The new Teamfight Tactics expansion, TFT Dragonlands is out now, which means players can hop back on the ranked ladder. For players looking to improve their play, Upcomer’s TFT expert is here to bring players a level guide on how to navigate buying XP instead of shop rerolls.
Early Game (stage 2-1 to 3-1)
Stage 2-1 (level to four if strong)
Stage 2-1 will be the first opportunity to use gold to level, but this is often a trap for players. Many players will decide to level to 2-1 in order to have a better chance to win the early rounds. However, if players have multiple one-cost pairs or if they are not very strong, leveling to four is essentially a waste of gold if a player doesn’t think they can win the round.
Stage 2-5 (level to five)
Unless players are playing a reroll composition or are lose streaking with no end in site, players should almost always level to five on Stage 2-5. This is because its an even interval when buying XP and will usually not affect economy.
Mid Game (stage 3-2 to 4-3)
Stage 3-2 (level to six)
Stage 3-2 is another even interval when buying XP and is usually the time when players level to six. At this point players face two decisions. Either sit at level six and don’t do anything or level to six and then proceed to roll gold in order to stabilize board strength by upgrading one and two cost champions (maybe even a three-cost champion). If lucky, players can also find a four-cost carry this early, too.
Stage 3-5 (level to seven if win streaking)
If players were already strong when leveling to six on Stage 3-2 and didn’t need to roll gold, Stage 3-5 is a somewhat common place to level to seven. Players should do this when win streaking to push their advantage. If players have a lot of gold, they can often roll down to find four-cost carries before anyone else.
Stage 4-1 (level to seven)
This is the normal interval players will level to seven. Depending on the current metagame, players will either all in and spend their gold to find their optimal late game board or look to save gold to level to eight on either Stage 4-2 or 4-5.
Stage 4-2 (level to eight if leveled to seven on stage 3-5)
Stage 4-2 is often a point in the game where players who have not spent gold to reroll will look to aggressively level to eight and go all-in on their board. This is typically done by players who are on big win streaks or who have really good economy.
Late Game (stage 4-5 to end)
Stage 4-5 (level to eight if economy is good)
The second most common interval to push to level eight is on Stage 4-5. This is done in meta games where players don’t all in on level seven or in meta games where players are really strong when they hit level seven. Regardless, when pushing to level eight in any metagame, it usually means rolling their gold to find their end game board.
Stage 5-1 (level to eight)
For players that did all in on level seven during Stage 4-1, leveling to five on Stage 5-1 is the most common interval to do so.
When it comes to leveling to nine, there really isn’t a set-in-stone interval. Instead, players should use their best judgment to decide if leveling to nine is good for their composition. This will most likely be affordable sometime during stage six, though.
