Introduction
For the uninitiated, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, similar to DOTA 2 and LoL, but designed for and played on mobile phones. It has been a growing phenomenon and was even made a medal event in the 2019 South-East Asian Games where Esports is formally recognized/sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee.
Whether turning pro, or just being serious in your hobby (to extract maximum fun) – there are at least 4 reasons why it can become a costly and long-drawn affair due to the free-to-play mechanics in attaining desired outcomes:
Skins – purchase-able via Skin Fragments or Diamonds. Some are limited Edition
Heroes – purchase-able via Battle Points (BP) or Diamonds
Emblems – purchase-able via Battle Points (BP) or Diamonds
Level/Tier – you need time and actual skill to level up to the right tier
There are merits in owning at least 1 alternate account, e.g. test new heroes and tactics without affecting your real/main account that matter the most, catch-up to skilled friends with the ideal set of heroes and tier level, or just simply skip the grind and start with the best account to optimize your playstyle.
In this 1st of a 2-parts series on MLBB, we will focus on Skins and Heroes and leave Emblems and Level/Tiers for the 2nd article in the future.
Skins
Although skins have no bearing on the outcome of the game, but it is one of the main motivation factor for a lot of players to spend currency to customise their favourite characters to stand out . Skin fragments which can be used to redeem exotic skins are usually awarded by chance and there is no easy sure-fire way to grind for them most of the time.
Thus, the main way to acquire skins are to buy via Diamonds which is the premium currency. Costs range widely from 200+ to close to almost 1000 diamonds, with some exotic skins only available for a limited period of time tied to special events. Once gone, its rare for them to even return again. If you are looking to max out your skin collection, its heavily dependent on you being ready to buy at selected times and the total number of Heroes out there.
Heroes
As of this article’s date (Dec 2019), there are 86 heroes covering 6 roles – Tank, Fighter, Assassin, Mage, Marksman and Support.
With 86 heroes and 10 given as starters, let’s work out some simple maths to calculate the cost to really max out your account with ALL play-able heroes :
60 of the heroes collection cost: 32,000 BP / 599 diamonds
Remaining 16 costs lesser/more. E.g. 499, 799 etc
So, if we use 550 diamonds as an average cost
Total = 550 x 76 heroes = 41,800 diamonds
Cost of Diamonds
From here, we can see that the best rate is about 58 diamonds per US$ 1. Which means US$ 720 is needed to collect all heroes, and not even including the skins which will easily double the amount!
Of course, the argument can be made that with time, you can always earn enough BPs or even diamonds to purchase the hero you want, but we also know how awfully long that will take and it is by design.
Conclusion
We at ZeusX believe you should spend your precious money and time to maximise your playing enjoyment. Take a look at https://zeusx.com/ to see how you can find premium accounts which costs a fraction of the amount you have read above. Join the community here.
PLAY MORE, GRIND LESS.