Watcher of Realms Arena guide: how the weekly modes work and what the coins should buy

In Watcher of Realms Arena, the loser is whoever has less HP when a Soul Core falls or the clock runs out, and you never meet a live opponent to find out. Arena rotates through three different modes every week, so a team that crushed one week's rivals can look daft the next.

How an Arena fight actually resolves

Arena is asynchronous. When you attack, you play against a recorded auto-play of another player. Clear a wave and the other side's Soul Core takes increasing damage until they beat that same wave. Monster waves can chip the Soul Core as well.

A fight ends when a Soul Core is destroyed or the timer runs out, and whoever has more HP left wins.

Three modes, rotating weekly

The modes are Single-Target DPS, AoE DPS and Anti-Air DPS. They take turns every week, and the order is different each time. So the lineup you built for last week's mode may be the wrong one today.

Cost generators matter because you want heroes down early. A cheap blocker deployed first holds ground close to the spawn points.

Single-Target DPS: kill the last monster fast

The goal is to take down the last monster of each wave as quickly as you can, and the monsters hit hard. Cost generators and an early deployment matter most here.

AoE DPS: swarms and sustain

Swarms of monsters mean you need strong area damage, plus healers to keep the formation standing.

Anti-Air DPS: your Rage generators go quiet

Monsters in this mode don't attack your heroes. That's bad news for Rage-based cost generators such as Cyrene and Narvi, whose generation is tied to their ultimates: the more hits they take, the more Rage they build. No hits, no Rage.

Marksmen are a natural fit here: they have superior range, can hit flying enemies and mostly deal Piercing Damage. Make sure at least one hits hard with single-target piercing: wave 6 is three high-HP enemies. Browse the WoR heroes page for your options and see the WoR tier list for who currently rates well.

Where the Arena Coins should go

Wins pay just 3 Arena Coins each, so spending is a planning exercise. The shop listing reads:

• Huge Stamina Potion: 20 coins, 1 per 24 hours
• Rare Summoning Crystal: 35 coins, 1 per 7 days
• Ancient Summoning Crystal: 400 coins per 7 days
• Legendary Skill Crystal: 600 coins, 1 per 7 days
• Legendary Summoning Crystal: 800 coins, 1 per 7 days

That last one is 267 wins on its own.

Overlord and Apex Overlord wins pay Apex Coins instead. The Apex Shop lists Lady Alexandra at 40,000 and her Soulstone at 50,000, while its first three rewards rotate: an exclusive Artifact, a Summoning Stone skin and an Avatar Border.

A climb plan that pays beyond the shop

Rank pays weekly Diamonds, and the Forerunner update raised the payout at every rank, with Overlord gaining around 200 more a week.

Hero's Path adds Arena rank quests, and reaching Platinum 1 rewards 200 Arena Coins, which is a big chunk of a shop target for no extra grind. Then there's the Big Winner Secret Achievement: 10 Arena wins in a row, worth 30 Diamonds like every secret achievement. Keep an eye on the events calendar too.

What I'd do with the coins

Skip the 400-coin Ancient Summoning Crystal and the 600-coin Legendary Skill Crystal. Pick up the cheap stamina potion and Rare Summoning Crystal as they refresh, and put everything else towards the 800-coin Legendary Summoning Crystal. Bank the 200 coins from Platinum 1 first, then let the wins do the rest.

Images: © Shanghai Moonton Technology Co., Ltd. (MOONTON).