More rank 4s or less rank 5s?

After the comments I received on the poll I posted yesterday https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/266196/can-you-guys-help-me-decide-rank-up-priority#latest
it made me start to think about rank up strategy in general.

How do you guys generally approach rank ups?
Do you save resources so you can max out your 5 top champs first or do you bring up several different champs to r3/r4 as soon as you get the resources to do so?
So do you think it's better to have 2-3 maxed out great champs and then a bunch of great/good champs at r4 or would you prefer your starting roster be all maxed out really good to average champs?
I think I'm hesitant to max out anyone that I don't consider top 2 or 3 in their class but then I just end up with a bunch of r2-4 and I'm always waiting for those beyond god-tier champs that may or may not come any time soon. So then I feel like I don't progress as much since I don't have 5 maxed out champs on my starting roster.

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

Comments

SpideyFunko

I’ve got more rank 4s then I do rank 5s.

I feel as if in the higher end stuff once it hits rank 4 then fights become far easier then if they were rank 3. Also takes less time and resources then a rank 5 and allows your roster breadth to build up slightly faster.

Then, when you get the materials for rank 5, you’ve got a lot of options already at rank 4 to choose from.

MSRDLD

For comparison sake, I play a little bit everyday for the past 5 years. I am Thronebreaker with a 1.6 M player rating.

24 champs at R5.
19 champs at R4. (a good many from rank up gems)

So, here is my strategy.

I take champs to R5 if:

They are “beyond god tier”

-or-

They are awakened and require awakening to be god tier or better.

Otherwise I let my 5* sit at R1-3 and wait to pull the 6* version. I don’t take anyone to R4 anymore unless I plan to take them to R5. It’s a waste of resources to take them to R4 if you can’t/won’t take them to R5 because you likely aren’t going to use them.

Now, regarding 6*, if the champ doesn’t require awakening and/or high sig then I take the 6* to R2. Red Hulk, Havok, Cable for example.

The TL;DR, Basically don’t waste resources on taking champs to R4 unless they’re beyond god tier and you’ll take them to R5. Only take a champ to R5 if they’re beyond god tier or if they’re awakened, high sig, and you’d have to awaken the 6* version in order to be useable. (Namor, Cap IW, Omega Red, CMM, Fury, Aegon)

SpideyFunko

For comparison sake, I play a little bit everyday for the past 5 years. I am Thronebreaker with a 1.6 M player rating.

24 champs at R5.
19 champs at R4. (a good many from rank up gems)

So, here is my strategy.

I take champs to R5 if:

They are “beyond god tier”

-or-

They are awakened and require awakening to be god tier or better.

Otherwise I let my 5* sit at R1-3 and wait to pull the 6* version. I don’t take anyone to R4 anymore unless I plan to take them to R5. It’s a waste of resources to take them to R4 if you can’t/won’t take them to R5 because you likely aren’t going to use them.

Now, regarding 6*, if the champ doesn’t require awakening and/or high sig then I take the 6* to R2. Red Hulk, Havok, Cable for example.

The TL;DR, Basically don’t waste resources on taking champs to R4 unless they’re beyond god tier or you can get same production right out the box from the 6* version.

Before I start, I understand we’re at different points in the game.

But what about the fun aspect? Would you not rank a champion up to rank 4/5 if you enjoy them and find them fun? I get that Thronebreakers are heavily 6*-focused, but I’d still take up a champion to r4/5 if I found them fun.

TrashyPanda

I only rank up 5* I need, and I focus on champs that require to be awakened, even more so if they need a high sig. RNGod knows I'll pull a sig-unreliant 6* the moment I r4 the 5*.

What that means is I now only rank champs that are guaranteed to go to 5r5, and generally asap.

Kill_Grey

Meh, I feel that having a lot of rank 4 5*s is kinda redundant considering that 6* rank 1 already fill their roll in a way. They were still fairly relevant when there was the 4* featured arena only allowing 5*s and 4*s, but since that isn't there anymore, there's not much point tbh. Once someone starts getting champs at the rank 5 level up to 15+ in number, you'd notice that rank 4's would be benched unless you'd wanna have fun.

The only thing is that rankup gems basically force you to rank some up regardless. Nowadays, I only use cats to take up 5*s to rank 4 if I'm going to take them to rank 5.

MSRDLD

Before I start, I understand we’re at different points in the game.

But what about the fun aspect? Would you not rank a champion up to rank 4/5 if you enjoy them and find them fun? I get that Thronebreakers are heavily 6*-focused, but I’d still take up a champion to r4/5 if I found them fun.

I mean you certainly can take them to rank 4/5 if you enjoy them but that’s kind of a different discussion than what we’re talking about here. I’m arguing that the best use of resources is to only take up the people that fit those criteria I mention. I have fun with my R1 in arena and in lower difficulty side quests.

R4 are just barely useable for Cav difficulty and lower than god tier R4 aren’t going to be used for Act 6/7 exploration. That’s why I say focus on only the really good ones or the 6* that don’t require the awakening/high sig.

