We Need to Talk About the Rise in Arena Cutoffs

To get this out of the way first, I would like to state that I was one of the players that was able to get Void from the arena this past weekend, scoring a little over 23 million points to be in the top 200. I've been seeing screenshots from various chats I'm in as well as Reddit, that the cutoff for him was roughly 20.1 million.

Just let that sink in for a second. 20.1 million points. For a 4 star champion.

This is to be expected, of course, as 5 star champions are more readily accessible, and people's rosters as a whole are growing at a very fast rate, especially when you compare to last year's cutoffs when the arena was revamped. If you look at the arena history, you'll see a steady increase in cutoffs, with a few outliers like Mephisto and Sentry (18m), Blade and Hela (19m), and now Void (20m). I'm usually okay with spending a weekend putting up that many points since my roster has also grown considerably in the past few months, but I can't help but ask myself, "Is it worth grinding over 20 million units for 400 extra 5 star shards AND for a champion I can get in the basic arena in 6 months?"

In a game where the current meta is all about prestige, I think a change should be made to the arenas. The majority of players who are able to grind out a lot of points like this (without spending or losing a lot of sleep) are way past the need for a 4 star champion. I don't have much room to talk since I went for him and put up a ridiculous amount of points for him (mainly because he looks like an amazing champion from the videos I've seen), but, like I said, is it worth it? In my opinion, no. It isn't. I won't lie, the last 5 million points were an absolute drag, but I was too far into the grind to stop or risk not getting Void, so I continued, and I'm glad I did, or it would've all been for nothing. Kabam isn't stupid, I'm sure they know that there's been an increase in cutoffs in the past year, and with the incoming addition of 6 stars, maybe a change is coming in the near future. Maybe there will finally be a 5 star arena (maybe use our 4 and 5 star champs to go for the 5 star version) in addition to 4 and 3 star arenas (use our 3 stars and 2 stars, respectively, to go for these champions), maybe the pool of people who will receive the champion will get it, or maybe a combination of both.

Whether or not you've been able to grind for the recent champions, do you think a change in the current arena setup is necessary, and if so, what would you suggest to help lower the cutoffs for these champions, so 20 million doesn't become the norm for powerful champs like Blade and Void?

Comments

Patchie93

Honestly I think all that's needed is the addition of a 5* arena or 2. I say 2 as it wouldn't hurt to run a 5* basic where 4* and 5* can be used and a featured 5* where only 5*s can be used.
At the same time keep 4* featured also 4* and 5* champ use. The reason for this is then it causes a great split of the player bade.
Whales with huge 5* rosters will grind for 5* featured meaning they can't also grind for 4* featured as easy.
Those who are trying to build their 5* roster can attempt the 5* basic champ
And those who don't mind adding more 4*s and some 5* shards can grind for the 4* featured champ

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Reign_Sheer7uck

With regards to the issue of increase in cutoffs maybe the growing community is to blame. But I do agree that it is getting more and more tedious to farm for a champ for 3 days and at worst fail to reach it.

Furthermore I dont think that kabam will make any adjustments to this since it brings a alot of time compliance invested to the game which is a revenue for the company itself..

In the end it's just about the idea of "Is it worth the time".

Mrblackkk

Nappa_9000 wrote: »

To get this out of the way first, I would like to state that I was one of the players that was able to get Void from the arena this past weekend, scoring a little over 23 million points to be in the top 200. I've been seeing screenshots from various chats I'm in as well as Reddit, that the cutoff for him was roughly 20.1 million.

Just let that sink in for a second. 20.1 million points. For a 4 star champion.

This is to be expected, of course, as 5 star champions are more readily accessible, and people's rosters as a whole are growing at a very fast rate, especially when you compare to last year's cutoffs when the arena was revamped. If you look at the arena history, you'll see a steady increase in cutoffs, with a few outliers like Mephisto and Sentry (18m), Blade and Hela (19m), and now Void (20m). I'm usually okay with spending a weekend putting up that many points since my roster has also grown considerably in the past few months, but I can't help but ask myself, "Is it worth grinding over 20 million units for 400 extra 5 star shards AND for a champion I can get in the basic arena in 6 months?"

In a game where the current meta is all about prestige, I think a change should be made to the arenas. The majority of players who are able to grind out a lot of points like this (without spending or losing a lot of sleep) are way past the need for a 4 star champion. I don't have much room to talk since I went for him and put up a ridiculous amount of points for him (mainly because he looks like an amazing champion from the videos I've seen), but, like I said, is it worth it? In my opinion, no. It isn't. I won't lie, the last 5 million points were an absolute drag, but I was too far into the grind to stop or risk not getting Void, so I continued, and I'm glad I did, or it would've all been for nothing. Kabam isn't stupid, I'm sure they know that there's been an increase in cutoffs in the past year, and with the incoming addition of 6 stars, maybe a change is coming in the near future. Maybe there will finally be a 5 star arena (maybe use our 4 and 5 star champs to go for the 5 star version) in addition to 4 and 3 star arenas (use our 3 stars and 2 stars, respectively, to go for these champions), maybe the pool of people who will receive the champion will get it, or maybe a combination of both.

Whether or not you've been able to grind for the recent champions, do you think a change in the current arena setup is necessary, and if so, what would you suggest to help lower the cutoffs for these champions, so 20 million doesn't become the norm for powerful champs like Blade and Void?

