Difficult Stages - Altar of Flame

Bad news. They're all difficult. End of post. :(

I'm kidding. Well, no, actually they're really all difficult, but I'll give a bit more detail. I'm finding it rather hard to recall exactly what I did for each stage because for most of them I changed my teams multiple times before finding the magic combination. Here is what I can share about my team composition for a few of earlier stages. I realize not everyone has Opera James, Macho Moon and General Brown (though Moon and Brown are easily replaceable with other health and balance rangers), so take the following as ideas/inspiration rather than a guide. The rest are fairly obtainable.

[Post updated April 25, 2014]

Team Compositions

Stage 86 and 87. 

Stage 88 - quite a tough boss stage

Stage 89

Stage 90

Stage  91

Stage 92 

Stage 95 - You can use 3 good single target rangers instead of 2

Stage 96 - Use your best splash ranger, and 3 of your best single target rangers. I use Witch Cony because she's Very Fast, as fast as Glenn. She does ok damage, but since she runs so fast, she can get in a lot of shots on the "Heaven" boss right at the start of the fight (before Tornado reset). I think Honey might be fine too, I just like long-range attacks more.

I think for every stage from 86 - 91 I've had to do my mineral upgrades and then reset the enemy stream with a Tornado. The stages in this zone are almost all (exception of stage 88) a long, dense stream of enemies and you'll have no way to really deal with them properly at the start of the game. Therefore, stalling with lowbies while you gear up your economy is the best way to go. I've gotten quite good at timing my Tower Repair item so that I get the maximum amount of time out of the stall. Remember, even if your mineral has reached max and you have a full set of minerals ready, let the invincibility timer run out its course because after you unleash a Tornado you'll want your Missile ready to launch. Firing the missile when they're all bunched up at the enemy tower deals damage to the whole lot, so don't miss out on this opportunity.

Special notes on Stage 88:

• There are some excellent Youtube videos which illustrate exactly how the composition of [1 splash, 2 long range attack, 2 lowbies] can clear it. You can substitute my Opera James for a max level Clara, it will also work. This stage is really tough because the tall guys with the black "Be Happy" t-shirt, Koichi, is on steroids. He has a lot of HP and this stage starts with eight (8!?!) of them. 
• Always start the stage immediately by upgrading minerals to 6 or maybe even 7. Do not deploy anything until that point because if you pass the midpoint prematurely here, you will also have to deal with a lot of the blondies with dolls. You have enough trouble with the tall guys, you don't want to trigger this secondary set of enemies. Fight all 8 of these tall guys on the left side (your side) of the pathway and you will have a much better time of it. 

Special notes for Stage 92: 

• Probably the toughest stage in the whole zone without Sorcerer Cony (I recommend finding a reliable friend who has Sorcerer Cony to lend you some help). Lots of big and small enemies, you will need a lot of splash damage as well as heavy hitting single target ranged units. Some people have done it with 3 lowbies, I personally did it with 2 because I just couldn't get the slug boss down fast enough with just 1 splash and 1 single. 
• Honey is an excellent choice to add to the mix because she does a lot of damage at level 50 and is very fast to get into the front of the fray. Since the slug boss doesn't move very quickly and doesn't attack very often, she can easily get in multiple big hits before dying. Since the revision, she's also pretty cheap to deploy, only 200 mineral at level 50.
• I chose Clara over my more powerful Opera James for this stage. Why? The critical point in the stage is after Tornado is used, the moment you throw out Ice Shot. You need to do the most splash damage to all of the enemies clumped up in the frozen ice right in this moment and get rid of a lot of the blowtorch guys and the smaller guys here. If you fail to time the ice shot so that your rangers are already in range to start attacking the frozen enemies, you will find that they will overwhelm you once they thaw. So, I picked Clara because she walks faster than Opera James. I kept losing until I made this team change. Obviously, if you have Sorcerer Cony, you're in good shape because she walks the same speed as Clara and attacks faster. 
• Timing of your items will be ridiculously crucial in this stage (which includes Thomas!) because of the way it affects when the blowtorch guys will reach your team -- remember, once a blowtorch enemy reaches your damage rangers, it's pretty much game over. You want to throw down Ice Shot when the blowtorch guys are about to meet your lowbies, NOT when the boss meets your lowbies. Blowtorch guy walks slower than the rest of them. It gives your team (and your Friend/Sidekick) an extra 1-2 seconds to get into range!
• Order of your ranger deployment at the start of the stage will also help you take down the boss' health a bunch before you blow them back with a Tornado. Choose carefully!

