Category Archives: Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts

Chuan is not Worth the Effort

14 Comments

Introduction

The Dragonbound & Dragon Caller event is in full swing and alongside the exciting REM (full review can be found HERE) is a limiting time Monster Exchange card that is acquired by repeatedly farming the DBDC dungeon.

In essence, players have to continuously play the event dungeon over and over again for the Event Tickets which can drop in Bronze, Silver, and Gold variants. Sadly, GungHo has increased the cost to acquire these cards as they now require 5 Rainbow (worth 5 Gold) Tickets instead of the original 3 when these types of exchanges first came out.

This means players will have to spend 60% more time farming and results in a massive stamina sink. While Eugeo and Saber Assassin were must-have cards (also only requiring 3 Rainbow Tickets) the most recent events have had lackluster options that take longer to farm.

As the title implies, it is not worth farming for Chuan as it is both a massive stamina sink combined with her low usability and possessing no natural Skill Ups.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

You may already have Chuan

Chuan was available in the past from a previous One Shot Challenge so there is a possibility you may already own one. Furthermore, she has no real merit in dupes so the desire to actually farm second one is quite low.

Limit usability

I own Chuan on both of my accounts and have only used her a single time last December during the Courage Ranking Tournament (video can be found HERE). In essence she functioned as an alternative to Zeus Verse as she can quickly sweep floors. This is helped by 4s movement time and No Skyfalls but also requires players to make several combos to deal damage. Furthermore, Chuan does not have to be full health to function so she gains an edge in that sense.

With that being said, Zeus Verse has significantly more universal usability as he has more team building options while also acting as a farming leader and niche cheese gravity option.

Outside of the occasional Ranking Dungeon uses, Chuan does not fulfill any meaningful role as she requires too much effort for farming (cannot swipe boards) and is a very high skill Glass Cannon leader otherwise.

No natural skill ups

Chuan requires 30 Skill Ups and has no natural way to do so. Thus, players would have to spend 30 Pys (15 Rainbowpys) which is a massive investment for little return. Those same Badpys could have been spent on Eir (which I did on both accounts) who has significant value with the 4x HP meta.

Perform the one time Rainbowpy/Super Snow Globe trade

During the DBDC event, players will be able to perform a one-time trade for both a Rainbowpy and Super Snow Globe for 1 Gold Event Ticket each. It is possible to acquire these by naturally clearing the dungeons for a Magic Stone and are worth replaying a bit after to complete these trades.

Go farm Pluses instead

Occurring alongside the DBDC event is the +99 dungeon for 99 stamina. This is one of the most time and stamina efficient ways to farm plus eggs in solo mode and will give you significantly more value compared to farming for Chuan.

If you ever find yourself with excess stamina, dump it here.

Conclusion

Chuan is available through the Monster Exchange system but has limit value/usability while also requiring 5 Rainbow Event Tickets to acquire. This translates into a massive stamina sink for a card that will most likely become a Box Cheerleader.

Let me know what you think about Chuan in the comments below along with your plans for farming or not farming for her.

Happy Puzzling!

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Random Thoughts

Latent Tamadras in Monster Exchange

5 Comments

Introduction

Until March 10th, players will be able to utilize the Monster Exchange to acquire various Killer Latent Tamadras at a 2:1 ratio. This is valuable because players can trade away their less valuable Latent Tamadras for something useful. Sadly, this can only be done once but is worth the effort.

Trades can be found via the Monster Exchange Event tab.

More valuable Killers

At this point in time, God God Killer, Dragon Dragon Killer, and Devil Devil killer Killer latents tend to be the most valuable due to the popularity of these spawns in challenging content. This is also the reason why players may see Trades asking for these while offering something else.

in the advent that players have less options for the Monster Exchange system, it would best to try and acquire these three.

Conclusion

Players have the opportunity to acquire valuable Killer Latents from the Monster Exchange system at a 2:1 ratio. This is a great time to find value from less desirable Latents as they can be traded away with ease.

Happy Puzzling!

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Random Thoughts

Street Fighter Collab Event Dungeon S Rank + Medals

11 Comments

Introduction

The Street Fighter Collab is now in full swing and has an Event Dungeon to play/farm hiding in the Quests Tab. This tab will have 10 Fixed Team challenges that give you a chance to play with all the cards from the REM via Fixed Teams along with The Path to Greatness.

The Path to Greatness is the three bottom dungeons and will drop the Event Medals to trade in for an undetermined card. Historically speaking, the past few events had valuable prizes and it would not surprise me if Street Fighter also offered something meaningful.

In addition to the Event Medals, the Hard difficulty can also be S-Ranked for additional rewards and the easiest way to achieve this is using two leaders (that have strong multipliers and built in time extends) and no subs. This will drop your average rarity down low enough that you only need to complete the dungeon to secure an S-Rank.

S-Rank video

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Conclusion

The Street Fighter Collab Dungeon is hidden away under the Quests Tab and can be easily cleared for an S-Rank. While we do not know what the prize will be from the Event Medals, it does not hurt to get a head start on farming along with clearing all 10 Fixed Team challenges for additional loot.

Happy Puzzling!

