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[Guide] MsLead’s Beginner's Guide to Sniping Great Buildings

DeletedUser35884

MsLead’s Beginner's Guide to Sniping Great Buildings

Hi, readers! I'm MsLead. I wrote this simple guide for my guildmates some time ago but I thought I may as well share it with others too. A lot of people, I've noticed, don't know what sniping is or how to properly utilize it. So, this is a guide written for players who want to learn how to snipe for a small profit.

While it is true that players with lvl 80 Arcs have great returns on sniping, you do not necessarily need one to do so at the lower ages. It becomes a little trickier at the higher ages, when you have neighbours with Arcs to compete with, but if you're at PE and below, you can still turn a small profit with a low level Arc. I certainly began sniping at IA/EMA 2 years ago without an Arc at all.


Scope of the guide

This guide is a simple explanation for beginner snipers who want to lock in their contributor ranking for secure rewards instead of constantly watching GBs in an FP contest where they try to use less than the lock-in FPs needed in an effort to keep the amount of FPs spent at its minimum. Therefore, the fluidity and complexity of minimal-FP expenditure of GB contests shall not be addressed.

Furthermore, I will not address the profits of sniping using a lvl 80 Arc on for each GB on every level. That is not the purpose of this guide, and there are other guides that address those calculations.


What is sniping?

Sniping is the sudden addition of a lot of forge points (FPs) sufficient to secure a desired contributor rank (usually the first place) on a GB to get its contributor rewards.


Terms

Sniper – the player who ‘steals’ the highest contributor rank by throwing in a pile of FPs suddenly, knocking all the other contributors down one rank and lessening their rewards
Snipee – the player who was originally at the highest contributor rank until he got knocked down a rank by the sniper
GB owner – the player who owns the GB that the sniper and snipee are contributing to
Lock in – to add the minimum amount of FPs on a GB such that no matter how many more FPs other players contribute to the GB, they cannot take away the first place from you


Purpose & Benefits of sniping if used correctly

1. A lot of free FPs
2. A lot of free medals
3. Free BPs


Locking-in

In order to lock in the first place, you need to donate a sufficient number of FPs such that even if the next player who comes along adds the rest of the FPs needed to level up the GB, he will only be at second place. This is the main idea that the calculations are centred upon.


Sniping Calculations

In order for sniping to be effective, it is essential to follow the calculations below. However, just because you have the highest contributor rank does not always mean that it is FP-profitable. That said, some players may still want to snipe GBs just for the BPs and medals.


Take the amount of FPs needed for first-place lock-in to be the arbitrary constant, x. It should always be a whole number.

If there are currently no contributors to the GB except the GB owner,

x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs GB owner contributed) / 2
Round up the value of x to the closest whole number if necessary.


If there are contributors to the GB that are not the GB owner,

x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs everyone contributed so far + FPs first place snipee added) / 2
Round up the value of x to the closest whole number if necessary.


If you are sniping a GB that you already have contributions to,

x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs everyone contributed so far + FPs first place snipee added + FPs you have already added) / 2
Round up the value of x to the closest whole number if necessary.

Amount you need to add = x – FPs you have already added

*If x is not a whole number, you must round up the value you get from the above calculations to the nearest whole number.
**If the value is more than what is left for the GB to level up, this means that the current contributor has already locked in his first place position. Do not waste your time and FPs, unless you are fine with the lower rewards.


What if I want second place and not first?

The following calculations are still valid if you are sniping for the second contributor rank. Simply replace the variable where your competitor, the snipee, is:

x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs everyone contributed so far + FPs SECOND PLACE snipee added + FPs you have already added) / 2
Round up the value of x to the closest whole number if necessary.
Amount you need to add = x – FPs you have already added

This will lock in the second place for you. However, if the first place has not been locked in yet, you, as the sniper, may possibly end up as the first place contributor as well. If you only want to lock in the second place while the first place is not locked in, then the above formula is only an approximation of the minimum FPs needed.


