Battle Strategy FAQ

[c00guy]

I thought I'll start a thread on battle strategy. Some common questions keep popping up in everyone's mind about battle and these need to be addressed in a single thread.

Top ones on my mind are:

1. Should we buy hideouts?: This is already being addressed in another thread but let's chat some more here
2. Back to back battles versus battles after full health recoup?: Should syndicates battle only after every 1 hour 40 mins (full health regen time) or should they continuously declare battles and play one active battle, one passive (just for passive IP)
3. Who should have wall duty?: Strongest players (coz they do most damage) or the weakest ones (coz they can't find targets to hit)
4. Who should PA DL?: Strongest players or 2 of the weakest?
5. Which bonuses should the syndicate buy?: Keep saving for IP bonus or buy those cheaper attack bonuses?

[SC4R]

my answer to
#1 As many as you need during the war
#2 Depends on your groups strategy
#3 keyword DEFENSE
#4 If the other team has a weak DL and your weakest member can take out the DL alone what does it matter?
#5 Buy all of them!

[c00guy]

my answer to
#1 As many as you need during the war
#2 Depends on your groups strategy
#3 keyword DEFENSE
#4 If the other team has a weak DL and your weakest member can take out the DL alone what does it matter?
#5 Buy all of them!
My responses:

#1: The whole point is how do you know how many you need?
#2: Again, I'm asking you how to frame the strategy
#3: Don't understand what you're trying to say here
#4: You don't really know which player can take down the DL until you hit the attack button so ??
#5: The question was what do you buy first

[mxz]

On forts/hideouts, slightly modified due to inflation of damage to them.
My best guess:
1-4: Level 10 (you're building walls to convert your in game cash into real money for Gree, serve no functional purpose)
5-26: Level 10 (keeps you ahead of the next rival)
27-101: Level 7-9 (high enough that opposing factions have to use gold to take it down, keeps you in the top 100)
102-251: Level 5-8 (serves little purpose other than showing you have in game cash)
252-1,000: Level 4-6 (distraction for the well organized, light spending / free factions to hit)
1,000+: Level 1-3 (distracts other factions from just pounding on your members while they take out the wall)

[c00guy]

On forts/hideouts, slightly modified due to inflation of damage to them.

Interesting read. I've almost always heard two extreme sides of the story: don't buy at all (waste of money as Dippy and dudeman say) or buy loads of them at the highest level. First time I've heard a more balanced approach. Thanks mxz!

Any thoughts on the other questions? I'd encourage all top players to help us out. We really appreciate your inputs. Cheers! ;)

[mxz]

Interesting read. I've almost always heard two extreme sides of the story: don't buy at all (waste of money as Dippy and dudeman say) or buy loads of them at the highest level. First time I've heard a more balanced approach. Thanks mxz!

Any thoughts on the other questions? I'd encourage all top players to help us out. We really appreciate your inputs. Cheers! ;)Well, for the most part they are useless. They don't score you points and therefore shouldn't matter. It's also extremely improbable that they're the difference between you getting 10/11, 25/26, etc.. Don't be fooled - the one and only reason they're in the game is to make Gree money.

That said, you can use them as a strategy to absorb hits and limit losses on your members if you're a 250+ syndicate.

[Legen...dary]

Here is the perspective from a Top500

1. Hideouts: While fighting Top500 opponents (not when we get near #250, though) our lvl5-7 walls sometimes stay up. That being said, those teams are rarely pushing past us. There were a couple times where it took them 30min to get our wall down and after the battle was over we gained a place by pushing them out of it. That was RARE.

2. Schedule: In Chinatown we did a battle every hour on the hour. Everyone who woke up to play was Always able to get their hits in and go back to sleep. This didn't get us much extra and kept us slightly un-organized. In Docks we fought every even hour (or odd, depending on your timezone) and got much more IP by being organized enough to take down every wall and to scout/recon collectively. The more people you can get into any single battle the more that battle is worth; usually enough to more than make up for the missed time. Ideally we would fight a battle every hour but ONLY organize together for every other battle. Anyone who could make the scheduled battle would save their hits during the off-time battle. We would add some defensive IP to our total. I liked the 2hr time instead of the 1:40 time because it gave us wiggle room to get that 5th hit in when there was a great rival to hit. Also it is Very easy to remember when to check in.

3. Wall duty: If you take a quick glance and see a beast of a team then anyone who can't reasonably guarantee that they have an opponent should take wall duty. Anyone under 300Atk/Lvl is also usually looking at Wall duty. When our demolition team needed an extra hand then the highest level among us would finish it off since their hits are usually worth less IP and more wall damage. Having the 3 strongest of us do it instead of the 4-5 weakest of us doing it was always in the back of my mind. I still haven't decided. The weakest can recon just as well as anyone.

