Forum - [Gauntlet] Team Comp & Strategy Guide

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[Gauntlet] Team Comp & Strategy Guide

Heya! Going to take a little swing at providing my own guide and that of any contributors! This will NOT be comprehensive, as I only have so much time to dedicate to putting together a guide by myself. Others should feel encouraged to make their own Gauntlet Guides that might have more/different information from mine. Of course, if other players have anything constructive they wish to share/add to my guide, please let me know! This will largely be my own personal experience and data gathering upfront.

Feel free to ask questions, though I may not have all the answers!

Etiquette Note: This is NOT a space to complain/gripe about Gauntlet, auto battling, or game balance. Please keep that within a relevant Suggestions thread of your own.

What is the point of this Guide?

Making team composition available for other players to use within the Gauntlet.
Explain the theory and effectiveness behind different team compositions.
Provide data sets as I test various compositions.
Attempt to optimize compositions for affordability and accessibility by finding substitutes for limited/expensive companions.
Share strategies for getting the most out of any given Gauntlet run to minimize Failures.

What are basic Gauntlet pointers?

Make sure you have a full party of 5 and all are level 10.
Quit out of a run if any party member is knocked out.
Companions are an absolute MUST in the maximum two slots. They also lowering entry/sustain cost in food resources.
If you are running two of the same companion (same color variant) then you only need to have it leveled to 10 once. Both copies will share a level!

WOLF TIER LIST Current as of 6.15.2023

A Tier: Kits ONLY IF you can run (3) at once with 5 Tactician synergy.
B Tier: None.
C Tier: Kits without full tactician buff. Intersect and dodge is decent, but current poison stacking makes their survivability negligible compared to Jocol and they lack healing.
Jocol. Somewhat survivable, healing ability is unreliable, but they can generally take two hits instead of one.

D Tier: Bracchus, do a lot of damage and healing is nice, but will get one-shot by a light breeze.
F Tier: Zerda, Lupin and Volmyr. Awkward synergies, fragile, and too slow to build up power. Do not use.

Below I will segment out various compositions I'm attempting and try to keep similar themes within their own posts.

(Edited)

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1 year ago

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My Favorite Strategy (7.5.2023)

This spot is for my current preferred strategies. At this time, both are relatively accessible, requiring no limited companions or expensive wolf breeds. These are most reliable I've come across since June's rebalance. These both can finishes battles QUICK due to the high tactician bonus. The Tactical Panda Build is more reliable to getting to 12, but the Coin-Flip Build gets further when it has good RNG.

COIN FLIP BUILD

HIGHEST LEVEL REACHED: Level 18

AVERAGE LEVEL END RUN: 12-14

(Has failed due to RNG as early as 8)

Protector 6, Dueler 2, Tactician 5

2 Kits (2 Frontline)
1 Jocol (Backline)

1 Thresher (Either Type) (Backline)
1 Icefisher Stork (Backline)

Companion Cost: 175fishing tickets for the Thresher, Icefisher Stork costs ~8ms or 12ok pebbles at time of writing.

NOTE: This has very high damage and is fun to watch play out. Very RNG-coin-flip dependent, hence the name. Feels like you win/lose depending on if you Jocol can land Blossom Maul. This ability is super finnicky, so half the time it fizzles out due to a dodge miss. However, because the Jocol has such a high crit chance, it can land a 78health full party heal, which is amazing and actually breaks most shields, eliminating one of the ways Blossom Maul often fizzles out. Jocol also gets to use this basically every third turn, so having Coordinate on the field is super useful to give the Jocol more chances to land healing. Has gotten to and through level 18, but wasn't healthy enough to go to level 19.

Tactical Panda BUILD

HIGHEST LEVEL REACHED: Level 16

Note: I haven't taken this past 16 because it tends to lose the Stork before then. However, I haven't had any "unforeseen failures" with this build, yet. meaning, if I go into a match with high health and energy, then I have not lost abruptly. Unforeseen failures are common above level 10 with all other builds I've been running, including double KS Krane.

