Tag Archives: Mantastic Puzzle and Dragons

Monster Hunter Collab Review and Analysis – September 2020

September 27, 2020 Mantastic 41 Comments

Introduction

The Monster Hunter Collab returns to North America and contains an absurd number of different cards along with multiple evolutions. Furthermore, every single card has one Weapon Assist with the top rarity having two options.

This greatly decreases the frustration associated with duplicates as most cards will have value along with the several bottom rarity cards providing numerous Resists .

While the bottom rarity is not as strong relatively speaking to other options, they are still respectable cards and many can be used to help round out your inheritance options. As such, if you have never rolled here before, there is value to be found as almost every Weapon Assist will be helpful.

With this in mind, I would love to outline the pros and cons for each card to give players a better understanding of what to expect in the Monster Hunger Collab Rare Egg Machine.

On a different note, this is my longest article to date at 10,538 words.

Video commentary

—video coming Monday—

Overview

Monster Hunter Collab Pros & Cons – September 2020
Pros	Cons
BIG Weighted Stats all around All cards have a Weapon Assist 7-star cards have two 1/5 chance for any top rarity card Value at every rarity Huge rolling pool Harder to roll dupes	Has returned numerous times Older players will have little motivation to roll Bottom rarity is no longer as dominating as before Less rolls should be used overall 10 Magic Stone cost More expensive to Monster Exchange Overall, not as game changing as before Huge rolling pool Harder to roll what you want

Monster Hunter Collab REM
7 Star base (20% total)
6 Star base (40% total)
5 Star base (40% total)

Monster Hunter Collab – September 2020
S
A
B
C
D

Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking

Icons show Revo or Transformed state if possible

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

Bottom rarity quick summary

The bottom rarity should be the main motivation to roll in an event and here is a brief summary showcasing their awakenings and/or Weapon Assists if applicable. Awakenings in (brackets) are Super Awakenings.

( ) – B
( ) – B
( ) – D
( ) – B
( ) – D
( ) – C
( ) – D
( ) – B

Continue reading Monster Hunter Collab Review and Analysis – September 2020 →

Collab REM Reviews

PAD Island REM Review and Analysis – September 2020

September 20, 2020 Mantastic 47 Comments

Introduction

The PAD Island (sometimes referred to as the Beach event) makes a return to North America just as Summer is ending. Needless to say, this event is a major trap to roll in due to the fact that it is horribly top heavy with the 6-star and below cards having lackluster value overall. Sadly, these cards comprise around 75% of the rolling pool while also having little value in dupes (or even as a single copy).

As such, if you are truly GungHo on any of the top rarity cards, utilizing the Monster Exchange system would be the best approach as your Magic Stones will go much further in virtually any other event.

Regardless, this article will outline the pros and cons for each card to give players a better understanding of what to expect in the PAD Island Rare Egg Machine.

Video commentary

—video coming Monday—

Overview

PAD Island Pros & Cons – September 2020
Pros	Cons
5 Magic Stones Cheaper to roll Even cheaper to not roll Skippable event Several strong cards at top rarities	4-6* cards are lackluster Comprise 75% of the rolling pool Little value in dupes for 4-8* cards Just don’t roll

PAD Island REM
9 Star base (2% total)
8 Star base (6% total)
7 Star base (17.8% total)
6 Star base (34.5% total)
5 Star base (18% total)
4 Star base (21.7% total)

PAD Island – September 2020
S
A
B
C
D

Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking

Icons show Revo or Transformed state if possible

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

Bottom rarity quick summary

( ) – B
( ) – D

Continue reading PAD Island REM Review and Analysis – September 2020 →

Combo Guide

Puzzle and Dragons Combo Guide – Brute Force 6×5

September 14, 2020 Mantastic 3 Comments

Introduction

Puzzle and Dragons is my longest played game to date and one reason for my continued interest it infinite skill ceiling required for orb manipulation and comboing.

Like any skill, learning how to puzzle better takes time but I have found you can greatly hasten your progress through dedicated practice along with being aware of variuos matching techniques.

As such, I would like to share my own thought process for matching combos from a “Brute Force” perspective. What I mean by this is matching sets of three without the use of Cascades (staggered matching) by following my 1, 2, 3 method.

This method breaks the board down into three unique sections which in turn makes it easier to visualize where everything will end up while also having a tentative plan in your head. As a result, this will make it easier to fully solve a given board as you will be following a rough template as you go.

While there is no “perfect” way to approach things along with everyone having their own preferences or styles, I have found success with this method and is the technique I teach my supporters on Patreon.

