Greetings Captains! Hopefully your battles in Season 6 are going well. The first Conquest is just behind us, but there’s always a battle raging in the arena!
Arena Meta
The arena meta is somewhat flexible. Unlike other games that have shifting rulesets, Mercenaries are pretty consistent in their abilities in the arena. You can reliably assume that your team from last season will fill about the same role in the next, and battles themselves don’t really change.
There are, however, a few reasons that the meta strategy shifts over time. First, there’s season features. Each season, three Mercenaries have a huge boost to their stats. This makes them exceptionally suited to winning in the arena.
In the case of Season 6, Laila, Laction, and Bianca are all boosted for the season.
That 100% bonus is pretty significant. For Bianca, that represents more attack than she’ll get from a 7* Weapon. Laction has incredibly powerful crits this season as well, and Laila’s boosted HP makes her shields a HUGE factor in arena combat.
In addition to these seasonal buffs, there are also the season special features that can influence the balance of power within the arena.
In season 6, this means a significant attack speed boost to all water mercenaries. Definitely more in favor of Bianca and Laila here.
Team Evolution
While the abilities of Mercenaries are consistent from season to season, the buffs and features of each season combined with the appearance of new Mercenaries can slowly shift what teams are popular.
In season 1 and 2, you were very likely to see a lot of the following strategy at the top levels of arena combat:
That fast Val meta is still around. As more Mercenaries are introduced, new strategies arise to combat the reigning teams.
Just a few seasons ago, you were far more likely to see battles that started differently.
When Jin Ryu entered the battle, his leader skill with a full team stun after their first hit changed the arena meta entirely! This strategy is still useful, but new tactics have emerged.
The Laila Meta
This season Laila has 100% increased HP. She also has a powerful leader skill.
Starting with a shield as big as Laila’s health and almost guaranteed evasion from attacks is significant. The one-hit KO Val strategy is stopped by this strategy.
Including Laila’s ultimate skill on her first move creates a powerful defensive tactic. Even if the shield is chiseled away to damage one opponent, they get a full heal. Additionally, the two-hit barriers and debuff immunity limit strategies like Alex’s bombs or Laction’s stacking debuffs.
The meta now shapes like this:
Although challenging, fighting against a Laila team with a different composition is possible, but the fast KO strategies of previous seasons have slowed down.
The rise of Laila makes other Mercenaries more useful in different ways. Lucas or William’s shields can match up to Laila’s, providing endurance. Using Zarkhan or Wang to apply sleep or stun can halt Laila’s ultimate skill, or employing Camilla for silence right from the start can be effective.
Fighting for Victory
The arena awaits, Captains! How will you navigate this season’s meta?
Experiment with different combinations. Discover what works with the popular teams of this season. Perhaps you’ll uncover a dominating combo that leads you to victory!
Credit: news.gala.com
