Honor Duel is the pinnacle of strategy in AFK Journey, and that’s why we’ve created this guide. It will make you think about every little detail in this game mode and make each of your runs a huge success. You won’t even need all the tickets because you’ll be capping out on rewards in just two rounds. So, let’s just get on with it.
Full Honor Duel Guide For AFK Journey
Honor Duel Start Combo Setup
The first thing we’ll cover in this Honor Duel guide for AFK Journey is the setup. There is really only one important choice, and that is the starting combo. If you want to play for fun or limit the test after you’ve already claimed the weekly rewards, go for the random combo at the bottom.
Otherwise, you’ll choose among the three defined combos. They are randomized each run, but the hero and artifact pools are finite. So, you’ll look to plan ahead and define a strategy right here. You’ll want an artifact that will work best with your predicted team comp, which is, in most cases, something that either amplifies ultimates or healing. More on that later.
Honor Duel Hero Roster in AFK Journey
As in all other modes, you’ll want to have only two factions on the field for the best faction bonus and the most versatility. Below is the list of faction combos that worked the best for me in Honor Duel (note that there are no Celestials and Hypogeans in this mode).
Best Honor Duel Faction Combos
- Lightbearer & Wilders – Mirael is by far the best nuker in this mode, and you also get Lucius and Temesia for CC/frontline. Wilders are there for overall heals and tankines from Granny.
- Maulers & Wilders – Almost the same story as with the above combo, just that the Maulers have better sustained DPS.
- Graveborn & Lightbearers – You’ll run Rowan and Mirael from the Lightbearers, and the rest is Graveborn. Thoran is their star unit, and hence the big nerf on him in this mode.
Best Heroes For Each Faction
| Role | Frontline | DPS | Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lightbearers | Tamesia > Lucius | Mirael > Korin > Cassadee | Rowan |
| Graveborn | Thoran | Silvana > Carolina = Niru | / |
| Maulers | Brutus > Shakir | Oddie > Satrana | Smokey |
| Wilders | Granny | Arden | Hewynn |
Hero Ascension and What Heroes to Ascend First
Hero ascension is fairly simple in this mode: you just need to get dupes. The game will do the rest and upgrade your heroes. To get the first upgrade, you’ll need two copies, and for the second, you’ll need four. You can track the number of dupes you already have below each hero’s avatar.
Once you’ve decided on your faction combo, you’ll want to stick to it till the end. This isn’t TFT, and selling heroes here doesn’t pay off at all. So, you want to invest smartly. The best tactic is to prioritize DPS ascensions first and then only later tanks and supports as they scale worse.
The Duel Store
The store is one of, if not the most important mechanic to master in the Honor Duel mode of AFK Journey. Below is a short list of notes on how the store works and how you should use it to get the most out of your runs.
Pro Duel Store Tips
- Rerolling: You can spend 3 Honor Badges (Honor Duel currency) to refresh it whenever you want. It also refreshes when you win/lose a match (draws don’t reset it; more about them later).
- Gear quality: The quality of the gear increases after 1/3/5/8 battles.
- Selling: You can’t sell equipment, but you can sell heroes. It’s important that you invest in heroes first, as their value stays the same throughout the run. Gear, on the other hand, gets better later, and the low-level pieces are seldom good.
- Good deals: The 3 Random Heroes are great value early on, and if you get something good, it might even be a reason to respec and change your strategy. Don’t sell heroes before round 3/4, as you might hit gold with one of the factions you didn’t plan to play.
- Best items: There are many items in this game mode, and most of them are garbage. Those that aren’t are the Colorful Exoplanet, Survivor, Fire Dance, and Voice of Sacrifice. There are a couple more, but in general, you want sustain for your tanks and ultimate/attack damage for your DPSs. Supports need energy regen.
- Saving money: If you have a good comp already at the start, try to save up money for later when the shop gets better. If you aren’t sure your comp can cover everything, don’t risk it; invest instead.
- Locking items: If you don’t have money at the moment, lock items that are good and that you don’t want to be rerolled. These won’t be as important early on, but later, it’s crucial that you lock good items.
Honor Duel Combat Strategy
The combat strategy in Honor Duel has two main aspects, and they work similarly as in other AFK Journey game modes. The first one is picking out the right comp, but we’ve already covered that. The second one is hero placement, and that is what truly influences the fight’s outcome. Below is some supplementary info on picking out the right comp, and further down is how to place them during preparation.
Best Team Composition
The best team comp in the Honor Duel mode is two tanks (they’ll protect your backline), a support (to keep everyone healthy), a main DPS, and another support/DPS, depending on what your team needs. All your resources will go to the main DPS first, and protecting it is paramount.
Hero Placement Tips
In Honor Duel, you’ll have two phases of hero placement. During the first one, you’ll place three, and in the second, you’ll place two heroes. Outsmarting your opponent during this phase is what will determine the victor. So, here is a list of tips for placing heroes in Honor Duel:
- Don’t place nukers that rely on their ultimate during the first round. Mirael, for example, fires in a straight line, and placing her in the second round so she lines up with the bulk of the enemies is crucial to secure her DPS.
- During the first round, place supports and non-ulti-reliant DPSs. Tanks/frontliners can also be placed, but only those that don’t rely on their position.
- Place tanks with short-range AoE spells close to your other troops.
- Place your tanks at chokepoints if you suspect the enemy will try to dive your DPSs/supports with melee assassins. For this reason alone, saving a melee for round two can be very good.
- Conversely, save a melee for round two so you can dive their backline. Ultimately, you can just use Tamesia and not worry about that.
Post-Fight Stats Screen
The post-fight stats screen gives you insight into which units are performing well. Use it to determine which units you want to use. The image above is from round 9, where Mirael, with Colorful Exoplanet equipped, nuked the whole enemy team. The only thing she needed was Lucius to tank them all until she got her energy.
Winning in Honor Duel and Rewards
If you incorporate all of the above tips into your gameplay, you’ll become a master of the Honor Duel mode in AFK Journey. The only final thing you need to know is that once you’ve got the weekly rewards, you should start limit testing and trying out as many different things as possible. That way, you’ll be ready for when other players start getting better at this mode.
Draws
If you get a draw, which happens if the fight doesn’t end within 60 seconds, you are simply taken back to the main Honor Duel screen, and you can try matching again. No lives are lost, and no victories are added. The shop isn’t refreshed either.
Weekly Honor Duel Rewards
Here is a list of weekly rewards you receive for getting wins in the Honor Duel mode of AFK Journey:
- 1 Victory: 200 Diamonds
- 3 Victories: 40K Gold
- 6 Victories: 200 Diamonds
- 9 Victories: 40K Gold
- 12 Victories: 300 Diamonds
- 15 Victories: 2 Invite Letters
That is quite literally everything you’ll ever need to win Honor Duels in AFK Journey. If you need help with this or some other mobile game, be sure to bookmark Twinfinite. We’ve even got tier lists for all the most popular gachas, including Astra: Knights of Veda and Solo Leveling: Arise.