FP-profitable

In order to be FP-profitable, the FPs you get from your rewards MUST be greater than the FPs you contribute for lock-in.


Arc Bonus

A level 1 The Arc increases your contributor bonus by 10%. If you are an active sniper, this is A LOT of FPs you can save or profit from.

To be FP-profitable with level 1 Arc bonus (+10%),
(FP from contributor rewards * 1.10) – FPs you need to contribute for lock-in > 0

Adjust based on your Arc bonus accordingly. With the recent update, this calculation is done for you, and you may view it by clicking on the icon for your desired contributor rank.


Example


Several months ago, I sniped a player’s lvl 7 Deal Castle. A lvl 7 Deal Castle requires 560 FPs to get to lvl 8. There were 2 other contributors besides the GB owner himself.

At that point, the contributors were:
GB owner – 483 FPs
Player A – 6 FPs
Player B – 1 FP

For lock-in, x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs everyone contributed so far + FPs first place snipee added) / 2
Thus, x = (560 – 490 + 6) / 2 = 38 FPs

Remaining FP needed to level up the lvl 7 Deal Castle (that I did not need to add) was 32 FPs. Even if Player A donates all 32 FPs and totals 38 FPs in contribution, he will only be at second place because I have already locked in the first place.

I donated 38 FPs. The contributor reward for first place is 60 FPs. However, I had a lvl 3 The Arc (+14%) at this point of time. My FP profit became = (60 * 1.14) – 38 = 30 FPs


Guild Courtesy

Some guilds do not appreciate in-guild sniping, so check with your guild first whether it is all right to do so, lest you get angry texts in a couple of hours after a snipe.


Other considerations if you are sniping neighbours or friends’ GBs


Some friends may become unhappy if they have an existing FP swap partner and you sniped the first place away from his partner.

You may have locked in your first-place ranking on a GB, but your friend / neighbour becomes inactive, and the GB never levels up. You therefore may want to level it up yourself to minimise FP losses.

....And that covers the very basics on how to snipe. Hope that was helpful. Happy gaming! :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Agent327

Well-Known Member
Lvl 80 Arcs don't have the greatest returns on sniping. Higher level Arcs have better returns. Even at PE and below you have a lot of players with Arcs to compete with. Besides that, a lot of text for a simple action.

Why is it sniping? You are allowed to donate and urged to do so by Inno.
 

Jern2017

Well-Known Member
You can snipe without an Arc and as soon as you research Great Building Contributions in the Iron Age.

Surely, the rewards are not that high without an Arc and the Great Buildings of most of your neighbors you snipe (presuming you don't snipe your guildmates and friends) aren't at very high levels in low ages, but they also require less FPs to donate.

I have recently started a diamond farm in another world, where I'm in the Iron Age. I have sniped multiple neighbors. It seems most of them are new in the game and level their Great Buildings themselves.
 

DeletedUser31882

Other considerations if you are sniping neighbours or friends’ GBs

You may have locked in your first-place ranking on a GB, but your friend / neighbour becomes inactive, and the GB never levels up. Even worse, you get deleted as a friend or your neighbour was moved out of the neighbourhood, so you can no longer add to his GB to level it up yourself (in order to minimise FP loss). Hence, whatever FPs you used for lock-in becomes dead to you, and there is no return on investment.

Minor Correction: A player should be able to contribute FPs to any GB they have contributed at least 1FP, regardless if the owner of the GB deletes the player as a friend, rotates out of the player's neighborhood or leaves the guild. The only reason you would not be able to is due to the owner disconnecting the GB from their town hall. [Unless the rock I've been living under hasn't updated me of a recent change? *shrugs* My rock does get poor reception]

Other than that, I'd say this is a fairly solid and straightforward guide.

Thanks for sharing!
 

