With the most recent update, North American Players will now have the chance to acquire 3 new Fest Exclusive cards: Valkyrie – Ciel , Zeus – Giga , and Athena – Non .
Generally speaking, having new high rarity cards being released is irrelevant for the average player due to the low chances of rolling them, but between December 12 – December 31, all players will be able to receive 1 of these new cards of their choice through the Monster Exchange system.
This is quite exciting as players will be able to choose the best card for their Monster Box; however, there is a strong possibility that all three of these new cards will be available in the upcoming Player’s Choice Godfest (PCGF) so it would be best to not exchange until after rolling.
This article will summarize each card’s strengths and weaknesses to help players determine which is the best one to choose.
Video commentary
–video coming soon–
Monster Exchange
During the December 12-31 event, players will be able to trade in a free PAD Appreciation Medal for one of the three new Fest Monsters. This process is completed via the Monster Exchange system. This is a one time trade and cannot be reversed, thus it is best to wait until after rolling in PCGF to ensure one does not acquire a dupe card. Continue reading New Fest Exclusives – Valkyrie – Ciel, Zeus – Giga, & Athena – Non Review + Trading Advice→
I plan to pin the current daily NA Ranking Dungeon chart compiled by pandaa for the duration of the Ranking Tournament. Due to the fact that I am usually not awake at Midnight, it may take some time for the new current day to be added.
Generally speaking, NA tends to start significantly higher than JP on non-fixed teams as we are able to see the top strategies right away. This leads to much higher scores early on, but also a faster plateau as players hit their maximum potential. With that being said, NA should be able to score higher on non-fixed teams due to the fact that we have more time to prepare and have the winning strategies already made.
On the other hand, being 2-3 months behind JP provides little benefit for Fixed Teams as the strategy is to usually just puzzle your way through.
Use these charts as a rough guideline for your own scores and possible rewards.
Due to Matching Bonus, NA will have approximately 1.5k more points than JP with the exact same score
Current day NA cutoff for Crown: 132,358
JP Crown: 132,808
Current day NA cutoff for Magic Stone & Courage: 116,454
JP Xiu Min and Magic Stone: 116,700
Corresponding article detailing teams and strategies are coming soon.
Starting on Monday, December 3rd, North America will be enjoying a 10-stone Seasonal Godfest. This special Godfest will last for 1 week and be broken up into two parts with each part featuring a different line up.
Furthermore, all rolls will come out at 7-stars (evolved and Awoken if possible), +297, max Level, and max Awoken. This is akin to the previous Voice Godfest in that each roll will cost 10 Stones so it would not be a far stretch to assume that the rolling rates should be similar (around 33% chance for any GFE/Seasonal card).
If that is the case, this would be a wonderful event as these rates would be hard to beat; however, the actual roster this time around feels less potent simply because the Seasonal cards featured do not come from 10-Stone machines with several of the Seasonal cards having lower value. Of course, the inclusion of Beach Barbara & Julie will be tempting for players who missed her the first time around.
North America has just received another 100 Magic Stones plus 52 from the special Anniversary Quests along with various log-in bonuses. As such, players are most likely saturated with Magic Stones and are hungry to spend them.
In terms of other high-value events on the near horizon, the Player’s Choice Godfest (PCGF) should be happening soon. Historically speaking, PCGF has been an underwhelming affair simply because the rates were abysmal for GFE. With that being said, the most recent PCGF occurred prior to disclosed rolling rates and GungHo has improved the chances for these types of events. Furthermore, it is quite likely that the NA PCGF will debut the new 7-star GFE who come with Orb Skins (cosmetic changes to orbs) and will probably mirror the rates of the JP debut Godfest.
Taking all of this into consideration, it is hard to say which event is better to roll in: Seasonal Godfest or PCGF and we will not know the rolling rates of either until they go live along with the PCGF roster.
As such, the decision of whether or not to roll comes down to your individual Monster Box needs but generally speaking, high value Godfests are used to acquire as many GFE as possible. From there, the GFE are used as trade fodder for seasonal/collab events such as the Full Metal Alchemist (Edward ) which overlaps with Seasonal Godfest.
One last point to consider is that there is nothing on the horizon in terms of high value event after PCGF as NA is 2-3 months behind JP and no other major event has been announced.
Video commentary
–video coming soon–
Featured cards
The Seasonal Godfest is split into two parts with a different set of cards being featured but no information on Highlights or rolling rates has been disclosed. Generally speaking, Highlighted cards have a higher chance of being rolled compared to non-Highlighted cards of the same rarity: GFE or Pantheon. Continue reading 10-Stone Seasonal Godfest Review – December 2018→
The Full Metal Alchemist (FMA) Collab make an exciting return to North America on December 3rd and features Limit Breaking/Super Awakenings for all cards as well as sizable buffs to the 6-star cards. Furthermore, all of the 6-star cards will have the option of being converted into a Weapon Assist to further diversify their value.
Upon the initial release, Edward stood head and shoulders above the crowd as an end game leader. With his new set of buffs, he is still considered top tier, but not as game breaking upon his debut. Part of the problem with all FMA cards is that a large part of their power comes from Super Awakenings which are disabled in coop mode.
As a whole, the Full Metal Alchemist Collab features high value in all of the 6-star cards (10% Rolling Rate) so there is some merit in rolling with dupes being useful due to the Weapon Assist. With that being said, it may be better to utilize the Monster Exchange System to acquire Edward and ignore the event in order to spend Magic Stones on high value Godfests.
As always, the decision of whether to roll or not to roll will still come down to individual preference and how much you value the cards or franchise.
