How do you use Influence Points in deciding your syndicate membership?

[Grandpa]

I've seen recruitment notices specifying minimum IP among other criteria. I've also seen players tout their IP as a reason to recruit them. Being relatively new to the game (since May 2013), I don't understand their value for individual players. It seems the syndicate battle strategy would affect a player's ability to score IP so much, it would render IP useless as a means to evaluate a player's potential value.

Consider two scenarios:

1. A player with high attack takes down the rival syndicate's Defense Leader, or scouts the individual players to post their defense stats for his teammates to attack. This player would have sacrificed his ability to score IP for the good of the syndicate.

2. A player with moderate attack waits until the scouts report defense stats on the players in the other syndicate. Being able to pick opponents with the highest level, with defense he can beat, this player collects more IP.

Both players performed vital assignments to further their syndicate's position in the battle, but the latter seems to benefit by scoring more IP at the expense of the former.

Am I missing something fundamental about the value of IP?

[Dipstik]

A minimum ip requirement is a proxy for $ they're willing to spend. Not perfect, but close enough.

[Kegz1]

It is used for a gauge of activity. Also being paired with like teams as your own each player should have opportunity to score unless you take a really low player and they are primarily wall and dl attacker. All being said though the higher the IP of that person the better worth he/she has for you...In theory of course

[Lurker]

Or activity. It's not just a measure of gold spend.


A minimum ip requirement is a proxy for $ they're willing to spend. Not perfect, but close enough.

[sister morphine]

Or activity. It's not just a measure of gold spend.
Depends on the minimum requirement. If its do-able on free hits then you're correct; if not then Dippy is.

A low stat player could be incredibly active bringing down DLs and walls (using gold) but it won't get them any more than minimal ip doing so.

[BigMoney]

I think in most top syndicates, there are already role players like wall hitters/DL hitters/scouts/etc., so when they are recruiting new players, they don't really need to consider whether a player would be an effective "scout" or not (as in your first example). Basically, "we'll take down the wall and DL for you, so how much can you do?" Hence like Dippy said, it's a proxy for amount of time/money willing to spend. Level/attack stat minimums are just to ensure that you're strong enough to be able to hit targets and spend the gold you'll need to spend to put up whatever X points you promised-- as it's a lot easier to put up 100k IP on weaker competition. Unless you already have big stats, if you're moving from a Top 250 to a Top 25 for example, you're probably going to have matchups where you have to sit out the battle because no one is weak enough for you to use your free attacks on, etc.

Probably a different scenario at the lower ranked syndicates. I flirted with the idea of playing no-gold for a while, and I'm pretty sure a lot of lower ranked syndicates would be happy to have a player with my attack to scout for them, even if free-playing would cap me at 50k IP or whatever. So you're right that IP is hardly the be-all end-all judge of a player's worth to a syndicate--- ask a Top 50-75 syndicate, would they rather have a player with 800k attack who can put up 50k IP, or a player with 250k attack who can put up 75k IP? If the syndicate could use a player strong enough to scout for them, they'd opt for the former. If they already have good scouts, they'd probably opt for the latter.

Those numbers were made up, by the way. I have no idea how valuable a 250k attack is to a Top 50-75 syndicate, but I was trying to guess an attack stat that would be low enough that they would have trouble finding a target in every matchup, but that they would be strong enough to dump gold on a player when they eventually found one.

[Lurker]

Big Money, there are syndicates out there outside of Top 250 that look for 10k IP min (or even less). Your opinion is correct but is still representative of one of CC's elite players who is in a consistent Top 25 syndicate.

Sister M is correct as is Dippy, in top 150 (even top 250) syndicates, ip is a measure of gold spend.

However, I still stand by my earlier statement - ip can be the most reliable indicator of activity in lower ranked syndicates (outside Top 250 or Top 500).

[Lurker]

"ask a Top 50-75 syndicate, would they rather have a player with 800k attack who can put up 50k IP, or a player with 250k attack who can put up 75k IP?"

Honestly, I'd recruit both. Since you present a choice, I will take the lower stats 75k IP scorer over a higher stats player who scores 50k IP (all other variables being identical).

[BigMoney]

"ask a Top 50-75 syndicate, would they rather have a player with 800k attack who can put up 50k IP, or a player with 250k attack who can put up 75k IP?"

Honestly, I'd recruit both. Since you present a choice, I will take the lower stats 75k IP scorer over a higher stats player who scores 50k IP (all other variables being identical).


The way I was trying to present the choice was whether you'd pick someone who saves the other team members gold by scouting (as perhaps previous scouts are not as strong, and thus far more likely to drop fights-- but a new, strong scout, can help those old scouts fit more into the second category "Grandpa" presented and score more IP for themselves) or whether you'd pick someone who saves the other team members gold by carrying more of the IP load for Top X placement. I probably didn't pick the most appropriate example numbers, but that was the logic in my head.

[FOAD]

I would venture if you took in team members with low IP you would find out very quickly the value of high IP as an indicator of success in your next war!

Frankly it is an indicator at any level. You can tell by a member's a/d stats whether they would be a DL or wall hitter (if they are present at syns 750-2500+) and if their claims of low IP line up. Last even teams higher lower than 500 have members that spend gold! Try a few wars to figure it out and it will make sense. There really is no other indicator that is reliable other than a reference from their former Syn Leader.. which doesn't happen often/all

[Stooboot]

All about the money