Special notes for Stage 95:

• While the big, slow slug boss is still alive, never cross the midway point. It's a short pathway, I know. But if you cross the midpoint, you will prematurely trigger the tall "Be Happy" guys and you will be very unhappy as a result. Upgrade minerals to 6 before doing anything else.
• Even after using a Tornado to blow him back, wait for him to walk WELL past the mid-point (let him walk about 75% of the way to you) before you deploy any of your rangers. I lost 5 or 6 times because I timed my Glenn to face him as he passed the mid-point, however when the slug loses half his health, he gets knocked back *very far*, farther than you would think. As a result, your lowbie or other melee rangers will cross the mid-point to meet with him again. I would really recommend you wait until he gets to the 3/4 point before you block his path.
• You'll want to bring your best single target rangers for this stage. It's not a boss stage, but the slug you fight in 92 is here along with tall guys, but not much else. Splash is less important. Bring 3 single target (preferably Sindy and Ellin, and your best third one) and Clara (or whoever your best splash is).

Special notes for Stage 96:

• Not an easy stage at all, but I found it a lot easier than 92. The pathway is super long and the boss is slow, so I right away picked Glenn as he is the fastest lowbie. The stream of enemies is not as densely packed as 92, and you don't need to deal with a lot of them at a time so 3 single target rangers is best in my opinion. Sindy and Ellin are obvious picks. If you have any of the Boss rangers, they might be good because they walk fast. I have Legend Boss at level 50, but I didn't use him. I personally chose Witch Cony because she walks as fast as Glenn and she's much cheaper than Legend Boss. Honey might also be a viable choice here, but I didn't try it with her. The Heaven boss does splash damage so I went with a long-range Cony instead.
• It's a crazy long path so don't waste the boss' first pass doing nothing (this is why I picked Witch Cony, she can run to the enemies and start attacking faster than the others). You *must* deal enough damage to him during the first pass otherwise he will cause you to lose during his second pass. He has a lot of HP and you need to squeeze all the damage you can in the time that you have, otherwise he will start to overwhelm you, you'll hit Hurry Up, then the blowtorch guys catch up and it's game over.

On a slightly quirky note, why Glenn? He costs nearly double what Scott and Bella cost as lowbie bait for the enemy. But in a 1 vs 1 race, Glenn actually runs much faster than Scott and Bella. In fact, the only ranger who even comes close to Glenn's move speed is Honey and the Conys that are speed rangers (not Sorcerer). Despite what it says on their profile, even among the "Very Fast," there are slight yet significant differences. You'll have to carefully weigh the pros and cons of using him. Some stages have you strapped for cash, so maybe speed isn't as important so Scott and Bella are better choices. Some stages require you to hold the front line super fast, in which case Glenn works out better.

All these multiple failed attempts on these stages has me running quite poor on coins. Unless you are farming for treasure in this zone, go back to Stage 80 or 76. They provide the most coin for least effort as well as decent account/user experience.

Treasure

If you are farming for treasure, I recommend 85 for section one of this zone, 89 for section two, 93 for section 3. Difficulty-wise, they are the least troublesome. Once you get a piece of treasure in each section, you will be rewarded with increased Move Speed. Not super impressive, but I am looking forward to Castle in the Sky. The treasure benefit there is increased ranger attack power. Excellent!