AVERAGE LEVEL END RUN: Level 12

Protector 6, Healing 3, Tactician 5

3 Kits (One or two Frontline, One top Backline)

1 Pandosa (Either Type) (Backline)
1 Icefisher Stork (Either Type) (Bottom Frontline or Backline)

Companion Cost: 175cooking tickets + Icefisher Stork, which ran me all of 8ms/80kpebbles at the time I bought mine (6.18.2023)

Notes: This has about everything you need for a gauntlet team for consistency. given current constraints. The healing can keep up with poison as when the Pandosa crits hard with Tactician buff, it will heal for that crit amount. Festive Feels is nearly useless for healing and wastes the Pandosa's turn every time it charges up energy, so it's actually better to see the panda ending battles at low energy levels if you need healing for the next fight. The Kits feels A-Tier again in this build, as they are defensively sound and do a ton of damage. The Stork is the weak link in this build and is often less safe on the backline, because it will immediately be taken out by a rogue. I alternate between bottom Frontline or Backline with the Stork because the better option is pure rng. I'm betting the Varani (hat lizard) will end up taking the place of the Stork to give 5 Tactician, once available.

(Edited)

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1 year ago

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The “Intersect” Strategy

The first strategy I've have true success with. Big thanks to @plagueheart for coming up with this idea during Early Access. I am working off her basis of “Intersect is just really good”.

The general idea of this composition is to stack as much "Intersect" ability into a team as possible. This works best with the following;

The Intersectors: Wolves or Companions with the ability “Intersect”. 2-3 make the dream work.
A Yellow Battery: a Companion capable of quickly restoring the energy of the team so the team can use Intercept as often as possible.
A Healer: A companion or wolf capable of sustaining the team throughout the gauntlet with healing.
(Optional) Disruption Tank: A companion capable of tanking/disrupting abilities like “Coordinate” which can be very devastating to this composition.

HIGHEST LEVEL REACHED: Level 12 (Previous to June 2023: Level 17)

AVERAGE LEVEL END RUN: Level 8

BEGINNER BUILD

Protector 8, Tactician 3

3 Kits Wolfs (1 Frontline, Two Backline)
1 Jocol (Frontline)
1 Grouger (Either Type) (Backline)

Companion Cost on MP: ~23k Pebbles

Notes: Grouger ability “Ready Freddy” serves as the yellow battery, but this version lacks strong healing and the yellow synergy, making it very frontloaded in battles.

Weak Against: Rogue teams (kill the Grouger and end the run), Coordinate Teams (take out frontline quickly), Poison Teams (Healing cannot out sustain).

Downsides: 4 wolf comp makes the cost in food higher than a 3 wolf/2 Companion team split

Upsides: Cheap to compose, all common wolves + cheap MP familiar.

ENDERLING BUILD

Protector 8, Support 3, Tactician 3

3 Kits Wolfs (1 Frontline, Two Backline)
1 Jocol (Frontline)
1 Goldensea Enderling (Backline)

Companion Cost on MP: 100 Moonstones

Notes: Enderling gives the Support synergy all on their own. The Enderling also has higher Health and Defense than the Grouger, making it sustain longer.

Weak Against: Coordinate Teams (take out frontline quickly), Poison Teams (Healing cannot out sustain).

Downsides: 4 wolf comp makes the cost in food higher than a 3 wolf/2 Companion team split. Enderling is more expensive than the Grouger.

Upsides: Enderling sustains itself better against Rogue comps. If you have a Goldensea Enderling from the Support Bundle, this is a great use for it.

DISRUPTION BUILD

Protector 8, Support 3, Tactician 1

1 Monstropod (Either Type) (Frontline)
1 Jocol (Frontline)
2 Kits Wolfs (Two Backline)
1 Grouger (Either Type) (Backline)

Companion Cost on MP: Monstropod 6k, Grouger ~23k

Notes: Barely an Intersect specific build, might reorganize to a new category later! Only two Kits lowers Tactician, but Grouger + Monstropod provide Support synergy.

Weak Against: Rogue teams (kill the Grouger and end the run, avoid frontline stun), Poison Teams (Healing cannot out sustain), very vulnerable to bad RNG.

Downsides: Intersect doesn't do as much heavy lifting, still weak on healing factor. Disruption element is RNG based 50/50. Rogues do not attach the frontline and avoid disruption.

Upsides: Cheap to both acquire and run through the Gauntlet, feeding only 3 wolves. Common breed wolves and low cost MP companions makes this very accessible! Monstropod disrupts “Coordinate” combos, though RNG can sometimes really mess with this.

(Edited)

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The “Bugs & Bracchy” Strategy

Sorry, this one is definitely not the most accessible build, but at least it will get easier as Bracchus pairs breed and pups become more available.

The strategy on this is to have a balance of tankiness, shielding, disruption, healing, and attack power. This build has a bit of everything! Very safe at early levels, team consistently remains at full health until you hit level 10 and only then your Bracchus are likely to be one-shot by rogue compositions.

