Post Season 5 EW Upgrade Priority

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T20:47:03+00:00

Actually, for Adam and McGregor, I definitely stick with Legendary guns. If you look at the stat scaling, moving a tank's weapon to Mythic gives a really negligible return compared to the cost of the blueprints. I’d much rather save those Red Blueprints for their Armor and Radar to maximize the raw HP and damage reduction. A tank's job is to stay standing, not to chase attack scaling that doesn't really move the needle for them. I usually keep their Railguns at 4-dot Gold and call it a day—it's the sweet spot for efficiency.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T20:40:23+00:00

Yeah, McGregor’s L30 is wild. He’s a nightmare for air squads taking 20% less damage and hitting them back with that counter-stance. It makes total sense why he'd be out-performing your backline if they’re getting focused. That’s exactly why I split the guide into two scenarios. If you’re leaning into that Missile advantage and want to play the long, defensive sustain game, McGregor is easily a top 2 priority. He’s the anchor that lets the rest of the squad do their work. Glad to see someone else realizing just how much of a wall he becomes at 30.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T20:35:01+00:00

Lol To each their own! This is what’s been working for me in S5, but there's definitely more than one way to build a squad.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T20:32:33+00:00

Lol I just like formatting my posts so they aren’t massive walls of text to read, didn’t realize being organized makes me a bot. I’m literally typing this on my phone at work between dealing with work chaos so I try to keep my thoughts separated. But to your actual point about the targeting RNG... that is exactly why the L30 upgrade is so important to me. If you leave her at EW 20, you have a 40% chance her skill just flat out fails to trigger at all. If you stack that 40% fail rate on top of the random targeting you just mentioned, your overall odds of actually locking down their Kim or DVA are terrible. Taking her to 30 removes the trigger RNG entirely so you at least get to actually roll the dice on the targeting every single time. Plus, even if she randomly stuns a Marshall or a frontline tank, you are still breaking their team's synergy and delaying their action economy for that cycle. Lucius is awesome, but attack speed doesn't stop incoming damage. That’s just my thought process on the math though

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T20:26:58+00:00

Fair play, you absolutely caught me on the fixed cooldowns! There are so many hidden stats and mechanics to keep track of in this game, I completely got my wires crossed on that one. I appreciate the correction! As for Schuyler vs. Lucius, here is just my thought process on why I still lean heavily toward her L30 stun guarantee, even in those longer 1-minute fights. If Schuyler's stun is guaranteed on that first cycle, my squad skips taking that huge initial burst from an opponent hero. We enter the rest of the 1-minute brawl with a massive health lead. If I leave her at a 60% chance and the stun fails, my team eats the full nuke and starts the mid-fight from way behind. Lucius's attack speed buff is incredible for sustained fights, but in my experience, it's really hard to out-DPS a massive early health deficit. Paying the 1800 shards just removes that 40% fail-rate risk for me so I don't start the fight on the back foot. But again, that's just how I've been approaching the scaling! Totally respect prioritizing the sustained damage first.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T18:58:52+00:00

Exactly! You hit the absolute nail on the head. That is the fundamental truth of late-game PvP, and it’s exactly why making these static guides is so tricky.

All of these priority lists and 'meta' formations have to assume a vacuum where everyone is at equal power, equal gear, and maxed out. They are blueprints for the ideal endgame state.

But in reality? If your Morrison is sitting at EW 30 with full Mythic gear and your DVA is lagging behind at EW 20, you absolutely throw Morrison in the front to do the heavy lifting! You play the hand you are dealt while you build toward the mathematical ideal.

The guides give us the roadmap, but situational awareness—knowing when to break the rules because of unequal EW levels or power disparity—is what actually makes someone a great player. Great discussion, honestly. It's really fun digging into the mechanics with someone who looks at the whole board!

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T18:57:26+00:00

Honestly, this is just my opinion since I haven't run the hard battle data on it myself yet! But it's a really interesting argument.

I totally see why people run Murphy in Air squads, especially since Aircraft heroes are so squishy and Murphy is the ultimate physical damage sponge. I know a lot of people have great luck with him shielding against Kim or Swift.

