Greetings Captains! Hopefully your battles in Season 6 are going well. The first Conquest is just behind us, but there’s always a battle raging in the arena!
We’ve discussed arena tactics and team composition in the past, but today we’re going to talk about the shifting landscape of teams in PvP within Eternal Paradox. What may work in one season may not in another. You’ve got to be in touch with the meta strategy to really be competitive within the arena.
Arena Meta
The arena meta is somewhat flexible. Unlike other games that have shifting rulesets, Mercenaries are pretty consistent in their abilities in the arena. You can reliably assume that your team from last season will fill about the same role in the next, and battles themselves don’t really change.
There are, however, a few reasons that the meta strategy shifts over time. First, there’s season features. Each season, three Mercenaries have a huge boost to their stats. This makes them exceptionally suited to winning in the arena.
In the case of Season 6, Laila, Laction and Bianca are all boosted for the season. 
That 100% bonus is pretty significant. For Bianca, that represents more attack than she’ll get from a 7* Weapon. Laction has incredibly powerful crits this season as well, and Laila’s boosted HP makes her shields a HUGE factor in arena combat.
In addition to these seasonal buffs, there are also the season special features that can influence the balance of power within the arena.
In season 6, this means a significant attack speed boost to all water mercenaries. Definitely more in favor of Bianca and Laila here.
Team Evolution
While the abilities of Mercenaries are consistent from season to season, the buffs and features of each season combined with the appearance of new Mercenaries can slowly shift what teams are popular.
In season 1 and 2, you were very likely to see a lot of the following strategy at the top levels of arena combat:
That fast Val meta is definitely still around. As more Mercenaries are introduced though, new strategies arise to combat the reigning teams.
Just a few seasons ago, you were far more likely to see battles that started like this:
When Jin Ryu entered the battle as a new Mercenary, his leader skill with a full team stun after their first hit changed the arena meta entirely! This strategy is still incredibly useful, but the evolution of the game has also brought new tactics.
The Laila Meta
This season Laila has 100% increased HP. She also has this monster of a leader skill. It definitely gains more power from that seasonal buff:
So right away at the start of the battle, your team gets a shield as big as Layla’s health and almost guaranteed evasion from attacks. That’s big. The one hit KO Val strategy is stopped in its tracks entirely by this gambit.
Throw in Laila’s ultimate skill on her first move, and you’ve got an even bigger defensive bulwark. Even if you’ve chiseled away that shield to damage one opponent, they’re getting a full heal. That’s not even mentioning the two hit barriers or the debuff immunity – that puts a serious limit on strategies like Alex’s bombs or Laction’s stacking debuffs.
Suddenly, the meta starts to look a lot like this:
It’s not impossible to fight to victory against a Laila team with a different team composition, but the fast KO strategies of previous seasons have definitely been slowed down.
The rise of Laila makes a lot of other Mercenaries useful in ways they weren’t before. Lucas or William’s shields can refresh or match up to Laila’s, giving you as much endurance as your enemies! Getting a sleep or stun across with Zarkhan or Wang could stop Laila’s ultimate skill before that second set of shields… in fact, why not hop in with Camilla and just silence everyone from the start?
Fighting for Victory
The arena is calling, Captains! How will you fight in this season’s meta?
Get out there and try different combos. See what works with this season’s popular teams. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find a new OP combo that dominates everybody!
Play Now!