DeletedUser35894

MsLead’s Beginner's Guide to Sniping Great Buildings

Hi, readers! I'm MsLead. I wrote this simple guide for my guildmates a few months ago but I thought I may as well share it with others too. A lot of people, I've noticed, don't know what sniping is or how to properly utilize it. So, this is a guide written for players who want to learn how to snipe for a small profit.

While it is true that players with lvl 80 Arcs have the greatest returns on sniping, you do not necessarily need one to do so at the lower ages. It becomes a little trickier at the higher ages, when you have neighbours with Arcs to compete with, but if you're at PE and below, you can still turn a small profit with a low level Arc. I certainly began sniping at IA/EMA without one.


Scope of the guide

This guide is a simple explanation for beginner snipers who want to lock in their contributor ranking for secure rewards instead of constantly watching GBs in an FP contest where they try to use less than the lock-in FPs needed in an effort to keep the amount of FPs spent at its minimum. Therefore, the fluidity and complexity of minimal-FP expenditure of GB contests shall not be addressed.

Furthermore, I will not address the profits of sniping using a lvl 80 Arc on for each GB on every level. That is not the purpose of this guide, and there are other guides that address those calculations.


What is sniping?

Sniping is the sudden addition of a lot of forge points (FPs) sufficient to secure a desired contributor rank (usually the first place) on a GB to get its contributor rewards.


Terms

Sniper – the player who ‘steals’ the highest contributor rank by throwing in a pile of FPs suddenly, knocking all the other contributors down one rank and lessening their rewards
Snipee – the player who was originally at the highest contributor rank until he got knocked down a rank by the sniper
GB owner – the player who owns the GB that the sniper and snipee are contributing to
Lock in – to add the minimum amount of FPs on a GB such that no matter how many more FPs other players contribute to the GB, they cannot take away the first place from you


Purpose & Benefits of sniping if used correctly

1. A lot of free FPs
2. A lot of free medals
3. Free BPs


Locking-in

In order to lock in the first place, you need to donate a sufficient number of FPs such that even if the next player who comes along adds the rest of the FPs needed to level up the GB, he will only be at second place. This is the main idea that the calculations are centred upon.


Sniping Calculations

In order for sniping to be effective, it is essential to follow the calculations below. However, just because you have the highest contributor rank does not always mean that it is FP-profitable. That said, some players may still want to snipe GBs just for the BPs and medals.


Take the amount of FPs needed for first-place lock-in to be the arbitrary constant, x. It should always be a whole number.

If there are currently no contributors to the GB except the GB owner,

x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs GB owner contributed) / 2
Round up the value of x to the closest whole number if necessary.


If there are contributors to the GB that are not the GB owner,

x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs everyone contributed so far + FPs first place snipee added) / 2
Round up the value of x to the closest whole number if necessary.


If you are sniping a GB that you already have contributions to,

x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs everyone contributed so far + FPs first place snipee added + FPs you have already added) / 2
Round up the value of x to the closest whole number if necessary.

Amount you need to add = x – FPs you have already added

*If x is not a whole number, you must round up the value you get from the above calculations to the nearest whole number.
**If the value is more than what is left for the GB to level up, this means that the current contributor has already locked in his first place position. Do not waste your time and FPs, unless you are fine with the lower rewards.


What if I want second place and not first?

The following calculations are still valid if you are sniping for the second contributor rank. Simply replace the variable where your competitor, the snipee, is:

x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs everyone contributed so far + FPs SECOND PLACE snipee added + FPs you have already added) / 2
Round up the value of x to the closest whole number if necessary.
Amount you need to add = x – FPs you have already added

This will lock in the second place for you. However, if the first place has not been locked in yet, you, as the sniper, may possibly end up as the first place contributor as well. If you only want to lock in the second place while the first place is not locked in, then the above formula is only an approximation of the minimum FPs needed.


FP-profitable

In order to be FP-profitable, the FPs you get from your rewards MUST be greater than the FPs you contribute for lock-in.


Arc Bonus

A level 1 The Arc increases your contributor bonus by 10%. If you are an active sniper, this is A LOT of FPs you can save or profit from.

