Dark Athena in Arena 3 – Solo and Coop Strategies

May 8, 2017 Mantastic 23 Comments

Introduction

Dark Athena is the newest craze to sweep through NA/EU as she is somewhat unrivaled in her speed and efficiency in clearing end game content. For the purposes of this article, I will be focusing on Arena 3 set ups to better optimize your experience from both a Solo and Coop point of view. This will include inheritance suggestions, Latents, and subs to bring.

I have written extensively about Arena 3 since my first clear in August 2016, but I want to produce a template to aid in your Dark Athena adventures.

If you wish to read my comprehensive Dark Athena guide, please refer to it HERE.

Video commentary

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Solo clear

My second solo clear (first one recorded) and this was done pretty much right after I bought her so things may look less polished overall.
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Arena 3

Powercreep has slowly caught up to Arena 3 and with Dark Athena, more and more people will be having their first taste of the Radar Dragons and other wonders held within this 25 floor dungeon.

Arena 3 has randomized spawns that are drawn from a fixed pool encounters so you can somewhat plan ahead for what you could encounter.

However, there are very few spawns that are actually threatening to Dark Athena and provided you loosely follow the templates shown below, you should have sufficient tools to deal with them. Continue reading Dark Athena in Arena 3 – Solo and Coop Strategies →

Collab REM Reviews

New Heroine Cards: Uruka, Julie, and Fluffier Ilmina

May 7, 2017 Mantastic 41 Comments

Introduction

The Heroine REM is returning to NA/EU with new ultimate evolutions and two brand new cards. The first time this special REM came around, I did encourage people to roll in it despite the 10-stone cost. This is because essentially all of the cards have merits and value for a more developed Monster Box. Furthermore, since they were all new at the time of their release, the chances of rolling dupes was significantly lower. As such, the motivation to roll or not to roll should be based on your own requirements and expectations.

Despite new evolutions, not much as essentially changed for the majority of the cards as they were mostly small stat boosts plus an additional awakening. However, Ilmina did receive a fluffier evolution that dramatically shifts their gameplay and usage. You can read about my original review of the Heroine REM HERE.

Amusingly, with the inclusion of Uruka and Julie , the Heroine REM is stronger than ever as there are now plenty of amazing top tier prizes worth chasing. Just be aware that these prizes are in the 6+ star category so they will be rarer to roll.

Video commentary

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Rolls overview

Heroine Egg Machine Overview
7 star rolls
6 star rolls
5 star rolls

Heroine Egg Machine Rankings

*Rankings are in no particular order

New / notable cards

Fluffier Ilmina

Devil / Physical Continue reading New Heroine Cards: Uruka, Julie, and Fluffier Ilmina →

Godfest

God Carnival: To Roll or not to Roll

May 5, 2017 Mantastic 32 Comments

Introduction

Please

Body

Don’t

Conclusion

Roll

You are better off with essentially any Godfest as GFE are still incredibly powerful and highly in demand outside of Dark Athena requirements. Also, Godfests have a chance at Gemstone Princesses due to the fact that an appropriate Gala occurs alongside.

We should also be having a Player’s Choice Godfest soon-ish (I do not know when, but soon) and Heroine REM is coming back. Both of these are far superior overall to this God Carnival.
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Happy Puzzling!

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Arena

Powercreep and Arena 3

May 4, 2017 Mantastic 20 Comments

Introduction

My first clear of Arena 3 occurred in early August 2016 with Myr. Since then, I have used a variety of leaders to tackle what was once the hardest dungeon in the game and I do find it strange that we are still playing the same dungeon 8+ months later.

Perhaps new dungeon content is lacking to help bring everyone back up to speed through Powercreep and flashier leaders, but it can become a bit tedious after hundreds of clears.

While there are countless different leader compositions that can farm Arena 3, I have found the most success in my big three: Myr , Meridionalis , and now Dark Athena .

This article will examine the state of the game and Powercreep in Arena 3. In addition, I will also be highlighting each team’s strengths and weaknesses when playing through Arena 3.

Video commentary

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History of Arena 3

Arena 3 has been live in NA/EU for well over 8 months and was once the hardest dungeon in the game as it now lags behind Colosseum and the new 3P Coop dungeons. However, Colosseum is rarely played and is mostly a stalling/grindy dungeon while 3P has not come to NA/EU. As such, we are still playing Arena 3 and thankfully it offers some of the best rewards in the game: PreDRA, Killer Latent, Tan, Py, gold, and massive rank experience. However, during the majority of my Arena 3 playtime, it was far less lucrative and almost feels “wasted” compared to how rewarding it has become. Continue reading Powercreep and Arena 3 →

Creature Quest

Creature Quest Dungeon Challenge Defense Guide

April 30, 2017 Mantastic 21 Comments

Introduction

Creature Quest features 3 unique game play modes that should all be taken advantage of to make the most progress possible. In this article, I will be focusing on the PvP (player versus player) Dungeon Challenge mode from a defensive point of view to better help you design a formidable defense in order to repel would-be attackers.

