Comparing relative value
Is a lvl 1 Volibear really the equivalent of a lvl 2 Warwick? Does a lvl 1 Swain beat a lvl 3 Elise? (He seems to...)
Is the gold sale value of what I have on the board a useful measure? (Besides trait bonuses, of course.)
22 Comments
To give you the short answer, if there wasnt a clear improvement from one tier to the next people would do everything possible to stay low level and hyper roll for 3 star tier 1 champs. Late game there are a number of instances where Ill dump 3 star tier 1/2 champs for 2 star tier 4s and if its a 2 star tier 5 or keeping a 3 star tier 1/2 its a no brainer.
Um, sort of. It matters on the champ, if all lvl 1 champs were even of equal value, or any other level were balanced then it might make more sense. But not all top champs are even comparable. Jinx and Kindred are both 4, but Jinx is so much stronger atm. Katarina is a lvl 3 assassin, but pyke is so much better at a lvl 2. I would take almost any lvl 1 over a Rek. Lulu is a level 2, but is one of the best CC champs in this mode. So whatever. Half of it makes no sense.
All right...
Suppose that I have two Gnar on the field (this makes sense. If I already have Shapeshifter buff, I'm better off putting a second Gnar into a new space than... a lvl 2 Elise, for example). Now another Gnar comes up in the store. Of course, I'll buy it, but I must fill the vacated spot with somebody worth 3g or more, or else my team is effectively weaker...
Two lvl 1 Warwicks do NOT beat one lvl 2 Warwick. But Two lvl 1 Gnar DO beat one lvl 2 Gnar.
(All other things being equal in this hypothetical, of course.)
(I'll fill that empty slot with Veigar for the Yordle buff with LuLu, or else maybe it's a good time to get Morgana back onto the board...)
To answer your question in the context of how you asked it; no. A team with Sej, Akali, Sol, Gnar, Draven, and Leona (All 4g champs with 0 traits in common) isn't gonna do shit because it's the trait bonuses that add context to the champs. A team of noble+knights (most of which are 2g or less) would walk all over that team, while being worth less than half from a strictly-gold perspective.
As a champ's price goes up, so does its ability to jack up the enemy team, assuming that it's using those passive traits to empower it.
I think buy value rather than sell value is more important.
A level 3 Nidalee costs 9g. A level 1 MF costs 5g.
The level 3 Nidalee is almost always better
Even Elise, one of the worst champs, is better at level 3 than a level 1 MF