To be FP-profitable with level 1 Arc bonus (+10%),
(FP from contributor rewards * 1.10) – FPs you need to contribute for lock-in > 0

Adjust based on your Arc bonus accordingly. With the recent update, this calculation is done for you, and you may view it by clicking on the icon for your desired contributor rank.


Example


Several months ago, I sniped a player’s lvl 7 Deal Castle. A lvl 7 Deal Castle requires 560 FPs to get to lvl 8. There were 2 other contributors besides the GB owner himself.

At that point, the contributors were:
GB owner – 483 FPs
Player A – 6 FPs
Player B – 1 FP

For lock-in, x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs everyone contributed so far + FPs first place snipee added) / 2
Thus, x = (560 – 490 + 6) / 2 = 38 FPs

Remaining FP needed to level up the lvl 7 Deal Castle (that I did not need to add) was 32 FPs. Even if Player A donates all 32 FPs and totals 38 FPs in contribution, he will only be at second place because I have already locked in the first place.

I donated 38 FPs. The contributor reward for first place is 60 FPs. However, I had a lvl 3 The Arc (+14%) at this point of time. My FP profit became = (60 * 1.14) – 38 = 30 FPs


Guild Courtesy

Some guilds do not appreciate in-guild sniping, so check with your guild first whether it is all right to do so, lest you get angry texts in a couple of hours after a snipe.


Other considerations if you are sniping neighbours or friends’ GBs


Some friends may become unhappy if they have an existing FP swap partner and you sniped the first place away from his partner.

You may have locked in your first-place ranking on a GB, but your friend / neighbour becomes inactive, and the GB never levels up. Even worse, you get deleted as a friend or your neighbour was moved out of the neighbourhood, so you can no longer add to his GB to level it up yourself (in order to minimise FP loss). Hence, whatever FPs you used for lock-in becomes dead to you, and there is no return on investment.

....And that covers the very basics on how to snipe. Hope that was helpful. Happy gaming! :)

Thanks for the guide.

What if we want say the third or fourth spot? Is it the same procedure for the second? What if there’s zero on 3 and 4 though?

Could you possibly give more examples. I’ll upload an example that gave me trouble. (Edit:it won’t take my pic for some reason) I got a negative number. How does one round that up? I must be doing something wrong.

Here’s the scenario 260 total needed for the GB to level. 210 total already on it. 41 by first place sniper (which is second to the owners 74), and me next at 33.

It’s giving me negative numbers which would indicate I’ve already won, which I haven’t.

Where am I going wrong?

Thanks.
 

RazorbackPirate

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the guide.

What if we want say the third or fourth spot? Is it the same procedure for the second? What if there’s zero on 3 and 4 though?

Could you possibly give more examples. I’ll upload an example that gave me trouble. (Edit:it won’t take my pic for some reason) I got a negative number. How does one round that up? I must be doing something wrong.

Here’s the scenario 260 total needed for the GB to level. 210 total already on it. 41 by first place sniper (which is second to the owners 74), and me next at 33.

It’s giving me negative numbers which would indicate I’ve already won, which I haven’t.

Where am I going wrong?

Thanks.

In your example you would use this formula:

If you are sniping a GB that you already have contributions to,

x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs everyone contributed so far + FPs first place snipee added + FPs you have already added) / 2

x = (260 - 210 + 41 + 33) / 2 = 62

Amount you need to add = x – FPs you have already added

62 - 33 = 29

Adding 29 FPs brings your total contributions up to 62, locking you into 1st place. How can you know?

(260 - (210 + 29) = 21 FPs remaining to level the GB. Even if the snipee with 41 points that you've just knocked down to 2nd added all the remaining FPs they still can't beat you.

41 + 21 = 62

You already have 62 FPs so the snipee stays in 2nd.
 

