Strategies for obtaining max-evolution buildings?

[Grishnak]

I'm still pretty new here (main city is about to start Fairies). I've observed that evolving buildings seem to be among the most efficient buildings in the game, and many players dedicate a lot of space in their cities to evolving buildings.

I was able to obtain a stage 9 Purring Sanctum (it was an annoying surprise to find out that finishing all 80 quests didn't correlate with getting 9 evolution artifacts). I paid more attention in the event for Puff's Nautical Theater, again completing all 80 quests, but ended up spending diamonds to get some extra event currency, in order to get the final evolution artifact.

If evolving buildings are important in your city, what do you do to obtain the maximum evolution? I suppose every player will have a different approach, so I'm not trying to determine "best" - just, what works for you and your city?

I'm aware that if I don't obtain all the evolution artifacts during the release event for a new building, artifacts are often (always?) available later in a Fellowship Adventure, and much later in the Spire. If you have tips/suggestions for getting max-level buildings during the release event, I'd love to hear that as well. I'm not opposed to spending a bit of money on it, though I don't know the best place/time to do that.

If you don't care about evolving buildings, I'd be interested to hear your perspective as well. It seems like the more buildings you have that need RRs to upgrade between chapters, the slower your chapter progress could be.

 

[Glandeh]

While it's true that they are among the most efficient buildings in the game (when fully evolved), not every single one will fit your playstyle, a building that focuses on combat is not very useful for a caterer.
You already mentioned that you knew that FAs will give an extra artifact, afaik that's true for every evolving building since I started playing four years ago. So if you can make it to level 9 (for most buildings), you can get the last one from a FA (if you're part of a fellowship that gets to the point where you'll get it).
Most events have an element of chance, some more than others. That means that its possible to complete all quests and follow the best strategy and still end an artifact short. That said, if you always choose the option that will give you the most steps for the smalles amount of event currency, you have a good chance to get enough artifacts. The iDavies site will tell you for most of the events what the best option is if you want steps of if you want to hunt daily prizes. For the coming eent: the trades that have at least 20% chance at 2 (or 3) lucky draws are much better than the ones that do not offer this.
Depending or your progress in a chapter, it's sometimes wise to wait and claim your prizes after you completed you current chapter, that will save you a good number of restorations.

 

[Grishnak]

@Glandeh Thanks for that. I haven't been around long enough to observe if every evolving building's evolution artifacts show up in a FA or not; glad to know it is a pattern.

 

[MaidenFair]

I was able to obtain a stage 9 Purring Sanctum (it was an annoying surprise to find out that finishing all 80 quests didn't correlate with getting 9 evolution artifacts). I paid more attention in the event for Puff's Nautical Theater, again completing all 80 quests, but ended up spending diamonds to get some extra event currency, in order to get the final evolution artifact.

I know it's frustrating to miss that last artefact, but you should get a chance at them in the next FA. You're doing great for a new player to get that far!

If evolving buildings are important in your city, what do you do to obtain the maximum evolution? I suppose every player will have a different approach, so I'm not trying to determine "best" - just, what works for you and your city?

I have almost always gotten all 9 artefacts in events (can only think of one exception off the top of my head). There are different strategies for different events, but it mostly comes down to using the fewest currency to make the most progress on the reward track. (Obvious, I know. ) Some people swear by taking into account the chances to win back extra currency, even if the choice of chest or hoop to do so is less than ideal (most of the guides and websites show numbers based on this strategy), while others go strictly by the cheapest option. I fall into the latter category, but I know many players do equally well at events with the former. That really comes down to how lucky you tend to be in this game.

The upcoming event has a different mechanic from the others: it's a merge game. There are three "offers" on the side, akin to the three hoops in the Marine event, that will ask for different levels of pieces from the merging gameplay and have different rewards. My strategy for this event is to count the number of level one pieces required to make each of the offers, and divide that by the number of gems you'll receive in return to see which is the most economical offer to accept (that will make much more sense once you see the setup). I do not take into account the possibility of winning back currency (the lucky draws Glandeh mentioned). You can decline offers you don't like and wait 30 minutes for a new one to show up in that slot. I decline any that fall over a certain threshold of pieces-to-gem (varies by event), and only fulfill the ones that are cheapest.
This type of event it's important to play a little bit every day and not allow the currency to pile up because it takes a long time to spend it, and if you want until the end, you may have to accept lots of undesirable offers because there won't be enough time in a day to let the slots reset very many times.