Video commentary
—video coming soon—
Overview
Full Metal Alchemist REM
6 Star base
5 Star base
Full Metal Alchemist Rankings – December 1, 2018
S
A
B
C
D
Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking
Regardless of card’s ranking, you should always keep it if it is your very first time acquiring them
Team building in Puzzle and Dragons is an invaluable skill as it enables players to examine a dungeon and determine the best approach possible. Over the course of many years, the strategies used for team building have changed as it is largely defined by the types of mechanics players will face and what tools are currently available.
Presently speaking, the top tier teams are those that have high amounts of effective health (whether through HP or damage reduction) in order to withstand outrageously large preemptives or attacks. Unfortunately, just using a strong leader is not enough and having the right subs, inherits, and latents is mandatory to success.
Nowadays, players are able to better customize their teams to counter dungeons as we now have access to more inherits, latents, weapon assists, specialized awakenings, and more counters to common mechanics.
This article will be focusing on how to build a team to counter the dungeon at hand instead of specifically saying one must use XYZ team to succeed. In addition, I will be presenting some generic team building ideas for some of the more popular leaders today.
If you have not used your BFF token or hit 150, 250, or rank 500, you will lose them after the next maintenance
Introduction
After the next maintenance, all players will be able to select a new Best Friend (BFF) along with the various Rank Machine resets. This is amazing as it has been over a year since the last Best Friend Reset and many players may be new to this feature at this point in time.
Best Friends are a vital part of your PAD experience as it will enable you to expand the leaders available as well as gaining additional Pal Points.
This article will explain the Friend and Best Friend System along with how you can improve your chances of being selected by strangers as well as how to form BFF Triangles.
This time around, I plan to go for 300/300 Best Friends on my Mantastic account as i am sitting at 279. If you wish to Best Friend Mantastic or Fantastic, please leave your ID number, your in game name, and which account you want to Best Friend.
I plan to pin the current daily NA Ranking Dungeon chart compiled by pandaa for the duration of the Ranking Tournament. Due to the fact that I am usually not awake at Midnight, it may take some time for the new current day to be added.
Generally speaking, NA tends to start significantly higher than JP on non-fixed teams as we are able to see the top strategies right away. This leads to much higher scores early on, but also a faster plateau as players hit their maximum potential. With that being said, NA should be able to score higher on non-fixed teams due to the fact that we have more time to prepare and have the winning strategies already made.
On the other hand, being 2-3 months behind JP provides little benefit for Fixed Teams as the strategy is to usually just puzzle your way through.
Use these charts as a rough guideline for your own scores and possible rewards.
Due to Matching Bonus, NA will have approximately 1.5k more points than JP with the exact same score
Current day NA cutoff for Crown: 142,850
JP Crown: 142,458
Current day NA cutoff for Magic Stone & Chariete: 122,000
JP Xiu Min and Magic Stone: 123,400
Corresponding article detailing teams and strategies are coming soon.
The Dragonbound & Dragon Caller (DBDC) Rare Egg Machine returns to North America on Monday, November 19 and comes with numerous buffs, new cards, and Monster Exchange options.
As a whole, the DBDC REM is arguably the highest value collab/seasonal machine in the game despite the 10-stone cost due to the incredible value at the bottom rarity. This is important as nearly every roll will have value to a given player assuming it is their first/second time acquiring that card.
Generally speaking, the DBDC cards are highly specialized and are able to fulfill their respective role incredibly well. While this means one may not be using them all the time, they are sometimes vital to own for specific content/mechanics as it is hard to replace them otherwise.
For the most part, I would encourage all players to roll in this event assuming they do not own many/most of the bottom rarity cards as they are unique and can help one progress through new content. With that being said, for players who have rolled in the past 2 events, the chances of rolling something new are quite low and may be better skipping as a whole.
This article will summarize each card’s strengths and weaknesses to give you a better understanding of what is in store within this event.
Video commentary
—video coming soon—
Overview
Dragonbound & Dragon Caller REM
7 Star base
6 Star base
5 Star base
DBDC REM Rankings – November 17, 2018
S
A
B
C
D
All 7-star cards are available for trade within the Monster Exchange.
Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking.
Regardless of card’s ranking, you should almost always keep it if it is your very first time acquiring them.
Starting on Monday, November 19, the North American server will begin their first of three weekly Ranking Dungeons. This is both exciting and potentially stressful as we will be enjoying/suffering through three weeks of Ranking Dungeons. Each of these Ranking Dungeons will give players a Crown for a top 3% finish while everyone in the top 20% will receive the respective Puppeteer.
While the Puppeteers are not truly desired at this point in time, being able to acquire one for free is still meaningful and may come in handy in the future.
The Pure Ranking Dungeon features a No Awakenings clause which will force players to adjust accordingly but has a relatively straightforward path to victory.
I plan to release a strategies article for each Ranking Dungeon before their respective debut.
Video commentary
–video coming soon–
Score breakdown
In Ranking Dungeons, players are scored based on the following:
Each Combo is worth 5,000 points
Each second remaining is worth 500 points
Hitting 40 Million damage is 10,000 points
Each active used to kill a floor (no combo made) is -5,000 points
Puzzle and Dragons has dramatically shifted over the past few years to a coop-based game if one wants to be as efficient as possible. This has it’s pros and cons, but being forced to play in multiplayer is impractical for many players. As such, having a viable solo mode experience is always welcomed and Ganesha’s Treasure Trove is just what the doctor ordered.
Ganesha’s Treasure Trove is a 1 week event that can only be completed in solo mode and provides a viable medium for farming Skill Delay Resist Tamadras or Pys. As such, it is well worth your time/stamina to play this dungeon as much as possible during the week.
This article will summarize how the dungeon/Monster Exchange system works for Ganesha’s Treasure Trove along with a sample speed farming team.
, Zeus – Giga 
, and Athena – Non 
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