How does a new player earn diamonds?

[DeletedUser28748]

I'm a new player! Covid got me, so I'm keeping myself VERY entertained trying to learn how to play. I can't seem to get ANYWHERE without buying diamonds. Am I going too fast? Do I earn them in some way? Any and all tips and suggestions- not just diamonds- would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Darielle]

You'll have to wait until you're in chapter 3 to start earning diamonds in the best way I know ... the Spire. It's a great game.

By the way, the best advice to give new people is don't overscout. If you see your provinces start turning orange, that's a warning sign. They should tell new players that. It has nothing to do with earning diamonds, but I just thought I'd mention it since so many new players (including me, way back when) do it. Good luck!

 

[DeletedUser20010]

Yeah, this is a slow game. Join a good, active fellowship that participates in tourney and spire. You shouldn't have to buy any diamonds, but won't really start to collect them until chapter 3.

 

[Gladiola]

You can do a lot of things without diamonds. I have only used diamonds to upgrade my magic academy, and that was more of a nice to have than a need to have.

In a few weeks there will be an event where you can earn premium buildings with culture and population (and sometimes other goodies) that are better than the buildings you can construct based on research. Those will help. But in the meantime, do research, build buildings, make goods, and produce troops. Because that's basically the game, and it doesn't require diamonds.

 

[crackie]

You can do a lot of things without diamonds. I have only used diamonds to upgrade my magic academy, and that was more of a nice to have than a need to have.

It's definitely not a "need" but upgrading magic academy to level 5 would be first thing I do with my diamonds. Even at level 5, it's 6 hours for a combining catalyst so you can only make 4 a day. It's like if toilet paper is nice to have or need to have. Sure, I could use a leaf, but I'd rather take the 1-ply.

 

[CrusaderMichael]

It's definitely not a "need" but upgrading magic academy to level 5 would be first thing I do with my diamonds. Even at level 5, it's 6 hours for a combining catalyst so you can only make 4 a day. It's like if toilet paper is nice to have or need to have. Sure, I could use a leaf, but I'd rather take the 1-ply.

isn't there a chance the OP would run out of relics if they are pumping out CC's so fast, so early in the game? Seeing the "new player" words.

I'm in dwarves (early) and have just 87 scroll relics.

My MA is level 3 and i pump out CC's constantly... if i was at MA 5 early on i'd have had many "out of relics" days and that would make me think i wasted my diamonds.

Even though eventually i'll get MA 5, i'd rather have the diamonds in reserve in case something good came up, rather than have the MA 5 and it's maximum pumping out of CC's plus annoying CC down times.

MA 5 for dwarves still feels too much for me, but maybe i wouldn't run out of scrolls (and the other relics it needs). Hard to say.

I wonder what chapter that cutoff generally is, where you can expect to always have enough relics for the CC's at MA 5

 

[hvariidh gwendrot]

speaking of magic academy that is also a source of diamonds via a % chance from the mystery object chest every 100 vision vapor collected from crafting ..

 

[Iyapo1]

I wonder what chapter that cutoff generally is, where you can expect to always have enough relics for the CC's at MA 5

I dont think you could put a chapter cutoff. It is tied to deeply into playstyle. I would say mid chapter 4 is the soonest a player can keep enough relics to run a lv5 MA 24/7.

 

[crackie]

@Gladiola seems like a quick study and knows how the game works. I’m sure she is hitting the tourneys hard for her relics and crafting relics.

I have teammates in mid/late chapters running out of crafting relics, but you just switch to Power of Provision, magical manufacturing, or something else for the time being. Sometimes people get in the rhythm of hitting same score in tourney and forget to go harder in the crafting tourney once their relics are tapped out at 700.

as @hvariidh gwendrot said, mystical object chest...it’s prob the best reward chest in the game (unless you win winter lampions and blue flames).

 

[Gladiola]

I haven't gotten diamonds from the mystical object yet, but I have another chance this time! My first week was in the scrolls tourney, so I had a tough time with planks for a while and am glad it is planks this round. (My boosts are marble-crystal-elixir so my CCs are planks-silk-gems). I make on average 2 CCs per day, which is close to the maximum for a level 4 magic academy. (I got 700 free diamonds from the game early on -- not sure why that happened, it just gave me a banner and said free diamonds -- and used them for some MA upgrades.) My fellowship plays to the bronze level in the spire, and I've gotten diamonds a few extra times there, so I'm now 70 diamonds away from that level 5 MA.

I think having ever-increasing tournament goals (up to a point) is a good idea. My main limiter right now is open provinces, since I am taking a slow and deliberate pace and trying to stay on target for the number of provinces in the chapter chests. Currently I'm at 38 of 50 provinces and will finish chapter 3 within the next week. So I started by trying to make sure I had at least 3 of the tournament province open, then 5, then 6, and in the planks tournament I'm finally going to be able to do 7 provinces. Based on what people here on the forum say, it's probably impractical to try to go more than 10 provinces in the tournament and at least finish the High Halls in the Spire every week. We will see how I do when I get that many provinces open.

I'm passing on crafting planks relics nowadays because the net gain in catalysts by crafting relics is not that great (it takes 3 catalysts to craft enough relics to make 5 ccs, so you only have a net gain of 2 catalysts), and I am holding my own with the MA with the relics I get from tournaments, provinces and neighborly help chests. When I get a level 5 MA maybe I will think they are worth crafting again.