Definitely the keys are easier than freeing x number of gems, especially since you get 3 keys when you have a key of level 4 gems. I'm sure I didn't use the energy in the most efficient way possible, but it's still hard for me to understand how someone could clear that many gems with only a small expenditure of energy. It may not have to cost >3k, but it sure seems like it would have to cost >500-700. I know the prior poster said he actually spent 1000-1200 and used 500-700 as net of the extra energy he got from the quest line, but so did I, and about 3k was the net expenditure. Some of the cost probably came from the fact that I never reset the boards, but always finished clearing them. I could have saved a lot of energy by resetting when I got down to 1 or 2 gems when I had to spawn a bunch to get the right ones to clear them. I'll probably try that on the next rival quest line.
I have a question for you regarding efficient energy expenditure. One of the instructional Youtube videos I watched on it suggested spawning a lot of gems (maybe 10-15) at the beginning before you start freeing locked ones. Do you do that, or do you spawn one at a time and only spawn a new one when you need one? I usually had quite a few remaining loose gems on the board by the time I finished clearing it, but most of that was from spawning a lot at the end when I needed one particular type and level to finish clearing.
I spend good amt of energy on it just wasn't much over what I would normally spend in a day on boards is all and I have over 2200 energy on hand at the moment still.
I just spawn whatever I am going to at the start of a board. I had been doing 12 each board and 4 boards a day. Cutting back to 10 spawns per board now to try to get through the event without having to cut back on boards a day.
From your posts, I've seen a couple of things I was doing that significantly impacted the efficiency of my energy expenditure. One, I did not reset any boards. I kept spawning gems until I completed them, which probably cost me a lot energy I could have saved by just resetting when I got near the end and had only a couple of stubborn ones that I couldn't unlock. The other was that I was focused on making as many keys as possible, so instead of using a level 4 key to clear all the locked level 4 gems, I waited until I could unlock them with a gem that had the complementary key part so that I could turn them into keys. I definitely will use the reset function in the next Rival questline, as the completion rewards don't justify the energy it takes to finish every board. On the key thing, I might continue doing what I'm doing because the more keys I have, the more chests I can open and the more progress I can make on the main event pass. Thanks for the helpful information!
I haven't spent too many keys, still have over 100 of each (but that must be why). I haven't spent any diamonds, either.
