Is levelling non A+ tier heroes a waste?

[Zeus]

I’ve hit a stage in the game where I’m genuinely questioning whether it’s worth leveling new 5★ heroes anymore.

With how limited Alpha Aethers are (for those of us not fortunate enough to be able to buy every offer or buy in to every alpha mimic) it feels like you have to save them for only the absolute top-tier heroes. Since second limit break (to 90) is basically required to stay competitive at higher levels, anything that isn’t elite feels like a bad investment.

Because of that, I’ve got new 5★ heroes just sitting there unlevelled. Even if they’re good, they’re not “must-2LB” good and without that second limit break, they feel underpowered compared to fully maxed teams.

It creates this strange situation where
You pull new heroes
You’re excited for a minute
Then you realise you probably shouldn’t level them because Alpha Aethers are too scarce and makes you question just holding on to the other materials as a result too
So they just sit there

It makes progression feel gated in a way that discourages experimenting or building depth.

Am I alone in feeling this way?
How are you all handling Alpha Aether allocation?

Are you
Only 2LB’ing absolute meta heroes?
Still leveling new heroes even if they may never reach 90?

Curious how others approach this, because right now it feels like hoarding is the only rational strategy and that’s not very fun.

[NevarMaor]

Levelling non-A+ heroes depends on your situation in the game. I still level up most heroes, although I have had Isrod sitting at 1-1 for four years now. Other heroes keep jumping the red queue. For me, non-A+ are still useful for wars, elemental quests, towers (when I decide to do them), etc. Not so much for raids. But my go-to raid team does include Vainamoinen who I don't think was ever considered A+.

[Sillyboy]

It's definitely very frustrating to get a 5* that's basically garbage vs other 5* heroes. I pulled Freya in the elemental summon a few days ago and was pretty bummed knowing she'll just be SE fodder. It would be nice for all 5* to have the same stats vs another 5*, but I know SG won't do that for free. That's why so many costumes. If they would at least just give every 5* a costume with the same stats vs another in the same roll (tank, support, healer, dps, etc), then we could summon and that would be that. There are so many abilities, families, and passives that the variety of team builds wouldn't make the game boring. Just my $0.02. 

[JoshuaK]

I try and limit every 5* as costumes are sure to come and, if it's new to me, it must be good as there are so many I don't have. What I don't like about a vanilla 5* is that if I 2 lb and emblem to 25, when a costume comes, I lose the ability to reemblem for the costume and not lose the 50 master emblems used to take the hero to 25. Personally, I hadn't been 2lb most 5* so I had plenty. Season of love though changed that as I received three of the top four and they became 2lb. As always, it's never a waste of it fits your current situation. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Why wait for a better hero that may take forever to come? 

[Pr0spero]

I never pull current Meta heroes, but I think im getting the next shelf down. 

Shortages of Aethers, 4* ascension mats and Alphas mean im always picking and choosing who can get maxed. 

And yeah, I do find it frustrating, but I dont store the materials. I just max the current best option I have. 

[Spinach]

Depends on your point of view and aims I guess.
From my perspective, no it's not a waste.

For reference, I am fully FTP, lvl 77, been playing for 4 years and currently have 71 5*'s in my roster (including all dupes & unlevelled crap etc). 26 alpha aethers in stock.

I don't have 6 war teams of 5* and by the end I'm probably using some of my best 3*s. 2LB is reserved for the best and those who I see myself using often and for a long time. Any hero who is going to be used but is not top-tier (relatively) gets 1LB. Any hero who might be used at some point or I'm levelling simply 'cos I've got no one better in that colour stays at 80 unless they prove themselves good in a fight!

1LB heroes are very useful for me, yes 2LB would be better but I can do without.

It also depends on the hero. Eg Von Rothbart, he's great, he can shut down a bunch of enemies and does good damage as well, however he's only at 85. 2LB will not improve him all that much beyond better survivabilty, it's his ability not his raw power that's his strength, so he's not top priority for aethers.

TL;DR? For me, no. For top players, probably yes.

 

Edit:

I counted up my heroes, out of interest.

Lvl 90: 14
Lvl 85: 12
Lvl 80: 16

Is this relevant? I have no idea 

Edited yesterday at 12:07 PM by Spinach (see edit history)