How did I lose $1,000,000 today?

[saholz]

I've never had this happen before. I've been raided many times, and usually I lose a percentage of a building's value. During attacks, I've lost some cash and units. Today, I had about $1.7 million cash on hand getting ready to buy a new money building. Only $500,000 was in my vault while I'm waiting for an increase in vault capacity to kick in.

I was just attacked several times by one player. He lost half the attacks on me, but still managed to walk away with all but the $500,000 I had in the vault. I didn't think this could happen. How did he get all my unprotected money during the attack? I am totally baffled by this. I thought only a percentage of exposed money could be lost. I have never been able to rob all an opponent's money during any attack I've ever done, so what happened here?

Any explanations would be really appreciated. I'm at Level 71 ... feel like I just got knocked back to Level 1.

[el_gringo]

He attacked you loads of times. Loads and loads of times by the sound of it.

[SeqWins]

Only $500,000 was in my vault while I'm waiting for an increase in vault capacity to kick in.

I'm at Level 71 ... feel like I just got knocked back to Level 1.

Here's your problem...but for real..most of us are at Max Vault....500k Vault is really under par..

[Ryan5100]

Here's your problem...but for real..most of us are at Max Vault....500k Vault is really under par..Like he said 500k vault is just way to low at level 71 most people have max vault around level 55

[Q Raider]

1.2 million unprotected.

First attack would net 120,000, leaving 1.08 million unprotected.

Second attack would net 108,000, leaving 992,000 unprotected.

You were attacked multiple times, each time 10% of the unprotected cash was won.

[Everson25]

Well, I don't know your case but I attacked someone not long ago who had a huge amount of money. I thought myself to check to see if something was unvoulted. For my surprise all was unprotecteded so I attacked over and over till I couldn't do it anymore. Great for me, it was good payout but bad for the other player. Maybe happened the same to you. Besides, you have big issues with your vault.

[saholz]

It looked like there were only 4 attacks reported...he lost 2 and I lost 2...but I see that there had to be many attacks.

Is all my unprotected money at risk during an attack? I had thought that only a percentage was at risk; like raids on money buildings. What I don't understand is why this never happened before ... and I have had large amounts over the vault. Also, why haven't I ever hit a huge haul during a successful attack? Does everyone keep all their money in their vault?

Income accumulates faster than the rate of vault expansion, so it seems that the only choice is to keep spending any unprotected funds until the vault catches up. I guess I just never expected to lose everything in one attack, since that's something that I've never seen before. For the near future, I think I'll keep funneling money into upgrades, expansions, and more units .. at least until I can increase the size of the vault to cover the cash on hand.

It looks like I made a really wrong assumption about how much unprotected money I could lose.

BTW, how can I see how much unprotected money an opponent has?

AND...thanks to all for the responses. I've been playing for only a few weeks and still have a lot to learn! Right now, I feel like a total idiot.

[Poopenshire]

I really with it had been me earning this loot!

[Everson25]

Well, if there is a way to know how much money is unvoulted I don't know but I'm not an expert. But I do know if I see a big amount of money I try my lucky and I attack to check if it is or not.

[Bronson]

Saholz - what is your allie count and in game name?

I'm lvl 72 so just checking if it was me or not!

[saholz]

Saholz - what is your allie count and in game name?

I'm lvl 72 so just checking if it was me or not!

I use my name...Stan. Ally count is 641 and ID is 341 810 578. I was hit by "Danny."

[Ascent]

I have read somewhere on this forum that at lower levels there is some kind of maximum amount protection that can be stolen from someone during an attack. I am not sure what was that amount but I do remember noticing back then that somewhere around 20,000 was the max I could get in one shot. Now, at higher levels that protection was either removed or the limit raised because you can get 300,000 in one shot as max as far as I know. Has that been changed since?

[Bronson]

I use my name...Stan. Ally count is 641 and ID is 341 810 578. I was hit by "Danny."

No that wasn't me. 641 allies is a bit to much I suggest you come down to around 171 and leave the vault upgrade for the time being ;)

[Sugarymama]

I've never had this happen before. I've been raided many times, and usually I lose a percentage of a building's value. During attacks, I've lost some cash and units. Today, I had about $1.7 million cash on hand getting ready to buy a new money building. Only $500,000 was in my vault while I'm waiting for an increase in vault capacity to kick in.

I was just attacked several times by one player. He lost half the attacks on me, but still managed to walk away with all but the $500,000 I had in the vault. I didn't think this could happen. How did he get all my unprotected money during the attack? I am totally baffled by this. I thought only a percentage of exposed money could be lost. I have never been able to rob all an opponent's money during any attack I've ever done, so what happened here?

Any explanations would be really appreciated. I'm at Level 71 ... feel like I just got knocked back to Level 1.

Don't feel too badly. I lost about $190K the other day. But that's because I was asleep and didn't have an opportunity to vault my money from the buildings. So I was raided. And my vault is at the max. The trick is that you have to constantly vault your money, and not all of us are in a position to be on the game 24/7 (except during events...lol).

Most of my rivals have to try raids, because they cannot beat me in attacks. I'm just too strong for most of them. ;)

Increase your vault pronto, and try to check the game as much as possible, especially if you have a lot of money buildings. Collect and vault several times per day if time allows.

[saholz]

I have read somewhere on this forum that at lower levels there is some kind of maximum amount protection that can be stolen from someone during an attack. I am not sure what was that amount but I do remember noticing back then that somewhere around 20,000 was the max I could get in one shot. Now, at higher levels that protection was either removed or the limit raised because you can get 300,000 in one shot as max as far as I know. Has that been changed since?

My big mistake was thinking that there was a limit on how much money could be lost in raids or attacks. I had read about limits, and just assumed that only a percentage of my unprotected money could be lost. That apparently is not valid ... either because of the level or a change in policy that I'm not aware of.

