Heroes and survivors: To level or not to level

Saturn · June 2021

First, I would like to say thanks for all the helpful replies in my previous topics. I meant to say thanks there, but replies kept getting added... and then not anymore... and then it felt like I would be necroing the thread if I'd just reply to say thanks. So I'd also like to already offer my thanks in advance this time!

So, my question this time is about how I should level my survivors. I'm aware of the fact that you should go with a core team and also only unlock the heroes you really want to use until you're at max level. So for a while, I've had the idea of leveling my main team, drag along (lagging a couple levels behind) the heroes I've unlocked before I knew that and also have at least one regular survivor of each class that I try to level up (not quite as high as the heroes). I do find though, that this does (and even moreso will) add up in XP needed; and I mean technically, there's always radio calls that can give higher level regular survivors.

Currently, I have the following:

Most used characters: Daryl (hunter, lvl 20, 4 stars), Sasha (lvl 20, 5 stars), Abraham (lvl 20, 3 stars... I swear his tokens are ultra-rare), Maggie (lvl 20, 3 stars; just unlocked her on this level because XP bonus), a regular assault (lvl 20, 4 stars) and a regular shooter (lvl 20, 4 stars).

I have Glenn (scout) at lvl 18 currently with 4 stars. I mainly use him on supply missions if I want more tomatoes. That, and he's great for low-level "grab the supplies and leave" outpost missions, which I usually do for some hero or class based daily tasks.

I have a scout (4 stars), a warrior (3 stars), a bruiser (5 stars, from a recent radio event) and a hunter (4 stars) at level 17.

And then I have Carol (3 stars) and Rosita (3 stars) at level 16. I've unlocked those before I learned that it's not the best idea to do so before level 28.

I also try to level the weapons for my main characters to one level above character level. That way I have a good chance of onehitting walkers on supply runs. Daryl doesn't have that yet currently, though; because I gave his weapon to Maggie after unlocking her. I do not upgrade the armors, as it's not really needed for what I do (it just sucks when an enemy assault runs out of a certain lodge AFTER your move and attacks in the same turn and gets all of your survivors into orange despite being a lower level... looking at you, last challenge).

But yes; that's a lot of XP on the way to level 28. Even moreso since the regular surivors can be gotten at higher levels with radio calls (even if you just get them through bad luck in hero calls or through good luck with the free daily call); though I don't know what the max level is that you can eventually get with that.

I technically want to keep leveling the main characters, because I use them frequently and also replace them with eachother when the other ones are injured. Also, I've rescued that shooter in a story mission; she has decent traits and happens to share her name with my wife, so I can't just abandon her.

Glenn is obviously useful for tomatoes, and Carol and Rosita... well, I'll drag them along for now. Slowly.

The regular lower level survivors... well. The 5-star bruiser actually has decent traits I think; so I probably should keep him. The other ones... debatable.

So, I'm sorry for this wall of text. I hope I haven't repeated myself too much. What's your take on this? What should I do; what makes the most sense?

Bonus question (semi-related): Does the token-cost of trait rerolls go up with each trait-level, or only with each pink star? Meaning if a hero has 5 (regular) stars; should I upgrade the traits up until before the next promotion, or should I wait until I've rerolled the traits the way I want them/the way they are recommended?

IcePeter · June 2021

It’s all personal preference. If you’re racing to max level, don’t unlock anybody and promote a core team of about 20. I chose to unlock and promote most everybody and level more slowly since I was focused on Distance rewards and wasn’t necessarily looking forward to having nothing left to update. Long game vs smelling the flowers along the way.

Trait level increases reroll tokens, so you can wait until you reach the undesirable trait to reroll it.

[Deleted User] · June 2021

well well well

as the last standing knight of low level I'm suggesting you raise your heroes to max level

ATLAS-Z · June 2021

@Crocodile a "Knight" is traditionally thought of as an "honorable" warrior.

You allow yourself to exploit an advantage that's not even possible to duplicate anymore (should anyone actually desire to).

That said, your flaunting doesn't bother me as much as it bothers some, but perhaps you're deluding yourself? Perhaps a new label instead of knight?

Something bold like... The Iron Weasel?

I can come up with more, if you need help brainstorming.

(ps respect what you do with your charts and lists bro, so keep it up, but your gameplay continues to cast shade on what could really be a solid player)

[Deleted User] · June 2021

ATLAS-Z said:

I can come up with more, if you need help

I'm Batman, bro
Batman no need help

ATLAS-Z · June 2021

Ahhhh "The Dork Knight"... Gotcha

Burmeliinis · June 2021

Saturn said:

Bonus question (semi-related): Does the token-cost of trait rerolls go up with each trait-level, or only with each pink star? Meaning if a hero has 5 (regular) stars; should I upgrade the traits up until before the next promotion, or should I wait until I've rerolled the traits the way I want them/the way they are recommended?

Cost is dependent on trait level. So best to reroll everything as soon as you get to legendary.

