[Guide] Dulahan's guidelines to lvl 80 arc rush (and beyond), starting from bronze age

[DeletedUser32824]

Thruthehead and other people who followed the guide -with more or less personal deviations- get bored later than me, and keep us updated

I've gotten my arc to lvl 48 and have enough FPs banked to take it to 70 today if I could get people in my guild to powerlevel with me . Our swap group has been a huge success and I expect to be lvl 80 in a month or less (those darn last 10 levels cost nearly 8k FP!)

After that I plan on leveling my AO to 10, Kraken to 10, then get my cape to near 70 and then work on building my CF. At some point in there I'm thinking about moving to colonial just for a change of scenery, but we will see about that!

 

[DeletedUser35853]

Then there is the issue with goods: at the time you want it the most (new-ish city) you don't have them and if you have to pay FPs for these goods, its effectiveness is diminished

I foresaw that issue too and didn't want to spend so many FPs for goods. I did the same way I had for my Frontenac. I brought some goods from tomorrow Era (or Future Era) and traded them while I was still looking for blueprints.
The first time I tried it was for Frontenac, and it took me some time to understand that, in order to trade goods from a certain age, you need friends in that age
Anyway, when I figured that out, I invited people for all the ages in between and kicked (nicely) those from below. That's how I managed to build my Frontenac, RAH and CC for a very low cost, but with some patience. (roughly 100PF for the 3 GB)
I only paid full price for The Arc and Innovation tower. Just my 2 coppers for those who are ready to start planning ahead, they can achieve that for cheap and make it worthwhile. Don't buy goods above Future, even if offered. There is a big demand usually on future ressources, and too many production of Oceanic and event Arctic. Trading will prove to be difficult

 

[DeletedUser32824]

Had a productive night!

 

[DeletedUser27184]

Had a productive night!View attachment 10586

That's a wet dream. Nice work.

 

[DeletedUser35894]

I don’t understand this part:

“In HMA -- assuming you're sole goal is to maximize FP production for this Level 80 Arc strategy -- traz isn't really that useful unless you're doing a ton of plundering and/or GvG. It requires the spending of FP to acquire the goods and BPs (assuming your guild does not provide it, and trading up for it would take a ridiculous amount of time), and when you compare it for the happiness alone it falls behind Hagia Sophia.”

I fully understand the premise, but not the part about the BP’s and Goods being hard to get as we are talking about a building below the age of The Arc we are supposed to get first? Wouldn’t that make the Arc even harder?

Also, I’m not seeing too many people say they can get by with zero barracks and not even a rogue hideout, but maybe we are all terrible at fighting?

My world is kinda new and I’m on mobile so it’s really hard to add higher level friends. I actually have a decent amount of them, but I think I need a lot more to get BP’s for the Arc, Inno and Traz. I guess I’m gonna have to get online and beg for friends? I assume I should pair down my list to under 80, add who I can and then beg for invites? Just not sure how many higher up friends will want to add a lower player to get me back up to 140?

Thanks

 

[RazorbackPirate]

I don’t understand this part:

“In HMA -- assuming you're sole goal is to maximize FP production for this Level 80 Arc strategy -- traz isn't really that useful unless you're doing a ton of plundering and/or GvG. It requires the spending of FP to acquire the goods and BPs (assuming your guild does not provide it, and trading up for it would take a ridiculous amount of time), and when you compare it for the happiness alone it falls behind Hagia Sophia.”

I fully understand the premise, but not the part about the BP’s and Goods being hard to get as we are talking about a building below the age of The Arc we are supposed to get first? Wouldn’t that make the Arc even harder?

Also, I’m not seeing too many people say they can get by with zero barracks and not even a rogue hideout, but maybe we are all terrible at fighting?

My world is kinda new and I’m on mobile so it’s really hard to add higher level friends. I actually have a decent amount of them, but I think I need a lot more to get BP’s for the Arc, Inno and Traz. I guess I’m gonna have to get online and beg for friends? I assume I should pair down my list to under 80, add who I can and then beg for invites? Just not sure how many higher up friends will want to add a lower player to get me back up to 140?

Thanks

Since you're in HMA and Hagia Sophia is an EMA GB, prints are easy to come by. You can even wait for the system to auto-generate a complete set for you from the Aid button, Incidents, Guild Expedition, the Daily Challenge, or the Shrine of Inspiration. The goods are cheap and easy to come by they're from your previous age, you simply produce them and trade for them. For the happy you need, the cost to level HS is a lot less than Traz.

