Answered Techs or AWs

[Hekata]

I since the new tournament has begun (on Beta) I haven't upgraded AWs, haven't unlocked techs and haven't placed expansions. The idea was to wait for the test phase to be over and then decide how to proceed base on the final result. But it's taking waaay too long. I have put my kps in all useful AWs but without upgrading them but now I've come to the point I'm dumping them into AWs that I will probably never upgrade with this new system and it really feels like a waste. Plus I'm staring to be really bored of this doing nothing. So what will hurt me less/befit me more: upgrading an AW a few of levels or unlocking techs and progressing though the chapter?
The AW I wanted to upgrade is Simia, it's only lv 1 now. Alternatively it could be the Flying Academy that I currently don't have but it would also require one more expansion as I don't have the space for it.
As for techs: I am at the beginning of chapter 15 with only the Council hall and academy unlocked. I have built the Academies and I have buckets of Ideas and Work force pilled up so my next techs would be more settlement stuff (factory, atelier, agriculture).
Any advice?

 

[Pauly7]

I think for where you are the most important thing is to get the level 3 Merc Camp troops unlocked. The benefit of that should far outweigh the detriment of completing the researches.

 

[m4rt1n]

I have unlocked all tech now including optional, and continue to upgrade all AW's as a ch16 waiting on 17 player and find I can still do enough each week with a fellowship short on players to reach the 10 chest and 2 bonus chests. My average is a little lower but still around 7k weekly score.
Expansions all placed except the premium above 5k diamonds and I will place another soon as I have enough diamonds earned.

 

[BlueBlou]

I just let my kp sit in the top bar, forgoing the hourly ones. Kind of curious what the upper limit is. Yea, I know, kind of daft, but it is daft times.

 

[m4rt1n]

I just let my kp sit in the top bar, forgoing the hourly ones. Kind of curious what the upper limit is. Yea, I know, kind of daft, but it is daft times.

No upper limit, you can have 1000's in the top bar, you just don't earn the hourly ones.

 

[Hekata]

I just let my kp sit in the top bar, forgoing the hourly ones. Kind of curious what the upper limit is. Yea, I know, kind of daft, but it is daft times.

I though of that too but at this point it's really getting kind of boring doing nothing. They are not giving us any time-frame for how much longer the testing will go on but I have the feeling what we have now is going to be the final version with maybe minor tweeks; maybe a little less random enemy unites, a few multipliers veeeery slightly adjusted, sadly I don't expect all or even some AWs to be removed from the formula.
I think I'll start with what @Pauly7 said, go for the 3* troops and the barracks / armouries / Mercenary Camp upgrades and then maybe slowly resume with the Aws and expansions. After all I am still far from where @m4rt1n is and if he finds it manageable I will probably too.

 

[m4rt1n]

I though of that too but at this point it's really getting kind of boring doing nothing. They are not giving us any time-frame for how much longer the testing will go on but I have the feeling what we have now is going to be the final version with maybe minor tweeks; maybe a little less random enemy unites, a few multipliers veeeery slightly adjusted, sadly I don't expect all or even some AWs to be removed from the formula.
I think I'll start with what @Pauly7 said, go for the 3* troops and the barracks / armouries / Mercenary Camp upgrades and then maybe slowly resume with the Aws and expansions. After all I am still far from where @m4rt1n is and if he finds it manageable I will probably too.

Manageable yes, but just to be clear, a strain and no fun anymore. It is tough but I am resigned myself to the deaf ear of the game team so decided to carry on as normal. I try and have a huge ch16 finished city so cannot undo expansions, AW levels etc and am flat out of things now at times and cannot continue for months, I am hopeful of changes very soon but if not will have to re-evaluate everything.

 

[Hekata]

Manageable yes, but just to be clear, a strain and no fun anymore. It is tough but I am resigned myself to the deaf ear of the game team so decided to carry on as normal. I try and have a huge ch16 finished city so cannot undo expansions, AW levels etc and am flat out of things now at times and cannot continue for months, I am hopeful of changes very soon but if not will have to re-evaluate everything.

Ok, thanks, I'll continue slowly and very cautiously then. I was planing to stop somewhere mid chapter 15 anyway since there doesn't seem to be anything valuable in chapter 16 and I really don't have the space for the huge settlement. I happen to like having nice buildings on top of those very useful ones so it's kind of hard to keep going forward space wise, especially now that we have to consider that every expansions adds to the tournament difficulty. And I'll only upgrade those Aws that should really have more benefits than penalty. I think I have also resigned myself that the only choices we have is to accept and adapt or quit the game. I'm not ready to quite yet so I guess I have to see if I can adapt, hence my initial question.

Btw, chapter 17 will be released very soon. Not sure if it will help you or if you're better staying put.