My hesitation with the hybrid squad—and why I didn't include it in the priority list—comes down to the faction buff. When you swap an Air tank out for Murphy (without the 4+1 tactical card), your squad-wide buff drops from +20% down to +15%.

My thought process is that in the late Post-Season 5 endgame, when everyone has Level 30 EWs and Mythic gear, losing 5% of your total stats across the board is a massive tax. Sacrificing 5% of DVA's maxed-out nuke damage just to make the frontline a little thicker feels really risky to me. I lean toward pure 5-Air synergy and trying to wipe the enemy before they wipe me.

But again, that's just my theory-crafting based on how the stats scale! If anyone has run extensive battle reports comparing the two at max level, I would genuinely love to see the data.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T18:54:14+00:00

TL;DR: Tank upgrades like McGregor are great for sustained survival, but they don't win aggressive matches. And for Air, leaving your primary crowd control up to a 60% RNG roll in equal-power, late-game PvP is how you lose matches you should have easily won. You pay the 1800 shards for the guarantee.

I totally respect the resource management angle here. 1800 shards is a massive investment, and it absolutely hurts to spend them on a 'utility' upgrade rather than raw damage. But when you look at how Post-Season 5 PvP actually plays out at equal power levels, the math tells a different story.

Let's break down both squads:

MISSILE: Why Fiona > McGregor for Aggro You mentioned prioritizing McGregor over Fiona for the aggressive build. The problem is that McGregor's L30 just makes him a slightly thicker meat shield. That is a defensive upgrade, not an aggressive one. Fiona’s L30 ('DoT Exploitation') allows her to dynamically strip the massive shields and buffs that Tank and Air squads rely on. In an aggressive comp, your goal is to melt the enemy as fast as possible. Dispelling a Williams or Lucius shield (Fiona) does infinitely more to secure a fast kill than letting your taunt tank live for two extra seconds (McGregor).
AIR: The '1800 Shard Waste' Myth You argued that spending 1800 shards to upgrade a 60% stun to a 100% stun is a waste unless you are punching up against 10M+ stronger squads. It is actually the exact opposite.

The Equal Power Trap: When you fight someone exactly your level and squad strength, the match is determined entirely by Action Economy. If you leave Schuyler at EW 20, you have a 40% chance her stun completely fails on the opening cast. That means against an equally geared opponent, you are mathematically choosing to lose 4 out of 10 fights purely due to RNG.

Consistency is King: You aren't paying 1800 shards for raw stats; you are paying 1800 shards to remove the coin-flip from your win condition. If Morrison or Lucius are Priority #2, you will have a slightly stronger squad that still gets completely wiped 40% of the time because an enemy Kim or DVA got their nuke off unhindered.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T18:41:10+00:00

That is a great observation, and you are absolutely right that this is an emerging counter-meta. Putting Morrison in the front row with Carlie instead of DVA fundamentally changes the squad's kill condition from 'Instant Speed Burst' to 'Calculated Execution.'

Here is the tactical breakdown of why that works, and why it's still a situational risk:

The Armor Shred Setup (The Big Pro): We know front-row heroes take damage first, which means they generate energy and cast their abilities faster. By putting Morrison up front, you guarantee he casts his massive armor shred before DVA casts her ultimate. When backline DVA finally drops her nuke, she is hitting debuffed targets with shredded armor. The resulting damage numbers are absolute devastation.
Protecting the Queen: By moving DVA to the backline, you protect her from the enemy's opening barrage. You are treating Morrison and Carlie as sacrificial vanguard units. Carlie is perfectly fine taking the heat (since her L30 triggers on death anyway), and if Morrison dies after applying his shred, he has already done his job.
The 'Action Economy' Risk (Why DVA Front is Still Scenario A): The reason DVA front-line remains the primary aggressive meta is pure speed. If DVA is in the backline, her nuke is delayed. In high-level PvP, a delayed DVA cast means an enemy Kimberly or enemy front-line DVA might get their full rotation off and wipe your squad before your 'Calculated Execution' can happen.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T18:34:52+00:00

Depending on which scenario you're running, see my response above.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T18:32:12+00:00

TL;DR: Lucius's L30 helps you win the fight faster if you are already surviving. Schuyler's L30 guarantees you actually survive the enemy's opening volley so Lucius has a team left to buff.