This posting will be using knowledge/terminology previously discussed in my New Player’s Guide.

Video commentary

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What is the Dungeon Challenge?

Challenge Dungeons are the weekly PvP (player versus player) ladder. You are able to create a dungeon with your own various sized creatures and then use your Challenge Points to attack other players. Each offensive and defensive victory awards Prestige (points that correspond to your numerical ranking) while failed defenses lose Prestige. There is no penalty for failing an offense. To better facilitate fairer match-making, players are divided up into Gold, Silver, and Bronze tiers. Continue reading Creature Quest Dungeon Challenge Defense Guide →

Godfest

Might of the Guardians Godfest Review, Tier List, and Analysis

April 29, 2017 Mantastic 22 Comments

Godfest basics

When making the decision to roll or save your magic stones, you need to determine if the featured pantheons can benefit or complement your teams. Chasing for one specific monster is unwise as you will most likely be disappointed and should ideally have Godfests that overlap with many target cards. Remember all monsters that come out of the REM will qualify for Skill Inheritance so do not be too hasty when selling dupes. For a more detailed team building help, please refer to my Popular Leader’s and their Full Sub List Post which is in the process of being updated. Lastly, to find more information about a specific pantheon or monster, refer to my Master List to better refine your search. If you are considering to purchase any of the Monster Point cards, please refer to my updated Tier List for help and advice.

Introduction

The Might of the Guardians Godfest descends this Sunday and will only be featuring Godfest Exclusives (GFE) at 5x rates with no boosted pantheons. In addition, each roll will come out with +40 to a random stat. Non-featured GFE will not appear from the REM on those respective days.

Having a Godfest with no featured Pantheons and boosted rates for GFE may feel appealing, but it is my belief that the overall rates of rolling something meaningful are lowered. It is my understanding that cards have a certain roll rate and Godfest boost them. However, with less cards experiencing a boosted rate, you are more likely to roll 4-stars or other sad fodder.

One unfortunate aspect of this Godfest is that it does not feature any core Dark Athena subs. Dark Athena is not reliant on Godfest Exclusives outside of a few inherits and the fact that it is not a Midnight Gala further diminishes your chances.

If you wish to read a more thorough analysis of the Three Kingdoms 2 pantheon, please refer to my previous post HERE. A full review of Fujin and Raijin can be found HERE.

Might of the Guardians Godfest Gala of Flame
– – – Day 1	GFE

– – – Day 2	GFE

Video commentary

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Ranking the cards – Pantheons & GFE

These rankings I assign cards are my own and take into consideration the card’s value as a leader, sub, inherit, and possibly any niche role they fulfill. In order to rank in the highest tier, the card has to excel in their respective role and cannot feasibly be replaced by anyone else. This can also be thought of as a Best in Slot card and tends to have applications on the top tier teams.

Despite my best to remain neutral, there is always the potential for bias and you need to be able to examine a card and determine if it can benefit your unique Monster Box and situation. Continue reading Might of the Guardians Godfest Review, Tier List, and Analysis →

Monster Analysis, Team Building Guides

Dark Athena Team Building, Discussion, and Rationale for 750,000 MP

April 27, 2017 Mantastic 183 Comments

Do not nuke your Monster Box for 750,000 MP to buy Dark Athena. She will be a permanent addition to the MP shop

Introduction

Dark Athena has been a long anticipated card that was up until this point only available in JP; however, NA/EU will finally be able to purchase her for 750,000 MP starting May 1st. This is a tremendous stepping stone as we are actually able to acquire a Radar card when PAD Radar is not available in our regions. Regardless, the question within the community will transition from is she coming to “Should I buy Dark Athena?” This is a loaded question as she does cost 750,000 MP and you should carefully weigh the pros and cons along with actually having a viable team to use her.

I did write extensively about her in a previous posting, but will create a new one based on the new cards that have been released since her debut in JP. However, there will be some overlap between the two but I have added in a much needed team building section.

