Tag Archives: Mantastic Puzzle and Dragons

Random Thoughts

What Makes a Good Leader in Puzzle and Dragons? June 2019

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Introduction

One of the most popular questions I see floating around the PAD community is “what makes a good leader?” or “is this a strong leader?” Now both of these questions are heavily loaded as the answer generally depends on your subs. A leader, no matter how powerful, is heavily reliant on your team composition, inherits, and individual monster investment. Furthermore, what qualifies as a strong leader will change over time as new content is released.

There are many tier lists available that rank leaders based on various criteria, but they always assume the perfect team (regardless of how rare or hard to pull those monsters are). They also look at how consistent a leader performs in a variety of end game content instead of a single dungeon.

As such, tier lists should be taken with a grain of salt and be used as a starting base to determine if a leader has potential. You should then look up team building guides to see if you have ideal subs in order to successfully run that team.

The purpose of this article will be to further explore what merits a strong leader, what to look for in your monster box, and why consistency is invaluable when playing through harder content.

Being told something good is one thing, but understanding why is more important. You can read this article while thinking of your favourite leader to better understand why they are effective or ineffective.

I wrote a similar article to this in January 2017 but feel the meta has changed/shifted sufficiently to revisit this topic. The main reason is because of how much easier it is to FUA /SFUA and VDP at the same time as this is invaluable for end game content.

Video commentary

—video goes here—

Factors that make a leader strong

Forewarning

The tier lists tend to not take player skill into consideration; however, you need to assess your own skill level as you need to be able to actually activate your leader skill on a consistent basis. A prime example of this was when Anubis was floating around on some lists. In theory, this works as his multiplier was at the time the highest available. Unfortunately, very few people could actually activate him on a consistent basis and was misleading to say the least.

In addition to ignoring player skill, tier lists assume the perfect team as that is the most fair way to compare various leaders. However, many of these teams require exotic subs (and inherits) that most players do not own and this will inevitably lead to a less than stellar performance. Continue reading What Makes a Good Leader in Puzzle and Dragons? June 2019 →

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Ranking Dungeons

Ideal Ranking Tournament Strategies

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Introduction

Ranking Dungeons will return to North America this Monday with the Fixed Leaders, Ideal Tournament. This tournament will force players to use Light Ideal as a leader but can bring any sub.

This gives the illusion of a Fixed Team, but heavily favours those who have deep Monster Boxes as it places a heavy emphasis on Skill Boosts to have Fujin ready in time.

To compensate for this, the dungeon is only 5 floors long which means Combos are heavily rewarded which means a lucky Skyfall will result in a significantly higher score.

On the bright side, the cutoff for a Crown is 7%.

Just be aware that the Forced Colour Skyfall + Orb Refresh Strategy no longer works for this Ranking. Due to this, our cutoff will be lower compared to JP to the point where it may be challenging to predict the final value.

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 Ideal Ranking Tournament Strategies →

Collab REM Reviews

Hello Kitty Collab REM Review & Analysis – June 2019

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Introduction

The Hello Kitty Collab is one of the oldest events in Puzzle and Dragons and few players actually saw it the first time around. This seems a little strange as it is a popular franchise but has been absent for several years.

This time around, the cards have been buffed to try and keep abreast with the 2019 meta but the main attraction is the new 7-star, Zela Kitty . Zela Kitty is able to lead an amazingly powerful team as she is able to fully utilize Zela and SFUA (more about SFUA can be read HERE). As such, many players may find the most merit simply trading for Zela Kitty and ignoring the other cute cards.

Regardless, this article will outline the strengths and weaknesses of this event to give players an idea of what each card has to offer and whether or not it is worth their Magic Stones.

Video commentary

—Hello Kitty Video—

Overview

Hello Kitty Collab Pros & Cons – June 6, 2019
Pros
Cons
  • Zela Kitty
    • Five 6* GFE as trade fodder
  • Overwhelming cuteness
  • 5* cards have very low value
    • Rolling will mostly result in sadness
  • Zela Kitty is 1.5% chance
Hello Kitty Collab REM
 7 Star base
 6 Star base
 5 Star base
Hello Kitty REM Rankings – June 6, 2019
S
A
B
C
D

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 Hello Kitty Collab REM Review & Analysis – June 2019 →

Game Meta, Meta Snapshots

A Closer Look: Super Follow Up Attack and Zela

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Introduction

Super Follow Up Attack (SFUA) has been in the game for quite some time now and was mostly a meme/joke upon the initial release. This is because it provided 2 pings of FUA damage but required 9 Heart orbs in a 3×3 Box. The initial thought process was that it could enable Row-based teams to still achieve a horizontal match, but Rows never took off and the higher orb count made it impractical compared to a regular Follow Up Attack (column of 5 Hearts).

