I sell 4* champs.
Stewman
Member Posts: 735 ★★★
I know this will be blasphemy to some of you. But selling 4* champs if they aren't duped isn't the end of the world. I honestly believe its a decent idea, But only if you take them to r3 first and you can afford to waste the other resources that it cost to rank them.
You net more 5* shards by selling champs at r3 than you would by pulling the same champ 6 times.
There are several champs out there that I take to r3 for level up events and immediately sell for the shards. Mags mn, she-hulk, SG, OML, Joe Fix it, Ms M (KK) and the list goes on.
The name of the game now is to maximize 5* shards. And this is how I do it.
Example
She hulk r3 sold for 425 shards x 6 = 2550 5* shards
She hulk pulled and duped 6 times= 275 x 5 =1375 5* shards
then at max sig you (potentially not guaranteed) would get 275 more shards per pull with the max sig crystal = 550 shards
So you would have to pull She hulk 8 times to equal the same amount of shards and selling her 6 times.
If you sold her 8 times you would still be at 3400 shards, so you still would be ahead a thousand shards.
Basically selling 4*champs are only worth it if they are at r3.
I however don't think selling them at r4 is worth it with the current shortage of t4b and t1a.
I am now bracing for the sure to ensue roasting.
You net more 5* shards by selling champs at r3 than you would by pulling the same champ 6 times.
There are several champs out there that I take to r3 for level up events and immediately sell for the shards. Mags mn, she-hulk, SG, OML, Joe Fix it, Ms M (KK) and the list goes on.
The name of the game now is to maximize 5* shards. And this is how I do it.
Example
She hulk r3 sold for 425 shards x 6 = 2550 5* shards
She hulk pulled and duped 6 times= 275 x 5 =1375 5* shards
then at max sig you (potentially not guaranteed) would get 275 more shards per pull with the max sig crystal = 550 shards
So you would have to pull She hulk 8 times to equal the same amount of shards and selling her 6 times.
If you sold her 8 times you would still be at 3400 shards, so you still would be ahead a thousand shards.
Basically selling 4*champs are only worth it if they are at r3.
I however don't think selling them at r4 is worth it with the current shortage of t4b and t1a.
I am now bracing for the sure to ensue roasting.
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Comments
I have never fallen in with the "never sell champs" Cult. I consistently sell 3* champs to get shards. I don't need a math major to come in here and tell me how I am costing my team X points in SA.
but I agree this method isn't a good idea for a newer player.
it does take alphas to take a 4 star to rank 3
That is incorrect. You need 1 T1A to go from R2 to R3.
A single alpha per champ to get to r3. I agree with you, by the way. Sounds like no detriment to your play style so a good choice.
How much gold do you actually get back when selling though?
The only reason to keep them is the fact that they generate so much class ISO when duped. I'll even use my extra Science ISO from duping Fixit to level up my Mystic champs.
Fixit is fun with max DW. Very underrated.
Fixit may be fun now but I am committed to always selling him so I'll never know.
Actually, I think it is always good to question the premises that other people make. People should think about what the game options are for themselves and make calculated decisions instead of just doing what they think everyone else does.
Looking at your analysis, I have some observations. First, taking your assumptions at face value, ignoring for the moment the costs to upgrade to rank 3 (I've read the rest of the thread, don't worry) your selling strategy earns 425 shards per pull. Holding and duping generates zero shards for the first pull, 275 shards for the next five pulls, and then 550 shards for every pull after that. Under those conditions it will take fifteen total pulls (approximately) for the pull and hold strategy to break even (15*425 = 6375, 0 + 5*275 + 9*550 = 6325, pull sixteen overtakes).
Over long enough timescales the pull and hold strategy eventually overtakes the rank and sell strategy, but how long it takes to overtake is the question. For most players today, that would be a very long time. But we don't know how easy it will get to earn 4* champions as the game progresses. It is already much faster than it was two years ago and one year ago. it is hard to say with certainty that this is an astronomically long time.
And this analysis doesn't account for 4* signature stones. We are presuming that it takes six pulls to max a champion. But we can very easily reduce that to five if we just put some stones into the champs after they are awakened. Duping has a bit of inefficiency: when you dup a sig 80 the sig goes to 99 and you do not get a max signature stone. If we put 19 sig stones into the champion we can push it so that in five pulls you reach 99 and the next dup starts earning max signature stones.
There's also the arena. If a player grinds the arena the equation changes in a subtle way depending on how you grind. If you grind for basics and get the basic twice, the non-seller gets the champ (if they don't have it) and then only gets one signature level upon awakening. The seller gets to sell twice. Advantage: seller. But if the grinder only gets the basic once, there's a subtle advantage to the holder: because the player is earning 4* champions faster by grinding, they are accelerating towards the break even point between the two strategies faster.
I think if we only look at the 5* shard situation, both strategies can make a case for being reasonable strategies. But there is one extra catch, and that's what the thread discussed earlier: rank 3 requires an alpha. This is significant because of what we are discussing: trying to maximize the number of 5* shards, and thus 5* champions.
5* champions are alpha-hungry. It takes 5 alphas to rank a 5* to rank 2, another 5 alphas to get to rank 3, and 6 more to get to rank 4. 5* champions rip through alphas very fast. So any strategy for acquiring 5* shards that burns through alpha catalysts might create a problem down the road. The selling strategy burns a little more than 23 alphas to generate the equivalent of one 5* basic crystal. If you have a ton of alphas, this might be a reasonable exchange once or twice, but I don't think it is sustainable. I personally earn 4* champions faster than I earn alpha catalysts, so it would not be a sustainable strategy for me, and if I were to employ it aggressively then when I actually did draw a 5* worth ranking it could take a large amount of time to replenish the alpha cats necessary to do so.
Bottom line: does your strategy work? In the short term, it does. It earns 5* shards faster than holding and duping in the short and medium term. But a player that intends to play on long time scales probably shouldn't do this, because the strategy has a decent chance of being hurt by future changes to the availability of 4* champs which can only go upward. And it is an unsustainable strategy that puts the player in a tough position if they actually draw a 5* worth ranking, which appears to be the point of the strategy in the first place. Conclusion: it mathematically works, but only in a narrow set of circumstances that a player should really think about carefully before actually doing it, because there's lots of opportunities for regret later.