DeletedUser35894

In your example you would use this formula:

If you are sniping a GB that you already have contributions to,

x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs everyone contributed so far + FPs first place snipee added + FPs you have already added) / 2

x = (260 - 210 + 41 + 33) / 2 = 62

Amount you need to add = x – FPs you have already added

62 - 33 = 29

Adding 29 FPs brings your total contributions up to 62, locking you into 1st place. How can you know?

(260 - (210 + 29) = 21 FPs remaining to level the GB. Even if the snipee with 41 points that you've just knocked down to 2nd added all the remaining FPs they still can't beat you.

41 + 21 = 62

You already have 62 FPs so the snipee stays in 2nd.

Thanks so much. I feel really dumb now. I was adding the 210+41+33 together and subtracting it.

So can we somehow do this for third and fourth spots as well?
 

DeletedUser26965

In your example you would use this formula:

If you are sniping a GB that you already have contributions to,

x = (Total needed for GB to level up – FPs everyone contributed so far + FPs first place snipee added + FPs you have already added) / 2

x = (260 - 210 + 41 + 33) / 2 = 62

Amount you need to add = x – FPs you have already added

62 - 33 = 29

Adding 29 FPs brings your total contributions up to 62, locking you into 1st place. How can you know?

(260 - (210 + 29) = 21 FPs remaining to level the GB. Even if the snipee with 41 points that you've just knocked down to 2nd added all the remaining FPs they still can't beat you.

41 + 21 = 62

You already have 62 FPs so the snipee stays in 2nd.
People don't even want to add together these two numbers lol

jjj.PNG

Maybe that's what they should add to the game, an automatic snipe calculator. Someone make a proposal.
 

RazorbackPirate

Well-Known Member
Thanks so much. I feel really dumb now. I was adding the 210+41+33 together and subtracting it.

So can we somehow do this for third and fourth spots as well?

It's always the same formula, but you always have to use the highest reward slot that is not already locked to get the correct amount of FPs for you to snipe the spot. Again using your example,

260 - 210 = 50

So the highest reward spot that has less than 50 points on it already, is the spot you will snipe, the FPs currently on that spot are the ones you'll use in the calculation.
 

DeletedUser26965

I'm all for easy buttons, but everybody's gotta line somewhere. That's where I'm drawing mine.
Well, let's call it a quality of life improvement. I can see something like this in the game as donating to GB's is quite a significant part of it they're always improving upon, why shouldn't it tell you in that same info box how many fp's to lock that place? We're not playing D&D ya know.
 

DeletedUser35894

It's always the same formula, but you always have to use the highest reward slot that is not already locked to get the correct amount of FPs for you to snipe the spot. Again using your example,

260 - 210 = 50

So the highest reward spot that has less than 50 points on it already, is the spot you will snipe, the FPs currently on that spot are the ones you'll use in the calculation.

I believe I understand now. My first run was a dumb error, but I tried another one, to test the second spot. If I follow the OP it comes out to a number that when added would be above the amount needed to level the GB. Perhaps I’m reading her wrong, but when I do it your way it works.

Next scenario is total GB number of 290 with 261 total on it.

First 4 spots on it are: 123
55
36
16 (me)

If I follow the OP I get 290-261=29
29+55+16=100/2
Is 50-16=34

So that wouldn’t work. I used the 55 as the directions say take the second spot amount. You’re saying take the next number after we get to 29, which would be the 16.
 

RazorbackPirate

Well-Known Member
Well, let's call it a quality of life improvement. I can see something like this in the game as donating to GB's is quite a significant part of it they're always improving upon, why shouldn't it tell you in that same info box how many fp's to lock that place? We're not playing D&D ya know.

TBH, I have mixed feelings about showing the Arc boost on the GB for the same reason. There's enough competition for reward slots on GBs as it is. The last thing this game needs is the ability to open any GB and see a "Pay this Amount" button. Being able to do a bit of simple math is about the only strategic advantage there is.
 