The point is, if your goal is to get an Arc and take it to Level 80, don't spend your FPs on an unnecessary and expensive out of age GB, especially when HS is an all around better choice. Save your FPs to build and level the Arc.

 

[DeletedUser35894]

Since you're in HMA and Hagia Sophia is an EMA GB, prints are easy to come by. You can even wait for the system to auto-generate a complete set for you from the Aid button, Incidents, Guild Expedition, the Daily Challenge, or the Shrine of Inspiration. The goods are cheap and easy to come by they're from your previous age, you simply produce them and trade for them. For the happy you need, the cost to level HS is a lot less than Traz.

The point is, if your goal is to get an Arc and take it to Level 80, don't spend your FPs on an unnecessary and expensive out of age GB, especially when HS is an all around better choice. Save your FPs to build and level the Arc.

I get it...it’s just the way it referred to how hard it is to get the Traz goes double for the Arc, which this guide is based on and even the CF seems harder because it’s less popular and that needs to happen first.

I think this guide is absolutely excellent. I just don’t think it adequately conveys to someone newer to the game just how hard, even downright impossible for awhile, it will be to follow on a new world.

CF, Arc, Traz and Inno or starting to become more common now in my world, but I think it will still be quite a long haul.

I actually don’t need the happiness yet. I was able to tear down all my cultural buildings and still be enthusiastic for now. Although, I’m reading about how enthusiastic may not be good depending on your St. Marks and LOA levels.

 

[RazorbackPirate]

I get it...it’s just the way it referred to how hard it is to get the Traz goes double for the Arc, which this guide is based on and even the CF seems harder because it’s less popular and that needs to happen first.

Correct. I'll also add that building HS and not Traz is counter to the advice most experienced players will give you. It may be sound advice for other play styles, but not for this one.

I think this guide is absolutely excellent. I just don’t think it adequately conveys to someone newer to the game just how hard, even downright impossible for awhile, it will be to follow on a new world.

There's plenty of threads on the the forum that discuss the unique challenges of playing on a new world. It's basic supply and demand. BPs are hard to come by as there's not a lot of the advanced GBs everyone wants. PE, CE and FE goods are very expensive, since few players have reached those ages so to produce enough goods. It will be a bit tougher than on an older world.

Pay particular attention to any post by @ThruTheHead. He started on a new world, followed this guide, and had a level 80 Arc in 200 something days. A truly amazing feat.

CF, Arc, Traz and Inno or starting to become more common now in my world, but I think it will still be quite a long haul.

I actually don’t need the happiness yet. I was able to tear down all my cultural buildings and still be enthusiastic for now. Although, I’m reading about how enthusiastic may not be good depending on your St. Marks and LOA levels.

IMO, enthusiasm is always good. No matter what level SMB and LoA are. You just level your happy GBs along with your population GBs. But that's another topic for another thread. If it's not in this guide, pay it no mind.

 

[DeletedUser35894]

Correct. I'll also add that building HS and not Traz is counter to the advice most experienced players will give you. It may be sound advice for other play styles, but not for this one.

There's plenty of threads on the the forum that discuss the unique challenges of playing on a new world. It's basic supply and demand. BPs are hard to come by as there's not a lot of the advanced GBs everyone wants. PE, CE and FE goods are very expensive, since few players have reached those ages so to produce enough goods. It will be a bit tougher than on an older world.

Pay particular attention to any post by @ThruTheHead. He started on a new world, followed this guide, and had a level 80 Arc in 200 something days. A truly amazing feat.

IMO, enthusiasm is always good. No matter what level SMB and LoA are. You just level your happy GBs along with your population GBs. But that's another topic for another thread. If it's not in this guide, pay it no mind.

Apparently Inno uses some unexpected math for the 20% bonus. I have to take a better look at it.

I’ve seen some of his posts. Didn’t realize he did it that fast. I’m only a couple months in and have some prints collecting. I need to up the friends list and that will help a lot.

My thought was to get the CF first and that would give the ability to buy FP at times to score BP’s. Not the most efficient, but would speed things up on a new world I would think.

My guild seems possibly willing to give the goods.

 

[RazorbackPirate]

Apparently Inno uses some unexpected math for the 20% bonus. I have to take a better look at it.

I’ve seen some of his posts. Didn’t realize he did it that fast. I’m only a couple months in and have some prints collecting. I need to up the friends list and that will help a lot.

