If you’re trying to get to the top spot on the leaderboards in Arena in Warhammer 40K: Tacticus, you’re going to need to have a pretty stacked team. That said, it’s still possible to get there by picking your fights wisely and knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent’s team. You should know that the arena meta is going to vary based on where you are in the game. Beginners aren’t going to have access to some of the top-tier characters and are better off focusing on other characters.
Likewise, higher-level players are going to be going up against teams that vary more than the lower ranks in Arena. In those situations, you might have to switch up one or two members of your team. This guide is meant to take a more general approach and point out the top contenders for Arena teams in Tacticus. At the end of it, you should have a better idea of who to use, whether you’re a beginner player or a seasoned veteran.
Low-Level Arena Teams
When you first start in Tacticus, you won’t have the biggest pool of characters to pick from unless you’ve opened a lot of Requisition Scrolls. Early Arena is filled with Certus, Vindicta, Varro, Incisus, and Bellator. This isn’t a bad team early on, as Varro has the ability to hit multiple targets, Bellator is a decent tank, and Vindicta is a beast when she starts criting from her passive.
Eventually, you will want to swap out Incisus for someone else. Incisus is one of the worst characters in the game right now and is easily outclassed by Isabella. Replacing them with Aleph-Null is a great choice, as Aleph-Null’s active ability spawns two scarabs that are annoying to deal with and deal decent damage on the first turn.
If you have money to spend on the game, you should definitely pick up the beginner pack with Commissar Yarrick. His active ability is a great way to flood the field with multiple summons, and he deals great damage.
If you happen to have unlocked Volk, Thaddeus Noble, or Re’vas as a beginner, these are great options to include in your Arena team—Re’vas especially. The enemy AI will often rush Re’vas and die to their active ability, making the match a breeze.
The Best Arena Teams in Tacticus
The easiest way to see who’s dominating the current meta is to head over to the Arena Leaderboards and check the top players in the Chapter Master League. Simply tap on a player and view their top line-up, which is based on their previous Arena match. You’ll begin to notice a pattern but also see a lot of diversity. In general, though, the following characters are all great and make for some of the best Arena teams in Tacticus.
- Re’vas
- Celestine
- Maugan Ra
- Marneus Calgar
- Commissar Yarrick
- Bellator
- Archimatos
- Aun’shi
- Eldryon
- Thaddeus Noble
There are, of course, other picks you could make, like Aleph-Null, Castellan Creed, and Typhus. The above characters seem to be the most prevalent and are generally agreed to be the strongest across multiple high-level players. A lot of these characters are hard to get and very rare, so you may not have them.
You will want to rank them up as high as possible to maximize their stats and damage. Avoid leveling both abilities, as not everyone comes with a useful active and passive. You’ll want to do some research beforehand to see if it’s worth it to level both their abilities or only focus heavily on one.
General Tacticus Arena Tips
The two best pieces of advice for newer players are to have patience and to remember that you’re up against an AI—and it’s not the best. You will get punished if you make mistakes, but if you play it cool, Arena is pretty easy when you’re facing people at or just above your power level.
The first thing you’re going to want to try and do is wait for the enemy to come to you. You can take a few steps forward with your team, but you want to avoid stepping into hexes that they will be able to attack you on. You’re better off hitting them first than them hitting you first.
Some maps don’t allow for this, and you’ll be able to attack them right off the bat. Others are much larger, and even if you move as close as possible to the enemy team, they still won’t be able to attack you for the most part. Recognize where to move your team on each map so that you can decimate the enemy team on your 2nd turn without taking any damage.
You also need to remember that you’re up against AI. The enemy team is only going to charge at you without care of overwatch or any sort of real target prioritization. They’ll blow through abilities the first chance they get (usually).
The not caring about overwatch is what makes Re’vas so powerful in Arena. Normal players in Tournament Arena will avoid entering Re’vas’s attack range after they use their ability and hunker down till their next turn or play around it. The AI will gladly send every single unit up into Re’vas’s face without hesitation. If you have Re’vas, put it in the center of the map, activate their ability, and stack your team behind them. There are usually only 1 or 2 units left afterward, and losing at that point is nearly impossible.
Lastly, remember to always check the power level of your opponents before going into a match. Once you enter higher brackets, there can be players that are twice, five times, or even ten times as powerful. Picking a fight with them is almost always an instant loss, so always double-check your opponent’s team.
You can refresh your opponents using Blackstone, which you can easily get from promo codes released by the devs. However, that’s not the best way to spend Blackstone, so only do that as a last resort.
Wrap Up
We hope you found this quick guide useful. A lot of the information was based on in-game experiences and the general consensus of the player base, with some help from Nandi’s Dirty Dozen updates and commentary. Be sure to check out his videos if you need more help deciding who to focus on or who should be on your Arena team.
