Random Thoughts

PAD Academy Student Handbook is Valuable

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Introduction

The PAD Academy REM is in full swing and while it is lackluster, the farmable Academy Student Handbook is valuable and worth farming for most players. The Handbook functions as a Weapon Assist that provides the following awakenings: Poison resist Blind Resist Imp HP Imp ATK RCV Latent along with +1s orb movement time for 9 turns on a 14 -> 9 cooldown.

The Student Handbook follows the trend of other Collab farmables i that players need to repeatedly play the dungeon to acquire Bronze-Gold drops and Monster Exchange them for the Rainbow variety. Unfortunately, current Collab events require significantly more farming as each tier requires 5 fodder (5 Bronze -> 1 Silver, 5 Silver -> 1 Gold, 5 Gold -> 1 Rainbow, 5 Rainbow = Handbook). Thus, 5 Rainbow tokens requires a total of 625 Bronze tokens.

Despite this large farming hurdle, the fact that the Handbook is farmable (with large amounts of stamina) makes it quite valuable compared to other Resist options as it does not require limited (Rainbow Event Medals) or Premium (Magic Stones) currencies to acquire.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Value of a Resist Weapon Assist

Weapon Assists have become invaluable when playing through harder content as they are able to provide additional awakenings to counter various mechanics. At this point in time, those that provide Resistance (Blind Resist Jammer Resist Poison resist ) tend to be the most valuable as they can trivialize certain spawns and mechanics. As such, striving for 100% Resistance against a particular mechanic is a reliable way to improve consistency. Continue reading PAD Academy Student Handbook is Valuable →

Collab REM Reviews

PAD Academy Review and Analysis – May 2019

22 Comments

Introduction

The PAD Academy event returns to North America and is simply an underwhelming event. This is often the case with older events as GungHo seldom buffs the bottom rarity cards and PAD Academy is a 5-stone event.

Despite the fact that some of your favourite cards are dressed up in school uniforms, it cannot truly justify the mediocrity of this event and i would strongly encourage players to not roll in this event.

Regardless, this article will outline the strengths and weaknesses of this event to give players an idea of what each card has to offer.

Video commentary

—You are beautiful—

Overview

PAD Academy Pros & Cons – May 10, 2019
Pros
Cons
  • School uniforms
  • No real top prize
  • One of the weaker events
    • Best to save your Magic Stones
PAD Academy REM
 8 Star base  
 7 Star base Summer Lucifer Summer Isis Summer Athena 
 6 Star base   
 5 Star base Summer Theurgia Summer Sasuke 
PAD Academy REM Rankings – May 10, 2019
S
A
B
C Summer Lucifer Summer Isis Summer Athena  
D Summer Theurgia Summer Sasuke

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.

Continue reading PAD Academy Review and Analysis – May 2019 →

Random Thoughts

Cotton Wins Monster Exchange Survey

53 Comments

Introduction

The Monster Exchange Survey has come to a close and Cotton has been crowned the winner for North America. For the most part, these types of surveys are problematic because only a single winner can be chosen and it would not surprise me if Cotton had 15% of the total votes as there were 39 different cards to choose from.

The Monster Exchange Survey is different compared to the previous event where the selected card was available for 1,000,000 Monster Points as Rainbow Event Medals :eventmedal: will be the primary currency used.

This article will summarize Cotton’s value along with my thoughts on why she was voted for the second time in a row.

Video commentary

–Just look at a mirror to see something beautiful–

Monster Survey format

Due to the fact that the Monster Survey can only have one winner and the voting pool consists of 39 different cards, it would not be surprising if Cotton had the majority of a minority.

With this in mind, no single card can please everyone and simply opens up the door to mass disappointment. As such, internet bashing those who wanted Cotton is quite juvenile and our voting process did align with the Korean server who has a similar lack of Collabs as we do. Continue reading Cotton Wins Monster Exchange Survey →

Skill Inheritance

Maximizing Skill Inheritance and Weapon Assists

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Introduction

The landscape of Puzzle and Dragons has dramatically changed over the course of time and at this point, being able to intelligently use Skill Inheritance/Assists and Weapon Assists is key to success.

At its core, Skill Inheritance enables players to grant a different active skill to a card on their team, however, being able to optimally utilize this mechanic requires a bit more finesse. As such, this article will explain my logic/rationale for team building and utilizing Skill Inheritance to provide the maximum benefit possible when playing through challenging content.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Skill Inheritance/Manage Assists

In the past, the term used to express transferring new actives to a card was Skill Inheritance which in my head sounds much more pleasant compared to Manage Assists. Regardless, either term may be used in this article but both mean the same thing. Continue reading Maximizing Skill Inheritance and Weapon Assists →

Random Thoughts

Question Time with Mantastic – May 2019

134 Comments

Introduction

The general gist of Question Time posts are for players to ask various PAD-related questions that do not have a simple/Google-able answer or related article on my website. I do play other games and have often found myself having specific/unique questions about it but have no where to go and can imagine this may hold true for some of my readers.

With that being said, there will be some restrictions on the types of questions I will be answering.

If planning on commenting on a regular basis, it is advantageous to create a WordPress account to both receive notifications as well as giving me a point of reference as to who I am responding to.

Do’s and Don’t

download For the most part, almost any question will be answered, even some non-invasive Off-Topic ones; however, it is best to ask questions that require explanation/why/my personal opinion. The following examples are Fantastic types of questions to ask:

  • Of these options, what is the best Yusuke team I can make for Arena 3?
  • What direction do you think GungHo will take with the 4x HP leads?
  • Can Heart Cross teams be revived and if so, how?

x The following types of questions will not be answered by me either because it has a simple Google-able answer or shows a lack of effort on the reader’s part:

  • Anything that Google/Padx can answer
  • A link to your entire Monster Box and saying “make me a team”

Conclusion

I hope my readers use this opportunity to ask questions that will hopefully improve their overall game play and progression.