Video commentary & sample boards

—

6×5 boards

A standard board in Puzzle and Dragons is 6×5 which yields 30 orbs and a maximum of 10 combos. However, it is very unlikely you will actually have perfect board distribution to hit those 10 and will more than often settle for 7-8 maximum combos. Continue reading Puzzle and Dragons Combo Guide – Brute Force 6×5 →

Godfest

10 Magic Stone Super Godfest Sept. 11 – 13

September 11, 2020 Mantastic 4 Comments

Introduction

Today marks the debut of another 10 Magic Stone Super Godfest which features a healthy roster of desirable 7-star Godfest Exclusives. Like the past few Super Godfests, this event will feature a 33% GFE rate while also including 2 Samurai 3 Pantheon cards to bring the total of “desirable” rolls to 36%.

This has become the norm for Super Godfests as most feature at least a 1/3 chance for GFE and it now becomes a matter of lining up as many desirable cards as possible in a single event.

As such, the value of any Super Godfest will hinge on how much you value the featured GFE as it will return on a regular basis.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Rolling line up

7* GFE (1.5% each, 16.5% total)

6* GFE (1.5% each, 16.5% total)
**

Samurai 3 (1.5% each, 3% total)

Other Pantheon cards (1.6% each, 64% total)

*Note, Cotton comes in one of her 5 Evolved forms but the total chance of rolling any Cotton is 1.5%.

To roll or not to roll

Generally speaking, Super Godfests cost 10 Magic Stones and feature at worst, 1/3 chance for any Godfest Exclusive. As such, it is most advantageous to try and line up as many key cards for your Monster Box as possible before shaking the REM’s hand.

In the case of this Super Godfest, it features the same rolling odds as a standard Super Godfest while also including a modest array of the newer 7-star GFEs which in turn may make it more appealing. Cards such as Menoa , Remu , Norza , along with Shelling Ford and Fagan Rai for their Weapons are all currently powerful cards to own. With that being said, this can still be seen as a relatively generic Super Godfest as there are no Seasonal cards featured nor exceptionally high rates for GFE.

As such, the decision of whether or not to roll will come down to your own individual Monster Box and goals. Building upon that, it is important to determine whether or not you are rolling to advance your position or the concept of Need over Greed.

What I mean by this is determining whether or not rolling here will actually help you clear more content compared to what you can right now. For example, if you are currently stuck on Arena 5, you need to determine what is holding you back: is it a lack of experience and active skill management or is it because you are using a team with many holes in it?

If you are failing due to issues stemming from your own orb matching skills or active skill management, rolling may not actually help, especially if you have a solid team already. On the flip side, if you have hit a metaphorical wall and are currently being held back by the depth of your Monster Box, rolling can be advantageous assuming the featured cards can help you.

If you would like further reading on this Need over Greed topic, feel free to check out my Though Process for Rolling or Monster Exchanging article HERE.

Conclusion

The current Super Godfest features a 64% Pantheon rolling rate along with a healthy spread of newer 7-star GFE or those that have significant value. While this does sound appealing, one must remember that this is a relatively standard Super Godfest due to no Sasonals nor stronger rolling rates.

As such, the decision of whether or not to roll will come down to your own Monster Box and goals for PAD. With that being said, it is never a “bad” thing to roll in Super Godfests as they always feature 1/3 chance to acquire a GFE which are either tremendously powerful or used as Trade Fodder.

With that being said, let me know what you think about this event in the comments below and whether or not you plan on rolling. If you did roll, let me know how it went.

Happy Puzzling!

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Monster Analysis, New Evolutions

September 9 New Evolutions

September 10, 2020 Mantastic 6 Comments

Introduction

One of the best aspects of PAD is having older cards receive new evolutions or meaningful buffs to help them stay abreast with newer options.

While it is impossible to have everything be truly viable along with the innate power disparity compared to Pantheons versus top rarity Collab cards, many of the cards featured in this latest update can bring additional depth and options to a given Monster Box.

This article will high light the strengths and weaknesses for the new Evolutions found within this update.

Official GHNA post can be found HERE.

Video commentary

—

New Evolutions

Eschamali

Pros	Cons
99 turn Dark Skyfall buff Exceptional personal damage against Attackers	Not many Attackers to kill LS is too orb hungry/impractical

Continue reading September 9 New Evolutions →

Collab REM Reviews

Persona Collab REM Review and Analysis – September 2020

September 6, 2020 Mantastic 15 Comments

Introduction

The Persona Collab returns to North America after a prolong absence. As such, all existing cards have received various buffs along with all top rarity cards gaining Weapon Assists plus several new cards being added.

