Best AFK Arena Teams in 2023: Ultimate Team Comps Guide
It is time to put the icing on the cake in this blog as far as AFK Arena is concerned. Signature Items, Artifact, Furniture, and Hero Tier Lists are essential. But the true nature and challenge of AFK Arena is the strategic part. Putting together a team that can handle most other formations or counters a specific formation makes a player excellent.
In this guide, I will show you some of the best AFK Arena teams, team comps, or whatever you want to call them. First of all, I want to say that most of the credit for this guide goes first and foremost to the unknown players that throw a ton of money and time into this game and come up with incredible formations.
And now, let me show you a complete analysis of what works in AFK Arena and why.
In this guide, you will see several PvE core formations. You can also check my Faction Towers meta teams and guides for Guild Hunting and Twisted Realm team comps! For individual characters, you can check our AFK Arena tier list.
Let's go!
Note: Some teams are highly RNG-reliant, but what did you expect at end-game?
Best Campaign Teams [Chapter 35-40]
I think this is the most important part of this guide. Once you are required to win 5-team battles in AFK Arena things get really slow. Currently, I'm at stage 39:56 and there is a recurring theme of people using the same 5 teams to win at high deficits. So I believe it's worth showing all 5 of them as they are variations of the teams I analyze in detail below.
Cyberfunk
People usually use the same order for these teams in fights.
- The first team relies on Mehira (M SI+30) and Khazard or Daimon (SI +30). Skriath (SI +30, 3/9F) can be a good substitute for Khazard on occasion. Lyca (SI +20, 3/9F) is here for the Haste, Rowan (SI +30) to speed up Ultimates, and Rosaline (SI +20) follows Mehira.
- The second team is very annoying as it is a variation of Thoran Cheese. This works much better in high-level deficits and from what I've seen, if your Thoran is too strong, you have a harder time with RNG. I've also seen people use Hendrik at the frontline instead of Merlin at the back, Nara, or even Athalia. It's the type of team you put on auto-battle and go to sleep, hoping the stage will be cleared once you wake up.
- For the third team, we have standard Ainz comp. Ainz, Albedo, and another Dimensional to fully trigger Albedo's SI +30 will do.
- For the fourth team, we have a variation of Lucretia Cheese. The other four heroes don't matter much; they just ensure that Lucretia lives long enough, and they die. Boom!
- For the fifth team, we have what I call Alna's Frozen Mist. These teams work extremely well as counters to Lyca. Lyca's presence on an opposing team at these deficits usually means that you will be obliterated without a team comp like this. Grezhul, Alna, Ferael, Silas, and Oden is the ultimate form of the Alna's Frozen Mist formation.
These 5 teams will get you far in the game, so all the guides (e.g., Signature Item and Furniture priorities) on BORDERPOLAR have these 5 in mind as an end result.
For example, I first used the standard Ainz Comp to progress through the campaign. Once I reached two-team battles, I added Lucretia Cheese. Then, when I reached three-team battles, I added Alna's Frozen Mist. Then, Thoran's Cheese and I'm working to optimize the first team with Mehira and Khazard/Daimon/Skriath.
In hindsight, I should have saved Thoran Cheese for last as it is very annoying. At the same time, I was too slow in my investing in Khazard and Mehira, as I spend too many resources on Thalene, Ezizh, and Athalia instead.
Also ,these teams lay some foundations for the best faction tower teams as Rowan and Rosaline are core members of the best teams for the Tower of Light, Skriath and Brutus are must-haves in Brutal Citadel, and Lyca and Eironn are also must-haves in the World Tree, with Lorsann being useful in the second team, and of course, all these Graveborns form a devastating team for the Forsaken Necropolis.
Lucretia will pretty much carry you in Infernal Fortress, while the Celestial Sanctum is just a huge mess if you don't have a proper DPS (I don't, so I decided to work on Audrae, but this will take a while so I'm stuck at floor 300).
Best PvP Teams & Formations (HoE, AoH, LCT)
I'm starting out with PvP team recommendations to get it out of the way. The current non-whale meta revolves around three teams: Ainz Comp, Alna's Frozen Mist, and Lucretia's Energy Cycle/Disruptor team.
Ainz Comp
I will detail Ainz Comp later on in the PvE formations, but essentially this is the team to use in Arena of Heroes and it will be your strongest team in Legends' Challenger Tournament and Heroes of Esperia. Pretty much a guaranteed win against most team comps. The second formation is for Ainz Comp vs. Ainz Comp battles and it works quite well.
