Introduction

The Rikuu Ranking Dungeon is in full swing and North America has already surpassed the JP cutoff. This is a surprising accomplishment as NA is usually behind JP unless the Ranking Dungeon was so delayed that we gained access to new cards/team compositions.

This article will examine the cutoff curve and what assumptions we can make along with what is the most popular/accessible team players are using.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

JP vs NA Curve

Images courtesy of the Puzzle & Dragons Community Discord Server.

Historically speaking, the crowning score curves for JP and NA look different, but JP usually edges out on top by the end. This is because North American players are able to immediately copy their strategies right from Day 1 and spend less time tinkering or experimenting with teams as they only need to make adjustments based on their Monster Box.

As such, NA scores tend to shoot up higher compared to JP in the first few days and then quickly plateau to what is usually below JP. As such, we can usually guesstimate that the NA cutoff will be slightly lower than JP and players tend to aim for those scores.

By comparison, JP scores tend to start out much lower but continue to climb throughout the tournament and experience less of a plateau as new and more efficient teams are discovered.

With that being said, NA has already surpassed JP for their crowning score which is quite surprising as we do not have new cards/team compositions available:

Generally speaking, NA only passes JP when we have a distinct advantage such as a bonus second of orb movement time or new cards that can create teams that are more efficient overall.

Amusingly, the only advantage NA has over JP this time is knowing about the Zeus Verse strategy from Day 1 which is quickly pushing players past the JP cutoff.

Zeus Verse

Zeus Verse has been used to great success for a prior Ranking Dungeon as he rewards fast, low combo count game play. This is far easier overall compared to achieving a stellar combo count with low movement time and the main limiting factor becomes a player’s Monster Box.

The main idea is using Dragons (for the 10x boost) with Killers along with a Bicolour board changer to easily overcome Zeus Vulcan’s 9 Combo shield. A more detailed breakdown of the team can be found HERE.

The following clip from my  Twitch stream showcases three crowning scores back to back:

https://player.twitch.tv/?autoplay=false&video=v273229554

While Zeus Verse teams are able to secure a crown, they are not the optimal team for achieving the top scores as they are somewhat capped at 120-121k points with a perfect run.

26% Rikuu reward

Despite the cutoff for a crown surpassing JP, it is unlikely NA will overcome the 26% threshold. This is because there are only so many players who are capable of crowning and those will continue to fight for the top spot. They are not actually taking up additional space overall so the 26% threshold should be similar, if not lower for NA.

With this in mind, I strongly encourage you to push for a Rikuu if possible as he is a tremendously strong leader and can potentially help you tackle new and exciting content as his team can be farmable.

Rikuu Farmable team
Card

The cards shown above are either dungeon drops or available for purchase from the MP shop (Cotton  was available for a period of time). Another notable option is Hexa  but one is not limited to using Farmable options and can easily incorporate their REM cards.

Conclusion

The Rikuu Ranking Dungeon is an exciting time as it allows players to chase for a crown or acquire a Rikuu of their own. It is surprising that NA has been able to already surpass the JP cutoff and this is mostly due to being able to see the winning JP strategies beforehand.

Regardless of whether you can crown or not, it is worth pursuing top 26% for a Rikuu as he is a wonderful leader to own that has numerous farmable subs while also being able to tackle end game content.

Let me know how you are faring in the Ranking Dungeon along with the team composition you are using in the comments below.

Happy Puzzling!

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