It seems like the more buildings you have that need RRs to upgrade between chapters, the slower your chapter progress could be.

I have gotten around this in the past by freely spending diamonds won in the Spire to craft RRs in the MA. That, plus being in a 13-14 chest tournament group, have kept me mostly up-to-date with my buildings without hindering my chapter progress. That does require being part of a reasonably highly-achieving fellowship, however, and with the decrease of diamonds in the Spire coming shortly, that strategy will probably no longer be possible without spending real money for diamonds semi-regularly.

I think the key is to pick a few strategic super-efficient buildings that you decide you can't live without, upgrade those first, and then be willing to swap the others out for new evolving or event buildings if they end up falling very many chapters behind. I used to have the Fairy Queen's Retreat out, for example, and while it was a decent building, it always ended up at the back of the line for upgrades because I didn't need what it produced quite as much. By the time it got about 4 chapters out of date, I gave up hoping that I'd "get around to it eventually" and replaced it with whatever the next event's evolving building was.

 

[StarLoad]

I think the key is to pick a few strategic super-efficient buildings that you decide you can't live without, upgrade those first, and then be willing to swap the others out for new evolving or event buildings if they end up falling very many chapters behind. I used to have the Fairy Queen's Retreat out, for example, and while it was a decent building, it always ended up at the back of the line for upgrades because I didn't need what it produced quite as much. By the time it got about 4 chapters out of date, I gave up hoping that I'd "get around to it eventually" and replaced it with whatever the next event's evolving building was.

This is the best advice on evolving buildings ever, I do the same and have 13 at level 10 sitting in storage.The same applies to any set buildings you have IMO. Great advice

 

[Glandeh]

This event uses lower amounts of event currency than most (20 free every day, 35 in the last even. 50 from email, 100 in the last event, rewards start at 20, that was 35 in the last event). This means that the +1 currency from the trading post (the building that is normally offered on the 2nd day of the event) is better here.

 

[Grishnak]

The upcoming event has a different mechanic from the others: it's a merge game. There are three "offers" on the side, akin to the three hoops in the Marine event, that will ask for different levels of pieces from the merging gameplay and have different rewards. My strategy for this event is to count the number of level one pieces required to make each of the offers, and divide that by the number of gems you'll receive in return to see which is the most economical offer to accept (that will make much more sense once you see the setup). I do not take into account the possibility of winning back currency (the lucky draws Glandeh mentioned). You can decline offers you don't like and wait 30 minutes for a new one to show up in that slot. I decline any that fall over a certain threshold of pieces-to-gem (varies by event), and only fulfill the ones that are cheapest.
This type of event it's important to play a little bit every day and not allow the currency to pile up because it takes a long time to spend it, and if you want until the end, you may have to accept lots of undesirable offers because there won't be enough time in a day to let the slots reset very many times.

I think the key is to pick a few strategic super-efficient buildings that you decide you can't live without, upgrade those first, and then be willing to swap the others out for new evolving or event buildings if they end up falling very many chapters behind. I used to have the Fairy Queen's Retreat out, for example, and while it was a decent building, it always ended up at the back of the line for upgrades because I didn't need what it produced quite as much. By the time it got about 4 chapters out of date, I gave up hoping that I'd "get around to it eventually" and replaced it with whatever the next event's evolving building was.

@MaidenFair thanks for explaining the mechanic more clearly. I had read one guide, but was still planning on doing what I normally do for events - save up currency for the 2-3 daily prizes that I want, and hope for lots of those specific prizes.

All the other buildings in the game (except wonders) are treated that way - as replaceable buildings. But I hadn't gotten around to thinking of evolving buildings that way too. Thanks for that idea! It makes sense, now that you say it.