2 Bracchus (Backline)
1 Jocol (Frontline)
2 Monstropod (One Frontline, One Backline)

HIGHEST LEVEL REACHED: (6.15.23) Level 10 (6.11.23) (Previous to June 2023: Level 16)

AVERAGE LEVEL END RUN: (6.15.23) Level 6 (Previous to June 2023: Level 10)

Downsides: Bracchus are squishy and will get one-shot at full health by crits from about level 8 onward, which ends runs abruptly. Disruption element is RNG based and many bot teams will have perfect luck in avoiding this. Expensive for those who didn't KS back. More inconsistent than the Intersect Comp.

Upsides: Cheap to run through the Gauntlet, feeding only 3 wolves. Double Monstropod can potentially disrupt “Coordinate” combos and the backline Monstropod potentially stuns Rogues. Pretty consistently makes it to at least level 10. Lots of healing for sustain. Monstropods are cheap companions so running two of the same type if you have one leveled is easy.

(Edited)

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My Previous Favorite Strategy (6.16.2023)

This is somewhat reliable, which is saying a lot in the current meta where getting to level 10 is a task, let alone higher. Will continue testing this. Need to level more varieties of poison units because they are the strongest damage dealers at this time.

Coordinated Poison BUILD

HIGHEST LEVEL REACHED: Level 14

Note: DO NOT take this above level 14. Current scaling of enemies means this cannot out damage any tank units beyond this point. You will time out with full health and energy on all units because tanks become unkillable and players lose time-outs.

AVERAGE LEVEL END RUN: Current Level 10-12

Protector 6, Healing 3, Poison 3, Tactician 1

1 Kits (Frontline)

2 Jocol (Frontline, Backline)

1 Torcine (Either Type) (Backline)
1 Vulpactia (Either Type) (Backline)

Companion Cost: ~26k for the Vulpactia on the MM. Torcine is available for 150tickets in the Arena rewards, making it the most difficult thing to acquire, but at least it is through gameplay and not limited.

Edit 6.6.2023: No longer viable! Recent changes mean this, like many comps, falls off around level 10 and can no longer sustain into higher levels. The Torchine is very fragile and will get blown up by a rogue crit or just a couple of swings.

My Previous Favorite Strategy (5.24.2023-6.2.2023)

This spot is for my current preferred strategy. It may not be the most accessible, but it is what I am personally using and I feel I should always share that! This is a variant on the “Intersect” build, see next post for more info on that build path.

COORDINATED INTERSECT BUILD

HIGHEST LEVEL REACHED: Level 11 (Previous to June 2023: Level 18)

AVERAGE LEVEL END RUN: Level 8-11

Protector 4, Healing 3, Poison 3, Tactician 1

2 Kits (2 Frontline)
1 Jocol (Backline)

1 Kickstarter Krane (Backline)
1 Torcine (Either Type) (Backline)

Companion Cost: Too Much.

Notes: The Krane and Torcine really shine in this build. The Torcine's coordinate ability functions as the “yellow battery” (see below) for how often it is allowing extra turns to generate energy with. The Krane has an all around powerful ability set; granting healing with its basic attack, reversing damage onto opponents with intersect, and giving a partywide healing buff with the Jocol. The poison bonus isn't anything special, but does help soften up targets for the Kits to knock out.

Downsides: Out of reach of players without a kickstarter exclusive familiar or the ability to grind out Arena for a high ticket cost Torcine. Might function similarly by subbing out the Krane with “Brother Perth”, though he does not have Siphoning Scratch nor poison synergy like the Krane does.

Upsides: Cheap to run once you have it, only 3 wolves to feed. Very durable and reliable, doesn't get messed over by RNG as often as other compositions I've played with. If all party members are alive at the start of a match, they can generally clutch it out even with bad luck. The exception to this is going into a fight with the Torcine at low health, if that unit is knocked out early the match is pretty easily lost. I rarely “fail” the gauntlet unexpectedly with this build, so long as I quit out the moment a party member is knocked out or the Torcine is looking low.

(Edited)

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1 year ago

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COIN FLIP BUILD

HIGHEST LEVEL REACHED: Level 16

AVERAGE LEVEL END RUN: Testing

Protector 6, Dueler 2, Tactician 5

2 Kits (2 Frontline)
1 Jocol (Backline)

1 Thresher (Either Type) (Backline)
1 Icefisher Stork (Backline)

Companion Cost: 175fishing tickets for the Thresher, Icefisher Stork costs ~8ms or 12ok pebbles at time of writing.

