Featured, Dual, or Basic?

Emilia90

I’ve been saving some shards for a while and with BG rewards coming out later this week, I was wondering what to use them on. I still don’t have some of my most wanted champs like Kitty, Hulkling, Valk, and Nimrod as a 6*, but I also really want some of the featured champs.

IIM and Spidey have already been added to be to the basic, but I think the chances of getting them with how many champs are in the basic pool at this point is pretty low. Duals are also slightly cheaper and viable.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Oakenshield

Basic

The general rule of thumb I’ve seen which I think is pretty good is to keep pulling from basic until you have some critical mass on your 6* roster - like 75+. Once you have critical mass and can cover a solid chunk of content, spending extra shards for specific champ makes a bit more sense as you look to plug holes in your overall roster.

willrun4adonut

Basic

I'd change my vote if you don't have Herc, then I'd say go for dual cosmic/tech. He's such a game changer.

Emilia90

Thanks for the responses so far!

I think I have around 75-80 6* right now. I also have Herc awakened but the cosmic/tech would still be a good shout for Gorr, Hulkling, Nimrod, etc.

Basics haven’t been going the best recently so I was thinking about switching to a more concentrated pool

WinterFields

Basic

When opening featured, I assume I would get one of my three least preferred options (I generally don't have good luck if I only open 1 or 2). If one of said three I think are worth the extra 5K shards, then I go for it

DNA3000

Emilia90 said:

Thanks for the responses so far!

I think I have around 75-80 6* right now. I also have Herc awakened but the cosmic/tech would still be a good shout for Gorr, Hulkling, Nimrod, etc.

Basics haven’t been going the best recently so I was thinking about switching to a more concentrated pool

First, my fundamental rule is if you have to ask, you should probably be opening basics.

The dual class and featured crystals are all much more complicated (and expensive) value propositions. As a result, they depend greatly on what you have, what you need, and most important what you value. For example, at the moment I am missing just 27 of the non-trophy 6* champs, and I value getting new champs to fill in the blanks. So even though at the moment the current featured is horrible for me (I have every non-featured in it) it is still the crystal I buy because it has the greatest chance of filling in a hole in my roster. When you factor in the higher cost, it is still better. For me.

It was about when I reached 70ish 6* champs that I started looking more closely at the featured crystal, which is about where you are now. I looked at each crystal and figured out what percentage of that crystal were champs I wanted, vs what percentage of the basic pool I wanted. Factoring in the higher cost, I then went with the crystal with the better return on investment (insert math here). By the time I had about 160ish 6* champs, I was exclusively opening featureds.

If you want a rule of thumb, then setting aside the Sigil discounted crystals you will be buying two featureds for every three basics. Ask yourself what percentage of the basic pool you really want verses what percentage of the featured crystal you want. Multiply the basic percentage by three and the featured one by two. Pick the bigger number.

So if you need 50% of the basic pool and you want 60% of the featured crystal, you compare 150 (50x3) to 120 (60x2) and since 150 > 120, you go basic. If you want 80% of the featured, you go featured (50x3 < 80x2).

The ratios for the dual class crystal are five to four. Five basics to four dual class. Count up the fraction of each you want, go with the one that gives the better return.

I should point out this is the mathematical way to judge value. Sometimes people don't want better value. They want a shot at a lucky drop, and want to focus on the one crystal with the best chance at that one drop. They want that Herc, so they go with cosmic/tech dual class crystals even though the odds of getting the bullseye are very low (about one in 60). Or conversely, they absolutely hate getting duds and they hate paying more for duds, so they go with basics because they simply cannot stand to pay more for a crystal no matter how much better the value is.

Do you want the best chance at winning, or do you want the best chance at not losing, or do you want the best value per crystal? Those are usually three different things. You have to pick one.

