For those who have disposable income or just don't mind gambling, I'm posting a few tips from my experience with arena.
Arena betting begins 2 hours after reset and occurs every 4 hours from then. Once arena betting is open you have 30 minutes to place your bets. Within those thirty minutes you can place a total of 6 bets. You can bet on First place winner (which usually renders the most instantaneous profit). You can bet on First/Second which usually has fair dividends but has a tougher chance of winning since there are more combinations. Then you can bet on Final round, which is a decent bet since you don't have to choose between two formations you believe are strong.
First we start off by explaining dividends. When you go to the betting windows in arena, next to the contender's name will be a number. That will be the dividend of the bet. Dividends, how they are defined, are basically the price per share. So, lets say the dividend is 7 for a certain contender, it means you will get back, 7 gold per 1 gold you put in. However, these change as more people bet. The more people bet on one contender the lower the dividend falls. **Important** Dividend is not the chance of a person winning. If you see a low dividend it means more people bet on that person, but it does not mean that they are far more likely to win. So don't just instinctively bet on the person with the lowest dividend because more people bet on him. Look at all the factors and then make that choice.
Okay now with dividends out of the way we move on to the good stuff. Who do you bet on? Well to do that you have to get acquainted with the participants, the formations they have, and the AI. We'll start with the participants. The participants are as follows:
Guan Chang- Hwarang
Alexandra-Prophet
Hasard- Janissary
Michaelangelo-Inventor
Cleopatra- Oracle
Jeanne- Lady knight
Alkinarpay- Witch
Frank-Punisher
Saijo- Cannoneer
Beatrice-Princess
Sarasate-Minstrel
Now with knowing the main characters of the participants it can help you in your choice. You have to know what each of their strengths and weaknesses are. Knowing this can be a factor in narrowing down your potential choices. For example, Sarasate is squishy and easily picked off by long range mercs (sniped). If she were to fight Guan (best sniper) chances are in his favor, given the AI is not completely stupid (which it is a fair amount of time). In order to see the strengths and weaknesses you have to observe arena battles and keep those things in mind.
Now, main character doesn't decide a match on his own. You need to know the formations as well. Each character has a few formations each. In order to fully become acquainted with them is to observe, but there are some ways to predict how they will do based on their formations.
Do they have artillerymen and gunners? Stun is crucial in arena, and since monks are hard to find in arena formations and badly used when they are in it, a 3+ character stun can make or break a match.
Do they have vikings? Although a bit less crucial than stunners, since frontlines in arena are the least to worry about, freezing axe is good at disabling an entire row. And keeping 3 out of 7 mercs from attacking is a fair deal. Now to add on to that, most teams have at least one viking, that is when you ask yourself, where are they? A viking in the second row can make sure that hes freezing everytime he can. A front row viking is only good until he's frozen and all he can do is tank, which spearmen and swordsmen do better.
What about a shaman? A shaman's heal can keep a frontline up longer, and in arena that is key to winning. Their brutal will magic, especially on a gunner or artilleryman row, can spell a quick end to a closely knit formation.
Now you ask yourself, is that all that is important? Not at all. Not even close, each formation has it's specialty. Some formations have no vikings, no artillerymen or shamans. For example, Alexandra's Spearman formation.
Spear Spear Spear
Spear Blank Spear
Spear Blank Alex
This is an AP drain/ good damage formation. Alex' Concentrate skill ensures that her mercenaries last, always hit, and hit well. Consecutive lightning spears can make mercenaries take 1 or even two turns from attacking depending on the AP gain. Its a solid formation, and makes for a great bet. Yet there is so much i can say about formations, and you have to look for yourself to find your favorites.
Now a solid formation only works if used wisely, which is something AI fails to do time and time again. There have been many lost bets on a shaman Bruting herself, or a both mains with low hp and the one who is up wastes a turn attacking a separate mercenary, not in the way. Knowing this you have to be ready for anything. Which is where gambling takes effect.
Arena can be, like any other types of gambles, unpredictable. Due to fail AI and scrolls, a match can be lost by even the strongest of formations. This is why you have to know how to play the odds. here are a few tips on how to assure a profit over time.
-Deciding the quantity of your bet is half the gamble, with the other being who to bet on. Decide who to bet on based on formations, and decide betting quantity as if it were pure chance. (1/8 for First place bets, 1/32 for First/Second, and 1/16 for Final round)
-Only bet as much as you are willing to lose.
-When making multiple bets, in order to insure you at least break even with any win, on your secondary bets, make sure the total betting amount does not exceed the profit gained from a win from your lowest dividend bet.
Example: Say that the lowest dividend you bet on (for first place) was 4.0 and you decided you wanted to make four bets. You bet 5M on the first bet, so if it wins your winnings would be 20M, make your remaining bets total Equal or less than 15M so that if your lowest dividend bet wins, you'll break even and any other will make a profit.
-Make small bets on high dividend matched. Do to the unpredictable nature of the AI, a win on a high dividend can have potential to be a large take in the event that the underdog pulls off a win.
-Any dividends lower than 3.0 have a profit margin that is negligible unless you make a large bet. And due to this, only 1 bet can be made since your profit won't be able to keep up with the extra bets.
-Remote bets are not recommended due to the service charge, the more money in, the more money out.
Arena can be a fun and easy way of making cash. Watching the matches is always a nice way to take a break from a hard grind or major questing session, and why not make money from it. If you do your homework, and play it smart, it can turn out to be one of your major sources of income. So keep this stuff in mind when playing the arena, and if you have anything else to add on, especially if we could get a comprehensive list of formations for each participant, just post them below. Happy betting.
Subject: Arena betting 
Mon Feb 01, 2010 9:02 am