My thought was to get the CF first and that would give the ability to buy FP at times to score BP’s. Not the most efficient, but would speed things up on a new world I would think.

My guild seems possibly willing to give the goods.

( (Base Supply or Coin Production) * (1 + LoA or SMB Boost % + Tavern Boost % +/- Happiness Modifier) ) * 2 When Motivated

 

[DeletedUser31308]

I’ve seen some of his posts. Didn’t realize he did it that fast.

I did do it fast, but unfortunately I cannot help much regarding acquiring the goods in a new world. I bought mine with diamonds, because there wasn't a single person selling the goods yet and wouldn't be for a while. It definitely is difficult to follow this guide on a new world if you refuse to spend any diamonds, due to having to wait months before reliable goods sellers establish themselves in the world.

 

[DeletedUser35894]

Update: Today is the day. Level 80 Arc, the 4th on this world, achieved 186 days into this server. Managed to do the last 12 levels in 11 days. A tough slog that was made easier by hours of sniping to keep up the pace. I moved up to LMA almost a week ago, as my strategy moving forward will include selling tons of goods (having hundreds of thousands of HMA goods feels too wasteful to me, I'd like to monetize my goods). I'm already ready in terms of goods to move to CA, but waiting til after GE starts. Attached is a screenshot of my city. In it, you can see my total world rank and total points for those that care.View attachment 9900

And the GB leaderboard:
View attachment 9901

Edit: Since some are asking questions, I figured I'd update this post with all my GB levels at the time of my Arc hitting 80:
ToR - 2
HS - 5
Traz - 3
SMB - 4
LoA - 4
CDM - 2
Inno - 5
Zeus - 4
CF - 6

Oh man I moved away from this page and lost everything. No draft saved even when not closing the forum and you’re logged in? Uggh, I’ll start again.

My first question and why I quoted this post is because I have a similar layout and could get it closer to that with new GB’s without totally tearing down...but where are the roads in the back? I don’t see where the Black Tower, Traz, TOR, etc..are connected? I wanted to copy it.

For anyone else as well:

I’m about 2.5 months in. Total newb at the beginning. I found this guide a bit ago and started myself on a better path. Moved into a better guild and got top players on my friend’s list. This is the number one thing to do I think. After only a week of that I’m well on my way to putting up all the desired higher age GB’s.

I’m in HMA with about 900 FP in packs. I have:

LOA 6
SMB 5
TOR 2
OBS 2
CDM 6
Zeus 4

Mostly Alchemists, 5 SOKs, 2 Farms, Cherry Set, 3 Wishing Wells, Athletes Living that I didn’t place yet and assume I should?

I see WW’s not recommended. Has this changed at all now that the shrink kits are out? Mine are all shrunk?

I have a TS, but seems not so good?

I’m one print away from the Arc and after a couple swaps come in soon probably the same for the CF. Space is tight so I’m assuming CF first?

CF/Traz Goods are 350
Arc 1000
Inno 750

I think CF is my best first move and see how that goes.

While my guild is pretty good and does Arc swaps, I haven’t come across a guild yet that seems quite as advanced and organized as this guide implies one needs to be. They are generous with goods discounts for members, but I don’t see any free or discounted leveling of other members GB’s so far, but I am new.

To be honest I don’t think I have quite the dedication to do the full on rush to 80. I also stink at fighting and don’t have the desire to spend the time. Negotiating GE isn’t as much of a chore, but gets tedious after the quests which are tedious enough. So having said that I would like to get a Traz. Will this completely hamper me on a 7x8 expansion city? Not sure how fast that will grow with medals once I get the CF up.

My next question that I’m a little lost on is if I should start working on Inno at all or put a HS up? I actually use no cultural buildings at the moment and no decorations.

So I’ll put the the CF up soon...Definitely the Arc next?....but then what? Especially if I’d like a Traz.

Thanks for any guidance.

 

[DeletedUser35894]

I did do it fast, but unfortunately I cannot help much regarding acquiring the goods in a new world. I bought mine with diamonds, because there wasn't a single person selling the goods yet and wouldn't be for a while. It definitely is difficult to follow this guide on a new world if you refuse to spend any diamonds, due to having to wait months before reliable goods sellers establish themselves in the world.

Thanks...yes it’s getting better and I’m now in a better guild and redid my friends list. I just happened to post again with some questions for you all and to report on my progress and saw your reply. Thanks. I am on my way!....I think.