Alna's Frozen Mist
Nobody likes recommending, SI + 30, 9/9F teams, but this is pretty much you are going to need here. Personally I use the first formation and all my heroes are E30+. The point of the whole formation is that Grezhul's anti-magic shield combined with Oden's Energy Drain and Ferael's stuns can really slow down Ainz and even soak most of his damage(!). Desira's Hatred's Mark skill in the second formation can make this a good Lucretia counter at 9/9 Furniture, as you have a solid chance of taking her out before she goes berserk.
I have tried to make this team work with Izold instead of Grezhul, but it requires a lot of luck and great timing since Alna's immunity actually harms Izold on most occasions.
Lucretia's Energy Cycle & Disruptor
I would say this is the evolution of God Comp. Lucy is great by herself and becomes the second-best hero in the game (or maybe the first) when her teammates die. This formation relies on the Twins providing haste at least ones and then Lucretia and Ezizh surviving long enough to Ult-block the opponents.
With full investment it can wreck both Ainz Comps and Alna's Comps. That's because it won't let Ainz use his Ultimate, and Alna's stall team will kill everyone but Lucretia who can go 1v5 here.
Without full investment Ainz Comps one-shot the whole team at some point as Lucretia can't break through Arthur without the buffs.
Below you will find the recommended team comps and variations, along with their requirements. The bolded ones are the must-have while the others make the team (much) better, in my opinion.
Thoran Cheese – Variations and Requirements (Campaign, King's Tower, Graveborn FT)
One of the godliest team comps in AFK Arena and by far the most annoying one. In my case this formation never works well, and it comes down to having a way to overpowered Thoran that does not take enough damage to one shot enemies. This is essentially a formation where you will have to remove gear from Thoran on occasion. I somewhat regret investing in this formation, but it works for so many people to the point where I can un-recommend it. I use an SI +30, 9/9F Thoran (E30), and still have to wait an eternity for RNG to kick in. Nevetheless, this is a formation that can you fights you would never win otherwise.
Strategy
It relies on Thoran's Signature Item at +30, which will allow him to survive the first two times he uses his Ultimate, Retaliation. During Retaliation's duration, Thoran will focus for a few moments while receiving less damage. Due to this Ultimate, he cannot die during that time, he goes down, and then he comes back up. At the same time, when his focus state is complete, he will return 200% of the damage to enemies in his melee range and recover 40% of the damage dealt as HP. There are two challenges here:
- First, you need to gather all enemies around Thoran to receive a ton of damage during his focusing state. The enemies must remain close to Thoran when he finally swings his ax to see the full effect of this team.
- Second, Graveborns are generally very slow at energy generation. You want Thoran to enter his focusing state (aka cast his Ultimate) ASAP.
The solution to the first challenge is field manipulation which means that heroes like Eironn, Nara, and Skriath that can pull enemies, are great in this team.
The solution to the second challenge is Lyca's Haste or Rowan's excellent SI +30.
Ferael, Eironn, and Rowan will also provide the necessary stuns and freezes to keep the enemies close to Thoran as they are pulled in.
Lucretia Cheese – Variations and Requirements (Campaign, King's Tower)
I love this team comp just because it features the hottest and sexiest AFK Arena hero (right?). And the way this team works is so Lucretia-like.
The great thing about Lucretia Cheese is that she is the only hero that matters. Getting her to at least SI +20 and ideally SI +30 and 9/9F is what you need. So the best part about this team is full-blown versatility.
Just add four heroes that work well against the enemy team comp and wait for them to die and buff Lucretia. I decided to go with SI +30 and 9/9F, a strong requirement because only then will you see the full effect of Lucretia Cheese.
What you need here is Lucretia to survive long enough. I've used this team with four level 1 heroes to in the Hypogean Faction Tower, and it can pretty much clear any floor easily until your reach the team power threshold and can't fight anymore. In Campaign this team wrecks even at a 240-level defiit and 5x power gap. LOL.
The second tank is a stall, and Alna is ideal here as at 9/9F, she can provide immunity to Lucretia, pretty much guaranteeing a win. However, this is not a great formation for the game's Campaign as you are going to need Alna for the next team comp (Alna's Frozen Mist). It works tremendously well on King's Tower though, especially on floors that Ainz won't cut it.
