Spice of Life Godfest: Eygptian 1, Mechanical 1, Arch Demons, and Sengoku Review and Analysis

October 14, 2016 Mantastic 50 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 compliment 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 full list Popular Leader’s and their Full Sub List Post. 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 a Four Gentlemen card, please read my Review and Comparison HERE.

Introduction

The Spice of Life Godfest promises to warm your heart with a dash of Nutmeg and Six-Star Godfest Exclusives. The weather outside may be frightful, but our rolls will be delightful. Day 1 features the iconic Egyptian 1 and the newer Mechanical 1 series while Day 2 offers the Arch Demons and new ultimately evolved Sengoku series. In addition, each day features a varying array of Godfest Exclusives.

Gala of Tides
—- — — — Day 1	Egyptian 1	Mechanical 1

	GFE

— — — — Day 2	Arch Demons	Sengoku

	GFE

Video commentary

Day 1:

Day 1 features the old, but iconic Egyptian 1 pantheon who has received several new evolutions through the PAD Cross collaboration. Unfortunately, these evolutions do not bring them back to their former glory days of power and simply offer a more viable alternative than their current Awoken Evolution. You can read more about the PAD Cross review HERE. On the other hand, Awoken Isis is still one of the most desired cards while Awoken Ra remains a push-button staple.

On the other hand, the Mechanical 1 series is relatively new and has also received powerful ultimate evolutions. These new evolutions attempt to categorize them as better subs or leaders, but 95% of the time, the evolution with the God Killer awakening will be superior unless you need the sub colour for a specific team. Sadly, the Mechanical 1 series are a bunch of heart breakers in heart-cross meta which does diminish their overall value.

The featured Godfest Exclusives may feel lackluster as they do not include Kaede or Dark Kali who are both somewhat instrumental to some of the top tier teams.
Continue reading Spice of Life Godfest: Eygptian 1, Mechanical 1, Arch Demons, and Sengoku Review and Analysis →

Videos

[Video] Special Descend Rush – Annihilation vs Sarasvati

October 13, 2016 Mantastic 4 Comments

Introduction

Version 9.4.2 has been released and one of the wonderful additions was Descend Challenges/Quests. Completing these will allow you to access various rushes via multiplayer on a permanent basis. These can be cleared again for an additional stone along with having easy access to these lucrative dungeons. I decided to take my Sarasvati team for a spin in Special Descend Rush – Annihilation due to the easy access to delay cards, ability to override skyfalls, ability to avoid the final floor binds, and being able to deal spectacular damage with a single active.

Video clear

Team I used

I did not use any inherits and latents are largely irrelevant for Sarasvati in this setting. Everyone is max skill and +297.

One nice benefit of using Sarasvati is the lower team cost on herself and the non-GFE subs as they are able to level up significantly faster which can greatly aid in the later floors, especially Linthia. I also forgot how to dual-colour combo solve for some strange reason.

In all honesty, that run could have been significantly smoother and I am confident I could min-max it better to reduce the level of risk as there are no surprises as each floor is a fixed spawn (unlike Arena).

Conclusion

Special Descend Rush – Annihilation is an exciting, albeit challenging dungeon to clear. It is not feasible to run on a regular basis as the drop rate is depressingly low; however, some people may wish to repeatedly play for the massive rank experience it rewards upon completion.

I dearly hope I can hold all of these drops with the 80 additional box space 😉

Happy Puzzling!

Random Thoughts

+80 Box Space, I mean Version 9.4.2 Update Review

October 12, 2016 Mantastic 28 Comments

Introduction

Upon waking up today, thousands of Puzzle and Dragoners were greeted with an additional 80 box space and team cost that came with the 9.4.2 update. In this article, I wish to highlight all the noteworthy changes along with how I feel they will impact our PAD life.

You should always refer to the official patch notes as I may gloss over certain updates etc. This can be found HERE.

Video Commentary

New evolutions

9.4.2 comes with new split evolutions for Spica, Mitsunari, and Akechi that better defines them as either leaders or subs.

Spica

Unless you love the art work or in desperate need for the sub colour, the Wood/Water Spica is the strongest option as she comes with a wonderful God Killer and dual Skill Boost awakenings. Spica may have new found usage (despite the Heart Cross meta) as a sub for Machine Athena due to her Machine typing. She is also phenomenally pretty.

