TilayaInformation and Guide

Tilaya is an A-Level Warrior of the Wilder faction. She excels at tanking enemy hits with strong shields, returning hits as damage, and increasing the survivability of nearby allies.

Tilaya’s kit revolves around the use of Vine Ward, a shield she gains from casting her Ultimate, Wrath of the Wilds. At the start of battle, Tilaya will sacrifice 70% of her HP to gain Vine Ward, a shield equal to 120% of her max HP (plus a bit extra based on her Ultimate value). The shield constantly recovers shield value and causes Tilaya to be Unaffected while it is active. When the shield finally breaks, it goes on a 3s cooldown, then recovers 45% of its value. That’s just the passive part of the skill.

When actively cast, Wrath of the Wilds will swing and hit all enemies in a 2-tile arc in front of Tilaya 8 times, while also reducing her damage taken by 70% during the attack. If there are no enemies in front of her, Tilaya will charge the nearest enemy to attack. Additionally, whenever she takes 4 hits from enemies, she will do an extra swing, up to 12 times.

The majority of the rest of Tilaya’s kit involves buffing or playing off of the Vine Ward shield gained from her Ultimate.

• Her Skill I, Mighty Slash, is a charge and attack combo that restores Vine Ward shield value based on the damage dealt, if Vine Ward is active.

• Skill II, Wildwood Resonance, is a buff to her attacks that is stronger based on her current shield value when cast.

• Her EX Skill, Verdant Growth, instantly recovers 120% of Vine Ward’s shield value the first time it breaks, and increases the amount recovered after the cooldown for any shield breaks after the first. At EX+10, it provides a substantial survivability buff to allies near Tilaya.

• Finally, her Enhance Force increases her shield recovery value while casting her Ultimate.

With all this in mind, it is clear that Tilaya’s core strength revolves around maintaining Vine Ward as much as possible. That said, she does benefit from being hit frequently by the enemy, which allows her to dish out more damage through the active casting of her Ultimate. As such, she is a good option for a Frontline Fighter in a forward position on the team, either in place of a Tank or alongside one.

However, Tilaya’s usefulness seems to be limited mostly to Story/AFK and special stages. In PvP, she can easily be countered by true and/or piercing damage, as her HP value immediately drops to 30% after converting to Vine Ward. She can be useful on attacking teams where you can ensure she isn’t countered by True Damage, or in Supreme Arena for the same reason.

Investment

• Legendary+ increases her Vitality, which increases her shield value.

• Mythic+ instantly recovers 120% of Vine Ward’s shield value the first time it breaks and increases the amount recovered after the cooldown for any shield breaks after the first.

• EX+5 increases the shield value recovered after the cooldown by +10%.

• EX +10 causes Vine Ward to buff the max HP, Phys DEF, and Magic DEF of allies within 2 tiles of Tilaya after it has been active for 15s.

• EX+15 increases the shield value recovered after the cooldown by +10%.

Minimum investment for Tilaya is Mythic+ for the instant Vine Ward shield recovery the first time it breaks. EX +10 is the next major upgrade to her kit, as this allows her to provide survivability buffs to her nearby allies. 

Performance in Various Game Modes

• Story/AFK Stages – Tilaya is a strong frontliner for these stages, either as the sole absorber of damage or paired alongside another strong Tank. She works especially well with heroes that can stay within her EX+10 survivability buff and benefit from it once it gets going. With a ton of shield value regen built into her kit and little need for HP healing, she can often be run without a dedicated healer, freeing up space for more Utility or DPS. She can be difficult to get full use out of in stages with obstacles that prevent your team from sticking close together, or that prevent enemies from grouping up to all hit her shield, which enables her to deal more damage.

• Dream Realm – Since the majority of what Tilaya brings to a battle is a big ‘ole shield, she doesn't have much use in this mode outside of maybe some survivability buffs.

• PvP – In PvP, Tilaya can easily be countered by True Damage, as her HP value immediately drops to 30% after converting to Vine Ward. She can be useful on attacking teams for PVP/Supreme Arena, where you can ensure she isn’t countered by True Damage.

Conclusion

Tilaya is a very strong Frontliner for Story/AFK stages, able to be the sole damage absorber on the team and is almost unkillable once all her buffs get going. Outside of those modes, her usability falls off quite a bit, making her less versatile than other heroes. She’s worth investing in if you like pushing high AFK Stages but aren’t able to build the best C/H tanks for the mode.