SaltE_Wenis69

Recently, I hit like 90 6* and I've stopped opening basics, to level out my roster. I have a stacked cosmic, mystic, and science class, and my skill is decent, but my mutant sucks. So for the past few weeks, I've been opening skill and mutant and now I have a cracked mutant roster and a good skill roster. It all depends on what your roster looks like tho

Ansh_A

I dont think there is a general rule of thumb, it is roster dependent. I am same place as you with 80 6*s in my roster. I follow the following process:
1. Basic takes priority, need lots more champs and need to dupe several more
2. If dual crystal has science option, i opt for that. I dont save crystals for science, just ensure if i am opening when science is available, i go for it. My science 6*s are very weak, i only have void and ibom from the god tier and above.
3. I only go for featured if i wont mind getting 50% or more of the champs. Paying 50% higher is then worth it. This may seem unlikely but it happened couple of rounds back with hulkling, black cat, scorpion, etc. That was a stacked roster and worth the extra spend.

willrun4adonut

Basic

Emilia90 said:

Thanks for the responses so far!

I think I have around 75-80 6* right now. I also have Herc awakened but the cosmic/tech would still be a good shout for Gorr, Hulkling, Nimrod, etc.

Basics haven’t been going the best recently so I was thinking about switching to a more concentrated pool

No one has mentioned this, and I don’t think you’re in this place yet, but I only open basics now so I can get more 7* shards for when they release (at 20k). I have ~160 6* champs, but only have ten of the feature crystal champs. Still I’m going for basics.

Emilia90

DNA3000 said:

Emilia90 said:

Thanks for the responses so far!

I think I have around 75-80 6* right now. I also have Herc awakened but the cosmic/tech would still be a good shout for Gorr, Hulkling, Nimrod, etc.

Basics haven’t been going the best recently so I was thinking about switching to a more concentrated pool

First, my fundamental rule is if you have to ask, you should probably be opening basics.

The dual class and featured crystals are all much more complicated (and expensive) value propositions. As a result, they depend greatly on what you have, what you need, and most important what you value. For example, at the moment I am missing just 27 of the non-trophy 6* champs, and I value getting new champs to fill in the blanks. So even though at the moment the current featured is horrible for me (I have every non-featured in it) it is still the crystal I buy because it has the greatest chance of filling in a hole in my roster. When you factor in the higher cost, it is still better. For me.

It was about when I reached 70ish 6* champs that I started looking more closely at the featured crystal, which is about where you are now. I looked at each crystal and figured out what percentage of that crystal were champs I wanted, vs what percentage of the basic pool I wanted. Factoring in the higher cost, I then went with the crystal with the better return on investment (insert math here). By the time I had about 160ish 6* champs, I was exclusively opening featureds.

If you want a rule of thumb, then setting aside the Sigil discounted crystals you will be buying two featureds for every three basics. Ask yourself what percentage of the basic pool you really want verses what percentage of the featured crystal you want. Multiply the basic percentage by three and the featured one by two. Pick the bigger number.

So if you need 50% of the basic pool and you want 60% of the featured crystal, you compare 150 (50x3) to 120 (60x2) and since 150 > 120, you go basic. If you want 80% of the featured, you go featured (50x3 < 80x2).

The ratios for the dual class crystal are five to four. Five basics to four dual class. Count up the fraction of each you want, go with the one that gives the better return.

I should point out this is the mathematical way to judge value. Sometimes people don't want better value. They want a shot at a lucky drop, and want to focus on the one crystal with the best chance at that one drop. They want that Herc, so they go with cosmic/tech dual class crystals even though the odds of getting the bullseye are very low (about one in 60). Or conversely, they absolutely hate getting duds and they hate paying more for duds, so they go with basics because they simply cannot stand to pay more for a crystal no matter how much better the value is.

Do you want the best chance at winning, or do you want the best chance at not losing, or do you want the best value per crystal? Those are usually three different things. You have to pick one.

This was super helpful. Definitely going for basics and maybe a dual every once in a while

Emilia90

willrun4adonut said:

Emilia90 said:

Thanks for the responses so far!

I think I have around 75-80 6* right now. I also have Herc awakened but the cosmic/tech would still be a good shout for Gorr, Hulkling, Nimrod, etc.

Basics haven’t been going the best recently so I was thinking about switching to a more concentrated pool

No one has mentioned this, and I don’t think you’re in this place yet, but I only open basics now so I can get more 7* shards for when they release (at 20k). I have ~160 6* champs, but only have ten of the feature crystal champs. Still I’m going for basics.

Definitely something to consider once I build my roster more. As of now, I’ve only collected a couple thousand 7* shards but I still don’t have a majority of the basic pool so dupes aren’t super frequent