The backline relies on sucking enemies in, debuffing them, and CC, but the point is that Eironn goes full suicidal here, and the back three heroes will go down fast. That will give Lucretia 450 Energy/s for the next 5 seconds, 24 Haste points for 20 seconds and a 150% increased attack rating for 20 seconds.
At the same time, her 9/9F ability will prevent enemies from using their Ultimates temporarily.
One woman team!
Alna's Frozen Mist
The first two formations rely on Ferael and Eironn, respectively, for damage, but the general idea is to throw your enemies into sleep in a frozen, misty Sandstorm of sorts. To improve the odds against a high-level deficit, you can throw in a Daimon.
Also, maxing out the characters in the second formation, especially Orthros will result in your enemies doing nothing. That formation is probably my favorite in the game, but it is made for whales. I don't know if anyone uses it as I studied Alna formations by myself, but I hope I will have it at my disposal one day.
Wait for Ainz aka Standard Ainz Comp (Campaign, King's Tower)
The main challenge is getting Alna and Desira maxed out to watch this team at full advantage.
I like playing with stall formations that outlast enemy formations and win in the last seconds of a battle. Stall Team building is strategic team composition at its best. Here is a formation that I love.
Wait for Ainz is a top-rated team comp for those who own Ainz and Albedo. It is known as the Ainz Comp, but since I was simultaneously exploring this team comp by myself, I call it “Wait for Ainz.” This team requires a ridiculous investment on Ainz and Albedo, along with getting Arthur from the Arcane Labyrinth store. The other requirements are Rowan at SI +30 and Lyca at SI +20. But when you reap the rewards of this team, well… it's mindblowing.
The main challenge for this team is that it can work for level deficits up to 200. So you need Albedo at +30 to buff Dimensional heroes with a +45% Attack Rating and +75% Defense Rating.
Arthur is necessary because he will guard Ainz and Lyca. He is insanely tanky. Lyca and Rowan are batteries for Ainz.
I do not recommend playing this team on Auto when you reach end-game. Ainz's Ultimate, even at SI +30, is not strong enough anymore, so here is how the fights go on Auto. Ainz ults at around 1:22 and then at 1:15 “The Goal of Life is Death” are triggered, evaporating the enemies' 50% current health. In the next 4 seconds, your team is wiped out.
When you disable Auto, you will use every ultimate except for Ainz's before 1:15 and wait for ‘The Goal of All Life is Death to be triggered”. After that, you ultimate with Ainz, hoping that Ult will wipe at least three enemies.
You can keep Arthur, Ainz, and Albedo on the team at lower-level deficit multi-stage battles and throw in two fodder characters to save better ones for the following stages.
Finally, it's worth mentioning the existence of Eironn in the second variation of the Ainz comp. Notice that I have positioned Eironn at the opposite flank of Ainz.
I sometimes use this variation to pull opponents away from Ainz and allow Albedo, who is in front of Eironn, to survive a few more seconds, which can be crucial.
Finally, Talene is an ultimate staller at any Ascension level.
Standard Daimon Comp (Campaign, Graveborn FT)
This team leaves and dies with a stall. Will you be able to pull anyone away from Daimon to allow him to kill one or two enemies, buff himself and destroy the remaining ones? If you can do that, you win.
Rowan, Brutus, Talane, and Arthur are excellent frontline options here. The backline should be stall and/or haste oriented, too, so Ferael, Nara, Tasi, Lyca, and Eironn (once again opposite of Daimon) thrive in this team comp.
Put Daimon behind Brutus or Arthur to protect him and in the case of Arthur buff him.
Standard Eironn Comp (Campaign)
Three out of 5 characters are part of the Wilder Meta team in Faction Tower – The World Tree. That team can work in the campaign, too, if Saurus can tank his side well enough, which is questionable.
This team composition is easy to build, but it has many requirements for Tasi and Eironn to survive. Overall this is a mix of high DPS and stalling. Disruptive heroes like Oden and Nara can work too, and talent at the frontline with Rowan and Tasi at the backline.
I highly recommend having a 3/9F Tasi so that she can teleport out of danger. You are going to rely on her putting enemies to sleep to win.
Stall and Disrupt Compositions (Early Campaign)
The Synergy in Disrupt and Stall compositions can get you very far in AFK Arena, along with making you a much better player. Please study these teams and understand their potential, figure out new variations. Trust me; these are pure gold.
Talene is the ultimate staller in AFK Arena, she works even without her SI, but at SI +30, she becomes insane.
Flora needs SI+20 whenever she is present in these formations. Also, if you can ever get Orthros to SI +30, 9/9F, you are going to have the most annoyingly disruptive power in the game.
