Congrats. I typically choose to lose goods by trying again rather than spend the diamonds. I usually don't buy an extra round more than twice...maaaaybe three times. But I generally do have at least 8 opportunities to buy more, so sounds like you're doing alright.I just completed.my first trip to the top of the Spire (woot!). I fought to the first gate, then catered the rest of the way.
There are about 35 (?) encounters after the first gate, and I had to buy extra rounds about 8 times. Is that about par for the course?
Congrats! If you want to conserve diamonds and goods, you can leave a negotiation that isn't going well and start over. For example, if my first negotiation attempt doesn't eliminate at least one good, then I leave the negotiation and start over. You may find this post helpful, too.
Congrats! I am an autofighter. I have found if you produce the military helps in the magic academy, and feed your fire Phoenix (if you have one) you can usually easily fight your way. If I am doing a negotiation week. I second what others have said. I only use diamonds if I know the next guess for sure, and if I know I will regain it..i.e. My fellowship will win the 50 diamonds, or there are two slots left with the yellow hint and I know my guesses just have to switch slots.
Exciting though, and I am sure it is the first of many.
Edit* I have over 5000 diamonds and have never purchased one, mainly from spire and genie, and winning a prize on forum contest
For your first time, you did fantastically. As you gain experience, you'll know when to keep going after the first choice and when to walk away and start over. (Why does that remind me of a Kenny Rogers song? lol) In any case, I don't buy extra rounds except under all three of the following conditions: 1, It's a guy standing at a door, not just in the room, since those are the hardest ones. 2, I have a guaranteed win if I use 25 diamonds. and 3, I'm just tired of withdrawing and antsy to get it over with. Never any other time. I'd rather walk away if I don't get something good on the first guess (not green check marks ... I hate those on the first guess.) I just keep starting over if the first guess gives me something bad, rather than keeping on going.I just completed.my first trip to the top of the Spire (woot!). I fought to the first gate, then catered the rest of the way.
There are about 35 (?) encounters after the first gate, and I had to buy extra rounds about 8 times. Is that about par for the course?
I think it's a matter of luck as well. The three wave fights are always harder for me than the two wave. Perhaps it depends on your level or other factors. I just know that province 15 on the tourney is a piece of cake even with no buffs (except feeding chicken), while fighting in the lab is always super tough without buffs. I once had seven 5-day buildings out (3 uu, 2 mage and 2 elr) and fed the chicken in order to do the lab, and I still lost the fights (autofights, being careful about choosing the right troops ... just like I do in Tourney and always waste the enemies). So I think it's luck or some combination of things. It may be wonder levels, too, that count. I have a level 12 martial monastery, but my needles is not very leveled up. And I don't have shrooms, which some people swear by. So maybe that's it.I've tried various Spire tactics. I've been catering it until I came across Shyama1 (former #1 tourney player on Ceravyn) mentioning the top of the spire is about equivalent to province 15* in tourney. Well, I can fight province 15* with no problems, so I thought maybe I can fight the Spire without buffs too then. I had a fed Fire Chicken, which at the time was only at Level 5. When I won, I realized the Spire just got a whole lot cheaper if it's only going to cost one pet food and extra units. It does mean I have to be able to handle 16 extra province 15* encounters though. I don't have the troops to go deep in tourney and autofight the whole spire yet, and troop priority is for tourney since they stretch further there. Now I autofight Gateway, cater High Halls, and manual fight the Lab with only a fed Fire Chicken.
I will say don't get deterred by the gate bosses that take 3 waves to defeat. As a manual fighter, I've observed those are actually EASIER to fight than the 2-wave chests before them. This is because each enemy unit is a lot wimpier and die quicker. The 2-wave enemies are like walking zombies that keep coming at you after unloading entire clips on them because they have very high health. The 3-wave enemies sometimes only take a double tap to move on to next one. I can practically skip to the 3rd wave with most of my troops in tact, but they take heavy damage when doing the 2-wave fights. If you have to pick and choose your fights due to army limitations, give fighting the bosses a go, especially since they are even harder to cater.