Generally speaking, this will be a poor event to roll heavily in due to the fact that the bottom rarity cards lack Weapon Assists along with many having questionable value. This is further compounded by the lack of value duplicates bring which in turn makes it either a free roll and Trade event or only rolling in a small amount to hedge against excessive dupes.

This is often the trend with lower costing Collabs as their reduced 5 Magic Stone cost is offset by lower Weighted Stats and a lack of value at the bottom rarity.

Regardless, this article will outline the pros and cons for each card to give players a better understanding of what to expect in the Persona Collab Rare Egg Machine.

Video commentary

—video coming Monday—

Overview

Persona Collab Pros & Cons – September 2020
Pros	Cons
5 Magic Stones Cheaper to roll Weapon Assists for all top rarity cards All top rarity cards are available via Monster Exchange Costs 4 Trade Fodder	5 Magic Stones Bottom rarity is heavily neglected Under 1,000 Weighted Stats for non-Orb Skin cards Bottom rarity has little value in dupes No Weapon Assists Some have questionable value

Persona Collab REM
6 Star base (15% total)
5 Star base (85% total)

Persona Collab – September 2020
S
A
B
C
D

Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking

Icons show Revo or Transformed state if possible

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

Bottom rarity quick summary

( ) – B
( ) – C
( ) – C
( ) – B
( ) – D
( ) – C
( ) – D
( ) – C

Continue reading Persona Collab REM Review and Analysis – September 2020 →

Godfest

10 Magic Stone Super Godfest Aug 31 – Sept 6

August 31, 2020 Mantastic 15 Comments

Introduction

Another Super Godfest has descended upon North America not even 2 weeks after Remu’s debut that shares the same rolling rates and distribution of Godest Exclusives and Pantheons.

As a whole, Super Godfests have become the norm with at least 1/3 chance to acquire any Godfest Exclusive (6 or 7-star) for the price of 10 Magic Stones per roll. This has become the current baseline in which we measure the potential value of a Super Godfest with better events featuring any combination of higher rolling rates, rarer non-GFE cards such as the Samurai 3 Pantheon, or featuring high rarity Seasonal cards like Valentine’s Ideal .

In the case of this current Super Godfest, it features essentially 1/3 GFE rates along with two Samurai 3 cards which brings the total chance for acquiring any other Pantheon card at 64%.

As such, this is not an exceptional Godfest from a rolling point of view and at least from my own point of view, a weaker roster of Godfest Exclusives as many of the 7-stars featured are Redeemable from an Event Medal or older.

With that being said, the featured line up may be exceptionally valuable for your own individual needs which in turn can give justification to roll. Furthermore, newer accounts can almost always benefit from rolling in a Super Godfest as many of the Pantheon cards can at least function as transitional cards for your current teams.

On a side note, I miss having actual names for Super Godfests.

Video commentary

–video coming soon–

Remu

Remu has only been in North America for 10 days or so and I am just including the same copy-paste breakdown of her from my previous Godfest article:

Continue reading 10 Magic Stone Super Godfest Aug 31 – Sept 6 →

Random Thoughts

My Thought Process for Rolling or Monster Exchanging

August 28, 2020 Mantastic 15 Comments

Introduction

Puzzle and Dragons is my longest played game as I have now passed 2,500 days which technically makes it my longest lasting relationship to date. Regardless, I wish to take this opportunity to explain my thought process and rationale for rolling in any event or when Monster Exchanging.

To preface this, I want to stress that there is no “correct” way to play PAD as it is incredibly open-ended as there is no true story or lore and after a terribly brief tutorial, you are basically tossed into the wilds and expected to play. Due to this degree of freedom, there is a strong possibility that you may be playing PAD for different reasons compared to myself along with varying goals and expectations. This is perfectly fine and as long as you are enjoying yourself and not compromising other aspects of your life, you are playing this game “right.”

Regardless, I wish to share my own approach to maximizing my PAD resources which in turn brings me the most excitement from this tremendously old game.