Burmeliinis · June 2021

The radio tent will max out at lvl 18, so you won't get survivors above that level. So feel free to upgrade survivors that you feel you need, but be aware that later on you won't really use survivors at all, only heroes.

Saturn · June 2021

Thanks everyone for the helpful answers!

I've decided to bring Scout Glenn up to my core team's level. I'll drag the regular surivors that are not part of my core team along for now; although only whenever I feel like it. I mean, I can (and have to) still use them for The Distance.

As for Carol and Rosita... I guess I'll also slowly raise their levels still. They'll eventually get there, haha.

FuriousMoldovan · June 2021

@Saturn I'll advice to have Sasha and Abe as your go-to, Daryl Hunter is a great until you unlock better heroes.
Would be a good idea to have 1-2 scouts and a solid bruiser on max level. If you participate in GW - Sasha, Abe, bruiser team could be a solid choice.
As for scout Glenn (we call him PGG - Pizza Guy Glenn), I'd rather focus on Carol - she has much higher base damage boost and better LT (leader trait) for your level. Frankly, I still have PGG several levels behind and badge-less and use him only for missions where fast crate "unlock" and run is needed.
Rosita could be a good choice for a second assault for now in Sasha, Abe, Rosita team but don't reroll/invest much in her or Maggie - you won't use them later anyways. Hope that helps.

Saturn · June 2021

@FuriousMoldovan Thanks. The idea behind PGG and Maggie is to farm tomatoes and XP more efficiently; though it's hard to tell if their bonuses make up for the fact that you'll need to level them too. For the longest time, my go-to team was indeed Abraham, Daryl (hunter) and Sasha (with regular assault and a regular shooter to switch out when needed; mainly if one or two of the three heroes are injured). What do you think? Are PGG and Maggie worth it for the sake of leveling?

As for Carol, I do not normally use melee characters so far. They simply lack killing efficiency at this level and with standard weapons. Anything a scout can do, a shooter can do much better. Of course this may change once I'm maxed out and have the fancy scout weapons and stuff, though; but it's probably gonna take at least a couple more months until I'm getting to max level... and the weapons... well, iirc Scout Rick comes with one when you first unlock him.

I do have a decent regular bruiser. Or well; quite good actually, as far as I can tell. He started out with five stars (from a recent radio event) and all but one of his traits are at least nice to have for bruisers, according to JayZ's guide. But for now, the same counts for him as for scouts - he's not a character I'd normally use, except for Distance missions because there I'll obviously use every character I have up until I've either finished or everyone's dead. I'm not anywhere near the point yet where I could successfully attempt missions with walkers more than 2 levels above my characters, unless I can throw more than one set of people at them until I succeed.

Thanks again for your input!

Edit:

If you participate in GW

Not so far. I'm in a two-person guild together with my wife, haha.

FuriousMoldovan · June 2021

@Saturn Gotcha, sorry, it's been years since I worried about farming or actively upgrading buildings, survivors, and gear

I guess Governor, Maggie, and PGG would be the best choice for farming.
Out of what you have, keep having Sasha, Abe, Daryl Hunter on max level, everyone else should be secondary. Sasha and Abe are some of the best even on top lvl until you unlock Princess as your best assault.
Oh and don't spend reinforcement tokens on mediocre gear, easier just to find and upgrade the new ones.

Saturn · June 2021

Thanks!

Oh and don't spend reinforcement tokens on mediocre gear, easier just to find and upgrade the new ones.

I actually have no idea what those even do or how you would use them. Just like with badge-crafting, there isn't really any information around; neither ingame nor online. Unless the wiki has some information about it; but for all I know that might be as outdated as pretty much everything else that's in it. But yeah, it's only logical to assume that anything besides regular upgrading would be a major waste on equipment that's going to get exchanged soon anyway.

Sasha and Abe are some of the best even on top lvl

Interestingly, I seem to have an absurdly hard time with finding Abraham tokens. He just made it to three stars (with all traits still being level 2...), while Sasha is at 5 stars and I would have enough tokens to upgrade a trait already (which I'm not going to do yet because I assume I should first do all the necessary rerolling). And that's despite Abraham being the first hero I've unlocked after Daryl (who you get automatically). Sasha came way later.

FuriousMoldovan · June 2021

@Saturn you must be lucky then! Sasha is the best hunter by far with her LT. Definitely first collect her tokens to reroll her traits to Revenge, Ruthless, Critical Aim, Lucky - preferably in this order top to bottom but not necessarily. I can't recall what her original traits are

I remember Abe as being very easy to upgrade and Daryl Hunter, since they were the first heroes to appear in game sometimes in early 2016 along with PGG, Maggie, Carol, and Michonne I think?
I would invest in Abe right after Sasha, he will server you well all the way to the top lvl!

Novell · June 2021

@Saturn

I have one regular survivor for each class, that is more than enough. So i can use the survivor tokens from distance and challenge and use them for "regular survivor start charged" event.

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