GungHo NA has been releasing News Update videos for the past 2 months which is fantastic as we are better able to plan out our play time and Magic Stone usage. As such, here is a recap of the upcoming North American news for July 2021 along with screenshots of the notable news points in case watching videos is not ideal.
On a different note, there will be a maintenance on Wednesday evening from 18:00 – 2:00 (UTC-8) which will grant 9 Resets including Rank 150-1000 Memorial pulls, Present, and Best Friend selection. If you wish to read more about Best Friends, check out my other article HERE. I will release an update video after Patch Notes go live.
Due to my wrist (and other) pains, I have been struggling to find a way to do reviews and hopefully this shorter format provides some insight as a supplement to my YouTube video.
For PAD Academy, it is a top-heavy event which offers several powerful cards at the higher rarities. Thankfully, both the 8 and 9-star cards can be Monster Exchanged for which will be the best course of action as the bottom rarity has middling value despite owning a Weapon Assist . This is because their value is terribly low and will be replaced as soon as other options become available.
With this in mind, I will only be highlighting within this article the top major prizes to consider Monster Exchanging for.
I have been playing Puzzle and Dragons for over 2,700 days and in this time I have seen monsters rise and fall, a constantly shifting meta, along with Farmables being a top tier leader. Furthermore, I have witnessed the constantly evolving mechanics of current end game dungeons along with the cards released to counter them.
As a whole, PAD is by far my longest played game and would technically qualify as my longest relationship, but like any relationship, it requires work, dedication, and patience to truly succeed.
Obviously I love Puzzle and Dragons but at the same time, I can be critical about the short comings of this game along with how I feel the meta is shifting and whether or not it is for the better.
With that being said, there has never been a better time to play PAD due to the exceptionally generous hand outs by GungHo that include copious amounts of Magic Stones and special Godfest rolls which is further diminishing the concept of early game PAD.
With all of this in mind, I would like to examine the current state of the game through this article by highlighting what works and areas that need improvement.
On a side note, my previous State of the Game article highlights other important aspects with many of my views holding true to this day.
The Street Fighter Collab returns to North America for a second rerun which includes new evolutions, buffs, and 3 additional cards to be rolled. Due to the 6-Magic Stone price tag, the Monster Exchange Rate are lower compared to other event as players only require five 6-star GFE as Trade Fodder.
On the other hand, the Collab as a whole is reasonably underwhelming along with the bottom rarity not providing much value outside of Buttons and a potential Pixel Blanka System.
As such, this is an easy event to potentially skip from a rolling point of view as there are no truly amazing cards and if something is appealing, Monster Exchanging may be your best course of action.
Video commentary
—video coming Monday—
Overview
Street Fighter Collab REM Pros & Cons – May 2021
Pros
Cons
6 Stones per roll
More affordable Monster Exchange rates
Requires five 6* GFE Fodder
More motivation to not roll
Every card has multiple Evolution options
No truly outstanding card
Many cards feel outdated
Relatively little value at bottom rarity
Street Fighter Collab REM
6 Star base
(22.7% total)
5 Star base
(77.3% total)
Street Fighter Collab Rankings – May 2021
S
A
B
C
D
Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking
Icons show Base form
Regardless of card’s ranking, you should always keep it if it is your very first time acquiring them
Sunday marks the debut of two new 7-star Godfest Exclusives who are both outstanding leaders that help push Powercreep to the next level. Unfortunately, they are debuting within a reasonably average Godfest as it only features 33% chance for any GFE which is as low as it can go. On the other hand, all five Samurai 3 cards () will be featured in their Weapon Assist form which helps bring the “good” rolling pool up to 40.5%.
As such, the value of this Super Godfest will be higher for those who lack Samurai 3 cards but will be more underwhelming for those who have already rolled them all.
With that being said, this article will examine both new Godfest Exclusives in greater detail.
