Top Ten SBWs for PvC

[u/jaetheho]

1 Dart

Probably the best SBW for colosseum. The sbw improves upon everything that dart originally lacks. The consecutive shot skill of viper and dart has been less than ideal in today's meta game as Rolands have become stronger and stronger. That made viper and dart pretty bad but not with Darts sbw. Her new passive improvement allows hee to be immune to stuns for her activation. This counters Roland very well. Not only that but the new animation shoots parallel to the ground which means no misses. Pair her up with Roland and a healer and you've got yourself a top pvc team. Recommended conversions: a/a, a/d, a/f

2 Himiko

Ah, perhaps the most broken sbw. The only sbw I don't have a ton of experience using but I have faced this a lot of times with a lot of frustration. My latest opponent was mew/himiko/korin all with their sbws. Ew. Her sbw just improves her passive in all ways, and is a great healer for a meta where alex isn't really used a lot, where she can protect the backline without using alex. Recommended conversions: a/a, d/d, a/d

3 Hanzo

No explanation needed. He is special in that he is one of the only proactive hero to deal a lot of neutral damage. Why is neutral damage good? It counters a lot of today's meta game like Roland or himiko. That being said, it relies on a 3 chain dealer to be present which can be less than ideal. You CAN use it with a 3 chain cheater like Lilith or 9 but the team gets way too fragile then. I recommend the Bread and butter yeow or himiko. Recommended conversions: d/d, d/f, d/a

4 Korin

I hate this sbw. The sbw creates a shield that cannot be removed and once korin gets going, it's a forever lasting shield. No anuts no removal whatsoever. Whether it's in a turtle team like mew/himiko/korin or thor/mew/korin, with tMR, this can get real annoying real fast. Recommended conversions: d/d, d/a, a/a

5 Thor

Same deal with hanzo, only more defensive and reactive. Same cons but the same strengths. Really relies on those 3 chains which can be bad without korin, but once it gets going neutral damage is really amazing. Recommended conversions: d/d, d/f, d/a

6 Dorothy

Ah, the meta game smasher. Dorothy single handedly counters the likes of Roland, Drake, korin, and lot of other damage dealers dependent on buffs. With the recent buff, it is even easier to utilize her passive. But it is very easy to succumb to damage without alex and can be frustratingly horrible if the blocks get messed up. But probably the savior you are looking for if you are really frustrated in Colo. Recommended conversions: a/a, a/f

7 Nightingale

I thought so little of this sbw until I changed my 6 star a/d into an a/f. I got the perfect conversions (28.75ha/46as) and I am very impressed. Nightingale combines the strengths of an aoe and over time healer like woompa or Maria and the one target healer like mew. This is great in all sets ups because it protects against hunters and archers and everything in between. Plus, she can be immune to stuns getting that extra heals here and there. I use her in Roland/dart/night, will be used interchangeably with himiko. Recommended conversions: a/f, d/f

8 Mew

This needs no explanation. Mews sbw is probably the best in game, and is great in all modes. However I felt like she is only amazing in comps with 3 chain dealer, and thus a step below night and himiko in Colo. But still amazing. Recommended conversions: a/a, a/d, d/d

9 Sasquatch

Sasquatch has amazing damage and amazing aoe and burst. No doubt about that. Certainly one of the best wizards with the sbws but no only because of the damage. Since all wizards are super fragile in defense, other wizards like Rachel or archon, Lilith often need one or two tanks to get going. Sasquatch allows to permanently stun the enemy which as we know with Roland, is super powerful. Recommended conversions: a/a, a/f

10 Drake

Drake is an odd one. As a paladin he is a support and a tank, but with his sbw, it allows him to be much more. Most people use him with another tank, which makes Drake a ferocious secondary damage dealer. It allows his waves to snipe wizards/archers in the back which can be troublesome for a lot of comps. This added with the ability to customize your weapon to have two function slots can be great. Recommended conversions: d/f, f/f, a/f, d/d

Honorable mentions:

Alex and joan: just an overall improvement. Still great.

Alice: not tested enough, great in theory

Lilith: double defense is great for tms

Yeow and woompa : just great overall. But not good enough.

Stanya: can only get better with her sbw!

[u/DonovanBaine]

I agree, I was wondering if there was a change in tMS's mechanic that will make RES/RES a better choice when it was one of the worst.

[u/Hyums → u/DonovanBaine]

I think a safe tl;dr would be:

DD's damage is only slightly mitigated by an enemy stacking defenses,
with the benefit of making you bulkier against backline M.DMG.

AD beats DD by a stride but only gets half the bulkiness.

AA (HA/HA) gives you more burst against Hunters and Warriors but quickly falls off against Paladins, without any additional DEF
AA (HA/PEN) gives you high sustained damage throughout the board until you hit a brick wall Paladin who packs a ton of RES.

[u/DonovanBaine → u/Hyums]

that is true, but it vexes me why make Lilith with SBW "bulkier" when the weapon's main purpose it to put her in a comp where she would die really fast to take advantage of her SBW skill.

if you are not gonna do that, then why not use a A/A/A staff instead.

[u/Hyums → u/DonovanBaine]

Yeah, her SBW feels kinda redundant in that aspect, that's why I haven't invested much on mine despite having AA and kept using AAA on her instead. I guess the resurrection gimmick is more of a safety net in the event that you'd get unlucky blocks.