 

[DeletedUser35894]

Can’t edit my post without the iPhone KB getting in the way. Build farms or no? The guide says “build few”.

 

[DeletedUser31308]

My answers in bold inline.

Oh man I moved away from this page and lost everything. No draft saved even when not closing the forum and you’re logged in? Uggh, I’ll start again.

My first question and why I quoted this post is because I have a similar layout and could get it closer to that with new GB’s without totally tearing down...but where are the roads in the back? I don’t see where the Black Tower, Traz, TOR, etc..are connected? I wanted to copy it.

There is one road shared by HS, CF, and Traz. Another road shared by Tor, Arc, HS. Just a single 1x1 square in each case. Youll get it if you play around with it. Hint: You can see the road used by Arc and Tor just the right of top of the temple.

Black tower is at the end of the road used by the bottom row of breweries.

Mostly Alchemists, 5 SOKs, 2 Farms, Cherry Set, 3 Wishing Wells, Athletes Living that I didn’t place yet and assume I should?

If by "farm", you mean Terrace Farm, then keep them. In my opinion, don't build Athletes Living in HMA. Your quests with alchemists will be you a similar amount of goods per square when you put CF up, eventually passing it. But either way, you don't care about getting extra goods in HMA. Your quests will provide more than enough to negotiate, you really just want more FP generation. For that, alchemists beat out ALQ.

I see WW’s not recommended. Has this changed at all now that the shrink kits are out? Mine are all shrunk?

Yes, shrunk WWs now have a higher FP/tile than alchemists do. Since we're maximizing FP, that means shrunk WWs get a spot somewhere.

I have a TS, but seems not so good?

TS is crap in HMA, definitely don't use. I'd only ever put it down in ages where I can sell those goods (turning the 5 goods/day into ~2 FP/day). That's far away for you now though.

I’m one print away from the Arc and after a couple swaps come in soon probably the same for the CF. Space is tight so I’m assuming CF first?

I'd say put them both down as soon as you are able. I put CF down first, so I could easily afford to negotiate GE 1-4 and could start accumulating those FP producers from GE. Level CF to ~6 before focusing full time on Arc.

So having said that I would like to get a Traz. Will this completely hamper me on a 7x8 expansion city? Not sure how fast that will grow with medals once I get the CF up.

Delay the Traz as much as your conscience will allow. It absolutely will hinder your progress with such a small town, especially with Arc and CF down. And you'd never want to put Traz down before those two. CF won't really improve your medal production that much, raising your Arc will (by several orders of magnitude). Once that Arc is up in level, you will end up with tons of space to fit a Traz.

My next question that I’m a little lost on is if I should start working on Inno at all or put a HS up?

Inno should probably go after Arc to 80. I did mine before because I had a ton of SoKs and wanted to eliminate all other housing. Using Inno before your coin production is ready will really hinder UBQ and force you to spend more room/FP on happiness. Personally, I say HS to level 3 or level 5 before Arc 80 is worth it. It pays itself off quite quickly while saving you aid for your Alchemists. It's by no means mandatory though.

So I’ll put the the CF up soon...Definitely the Arc next?....but then what? Especially if I’d like a Traz.

I'd say CF (put down ASAP) (level to 6) -> Arc (put down ASAP) (level to 80) -> Traz

You can put down Traz as soon as your Arcs given you enough expansions that you can spare the space.

 

[DeletedUser35894]

My answers in bold inline.

Thanks so much.

I don’t have a ton of time right now, but will take a closer look.

I’ll look for those roads.

Sorry for farm, I meant the production farm.

What is meant by aid for alchemists by HS? You mean the happiness for houses to allow more alchemists?

Right now I think my housing is about the same as the first level of Inno, pop wise....so I need no happiness now, but I seen now what you’re saying as I expand I will lay more houses and Alchemists and will probably need it.

Arc will give medals from constant sniping or even from the Arc swaps themselves?

At what level would I start seeing decent benefits of the Arc? I ask because just not sure how realistic a fast leveling of it is or not. I will find out soon enough I suppose.

I’ll see how the expansions come along and how sick of negotiation I get to see about the Traz. In the meantime I’ll take down all barracks and put one of my Rogue Hideouts in storage.

Thanks for giving me some things to think about. I should have the CF down real soon and then will need a little time to build some FP again for the Arc.

I had a suspicion the WW’s were pretty good when shrunk.

