to clarify what those shard events are going to look like:

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I am delighted to learn it's not just prism shards

that whats bugged me .. both of those only mention chance to recruit and increase chance of summoning , leading to believe she wont be time exclusive , but plarium like always aint very specific on those...

From Discord:

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Met a +1 Xena in Live Arena last night. I used my usual tanky buff-heavy team: Miscreated Monster (HP lead), Pythion, Noct, Brogni. Xena used her A2 and pretty much halved everyone's HP. I've never seen anyone do that before. She can clearly do very respectable damage IMO. 

Then you haven't seen baron :)

Sorry, to clarify:

When Baron wipes out my team, it's usually a Level 100 player who presumably has OP gear. The opponent using Xena was only Level 58, so I'm presuming they don't yet have OP gear. I have never seen a low-ranking player do so much damage to my team before.

Also, Xena is much more accessible than a specific void legendary such as Baron or Taras. It might be years before I get either of those, if ever. But Xena is available to everyone now, if they don't mind being a low-spender.

If that is a level 58 that is pretty crazy but if that is a +1 Xena then that is a sizable spender. I don't know if level is a good indication of what a normal level 58 will be employing. The way Xena works you don't need to pile on certain stats which frees up other stats. 

She has a meta role but I think her uses will be limited. Against a team that piles on the buffs she will be a force. Against a debuff team she will probably not be good at all. 

I am not at the highest level of arena so I cannot speak for what it is like in those areas but I still feel like this isn't the one meta that they needed so solve for... They gave us WuKong which does a good job of handling these teams if you are smart about when you use his ability. I suppose it helps with the ligtning cage teams but I don't know if they are so common that you have to build a champion around them.

I still think that the one that they need to solve for is the bomb teams. Panda should have been that had they made a few simple changes. The game of, if you survive the inital onslaught you win if you don't you lose isn't a fun game mechanic. Yes, that kind of exists with other teams but not quite so silly. 

Not necessarily a spender for having a +1 Xena, she's empowered by Elder Skarg, not dupes, so someone likely already had one they weren't using

How many level 58's are sitting around with an Eler Skarg they don't need? I would think not many unless they are a decent spender. This person is already obviously a good spender because they bought out everything to get the champ right away, got them up to 60, and them most likely used gems to max out the masteries. 

At level 58 you may have had plenty of resources lying around to make that happen but most will not. I think this was a spender. Where are you at in live arena? Anything above Gold I and they are definately dumping a fair amount of cash. 

Fair points. especially since that was from a couple nights ago, and not today when you have a *chance* to pull Xena from shards.

If it does not make more money for Plarium, it aint happening. When I stopped spending100+usd per month, we did not get any more Legends. Very few Epics, even off of Legion shards. More I bitched, the LESS we got. We have ZERO trust in the money PIT. SOme how, mt onlt 71 level, 24 month toon/champ got "lost" in the game. Still in Clan, but non playable. 8 hrs/day/7/week and ZERO trust.

atamanenkoproductions, 

What game are you playing?  Surely not Raid or any other Gatcha game.  As soon as somone drops a fat stack of cash on Gold Shards & Red Books, their game is transformed beyond that of the average f2p player.

This style of game has monetization baked into the design, and those who pay will have a different experience than those who don't.  If you want all players to have equal opportunities, you should switch to Playstation.              

IMO, the high-end Arena Meta that needs to be "solved for" is the Taras & Marichka duo.  The Ukranian It-Couple is so OP that it dominates high-end arena....just take a look at the Platinum ranks on the last day of the week.  Xena may be Plarium's partial attempt to counter that Meta since a buff-heavy team is a force-multiplier for Taras.  Unfortunately, Xena will mostly land only in p2w accounts, so she will not be enough of a difference maker.   

harleQuinn,

As a Moderator, you called out another poster for denigrating someone else merely for expressing an opinion they disagreed with.  Time for you to look in the mirror.  

Tauruse Goetia expressed his opinion about the nature of spending and in-game competition and how it effects the balance between f2p and p2w players over time.  His thoughts are just as legit as yours or anyone's and are actually quite similar to those shared by multiple Raid Content Creators in their videos.

Furthermore, can you really even deny that his analyis is spot on?  This certainly sounds like the gaem of RAID that I play:  "F2P can get almost everything P2P can but the game evolves, everything gets better, harder, etc. the game like life isn't stagnant, it's either progressing or regressing.  P2P are able to stay at the leading edge of game mechanics and game winnning strategies.  F2P can't maintain the same leading edge, they simply do not have the ability to take advantage of the now like P2P."

Peace & Love.  

Xena will not be able to be pulled from shards after the Champion pass is complete,  and can only be pulled from Shards on the specific days that she is featured as a boosted toon.  

What in the name of pearl clutching nonsense is this? Good grief.

Moderators are also players and thus are able to discuss the game with other players on the forum. The user you're referring to in your second paragraph clearly intended to use their job background - which has nothing to do with Raid, gaming or anything they were using said expertise to prop up - to strengthen their stance. Regardless, it's not your place to interject yourself and finger wag here. 

You're essentially saying that Quinn can't have a dissenting opinion here because she's a moderator, which is just absolute and total nonsense. 

As a runner, I reject your analysis. 😆

"Don't underestimate the attraction a kraken has for absolutely stomping a f2p in a pvp match.

Even though they *know* for a fact the odds are heavily stacked in their favor, winning still beings the same endorphine/dopamine boost."

Yep - hits the point. And you sit there as an 50k and ask yourself "what t h is a dark red 500k+ doing in your class/group at bronze 1? And where is the top limit to be placed in a higher goup/class?".

And Xena. I didn´t see it for a day that I can only get her buying the pass. Not that I wanted her anyway. But yes - putting her behind a pay wall was a bad idea and gives a negative expression.

I know "as an f2p I have to WORK my way up." Which actually is the spice for me to play such games -  the magic word is "work". (Though I invested a bit real money without the expected success). And I love it when a whale tells me "to work my way up". Oh! They shall pay and play - it´s up to them, but in their league amongst others like them. And hey -  the mercy system doesn´t have mercy with me - still only the monkey I´ve got in the beginning for free (and don´t like at all). But yes- in the interview she (I forgot her name) promised that they want to balance the game a bit more. Hope the pay wall isn´t the balance she talked about. "Equal" chances for everyone - that´s the point I agree with and support.

And the usual sentence you get to read in every forum "without us paying for it there wouldn´t be a game". Wrong but somehow also right. Without guys paying they would dump the game. But I know at least one example where it was the other way around. Because the players couldn´t buy advantages they didn´t join. Yes - even Steam refused to offer it on their page. And it was a good game. The core 100 players played it ´til the very last minute . For years until he (the developer) had taken it off the net because it didn´t find more to join. But someone here did mention it heree "in the beginning the f2p are necessary to get the show running. But as soon that the game has a good bunch of followers the f2p are of no interest anymore - cash rules the world. And this is in nearly every game I played - the whales rule. Years ago I stopped playing this game. Though it is actually a very good game. Now I´m in here again since about 2 months. But it still needs to have certain issues solved. (droprates, the mercy system and some othere stuff). But this belongs in a different thread.

Well, I was originally planning on buying her, but now I'm cooling down from the idea. The champ looks interesting, but I'm beginning to question whether it's worth paying £40 for a champion who probably won't do much to progress my account.