Why I play Puzzle and Dragons

I originally started playing PAD after reading a newspaper article describing this new hit app in Japan while riding the bus. The article piqued my curiosity and later that night I downloaded Puzzle and Dragons on my iPad mini as my phone was not smart enough to run it and is why I prefer playing on a larger screen as that was what I got used to originally. Continue reading My Thought Process for Rolling or Monster Exchanging →

Godfest

Remu Debut 10 Stone Super Godfest

August 21, 2020 Mantastic 28 Comments

Introduction

Super Godfests have become a regular part of our PAD life as it will offer at least 1/3 chance to acquire any Godfest Exclusive (6 or 7-star) for the price of 10 Magic Stones per roll. With this baseline in mind, the spicier Super Godfests are those that feature any combination of higher rolling rates, the inclusion of high rarity Seasonal cards (eg. Valentine’s Ideal ), or featuring rarer non-GFE cards such as the Samurai 3 Pantheon.

In the case of the current Super Godfest, it features essentially 1/3 GFE rates along with two Samurai 3 cards which brings the total chance for acquiring any Pantheon card at 64%.

As a whole, this does not scream exceptional value but this Super Godfest includes many of the newer Godfesrt Exclusives, but most importantly the debut of Remu .

Remu is going to be the new hot Transforming Fire leader who pairs beautifully with Dante along with two of their key subs coming from the current Sacred Relic event.

With this in mind, this Super Godfest may be worth rolling in if you have the capacity to field a strong Remu team and did not pull Dante. Furthermore, Norza , Menoa , Grandis , and Shelling Ford are featured who all bring something valuable to any Monster Box.

Video commentary

Remu

Continue reading Remu Debut 10 Stone Super Godfest →

Collab REM Reviews

Sacred Relic REM Review and Analysis – August 2020

August 16, 2020 Mantastic 32 Comments

Introduction

The Sacred Relic event returns to North America on August 17 and comes with several small but meaningful buffs for most cards. What makes the Sacred Relic event unique is that all cards found within are able to Transform with many of them actually providing numerous Effective Skill Boosts before Transforming.

This aiding other cards to Transform while also Transforming is incredibly valuable as it will remove the now “dead” Skill Boost awakenings as they are now replaced with something else along with the actives being greatly upgraded.

Furthermore, Sacred Relic is home to two incredibly powerful bottom rarity cards who will be a boon to essentially any Monster Box. With this in mind, I do encourage players to roll in this event if they have not done so in the past or if they are missing Lampeid and especially Polowne .

With that being said, none of these cards have Weapon Assists which greatly lowers the value of Dupes along with it often being difficult to run 2 of the same card on a given team.

Video commentary

—video coming Monday—

Overview

Sacred Relic Pros & Cons – August 2020
Pros	Cons
2/4 bottom rarity cards are worth owning/pursuing Lampeid Polowne Plenty of value sprinkled throughout all rarities Fewer cards available Easier to roll a specific monster	No Weapon Assists on any card Dupes have much lower value More painful with 10 Magic Stone cost Relatively small rolling pool Only four 5-star cards that make up 55% or rolls

Sacred Relic REM
7 Star base (10% total)
6 Star base (35% total)
5 Star base (55% total)

Sacred Relic REM Rankings – August 2020
S
A
B
C
D

Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking

Icon shows Transformed state

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

Bottom rarity quick summary

For the Sacred Relic cards, I will show both pre and post-Transform states:

– A
– D
– C
– S

Continue reading Sacred Relic REM Review and Analysis – August 2020 →

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Introduction

Video commentary

Overview

Monster Hunter Collab Pros & Cons – September 2020

Pros

Cons

Monster Hunter Collab REM

Monster Hunter Collab – September 2020

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

Bottom rarity quick summary

Introduction

Video commentary

Overview

PAD Island Pros & Cons – September 2020

Pros

Cons

PAD Island REM

PAD Island – September 2020

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

Bottom rarity quick summary

Introduction

Video commentary & sample boards

6×5 boards

Introduction

Video commentary

Rolling line up

7* GFE (1.5% each, 16.5% total)

6* GFE (1.5% each, 16.5% total) **

Samurai 3 (1.5% each, 3% total)

Other Pantheon cards (1.6% each, 64% total)

To roll or not to roll

Conclusion

Introduction

Video commentary

New Evolutions

Eschamali

Pros

Cons

Introduction

Video commentary

Overview

Persona Collab Pros & Cons – September 2020

Pros

Cons

Persona Collab REM

Persona Collab – September 2020

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

Bottom rarity quick summary

Introduction

Video commentary

Remu

Introduction

Why I play Puzzle and Dragons

Introduction

Video commentary

Remu

Introduction

Video commentary

Overview

Sacred Relic Pros & Cons – August 2020

Pros

Cons

Sacred Relic REM

Sacred Relic REM Rankings – August 2020

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

Bottom rarity quick summary

Puzzling those Dragons

6* GFE (1.5% each, 16.5% total)
**