SkyLord7000

For comparison sake, I play a little bit everyday for the past 5 years. I am Thronebreaker with a 1.6 M player rating.

24 champs at R5.
19 champs at R4. (a good many from rank up gems)

So, here is my strategy.

I take champs to R5 if:

They are “beyond god tier”

-or-

They are awakened and require awakening to be god tier or better.

Otherwise I let my 5* sit at R1-3 and wait to pull the 6* version. I don’t take anyone to R4 anymore unless I plan to take them to R5. It’s a waste of resources to take them to R4 if you can’t/won’t take them to R5 because you likely aren’t going to use them.

Now, regarding 6*, if the champ doesn’t require awakening and/or high sig then I take the 6* to R2. Red Hulk, Havok, Cable for example.

The TL;DR, Basically don’t waste resources on taking champs to R4 unless they’re beyond god tier or you can get same production right out the box from the 6* version.

Before I start, I understand we’re at different points in the game.

But what about the fun aspect? Would you not rank a champion up to rank 4/5 if you enjoy them and find them fun? I get that Thronebreakers are heavily 6*-focused, but I’d still take up a champion to r4/5 if I found them fun.

Six Stars can also be used for a fun aspect with needing a rank up at all. I do that if I need to.

TitoBandito187

I'm becoming increasingly stingy with rankups since materials take time to accumulate and not all champs will benefit me. I focus on champs needed for specific content or ones that I can use everywhere, pretty reliably. Most of my 5* won't go past R3 anymore since 6* are taking over my account and have 5* R4 power out the gate.

Champs like Aegon, Omega, Guardian, Void, Beardo... who need dupe and high sig, probably aren't realistic as 6* for most people at this point in the game so would still consider them, but anyone who doesn't need a dupe, I'll wait for the 6* now.

Is it nice to have Void and HT ranked up? Absolutely!! Do you really need both as they cover a lot of the same ground? Not really. And you certainly don't need to rank up 5* torch if you have the 6* already either. It's nice, bit will it get you through your next piece of content or is there a better option? And if there is, don't waste resources on nobody's who aren't going to progress you unless you have overflow expiring.

Most of my recent 5* rankups (let's say within the last year) were also from variant gems so it didn't impact any 6* rankups.
Ibom was an exception since he was new and I got and duped him the same week and he has unique utility. OG Scarlett witch I want to take to R5 since she doesn't have a 6* version, but I don't need her. She got to R4 with rankup gems and will sit at R4 until I can sig her to 200 and don't have a better 6* option (which is gonna be awhile) or until I get an R5 mystic gem again.

MSRDLD

Yeah I’m pretty choosy about who I take up to rank 4/5 because you’re always a 6* pull away from making that rank up decision worthless

manveerthereal

i go straight to r5 i have 11 r5's/r2 6* now and i have 2 at r4

manveerthereal

For comparison sake, I play a little bit everyday for the past 5 years. I am Thronebreaker with a 1.6 M player rating.

24 champs at R5.
19 champs at R4. (a good many from rank up gems)

So, here is my strategy.

I take champs to R5 if:

They are “beyond god tier”

-or-

They are awakened and require awakening to be god tier or better.

Otherwise I let my 5* sit at R1-3 and wait to pull the 6* version. I don’t take anyone to R4 anymore unless I plan to take them to R5. It’s a waste of resources to take them to R4 if you can’t/won’t take them to R5 because you likely aren’t going to use them.

Now, regarding 6*, if the champ doesn’t require awakening and/or high sig then I take the 6* to R2. Red Hulk, Havok, Cable for example.

The TL;DR, Basically don’t waste resources on taking champs to R4 unless they’re beyond god tier and you’ll take them to R5. Only take a champ to R5 if they’re beyond god tier or if they’re awakened, high sig, and you’d have to awaken the 6* version in order to be useable. (Namor, Cap IW, Omega Red, CMM, Fury, Aegon)

imagine choosing rank ups from what tier they are

SpideyFunko

Yeah I’m pretty choosy about who I take up to rank 4/5 because you’re always a 6* pull away from making that rank up decision worthless

Yeah, I’d imagine our points of view differ since I don’t open six stars that frequently. I’m sure my mindset will change as I open more and more.

DawsMan

For comparison sake, I play a little bit everyday for the past 5 years. I am Thronebreaker with a 1.6 M player rating.

24 champs at R5.
19 champs at R4. (a good many from rank up gems)

So, here is my strategy.

I take champs to R5 if:

They are “beyond god tier”

-or-

They are awakened and require awakening to be god tier or better.

Otherwise I let my 5* sit at R1-3 and wait to pull the 6* version. I don’t take anyone to R4 anymore unless I plan to take them to R5. It’s a waste of resources to take them to R4 if you can’t/won’t take them to R5 because you likely aren’t going to use them.