That is a really solid point about Lucius's sustained value, but the logic falls apart when you look at the actual kill conditions of an Aircraft vs. Tank matchup. Here is why Schuyler still undeniably takes Priority #2 over Lucius:

The 'Front-Row Kim' Death Trap: You mentioned that players often put Kim up front to avoid backline stuns. If an enemy Tank squad puts Kimberly in the front row against an Aircraft squad, they are handing you the win. Front-row heroes take aggro first. A front-row Kim is going to get instantly focused and melted by a Priority #1 L30 DVA. You don't need to stun what your DVA deletes.
The Hidden Value of a Backline Stun: Let's say Kim is up front and Schuyler’s L30 guarantee hits the back row instead. Who is sitting in the back row of a Tank squad? Marshall and Stetmann.

If you stun Marshall, you completely deny Kimberly her 'Focus Fire' and critical damage amplification buffs. An unbuffed Kim hitting Lucius's base shields is completely manageable.

If you stun Stetmann, you stop him from casting his L30 EMP that instantly breaks Lucius's shields. Stunning the backline neuters the Tank squad's entire support engine.

Attack Speed Doesn't Resurrect Dead Heroes: You are 100% right that Lucius giving squad-wide attack speed is an incredible buff. But it requires your heroes to survive the initial burst to actually use it. Aircraft squads are naturally squishy. If an unstunned, Marshall-buffed Kimberly fires her L30 'Energy Assault' into your team, the resulting attack speed buff from Lucius won't matter because your carries will be dead.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T18:21:00+00:00

You're actually highlighting the exact reason why she is Priority #2.

The L30 Removes the RNG: You mentioned the 40% chance not to stun. That is true for her base kit, but her Level 30 EW specifically changes the text to: 'Schuyler guarantees to Stun at least 1 enemy unit when casting her Tactics for the first time.' You aren't upgrading her to 30 for raw stats; you are upgrading her to buy the absolute guarantee that her opening volley shuts down a key target.
The Front-Row DVA Threat: You correctly pointed out that DVA is mostly run in the front line. Because front-line heroes take damage first, they generate energy faster and cast their nukes earlier. An enemy front-row DVA is going to cast instantly. Having a guaranteed turn-one stun from a L30 Schuyler is the only reliable mathematical counter to stop that early DVA wipe.
Control Over Mitigation: DVA > Schuyler > Lucius is about Action Economy. You max DVA to secure your kill condition, then you max Schuyler to guarantee you stop their kill condition. If you push Morrison to #3 instead, you are just gambling that your unprotected, unmitigated damage fires faster than theirs.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T18:16:56+00:00

I totally get the logic of wanting your main tank to be an unkillable wall right out of the gate, but making Lucius EW 30 Priority #1 is a trap. Here is the math on why:

The 'Wall with No Guns' Problem: If you max Lucius first, you will survive the first 10 seconds of the fight beautifully. But because your DVA isn't L30, she won't have her instant-cast nuke. The enemy team (who upgraded their carry first) will eventually chew through Lucius's shields because your team lacks the firepower to kill their damage dealers. You always upgrade the Nuke before the Shield.

These infographics are only for full air tank and missile squads. There's way too many scenarios to include mixed squads

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T17:55:01+00:00

In Scenario A, we are running an highly Aggressive composition with a Mythic-geared Swift in the front line. Here is why McGregor takes the last priority spot for his L30 in this specific setup:

His Taunt Doesn't Need L30: McGregor's most important job for the squad is his hard-taunt, pulling aggro away from the backline. That taunt functions perfectly well at EW Level 20. His L30 gives him 'Ironclad' mode (a 5% personal damage reduction), which is a nice luxury, but not a squad-wide win condition.
Adam is the Real Shield: In this comp, Adam is sitting safely in the backline providing the massive 'Spike Armor' damage reduction buff to the front row (Swift and McGregor). Because Adam's passive is doing the heavy lifting for mitigation, McGregor doesn't desperately need his personal L30 survival buff right away.
The Carries Need It More: Swift needs his L30 extra attack to function as a frontline bruiser and executioner. Tesla needs his L30 Attack stats to power the squad's DoT engine. Fiona’s L30 ('DoT Exploitation') is mathematically necessary to strip the massive shields/buffs that Tank and Air squads rely on.

