Ranking Dungeons

Pure Ranking Tournament Strategies

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Introduction

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

Continue reading Pure Ranking Tournament Strategies →

Events

Ganesha’s Treasure Trove is Worth Farming

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Introduction

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.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Monster Exchange System

Ganesha’s Treasure Trove drops special Medals at random and these can be traded in via the Monster Exchange System under the Event tab. Continue reading Ganesha’s Treasure Trove is Worth Farming →

Ranking Dungeons

Xiu Min Ranking Dungeon Overview

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Introduction

The Xiu Min Ranking Dungeon is simply a terrible Ranking Dungeon. This is because it is a 10 floor adventure with no Leader Skills. As such, buttons reign supreme along with the need to have highly specific cards. Lacking even just a few key cards will make it significantly harder to crown to the point one has to pray hard to skyfalls to succeed.

In fact, not having at least 10+ combo count average (on 6×5) will place you outside of a crown unless you are able to move blisteringly fast.

This article will give an overview of the generic team template used for this Ranking Dungeon along with my own compositions/modifications to achieve a reasonably high score.

On a side note, this article is being released late due to health issues.

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

Continue reading Xiu Min Ranking Dungeon Overview →

Ranking Dungeons

Xiu Min Ranking Dungeon Score Tracking

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What is this?

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.

Current day NA cutoff for Crown: 131,102
JP Crown: 131,152

Current day NA cutoff for Magic Stone & Xiu Min: 101,566
JP Xiu Min and Magic Stone: 95,022

Corresponding article detailing teams and strategies are coming soon.

Happy Puzzling!

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Godfest

10-Stone Voice Godfest Review

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Introduction

The magical event that is scheduled for North America kicks off with a bang on Halloween with a special 10-Stone Voice Godfest. This event is akin to a Super Godfest in that the cost per roll is 10 Magic Stones, but the actual rolling rates are significantly higher along with each roll coming with +297 and max awoken.

While the pluses and awakenings are nice, they are not truly needed and technically add to the cost of each roll, but having a 33% chance to roll any 6/7* Godfest Exclusive (GFE) or 7* Heroine card is pretty amazing.

This leads to a stone conundrum for players as we will be receiving 100 Magic Stones at the same time along with the Dragonbound & Dragon Caller (DBDC) event on the near horizon.

As with any event, the choice of whether or not to roll should be based on your own individual needs and goals. With that being said, it would be wise to save Magic Stones for the DBDC event if missing the 5* cards as they are tremendously valuable.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Featured cards

The Voice Godfest is split into two days with a different set of cards being Highlighted. Highlighted cards have double the chances of being rolled compared to non-Highlighted cards of the same rarity: GFE/Heroine or Pantheon. Continue reading 10-Stone Voice Godfest Review →

Monster Analysis

[Review] Cotton & Ney Buffs, New Ryune & Sylvie Evo, and More

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Introduction

Last night, GungHo NA dropped a large update to existing characters that include huge buffs to all the Neys  and Cottons  along with Mega Awoken Evolutions for Ryune  and Sylvie .

These changes give players the opportunity to further their progression as Cotton has now become an incredible powerhouse while Ryune can act as an end game leader that is somewhat similar to Beach Barbara & Julie .

In addition to this, GungHo NA also announced that all players will receive 1 special pull at an NA-exclusive machine where one of the five 7* GFE (aka Witches     ) will come out!

All of these changes/announcements are making PAD incredibly exciting and November promises to be the best month to date. If you wish to read more about the upcoming November event including the free 100 Magic Stones, please refer to my previous article HERE.

Official notes on all the buffs and evolutions can be found on GungHo NA’s Facebook HERE.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Voice awakenings

The Voice  awakenings grant certain cards the ability to have a voice line when using their active skill in a dungeon. While this is a cosmetic effect, some players may feel upset that it takes up an awakening slot. Thankfully, it does not actually take away from the monster’s original power as GungHo has condensed either Skill Boost Skill Boost, Time Extend Time Extend, or double 50% bind Immunity Bind Immune into their stronger form   . Continue reading [Review] Cotton & Ney Buffs, New Ryune & Sylvie Evo, and More →

Streaming

NA Stream Recap: Huge 6 Year Event, 100 Magic Stones and Advice on Where to Spend them!

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Introduction

The NA GungHo team closed their massive official stream on Friday night and gave players plenty of exciting content to look forward to.

First things first, North American players will receive 100 Magic Stones for just logging in during the month of November. Now, it was announced in JP that they would be receiving 200 Magic Stones, but this is to be spaced out over the course of two months and NA clearly stated that there will be more content being announced later on November 12th. Thus, it would be a terribly unwise for them to not give NA players the same love considering how much more informed we are about JP news.

This article will provide some guidance as to where players should spend their Magic Stones, a recap of the stream, along with all the new content coming to North America.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

100 Magic Stones

During the month of November, all players will receive 100 Magic Stones for just logging in and will be the single largest log in bonus to date.

