Early: Farmer to 6* for 12.3 Brutal
Mid: Dragon 20, other dungeons 17+
Late: Arbiter missions done, 80%+ on FW, 70/80+ Hard Doom. If monthly fusions/fragments are easy you are probably here.
End: Completed Hard DT (maybe not all secret rooms), Lydia (or very close), Gold Tag Arena
I would classify myself as very Late game, 110+ in DT each month. Only 4 or 5 factions not at stage 21, though 2 haven't beat 14 LOL. Sliding between S2 and S4 in Tag (if you think classic is tough, ...).
From another angle:
Early: I don't have a fkn clue what I am doing
Mid: I never have enough energy
Late: I don't have time to use my energy, keys, tokens, ...
End: My 3 Septimus got nerfed, my dungeon runs are longer than 30 seconds now, but when are level 30 dungeons with no rare gear coming out?
I feel like the game has expanded to 6 different phases vs. 4 phases.
My way of thinking would be the following:
1. Early Game - Things which require 1 Strong Hero to win vs. a Team of Heroes.
Campaign - Normal Mode, Hard Mode, & Brutal Mode
Faction Wars - Stage 1 to 3
Early game is about focusing on 1 hero and making that hero the best they can be as an individual.
Example:
Starter hero like Kael
A lvl 50 Kael would be able to Solo Hard Mode of Campaign.
A lvl 50 Kael would be able to Solo Dark Elf Faction War Stage 1 to 3.
Keep in mind, we are not building teams here.
We are just using up Energy + Faction Keys we get from Dailies.
2. Pre-Mid Game - The Transition from a Solo Hero mindset to Team mindset
Clan Boss - Easy Mode to Hard Mode
This is the first step in learning how to use heroes with different individuals qualities and trying to make them function successfully in a team environment.
Clan Boss is the most researched & talked about thing in the game.
Clan Boss teams allow players to think in terms of "Roles".
In my experience, Players which skip Clan Boss suffer from the "Roles" concept.
To build a good CB team, You need heros which offer something different to the team.
Hero A "Role" in team is to do Decrease Attack
Hero B "Role" in team is to do Decrease Defense
If a person is Good in Math, but Bad in English.
You pair them up with someone who is Good in English , but Bad in Math.
Why? Because they cover each others weaknesses and that is a successful "Team"
Clan Boss is the Foundation & the Back Bone of all things in this game.
3. Post-Mid Game - Dungeon Teams + Faction Wars + Arena
Potion Keeps - To Ascend your CB Team
Minotaur - To get Masteries for your CB team
Dragon - To get Better Gear vs. Campaign Gear for your CB Team
Spider - To get Accessories for your CB Team
Ice Golem & Fire Knight - To finish Missions
You begin to see how the previous steps begin to stack on top of each other.
Step 1 = Teaches you to spam out 6 stars faster
Step 2 = Lets you learn about what heros to 6 star in a CB team setting
Step 3 = Build up the CB team with Potions, Masteries, Better Gear, & Accessories
Faction Wars plays small role here due to Forge.
The Forge offers gears which are Clan Bossed related/useable
- Perception
- Resilience
I wouldn't recommend building Faction War teams, but I do think a player might begin to make some progress.
You are using lvl 60 heroes in CB - You toss them into random Faction Crypts.
You will be able to beat some Stages.
In my personal opinion, You don't really need a Faction War team till 2nd Boss.
Stage 14 to Stage 21 can be very tough and you might need a strategy to win.
Stages 1 to Stage 13 are fairly winnable with out a team.
In most cases, you need 1 or 2 strong heroes which can carry your team.
You can beat alot of stages with out trying to beat the stages.
Example:
Tayrel is amazing in Clan Boss for Decrease Attack.
You build Tayrel for CB in Lifesteal gear to help your CB team.
You Tayrel is lvl 60 + Full Masteries + Full Ascension + Fully Booked + Max Gear
Lets not beat around the Bush here.
Your Tayrel is going to start wrecking Face!
You originally built him for CB.
You spent all your time & effort making the team better & better & better.
The result is the heroes will begin Flexing.
Tayrel presence is starting to be felt as side effect.
You built Tayrel up so strong that he is imposing his will in other area's of game.
Your not even focused in other area.
It is simply happening.
This also transition to Arena.
Tayrel can be great for Arena for AOE Def Down.
The benefit of the champion can be wide spread in various things.
4. Pre-Late Game - Acquiring Arbiter + Faction Wars + Normal DT
At this point , you have got Arbiter.
- Normal to Brutal Campaign is done
- Clan Boss is done
- Dungeon Stage 20 is done
- Arena Gold 4 is done
What you need to work on now is getting Lydia.
- Faction Wars - Full 3 stars
- Normal Doom Tower - Floor 120 Completed
5. Post-Late Game - Acquiring Lydia + NM Campaign + Dungeon + Hard DT + Tag Arena
At this point, you have got Lydia
- Normal to Brutal Campaign is done
- Clan Boss is done
- Dungeon Stage 20 is done
- Arena Gold 4 is done
- Faction Wars is done
- Normal DT is done
What you need to work on is getting Ramantu.
- Nightmare Campaign - Full 3 star
- Dungeon Stage 25 - Auto
- Hard Doom Tower - Floor 120 Completed
- Tag Arena - Gold 1
6. End Game - Acquiring Ramantu + Praying for New Content + Arena
At this point, you beat everything in the game.
The only thing you have left to do is pray the game releases something new.
The only joy you get as End Game Player is Arena.
As of right now, No one is End Game.
All the previous End Game players are considered Post-Late Game.