Happy Puzzling!

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Monster Analysis

Male & Female Hunter Review

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Introduction

The Monster Hunter Collab is in full swing and one of the more exciting features is the inclusion of the Male and Female Hunters. These cards are able to be evolved into a total of 12 distinct evolutions while also having the option of exchanging either 3 Evolved Male/Female Hunters for a special new Hunter.

This article will provide a brief summary of what each Hunter does and where how they can be used along with advice on whether the 3:1 Hunters are worthwhile.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Acquiring Hunters

During the current Monster Hunter event, players will receive one base Male Hunter in the mail and an earn an additional Male and one Female from clearing the Monster Hunter dungeons. As such, some players will be in possession of several Hunters. In addition to these free Hunters, each base form can be purchased for 200,000 Monster Points. Continue reading Male & Female Hunter Review →

Collab REM Reviews

Skilling Up Monster Hunter Cards

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Introduction

The Monster Hunter Collab is in full swing and with it comes the special Skill Leveling Dungeon. This dungeon enables players to enter with their newly acquired rolls to skill them up for the low price of 50 stamina.

Generally speaking, this is an amazing medium as it can potentially allow for 5 skill ups for 50 stamina (1 per card) and is the most stamina efficient place to do so.

With that being said, players should NOT be skilling up all Monster Hunter cards, especially those being used as a dedicated Weapon Assist .

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Skill Leveling Dungeon

Skill Leveling Dungeons are one of the best parts of a Collaboration as it enables players to efficiently Skill Up their newly acquired cards. In essence, players check the levels available and simply populate their team with those respective cards. Continue reading Skilling Up Monster Hunter Cards →

Collab REM Reviews

Monster Hunter Collab Review and Analysis – April 2019

121 Comments
**All pulls will cost 10 Magic Stones**
Review of the Hunters will be done separately

Introduction

This coming Monday marks the exiting return of the Monster Hunter Collab which was last  seen in January of 2018. Amusingly, the Weapon Assists from Monster Hunter have become arguably more powerful with end game content heavily featuring problematic mechanics that are best dealt with by resisting them.

For the most part, the Monster Hunter Collab can be thought of as the Weapon Assist Collab as all of the cards are able to assume a Weapon Assist evolutions which grants the 5-star cards incredible value. As such, it is worth rolling in this event for just the 5-star cards as some are able to provide 60% resistance to Blind Blind Resist, Jammer Jammer Resist, or Poison Poison resist attacks.

Furthermore, all cards (new and returning) are able to be Limit Broken and receive Super Awakenings which pumps their weighted stats to amazingly high values.

Despite the fact that the top rarity cards are able to be acquired via the Monster Exchange system, the cost is far too high and would be difficult to justify for the majority of players.

This article will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of all the featured cards to give players a better understanding of whether or not Magic Stones should be spent. With that being said, the answer will often be yes if one should be rolling in this event as it holds so many valuable cards for pushing into the higher levels of Arena and end game content.

On a different note, I have hidden a special Easter Egg in this article =)

Video commentary

—You are beautiful and Happy Easter!—

Overview

Monster Hunter Pros & Cons – April 18, 2019
Pros
Cons
  • All cards can be Limit Broken/SA
    • Massive weighted stats
  • Some of the best Weapon Assists in the game
  • Huge value at the 5-star rarity
  • Introduces a new Leader Skill mechanics for row/blob teams
  • Puts the Dragons in Puzzle and Dragons
  • One of the prettier Orb Skins
  • All rolls cost 10 Magic Stones
  • Large rolling pool
    • Harder to roll specific card
  • No cards have Voice Awakening
    • GH missed out on ROARS
Monster Hunter Collab REM
7 Star base   
6 Star base      
5 Star base   
Monster Hunter REM Rankings – April 18, 2019
S
A
B
C  
D

Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking

All icons show non-Weapon Assist form

Regardless of card’s ranking, you should always keep it if it is your very first time acquiring them.

Continue reading Monster Hunter Collab Review and Analysis – April 2019 →

Random Thoughts

PSA – Do not Monster Exchange Rainbow Event Medals to Stack Them

7 Comments

With Version 17.0, players are able to now convert their Rainbow Event Medals into Event Medal – Rainbow Gems which are classified as an Evolution Material. As such, they are able to stack but the problem is the Evolution Material form is unable to be used for anything other than Super Reincarnated Evolutions. Thus, they would stack, but players would be not able to use them to purchase cards like Odysseus .

With this in mind, only convert Rainbow Event Medals into their Evolution Material form if performing a Super Reincarnated Awakening.

Happy Puzzling!

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Random Thoughts

Best Friend Reset is Coming and how to Improve Your Chances of Being Selected

85 Comments
If you have not used your BFF token or hit 150, 250, or rank 500, you will lose them after the next maintenance on
4/17 (Wed) 6pm (UTC-8)

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 wonderful as it gives all players various benefits for free but you must use it or lose it. This is because the reset will give players another Best Friend selection that will not override your existing ones but failing to use a current selection will not carry over after the reset.

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.

From the previous reset, I was the first player on any PAD server to achieve 300/300 Best Friends on my Mantastic account and wondering if I can achieve that same status on Fantastic as I am around 175. With this in mind, 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. Mantastic can only accept a handful of players as I can only delete a few inactive BFF.

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 and how to Improve Your Chances of Being Selected →

Puzzling those Dragons