So who actually reads all these long threads and just scrolls to the bottom?

Richcowboy888

Growing community of Mercs and bots doing arena might be the cause

Jtc

I agree, my roster does 1.5M per full run. It’s suited to grind arena but I will usually pass an arena due to 4* not being as worthwhile a prize anymore for me personally. I got Void only because I needed to awaken him as I got lucky from a crystal. I think it would be cool to have the feature 4/5* for a 5* champ. I don’t think it’s going to happen fast enough though because 5* from crystals only is hugely profitable. Our 5* rosters are luck based mostly and if you want better luck, we spend more on crystals. Arena used to be how you strategically grew your profile and prestige with time being the cost. Now I spin gmfc and hope I get lucky to catch Blade and get irritated and stop buying anything for a bit.

LeNoirFaineant

I won't even go for basic 5*s anymore let alone featured. I think the only 4* basics I would go for are Wolverine (still don't have him) OG Deadpool and OG Vision. But I wouldn't even go for these as features. 1-2 5* arenas that split the pool could be just the thing.

LittleSister

Yes, cutoffs are increasing... but it is a CONTEST.

If it's too much, just don't do it, because like you said, you can get it as a basic in 6 months.

Supaflyazn

My question is, why are people grinding so much for a 4*? It doesn't move the needle at all... especially for those of us with a full 5* R4 lineup. I find I just grind to get to the last milestones in both the 3* and 4* arenas and quit. I'd love to hear from those of you who grind to get Top 800 every week. What exactly are you grinding for, since Maxing out a 4* uses precious resources that can be used to rank a 5* anyways?

Kpatrix

If you put up the numbers, you are guaranteed to get the champ. With 5*, you aren't guaranteed to pull one even if you save for 10 tries. And with 5* rank up material so rare (t1&t2a) it's easier to r5 a 4* than r3 a 5*, plus you can dupe then easier.

So to some, that's the most effective way to get the new champ every two weeks. With a large enough roster, putting up that many points is easy for them, and all the chips earned help pay for aq and earn a few units.

Foxx

the game should be something fun more is not over for a long time because if you need to play 3 days without sleeping spending units and stop doing other things in life because if you stop playing you will not get the hero in the arena this is not fun is slavery, I work I have a wife and two children, how can I compete with children who have nothing to do and can spend three days playing 24 hours straight because they have no obligation, is that fair? unfortunately, Kabam only scolds the players

CloserByTomorrow

The upcoming change to the featured 5* crystal kind of made me think that eventually there will be some sort of featured 5* arena

mum_m2

im not reading all of that. but this isn't the first time this has been addressed. even by Kabam. They said that they want to make an uncollected arena a while back. I'll look for the thread and if i can find it i'll post back.

and I feel that there is enough collectors out there to want to grind to get that top champ every week as it works currently. even if it's a 4*

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Build

I agree, the cutoff is crazy. Between work and family, there is no way in hell I can farm those overinflated numbers.

The idea of rewarding top 10% with the champion would alleviate arena inflation. Or so I believe. Give the top 1% signature stones, or ISO. So many options.

All arenas would benefit from reworking. I run arena for heroes here and there. I usually just run for credits now. As farming even 5 million (in 4*) is difficult to do with an active analog life.

Justice_Evo_8

Richcowboy888 wrote: »

Growing community of Mercs and bots doing arena might be the cause

This right here. It’s getting way out of hand now.

HaRdKoRe357

Nappa, I couldn't agree with you more. I am stuck in the middle ground spot where my roster is not quite big enough to compete for the 4* champs and even this past 3* Ghost arena I didn't need her but wanted her, put up 1.1 mill and got crappy shards. I tried so hard for 4* Archangel it was ridiculous. I used every single boost that I had and the couple hundred units that I have saved up over the last few months and finished in the mid 2 mill area. I had off work for all three days during that Arena and played every single second I possibly could. I also strongly agree with you mentioning that many of the players that are putting up these high points really don't need these champions, regardless; it is impossible for those that have only been playing for a couple months like myself to compete with you guys that have been playing for years. I understand patience, time, and effort need to be put in but when guys like me are putting in the work we should be rewarded in some way other than shards. I am trying my hardest to build my roster up. I have already put a suggestion in on the Kabam website to support to implement a different bracket rule for arenas. Having different brackets arranged in accordance of whenever the account was created is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard of. I originally installed the game to show my son and then did not play it for the first two months. Now I know all that I missed out on! Too bad they do not tell you that and I had to figure it out the hard way by doing research and actually getting into playing the game months later. I suggested that they have brackets based on people's overall roster strength. That way we have people that are at similar points in the game competing against each other and not those way above them or way below them.

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HaRdKoRe357

I noticed the date, yet it was still on the first page of posts when I joined/registered earlier today. The fact that these numbers are drastically down make me not want to waste my time on this game even more. This game is for people with no life. No offense. It would take me years to even be able to compete in a 4 star arena apparently. From what I'm reading online a large majority of players are quitting anyway and there is strong belief "gear" will soon be added to the game. This just strengthens the whole "pay to win" mentality. I've been playing King of Avalon for over 2 years and have invested thousands only for the game to be corrupted and ruined by this pay-to-win game design and Chinese influence and players. Looks like MCoC is heading in the same direction.