Feedback for Guild Expedition.. Level 5

[Be Chuille]

No matter what boosts I activate, I can't complete the first encounter in GE5. We will no longer be wasting goods to unlock GE5 in our guild in the future. From what I've read, the months of development and testing have been wasted on a large number of players.

One of the problems I see for higher level players is that their city is maxed out on expansions. Now that the defending army boost is important, these players will have to take out buildings in order to put in defensive army boosts. Who wants to do that? Inno should have offered expansions along with GE5 release so that players have space to put the defensive structure required to get through even the first encounter ... or perhaps, like the space colonies, offer an offsite area where players can add defensive army buildings.

A challenge is something that you strive for. You work for it. It does not just happen. It takes time.
I remember when GE4 seemed out of reach. I kept building up power... and now it seems easy, and boring.
It is nice to have a new challenge.

Higher level players who are maxed can adjust and replace. That is what this game is all about. We need to keep changing our cities to build up power. Now we have a new kind of power to work on. There have been and will be buildings that provide both attack and city defense. We can replace buildings with more useful buildings that give both.

 

[NobodyMe]

I agree with all of you. This is a good example on how to damage something that's working. I know that Inno wants to keep us still interested in the FOE(we are their milk cow) but not in this way. I wander what will be next: a third upgrade for WW or FOY for us to have diamonds?

 

[PJS299]

And let's not forget that FOE is their biggest cash cow, meaning that it's more then likely that they've got more than 57 working on it

True, true. They do have to have people working on other games too, though.

 

[Be Chuille]

Well, Stage of Ages gives previous era goods, which is huge, and on top of that and FP it also gives attack boost. So stay away from them if you want, but I'll take as many as I can fit in my city.

As far as those saying that Deal Castle and St Basil's just got more valuable, they are just dreaming. The first encounter I faced in AF GE5 had 375% boosts. The paltry boosts of those two GBs wouldn't make a dent in that. And that's just the first encounter. Nope. And the other thing is that for negotiating, the trick has always been to start over instead of paying the 10 Diamonds for an extra turn. Well, starting over when you're using dozens, if not hundreds, of goods for each turn is just not sustainable for most players. (Heavy GBGers may disagree, but they don't realize that they're in the minority of players.)

A level 60 Star Gazer gives as many previous age goods as 9.333 Stage of Ages.... in a 5x5 footprint.
9 Stage of Ages = 144 squares
1 Star Gazer = 25 squares
That leaves 119 squares for defensive boosts.

1 Stage of Ages = 0.22 FP per square
There are way more than 50 other buildings that give more FP than that per square.

SoA gives 1.06 attack per square (FE)

A Phantom Tower gives 1.67 attack/1.33 defense 1.24 city attack/1.29 city defense per square
3x7 with no road + FP, Goods, Supplies, Medals
Def worth replacing 2 SoA with 1 Phantom Tower, with squares to spare

That is just one example. There are tons of other buildings more worth the space than SoAs.

Compare the Keymaster Workshop to SoA, and it also gives much better efficiency per square.

The previous age goods are helpful, but there are so many other ways to get goods that can then be traded down to previous eras.
Everyone can build their city as they wish. I just don't think Stage of Ages are worth the space, especially for attack power.

 

[Be Chuille]

Phantoms are drop in replacements for Checkmate squares (Carrousels first , Rotundas second and Checkmate third choice) I have my first Phantom planted.

Yes! Checkmates, Rotundas etc. are also becoming less useful.

 

[Pericles the Lion]

No matter what boosts I activate, I can't complete the first encounter in GE5. We will no longer be wasting goods to unlock GE5 in our guild in the future. From what I've read, the months of development and testing have been wasted on a large number of players.

One of the problems I see for higher level players is that their city is maxed out on expansions. Now that the defending army boost is important, these players will have to take out buildings in order to put in defensive army boosts. Who wants to do that? Inno should have offered expansions along with GE5 release so that players have space to put the defensive structure required to get through even the first encounter ... or perhaps, like the space colonies, offer an offsite area where players can add defensive army buildings.

I think that you are approaching this from the wrong angle. A few days after arrival at USMC Recruit Depot, all recruits are subjected to a physical fitness test. Sit ups, pull ups, and a 1 mile run. Most failed. Thirteen weeks later, the week before graduation, recruits undergo another physical fitness test. Sit ups, pull ups, and a 3-mile run. This time everybody passes. My point is that initial failure was expected but, after a lot of physical conditioning, all succeeded. Approach GE L5 the same way. Work up to being able to do it.

 

[Be Chuille]

I think that you are approaching this from the wrong angle. A few days after arrival at USMC Recruit Depot, all recruits are subjected to a physical fitness test. Sit ups, pull ups, and a 1 mile run. Most failed. Thirteen weeks later, the week before graduation, recruits undergo another physical fitness test. Sit ups, pull ups, and a 3-mile run. This time everybody passes. My point is that initial failure was expected but, after a lot of physical conditioning, all succeeded. Approach GE L5 the same way. Work up to being able to do it.

