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[Guide] Cosmic Raven's Version of Heavy Questing

It would be great if we could edit/delete posts in this thread. I think the other thread will be a great success. I did learn that I have been playing 11 days longer than HQS.

For those that don’t know, you should have a bank of FPs. And think of it like a bank. When I look at my inventory right now I have 1878 FPs. That means I have close to 3000 FPs “invested” in other people’s GBs. Those are short-term loans since I tend to contribute towards the end. There are 2 basic rules:

1. Always make a profit unless there is a good reason not to (and there are many — prized BPs, helping someone that contributes to your Arc, etc.). We also benefit by completing quests.
2. Don’t get too greedy. But also don’t give away too much of your profit. There is a sweet spot.


I agree 100%. I pretty much save my packs for sniping and use what I get on my bar for self leveling or secondary gb's. Only time I am willing to lose if I am gaining Arc prints, but even then it had better be a nice reward.
 

DeletedUser29218

It would be great if we could edit/delete posts in this thread. I think the other thread will be a great success. I did learn that I have been playing 11 days longer than HQS.

For those that don’t know, you should have a bank of FPs. And think of it like a bank. When I look at my inventory right now I have 1878 FPs. That means I have close to 3000 FPs “invested” in other people’s GBs. Those are short-term loans since I tend to contribute towards the end. There are 2 basic rules:

1. Always make a profit unless there is a good reason not to (and there are many — prized BPs, helping someone that contributes to your Arc, etc.). We also benefit by completing quests.
2. Don’t get too greedy. But also don’t give away too much of your profit. There is a sweet spot.

Good thing you learnt something from me ;)

As for the FP bank, I partly agree and partly disagree. I really like the bank example though, because:

1- A bank wants to invest most of its passive into active, so they can make money. The equivalent in the game would be to invest FPs to gain more FPs, and this can be done by sniping other people GBs, or by investing in our own GBs that generate FPs.

2- A bank needs to have some money as reserves, and that money is proportional to the business size of the market. The equivalent in the game is that you want to keep some FP reserves for sniping opportunities. And the amount of reserves should be bigger as you lvl up your arc, because your "business size" increases a lot, especially around 70% bonus and close to 90% (I consider these 2 to be some sort of breaking points, I'll expand further in my thread once I have converted the ideas into something readable).

To show some orientative numbers, I have about 8k FPs invested in other people GBs, and 900 in inventory. But I don't think someone without arc should have many reserves, at most 100 FP.
 
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DeletedUser29352

Someone without an Arc can easily need 1000 or more FPs. A higher level Arc increases the number of snipe opportunities and certainly the profit, but you don’t need to have one to be wildly successful at sniping. I can promise that my lvl 10 Arc generated more FPs than most lvl 60-80 Arcs because I was more aggressive. That is why the “Race to Lvl 80 on an Arc” strategy is not a great strategy.
 
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So the winter event had me open three sectors today... in doing so I’ve completed this portion of the c-map. My only option moving forward is to get on the ship out in the water. If I get on da boat will I lose the second recurring quest slot?
 

DeletedUser29352

I would jump on the boat. You can take 90% of the United States and keep your second quest. It does take a while to get it back though so wait until you are ready before giving it up.
 

*Arturis*

Well-Known Member
Someone without an Arc can easily need 1000 or more FPs. A higher level Arc increases the number of snipe opportunities and certainly the profit, but you don’t need to have one to be wildly successful at sniping. I can promise that my lvl 10 Arc generated more FPs than most lvl 60-80 Arcs because I was more aggressive. That is why the “Race to Lvl 80 on an Arc” strategy is not a great strategy.
You can be both:)
 

DeletedUser29352

Indeed. On December 3rd I had a lvl 29 Arc and HQS had a lvl 60 Arc, but my other GBs were wildly ahead of his. Now he has a lvl 64 Arc and I have a lvl 48 Arc. My other GBs are still wildly ahead. Point for Cosmic Raven.
 

DeletedUser29218

Someone without an Arc can easily need 1000 or more FPs. A higher level Arc increases the number of snipe opportunities and certainly the profit, but you don’t need to have one to be wildly successful at sniping. I can promise that my lvl 10 Arc generated more FPs than most lvl 60-80 Arcs because I was more aggressive. That is why the “Race to Lvl 80 on an Arc” strategy is not a great strategy.

This, as a whole, doesn't make any sense.
First you say there are so many good sniping oportunities that someone without arc needs a reserve of +1000Fps.
Then you claim to have generated more benefits than most lvl 60-80 arcs by "being more aggresive". Whatever way you want to define being agressive, a 80 arc owner could also behave that way; you are not special.

Compared to a no arc situation, a lvl 80 arc player has between 90% and infinite extra profit. And this doesn't even take into account that a high arc has more sniping opportunities.

