Elementals

[VoyagerEleva]

But @SoggyShorts that does not follow the storyline, first build portal. canals, and 1 of ea manifestation.
Then 2, then upgrade portal
I have the full set almost at lvl 2 for all manifestation.

I missing the lvl 25 ETC aw.

I don't follow the story line exactly if I think I can be a bit more efficient doing things in a different order. Still will get through all of the quests, just in my own timing. And it's fun to whip through a bunch of quests if you've already completed the requirements ahead of time.

 

[SoggyShorts]

But @SoggyShorts that does not follow the storyline, first build portal. canals, and 1 of ea manifestation.

Yeah, you can follow the storyline, but getting the portal to level 4 costs almost 200,000 minerals, so the longer you can keep the extra canals, the better imo.
Much like chapter 8 where you can build loads of extra level 1 farms, and convert them to rally points later.

As an added bonus you get the option of nuking a canal of two for some level 1 turds if there is an event or something going on- they are pretty quick to replace.

 

[qaccy]

My issue with building a bunch of canals is that they're freaking expensive, and if you're building them just to tear them down later you're kind of throwing sentient goods away which may or may not be a hassle to trade for depending on how the market feels at the moment.

I just stuck with the amounts asked for by the quests. I had to use a few instants as it was just to sequentially build those 8 canals. For someone without instants or a builder higher than level 2, that's tying up a lot of real time both in your builder and in collecting coin just for a few extra and temporary buildings.

 

[SoggyShorts]

My issue with building a bunch of canals is that they're freaking expensive, and if you're building them just to tear them down later you're kind of throwing sentient goods away which may or may not be a hassle to trade for depending on how the market feels at the moment.

Yeah I haven't really had any issues with T4. I built 2 level 24 and with an MM spell I can get over 50,000 out of them in a day which is enough for 8 canals.
2 builders meant I could only make 4 a day anyways.
IMO the cost was a worthy trade off for getting my level 4 portal 50% sooner.

 

[DeletedUser3507]

Been there done that..

 

[qaccy]

Yeah I haven't really had any issues with T4. I built 2 level 24 and with an MM spell I can get over 50,000 out of them in a day which is enough for 8 canals.
2 builders meant I could only make 4 a day anyways.
IMO the cost was a worthy trade off for getting my level 4 portal 50% sooner.

I don't think the portal upgrades are significant enough to be worth the extra resources needed for that. Certainly helpful (and required due to the quests), but not very powerful. How much time does your approach save in terms of completing the chapter?

EDIT: Also:

I don't think I like the precedent being set here. Asking for us to waste the chapter's key to research on the questgiver is quite a low blow in my opinion.

 

[SoggyShorts]

I don't think the portal upgrades are significant enough to be worth the extra resources needed for that. Certainly helpful (and required due to the quests), but not very powerful. How much time does your approach save in terms of completing the chapter?

It makes a bigger difference to players with lower seed production. I can't run a full set of upgraded manis on fast production, and T4, and save for a tech at the same time with only ~60 AW levels and 350 provinces.

 

[DeletedUser1108]

So am I the only person who finds it annoying that Squad Size Upgrade #41 is tied to the workshop upgrade instead of the Armory upgrade?

 

[Deborah M]

So am I the only person who finds it annoying that Squad Size Upgrade #41 is tied to the workshop upgrade instead of the Armory upgrade?

I didn't even notice when I did them. Wondering why it matters. Maybe I should pay more attention.

 

[SoggyShorts]

So am I the only person who finds it annoying that Squad Size Upgrade #41 is tied to the workshop upgrade instead of the Armory upgrade?

I find it annoying that there is an SS upgrade increase aka downgrade at all....

 

[DeletedUser1108]

I find it annoying that there is an SS upgrade increase aka downgrade at all....

Because you reserve your fighting for the tourney's, in the provinces it is most definitely an upgrade. In this case, however, it is because I'd prefer not to mess with the next tourney and I have room for the workshop upgrades, but not the Armory upgrades...sigh.

