Monday, August 30, 2010

Weekly Checklist

I thought I'll share my checklist of task/events.

3 times a day :
#1 Participate in Floating Castle
(unfortunately, I do miss some of these)

Daily :
#1 Lucky Wheel -> Spin [Fortune]
#2 Quest -> Development -> Collect 5 Synthesis Runes for winning a floating castle
#3 Quest -> Development -> Kill Devil/Harpy/Merman for 3 leather keys
#4 Quest -> Union -> Donate 50k of each resource
#5 Quest -> Nobility Title -> Collect Tax
#6 Quest -> Hero Quest -> Complete at least the 4 stars /5 stars quests.
#7 Tavern -> Check all taverns for blue/purple heroes
#8 Arena -> Each hero participates in 5 contests

Every 3 days (or when needed):
#1 Identify Superior Scrolls and find them, repeat as needed to get Atk/Def/Luck runes.

Weekly :
#1 Participate in Devil Sweep (Thursday)
#2 Complete and collect all 6 rewards in Pagoda

I also created a document to check off each task/event.

https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1qF0qq81wyFjNVBwFCqrnt21nZY4dlKW0pGP5PkWJFhU&hl=en

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Value of Scrolls and Ashes

In this post, I'd like to put a value to any scroll based on its level.
This value is measured by the average number of Synthesis Runes needed to get a scroll to the level.

You get scrolls from chests or by killing devils.
These scrolls will be of level 1.
You can divide the scroll, and they will turn to ash.
Now, you can synthesize a scroll of higher level by using scrolls of lower level, ashes, and synthesis rune.

Level 1 scroll => => Level 1 ash.
Level 2 scroll => => Level 2 ash.
Level 3 scroll => => Level 3 ash.
(You get the idea).

Level 1 scroll + 3x Level 1 ash + Synthesis Rune 1 => => Level 2 scroll.
Level 2 scroll + 3x Level 2 ash + Synthesis Rune 1 => => Level 3 scroll.
Level 3 scroll + 3x Level 3 ash + Synthesis Rune 1 => => Level 4 scroll.
Note that when you fail, the ashes and runes are lost, but not the scroll.

Level 1 - 0 Synthesis Rune
So level 1 scrolls and ashes cost nothing (with respect to synthesis rune). In fact, they are found in abundance (except for a few selected types - Inspiration 1 and Inspiration 2, but that's not what I am measuring here.

Level 2 - 1.67 Synthesis Rune
There's a 60% chance of success. So that means getting a level 1 scroll to level 2 will take 5 level 1 ashes and 1.67 synthesis rune. Since level 1 ashes require no synthesis runes, its value is simply 1.67 synthesis rune.

Level 3 - 13.67 Synthesis Rune
There's a 50% chance of success. So on average, it'll take 2 synthesis rune, 6 level 2 ashes and 1 level 2 scrolls. Level 2 ashes have the same 'value' as its scroll, so that makes its value 2 + 6 * 1.67 + 1.67 = 13.67 synthesis rune.

Level 4 - 118.67 Synthesis Rune
There's a 40% chance of success. So on average, it'll take 2.5 synthesis rune, 7.5 level 3 ashes and 1 level 3 scroll. 2.5 + 8.5 * 13.67 = 118.67.

Level 5 - 909.78 Synthesis Rune 1 + 3.33 Synthesis Rune 2
Here's where things get interesting. To get a level 5 scroll, you need only 2 level 4 ashes, but you will need Synthesis Rune 2. These runes have to be bought from shops. Good thing, it can be bought with diamond tickets. The success rate is 30%. So on average, you will need 3.33 Synthesis Rune 2, 6.67 Level 4 ashes, and 1 Level 4 scroll.

So you can see the exponential increase. I think the sweet spot is Level 4.

Also, the current event of giving a level 2 ash for 10 wishing bottles, at a drop rate of about 1 in 20, it's a waste of time. That scroll is worth only 1.67 runes, and you can get 5 daily just by winning one FC.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Superior Treasure Map

When you kill wild devils, you can be rewarded with treasure maps. The maps come in 4 flavors (much like all other items in this game) :

1. Ordinary Treasure Map (Black)
2. Excellent Treasure Map (Green)
3. Superior Treasure Map (Blue)
4. Legend Treasure Map (Purple)

In this post, I want to talk about the Superior Treasure Map. You can sell each of this map for 150 gold, or get them identified for 1000 gold. When identified, the location is usually about 1 hour travel time from your main (for troops with 100 speed). The rewards you usually get are :

1. Attack Rune (3 days)
2. Defense Rune (3 days)
3. Luck Rune (3 days)
4. Builder Queue (3 days)
5. Exp Book III (3000 exp, min level 21)

I like to kill find at least 3 of these treasures daily, so that on average, I will find at least one of each of the first 3 items, and with that I will be able to keep attack/defense/luck running, without having to spin [Super] or to buy them with diamonds.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Arena

Arena Structure

The Arena structure allow heroes of level 10 or higher to take part in contests.
At Arena level 1, you can do 11 challenges.
At each additional Arena structure level, you can do one additional challenge.
At the maximum level of 30, that means you can do a maximum of 40 challenges.