Indeed. On December 3rd I had a lvl 29 Arc and HQS had a lvl 60 Arc, but my other GBs were wildly ahead of his. Now he has a lvl 64 Arc and I have a lvl 48 Arc. My other GBs are still wildly ahead. Point for Cosmic Raven.

I wonder how you arrive to the conclusion that your arc is the only one growing but since you like to compare yourself to me so much, let's use the data you have shown.
https://gyazo.com/e08944922eddb6e2243bf9eb250097d4

Your lvl 29 --> 48 arc has an estimated cost of 2076FP.
My lvl 60 --> 70 has an estimated cost of 3012.

During this time I have also raised my investments from 2-3k to 10k+ FPs and I could lvl it all the way to 80 if I decided to spend them.
And this was in the middle of several work trips, some days I didn't log in more than 5 mins.

Edit: lvl 71 now ^^
 
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DeletedUser29352

My city is much larger than yours. I have wildly more goods than you. I have more points than you by far. All of your great buildings are far behind mine. All but one. And my Arc will catch yours soon. Since we last checked you Arc has gone up 11 levels. Mine has gone up 22 levels. You are doing your Arc first. I am glad I did mine last. Face it, you have a flawed strategy.
 
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DeletedUser28670

I have more points than you by far.
Dulahan:
upload_2017-12-25_17-35-15.png
You:
upload_2017-12-25_17-35-46.png
Not really a big difference.
Since we last checked you Arc has gone up 11 levels. Mine has gone up 22 levels.
His levels are far more expensive than yours, making it about even.
I have wildly more goods than you.
How do you know?
My city is much larger than yours.
Quality > Quantity
 

DeletedUser31498

Dulahan:
View attachment 9024
You:
View attachment 9025
Not really a big difference.

His levels are far more expensive than yours, making it about even.

How do you know?

Quality > Quantity
Isn't length of playing time the most important factor here by far? Unless you both started at the same time, and have spent the same amount of time, it's tough to say bc one score is higher that a general strategy is better?
 

DeletedUser29218

Isn't length of playing time the most important factor here by far? Unless you both started at the same time, and have spent the same amount of time, it's tough to say bc one score is higher that a general strategy is better?

If you want to compare strategies based on a 1 by 1 player score (which I must admit is not absolute, because each server "culture" is different) here are the facts:

-I started to play a bit later (11 days later, according to Prisca's own words).
-The lvls I raised my arc in 20 days are worth ~150% FP compared to his
-During these 20 days I increased my FP packs from 2-3k to 10k+
-I do not own a field of ~50 SoKs. If he purchased them with diamonds or with got them with huge luck I do not judge. But if I had them... I can assure you my arc would have reached 80 long ago.
-I haven't been gifted free high era goodies from guild budies or purchased them with diamonds. I had to buy them with FP, at rates that were fair in my server at the time.
-15-20% of the time I was travelling due to work reasons. And I hate the phone app, so I collected and spent the FP, but barely did any questing while I was outside.
-Based on the number of battles I believe my playtime is lower too. I consider that the reward/time ratio for plundering is too small at low ages. However, I've spend quite a bit of time writing and editing an excel megasheet.
-The only valid claim Prisca makes is about goods. If he is following the "sect leader" strategy to the letter he should have a couple thousand goods more than me. Anyhow, despite the guild donations I have enough to skip several eras if I wanted to. And the goods contributed by a higher lvl arc were enough to fund most of my current guild campaign in HMA.

PD: Sorry for the oftopic. I swear this will be my last post of this style here, as I'm usually not fan of the "who has the largest ____ " competitions. But I was a bit tired of seeing someone claiming to be better than everyone else in every aspect; who isn't willing to contribute to interesting discussions with neither evidence-based nor hipothesis-based arguments AND whose city is worse than the ones he criticises (despite longer playtime, a SoK farm, etc.)
 

DeletedUser29352

Isn't length of playing time the most important factor here by far? Unless you both started at the same time, and have spent the same amount of time, it's tough to say bc one score is higher that a general strategy is better?
We started at the same time (11 days of each other). Of course I stopped playing for 2 weeks and left my alliance. I promise I travel more, lol. And, no I wouldn’t use battle as a judge of playtime. I attack anyone. You run like a frightened girl if there are more than 2 spearmen.

HQS is the one that started this bragging about his Arc being more than twice my level. No comparison, of course, if you take into account the other GBs. But he likes to focus on the Arc. Now that they are level 52 and 71, there is no difference but time before they are equal. Not sure you should brag about points HQS. Long way from HMA to PE. I sort of skipped IA and PE so I will be on to PME soon. Just need 2 more daily’s wanting research. HQS has junked up this thread from the begaining.

