I’ve been floating around 18 and 19 for a couple of months now and have come close to 20 a few times but never managed to get in.
I don’t have the money to invest in 5* merges, but I have a couple of 4* potential merges.
Would a couple of 4* supermerges help me break into and stay in T20, or do I need to spend months on 5* merges?
I think 5* armor units will help you break in, but staying in T20 requires some heavy merged 5* units. For really high tier 4* units, like Cordelia, Fae, Nowi, etc, I'd say you're better off just merging them into a 5* +10 unit instead of using them for a 4* unit. 4* supermerges will also probably help you break into T20, but staying there requires some investment.
IS has been pretty generous with Feathers, so it may not take as long as you think.
You don’t need to spend massive money to build a T20 team, it can be done with patience and saving up feathers to build a heavily merged team out of common units. For example, I use a +10 Eirika and a +10 Reinhardt, both of whom I built out of 4* units that I’ve built up.
That said, to answer your question, you might be able to do it with one 4* super merge but I’m not sure a whole team of them would have enough arena weight to keep you up in Tier 20.
Merges are the most important to getting into and staying. I would suggest finding a hero in each color that you like and not 5* exclusive and work on getting 5* merges and a good skill set. With the feathers as they are right now you should be able to get a merge about every 1-2 weeks. This list is not all inclusive and you can go for different heroes as well.
Red- Soleil, Tiki(A), Olivia, Hana, Tharja, Draug, ect
Green- Fae, Sheena, Cherche, Raven, Soren, Nino, Cecilia, ect
Blue- Nowi, Reinhardt, Cordelia, Corrin(F), Effie, Lukas, Gwendolyn, ect
It was asked a while back if a full 4*+10 team could get into and stay in tier 20. The answer at the time was yes, but since then Tier 20 scores have spiked and it is no longer feasible to do.
There are scoring calculators out there for arena. Using those mages score around 714 with armors scoring around 724. This is assuming you are maxing out sp skills(refined or legendary weapon, dual rally, aether/galeforce, 240(300 if available) sp skill in A, B, C, and SS slot). Right now you would need a team score of around 720+ to even come close to staying in tier 20. So I guess it can still be done, but with scores on the rise you will quickly fall behind and no way to catch up. You are better off using them to get to 5*+10.
As for the score cutoffs, r/MisogID over on reddit keeps track weekly the score for the tier 18, 19, and 20 along with AA scores.
The short answer is "No, you don't have to pay to make it to T20". You can make intentional choices on troops and skills and hang with the whales in T20. Here's a video I found that really spells it out nicely (please note that I didn't create this video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHdqP1GK17E
That said, aside from swag, why T20? I mean, you still get the same number of orbs from T19, and maybe 2k more feathers? I'm not saying you shouldn't try, but if being the top of the top doesn't drive you, why not just bounce between T18 and 19?
If you do, you'll basically get every other week off. T18 sounds like it'll be cake for you so you can do 1 serious run on that week then just get the dailies. Sometimes you'll get lucky in T19 and stay in there back-to-back, and maybe being chill about it will bring your luck around! I used to get hung up on the same problem, but decided I'd just enjoy the game, and have been a much happier gamer swapping between 18-19.
Tbh other than wanting to get in as an achievement there’s no real reason for it.
Honestly it’s not good teams or units or builds that I’m lacking, because I have some really great units, its merges I’m lacking but I guess bouncing around 18-19 is cool for now while I merge up my favourites
I feel ya brah, I'm in the same boat!
I hate to admit it, but I don't have enough focus (READ: self control) to dedicate 200k feathers to +10 a unit over the course of a couple months. I've got a couple of good candidates (SS3 Beruka, Magic Wall Felicia), but it's easy to get distracted and level up someone else, or promote a hero just for their skill to slightly improve a different +0 5*...
I managed to get in Tier 20 this week with a team without any merges. I used Vanguard Ike, Brave Ike, Fjorm and my recent Myrrh, but she isn't even finished yet, her B slot is empty waiting for Quick Riposte. All of them just used their regular builds with a few modifications like Vantage and Reposition.
I can't remember well, but the points were near 696~705. I usually stay between Tier 18 and 19 too.
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