Mitsunari

Mitsunari is an often forgotten card as he struggled to find a team to call home. Even his leader form of Wood/Dark is lackluster due to the active skill clause. Thus, we lose the mask and bring 4 wood row awakenings with an active that converts the whole board to wood, dark, and heart orbs along with 2 turns of haste on a 13 turn cooldown. This can be useful as either an inherit for mono wood or dark teams or as a stellar sub on wood teams that are row based.

One interesting option for using Mitsunari is on Awoken Liu Bei teams if you are struggling to farm up numerous Dios as a Mitsunari + Liu Bei active results in a full board of wood orbs. However, this does take more time due to pressing an additional button and going through the haste animation. Conversely, you can also use Mitsunari as a means to help overcome combo shields with his tri-colour board active.

Akechi

Akechi is regarded as one of the strongest dark cards in the game due to his overwhelming active that forms dark and heart orbs along with enhancing all dark orbs. This combines two mechanics into one and allowed for spectacular burst damage when used in conjunction with Haku . In addition, it also means you can save a sub slot as you combine an enhance and orb change. Unfortunately, Akechi’s own base stats and awakenings were lackluster until his new ultimate evolution!

Most players will have already evolved him into his D/D as he now brings a spectacular 4 dark row awakenings and 750 base stats. Amusingly, the other Akechi evolution allows him to achieve 64x ATK with a 5o1e and dark+light match. However, this is impractical as your choices of board refreshes are limited and you are almost always better of going with the D/D evolution. Continue reading +80 Box Space, I mean Version 9.4.2 Update Review →

Monster Analysis

Changes I have made to my Myr team and Upcoming Buff Impressions

October 10, 2016 Mantastic 41 Comments

Introduction

For those who have been following my website or regular Twitch streams, it becomes apparent that I have a certain soft spot for the Myraculous Myr . I use her to clear all current content including Arena 3 and most recently, Machine Athena. Furthermore, she will be receiving a leader skill buff to 59.29x ATK in the very near future which will augment her already impressive damage output. As such, I wish to use this article to discuss how the buff will impact her capabilities as well as going over my current team set up and discussing the changes I have made since her release.

Video commentary

Relevant articles

These are other relevant articles I have written about Myr and will reference their content here. If you have not already read them, I strongly advise you to do so as it will give you a better base for understanding how Myr works.

Leader skill buff impressions

Myr is scheduled for a leader skill upgrade that will change her from a 49x ATK lead to a 59.29x ATK while retaining her 75% damage reduction shield. To compensate for the leader skill change, her second evolution will be buffed to the same stats as her final form and will cap out at 49x ATK. In all honesty, this buff was unnecessary as there are countless other cards who actually need the buff, but it can be hard to complain when she is my favourite card/leader. Even though this is a buff in most situations, the higher multiplier can be troublesome when facing damage absorption shields.

A lack of damage control

Myr has always struggled with damage control Continue reading Changes I have made to my Myr team and Upcoming Buff Impressions →

Ranking Dungeons

Elemental Brawl Tournament Strategy

October 7, 2016 Mantastic 16 Comments

Introduction

The Elemental Brawl Tournament brings back the loved/dreaded preset teams. With a preset team, if helps even the playing field as no one can gain an advantage via specific cards or combos. However, it does dramatically cut down on creativity and also results in more “luck” when trying to min-max your score as skyfalls/bad boards will play a massive role in determining how well you place. With this post, I will try my best to help give my readers a slight competitive edge based on my own experience running the dungeon.

In these ranking dungeons, we are scored based on 3 criteria:

Average combos made: 5,000 points per combo
Time Remaining: 500 points per second remaining
Maximum damage: up to 10,000 points if you hit 40 million.

JP Clears

Clears from JP from players that truly Myraculous
—

—second video may go here—-

Mantastic commentary

Your team

Everyone will be using the same team (max skill and max awoken) and it is important to understand how your leader skill functions along with any combo synergy you may have.

Leader skill

Shining Sea Diety Isis

3x ATK when matching and 3 elements. 0.5x for each additionmal orb type. Max 4.5x ATK for all 6

Isis’s Scaling Leader Skill
# elements	3	4	5	6
Multiplier	9x	12.25x	16x	20.25x

This is quite a forgiving leader skill as it will allow you to always activate to some degree and depending on the floor spawn, you can time spent provided you can still sweep the floor

Cards and relevant damage awakenings

Continue reading Elemental Brawl Tournament Strategy →

Descends, Videos

[Video] Machine Athena Descended VS Myr

October 7, 2016 Mantastic 12 Comments

Introduction

Machine Athena Descended was released alongside of the Skill Up rotation in the previous maintenance. As with any new content that is released, I am always eager to play as it provides new challenges and mechanics to overcome. These can require either careful planning or pretty puzzling to overcome. Most of the Annihilation tier content is catered around coop and it is possible to clear solo. However, I have neither the proper cards nor latents to do so and multiplayer also helps bridge the shortfall of my non-optimal teams. In addition, I do enjoy playing with myself through my Mantastic and Fantastic accounts.