4. The DL... to PA or not to PA. That is always the question: We do designate our two weakest players to save their (full) hits for the DL PA. Ideally you have your highest attack player around and make sure he knows his limits. We have some VERY low level/stat campers that always throw their hits at the wall or the DL since they can't ever find an opponent. If their job gets done then there is always the Headquarters to hit. If I ever saw a DL that I was reasonably sure that I could beat then I would call them off and attempt it myself. Sometimes it was close and I did it in two regular hits. This still saved 6 extra hits for the Recon. The DL hits need to wait until after the wall is down (also to keep players from scouting early). Anytime the strongest present is reasonably sure that they can 1hit the DL then they should at least try...

5: Bonus purchases: Since Syndicates are all about ranking and getting stronger players you buy anything that will get you more IP. Atk bonuses and IP bonuses. Defense bonuses and Wall damage come second. The bonuses are built in the exact opposite order.

There are so many variables for most of these things that the strategy often changed when we were up against different opponents. :)

[tacky]

Agreed with writer above

[Alex_]

The question I think everyone wants to know is how many hits does it take to destroy the headquarters ?

[Alex_]

A good strategy for the defence leader is if you have a particularly strong player in your syndicate. Get them to hit the defence leader with a standard attack if he fails then your 2 weakest players hit him with a power attack. This needs to work a certain percentage of times (1/3 I think) for it to be effective or not or if strong player has gold and can kill him with a power attack get them to hit the wall 3 times and then use gold to power attack the defence leader to take him out.

[c00guy]

Thanks for the responses guys. Here are my thoughts on all:

1. Hideouts: Don't buy them, waste of money. I like mxz's post above but my opinion stands. Moreoever sometimes when you don't even have a level 1 wall, rival syndicates try and latch on to you by attacking before scouts start reporting meaningful stats (just to get the first attack in the first 10 mins) and that fetches some handsome passive IP

2. Back to back battles v/s full recoup: I prefer the back to back strategy with one active and one passive war. All members need to be disciplined to hold out on passive war attacks and that gets the team some useful extra IP in passive battles. Moreover, for members who just log in during passive battles, they can get their 2 hits in instead of waiting for the even hour battle to begin, all resulting in higher IP

3. Wall duty: I think best is to have everyone hit the wall 1x. That way members get their first hits in the first 10 mins and can do the max 6 hits per battle (assuming full health at the beginning). The syndicate can then plan who gets the final hits on the wall depending on damage left - preferably weak players can get 'em though

4. Who should PA DL: I would say if you're matched with a syndicate of equal footing (you can always search for rival syn rankings in the announcements section), then just have your strongest player PA DL. If rival syn is much higher ranked, then have your 2 weakest players PA DL. If rival syn is much lower ranked, then you can try normal attack by your strongest player

5. Which bonuses should you buy first?: I'd just go with the cheapest ones first and then make your way through the others. Although if you're starting a syndicate, you might want to buy those guild increases first (the more the merrier in syndicate battles especially when you're starting off, it could make a big difference)

[(CCK) Cam]

I thought I'll start a thread on battle strategy. Some common questions keep popping up in everyone's mind about battle and these need to be addressed in a single thread.

Top ones on my mind are:

1. Should we buy hideouts?: This is already being addressed in another thread but let's chat some more here
2. Back to back battles versus battles after full health recoup?: Should syndicates battle only after every 1 hour 40 mins (full health regen time) or should they continuously declare battles and play one active battle, one passive (just for passive IP)
3. Who should have wall duty?: Strongest players (coz they do most damage) or the weakest ones (coz they can't find targets to hit)
4. Who should PA DL?: Strongest players or 2 of the weakest?
5. Which bonuses should the syndicate buy?: Keep saving for IP bonus or buy those cheaper attack bonuses?1. Do not buy hideouts if your players are super strong for their levels. If you are weak, you must but a hideout.
2. One passive, one real. Syndicate losses don't matter. It is just about the points. Passive battles are better than no battle at all, you will still get 100-200 points.
3. Weakest players should power attack the defense players. Players in the middle attack hideout. Strongest players scout and find targets.
4. 2 of the weakest players will pa DL, unless you are Fight Club or Indian Nation facing a top Top 150 syndicate.
5. Try to get IP, in the meantime, it is better to get attack or defense bonuses, then it is easier to rob and get money, and people can't rob your syndicate's members buildings.

[(CCK) Cam]

1. Do not buy hideouts if your players are super strong for their levels. If you are weak, you must but a hideout.
2. One passive, one real. Syndicate losses don't matter. It is just about the points. Passive battles are better than no battle at all, you will still get 100-200 points.
3. Weakest players should power attack the defense players. Players in the middle attack hideout. Strongest players scout and find targets.
4. 2 of the weakest players will pa DL, unless you are Fight Club or Indian Nation facing a top Top 150 syndicate.
5. Try to get IP, in the meantime, it is better to get attack or defense bonuses, then it is easier to rob and get money, and people can't rob your syndicate's members buildings.Scouting is better with strong players, because you will get more points from attacking and winning, than weaker players scouting and losing.

