Arena Ranking Guide

 courtesy of /u/takaminacchan

Soul Arena
Soul Arena is a competitive ranking event that runs every 3 weeks for 8 days in total. It is the primary source of Hero Stones and Arte Souls. Arte Souls, which are character specific in most cases, allow units to use their Mystic Arte when they are the final link in a 9-link chain. A Mystic Arte does a large amount of damage, making it essential to have one for harder content. In Soul Arena, the player will fight waves and waves of monsters until reaching the boss. Defeating an entire stage will give mana, which counts towards individual ranking points as well as tier rewards for reaching certain mana counts. However, only the boss and Mana Eater mobs give mana. For more detailed information on Soul Arena with descriptions such as health values and mana drop values on the Mana Eater mobs and boss, check the Soul Arena page.

Choosing Arenas
Choosing which arena (if there is more than one) to rank in is usually a difficult decision, as there are many things that can influence the choice. Ultimately, the choice boils down to few things, mainly: These questions can all affect the player's choice of arena. They also can influence whether a player should decide to rank or not after selecting a particular arena.
 * Is one of the units available the player's favorite character?
 * Does the player have the appropriate leaders or active skill users to utilize the unit?
 * Is the player lacking finishers for a particular unit type? (It is very important for type-locked content in the Trial Tower and Challenging Trial to have a least one finisher in every type. If a player does not have an SA unit of a particular type but can use a Mystic Arte on another unit of that type, that can also be a consideration. For example, while Arena Judith is bash, her four-star unit can also serve as a thrust finisher.)
 * Does one Arena have fewer competitors than the other?

Suggestions for Teams
Note that a more detailed team building guide is located here. Additionally, team building help can be found on Reddit megathreads or on our team building channel in the Tales of Link Discord server.
 * 2.0x (or greater) attack if over 50% health leaders are great for clearing the Mana Eaters and other mobs easily when paired with a similar friend lead. The downside of this choice is is survivability, so it is suggested to only have 2-3 attack-focused units and the rest with HP-oriented gear for a larger HP bar.
 * 1.5x HP and 2.0x ATK leaders (or those with similar HP/ATK multiplier distributions) are also great leaders. They offer both the ability to survive attacks and to dish out damage.
 * Conditional Leaders like (Hero Killer) Barbatos and (Midsummer Break) Ludger are also usable if the players have enough link boosters to sustain the strategy. Generally at least 45 LC is recommended for these sorts of conditional leaders.
 * Units that can bypass defense and directly attack the health of the Mana Eaters. Examples can be found in this link, but generally the lower LC cost the better. Here is a list of the most efficient such units that target multiple units.
 * Units that can bypass defense and directly attack the health of the Mana Eaters. Examples can be found in this link, but generally the lower LC cost the better. Here is a list of the most efficient such units that target multiple units.
 * Elemental equipment and attack guardian should always be advantageous or neutral against the Soul Arena element. By having advantage in both guardians and equipment, the unit does 2.25x damage, while only having one does 1.5x extra and having none deals only 1x.
 * Defense Guardian should always be advantageous against the Soul Arena Element. This is highly useful in mitigating damage, since all the enemies are of the same element.
 * Be careful with support guardians that activate a unit that will be weak to attacking enemies. For example, equipping Dymlos to protect from sleep attacks in a water arena will activate any water hero's element, putting the player at a disadvantage. It is recommended to either use a different support guardian or to remove disadvantaged heroes from the party.

Clear Rate
The player should farm the following levels only if they are able to obtain the following levels of efficiency. On average, lower clear rates result in a lower ratio between stamina used and mana gained than simply doing the next lower difficulty.
 * Farm Mana Den if it is possible to clear at a rate of 70%.
 * Else, farm Mana Nest if it is possible to clear at a rate of 70%.
 * Else, farm Hell or Heaven if it is possible to clear at a rate of 85%.
 * If the other options are not possible, farm Mania.

Players who find they cannot clear their desired level may find it helpful to obtain elemental weapons strong against the arena's foes, grind unit passives, or try to restructure their team.

To rank or not to rank?
Ranking is a huge part of the game because it holds the key to upgrading Mystic Artes to higher levels and is the only source for s.That being said, ranking requires considerable investment of both time and resources. The following are some examples of questions for a player to consider when debating ranking in a particular arena. It is highly suggested to at least reach 600,000 mana points to acquire all of the Mana Point Count Rewards. (For a complete list, consult the Soul Arena page. If considering ranking, players should be prepared for a substantial increase in mana counts during the last 24 hours of Soul Arena.
 * Does the player have the appropriate leaders or active skill users to utilize the unit?
 * Does the player have enough gels?
 * Does the player have a large enough stamina cap to support gelling at a rate that keeps them in the cutoff?
 * Is a limit broken 5-star SA unit really necessary? (The player may have a finisher of the same type in multiple elements already, which may make ranking less desirable.)
 * Is the player prepared to spend Hero Stones to support ranking, in the event that they do not have enough gels?
 * Is the player prepared for a large jump in the mana rankings during the last 24 hours?
 * Does the player have enough time to devote to maintaining and/or advancing rank during the course of the week, and especially during the final 24 hours?

Choosing Element for Your Newly Obtained SA Unit
Choosing an element for an SA Unit depends on whether the player needs an element immediately for clearing current content or if the player has a unit of that type and element already. For example, if the player had a water element  already, its probably better not to choose water again if obtaining another thrust SA unit like.

However, if the player already has an element for a specific type of finisher, they may still want to replace a unit who was not max limit broken because they did not rank, or has lower overall attack. For example, a player might want to replace a light element with light element  because Milla's passives do not fit the standard Soul Arena set and so she would likely deal less damage than P. Kannono, who does have standard passives. It is very helpful to consult the finisher spreadsheet to compare two max limit broken units. In the case of partially limit broken units, the damage calculator can be utilized to see which unit would be stronger.

Arte Souls: To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade?
Usually, a player will upgrade an Arte Soul if it will enable them to clear content or if it is usable by the player's favorite unit. Other considerations include having good leaders and/or boosters to match the unit or having multiple units that can utilize the Arte Soul.

A player may choose not to upgrade an Arte sSul because they do not have the support for the unit that uses it. Additionally, they may choose to save the upgrade materials for another Arte Soul. For example, a player with the unit might choose to only go to 600,000 mana during Yuri's Soul Arena because he is a popular character and they do not feel they have the resources to rank for him. They can then use upgrade materials from other arenas to upgrade the Arte Soul if they wish to use his Mystic Arte on the UA unit, which is a very strong finisher even though it is not a Soul Arena unit.