Very well said!!
We have 4 guild members who finished GE5, and more who started the level and are working on it.
Our people are not giving up. Two of them added TA this afternoon. Several members added SBC. They are learning what they can do to beat this thing!!
Not all will win this week, but if they want to win it, they will work for it.

That is how I did it too! I was stuck on the 4th battle. Army died 5 times. Instead of giving up, I dug through my inventory for defense stuff, researched what was best to replace, and researched which units work best against which attackers. Leveled up my TA, Kraken, SBC, AO, etc. Did some more of the event to get a second Phantom Tower and some Key Masters.....Kept working at it. Had to keep working at it through the whole level. It took alot of effort, but I beat that thing! And it felt good!

 

[Johnny B. Goode]

A level 60 Star Gazer gives as many previous age goods as 9.333 Stage of Ages.... in a 5x5 footprint.
9 Stage of Ages = 144 squares
1 Star Gazer = 25 squares
That leaves 119 squares for defensive boosts.

I like how you're comparing a GB that has one benefit to a building that has 3. And this isn't only you, but every time someone brings up a GB being so good, it's always at least at level 60, if not much higher. Seriously, you guys need to quit acting like everyone hyper levels everything and maxes out the GBG farming, not to mention constantly sniping for profit. For the average player (most of us), the Stage of Ages is a much more practical building.

1 Stage of Ages = 0.22 FP per square
There are way more than 50 other buildings that give more FP than that per square.

Again, comparing one aspect out of three (not to mention the pop for those who need it, with accompanying Happiness.)

A Phantom Tower gives 1.67 attack/1.33 defense 1.24 city attack/1.29 city defense per square
3x7 with no road + FP, Goods, Supplies, Medals
Def worth replacing 2 SoA with 1 Phantom Tower, with squares to spare

The only one of your points that's actually valid.

Compare the Keymaster Workshop to SoA, and it also gives much better efficiency per square.

I must be missing where I can get a Keymaster Workshop without spending real money or tons of Diamonds (which I would have to buy, because even 7 Diamond farms don't make that many.) So let's keep the Pay2Win buildings out of this, okay?

 

[Johnny B. Goode]

I think that you are approaching this from the wrong angle. A few days after arrival at USMC Recruit Depot, all recruits are subjected to a physical fitness test. Sit ups, pull ups, and a 1 mile run. Most failed. Thirteen weeks later, the week before graduation, recruits undergo another physical fitness test. Sit ups, pull ups, and a 3-mile run. This time everybody passes. My point is that initial failure was expected but, after a lot of physical conditioning, all succeeded. Approach GE L5 the same way. Work up to being able to do it.

Yeah, no. I'm not here to be a Marine, I'm here to relax playing a game. Thanks, anyway.

 

[Pericles the Lion]

Yeah, no. I'm not here to be a Marine, I'm here to relax playing a game. Thanks, anyway.

I have never presumed that you were in the Corps. You and I have been jousting for over two years. While I fully respect your "laissez-faire" style of play, please understand that not everyone embraces your approach to the game. Make a run at GE L5m or not, I could not care less. Personally, I'm going to give it the best attempts that I can. You do you.

 

[qaccy]

A couple of you took that comparison to the USMC a bit too seriously lol. The message there was simply 'you can improve at something the more you do it'. Unless you just don't want to improve I guess.

Remember that boost is not the only thing to consider. We also need to relearn what troops to use. The units we are used to using to attack are not necessarily the best to use for defense. That was a learning curve that cost me some troops, but it was fun to have that challenge.

This has me curious. I'm not able to look at GE myself at this time, but am I to understand that this is actually treated as a defensive battle, not just a battle using defense boosts? Are our units controlled by the AI like they are during city defense or how does it work? I had assumed that Inno's wording was just a flowery way of saying we'd be fighting with defensive army bonuses instead for level 5, not that the fights would be mechanically different as well.

 

[Pericles the Lion]

Specialized training also comes with live fire exercises and explosives training. This is a game , being a Marine is not a game.

It was an analogy.

 

[Pericles the Lion]

A couple of you took that comparison to the USMC a bit too seriously lol. The message there was simply 'you can improve at something the more you do it'. Unless you just don't want to improve I guess.

This has me curious. I'm not able to look at GE myself at this time, but am I to understand that this is actually treated as a defensive battle, not just a battle using defense boosts? Are our units controlled by the AI like they are during city defense or how does it work? I had assumed that Inno's wording was just a flowery way of saying we'd be fighting with defensive army bonuses instead for level 5, not that the fights would be mechanically different as well.

Simply put, with respect to the battle itself, the only difference between L1-4 and L5 is that a player's units in L1-4 have the benefit of attacking army (red) boosts while the player's units in L5 use the defending army (blue) boosts.

 

[qaccy]

Simply put, with respect to the battle itself, the only difference between L1-4 and L5 is that a player's units in L1-4 have the benefit of attacking army (red) boosts while the player's units in L5 use the defending army (blue) boosts.

Alright, that's what I initially thought. That message I replied to was talking about good attacking troops not necessarily being good for defense, which had me thinking that maybe the AI was in charge of these battles as well!