NOTE: This is an interesting building I'm testing! It has very high damage and is fun to watch play out. Very RNG-coin-flip dependent, hence the name. Feels like you win/lose depending on if you Jocol can land Blossom Maul. This ability is super finnicky, so half the time it fizzles out due to a dodge miss. However, because the Jocol has such a high crit chance, it can land a 78health full party heal, which is amazing and actually breaks most shields, eliminating one of the ways Blossom Maul often fizzles out. Jocol's also get to use this basically every third turn, so having Coordinate on the field is super useful to give the Jocol more chances to land healing.

UNO REVERSE CARD BUILD

HIGHEST LEVEL REACHED: Level 16 (Previous to June 2023: Level 18)

AVERAGE LEVEL END RUN: Level 6-8 (Previous to 6.15 Level 11-13)

Protector 6, Healing 3, Rogue 1, Tactician 3

2 Kits (2 Frontline)
1 Jocol (Backline)

1 Kickstarter Krane (Backline)
1 Zapscour (Either Type) (Frontline)

Companion Cost: Too Much, but at least the Zapscour isn't limited.

(Edited)

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The “Coordinated Tacticians” Strategy

Probably a variant on the Intersect Team, but includes the 175 Ticket Hunting Hat Lizard. Full Tactician bonus, Kit based team+ Healer. Maybe Brother Perth or the Vespen (Will want to optimize away from this limited Companion use)…

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Need to retry this!

The “Coordinate Poison” Strategy

Previously June 2023: I gave this one a try and it's not very good LOL. I'm not quite sure why, it is just very mid. Can reach about level 10, but doesn't go much further, everything is just too squishy and gets blown up.

Scorpion Swan + 150ticket Arena Tiger = 5 Poison w/ Coordinate
Ran this with Jocol, Bracchus, Bracchus for the most synergies, was surprised the healing couldn't keep up with damage being done.

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PREVIOUS Hall-of-Fame Strategies

My Favorite Strategy (6.9.2023)

This spot is for my current preferred strategy. At this time, it is highly accessible! I worked on this to try and remove the reliance on the KS Krane or any other limited/moonstone cost companion.

KING RAT BUILD

HIGHEST LEVEL REACHED: Level 18

AVERAGE LEVEL END RUN: Current Level 6-8 (Previously 6.9.23 Level 12-14)

Protector 6, Healing 3, Support 3, Tactician 3

3 Kits (2 Frontline, 1 Backline)

1 Rodil (Either Type) (Backline)
1 Snowloon (Either Type) (Backline)

Companion Cost: 250k for the Snowloon on the MM. Rodil will drop from campaign or costs ~500p on the MM. This is top tier effectiveness at low cost and high availability.

Most Optimal Strategy (6.7.2023)

This spot is for a strategy I deem Most Optimal, but at this time is completely out-of-reach of many players, so I hesitate to spotlight it. This has a cheaper alternative above and I've found the difference negligible.

This build was put together by @Isegard !

Oops, All Intersect BUILD

HIGHEST LEVEL REACHED: Level 18 by Lord, Level 19 by Isegard!

AVERAGE LEVEL END RUN: Current Level 6-8 (Previously 6.9.23 Level 12-14)

Protector 6, Healing 3, Tactician 3

3 Kits (2 Frontline, Middle Backline)

2 Kickstarter Krane (Backline)

Companion Cost: Too Much.

Notes: Above build is a much cheaper alternative for very similar, and in my experience, more consistent results. This version has lost for me as low as level 5, the favored build hasn't lost for me at lower than level 8. It has reached higher levels, so if you can run it, run it!

Been asked if "Brother Perth" is a suitable substitute for the Krane or Snowloon, sadly he is not. The lack of healing from Brother Perth means the team will not out heal incoming damage (something the double Krane can even have issues with.) Brother Tavon does not have Intersect and "Festive Feels" doesn't heal enough to be worth running.

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Need to work on a comp using the Pandosa! Waiting on Cooking Week to snag one ASAP for trails.

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Record Keeping

For me to keep some records of updates I make! I think keeping track of the history of Gauntlet is interesting and will be cool to look back on into the future.

UPDATE 6.14.23: Myself and a few others have noticed a distinct increase in Gauntlet difficulty and diminishing effectiveness in all builds mentioned below. Poison, Stun, and Coordinate comps make Intersect builds unreliable and so far there is little-to-no counter play.

Kit wolves in particular have been drastically shadow-nerfed as they get eaten alive by poison, which they cannot dodge and is currently the biggest problem in gauntlet. Wolves are extremely weak compared to companions. I've reduced the rating of all wolves as Kit and Jocol are currently on par at what I would consider a C Tier status.

(Inaccurate as of 6/30/2023)

(Edited)

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