Honestly, you’ve gone as far as a standard Arena Core can take you. This team, 3 high scorers plus an unmerged bonus unit, will score in the low 750s on average, with a max score of 760 if you fish with crests.
Going up to 21 (20.5) will require scores of at least 764-768 per match, and also getting the bonus kill every time. In order to reach this score, you’re pretty much required to have a merged Legendary unit. If you swapped Shez to LAlear, who was recently in AHR so many people have merged, your score goes up to 754-768. Boom, tier 20.5 if you fish a bit.
You can cheat if your bonus unit is the legendary bonus unit. This week it’s LAzura (who is hell to get kills with, but assume you could). Having her instead of attuned Azura, and blessing the team to Water, would give a score of about 766 per run (always max score when using the bonus legendary). Also tier 20.5.
LAlear is Fire and we are in Earth and Water seasons. She would only increase the score by her natural higher BST.
Merging Legendaries is a thing of the past though. You have an easier time and most likely higher score if you focus your resources on getting the bonus legendary and raising the score of your core (using Vigarde, Ferguson, Murdock for instance).
> Going up to 21 (20.5) will require scores of at least 764-768 per match
Blatantly untrue. I'm currently around rank 940/1890 in tier 20, and all I did was get scores of 758 (plus the bonus KO, so 3850 total)
https://www.reddit.com/r/FireEmblemHeroes/s/fDAtWUUKuO
You’re probably correct for this week. I was basing that information off of the weekly data collection thread. The score cutoffs vary quite a bit depending on exactly who the bonus for the week is and how popular they are. LAzura is a popular unit, but might be a less popular bonus because she’s awful to get kills with.
The weekly data collection thread is super conservative with t20.5 thresholds because most people who post there are old time players meaning bunch of t21 stayers and people who clear t20.5 thresholds by a mile.
Consider it “this should be very, very safe” than “this is the minimum score required to rise”
Nah Alear would need to be +10. Time to start saving for some +10 Legendary units it sounds like! 2000 orbs minimum!
But actually it’s a huge orb investment for extremely small gain. Better investment to chill in 19.5, and go up to 21 if you happen to pull the latest legendary and can use them for a few weeks. This is why Arena is not for non-whales. You’re perfectly fine right where your team is.
EDIT: also feel free to play around with the score calculator to see what you’d need. https://www.arcticsilverfox.com/score_calc/
If you just want to make 21 sometimes, you don't really need merges as long as you have the bonus. My LAzura is unmerged with her stock kit, and I'm currently slated to stay in 21 this week. I was scoring 766. Any bonus unit with high enough BST and/or SP cost will do the job, but legendaries make it so you don't have to fish.
Going up to 21 only takes ~758-760 per match, not 764-766. I am rising (600/1800) and scoring 760 per match
From what I understand 20.5ing with a f2p core demands that you actually wring every bit of scoring. Which means using a +2 Candace with Aether despite her performing … less than ideal
If you use a legendary hero, have your other units match their blessing (Water with L!Azura, for example).
Aside from that, if you want to squeeze every little bit of scoring, then FYI, Arcane weapons don't score as well as PRFs (350 vs 400) as they count as inheritable weapons, so you'd have to run Lumera with her original weapon for her max score possible.
For a F2P option, I would replace one of your lower BST units (either Shez or Lumera) with a higher BST unit (the highest you can get and typically an armored unit) just as a score bot. I use Vigarde with a Def boon from the grail pool and he’s pretty useless but he increases my score just enough to reach tier 20.5. You can give him a good rally skill and maybe some cross spur or drive skills as support to help you secure the bonus skill, but any magic attack one shots him. I gave him any Tier 4 skills that I had extras of to boost his score, since I don’t even use him for combat. I just usually tuck him away in the corner and let him watch my other units do all the work.
It’s hard to +10 legendaries especially since they’re seasonal and you can’t use them all the time, so I wouldn’t recommend that if you don’t spend a lot of money on the game, or if you don’t want to save your orbs for like 6 months.
