Full disclosure, this guide was written by MnBrian, a self-described amateur in the Arena (not an expert, although he reaches top 200 fairly consistently) who has been playing for a few weeks. MnBrian asked us to share what he learned in the Arena; and we deemed important to do so considering that the Arena probably is the most exciting feature of the game, but it can also be quite frustrating or difficult at times.

Some general tips and facts

A level 18 raptor does 2032 damage with Pounce (no Critical, no Armor on the opponent’s Dino). Therefore, Dinos with less than 2032 HP won’t make it;

A team of tanks only, fast Dinos only, or all Rexes only is going to consistently lose in the upper Arena Tiers. Make sure that you’re building your team to deal with some of the most common Dino you will see such as Stegoceratops, Velociraptor, and Indominus Rex. In short, best to have on your team a variety of Dinosaurs rather than focusing on one type ;

; The order of your moves matters greatly , as does knowing what the opponent is going to hit with. Get in the habit of tapping the opponents dino to see the moveset and try to guess at what you’d choose next.

, as does knowing what the opponent is going to hit with. Get in the habit of tapping the opponents dino to see the moveset and try to guess at what you’d choose next. Knowing what moves deals the most damage is also important . Simply hold one of your Dino’s moves to see how much damage it will deal (this feature does not account for Armor/Shield/Decreased or Increased Damage);

. Simply hold one of your Dino’s moves to see how much damage it will deal (this feature does not account for Armor/Shield/Decreased or Increased Damage); Speed is very crucial to the game at the moment because whoever hits more often usually wins. And if you hit first and kill the opponent’s Dino on your second hit, that means throughout the rest of the game they got one less hit off on you. More information on that matter here;

to the game at the moment because whoever hits more often usually wins. And if you hit first and kill the opponent’s Dino on your second hit, that means throughout the rest of the game they got one less hit off on you. More information on that matter here; Legendary Dinos are not always better. Having more moves means you have more things you can use in your toolbox, but most Legendaries are easily countered by Rare or Epic Dinos when used wisely.

Now, despite Metahub offering an incredible Tier system, MnBrian wanted to suggest a different typing for Dinosaurs.

Speed Breed

These dinosaurs generally move first. They’re great to have on your team, especially after you lose a Dino but have done a bunch of damage. Thinking back to whoever moves fisrt most generally wins; losing a Dino often means you’ve hit one time less than your opponent.

Sending something fast out as a second Dino means you get a shot in before them and potentially set them a move back (because they can’t counter if they’re dead and they lose a hit if they swap). Lots of people lead with fast Dinos. I personally like to use them to mop up. Examples: Velociraptor, Tanycolagreus, Pyroraptor, Utahraptor.

Beef with Teeth

These Dinosaurs have some Armor, can hit pretty hard, but most importantly they can decrease the opponent’s speed. They counter raptors well, usually having some kind of speed or stun control to help out, and more importantly they have a large enough health pool to be problematic for speedy devils. Examples: Einiasuchus, Sinoceratops, Stegoceratops, Stegodeus, Stegosaurus.

The Rexes

These dinosaurs are built to take a little bit of damage but mostly to bite right through armor. They’re slow, making them particularly susceptible to the raptor class, but they work excellent against the Armor touting Beef With Teeth class of Dinos who can’t sustain the heavy armor-piercing damage.

Funny enough, aside from the Indominus Rex, you don’t see a lot of Rexes in upper tier arena. Occasionally someone will roll out a T-Rex to wreak havoc, but it’s not a dino you can swap into like the beef with teeth. It has to be a lead or a pick after you lose a guy. Examples: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Indominus Rex, Allosaurus, Gorgosaurus.

The Slow Tanks

These are the highest health-pool and slowest Dinos in the game, and they generally have some great speed control. They can serve the same purpose as the beef with teeth (speed control and stun control) but they usually have the benefit of some shielding and usually stick around an annoyingly long time.

Remember, when you swap, you fall one turn behind your opponent, so you should really only be swapping if you’re absolutely certain you are going to lose a Dino, and have something with a high enough health pool to take two hits. Otherwise it isn’t worth a swap, because you’ll get a free swap when you lose a Dino. Examples: Apatosaurus, Amargasaurus, Gigaspikasaur, Argentinosaurus.

The Hail Marysaurus

This is pretty much everything else, all those utility Dinos that people have on their team to use in strange circumstances. Some people like to add some Dinos with Immunity to try to negate effects. Some people add Dinos that can cut your opponents damage in half, or cut it down by 90% as a priority move. Most of the Hail Marysaurus Dinos work for one specific situation, but aren’t always going to help your team.

For instance, most Dinos with counter-attack are nerfed in other areas (because more moves = a lot more power), but having a counter attack Dino on your team and swapping them in when a raptor is about to kill your Beef With Teeth with nothing more than a Strike can be a super sneaky way to swap without losing a move. But even at level 20, your Majundasuchus or Lythronax will be dispatched easily by faster dinos or can be handled by armored Dinos .

Dinos like Ouranosaurus and Stygimoloch Gen 2 that have a Strike and Run can be effective ways of getting a free swap, if it’s enacted just before that Dino is going to die. But none of these dinosaurs tend to pose a large enough threat to constitute changing the shape of a team to counter them.

The Verdict

So ignoring the Hail Marysaurus class of Dinos , the rest of your rock paper scissors game looks like this:

Type Best Counter Alternative Counter Beef w/ Teeth The Rexes Beef w/ Teeth The Rexes Speed Breed Beef w/ Teeth Speed Breed Beef w/ Teeth Slow Tank Slow Tank The Rexes Speed Breed

Now, you’ll notice something funny with my chart above. Despite the Rexes being the best counter for Beef with Teeth and Slow Tanks, there are very few of those in the Arena due to the proliferation of the Speed Breed in the upper tiers. So what you end up with is a lot of Beef w/ Teeth fighting a lot of Raptors, other Beef with Teeth and.. well… pretty much everything. This is why you’ll see the easily obtainable fusion Einiasuchus on most teams in upper-tier arena. It’s easy to get, easy to level, hits hard, has armor, and counters Raptors.

Parting Words

So when it comes to winning in the Arena, your focus is always on hitting your opponent more times than they hit you. And if you can’t out-fast them, outlast them. I recommend building your team with a healthy helping of Beef with Teeth until The Rexes get enough of a boost to be the Tyrants that I know they will be.

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