The F2P perspective

The F2P perspective

Postby icyglaze » Wed Feb 15, 2017 1:21 am

Playing F2P-style since Boxing Day 2016, sharing some notes which may be on the minds of some new players.

1. Gems. Where can I get them? How many can a F2P farm?
- Log-in bonuses (Sign tab) gives 450 every 30 days.
- Guild cards potentially gives 20 every day (600 in 30 days).
- Arena ranks gives 5 or more for rank 300 and above.
- Heroes Hall potentially gives 100 every week.
- Sunday daily quests give a net yield of 50.
- Badges, quests, 18* quest stage rewards give misc amounts.

Assuming daily log-in for a month (30 days), an F2P player in a guild receives probably about 1000 gems a month. Free. That's pretty neat.


2. How many big spenders are there? How hard is it to climb up the arena as an F2P?
From my perspective, every month or so, a big spender comes into the game. The biggest active VIPs appear to be Empyrial, Venatlav and Corneliu.. Honestly, an F2P can never compete with a VIP5 or above. Basic economics. But having big players is a good thing - they keep the game running. So good for you P2P - I love you guys too. However, I also note that it is rather lonely at the top. Every month, about 2-3 top 10 Power ranking players "retire" from the game. So it is possible to squeeze your way up the ladder. Top 300 is definitely not a problem. Top F2P players (that I know of) include:
k (top 20 in power, Rivendell)
r3tnuh (top 20 in power, retired)
Hinegami (top 20 in power, Enforcer)
Kold (top 20 in power, Frostbitten)
Stygge (top 20 in power, Stygge Guild)
See what I mean about top players retiring?

Another F2P vs P2P note: F2P cannot see VIP status - so this list contains a bit of speculation.


3. Guilds. Should I join or make one? Which should I join?
Depends on your commitment into the game. Several players make their own guild and stay as small guild leaders. Thing is, many guild rewards (which are critical for powering up) go into guild shop auction house. Being a small guild leader, guild rewards may be mediocre, but you get the best bang for the buck on guild bidding - you can be pretty sure no one bids/outbids you. Moreover, the losing guild in guild wars do still get substantial rewards. I can imagine the best way to power up is to create a guild, fill it with a bunch of alts, and farm guild rewards with a main account. I'm not saying you should do that (and I imagine from the mod side, it is very easy to detect such guilds), but I imagine some guilds work that way.... Personally, I think that's a superbly boring way to play the game.

So, obviously, one should join a nice big guild. To get buffs, advice, banter and kill boredom. Which guild then? Objectively, the best guilds are ranked (in my opinion, based on guild level, guild war wins, guild dungeon ranks, as well as how active the Leader is on global chat): (min power entry requirements based on global chat statements by their respective guild leaders)
1. Necessarius. Unrivaled top guild. Entry requirements: min 10k power. Leader: Empyrial
2. Enforcer. Recently actively recruiting. Rising star. Leader: Fluent
3. Departed. Consistent. Leader: ISeeU
4. Frostbitten. Entry requirements: min 5k power. Leader: Kold
5. Rivendell. Former top guild (when I first joined). Several top players still enrolled within. Vice-Leader: Quille

As you can see, even top guilds have pretty manageable entry requirements (power). No reason not to join up. Guild buffs from any of these top guilds can easily give a heavy boost to your power stats.


Now I go into more two cents..
4. Hero upgrading is really expensive. Gold is really hard to get. How can I maximise gold without gems?
The thing about F2P is, gold/coins are very limited. So upgrading skills and blessings can get pretty expensive. In fact, upgrading starts to become really painful from level 20 onwards. Note that at later story stages, the player has to clear using fixed heroes, so upgrading just a fixed set of 3 is a really bad idea. So, how??

Do not upgrade all skills.
For example, if you are going to exclusively use Fireball (or Frostbite) and Inferno (or Hailstorm) exclusively on your Raina, do not upgrade the other skills. Waste of money, also artificial inflation of power (which is bad - I shall discuss this next.)

Stick to one main trio build
PvP options (for now) are much better than questing rewards. So, focus on that for now. However, which three to use is the million-dollar-question. For a F2P, the choices are narrow. Either The default build - Main (Fury) + Raina (Blaze) + Sakura (Ijutsu) or The cheap power build - Main (Fury) + Raina (Frost) + Sara (Holy Force). Later on, when you do not need to read this post, you can decide for yourself which heroes suit you best.

Another way to choose is based on which 5-star weapon you so happen to luckily acquire.

When questing, battle over raid.
Raiding is convenient, fast. But battling gives more drops and gold. Oh, that extra experience bonus when clearing stages? Negligible for hero levelling. Don't lose sleep over it.


5. Wait, what? Power inflation is bad?
Ok, now we are venturing into a bit of high level stuff now..

Look at the arena rankings. Look at the player power rankings. Yes, they are correlated. But many players with high power also may have less than equivalent arena ranks. Yes, some may have chosen to deflate their arena rankings - but that also means power does not necessarily equate to assured wins over players with lower power. Why is this so?
- as mentioned in #4, if you upgrade a skill you never use, you increase your power - but you never use that skill (especially true for auto-battles).
- on a related note, not all skills are equal. But upgrading any skill gives the same unit of power increase.
I shall cut this list here for now.

So power inflation is bad because many things are tied to your current power vs your opponent such as:
- whether you get fame in PvP
- success of pet raids

Ideally, you want as low power as possible but have the maximal chance of winning PvPs. That's something probably exclusive to F2P players. ;)


If my 2 cents was helpful, great - I'd be happy to share more. If not, then, end of random rambling. :)~
Last edited by icyglaze on Sun Feb 19, 2017 12:41 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: The F2P perspective

Postby Empyrial » Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:38 am

A small detail regarding Heroes Hall. As the top ranking player atm I do try to be fair so I usually wait about 24-48 hours before taking monarch. This will give players a chance to claim monarch rewards as well complete the badge requirements.

I do plan on relinquishing my spot in arena every now and again as well so other players may reap the daily rewards.

Both of these are easy ways to get gems just as icy mentioned as a f2p. I intend to help out now and again so ppl can enjoy the game more and not feel like they'll never have 1st place.
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Re: The F2P perspective

Postby Udry » Wed Feb 15, 2017 7:17 am

I approve this thread.
☆*:.。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆
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Re: The F2P perspective

Postby icyglaze » Sat Feb 18, 2017 4:34 am

Added points 4 and 5. Do feedback on what else you would like to discuss~ :)
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