As such, Super Follow Up Attack was mostly ignored outside of niche Ranking Dungeons where it awarded Style Points. With that being said, Super Follow Up Attack may be beginning to make a comeback due to the Leader Skills that rely on blobs to activate, the ability for it to be inherited via Weapon Assists , the ability to provide 2x ATK for the owning card, and Zela .

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Super Follow Up Attack

Super Follow Up Attack requires a 3×3 Box of Heart orbs to activate and will provide the owning card 2x ATK along with 2 damage of follow up pings. The primary use is for dealing with resolve spawns but will almost always require an active skill to work. Continue reading A Closer Look: Super Follow Up Attack and Zela →

Team Building

Arena 5 Farming with Dark Karin

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Introduction

The GungHo Collab Super Godfest has blessed me with Dark Karin who has quickly become my favourite leader for farming Arena 5. This is because she combines ease of activation, high and consistent damage, along with flexible team building options that can cover all the required mechanics.

This article will be solely focusing on Dark Karin’s ability to clear Arena 5 and will look at mechanics/counters are required, her strengths and weaknesses, and team building compositions.

As with any leader, the team used should be customized to the dungeon at hand and this article will be solely focusing on Arena 5.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Sample clear

This clear was done right after rolling her and is essentially the same I plan to use moving forward.

Arena 5 mechanics

Arena 5 is often considered the best Arena to farm due to the fact that it provides a hefty amount of Rank experience, two Killer latents (Dragon, Devil, etc.), and a singly Py. Furthermore, the difficulty level has become significantly easier over time due to the introduction of spicier leaders and more options to counter the various mechanics. Continue reading Arena 5 Farming with Dark Karin →

Collab REM Reviews, Godfest

GungHo Collab Godfest Featuring Dark Evolutions Review & Analysis – May 2019

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Introduction

The GungHo Collab is finally making a return to North America after several months. Following the trend in January, the 6 and 7-star cards will be available during a Super Godfest. What makes this Godfest more exciting is the debut of the Dark evolutions which grant significantly more power to four of the 7* GungHo cards.

Due to the Super Godfest, the total chance of acquiring something of value is higher, but each roll will cost 10 Magic Stones. Thankfully, all cards come out +297, max Awoken, and max Level along with the rolling rates being around 33% to acquire a 6/7* GFE or 7* GungHo Collab card.

This article will outline the strengths and weaknesses of the GungHo cards to give players an idea of what each card has to offer and whether or not it is worth their Magic Stones.

Video commentary

—Video coming soon—

Overview

GungHo Collab Super Godfest Pros & Cons – May 29, 2019
Pros
Cons
  • Super Godfest
    • Around 33% for GFE/Top rarity card
  • All rolls come with lucrative benefits
    • +297
    • Max Awoken
    • Max level
  • New Dark evolutions
  • Skill leveling dungeon is available
    • Note that Dark evos have a different active
  • 7* GFE should have a 1.5% roll chance
  • Strong chance no 5* GH Collab cards
  • 10 Magic Stones per pull
  • No Monster Exchange available
  • Mostly older 5* Pantheon cards as filler
GungHo Collab Lineup
 7 Star base  
 6 Star base
 5 Star base
GungHo Collab Rankings – May 29, 2019
S
A  
B    
C     
D  

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 GungHo Collab Godfest Featuring Dark Evolutions Review & Analysis – May 2019 →

Collab REM Reviews

Shaman King Review And Analysis – May 2019

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Introduction

The Shaman King Collab will be making their debut in North America this coming Monday and is an exciting time for NA players. This is because there was a certain degree of uncertainty of whether or not we would actually experience this event as it is home to several unique and powerful cards.

One notable feature is that all monsters feature a Weapon Assist evolution which enables them to provide additional awakenings when used as an inherit. As such, all cards have some degree of value and is reminiscent of the Monster Hunter Collab. With that being said, all Weapon Assists have a different active which may change their value for each player. Carefully inspect before committing to this evolution. With that being said, the Shaman King differs in that all cards have significantly lower weighted stats but is offset by the 6-Magic Stone per roll price tag.

On the bright side, essentially every card is good/has some value and it makes it hard to justify not rolling.

Regardless, this article will outline the strengths and weaknesses of this event to give players an idea of what each card has to offer and whether or not it is worth their Magic Stones.

Video commentary

—Shaman King Hype?!—

Overview

Shaman King Collab Pros & Cons – May 23, 2019
Pros
Cons
  • All cards feature a Weapon Assist
  • Monster Exchange requires 6-star GFE
  • Value in essentially every card
  • Debut in NA
    • The first few rolls should not have dupes
  • Lower weighted stats
  • 5:1 Monster Exchange ratio
    • 6 Magic Stone cost
Shaman King Collab REM
 6 Star base
 5 Star base
Shaman King Collab REM Rankings – May 23, 2019
S
A
B  
C
D

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 Shaman King Review And Analysis – May 2019 →