Video clear

I was successful in clearing Machine Athena on my third attempt with the final two being done on stream. Due to the nature of streaming and my attempts to interact with my viewers along with my over zealousness to stall, it is quite long, but worth watching to learn about the new darkness mechanic along with how to deal with the later floors.
—

Team line up

Myr is capable of clearing Machine Athena solo; however, it requires cards that I do not own (such as a delay on Mantastic) along with numerous skill delay resists to minimize the risk from all the preemptives in the dungeon. You also require a shielding sub to survive Athena’s <50% attack.

Mantastic’s Team
Card	Inherit	Latents	Comments
			Sylvie may not combo with anyone, but her active is very powerful
			Protects against skill delays
	–		Recover bind helps remove binds from the team
			Board changer and combos with Wedding Akechi . Using Venus for superior stats
			Best remaining light card. Can overwrite skyfall debuffs. Gadius helps offer new utility and skill delay protection. Can combo with other heart makers to produce damage

Continue reading [Video] Machine Athena Descended VS Myr →

Videos

How to Cascade Better: A Mantastic Guide

October 4, 2016 Mantastic 22 Comments

Introduction

Many people have asked me to make a combo/orb matching guide and your voices have been heard! Perhaps this will be the first in a series of videos dedicated to orb matching techniques. I am well aware that other notable community members have created helpful videos and I wish to try and something different by incorporating both a written and video guide to help convey my thoughts.

Just keep in mind that every player has their own orb matching playstyle and my techniques are based from my own experience and opinions. There are many ways to tackle a board and I simply wish to share my own knowledge to hopefully improve your own puzzling skills.

Video guide

As this is a guide on how to improve your matching skills, a large component will be done via video format but I will do my best to incorporate screenshots below for the various techniques I wish to highlight.

What are Cascades?

Cascade is a term used to describe a type of orb match in which you remove a different set of orbs to cause others to fall into place to trigger an additional combo. This differs from Skyfalls as these are planned matches that you manufacture from careful planning. Skyfalls occur by luck (although you can “help” them along) as new orb(s) fall into place to trigger additional combo(s). I categorize Cascades into three categories:

Line
Staircase
Elevator

A skilled player will utilize these formations to varying degrees and although you may not be able to use all of them every turn, it is wise to at least be aware of how they work and incorporate them as needed.

These will take time to master and you may wish to spend time in Endless Corridors practicing until they become second nature.

Why are Cascades important?

Cascades are used to help form matches that Continue reading How to Cascade Better: A Mantastic Guide →

Collab REM Reviews

Fist of the North Star Collab Review and Analysis

October 2, 2016 Mantastic 10 Comments

Introduction

“In the midst of the post-apocalyptic wasteland, Kenshiro struggles to keep moving forward: to seek revenge against the man that betrayed him, and to find his lost love, Yuria. Fortunately for him, he encounters allies: strong warriors and friends in the form of Toki, Rin, and Fudo! His epic unfolds by discovering the true nature of those that face him–by battling with his fists!” – GungHo North America

I am not familiar with this Anime and am left wondering why the protagonist is less rare than his long lost love. Regardless, the Fist of the North Star (FotNS) Collab as a very hand-on feel with all these flying fists. Hopefully, you will not require a fist-full of magic stones to acquire all the cards you desire!

Video commentary

Overview of the Collab REM

Fist of the North Star REM
Six Star Rolls	Five Star Rolls

Four Star Rolls

Every card in this Collab qualifies as an assistant through Skill Inheritance due to all the four stars having an evolution.