 

[m4rt1n]

Ok, thanks, I'll continue slowly and very cautiously then. I was planing to stop somewhere mid chapter 15 anyway since there doesn't seem to be anything valuable in chapter 16 and I really don't have the space for the huge settlement. I happen to like having nice buildings on top of those very useful ones so it's kind of hard to keep going forward space wise, especially now that we have to consider that every expansions adds to the tournament difficulty. And I'll only upgrade those Aws that should really have more benefits than penalty. I think I have also resigned myself that the only choices we have is to accept and adapt or quit the game. I'm not ready to quite yet so I guess I have to see if I can adapt, hence my initial question.

Btw, chapter 17 will be released very soon. Not sure if it will help you or if you're better staying put.

Ch16 is doable with a smaller settlement than 14 or 15. Not everything needs to be there all the time except for quest line tasks. I found it much easier to connect the required buildings than in a long time.

 

[Hekata]

Ch16 is doable with a smaller settlement than 14 or 15. Not everything needs to be there all the time except for quest line tasks. I found it much easier to connect the required buildings than in a long time.

Thanks for the info Gems doesn't have a guest race guide for that chapter so I have no idea how it works. I just went by what I see in other cities and those are usually huge settlements. I'm really glad it's easier than in chapter 15 (the complexity of the settlement there it's really too much) but to be honest have grown very tired of the guest race concept. After 10 chapters of it I wish they'd come up with something different.

 

[Gargon667]

I since the new tournament has begun (on Beta) I haven't upgraded AWs, haven't unlocked techs and haven't placed expansions. The idea was to wait for the test phase to be over and then decide how to proceed base on the final result. But it's taking waaay too long. I have put my kps in all useful AWs but without upgrading them but now I've come to the point I'm dumping them into AWs that I will probably never upgrade with this new system and it really feels like a waste. Plus I'm staring to be really bored of this doing nothing. So what will hurt me less/befit me more: upgrading an AW a few of levels or unlocking techs and progressing though the chapter?
The AW I wanted to upgrade is Simia, it's only lv 1 now. Alternatively it could be the Flying Academy that I currently don't have but it would also require one more expansion as I don't have the space for it.
As for techs: I am at the beginning of chapter 15 with only the Council hall and academy unlocked. I have built the Academies and I have buckets of Ideas and Work force pilled up so my next techs would be more settlement stuff (factory, atelier, agriculture).
Any advice?

Play half of chapter 15!!! It will make up far more than it costs, you are half a chapter away from 5 of the most important techs in the game, well 4 anyway. Stop research as soon as you have activated 3star Frogs! You can take the optional SSU if you like, it has no influence.

You get upgrades to Merc Camp AND barracks, plus 3star Rangers and Frogs are among the most used troops in the game! The Vallorians are great for elves, too (although less used, but still better than your treants, if you autofight)

Also upgrading your AWs will help you as long as you go for the most powerful military ones. If you are worried, pgrade military and delete non military at similar rates. that will definitely improve your performance. But I would assume your total AW levels are rather low, so you have nothing to worry about, you are not in the place where AWs are bad for you yet, probably not for a long time. Of course it is never too early to get rid of ballast... but that has not so much to do with upgrading military AWs. FA/Simia will help you more than they hurt you. I would bet you any amount of KP

 

[Gargon667]

Ok, thanks, I'll continue slowly and very cautiously then. I was planing to stop somewhere mid chapter 15 anyway since there doesn't seem to be anything valuable in chapter 16 and I really don't have the space for the huge settlement. I happen to like having nice buildings on top of those very useful ones so it's kind of hard to keep going forward space wise, especially now that we have to consider that every expansions adds to the tournament difficulty. And I'll only upgrade those Aws that should really have more benefits than penalty. I think I have also resigned myself that the only choices we have is to accept and adapt or quit the game. I'm not ready to quite yet so I guess I have to see if I can adapt, hence my initial question.

Btw, chapter 17 will be released very soon. Not sure if it will help you or if you're better staying put.

Guess I should have read to the end before answering lol. I fully agree with your assessment, there is absolutely nothing of worth in the entire chapter 16, and not even in chapter 15 after the Frogs.
The guest race in 15 is annoying, but if you are not in a hurry you can make it smaller. If you want to go fast you need space. The good thing is you don´t have to keep it very long. As soon as you have the guest race production researches done, you can sell everything except for the portal and do the rest with PP. So as soon as you have activated the 3 factories, make the resources for the following column of 3 (but you don´t even need to activate the harp player). Then sell the whole thing again. Unless you have about 500k Orcs saved up, you better start upgrading your Orc production you will need them! I suppose you will have to go slow anyway because of a low sentient production, so don´t stress about the chapter just get it done slowly and enjoy every tech you get as soon as the guest races nonsense is finished (unfortuunately you have to take a few of those as prerequisits for the Ranger)

I also had a quick look at your AWs you have nothing to worry about there. I personally would ditch the Sunset Towers and Crystal Lighthouse (independent of tourney performance), but if you like them that´s only 15 levels... the rest of the AWs will be good for you and you can easily bring FA, Needles and Simia (and really DA, Toads, Timewarp, MM as well) to lvl 30 before you need to think about stopping to upgrade AWs, so you should have a while to make a more detailed plan

 

[Hekata]

Thanks for the advice and for checking my Aws @Gargon667! I did start the chapter a while ago because I already had unlocked the academies before the new tournaments so I had been producing the ideas and workforce for a veery long time. And now I've opened the next production buildings and I'm working on producing the settlement goods to unlock the barracks (can't wait! they look great on top of speeding up the production ofc). I have 2 of each sentient factories and I have a lv 10 Storm Phoenix so making enough sentient might not take as much time but those orcs for building/upgrading the barracks and merc camp are going to be a big problem. II'll probably have to make an orc nest/ship field when I sell the settlement.

