Ascending Characters - A Champ Reward Analysis (2024)

I've been analyzing this for many days now and wanted to present my findings to the community. If you haven't been following the Champions 2.0 thread (and it's 30 pages), here's a summary:

1. You can ascend a character to the next tier by binding (combining) them with another copy of that character. That copy needs to be at max level with 13 covers and at the same tier. If the copy is champed with extra levels, then those levels transfer to the next tier, but at a reduced rate. Then you can add levels to the ascended character, but at the reduced rate and earn champ rewards.
2. The reduced cover rate is as follows:
   3-Star Tier: 2 covers to 1 level
   4-Star Tier: 3 covers to 1 level
   5-Star Tier: 4 covers to 1 level
   Shards transfer directly to the next level
3. Ascending by using a copy with the minimum levels gets the ascended character to 550 the fastest (by using the least amount of covers).
4. But you can "double-dip" on champ rewards by ascending with 2 Max Champs. Unfortunately, this takes more covers to reach 550 because of the reduced cover rates.

This brings us to the question of this post: what is the best way to ascend characters for both speed and champ rewards?

This analysis was done by using a fixed number of covers and then applying them in different ways to see what the rewards would be. But because the first champ reward in the 3 & 4 star tiers is a Latest Legends token, I added a few extra covers to these minimum amounts to reach 550:
1-Stars: 1,460 (10 covers)
1-Stars: 1,508 (13 covers)
2-Stars: 1,404
3-Stars: 952
4-Stars: 526

I tested 4 methods, which are:
1. Max + Min (i.e 266 + 167 => 370 + 271)
2. Max + Max (i.e 266 + 266 => 370 + 370)
3. Hybrid #1 (i.e. 266 + 266 => 370 + 303)
4. Hybrid #2 (i.e. 266 + 266 => 370 + 271)

The Hybrid Approaches use Max+Max in the starting tier but Max+Min in the subsequent tiers

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TEST RESULTS:

4-Star TIER
This is straightforward since Max+Min and Max+Max use the same number of covers to 550, but the Max+Max gives you the most rewards. This could be considered the best way, but ascending a 4-star to level 450 now instead of later has value too. So, I recommend ascending the meta 4-Stars now (Max+Min) but ascending the other 4-Stars later (Max+Max). It's your choice, but here's the reward difference:

112,500 Iso-8
4,000 Hero Points
250 Command Points
10 Latest Legends
1 x 5-Star Cover
2500 5-Star Shards

1-Star TIER
This is equivalent in reward analysis to the 2-Star Tier since 1-Stars cannot be champed.

3-Star TIER: Using 957 Covers

Method 1: (Max + Min) => Level 550
266 + 169 => 270 => 370 => 450 => 550
266 + 169 => 271

449,500 Iso-8
25,300 Hero Points
949 Command Points
6 Heroic Token
2 Mighty Token
48 Latest Legends
1 x 4-Star Cover
800 4-Star Shards
CP + LT = 86 Pulls

Method 2: (Max + Max) => Level 501
266 + 266 => 303 => 370 => 475 => 501
266 + 266 => 303 => 370

544,000 Iso-8
13,600 Hero Points
973 Command Points
12 Heroic Token
4 Mighty Token
53 Latest Legends
2 x 4-Star Cover
1600 4-Star Shards
CP + LT = 92 Pulls

Method 3: (Hybrid #1)
266 + 266 => 303 => 370 => 458 => 534
266 + 266 => 303

528,500 Iso-8
16,150 Hero Points
963 Command Points
12 Heroic Token
4 Mighty Token
55 Latest Legends
1 x 4-Star Cover
800 4-Star Shards
CP + LT = 94 Pulls

Method 4: (Hybrid #2)
266 + 266 => 303 => 370 => 450 => 550
266 + 169 => 271

507,000 Iso-8
25,950 Hero Points
986 Command Points
9 Heroic Token
3 Mighty Token
52 Latest Legends
1 x 4-Star Cover
800 4-Star Shards
CP + LT = 91 Pulls

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2-Star TIER: Using 1,411 Covers

Method 1: (Max + Min)
144 + 94 => 166 => 266 => 270 => 370 => 450 => 550
144 + 94 => 166 => 167
144 + 94 => 166 => 266 => 270 => 271
144 + 94 => 166 => 167

514,500 Iso-8
26,060 Hero Points
969 Command Points
34 Heroic Token
16 Mighty Token
4 Classic Legends
48 Latest Legends
CP + LT = 87 Pulls

Method 2: (Max + Max)
144 + 144 => 191 => 266 => 303 => 370
144 + 144 => 191 => 266
144 + 144 => 191 => 266 => 303 => 338
144 + 144 => 191 => 266

529,000 Iso-8
9,470 Hero Points
558 Command Points
68 Heroic Token
32 Mighty Token
8 Classic Legends
37 Latest Legends
CP + LT = 59 Pulls

Method 3: (Hybrid #1)
144 + 144 => 191 => 266 => 278 => 370 => 452 => 535
144 + 144 => 191
144 + 144 => 191 => 266 => 278
144 + 144 => 191

555,500 Iso-8
16,170 Hero Points
907 Command Points
58 Heroic Token
26 Mighty Token
4 Classic Legends
45 Latest Legends
CP + LT = 81 Pulls

Method 4: (Hybrid #2)
144 + 144 => 191 => 266 => 271 => 370 => 450 => 550
144 + 100 => 169
144 + 144 => 191 => 266 => 271
144 + 100 => 169

548,000 Iso-8
26,440 Hero Points
979 Command Points
46 Heroic Token
20 Mighty Token
4 Classic Legends
48 Latest Legends
CP + LT = 87 Pulls

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TLDR: THE BOTTOM LINE

Method 4: Hybrid #2 is the best method because it's the perfect balance between speed and rewards. The concept is to use the Max+Min method, BUT you can double dip on champ rewards when building the Max character by using 2 Max Champs at the starting tier. The Min character in the bind should be built using the least number of covers, BUT there's an exception to apply a few extra covers to get the rewards at 167 and 271. You don't want to use 2 Max Champs in subsequent tiers, because then you're paying the ascending "tax" (2:1 or 3:1 cover ratios) extra times. Here's the ideal order IMO:

3-Stars: ===========================
1. Build 2 x 266 champs and ascend to 303
2. Level up that ascended character to 370
3. Build another 266 champ
4. Build a 169 champ
5. Bind the 2 above to get a 271
6. Bind the 370 and 271 to get a 450
7. Level up the 450 to 550

2-Stars: ===========================
1. Build 2 x 144 champs and ascend to 191
2. Level up that ascended character to 266
3. Build another 144 champ
4. Build a level 96 champ
5. Bind the 2 above to get a 167
6. Bind the 266 and 167 to get a 270
7. Level up that ascended character to 370
Now Repeat Steps 1 to 6, more or less...
8. Build 2 x 144 champs and ascend to 191
9. Level up that ascended character to 266
10. Build level 144 and 100 champs
11. Bind the 2 above to get a 169
12. Bind the 266 and 169 to get a 271
13. Bind the 370 and 271 to get a 450
14. Level up that 450 to 550

1-Stars follow the same pattern as 2-Stars

For the characters that are not "ascendable" right now, I would roster and build dupes of them.