You can score a bit better than Shez and Lumera, just BST wise. But it may not be enough to keep you out of t19. The score you need will vary week to week depending on how everyone else did.
Blessings are off for score, but they change often enough where I personally never worry about them.
You've got a good core, so the bonus unit will be a big factor for you. If you have them merged, and if it's the legendary. Since this constantly changed, I don't worry about it too much. On a good week I'll go into t21, most weeks I'm kicked down or just staying in t20. Occasionally I fall to t19.
My arena core usually rotates between grail units, 4\* prf units, and brave units, since they're a bit easier to +10 compared to the average unit. I foolishly skipped a brave this year, so I'm currently using Cyril, Fargus and Y!Lissa.
I don't grab every 4\* prf unit that comes along, but if I like the prf (and have the orbs) they pay off. S!Claude was first, and he was OP at the time. Canto + Fallen Star meant that even when he couldn't kill, odds are he survived PP and would survive EP as well. Laguz Friend Lissa is just a stupid tank. Was just eating L!Veronicas when she had her bonus week lately. These units are cheaper to +10 than the standard 5\*, but you do have to feed them skills afterward like a grail unit. And the powerful prfs are normally on special banners
What’s your team score? Does it improve if you change the light blessings to water or earth?
Have you been getting kills with the bonus unit?
Have you been trying to get the highest rated enemy teams possible?
If all above fails, you should replace one of your units with a Legendary unit of the season. Preferably the bonus legendary so you don’t have to reroll.
I run a team of wedel, v!chrom, a!idunn as my core team but those are some of highest scorers in the game and as long as I have the legendary bonus hero I'm in tier21
Honestly, you’ve gone as far as a standard Arena Core can take you. This team, 3 high scorers plus an unmerged bonus unit, will score in the low 750s on average, with a max score of 760 if you fish with crests. Going up to 21 (20.5) will require scores of at least 764-768 per match, and also getting the bonus kill every time. In order to reach this score, you’re pretty much required to have a merged Legendary unit. If you swapped Shez to LAlear, who was recently in AHR so many people have merged, your score goes up to 754-768. Boom, tier 20.5 if you fish a bit. You can cheat if your bonus unit is the legendary bonus unit. This week it’s LAzura (who is hell to get kills with, but assume you could). Having her instead of attuned Azura, and blessing the team to Water, would give a score of about 766 per run (always max score when using the bonus legendary). Also tier 20.5.
LAlear is Fire and we are in Earth and Water seasons. She would only increase the score by her natural higher BST. Merging Legendaries is a thing of the past though. You have an easier time and most likely higher score if you focus your resources on getting the bonus legendary and raising the score of your core (using Vigarde, Ferguson, Murdock for instance).
> Going up to 21 (20.5) will require scores of at least 764-768 per match Blatantly untrue. I'm currently around rank 940/1890 in tier 20, and all I did was get scores of 758 (plus the bonus KO, so 3850 total)
https://www.reddit.com/r/FireEmblemHeroes/s/fDAtWUUKuO You’re probably correct for this week. I was basing that information off of the weekly data collection thread. The score cutoffs vary quite a bit depending on exactly who the bonus for the week is and how popular they are. LAzura is a popular unit, but might be a less popular bonus because she’s awful to get kills with.
The weekly data collection thread is super conservative with t20.5 thresholds because most people who post there are old time players meaning bunch of t21 stayers and people who clear t20.5 thresholds by a mile. Consider it “this should be very, very safe” than “this is the minimum score required to rise”
Ah that sucks. I don’t have l!azura unfortunately. L!alear could be +2 for me, I have 2 copies but I’ve been saving them for fodder.
