heroes are a lower level or lose to you in equipment/skill level, sometimes even in auto-combat. 

 ✔ If you choose your base heroes wisely, you'll have no problem completing the last available stage of adventures without spending time selecting heroes for each wave. 

 ✔ If your team lines up with the current astrological season, it practically guarantees you the highest positions in the arena ranking for your level. 

 Disadvantages of this type of leveling up: 

 ✘ After level 70, you may run into the fact that your armor set isn't the best for your heroes because it was put together randomly. 

 ✘ If the astrology doesn't favor you, it will be difficult to compete for the top place in the ranking, because your hero arsenal will be substandard and won't include specific heroes you might need to defeat particular opponents. 

 ✘ Since there are not a large number of item shards on adventures and your heroes will be at a high level, you'll need more equipment shards and you may have problems finding enough shards for your heroes' equipment. You'll have to purchase shards in the store and choose between upgrading skills and equipment, or purchase more energy. You'll have to fight more battles to compensate for your lack of gold from mines (victory earns you 1000 gold). 

 ★ Conclusion: this method of leveling up is suitable for casual players who don't want to delve deeper into all the subtleties of the game mechanics. This can get you good results up to levels 50-60, while the reward for the top 10 league places is not quite as high. But later on, you'll have to upgrade additional heroes if you want to achieve top results. This will be also become necessary as you begin to face more diverse enemy teams that may require specific counter-strategies.

Method 2. With this method of leveling up, the player upgrades two setups. This means roughly 10-12 heroes, which you change depending on astrology. However, with such a large number of heroes, you won't need to level all of them up to your Lord Level. The most optimal method is to keep all the heroes at the same level, but with the maximum level of equipment and spells. This method is effective thanks to its diversity and flexibility. If you choose your heroes wisely, you'll be able to defeat an enemy 5-6 levels higher than you, plus you'll have a selection of heroes. 

Advantages of this type of leveling up: 

 ✔ Your heroes will most likely line up with the astrology because you'll have a lot of them, which increases your chances of taking top places. 

 ✔ You'll be able to use mines much more effectively and allocate heroes as you like. You get almost 150% increased experience and gold compared to method 1. 

 ✔ If you properly plan how you'll get equipment shards in campaign and adventures, you'll have almost no problems with your heroes' equipment. 

 ✔ You won't have to rebuild your setup for 50-60+ levels and upgrade new heroes. You'll be prepared for any setup. 

 ✔ As you play a large number of heroes, you'll learn all the nuances of their synergy and, at level 80, you will be fully prepared to fight for the top places in the server ranking. 

 Disadvantages of this type of leveling up: 

 ✘ You can forget about auto-combat. Since you have less power than your potential enemies, your chances of losing the battle are high. 

 ✘ To successfully maintain so many heroes in the mines, it's best to have at least VIP 2. 

 ✘ You'll have to find new effective tactics for each enemy and each wave in adventures. But it will be easier each time. 

 ✘ It will be difficult to defeat players whose heroes have been leveled up to their Lord Level and line up with the astrology. 

 ✘ You may encounter difficulties with choosing an effective defense team, because your heroes' levels won't match your rating and you'll be attacked by strong players. 

 ★ Conclusion: This method of leveling up is for players who don't mind spending time experimenting with heroes and sharpening their skills in the arena. To win with tactics, not by force. You'll always have a chance to compete for the top place in the league, but it will most likely be won by players who used the first method and lined up with the astrology. However, you'll definitely be in the top 10, and after level 80 the roles will reverse radically.

Effective hero combinations and example team setups.

Levels 1-49

At this stage of the game, players can use any combinations of heroes. Everything depends on correctly selecting attack and defense layouts and artifacts. But ideally, you should start out with one of the combinations described below or switch to one at level 49.

Levels 49-80

We recommend using one setup if you've chosen method 1, or two partial setups with method 2.

Example builds

Note. [/] means "or". 

 1. Alliance + Forest. 

 Most useful heroes: Genie, Crusader, Spearmaster, Monk, Sharpshooter/Marksman. 

 Reserve: Dryad, Gryphon/Mage.

In theory, Sharpshooter can deal more damage than Marksman, but it increases the chances that you'll get controlled. Gryphon can also deal more damage than Mage, but dies faster. Consequently, if the enemy has low damage to your tank, you can replace Crusader with Dryad, and if the enemy still controls you, replace Genie with Gryphon/Mage. 

2. Forest + Alliance. 

Most useful heroes: Sharpshooter, Genie, Dryad, Centaur/Ent, Gryphon/Golden Dragon. 

Reserve: Fairy, Druid

Advantages of this type of leveling up: 

 ✔ You are almost guaranteed to defeat any enemy whose heroes are a lower level or lose to you in equipment/skill level, sometimes even in auto-combat. 

 ✔ If you choose your base heroes wisely, you'll have no problem completing the last available stage of adventures without spending time selecting heroes for each wave. 

 ✔ If your team lines up with the current astrological season, it practically guarantees you the highest positions in the arena ranking for your level. 

 Disadvantages of this type of leveling up: 

 ✘ After level 70, you may run into the fact that your armor set isn't the best for your heroes because it was put together randomly. 

 ✘ If the astrology doesn't favor you, it will be difficult to compete for the top place in the ranking, because your hero arsenal will be substandard and won't include specific heroes you might need to defeat particular opponents. 

 ✘ Since there are not a large number of item shards on adventures and your heroes will be at a high level, you'll need more equipment shards and you may have problems finding enough shards for your heroes' equipment. You'll have to purchase shards in the store and choose between upgrading skills and equipment, or purchase more energy. You'll have to fight more battles to compensate for your lack of gold from mines (victory earns you 1000 gold). 

 ★ Conclusion: this method of leveling up is suitable for casual players who don't want to delve deeper into all the subtleties of the game mechanics. This can get you good results up to levels 50-60, while the reward for the top 10 league places is not quite as high. But later on, you'll have to upgrade additional heroes if you want to achieve top results. This will also become necessary as you begin to face more diverse enemy teams that may require specific counter-strategies. However, you'll definitely be in the top 10, and after level 80 the roles will reverse radically.

Devil can deal more damage to the rear of the enemy's formation, but doesn't control the front line and costs twice as much. If the enemy has a lot of mass damage or you need control without your tank taking a lot of damage, switch out Cyclops for Necromancer and use Assassin before a cast. Use Ghost as support if your tank is taking a lot of damage. 

4. Undead + Chaos. 

Most useful heroes: Lich, Bone Dragon, Mummy, Bone Archer, Vampiress. 

Reserve: Assassin, Necromancer.

You can use Assassin and Necromancer instead of Bone Dragon and Bone Archer to get the maximum possible mass damage. But Lich will split the damage from his skill between your Assassin and the enemy team. 

If you want even more mass damage while sacrificing the damage from a hero pulled by Dragon, replace Bone Archer with Necromancer. 

If you can't avoid the enemy's control before your cast, switch out Lich for Assassin.