Arena Grade

The arena is graded.

Hero Level Arena Grade
10-19 1
20-29 2
30-39 3
40-49 4
50-59 5
60-69 6
70-79 7
80 8

This way, a hero of level 80 will not compete against a hero of level 10.
But a hero of level 10 still has to deal with hero of level 19.


Arena Level

When a hero starts the contest in each grade, he begins with an 'Arena Level' (some call this rating) of 1500.
Each contest that he wins, the Arena Level will go up, and vice versa, the Arena Level will go down when he loses a contest.
When a hero advances to the next Arena Grade, his Arena Level will be reset to level 1500.


Arena Points

Everyday, Arena Points are given to heroes who have participated in at least 5 arena contests.
The points given are based on this Formula :

If [Arena Level] < 1500 :
[Points Awarded] = [Arena Grade] * [Arena Level] * [Arena Level] * 0.0125 / ( [Arena Level] + 1500 )
Otherwise :
[Points Awarded] = [Arena Grade] * [Arena Level] * [Arena Level] * 0.0625 / ( [Arena Level] + 10000 ) Below is a table for easy comparison :
Level \ Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6
1000 5 10 15 20 25 30
1200 7 13 20 27 33 40
1300 8 15 23 30 38 45
1400 8 17 25 34 42 51
1450 9 18 27 36 45 53
1499 9 19 28 37 47 56
1500 12 24 37 49 61 73
1501 12 24 37 49 61 73
1550 13 26 39 52 65 78
1600 14 28 41 55 69 83
1700 15 31 46 62 77 93
1800 17 34 51 69 86 103
1900 19 38 57 76 95 114
2000 21 42 63 83 104 125


Arena Ranking

There is a ranking for each grade of Arena.
There are no rewards for getting top ranking in Arena.


Arena Rewards

The Arena Rewards are based on Arena Points, which are awarded as described above.
The points can be used to exchange for rewards.


Because rewards are based on points and points are given daily, try to have each hero join at least 5 contests daily.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Dismissing a Hero

This is a note that I wrote to my union a few months ago.


Here, I was dismissing a hero to make room for another. So below is the check list that I had been using so far, but today, it's the first time I am dismissing a hero that had BoE items. Then to my surprise, the BoE items that I had unequipped all disappeared. So I now add a new item to the check list, and hope that will save all of you the pain.

1. Remove ALL items from the hero.
2. Remove ALL troops from the hero.
3. Use ALL arena points that hero has. Exchange them for items, or just exp scrolls.
4. Sell all BoE items bound to the hero.

Please see updates :
http://sislandec.blogspot.com/2011/01/dismissing-hero-update.html

Monday, August 2, 2010

Political Hero Skills

Is it even necessary to have political heroes? This is a war game, and are we better off with all heroes focusing on military skills?
Take a closer look, and you will see that a mayor can increase the defense of a city.
So, even from a military perspective, it still makes sense to have heroes with political skills.

Here's how I grew my political heroes.

Military Focused
Step 1 : Level 10 in Survive.
Step 2 : Level 20 in Local (Yes, this is probably the best political skills).
Step 3 : Level 20 in Military Zeal (Yes, you want to be able to build troops as fast as you can).
Step 4 : Level 20 in Survive
Total 93 points, war level 24 - This is about hero level 42.

Now, if you want your hero to be half military/politics, this is where you stop, and you can start your military career. But if you want to build, you may continue here.

Military/Builder Combo
Step 5 : Level 10 in Pal of Dwarf
Step 6 : Level 10 in Born Blacksmith
Step 7 : Level 10 in Geologist
Step 8 : Level 20 in Architect (This is the next most useful political skills, especially for starters).
Total 157 points, war level 40 - This is about hero level 58.

Again, you may want to stop here. Faster resource rates don't really help much. You are better off raiding for resources. But if you feel you really want a totally political path, here's the rest.

Totally Political
Step 9 : Level 20 in Geologist
Step 10 : Level 10 in Born in the Woods
Step 11 : Level 10 Latifundium
Step 12 : Level 20 Biologist
Step 13 : Level 20 in Born Blacksmith
Step 14 : Level 20 in Latifundium
Step 15 : Level 20 in Born in the Woods
Step 16 : Level 20 in Pal of Dwarf
Total 310 points, war level 78 - I am not there yet.