Arena of Honor | Season 3 Round 10 | House of Stark | Million Dollar Question

After several attempts to bring VladanSRB back into their team, the ABCD crew finally decided it was time for a change. For a long while, ABCD had consistently finished in 4th or 5th place, leaving no one particularly satisfied. Many of the members, however, had multiple tickets for the AoH games. Lux herself had three, allowing her to participate in additional matches outside of the usual 19:00 GMT slot. Though she often found AoH a bit stressful — with its constant rushing and tight timings — and usually preferred sticking to just one match, this time the whole ABCD team agreed to play with other random teams in the earlier time slot.

As planned, everyone left the original team to look for alternatives. Astro joined his tSB teammates, Lord Lesa and Lady Anibas opted for random groups, and Dimsa decided to sit out. That left Lux searching for an opportunity. Fortunately, a few days before the AoH event even started, her new alliance teammate, MrMarky, had invited her to join his team.

“Hmmm… very tempting, but I already have my team,” Lux had replied at the time.

But then MrMarky added, “Wait, Lux — our team is made up entirely of bow players. Only bows.”

Wait, what? All bows? Was this real life? Lux thought. She imagined the speed of reinforcements and the defensive strength when it came time to hold the City of Glory. Bow players are rare in the game overall, and Lux had never had the chance to play an event with an all-bow team before. It sounded too good to pass up.

“Alright,” she finally agreed. “I’ll join you.” She went to explain her plan to her ABCD teammates.

At the time, Lux had recently finished upgrading Cersei and was still debating whether a pure bow formation or the female synergy setup was superior for bows. Perhaps this match would give her the answer. Participating in CCS had earned her some bowmen war badges, improving both her attack and defense stats. She was still working on ancient-quality gear, saving red stones, but with Cersei complete, her account was looking much stronger.

Match time arrived. Lux switched to her war gear and discussed formations with the team. For a long time, many game experts had recommended female synergy for bows, but since Cossomo’s release, even the veterans were hinting that pure bow might now be better.

The team entered the map, assigned to House of Stark. Lux looked around and — surprise — spotted a tSB team in House of Tyrell. Not the one with Astro, but still familiar faces. She had played a few arena matches with other tSB members and become friends with many of them. Powerful players like KOKO, an infantry main with multiple SS commanders, were there too. But this time, Lux wasn’t anxious. She was in an all-bow team and felt right at home.

3… 2… 1… Go!

As buildings opened, the team chose to target trading camps — a strategy Lux wasn’t used to. “Just trust the process,” she reminded herself. Things were going smoothly. When the altars opened, MrMarky charged for the Altar of Maiden, and Lux aimed for an enemy one. Reinforcements arrived swiftly, and the crucial question awaited: which formation was better — pure bow or female synergy?

Multiple Houses launched attacks on the altars, though Tyrell (tSB’s house) refrained, as there was a mutual NAP between them. NoS, IIi, and others sent rally after rally, but the bowmen defenses held firm. Meanwhile, GottesZorn captured the Dragon Pit, pushing House of Stark to the top spot.

But the City of Glory was still unopened. House of Lannister built cavalry camps and claimed the Watch Towers, while House of Targaryen crept just 2,000 points behind Stark. The battle was intense.

Finally, the City of Glory became available. All Houses launched rallies, but House of Greyjoy, with their fast spearmen, claimed it first. Their hold, however, was shaky. GottesZorn timed his rally perfectly with an unusual lineup — Leila, Daenerys, Kravars, Melisandre, and Egbert — and successfully captured the city for House of Stark. “Woohoo!” The call went out: Heal fast and reinforce faster!

Rallies flew in from NoS, NOX, WxC, IIi — but the bowmen defenses held. Lux was amazed at how effective GottesZorn’s strange lineup was. With 40 seconds left until protection, Stark started to relax… too soon. KOKO from tSB launched a powerful infantry rally, knocking House of Stark out of the City of Glory. Even so, Stark wasn’t discouraged. For a team made entirely of what most considered the weakest troop type, they had done impressively well.

House of Greyjoy took the City next, while House of Stark, now 3rd, shifted focus to altars, mine shafts, and anything else to secure their standing. House of Targaryen trailed by just 1,000 points, leaving no room for mistakes.

When the mine shafts opened, House of Stark claimed three and quickly reinforced. Lux used pure bow, Marky stuck with female synergy, and Gottes with his custom lineup. So which worked best?

Battle reports revealed that pure bow performed better defensively, while female synergy provided stronger offensive stats, especially with Cersei’s active skill. But with new commanders like Cossomo joining the mix, Lux suspected the game might be leaning toward making pure bow viable for both offense and defense soon.

Ten minutes to go. House of Tyrell held the City of Glory, Greyjoy chased 1st place, and Stark clung to 3rd. Reinforcements poured into their altars, and despite constant attacks from strong players, Lux and MrMarky held firm. Lux was shocked by some battle reports — How did I even survive this hit? she wondered.

With House of Targaryen closing in, only 400 points behind, Stark desperately needed one more Altar of Maiden. But every one was heavily fortified. This is so unfortunate…

Then Lux had an idea. Knowing tSB would win 1st place anyway, she messaged a friend asking if they’d give up their Altar of Maiden for House of Stark. Would he read it in time? Three minutes left…

Luck was on their side. The friend replied, “Of course!” and tSB swiftly vacated the altar. Marky took it immediately, reinforcements rushed in, and with two minutes left, House of Stark secured 3rd place. Not a win, but much better than falling behind.

After the match, Lux thanked tSB and debriefed with her team about the bow lineups. “Wow, I didn’t have any anxiety this time knowing it was all bows,” she told her old ABCD team.

“Maybe you guys should all switch to bow,” Lux joked, then dove back into the battle reports searching for the elusive answer to the million-dollar question: What lineup is best for bowmen players?



She knew it might take time. With only a blue Cossomo for now, Lux had a long road ahead — but she was thrilled to see the game reviving bows, making them one of the strongest troop types once again.