There is not much more to explain here. Any character that stuns, freezes, pulls enemies, and manipulates enemies will work, as Flora can deal massive damage if built properly. Eventually, Talene will be so strong that she will take over. That's exactly what makes Talene teams broken, even if there are better heroes in AFK Arena nowadays.
Izold Cheese (Mid Campaign)
Izold is a powerhouse at SI +30 and 9/9 Furniture. This is the main requirement for this team, but I highly recommend Alna or Brutus next to him at the frontline. Silas is really vital to the backline, as he is supposed to buff Izold, who will be losing the most health here.
I don't think Talene works in this formation as she may end up stealing Silas' buffs. That being said, this is a between Scylla and Charybdis situation as the enemies will either be overwhelmed by Izold or Talene.
The other two backline heroes should be highly disruptive forces or battery chargers like Rowan. Nara, Ezizh, Lyca, Tasi, Oden, Fawkes, and Nemora work really well here.
Skreg Invade (Maulers FT, Mid Campaign)
Skreg Invade relies on moving as many heroes as possible to the enemy half of the battlefield and activating his furniture abilities. Consequently, several heroes can work at the backline, such as Cecilia, Athalia (even though she sucks, in my opinion):
- [3/9 Mythic Pieces] All allied heroes with the enemy half of the battlefield have their Attack Ratings increased by 20% and also receive 25% less damage from enemy attacks.
- [9/9 Mythic Pieces] Allied heroes recover 100 energy points after every 3 seconds in the enemy's half of the battlefield.
This team is delightful and the exact opposite of stall teams, so it needs heroes with self-healing abilities for the most part and a lot of field manipulation to avoid damage. Numisu is a good healer, and his totems taunt enemies, but you can also use Nemora or Lorsan.
God Comp (King's Tower, Mid Campaign)
An obvious but funny team composition with the Twins and Rowan producing a ton of Ultimates to activate Ezizh's Horrify passive effect:
Prevents enemies from using ultimate abilities for 2 seconds every time one of Ezizh's teammates uses an ultimate ability.
At the same time, Mehira's Ultimate Mesmerize will entrance enemies
Mehira entrances enemy heroes, causing them to attack each other with their regular attacks for 5 seconds. While entranced, enemies will not recover energy while attacked.
Of course, during all this, Talene will keep getting stronger. This can quickly turn to a stall team comp if you add Tasi and remove Mehira. Ferael can substitute Ezizh, while you can also try Saurus instead of Ezizh and outheal the damage until Mehira breaks the enemies down.
At 100+ level deficits, you will have a hard time keeping the Twins, especially Rowan, alive for more than a few seconds.
Five Pull (Mid Campaign)
What. A. Beauty. Hats off to the person that figured out this formation. A mage and Lyca at the front… Well, any team without a tank must have insane synergy, and this one does.
Once again, this team revolves around pulling and positioning enemies with Eironn and Skriath while debuffing them with Safiya. Your Lyca will probably die, but not before applying Haste to the rest of your heroes, and from then on, it's a CC race to victory.
Skriath is equally valuable to Eironn in this formation and time is of the essence here, so Safiya's 9/9 furniture skill.
Don't Pull Out! (Mid Campaign)
That's what she (and the opponents) said. This is a team that I have come up with as an upgrade to the Five Pull team. It relies on Morael's Cosmic field and Eironn and Skriath, who have the skill sets to pull enemies out of it, causing them to take heavy damage.
The core heroes are Morael, Skriath, and Eironn, and you can add Alna and Lyca to it. A cheaper alternative would be to use Skriath and Tasi at the front, and with Eironn, Morael, and Joker at this much CC, Joker can deal massive damage, but you sacrifice survivability.
If built correctly, this is another excellent stall team.
Standard Gwyneth Comp (Mid Campaign)
Old but gold since all heroes are easily acquirable. Gwyneth must be at SI+25 for the stat bonus she gets. Arthur at SI +30 will allow Gwyneth to survive longer. I wouldn't call this an end-game team, but it's easy to form, and it will work very well up to Chapter 30.
Khazard Wilders (Mid Campaign)
This team revolves around the fact that Khazard has one of the most ridiculous Signature Items in the game at level 30, along with incredible furniture skills. Freeze enemies and CC them, and Saurus will destroy them. One of the best teams in AFK Arena, but getting Khazard to Ascended Tier is unrealistic for most players.