Video commentary

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Solo Arena 3 clear

She is so forgiving I can make mistakes:
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Screenshot from my first clear:

Dark Athena at a glance

Dark Athena

God / Devil / Attacker
3,618 HP / 2,501 ATK / 0 RCV
862 Total

Active Skill:
Enhance all water & dark orbs
3 turn delay
11 turn Cooldown

Leader Skill:
1.5x HP & 3.5x ATK for God, Devil, and Attacker cards. 2x ATK & 2x RCV when matching Dark and Water orbs
2.25x HP / 49x ATK / 4x RCV

Pros	Cons
12.25 or 49x ATK 2,501 base ATK 3 TPA for burst Tanky Leader Skill Forms one of the best teams in PAD Can quickly clear challenging content Farms Arena 3 Flexible team building Bind immune Damage enhance & delay Can overcome combo shields No evolution required Comes ready to use Can use Haku(s) Can be used as a sub	Must match both water and dark for RCV Stalling is not as practical No SBR Low movement time Gemstone inherit semi required Costs 750,000 MP

Impressions

Dark Athena may look lackluster from a purely multiplier perspective; however, she is actually one of the strongest cards/leaders in the game. There are many factors that go into consideration when trying to determine what makes a strong leader, and Dark Athena covers almost all of them.

Dark Athena has one of the most unconditional leader skills which dramatically raises her consistency and speed when playing through both challenging and easy content. Simply having to match a single water and dark combo for 49x is trivial compared to the shenanigans other leads require. This ease of activation enables you to flood the board with dark orbs in order to better take advantage of Dark Athena’s three TPA awakenings. Furthermore, with the introduction of the 7 combo awakening, Dark Athena has even more burst potential as she can run duplicate Hakus to great success. Continue reading Dark Athena Team Building, Discussion, and Rationale for 750,000 MP →

Monster Analysis, New Evolutions

New Content Update – April 25, 2017

April 26, 2017 Mantastic 20 Comments

Introduction

In a small and surprising update, we received new Reincarnated Evolutions for several popular cards. For the most part, reincarnating a card is the best thing to do as they are bumped up to 1,000 weighted stats, additional awakenings, and triple typing. As such, you should be pursuing them almost all the time and the only real exception at the moment is Haku .

This article will provide a brief summary/thoughts on each of the featured cards in this content update. As a side note, you should be using 0-stamina Normals to abuse Legendary Earth for endless monster experience to level up all of these cards.

Video commentary

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New evolutions

New evolutions are some of the most exciting aspects of Puzzle and Dragons as it breathes new life into old cards and hopefully revitalizes their viability.

Set

Like the other Egyptian 2 cards, Set gained a split evolution that removed all of this TPA to gain dual 7 combo awakenings as well as changing his sub attribute to Light from Wood. From a purely damage perspective, dual 7 combo awakenings are more potent when achieving 7 or more combos, but ruin more mindless-farming builds that rely on minimal comboing. Continue reading New Content Update – April 25, 2017 →

Collab REM Reviews

Voltron Collab Egg Machine Review and Analysis

April 23, 2017 Mantastic 28 Comments

Introduction

The Voltron Collab is an exclusive series coming to North America and this is the first time NA will be receiving cards that JP does not. This is a tremendous step in the right direction as it grants us the chance to acquire unique cards or at the very least, a re-skin of a Collab we would never be able to have.

Collaborations in Puzzle and Dragons are a costly process as GungHo has to secure licensing, hire artists, and design the cards from scratch. This is partially the reason why NA/EU does not gain access to all the exclusive JP Collabs as the costs would not justify the potential income.

Therefore, having Voltron gives us the chance to show GungHo how much support NA can muster as well as hopefully granting us the ability to fill in the Monster gaps.

All players above rank 50 will receive 1 free pull on the Voltron Rare Egg Machine.

Video commentary

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Rolls overview

Voltron Egg Machine Overview
6 star rolls
5 star rolls
4 star rolls

Voltron Collab Rankings – April 23, 2017

Voltron Overview

As mentioned above, Collaborations give GungHo the chance to design new and interesting cards to help round out our Monster Boxes. The appeal is further magnified through nostalgia, appealing artwork, and the sense of being a limited time offer. Continue reading Voltron Collab Egg Machine Review and Analysis →

Random Thoughts

– Azazel Descended – Dios Leader Farming Guide

April 21, 2017 rawrzcookie 10 Comments

Introduction:

Coming up on Friday, April 21, 2017, a new Descend Dungeon will come to NA. Azazel Descended will feature Azazel , who is another farmable card whose active is inheritable. His active will boost your ATK for 1 turn by 70% for every Resistance-Dark Awakening (better known as Blind Resist) on the team. In other words, your ATK will be enhanced by 1+(0.7*n) where “n” is the number of Blind Resist awakenings you have on your team. Some of you may find a use for Azazel, others may be looking to farm for the additional dungeon drops, but regardless, here’s a Dios-lead guide for farming this dungeon! Continue reading – Azazel Descended – Dios Leader Farming Guide →