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Random Thoughts

Thoughts on Limited Purchase IAP Bundles

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Introduction

Puzzle and Dragons is one of the most successful mobile games of all time while also being Free to Play (F2P also known as Freemium). Despite the attraction of not having to spend real life money (IAP), GungHo is still a business where the goal is to be profitable.

As with any Freemium game, there is the option to purchase in game premium currency to accelerate your progress. Generally speaking, being able to buy your way to victory is unhealthy, but thankfully PAD is a solo progression game where your own success does not have any negative effect on other players.

Up until a few months ago, Puzzle and Dragons has had essentially no special IAP bundles with the exception of a mediocre one where the extra prize was random and mostly lackluster. As such, with the introduction of guaranteed Collab 6-star and now Lucky Bag Special Bargains, spending some real life money is more attractive overall.

As a disclaimer, I live in Canada which inflates my IAP prices along with only spending money if given gifts due to being on disability from a serious back/neck injury in 2014. Furthermore, I receive no financial or in-game support from GungHo so my opinions are my own.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Freemium Gatcha games

The concept of a Freemium Gatcha game has become somewhat of an industry standard in terms of profitability and accessibility for users. We live in a world where the concept of having to pay for an app scares people so everything has to be free regardless of the quality. On the other hand companies need to make money on a continuous basis so they regularly release new characters that are primarily acquired through gambling/random chance. Continue reading Thoughts on Limited Purchase IAP Bundles →

Random Thoughts

Roll the Extreme Rare Monster Carnival PEM

12 Comments

Introduction

Today marks the debut of a brand new Pal Egg Machine (PEM) line up for North America and is 100% worth rolling in.

This is because it will always pop out an evolved descend boss who can be converted into Evolution Gems via the Monster Exchange system along with possibly giving rare prizes like Borma or Machine Goemon.

Rolling

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I rolled every single Pal Point I had saved and should be well set for Evolution Gems for the foreseeable future.

Conclusion

Roll

Just do it Nike

Happy Puzzling!

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Random Thoughts

Why I have nearly 1,000 Stones Across my Two Accounts

32 Comments

Introduction

The past several months have been exceptionally generous in terms of log in bonuses and limited time challenges. As a result, it is not unusual for some players to currently have several hundred Magic Stones.

In my 1,944 days of playing Puzzle and Dragons, I have never been able to amass this amount of Magic Stones (previous record was low 200’s after saving for 7-8 months a few years ago) and the temptation to spend them is always there.

Thankfully, I do have a certain degree of willpower and have decided to not roll until the next wave of Powercreep arrives.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Powercreep

Powercreep is the notion that new content will be stronger compared to our currently available options. For the most part, Powercreep has not been advancing at too fast of a pace but one can always see noticeably stronger cards if looking back 1 year at a time. Continue reading Why I have nearly 1,000 Stones Across my Two Accounts →

Random Thoughts

2019 for Mantasticpad.com

27 Comments

Introduction

As 2018 finally winds down, I would like to take this time to plan for what myself and viewers want for this website. I started all of this in October 2015 approximately 15 months after suffering a serious back and neck injury that has left me unable to work. While continuing to struggle through variuos therapies, this website and community has helped hold my life together by being able to escape reality and become someone else. For that I thank each and every one of you who have had a positive impact on my life.

As a whole, Puzzle and Dragons NA is making a comeback as seen from the increased volume of content being released and exceptionally generous rewards. This makes me inclined to believe that PAD is still going strong and my hopes is that the gap between NA and JP timings can be shortened.

While I do have my own plans for my website, I want to hear your feedback as to what you want to see published and have several ideas planned. Continue reading 2019 for Mantasticpad.com →

Random Thoughts

Best Friend Reset is Coming Back and How to Improve your Chances of being Selected

77 Comments

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.

Official GungHo NA post can be found HERE.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Finding Friends

The first step to Pal Point domination is to find friends to populate your list. As you rank up, your friends list will max out at 50 players. You can add 5 additional friend slots for 1 magic stone, up to a maximum of 300 friends. Continue reading Best Friend Reset is Coming Back and How to Improve your Chances of being Selected →

Random Thoughts

GungHo Collab Arrives in NA – MP Cards, Monster Exchange, & Dungeon Review

41 Comments

Introduction

GungHo is a large company that makes numerous games outside of Puzzle and Dragons with this event celebrating all their titles for the next 2 months. As such, the content will be released in a staggered format that will try to bring excitement for the next 60 days.

There will be 2 new MP cards, 2 new cards in the Monster Exchange (with the REM cards also being available at a later date), numerous Pal Egg Machine buffs/additions, special dungeons, and an exclusive Rare Egg Machine. Just note that not all of these will be available right away as they will be released in a staggered manner.

This article will summarize all of the new content coming out this Saturday with the PEM and REM being covered in separate posts as they will be released at a later date. With that being said, one should start saving their Pal Points as some of the cards are quite valuable.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

750,000 MP cards

During the GungHo Collab, players will be able to spend 750,000 Monster Points to gain a new card util October 31st. This price tags puts them on par with Dark Athena  and Amen  so it would not be a far stretch to hope these new cards would be able to add at least a similar level of power to your Monster Box. Continue reading GungHo Collab Arrives in NA – MP Cards, Monster Exchange, & Dungeon Review →