In any case, I now know better; even though the lesson cost me many, many hours of playing time and income. Until my vault increases, I'll be putting all excess money into upgrades, expansion, or units. At least I got through last night with no raids.

What is the rationale behind reducing the number of allies? I thought more allies brought more units to each battle.

Again, I appreciate all the advice I've been getting from more experienced players. I'm no kid ... I have grown children ... but I have gotten totally sucked into this game and really am trying to master it ... if that's even possible. I'm also trying to play with minimal expense for gold. I've used TapJoy but find it a bit tedious in that it's hard to pick up any significant amount of gold without spending many hours downloading junk I don't want.

Again, thanks to all for the support and help.

Stan

[Agent Orange]

Game groups multiple attacks as one entry in the news. I've hit folks over 30 times and this shows as 1 post and nukes the rest of their news. That player will be back for more, I know I would.

[saholz]

Game groups multiple attacks as one entry in the news. I've hit folks over 30 times and this shows as 1 post and nukes the rest of their news. That player will be back for more, I know I would.

I figured the attacks were grouped since only two showed up. I no longer keep any money unprotected, so I don't think I'll see another disaster on this scale.

[Lt. Falcon]

I thought you were talking about me at first, I raided and attacked 2 different people yesterday and took 1.7 & 1.6 million respectively. My ally count is 125 so I know it wasn't me. I also got 3 sea crates from one of them and 4 from the other. I had a full18 stamina when I started these attacks and kept after it until I was out. I didn't lose any of those attacks/raids though. Sorry about your loss.

[Jp lfs]

Unless you are stronger than EVERYONE on your rivals list, you should never go over your vault limit. I am shocked that you got so far in the game before experiencing this, but I still see rivals with my LLP at level 45 with ZERO vault, so you are at least ahead of some...

For the rest of your game though, expect someone bigger and stronger to occasionally tap you to check. Collect your buildings on time, and don't go over vault, and you will be safer.

Dropping allies is not a bad idea, as it keeps you out of the most likely area for sharks at your level to feed, but going super low does drop your stats a ton, so find your own balance. Good Luck. You have a lot of other areas to work on, too, but this forum is full of great advice, if you take the time to find it.

[saholz]

Yes, the fact that I had never taken a big hit on my unprotected funds left me with a false sense of security. It's funny, because on Crime City I'd never leave any money unprotected. In retrospect, I was just lucky.

In spite of the fact that I was really upset when it happened, the $1,000,000 loss may have been the best lesson I could have gotten in this game. It's forced me to revise my strategy and understand my vulnerabilities. This kind of loss won't happen again.

Now I'll just have to find some players out there with unprotected funds ...

[Aidan]

There is a limit actually how much you can lose to rival.
It varies from $10k to $300k per attack and from maximum 3 to 30 attacks (depending on your level).

After this you will go into a cooling period of 2 hours.

[Jp lfs]

In spite of the fact that I was really upset when it happened, the $1,000,000 loss may have been the best lesson I could have gotten in this game. It's forced me to revise my strategy and understand my vulnerabilities. This kind of loss won't happen again.

Believe it or not, as bad as this may have stung you, it was a fairly cheap lesson to learn. I have hit players for $3 Million in 10 attacks and come back again 2 hours later for another $3 Million. (This was before they raised the attack limits. I think now I could take $6 Mill every two hours.)

[Aidan]

According to AO, he can do 30 attacks. So it should be 9 million max then.
I've only done 20 attacks in row so far.

[Jp lfs]

According to AO, he can do 30 attacks. So it should be 9 million max then.
I've only done 20 attacks in row so far.

*I'm still cowering below Level 100, and have not gone over 20 attacks yet either. Also haven't seen a "cash cow" in a couple weeks. Most of my PvP income is from raiding now.

[Aidan]

Same here jp. I'm L98. Will maxed out hangar, comp, 300k IPH before i dare to go over L100.

Cant remember the last time i make some money from pvp. Seems like long time ago. Only attack for valor mission

[Dreno33]

as everyone else said, your vault should be much higher than that. I've been playing for a month and mine is 3.5m and upgrading to the next. NEVER be NOT upgrading your vault. It takes a long time and is very inexpensive.

[Corsair]

Just to be clear, there are limits on how much you can lose in an attack. I believe the formula is 10% up to a max, depending on level (300k for you I believe), per hit. Also a limit on number of hits based on level. Your problem is you are at a very high level, plus high allies, so your attack/defense numbers are probably low on average, and your vault is terrible (no need to dwell on this). You can probably get away with leaving a little unvaulted, just be careful about it. I doubt anyone at that level is going to drain you if you're 50-100k over your vault because the return on stamina isn't worth it. Personally I stop attacks when hits are under 20k, not sure what others do. Point being, don't be afraid to go a little over if needed for upgrades/high end units, just not too much for too long.

The most misleading part of this game is the concept of "more allies makes you stronger". Or to quote the game "Large alliances bring more units and are more powerful". Well, the first part is true but the second part is usually not. If you add an ally and you do not have units equal to or greater in strength than your current weakest ones, you will get weaker when you add the ally. Your numbers actually go up but your average goes down, which makes you weaker relative to others at the same level/ally count. Hopefully you see what I mean here.

Follow Bronson's advice and drop your allies way down until your average (aka density) is higher than most others around you. Then get that vault upgraded. Invest in money buildings and unit upgrades and limit your leveling. And finally, be patient, with your vault that low it is going to take almost 2 months to get it up to 10 million. Good luck and have fun.

ETA: Yeah I started this an hour ago, others already said some of it...oh well... :p

[Crime City Mark]

In your newsfeed often times the attacks are grouped. Send me your invite code and I can take a look.