Feedback Quick and Dirty Summary of Ancient Wonder Changes

[Pheryll]

I have not seen a reduction. My level 35 upgrades are still 35K fragments, same as before the announcement.

You can look at the chart. The levels lower than 35 all got some reduction, but level 35 is the same amount.

 

[mikeledo]

Thanks. I thought they were all going down, so I waited to see a reduction in level 35 to confirm it.

 

[AussieChick]

I have not seen a reduction. My level 35 upgrades are still 35K fragments, same as before the announcement.

Sadly, only the lower levels of the AW's have changed.

 

[TimeMachine]

Now it has happend to me! One of my cities doesn't have a single Combining Catalyst left to spend.

This city is at the end of chapter 14 and got a Moonstone Library, a Steam Golem and a Potionmakers Pedestal that are delibering daily CCs.
Most of my old buildings are already sold.

To get more CCs, I guess I will have to stop producing MMs in my Magic Academy and switch it to CCs only.
Plus I will have to play the spire harder. In the past this city was only climbing to the Laboratory or even less.

 

[hvariidh gwendrot]

not sure how anyone can say the wonders for combat strength got buffed or even stayed the same those all got nerffed

 

[Pheryll]

not sure how anyone can say the wonders for combat strength got buffed or even stayed the same those all got nerffed

Huh? You are talking about the martial monastery (for health) and the needles, victory spring, temple of the toads, heroes' forge, and dragon abbey (for attack)? Those wonders used to max at 40% attack and 30% health, and now those values are reached at level 21 (for health) or level 19 (for attack) with plenty of levels for further improvement. Perhaps you mean the second effect from those wonders, but that would hardly apply to the heroes' forge (which late game gives far more orcs by being based on squad size instead of provinces), nor the needles and victory springs (which now can reach higher speeds for training). Of these wonders only the dragon abbey and martial monastery got a nerf (for mana and culture respectively).

 

[Meadowlark]

As a new (returning) player with a city just entering chapter 4 and beginning to have the option to build AWs, I read this thread with interest.

A little about me and my fellowship: My fellowship achieves 8-10 tournament chests on average and generally gets bronze or silver on the spire. I haven't been able to find a resource that lists the prizes in each chest, so I don't know how many RRs (including blueprints) that translates into, but I'm guessing 4-11 per week assuming I convert all my blueprints. I have the hive set so I make 400 spell fragments per day, but don't have any other buildings that produce spells or CCs. My MA is level 4, and I frequently craft CCs. My fellowship has the Knowledge Sharing Perk at level 7, which means a potential of around 100 or so free KP in somebody's AW per day, depending on how active my fellows are.

Although I don't plan to do anything in a hurry, I am thinking about the cost/benefit analysis of AWs (in general, recognizing that specific AWs may be more or less useful for specific styles of play or at specific levels).

My understanding of the "costs" of AWs are as follows:
1) Runes, which are primarily acquired during the tournament but may also be acquired in events. This does not appear to be a limiting cost as long as one participates regularly in tournaments
2) KP from the KP bar, from AW instants, or from donations from fellows (including donations from Fellowship Perks)
3) Space in the city based on the AW footprint (this is an opportunity cost because I could build something else there)
4) Spell fragments, RRs, and combining catalysts to upgrade
5) Increased troop/catering cost of tournament and Spire encounters based on AW levels

For me as a new player with a small city and less buildup of resources, the most salient costs are 3-5. I'll get sufficient runes/rune shards and KP from the tournament to build whatever AW I want. Space in my city and cost of difficult-to-obtain spell fragments, CCs, and especially RRs are going to be my biggest concern. I need the meager amount of spell fragments and CCs I acquire to meet event and season requirements to gain/use CCs and produce vision vapor. I don't have the option of placing and selling expiring buildings or defragging from my building inventory because my building inventory is extremely limited -- I mainly defrag buildings when required to complete an event quest. I'm also not excited about increasing the cost of tournament encounters I need in order to acquire a stash of spells and make progress in future tournaments.

Neither of the wonders I can currently build have benefits that are sufficient to be interesting to build given the above factors. I don't see that changing until at least chapter 6 or 7, and quite possibly not until chapter 8 or 9 (when Mountain Halls, Golden Abyss, and Blooming Trader Guild, for example, might start to be attractive).

In general it seems to effects of this change have been to push the cost/benefit ratio of AWs much further down the path so they have become beneficial mainly to very advanced players and cities -- which I think is the opposite of what the developers stated as their intention.

 

[BrinDarby]

I have the hive set so I make 400 spell fragments per day, but don't have any other buildings that produce spells or CCs.

Everyone needs the full MoonstoneLibrary set.
525 frags +1 CC per 20ish hrs. The good thing
about only being able to craft (in MA) 1 each,
is each time you move CHs, you can sell off the
set and re-craft in the current CH. Those players
that have more than 1 set, must use RRs to
upgrade to the new CH. Plus, the main piece
4x4 is great culture per tile. Because space is
a premium for you, this might preclude building
an AW of a simmilar footprint.

To get a BP each week, the FS has to hit 10 chests.
I think you'll get 2-3 RRs/week at that level. Once
you have a couple Magic Residences/Workshops,
you'll need those BPs to upgrade them, so don't
convert all your BPs to RRs. If you do lvl 1 & 2 in
Spire, you'll get a shot at 1 of each, each week.