 

[Grishnak]

This event uses lower amounts of event currency than most (20 free every day, 35 in the last even. 50 from email, 100 in the last event, rewards start at 20, that was 35 in the last event). This means that the +1 currency from the trading post (the building that is normally offered on the 2nd day of the event) is better here.

@Glandeh Do you typically get the trading post? I haven't tried that approach yet.

 

[Glandeh]

@Glandeh Do you typically get the trading post? I haven't tried that approach yet.

No, I never bought it. For maximum gain, you should buy one and use it on a later event. That way you will also get extra currency on day one.

 

[theuser]

To get the 9th artifact, in addition to completing all quests, you must collect a large fraction of the event currency dropped around your city.
They drop at about 45 minute intervals with a maximum of 6 on the map at a time. To maximize event currency collected you must log in every 4 hours. You will get enough currency logging in 4 times a day, separated by at least 4 hour intervals to collect these drops (6 ec * 4 logins = 24 ec per day; 24 ec/day, * 21 days = 504 ec for the event ).

Also, look for the Ashen Phoenix base in Mage Academy. With no artifacts it will add one event currency to each quest.

 

[Dhurrin]

OOPS. Had to edit this post to add one more option.

Five free (and a 6th paid for apart from that) things to do for getting all 9 artifacts:
1 - Make sure you have a valid email attached to your account. At the start you will get a mail and just confirming that you got that will give you some free currency.

2 - make sure you finish all the quests. For that you can work ahead by taking a peak at the site https://idavis-elvenar.com/events.html#quests
Working ahead means less surprises and less waiting time. Make sure that over time you reserve a bit of space in your city to keep a few lvl 1 T1 factories and a few lvl1 workshops around for that.

3 - Be online regularly to collect the currency that drops in your city.

4 - Keep your eye on the goal. If you want to be sure to collect all evolutions I have found it far more advantageous to almost always pick the chest/hoop or whatever that offers the best return per currency.
So in this case that would be the chest on the left; 45 currency for 2 progress means 22,5 currency per point, while the far more interesting chest on the right costs 94 for 3, or 31,333 currency per point of progress while the 56 for 2 progress is 28 currency per point progress.

However, in this case the middle chest is the best with 72 points for 3 progress, so 24 currency for each point of progress

The higher cost chests do offer a chance of gaining extra currency, but chances are no certainty. And there will be combinations where you will find that choice is the cheapest per progress anyway. The lower cost chests tend to have less interesting prizes. Not an issue for me; if it is troops, I'll gladly take them anyway. Anything else can be disenchanted if it comes to that.
Using the cheapest option saves a lot of currency over the length of the event, meaning you can make more progress. Of course, as I stated that comes at the price of getting crappier rewards from the chests, but there always is some kind of balance.


(EDIT as I had forgotten about this one)
5 - For those who have it, Feed the Ashen Phoenix (Evolving building) as the event starts. 1 Petfood will last for 30 days, which will cover the entire event. The feeding will add a small amount of event currency to the reward for the event-quests, to a max of 2% at stage 10. However, with 70-80 quests it means a bit more currency again.

And lastly
6 - for those who are willing to spend the money, get the Stash Outpost, offered on day 2. It will generate extra event currency each time you pick up currency that is dropped in your city.

The fun part about it is that you can buy one each event, but you don't have to use it. So you can save them up during events where you're not interested in the main prize (in my case, when it's a linked set, but even some of the evolving buildings), and then place an additional one right from day 1 on an event where you really would like to get a second base and possibly extra evolutions.
However, it is something that only can be bought, there is no chance of gaining it in-game, so the option is not for everyone.
But for those who do have a budget for it, it can add a lot of currency. Say you collect 4x per day, x6 currency it means an additional 24 currency per day. x22 days makes an additional 528 currency. Or even more if you harvest even more regularly
(EDIT) Placing a second one if you have it saved up is an option to make sure you get a lot more currency, as it would add another 528 currency (or more).