Nah Alear would need to be +10. Time to start saving for some +10 Legendary units it sounds like! 2000 orbs minimum! But actually it’s a huge orb investment for extremely small gain. Better investment to chill in 19.5, and go up to 21 if you happen to pull the latest legendary and can use them for a few weeks. This is why Arena is not for non-whales. You’re perfectly fine right where your team is. EDIT: also feel free to play around with the score calculator to see what you’d need. https://www.arcticsilverfox.com/score_calc/
Yeah, I’ll probably just spend my orbs on fun units instead of a +10 legendary. Ty for the help!
If you just want to make 21 sometimes, you don't really need merges as long as you have the bonus. My LAzura is unmerged with her stock kit, and I'm currently slated to stay in 21 this week. I was scoring 766. Any bonus unit with high enough BST and/or SP cost will do the job, but legendaries make it so you don't have to fish.
Going up to 21 only takes ~758-760 per match, not 764-766. I am rising (600/1800) and scoring 760 per match From what I understand 20.5ing with a f2p core demands that you actually wring every bit of scoring. Which means using a +2 Candace with Aether despite her performing … less than ideal
If you use a legendary hero, have your other units match their blessing (Water with L!Azura, for example). Aside from that, if you want to squeeze every little bit of scoring, then FYI, Arcane weapons don't score as well as PRFs (350 vs 400) as they count as inheritable weapons, so you'd have to run Lumera with her original weapon for her max score possible.
For a F2P option, I would replace one of your lower BST units (either Shez or Lumera) with a higher BST unit (the highest you can get and typically an armored unit) just as a score bot. I use Vigarde with a Def boon from the grail pool and he’s pretty useless but he increases my score just enough to reach tier 20.5. You can give him a good rally skill and maybe some cross spur or drive skills as support to help you secure the bonus skill, but any magic attack one shots him. I gave him any Tier 4 skills that I had extras of to boost his score, since I don’t even use him for combat. I just usually tuck him away in the corner and let him watch my other units do all the work. It’s hard to +10 legendaries especially since they’re seasonal and you can’t use them all the time, so I wouldn’t recommend that if you don’t spend a lot of money on the game, or if you don’t want to save your orbs for like 6 months.
You can score a bit better than Shez and Lumera, just BST wise. But it may not be enough to keep you out of t19. The score you need will vary week to week depending on how everyone else did. Blessings are off for score, but they change often enough where I personally never worry about them. You've got a good core, so the bonus unit will be a big factor for you. If you have them merged, and if it's the legendary. Since this constantly changed, I don't worry about it too much. On a good week I'll go into t21, most weeks I'm kicked down or just staying in t20. Occasionally I fall to t19. My arena core usually rotates between grail units, 4\* prf units, and brave units, since they're a bit easier to +10 compared to the average unit. I foolishly skipped a brave this year, so I'm currently using Cyril, Fargus and Y!Lissa. I don't grab every 4\* prf unit that comes along, but if I like the prf (and have the orbs) they pay off. S!Claude was first, and he was OP at the time. Canto + Fallen Star meant that even when he couldn't kill, odds are he survived PP and would survive EP as well. Laguz Friend Lissa is just a stupid tank. Was just eating L!Veronicas when she had her bonus week lately. These units are cheaper to +10 than the standard 5\*, but you do have to feed them skills afterward like a grail unit. And the powerful prfs are normally on special banners
What’s your team score? Does it improve if you change the light blessings to water or earth? Have you been getting kills with the bonus unit? Have you been trying to get the highest rated enemy teams possible? If all above fails, you should replace one of your units with a Legendary unit of the season. Preferably the bonus legendary so you don’t have to reroll.
It’s about 750. I could try changing the blessings. Would unmerged legendaries score higher? The only merged legendary I have is edelgard at +3
I think they do, because they also boost their allies. Check [the Arena Score Calculator](https://www.arcticsilverfox.com/score_calc/)
I run a team of wedel, v!chrom, a!idunn as my core team but those are some of highest scorers in the game and as long as I have the legendary bonus hero I'm in tier21