 

[Silver Lady]

Tournement: 10 chests gives 1 BP and 5 RRs, every Chests above 10 gives 1 RR (this is in addition to the other stuff they give)

By my last reckon the Spire rewards are:

The Gateway
1
500 SF 60%
3 CC 20%
15% Supply windfall 20%

2
2 hour time booster 25%
5 hour time booster 35%
1000 SF 40%

3
15% Coin Rain 20%
1250 SF 20%
3 1hr time booster 60%

4
Teleport building 55%
15 Diamonds 30%
10% PP or Supply refill (chapter-specific) 15%

Boss 1 (at the Door between the Gateway and the High Halls)
50 Diamonds 40%
10% Portal Profit or Supply refill (chapter-specific) 30%
Magic Residence 10%
Evolving Building Artifact 10% (artifact offered changes @ every 6 weeks)
Dwarven Armorer 10%


The High Halls
1
500 SF 60%
3 CC 20%
15% Supply windfall 20%

2
2 hour time booster 25%
5 hour time booster 35%
1000 SF 40%

3
15% Coin Rain 20%
1250 SF 20%
3 1hr time booster 60%

4
2000 SF 55%
20 Diamonds 30%
Coin Rain 10%
Evolving Building Artifact 5%

Boss 2 (at the door between the High Halls and the Laboratory)
75 Diamonds 35%
10% Portal Profit or Supply refill (chapter-specific) 30%
Trading Station 10%
Evolving Building Artfact 10%
3000 SF 10%
Magic Workshop 5%


The Laboratory
1
500 SF 60%
3 CC 20%
15% Supply windfall 20%

2
2 hour time booster 25%
5 hour time booster 35%
1000 SF 40%

3
15% Coin Rain 20%
1250 SF 20%
3 1hr time booster 60%

4
2000 SF 55%
20 Diamonds 30%
20% Coin Rain 10%
Evolving Building Artifact 5%

Final Boss 3 (at the top of the Laboratory)
125 Diamonds 25%
4000 SF 20%
25% Portal Profit or Supply refill (chapter-specific) 20%
Dwarven Armorer 20%
Genie 10%
Evolving Building Artifact 5%


Mystery Chest Rewards

Blue
3x 5 hour time booster 40%
3 Combining Catalysts 25%
15% Portal Profit or Supply refill (chapter-specific) 15%
20% Coin Rain 10%
20% Supply Windfall 10%

Gold
2x 8 hour 50%
50% PP or Supply refill (chapter-specific) 20%
Dwarven Armorer 20%
Artifact/Set building (depending on the Spire prize set) 10%

Purple
Artifact/Set building (depending on the Spire prize set) 30%
3 Teleport Building 30%
50% Portal Profit or Supply refill (chapter-specific) 30%
Genie 10%

I haven’t checked for a while so I don’t guarantee 100% accuracy.

 

[Meadowlark]

Thank you @SilverLady, that's very helpful for thinking ahead!

 

[TimeMachine]

I have a fellowship full of unhappy players. One of our longest playing members is seriously thinking of quitting the game that he loves because of the AW changes. I am just trying to hold on to the few active members I have left.

May I gently ask if that long time member has meanwhile quit the game? I guess it seems to be a rhetorical question but it would be in my interest.

This is how my ("premium") wonder upgrade recources are looking like in one of my chapter 15 cities, this city has "only" two further wonder upgrades at the moment that can't be done because of missing RRs.

Spoiler

 

[iamthouth]

I've continued to upgrade wonders, end of ch21, here is mine

 

[TimeMachine]

I've continued to upgrade wonders, end of ch21, here is mine

This is of course lookking better at first, but it isn't much for an endgamer who probably wants to upgrade higher wonder levels, is it?

My oldest city is still in chapter 17, has never stopped upgrading wonders and was only stopped doing it by RRs from time to time.
Here is what this city has in storage.

 

[Silly Bubbles]

My oldest city is still in chapter 17, has never stopped upgrading wonders and was only stopped doing it by RRs from time to time.
Here is what this city has in storage.

 

[Meadowlark]

Having played for a while now sitting in Chapter 5, I think Martial Monastery will be my first build, when I next expand my city to have space for it. Hopefully the reduction in costs for fighting through increased health will offset the increase in costs from the AW levels. I have been accumulating RRs, CCs, and spell fragments so I should be able to upgrade at least to the next rune phase as soon as I build it. I progress at the pace of a snail pulling a tortoise. I think any player with average speed of progression would run short of these items even with participation in tourney and Spire.

 

[iamthouth]

Yes, my full set of crafting resources is thus, after some AW upgrades earlier today. Not a lot, managing carefully. CC's is all I produce in the MA, and I don't have the VSS yet. I could always use time boosters for more CC's, but if those are now going to run short too with the latest changing I'll have to find a way to manage. Blueprints are equal to my Magic buildings, any more I convert them to Royal Restorations. Vision Vapour will be spent as soon as I've done the first research in Ch22.

 

[iamthouth]

And three days later, Spell Fragments and CC's are all gone after upgrading some high lvl wonders. Might need the VSS after all.

 

[getmomo]

And three days later, Spell Fragments and CC's are all gone after upgrading some high lvl wonders. Might need the VSS after all.
View attachment 17311

How/why do you have so much vision vapor?

 

[iamthouth]

@getmomo I save it up to spend when the next chapter launches, to get the several 35 KP to use in the beginning, and to get next chapter rewards buildings. Next spin will be this. I'm not using Diamonds until November, and fight all Spire so don't need the Spectral Stone. You don't need to collect when reaching 100, it accumulates.

 

[Silly Bubbles]

@getmomo I save it up to spend when the next chapter launches, to get the several 35 KP to use in the beginning, and to get next chapter rewards buildings. Next spin will be this. I'm not using Diamonds until November, and fight all Spire so don't need the Spectral Stone. You don't need to collect when reaching 100, it accumulates.
View attachment 17312

I'm happy that I haven't claimed any of my Season prizes, some of them might get very useful in the next chapter.