RazorbackPirate

Well-Known Member
I believe I understand now. My first run was a dumb error, but I tried another one, to test the second spot. If I follow the OP it comes out to a number that when added would be above the amount needed to level the GB. Perhaps I’m reading her wrong, but when I do it your way it works.

Next scenario is total GB number of 290 with 261 total on it.

First 4 spots on it are: 123
55
36
16 (me)

If I follow the OP I get 290-261=29
29+55+16=100/2
Is 50-16=34

So that wouldn’t work. I used the 55 as the directions say take the second spot amount. You’re saying take the next number after we get to 29, which would be the 16.

With only 29 left before leveling, 29 is the maximum you can add. Add 29 to the 16 you already have on it, which gives you 45, the maximum amount you can put on this GB before leveling it. So 1st place is locked, but you can still snipe 2nd. So you use the FPs on 2nd in your calculation.

290 - 261 = 29
29 + 36 + 16 = 81/ 2 = 40.5 you round up to 41
41 - 16 = 25 FPs still needed to lock.

This gives you second and the GB then has 286 FPs on it, 4 FPs left to level. 36 + 4 = 40 and the snipee can't beat you.

The highest reward spot that is not already locked, is the spot you will snipe, the FPs currently on that spot are the ONLY ones you'll use in the calculation.

This is the exact same calculation that the FOE Tools Block Place calculator gives you.

Block place.png

You just have to usethe right numbers.
 
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DeletedUser35894

I think the “not already locked part” is key here then?

The OP did mention that it would just be an estimate...but I think there’s clearly examples that would be quite common where the number would be all but useless.

There could be too much space left on the GB or low numbers in all the spots, etc...

So there really is no figuring out the second spot. All it ever is is taking the next spot, whether that’s first place right after the owner, etc...if there’s a one person on it after the owner all we can do is know what’s needed to take first without overspending what others already contributed. Correct?

While my first mistake was a dumb one, I’m glad I asked and I’m thankful for your help, not just for me, but I think it will clear things up for others as well. I’m thankful for the OP, but I think it’s made out to be more complicated and precise than it is.

All we can essentially do is extend what we normally do on a blank GB, which is divide it in half. All we do here is take out the contributions and split that in essence.
 

DeletedUser35894

With only 29 left before leveling, 29 is the maximum you can add. Add 29 to the 16 you already have on it, which gives you 45, the maximum amount you can put on this GB before leveling it. So 1st place is locked, but you can still snipe 2nd. So you use the FPs on 2nd in your calculation.

290 - 261 = 29
29 + 36 + 16 = 81/ 2 = 40.5 you round up to 41
41 - 16 = 25 FPs still needed to lock.

This gives you second and the GB then has 286 FPs on it, 4 FPs left to level. 36 + 4 = 40 and the snipee can't beat you.

The highest reward spot that is not already locked, is the spot you will snipe, the FPs currently on that spot are the ONLY ones you'll use in the calculation.

Thanks. I’ll give this a study later. We are also using our own contribution in the calculation is all I would mention?

My brother has a master in statistics. He would be shaming me right now. ;)
 

RazorbackPirate

Well-Known Member
I think the “not already locked part” is key here then?

The OP did mention that it would just be an estimate...but I think there’s clearly examples that would be quite common where the number would be all but useless.

There could be too much space left on the GB or low numbers in all the spots, etc...

So there really is no figuring out the second spot. All it ever is is taking the next spot, whether that’s first place right after the owner, etc...if there’s a one person on it after the owner all we can do is know what’s needed to take first without overspending what others already contributed. Correct?

While my first mistake was a dumb one, I’m glad I asked and I’m thankful for your help, not just for me, but I think it will clear things up for others as well. I’m thankful for the OP, but I think it’s made out to be more complicated and precise than it is.

All we can essentially do is extend what we normally do on a blank GB, which is divide it in half. All we do here is take out the contributions and split that in essence.

It's not an estimate at all. The math is exact. Go back and look at my last post. YOU have to use the correct numbers and do the calculations correctly. Everything you've just said here is incorrect.
 
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