 

[Be Chuille]

A couple of you took that comparison to the USMC a bit too seriously lol. The message there was simply 'you can improve at something the more you do it'. Unless you just don't want to improve I guess.

This has me curious. I'm not able to look at GE myself at this time, but am I to understand that this is actually treated as a defensive battle, not just a battle using defense boosts? Are our units controlled by the AI like they are during city defense or how does it work? I had assumed that Inno's wording was just a flowery way of saying we'd be fighting with defensive army bonuses instead for level 5, not that the fights would be mechanically different as well.

We control our army, just like any other battle. You can do manual or auto battle.
I started in manual a bunch of times in the last stretch, then switched to auto, so that I could watch and learn how the units fought.
The difference, besides the boosts, seems to be re. that stats of the unit/terrain.
The battle itself looks pretty much the same.

 

[Just An Observer]

With all the negativity, I wondered how L5 would be. It turns out to be easy-peasy as 10 Goods being listed make it so one can quickly eliminate the Goods that will not be used in 2 turns usually. Two turns remain and you solve the Neg. My Diamonds expenditure is much lower than the cost of camps in GBG to take on the 16 Negs.

What should be changed: Offer a Serpent kit with each GE season, guaranteed. In it are a Level of the main Serpent with the choices including the connecting sections which will be offered whole instead of in fragments. The Serpent main building is Dang Good and here is what will likely happen: Everyone plugs away for the Level 3 Serpent. That also will give a player 3 levels toward the Temple. Being so close to having the Temple at Level 4 keeps the players around for a fourth season of L5. They will then have a month's worth of experience at handling L5 and thus be more likely to return for more awesome building rewards.

 

[The Lady Redneck]

Well I completed GE 5. I remember when GE 4 first came out and back then had doubts about whether I would be able to complete it without having to do manual battles or negs. Now for a long time I have simply auto battled all 4 levels without having to think about troop strategies. I went into GE5 and out of habit hit auto battle LOL. I lost. WOW!! SHOCK!!!! I do not lose battles in GE!!!! I tried manual. I lost again. WHAT THE HECK is this!!!!!! Took me a couple more tries with stacked bottle boosts and FINALLY won but with only one almost dead rogue left. Tried the 2nd encounter and NO WAY!!! So I negged all the rest of them. Soon realized I will need to go back and learn to use troops manually again if I want to even win any battles. No point is getting upset about it. Or calling INNO any more names (We all know them for what they are)

So I thought about it
Firstly I have no Ego problem so do not need to beggar myself just so I can brag about all the good/medals/ diamonds it took me to finish this one new small addition to the game.
I am not willing to change how I play the whole game to suit 1 new aspect of it as it stands now.
I am not willing to devote much of any new expansions I get for defense buildings. I will simply look at them and decide whether they will be worth the effort to acquire and place in a way that will not jeopardize my growing Attack A/D. For Example...The Lost Temple that only lasts 28 days I do not see as worthy of any effort to get. The jury is still out on the Serpent.
Despite having a very healthy goods inventory, I doubt very much if I will do level 5 at all on weeks that my guild does not face stiff competition. That way I can keep increasing my goods and medal stock so I can neg most of level 5 if needs be. Whilst slowly increasing my defense and eventually become able to fight more..

 

[Cyrus the Adequate]

No matter what boosts I activate, I can't complete the first encounter in GE5. We will no longer be wasting goods to unlock GE5 in our guild in the future. From what I've read, the months of development and testing have been wasted on a large number of players.

One of the problems I see for higher level players is that their city is maxed out on expansions. Now that the defending army boost is important, these players will have to take out buildings in order to put in defensive army boosts. Who wants to do that? Inno should have offered expansions along with GE5 release so that players have space to put the defensive structure required to get through even the first encounter ... or perhaps, like the space colonies, offer an offsite area where players can add defensive army buildings.

Really? It was a pain, but I was able to get through it in a day.

Yes, it's a change in the strategy required to proceed in the game. Were you expecting that the game would stay the same forever?

 

[Johnny B. Goode]

Soon realized I will need to go back and learn to use troops manually again if I want to even win any battles.

I can tell that won't help. Massively increased defense boosts is the only way to get through battling GE5. Anyone telling you different is selling something.

 

[CDmark]

OK finished GE L1-4, a couple things to mention

Level 4, encounters 3,7,11 - 4 units? Not fragments of units?...lol but really, you used units as fillers after you stripped things down like diamonds and fragmented everything. Need to think more about this, just saw it but not a good prize for GE L4.

I didn't keep track of selection kit fragments, will do next time. But thinking a newer player, finishes L1, I didn't see enough fragments to get a full L1 selection kit, so they get no reward. Not even a virtual pat on the back, I will have to track it to see how long it would take them to get a face/sun.

You did a good job with attempts, still think if given a choice, should be with coin/supplies versus FPs, where that option occurs. like L1E1 vs L1E2.

I counted up a maximum of 220 goods can be made, L1-4, hmm, that would cover L5E1 goods, thanks for the help