Now, regarding 6*, if the champ doesn’t require awakening and/or high sig then I take the 6* to R2. Red Hulk, Havok, Cable for example.

The TL;DR, Basically don’t waste resources on taking champs to R4 unless they’re beyond god tier or you can get same production right out the box from the 6* version.

Before I start, I understand we’re at different points in the game.

But what about the fun aspect? Would you not rank a champion up to rank 4/5 if you enjoy them and find them fun? I get that Thronebreakers are heavily 6*-focused, but I’d still take up a champion to r4/5 if I found them fun.

For me, fun is using my resources wisely and then crushing content *shrug* I really don't have the resources to rank up someone fun cuz I don't find any bad or not high tier champs fun. You can definitely have fun while ranking up good champions.

Who are some that you ranked up that aren't great but are fun to use?

TrashyPanda

Fun comes after necessity for me. Once needed ranks are made, fun ranks are easier to acquire and freer to use.

Ercarret

I rank up all champions I find interesting enough to r3, then I rank up my favorites out of them to r4 while I gather the t5b to take my favorites out of them to r5. That previously meant that I had a lot of r3s, some r4s and a few r5s, but as I've progressed in the game the endgame resources has become more available while the mid-tier resources have somehow become a bottleneck, so now I have more r4 and r5s than r3s.

With the exception of some early rank-ups that mostly served their purpose in the early game and that I don't see a need to r5'd for me to clear content where I'm currently at, I plan on taking all of my r4s to r5 eventually. Obviously resources are scarce and I can't take everyone up, and that leaves some champions at r4 for a very long time despite me planning to rank them up sometime in the future, but the general idea is to grow a pool of r4 champions from which I can rank up the ones most viable for whichever content I'm tackling next. I ranked up Colossus for the latest Variant, for example, and most recently Kingpin for the Microverse Variant.

I've been burned when it comes to ranking up a champ directly from r1 to r5 before, so I try to rank them up step by step as I learn to appreciate them. Nowadays I only r4 ones I enjoy playing as r3s, and only r5 those I enjoyed as r4s. That minimizes the risk of regrets.

CosmicGuardian

Personally, I prioritize taking champs to R4, mainly because I find there’s a very noticeable difference between R3 and R4. As for R5, I just let the T5B build up naturally, and when I’ve built up a bunch I’ll shift focus and take up the R4’s I enjoy most.

As for what champs I rank, I try to take into account what my roster currently needs and how much I enjoy the champ. If there’s a champ I really enjoy playing but may not really need in terms of what they can do, I’ll probably only take them to R4. I think all my R5’s so far have been an equal combination of enjoyment and necessity.

Tainto

Really all great points on both sides. I kind of agree w the folks who take their faves up to r3 and then choose from that pool based on need/current focus/champs they enjoy most to rank up to r4 and then - for me - THATS when I get stuck.
That’s how all this started for me. I have one r5 then 4-5 god tier champs at r4 and then a wider array of r3s. So I don’t know if it’s better to take one of my god tier r4s to a r5 giving me two r5s but then handcuffing any rank ups for a while ....or is it better to take one of my r3s to r4 and have a wider pool of r4s to evaluate for a while longer without blowing out my entire t5b or t2a inventory.

Because I definitely agree with all the posters who say as soon as they rank someone up to r4/r5 they pull a 5 or 6* they would’ve ranked instead...

But it sounds like once I finally have those r5s or good 6* it becomes easier to get those resources. But I’m only uncollected so I don’t really see that yet.

For you Thronebreakers/Cavaliers - Where are you finding the wealth of extra resources at that level? Variant quests? Act 6?

IronGladiator22

Currently I have 10 r5s and 5 r4. I am planning on getting more r4s, and just for comparison, I do have like 4 non rank 4 characters that I am going to be taking likely up to r5 or at least r4.

I rank who I want to. If I have fun playing with them, I’ll rank them. If they are really good, I’ll rank them. If they are really good but I don’t like playing them, (haven’t run into a champ like that yet) then I don’t rank.

My argument for ranking up non top tier champs that you like, is so that you have a little bit of variety in your roster, and you can play some of your favorite characters in High levels of content and enjoy the game more.

Also, if you already have a 5* champion you enjoy a lot ranked up, and you pull them as a 6*, you won’t feel like you wasted materials as much, because now you can run two of your favorite champ! Either both for questing or one for aq/aw.

Anyway going back to the original question. More r4s or r5s? Whatever floats your boat I guess.

MSRDLD

For you Thronebreakers/Cavaliers - Where are you finding the wealth of extra resources at that level? Variant quests? Act 6?

Variants are great for gold and rank up gems. If you have 2015-2017 champs that you want to rank up, I’d hold off on using your T5B and T2A for them and instead go explore the Variants. You’ll get rank up gems for them and can use them for that. Act 6 gives great rewards just for completion. Aside from those 2 things, become Cavalier, get in a decent alliance, and use your glory on T5B and T2A