[(CCK) Cam]

my answer to
#1 As many as you need during the war
#2 Depends on your groups strategy
#3 keyword DEFENSE
#4 If the other team has a weak DL and your weakest member can take out the DL alone what does it matter?
#5 Buy all of them!Worst response ever. Do you even know how to play this game or read?

[c00guy]

1. Do not buy hideouts if your players are super strong for their levels. If you are weak, you must but a hideout.
2. One passive, one real. Syndicate losses don't matter. It is just about the points. Passive battles are better than no battle at all, you will still get 100-200 points.
3. Weakest players should power attack the defense players. Players in the middle attack hideout. Strongest players scout and find targets.
4. 2 of the weakest players will pa DL, unless you are Fight Club or Indian Nation facing a top Top 150 syndicate.
5. Try to get IP, in the meantime, it is better to get attack or defense bonuses, then it is easier to rob and get money, and people can't rob your syndicate's members buildings.
Thanks Cam, interesting thoughts on wall duty/PA DL!

[mxz]

4. Who should PA DL: I would say if you're matched with a syndicate of equal footing (you can always search for rival syn rankings in the announcements section), then just have your strongest player PA DL. If rival syn is much higher ranked, then have your 2 weakest players PA DL. If rival syn is much lower ranked, then you can try normal attack by your strongest playerThis is sort of a misleading way of saying what the strategy should be. Like someone mentioned before - if you've got a strong player, a regular attack of the DL to bring them down is the best bet. They shouldn't PA because they're better off saving the other 3 hits for scouting. After a while you should know which teams you can 1 hit and which you can't.

[c00guy]

This is sort of a misleading way of saying what the strategy should be. Like someone mentioned before - if you've got a strong player, a regular attack of the DL to bring them down is the best bet. They shouldn't PA because they're better off saving the other 3 hits for scouting. After a while you should know which teams you can 1 hit and which you can't.
Hmm, yeah I guess it's easier for top 25 teams to know which teams you can hit, but for top 250 syndicates that might be a tad difficult coz there are too many teams to know about!

[mxz]

Hmm, yeah I guess it's easier for top 25 teams to know which teams you can hit, but for top 250 syndicates that might be a tad difficult coz there are too many teams to know about!Most teams in the 250 arena are structured similarly to each other. It's fairly rare to have a 300K DEF DL for those groups.

You can also get clues about how strong they are based on the # of members. Since you're matched by aggregate ATK stats, if they have fewer members they'll have a consolidated power base; if they have a lot of members they're more spread out and likely to be weaker.

I suppose the other argument is to not care about the ancillary clues. One loss isn't going to kill you - giving up 3 or 7 more than necessary is a much bigger deal.

[c00guy]

Most teams in the 250 arena are structured similarly to each other. It's fairly rare to have a 300K DEF DL for those groups.

You can also get clues about how strong they are based on the # of members. Since you're matched by aggregate ATK stats, if they have fewer members they'll have a consolidated power base; if they have a lot of members they're more spread out and likely to be weaker.

I suppose the other argument is to not care about the ancillary clues. One loss isn't going to kill you - giving up 3 or 7 more than necessary is a much bigger deal.
Hmm interesting to know. So syn matching is done by aggregate ATK stats and not ranking? So they just add up all the attack stats of all members and match the syndicates? Wow, didn't know that! Now what you're saying makes perfect sense, much easier to know how strong their DL is

[mxz]

Hmm interesting to know. So syn matching is done by aggregate ATK stats and not ranking? So they just add up all the attack stats of all members and match the syndicates? Wow, didn't know that! Now what you're saying makes perfect sense, much easier to know how strong their DL isThe algorithm first tries to match by aggregate strength; if it can't find a match after a certain period of time it starts weighting current IP more heavily.

That's one of the reasons FC got IN 3 out of the first 5 matches last war. :)

[c00guy]

The algorithm first tries to match by aggregate strength; if it can't find a match after a certain period of time it starts weighting current IP more heavily.

That's one of the reasons FC got IN 3 out of the first 5 matches last war. :)
Nice! ;)

[Sandukan]

Leader board position must be a factor in the match ups as well.
When our team was struck with the 24 hour bug we only faced teams from around 75 to 150.

Our aggregate strength was unchanged when we finally felt a bit better and made a move yet the teams we faced were tougher.
Unless you are saying GREE has a willingness-to-spend-gold-ometer which they add to their algorithm.

[Fearless]

Interesting reading guys