Thanks so much!!!!!

 

[DeletedUser31308]

@Sadarta

Sorry for farm, I meant the production farm.

Get rid of the production farm, Alchemist is strictly better.

What is meant by aid for alchemists by HS? You mean the happiness for houses to allow more alchemists?

When your city gets large, it's easy to get 80+ Alchemists fit in. Obviously they don't "need" Aid, but it is nice to have them aided each day so you can more easily stock up supplies. Hagia Sophia should allow you to continue to have 0 cultural buildings or decorations as your population demands increase in HMA, saving you the space and the Aids those would have taken up.

Arc will give medals from constant sniping or even from the Arc swaps themselves?

Both. I got the majority of my medals from an Arc swap. The swap started out as a net swap where we donated to each other, kept a balance, and subtracted FP rewards. As we got up into the 50's range, we switched to an easier method requiring less management and allowing us each to go at our own pace - breaking even for each other (donating 1st reward + arc bonus). This swap fueled my BPs in a BP-less world as well as providing loads of medals. A couple more swaps like that with others and I easily finished all my expansions before lvl 80 Arc was finished.

At what level would I start seeing decent benefits of the Arc? I ask because just not sure how realistic a fast leveling of it is or not. I will find out soon enough I suppose.

If not going to 80, I'd go to 60 myself. Cuts out the hard late levels, but keeps all the benefit of the cheap sweet spot (lvls ~28-68). You get 180% instead of 190%, which is still quite good.

 

[DeletedUser35894]

One quick thought is that taking out all military and I can’t do some of the daily challenges?....and perhaps even some of the story quests that require fighting as well. That’s one thing I never understood about no military.

I guess I should have enough from GE...maybe, but I just auto. I don’t have the patience to learn it and I’ll the guides and YouTube videos I’ve seen only talk details and not the basics first. I’m actually not bad at that kind of thing, but since even the basic mechanics aren’t ever explained by the game and I could easily find the info, I gave up on it. Only so much time in a day.

 

[DeletedUser35894]

@Sadarta

Sorry for farm, I meant the production farm.

Get rid of the production farm, Alchemist is strictly better.

What is meant by aid for alchemists by HS? You mean the happiness for houses to allow more alchemists?

When your city gets large, it's easy to get 80+ Alchemists fit in. Obviously they don't "need" Aid, but it is nice to have them aided each day so you can more easily stock up supplies. Hagia Sophia should allow you to continue to have 0 cultural buildings or decorations as your population demands increase in HMA, saving you the space and the Aids those would have taken up.

Arc will give medals from constant sniping or even from the Arc swaps themselves?

Both. I got the majority of my medals from an Arc swap. The swap started out as a net swap where we donated to each other, kept a balance, and subtracted FP rewards. As we got up into the 50's range, we switched to an easier method requiring less management and allowing us each to go at our own pace - breaking even for each other (donating 1st reward + arc bonus). This swap fueled my BPs in a BP-less world as well as providing loads of medals. A couple more swaps like that with others and I easily finished all my expansions before lvl 80 Arc was finished.

At what level would I start seeing decent benefits of the Arc? I ask because just not sure how realistic a fast leveling of it is or not. I will find out soon enough I suppose.

If not going to 80, I'd go to 60 myself. Cuts out the hard late levels, but keeps all the benefit of the cheap sweet spot (lvls ~28-68). You get 180% instead of 190%, which is still quite good.

Oh yes, aid being stolen from happiness buildings. Gotcha!

I guess I’m gonna have to see how good and fair Arc swaps in my guild are. Not sure how they’re doing it exactly so I’ll have to see. I don’t have a ton of faith, but hopefully it’s good.

 

[DeletedUser31308]

One quick thought is that taking out all military and I can’t do some of the daily challenges?....and perhaps even some of the story quests that require fighting as well. That’s one thing I never understood about no military.

I guess I should have enough from GE...maybe, but I just auto. I don’t have the patience to learn it and I’ll the guides and YouTube videos I’ve seen only talk details and not the basics first. I’m actually not bad at that kind of thing, but since even the basic mechanics aren’t ever explained by the game and I could easily find the info, I gave up on it. Only so much time in a day.

If negotiating GE 1-4 each week, you should get plenty of unattached units to fights the rare fighting daily challenges. Now that they've added the harder fights to DCs, you may need some levels in your CDM/Zeus, but HMA shouldn't be that hard and you have the tavern boost to help.