 

[Deborah M]

Because you reserve your fighting for the tourney's, in the provinces it is most definitely an upgrade. In this case, however, it is because I'd prefer not to mess with the next tourney and I have room for the workshop upgrades, but not the Armory upgrades...sigh.

Makes perfect sense I was anxious to upgrade my armories so didn't give much thought to it.

 

[DeletedUser1108]

Yeah, you can follow the storyline, but getting the portal to level 4 costs almost 200,000 minerals, so the longer you can keep the extra canals, the better imo.
Much like chapter 8 where you can build loads of extra level 1 farms, and convert them to rally points later.

As an added bonus you get the option of nuking a canal of two for some level 1 turds if there is an event or something going on- they are pretty quick to replace.

WOW!!! LOVE you new stats site Soggy!! Very Impressive my friend!!

 

[DeletedUser10859]

Hey everyone. So I'm about to enter Elementals and was hoping for some advice on what I need. I have built two steel workshops (my boost is marble), and I currently have 3 maxed marble workshops. From what I've read it sounds like because of the limiting nature of seeds I will be good with just the two T4 workshops, but will I need more T1 or should 3 be fine? Generally I split between negotiating and fighting (just learning to fight, so not great at it yet! lol)

 

[qaccy]

So am I the only person who finds it annoying that Squad Size Upgrade #41 is tied to the workshop upgrade instead of the Armory upgrade?

Other than things like guest race buildings which may follow some sort of progression system, I don't think there's any real rhyme or reason to tech tree order or link placement.

 

[SoggyShorts]

Hey everyone. So I'm about to enter Elementals and was hoping for some advice on what I need. I have built two steel workshops (my boost is marble), and I currently have 3 maxed marble workshops. From what I've read it sounds like because of the limiting nature of seeds I will be good with just the two T4 workshops, but will I need more T1 or should 3 be fine? Generally I split between negotiating and fighting (just learning to fight, so not great at it yet! lol)

I''ll be done chapter 12 pretty soon (as a free player) and I got by with 2/2/2/2 factories. In fact I never levelled my T4 past 24, and they have sat idle more than half of the time. The thing that you need T4 goods the most for is to upgrade your T4 (and T1), which really can wait until you are done the chapter.

I would recommend building more canals than you will need, pretty much as many as possible as fast as possible as minerals will probably be the first bottleneck you hit, and unlike the rest of the chapter resources, they don't decay, so building up a little stockpile is great.

 

[DeletedUser10859]

Great thanks SoggyShorts, I will definitely do that!

 

[DeletedUser1108]

It has become really clear to me that they have artificially increased the size requirements of the Elementals settlements FAR beyond what is actually required to fulfill the chapter researches...in fact the only reason to build a 5th Earth manifestation or a 4th Water manifestation is to cycle the chapter quest line! The 3rd Air and Fire manifestations are only slightly more "necessary". The giant size of the settlement is an artificial requirement designed to force unnecessary sacrifices on players!

Build them, then delete them...don't let them fool you into sacrifices that aren't necessary. The extra Air and Fire have some value, but even those aren't essential!

 

[qaccy]

It has become really clear to me that they have artificially increased the size requirements of the Elementals settlements FAR beyond what is actually required to fulfill the chapter researches...in fact the only reason to build a 5th Earth manifestation or a 4th Water manifestation is to cycle the chapter quest line! The 3rd Air and Fire manifestations are only slightly more "necessary". The giant size of the settlement is an artificial requirement designed to force unnecessary sacrifices on players!

Build them, then delete them...don't let them fool you into sacrifices that aren't necessary. The extra Air and Fire have some value, but even those aren't essential!

More manifestations means more essence production. Essences are actually the thing I've been waiting on the most as I've worked through the chapter, so at least for me I've definitely been making use of all the manifestations asked for by the quests.

In other news:

TG's done upgrading and I couldn't be happier that I'm no longer hamstrung in troop production for tournaments where I'd like to use it. Like planks!

 

[DeletedUser3507]

I started the lvl3 manesfation upgrade today with 360K of minerals Its going to take a long minute to do lvl 4 ones