That sounds like a pretty good set-up for a week's fighting. Do you have the Martial Monastery/Sanctuary (name changes depending on if you are playing as a human or an elf, but it works the same for both) AW? And if so, what level is it? I think this AW is one of the must-haves if you want to pursue a fighting oriented strategy.I have the fire phoenix Stage 5, and it is fed for the tournament. Also (this week) 2 Magnificent Mages and 1 Unlimited Unit. And my Needles is 8*. This is enough to allow me to auto fight through 10 or 11 provinces in the tournament for all rounds. But I find the odds stacked against me for fighting in the Spire, what with being vastly outnumbered in squad size and 2 or 3 waves of enemies. Which means I lose more troops than I can afford.
That sounds like a pretty good set-up for a week's fighting. Do you have the Martial Monastery/Sanctuary (name changes depending on if you are playing as a human or an elf, but it works the same for both) AW? And if so, what level is it? I think this AW is one of the must-haves if you want to pursue a fighting oriented strategy.
I've tried various Spire tactics. I've been catering it until I came across Shyama1 (former #1 tourney player on Ceravyn) mentioning the top of the spire is about equivalent to province 15* in tourney. Well, I can fight province 15* with no problems, so I thought maybe I can fight the Spire without buffs too then. I had a fed Fire Chicken, which at the time was only at Level 5. When I won, I realized the Spire just got a whole lot cheaper if it's only going to cost one pet food and extra units. It does mean I have to be able to handle 16 extra province 15* encounters though. I don't have the troops to go deep in tourney and autofight the whole spire yet, and troop priority is for tourney since they stretch further there. Now I autofight Gateway, cater High Halls, and manual fight the Lab with only a fed Fire Chicken.
I will say don't get deterred by the gate bosses that take 3 waves to defeat. As a manual fighter, I've observed those are actually EASIER to fight than the 2-wave chests before them. This is because each enemy unit is a lot wimpier and die quicker. The 2-wave enemies are like walking zombies that keep coming at you after unloading entire clips on them because they have very high health. The 3-wave enemies sometimes only take a double tap to move on to next one. I can practically skip to the 3rd wave with most of my troops in tact, but they take heavy damage when doing the 2-wave fights. If you have to pick and choose your fights due to army limitations, give fighting the bosses a go, especially since they are even harder to cater.
Keep in mind that in addition to the toughness boost to troops, Martial Monastery/Sanctuary also provides you with culture. If you have any pure culture buildings, it might be possible to create space for the AW by deleting them. Generally I think this AW outperforms most pure culture buildings on a space for space basis once you level it a few times. And this is just in terms of culture. When you also consider the toughness bonus to all troops, it is truly great.I have it ready to go, 1*, just waiting for space available. Per your advice, I will prioritize...just so many choices.
Generally speaking, if I have that many 5-day buffs down AND I've fed Fire Chicken, but still get snagged autofighting an encounter, I'll go into manual fight to see what's up. It's usually your troops getting ensnared by the terrain rather than that they aren't strong enough. Of course, you can't see the terrain on the app to adjust troop selection accordingly. A super common autofighting snafu setup is what I call "the funnel". There are variants depending on where the entrance/exit shows up. Sometimes it's in the middle, but the most dreadful for autofighting is when it's on the side. I have limited access to examples with no tourney right now, but I have one in which the enemy is in the funnel. So flip the board and same issues apply. Essentially, everything breaks...good matchups, initiative advantages, and buffs.I think it's a matter of luck as well. The three wave fights are always harder for me than the two wave. Perhaps it depends on your level or other factors. I just know that province 15 on the tourney is a piece of cake even with no buffs (except feeding chicken), while fighting in the lab is always super tough without buffs. I once had seven 5-day buildings out (3 uu, 2 mage and 2 elr) and fed the chicken in order to do the lab, and I still lost the fights (autofights, being careful about choosing the right troops ... just like I do in Tourney and always waste the enemies).