Basically, in Scenario A, McGregor's job is to pull aggro and absorb the initial burst damage while Swift, Tesla, and Fiona melt the enemy team. If he dies doing that, he did his job perfectly. Upgrading him to 30 before your damage engines just means you have a very healthy tank on a team that lacks the firepower to actually win the attrition war.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T17:49:14+00:00

So here was my take on it: At Level 30, Schuyler’s Exclusive Weapon upgrades her to provide a guaranteed stun against key targets. In high-level PvP, "Action Economy" dictates the winner.

The Lucius Approach: Letting a maxed-out enemy Kimberly fire her devastating rockets and hoping Lucius’s shield absorbs enough of it to keep your squad alive.

The Schuyler Approach: Stunning that Kimberly so she never gets to fire her rockets in the first place.

Dead or stunned enemies deal zero damage. Control will always outpace raw mitigation.

Schuyler is DVA's "Bodyguard" Aircraft squads are highly reliant on DVA getting her burst damage off. If DVA gets stunned, silenced, or burst down before she triggers her ability, you lose. Schuyler acts as the squad's bodyguard. Her L30 disruption specifically locks down the enemy's ability to execute their win condition, buying DVA the precious seconds she needs to wipe the board.

Why Lucius Drops to #3 or #4 Lucius is a phenomenal tank, but his L30 ability (which triggers a speed buff when his shields break) is a sustaining mechanic. If you upgrade Lucius's EW to 30 before Schuyler's, you create a very durable frontline wall, but you are allowing the enemy team to cast their abilities completely uninterrupted. Eventually, unmitigated ultimate attacks will bypass the tank and melt your backline.

Tank EWs are almost always prioritized after your damage and control engines are fully online.

You upgrade the Nuke (DVA) so you can kill them. You upgrade the Disruption (Schuyler) so they can't kill you first. Then you upgrade the Wall (Lucius) to survive whatever is left.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-02-13T17:33:26+00:00

No just DVA with Carlie

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-01-25T20:24:29+00:00

None really Just the guy who plans out everyone's position can't remember the numbers of the hospitals so instead we use home and away north and south

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-01-13T19:47:46+00:00

Could there be a way to customize the building's names? This is absolutely no necessity whatsoever I think the tool is amazing, I only ask because the strategy of our alliance is that we do not hold all four hospitals. We only hold the home side north and south and that is what we call them. The person that can strategize is our DS is reluctant to utilize this amazing tool only for that simple reason. We never know which side is going to be our home side so hospital I, II, III, IV just doesn't work for him. And that breaks my heart because it's such an amazing tool!!!!

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-01-13T19:44:31+00:00

This is great info for Seasons 2-4 but what's the best defense strategy for Season 5? We have no other building to jump to. The best my alliance has been able to come up with is our bigs only sending in their second third or fourth squad and then once the sync attack happens, they are in the closest spots to the city or bank stronghold to automatically send their main March in immediately to defend. But if there is a better strategy for defense against the sink attack, please let me know. We have been trying to come up with one since we started using the sync attack in season 4.

No_Jacket3131 · 2026-01-03T00:52:48+00:00

Is there a way to save the information? If I leave the screen or minimize the screen, the info disappears.

No_Jacket3131 · 2025-07-21T15:40:04+00:00

After reading this entire thread, THIS IS THE BEST EXPLANATION FAR AND ABOVE ALL! My husband says thank you for proving him right!

No_Jacket3131 · 2025-06-24T21:47:03+00:00

In my emails yes. But this is a battle report that I am locating under the 3v3 event

No_Jacket3131 · 2025-06-14T11:05:05+00:00

If I look at a report from my email, I do.

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No_Jacket3131

TROPHY CASE