I mean, if you are a F2P like me, I seriously don't know what better use gameplay-wise you can find for that 60k feathers than the assurance of having a arena bonus char every single season. And since they are always the bonus chars your subsequent SI investment on them will have even shorter ROI. Granted, I now have a 4*+10 Hana and a 4*+10 Sophia, and in the not so distant future, I should have a 4*+x (x > 6 or 7) Cecilia that will also surpass the Askrans in terms of scoring. Still, I will have 6 out of every 12 weeks that I will likely have to rely on the Askrans because my luck in pulling focus units has be historically terrible.
Speaking of 4*+10 Hana, it is kinda bittersweet business. I enjoyed the score boost she had brought, but her lack of real combat usefulness is making my arena battles a lot more stressful then I would like. She has Armor Slayer + and L&D 3, but no matter how insane her damage output is on paper, a red sword infantry without DC just has no place in the current meta. Unless I'm handed with free lunch like Hectors or Amelias (which I have not been lucky enough to meet any this week), she just got to sit at the corner and maybe use Reposition occasionally. Even my +Atk S-Supported Hector with Distant Def Seal is kinda suffering the same fate. Maybe I'm over-reliant on Reinhardt + Olivia, but in a Reinhardt + Blyn flooded arena, I kinda have to.
And speaking of Reinhardt + Blyn, my 7th game in my first streak had greeted me with Olivia (lead) + Blyn + 2 Reinhardts. And it had to take place on the lava map which favors ranged units to a absurd degree, ofc. The Blyn is + 6 or something, and one of the Reinhardts is +10. All the 3 horses are carrying Hone Cav as you can expect. I refused to surrender because this was the last game in the streak so surrender or fight on makes no difference but it inevitably cost my deathless streak. I was so close to breaking 4920 for the first time; I even won two 706 (a score I have never seen before) matches in the first 6. Grrr, guess I can't sit back and relax just yet.