This can be somewhat akin to winning the lottery as many players may have never actually saved up this number of Stones before and may be at a loss as where to spend them all.

With this in mind, I want to stress that one does not have to spend them all at once and these can be held for an ideal event as there is no cap on Magic Stone count. Continue reading NA Stream Recap: Huge 6 Year Event, 100 Magic Stones and Advice on Where to Spend them! →

Guest Writers, Site News

Guests Writers are Coming to Mantasticpad.com

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Introduction

In the past, I have featured some guest writers who would share their thoughts and opinions on various PAD topics that could range from team building, efficient farming set ups, along with card reviews.

Due to the fact that PAD is a complex game with no “perfect/ideal” way to play the game, having a diverse sets of opinions can be beneficial when making decisions for your own Monster Box.

As such, I have decided to invite a few individuals to write various articles on topics of their choosing. They plan to release their content whenever is convenient for them.

Guest writer line up

At this point in time, InSomnia and Miso are the two planned guest writers who will be providing their insight and expertise for their fields of interest. Both are high ranking, multi-crowning players who will be able to provide a new perspective on advanced topics.

There is no planned time for their articles to be released so just keep checking back but InSomnia is nearing the completion of their publication.

My influence

I plan to give each guest writer free reign when it comes to their content and mostly plan to only provide formatting help to make it look more consistent with my own posts along with general proofreading. I wish to try and preserve their voice and writing style so I will try to keep my influence on the actual writing to a minimum.

Conclusion

Guest writers can provide a healthy new view point on various aspects of Puzzle and Dragons. There are many reasons why players choose to play this game and having differing opinions is healthy overall.

Happy Puzzling!

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JP News

[First Impressions] Massive QoL, Thank-You Festival, New 7* GFE, new GFE/Pantheon Evolutions, plus 200 Free Magic Stones

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Introduction

JP just finished their massive PAD stream in which they announced/released countless new content. As part of my YT YouTube channel, I try my best to deliver First Impression videos fo the new content to better prepare my North American audience for things to come.

Generally speaking, NA is 2-3 months behind JP but this can vary based on events so nothing is guaranteed.

My thoughts have been split into two separate videos as each one features a hefty amount of content.

Video commentary

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QoL & Thank-You Event

Notable highlights include UI improvements with the ability to see inherits on a team including with stats/awakenings, new cosmetic Orb skins, Super Godfest, ability to gain one of three new 7* GFE, and 200 Magic Stones.

If intending to roll in the Godfest, do not acquire your free 7* GFE until after to avoid rolling a duplicate.

New 7* GFE, Mega Evolutions, and Reincarnated forms for Pantheons cards

Notable highlights include the new 7* GFE, Baldin + Sherias Roots Mega forms, Reincarnated Lucifer (not Archangel), and buffs for Uriel and Gabriel.

Conclusion

The news coming in from JP is incredibly exciting as it will help usher PAD into a new era with QoL improvements along with the ability to acquire a powerful card for free.

Generally speaking, NA gains JP content 2-3 months later but maybe something exciting will be teased on the NA stream on Friday evening.

Let me know which of these features you find most exciting along with how you plan to prepare your Monster Box moving forward.

Happy Puzzling!

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JP Streams

[First Impressions] Full Metal Alchemist Return with Buffs & Assist Evolutions

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Introduction

On my YT YouTube channel, I often do First Impression videos of new content being released in JP in hopes of informing the NA player base to help us make better decisions moving forward.

Generally speaking, we are 2-3 months behind JP for most events and being able to see into the future can help us make an informed decision as what to do with our Magic Stones and resources.

As such, the Full Metal Alchemist is returning and we should be able to expect the same thing in the future as we did enjoy the Collab in the past. Furthermore, players will be able to utilize the Monster Exchange system to acquire and 6-star card.

Video commentary

—

In essence, all cards received the ability to be Limit Broken and Super Awoken which dramatically improves their weighted stats and viability in solo mode. Unfortunately, this will mostly only apply to the top rarity cards who also received sizable buffs and a Weapon Assist form.

Through their Weapon Assist forms, each gains more value as a duplicate and gives players more options if lacking key Monster Hunter inherits.

In regards to buffs, the most noticeable one is to Edward  who is able to gain a third 7 Combo 45 as a Super Awakening along with buffing his Leader Skill from 144x ATK to 196x. This is a massive jump in both personal damage and team damage and should help bring him back up to speed with current top tier leaders.

Conclusion

The Full Metal Alchemist revival grants sizable buffs to the top rarity cards along with being able to acquire them via the Monster Exchange. The main appeal of Edward is his team building flexibility as he can use any card while having a powerful damage reduction component.

A more formalized review will occur when the cards are being released in North America.

Let me know what you think of the buffs and changes in the comments below.

Happy Puzzling!

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