I know I have fewer AW levels than some players here but I was trying to prevent getting in the position where I have to consider selling some. I did finally upgrade my Simia and I might upgrade my MM and DA too since they are already packed with KPs
I know the Sunset Towers is not a particularly good AW but I really like how it looks. That's why this new formula that includes all the Aws annoys me a lot. My Sunset Towers are already there and taking some space (because it's a nice building) and in the old system I was planing to upgrade it so I can also have some benefits form it. Now all it would get me are penalties. I feel we should be able to have all the aws we want (for whatever reason we want them) without it making the tournament SS bigger. There is no way the Sunset Towers can compensate for any increase in SS. Or the Crystal Lighthouse for that matter. For me having to pick only a handful of AWs is diminishing the fun
Anyway this has nothing to do with your excellent advice, it's just me ranting again about the new tournaments

 

[Gargon667]

Thanks for the advice and for checking my Aws @Gargon667! I did start the chapter a while ago because I already had unlocked the academies before the new tournaments so I had been producing the ideas and workforce for a veery long time. And now I've opened the next production buildings and I'm working on producing the settlement goods to unlock the barracks (can't wait! they look great on top of speeding up the production ofc). I have 2 of each sentient factories and I have a lv 10 Storm Phoenix so making enough sentient might not take as much time but those orcs for building/upgrading the barracks and merc camp are going to be a big problem. II'll probably have to make an orc nest/ship field when I sell the settlement.

I know I have fewer AW levels than some players here but I was trying to prevent getting in the position where I have to consider selling some. I did finally upgrade my Simia and I might upgrade my MM and DA too since they are already packed with KPs
I know the Sunset Towers is not a particularly good AW but I really like how it looks. That's why this new formula that includes all the Aws annoys me a lot. My Sunset Towers are already there and taking some space (because it's a nice building) and in the old system I was planing to upgrade it so I can also have some benefits form it. Now all it would get me are penalties. I feel we should be able to have all the aws we want (for whatever reason we want them) without it making the tournament SS bigger. There is no way the Sunset Towers can compensate for any increase in SS. Or the Crystal Lighthouse for that matter. For me having to pick only a handful of AWs is diminishing the fun
Anyway this has nothing to do with your excellent advice, it's just me ranting again about the new tournaments

Oh you have absolutely nothing to worry about with you Sun Tower. And neither with any other AW you want to place for looks (or giggles), just don´t upgrade them! Level 1 is the best level for every AW! Most bang for your buck (or in this case tourney pain). Anyway 1 AW level will not change your tourney play significantly. Even if you place 10 lvl 1 AWs it isn´t going to hurt you. 10 lvl 30 AWs (without benefits) would.
I personally have 30 useless AW levels (and 300 useful ones) right now, but it´s not a big bother, i will get rid of them when tourneys are finalized, but they don´t stop me from doing the new tourneys rather OK right now anyway.

Upgrade the ones that make you better and you will benefit rather than loose, so definitely go upgrade all the ones you have already filled.

 

[Gargon667]

lol sorry for the profanity I thought ***** and giggles was a rather benign saying, it sounds rather weird now. but if it pleases the ear the meaning is not too badly altered I guess...

 

[Herodite]

lol sorry for the profanity I thought ***** and giggles was a rather benign saying, it sounds rather weird now. but if it pleases the ear the meaning is not too badly altered I guess...

No need to apologise, it's a common phrase and easily done I was trying to save as much as I could whilst still making sense

 

[Hekata]

Oh you have absolutely nothing to worry about with you Sun Tower. And neither with any other AW you want to place for looks (or giggles), just don´t upgrade them! Level 1 is the best level for every AW! Most bang for your buck (or in this case tourney pain). Anyway 1 AW level will not change your tourney play significantly. Even if you place 10 lvl 1 AWs it isn´t going to hurt you. 10 lvl 30 AWs (without benefits) would.
I personally have 30 useless AW levels (and 300 useful ones) right now, but it´s not a big bother, i will get rid of them when tourneys are finalized, but they don´t stop me from doing the new tourneys rather OK right now anyway.

Upgrade the ones that make you better and you will benefit rather than loose, so definitely go upgrade all the ones you have already filled.

Thanks for the advice I did resume playing my game more or less normally, I guess if they make any more changes to the tournaments (especially regarding AWs) it can only be better, not worse than now, so I got nothing to loose, lol.