But when you were added up the point differentials between Arc levels, you neglected to add these:

St. Marks — lvl6 vs 10
CdM — lvl 10 vs 11
CF — lvl 10 vs 16
Zeus — lvl 9 vs 10
LoA — lvl 5 vs 10
ToR — lvl 10 vs none
Cape Carn — lvl 11 vs none
Alcatraz — none vs. lvl 13
CoA — none vs. lvl 10
FD — none vs. lvl 6
Hagia — none vs. lvl 10
Obs— none vs. lvl 7
IT — none vs. lvl 9
Atomium— none vs. lvl 7
Atlantis— none vs. lvl 9
AO — none vs. lvl 7
 
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DeletedUser29218

I like that you didn't deny that my city produced 8k+ more FPs than yours in the last 20 days.

You know why?
Because I wasn't talking about GB levels, I was talking about GB level differences in a given time.

You know why?
Because level differences in a given period are a measure of FP generated, and FP generation is the main performance parameter that I use to evaluate city growth.

I also like that you didn't deny getting ahead by spending $$, or receiving free high era goodies. The reason your city grows slower is because you invested FP in GB that have lower returns.

However, the true reason your city grows slower than mine (and lots of other people who do some variation of HQS) is that you blindly followed someone else's instructions without questioning anything.

You build FoD and atomium which gives some happyness and lots of goods that you don't need...just because someone told you to do so.
You went through the most expensive lvls of CF and stopped right when it was starting to become cheaper...just because someone told you to do so.
You didn't use any of the special buidlings that generate more FP than clockmakers...just because someone told you to do so.
You didn't listen to any feedback from other people whose knowledge in some areas might be better than yours...just because someone showed you how to do so.


I could go on for a long time. Open your mind, ideas don't hurt. There is always someone smarter than you, and even the smartest person ever could use some help.
 

DeletedUser27184

I like that you didn't deny that my city produced 8k+ more FPs than yours in the last 20 days.
I may have lost this message somewhere in the forest here.
How much FP does your city produce over a month? This question is independent of your argument with Prisca...

Also how do you calculate it? What method do you use for it?
 
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DeletedUser29218

Oh, it's hard to say. I know about last 20 days because Prisca provided a reference point (my lvl 60 arc). So I checked how much I spent upgrading my arc, and a rough guess of how much fps I had in packs + investments when my arc was 60, compared to now.

I know for a fact that the buildings in my city (we are talking about collections, RQ and ToR) produce 181.08 daily FP. The hypotheses here are that random rewards from RQ and ToR relics are the ones provided by the wiki, that I haven't messed up anything in my sheet and that Inno hasn't messed up anything on their end.

Then there are the FP from taberns, daily challenges and the expedition itself. With a bit of efford I think they could be estimated, but I don't have enough interest in doing so because they aren't factors that drive any decision.

Finally there is the sniping, which is very difficult to foresee. But... after having experienced how powerful arc is, I'd say it doesn't matter if you can foresee it or not, leveling it is a no brainer.

Sorry, but I don't have a supermethod for that... yet :)
 

DeletedUser27184

Sorry, but I don't have a supermethod for that... yet
I have a partial method for that:
I use the achievement "Hey, big spender". At the end of each day, I write down the value there. It shows how much FP you used today, and it reset to zero at the start of the new day.
If you record it daily, after a few days you can start to see averages, and you can count the total over a month.

This method works great if you mostly use swaps as the main way. Especially if those are equal swaps.
The main problem with this method is how to calculate your own snipes into other GB's?
 

DeletedUser29352

Your city didn’t produce more FPs than mine, it never has. That is why you are so wildly behind. Guess how many FPs I spent going from Colonial through PE in 3 weeks? And I have a bank of 4-5000 FPs still. You are supposedly writing a guide on leveling an arc. How do you not know that it takes very few Forge points to take an Arc from level 35 to level 80. But it takes a huge amount of Forge points to take a GB from level 1 to level 10. No one contributes free points to them. You will start to understand once you actually start building some great buildings and leveling them to 10 so that you can start to enjoy the synergies that they produce. There’s nothing in this game I do because someone told me. Everything I do is for a strategic purpose. But I am able to recognize when someone gives good advice (cosmic Raven) and when someone gives bad advice (HQS).

Every time you post, you show your ignorance. I have a lvl 10 Hagia, a lvl 13 Alcatraz and a lvl 6 FoD, all of which produce happiness. You have none of these buildings. You seem to think that I built them because someone told me. I built them because I knew I would need them. And guess what? I do. My city is desperately short of happiness. I have a level 16 CF. It helps a lot. I don’t have it because someone told me, and I certainly didn’t stop leveling it because someone told me. Explain to me why you have a level 10 CF, genius? Come back in a few months when you have caught up to where I am now with great buildings/levels and we can compare notes.
 
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