Most players I believe grind somewhere between 20 and 30 rounds per hour. So the 5* arena can be completed in something between two and three hours across seven (now six) days. Half an hour a day twice a day gets you there. The question is, should you do that, or do the 6* arena instead? Well, according to my calculations, the same level of effort gets you to about 1500 6* shards. So it depends on whether you think 10000 5* shards is worth more, or 1500 6* shards is worth more.
The bottom line for the shard arenas in general is that the 5* shard arena offers pretty good return on investment for relatively little time. Certainly, it is roughly in line with other 5* shard opportunities that have come up in the past. A few hours of grinding gets you 10k 5* shards, plus units gold and battle chips. I think everyone with at least a little time to burn should do this one, even if they don't reach the final milestones.
Great write up. I think an additional wrinkle would be splitting time between the two.
60 rounds to get to 1 million, ~240 rounds to get to 4 million.
One could theoretically decide not to fully complete the 6-star arena and shunt ~60 rounds of that to 5-star arena. So 180 rounds in 6-star arena and 60 rounds in 5-star arena gets you: From 5-star arena - 10000 5* shards, 140 units, 37760 BC, 85120 gold.. From 6-star at 180 - 3500 6-star shards, 150 units, 86280 battlechips, and 120360 gold.
Note: For 6-star, since 180 rounds is in between milestones, could do fewer rounds for the same rewards (150 rounds), or go up to 200 rounds to hit the next milestone.
So if you want to min/max your time and rewards, potentially doing 210 rounds give or take some rounds to start up the multiplier (150 6-star rounds and 60 5-star rounds) seems like it will get you more units (140+150 combination runs vs 190), battlechips, etc. You'll end up with 1500 6-star shards less, so would have to evaluate if the trade-off is better for you or not.
Just as an FYI, I blitzed out the arenas just to see how many rounds it ended up taking, and I ended up doing 228 rounds for 6*, 60 rounds for 5*, and 27 rounds for 4*, so pretty close to the estimates. I did lose a few here and there, especially in the 6* arena where I spent a lot of the time doing other things (like catching up on the Mandalorian) while grinding. But based on the rounds it took me and rounds I've seen elsewhere, I think the projected numbers are reasonable.
Also, as I said, don't do the 4* arena unless you are a serious arena grinder or a completist, or really, really want those collector crystals. I'm all three, but most normal people should focus on the 6* for the most part, or the 5* if they are at a level of progression where 5* champs are still really valuable and the 60 rounds of the 5* are more achievable. Also, as I want to keep repeating, these arenas are not about completion, they are about just doing what you can. 5k 6* shards is great, but 2k 6* shards is still good, and even 1k 6* shards is still something, if that's all the effort you want to put in.
And honestly, if arena grinding is totally not your thing, then these rewards are just a fraction of the shards everyone is getting this month, with more stuff probably coming (vis-a-vis Xmas). Consider this a good opportunity if you want to take it, and a completely skippable optional thing if you don't. The free and almost free stuff this month is still plenty.
Although I think unless you're allergic to the arena, I'd do two rounds in the morning, two in the evening, get twenty rounds in over the week and get the easy 500 6* shards. That's the highest return per hour overall: 500 6* shards for probably one hour of grinding spread out over a week, just minutes a day.
Comments
60 rounds to get to 1 million, ~240 rounds to get to 4 million.
One could theoretically decide not to fully complete the 6-star arena and shunt ~60 rounds of that to 5-star arena.
So 180 rounds in 6-star arena and 60 rounds in 5-star arena gets you:
From 5-star arena - 10000 5* shards, 140 units, 37760 BC, 85120 gold..
From 6-star at 180 - 3500 6-star shards, 150 units, 86280 battlechips, and 120360 gold.
Note: For 6-star, since 180 rounds is in between milestones, could do fewer rounds for the same rewards (150 rounds), or go up to 200 rounds to hit the next milestone.
So if you want to min/max your time and rewards, potentially doing 210 rounds give or take some rounds to start up the multiplier (150 6-star rounds and 60 5-star rounds) seems like it will get you more units (140+150 combination runs vs 190), battlechips, etc. You'll end up with 1500 6-star shards less, so would have to evaluate if the trade-off is better for you or not.
Also, as I said, don't do the 4* arena unless you are a serious arena grinder or a completist, or really, really want those collector crystals. I'm all three, but most normal people should focus on the 6* for the most part, or the 5* if they are at a level of progression where 5* champs are still really valuable and the 60 rounds of the 5* are more achievable. Also, as I want to keep repeating, these arenas are not about completion, they are about just doing what you can. 5k 6* shards is great, but 2k 6* shards is still good, and even 1k 6* shards is still something, if that's all the effort you want to put in.
And honestly, if arena grinding is totally not your thing, then these rewards are just a fraction of the shards everyone is getting this month, with more stuff probably coming (vis-a-vis Xmas). Consider this a good opportunity if you want to take it, and a completely skippable optional thing if you don't. The free and almost free stuff this month is still plenty.
Although I think unless you're allergic to the arena, I'd do two rounds in the morning, two in the evening, get twenty rounds in over the week and get the easy 500 6* shards. That's the highest return per hour overall: 500 6* shards for probably one hour of grinding spread out over a week, just minutes a day.