Six Star Rolls

Yuria

Healer
2,685 HP / 1,255 ATK / 704 RCV
754 Total

Active Skill:
3
3 turn heart skyfall
6 turn CD

Leader Skill:
1.5x ATK with 1 heal combo. 2.5x ATK with 2+ heal combos. 2x ATK with 4 connected light, max 3x at 6+ connected light
56.25x ATK

Pros	Cons
Skyfall active Scaling 56.25x ATK LS Thigh Highs Available for 250k MP	Low value as a sub LS is outdated Six star rarity No light orb generation

Impressions

Continue reading Fist of the North Star Collab Review and Analysis →

Godfest

220k Official Facebook Likes Godfest: Indian 1, Three Kingdoms, Japanese 1, & Norse Review and Analysis

September 30, 2016 Mantastic 49 Comments

Godfest basics

Introduction

220k Facebook Likes may be a strange milestone to be celebrating, but at least it is a round number and is most likely to coincide with the 3-year anniversary for EU. Regardless, GungHo is featuring four different Pantheons along with certain GFE at a 4x rate. Unfortunately, neither day is truly outstanding as many of the cards are starting to fall behind due to Powercreep.

Gala of Flame
jjj Day 1	Indian 1	Three Kingdoms
jjj Day 1
jjj Day 2	Japanese 1	Norse
jjj Day 2

Video commentary

Day 1:

The Indian 1 Pantheon finally has all their Awoken evolutions; however, many of them are starting to fall out of the meta due to the speed of powercreep. Furthermore, Shiva , Lakshmi , and Parvati only come into their full power with their awoken forms and will be quite weak beforehand. However, Japan has just announced new Reincarnated evolutions for those three and it may help give them an extra boost in power to help make them relevant again. The main drawback of the Indian 1 is the delay between their uses on pull and acquiring their awoken evolution.

The Three Kingdoms have become one of the most desirable pantheons to own as each card brings a phenomenal amount of power and utility to their respective teams. Whether as leaders or superstar subs, you will want to own at least a few of these mighty warriors and are even respectable before their awoken evolutions so you will have value early on. The current prize to be had is Awoken Liu Bei as he trivializes countless content in Coop and many players will be tempted to roll just for him.

Overall, Day 1 is the stronger of the two line ups in terms of pantheons featured.

Continue reading 220k Official Facebook Likes Godfest: Indian 1, Three Kingdoms, Japanese 1, & Norse Review and Analysis →

+ Eggs, Challenge Dungeons

[Video] +297 Hera Dungeon Strategies and Guide

September 29, 2016 Mantastic 27 Comments

Introduction

To mark the celebration of the third year anniversary, GungHo will be granting players the opportunity to play the +297 Hera “Gift” Dungeon. The word Gift is misleading as it is a challenging dungeon to clear and Gift is only used to indicate that it is a one-time clear and has to be done in solo mode.

Mantastic & Fantastic’s video clears

Mantastic’s Sarasvati

A much riskier team due to the orb hungry nature of Sarasvati. There is a certian amount of praying required to either skyfall a water combo or have enough present to conserve actives. However, it was a pleasure to play with and the damage on Minerva was Nuts 😉
—

Fantastic’s Awoken DQXQ

DQXQ was a lot safer by comparison due to the less orb hungry nature of her leader skill. I could use the 16x ATK and TPA down the easy floors and only had to form rows starting at floor 5. It also helps that both leaders have a more impactful active skill.

Team used

Will update when I play this dungeon. Myr is the default/easy choice but may try and use a different leader to showcase a more novel strategy.

JP clears

As this is a one-time clear dungeon, I decided to showcase various JP clears with leaders I do not own to provide another layer of inspiration for theory crafting viable teams. You can use the search term as well: 神王妃絶地獄級

Light Myr

Reco’s clear using Myr. I also speculate she will be the easiest to use for this dungeon.

Ace Best Cat

Continue reading [Video] +297 Hera Dungeon Strategies and Guide →

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Godfest basics

Introduction

Video commentary

Day 1:

Introduction

Video clear

Team I used

Conclusion

Introduction

Video Commentary

New evolutions

Spica

Mitsunari

Akechi

Introduction

Video commentary

Relevant articles

Leader skill buff impressions

A lack of damage control

Introduction

JP Clears

Mantastic commentary

Your team

Leader skill

Isis’s Scaling Leader Skill

Cards and relevant damage awakenings

Introduction

Video clear

Team line up

Mantastic’s Team

Introduction

Video guide

What are Cascades?

Why are Cascades important?

Introduction

Video commentary

Overview of the Collab REM

Fist of the North Star REM

Six Star Rolls

Pros

Cons

Impressions

Godfest basics

Introduction

Video commentary

Day 1:

Introduction

Mantastic & Fantastic’s video clears

Mantastic’s Sarasvati

Fantastic’s Awoken DQXQ

Team used

JP clears

Light Myr

Ace Best Cat

Puzzling those Dragons