Video commentary
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New Godfest Exclusives
Both Royal Oak and Nautilus are special 7-star GFE who have a 2 step Transformation that does not cycle back around like Jiraiya. As a whole, this is a better design as it enables Royal Oak and Nautilus to have Skill Boosts in their Base form (something a cyclic Transforming card cannot) along with no true worries about juggling a certain active skill for a specific floor. As such, it is best to try and reach the Final form as fast as possible but both have a 6 turn cooldown after they Transform for the first time. This means that without Haste, it will take a least 6 turns to Transform into their final and strongest form. Continue reading Royal Oak & Nautilus Debut Super Godfest Review→
The REMDra Fever “Ranking” Dungeon returns to North America and gives players a chance to grind for a (cosmetic) Crown by accumulating 999,999 points over any number of runs. While this is exciting, it will take numerous clears to achieve but there are ways to bolster your score to save time, stamina, and mental sanity. Generally speaking, no Water orbs will take less effort overall as it is much easier to achieve a higher combo count due to only 5 possible orb types appearing. Furthermore, the inclusion TPA (200 pts) and Recover Bind (1,000 pts) will help hasten this process.
As with all REMDra Fever events, the dungeon is quite lucrative to run over and over again as it only costs 25 stamina and offers valuable drops. Furthermore, any number of players can achieve a Crown and is not only given to the first X number of players to hit the score cap of 999,999.
This article will explain the rules for REMDra Fever and how to maximize your score potential and how to farm it as efficiently as possible once you are satisfied with your score.
The highly anticipated Demon Slayer Collab finally comes to North America along with several small Leader Skill buffs. As a whole, this event has become more “dated” due to the significant delay between the JP and our release. While cards can never receive direct nerfs, they can become weaker relatively speaking as newer cards are often stronger compared to older ones.
As such, many cards have lost some of their edge but at the same time, there is still a tremendous amount of value to be found within the 7 and 8-star rarities. Sadly, this event also features one of the worst designed REM-set ups as players cannot Monster Exchange for the 7-star cards which means they have to be rolled. This will be a similar experience to the Monogatari Collab where players could frivolously roll in the vain hope of acquiring Nadeko and we will have a similar experience here.
With this in mind, having a significant Magic Stone hoard will be needed to dig deep into this REM and with no Pity System in place, repeated sadness can/will occur.
On the bright side, GungHo will be gifting all players one free 8-star roll at a future, unknown date.
Video commentary
—video coming Monday—
Overview
Demon Slayer Collab REM Pros & Cons – May 2021
Pros
Cons
New event
Features many hard to replicate cards
Weapon Assists for all 7 & 8-stars
Unique and powerful cards at 7 & 8-star rarity
Free 8-star roll from GH
Will be gifted at a later date
I do not know when
Bottom rarity is mostly lackluster
70% of the rolling pool
Only 1 has Weapon
Cannot Monster Exchange for 7-stars
Have to roll
Odds are not in your favour
7-8 month old event in JP
Cards have lost some of their edge
No Skill Up Dungeon
Gotta Py everything
Demon Slayer Collab REM
8 Star base
(6% total)
7 Star base
(24% total)
6 Star base
(70% total)
Demon Slayer Collab – May 2021
S
A
B
C
D
Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking
Icons show Base form
Regardless of card’s ranking, you should always keep it if it is your very first time acquiring them
The Mystics & Spectres returns to North America but only includes buffs for 2 cards along with no new monsters being added. As such, the vast majority of cards have remained stagnant and while nothing can ever be “nerfed” in PAD, not receiving buffs means cards will fall behind as newer things are released.
With that being said, there is still tremendous value within the actual Mystics & Spectres cards but we will be plagued by the worst REM set up which lumps all of these event cards into the regular REM. This results in a 5 Magic Stone price tag, no GFE, and no collateral benefits along with painful rolling rates for the top rarity cards who are the true prizes for this event.
Taking all of this into consideration, there is still value to be had rolling within this event but if you have done so in the past, there may be little reason to continue chucking Magic Stones here in the hopes of acquiring a 7-star card due to the terribly designed REM.
Video commentary
—video coming Monday—
Overview
Mystics & Spectres REM Pros & Cons – May 2021
Pros
Cons
All 7-star cards are outstanding leaders
Capable of clearing all content
All cards feature Weapon Assists
All Mystics & Spectre cards have value
Not an exclusive REM
Rolling pool has regular REM
No GFE
Countless unevolved Pantheons
50% cards are Mystics & Spectres
Cannot Monster Exchange for top rarity
Have to roll
Essentially no buffs overall
Makes cards fall behind in Powercreep
Mystics & Spectres REM
7 Star base
(4% total)
6 Star base
(18% total)
5 Star base
(28% total)
Mystics & Spectres – May 2021
S
A
B
C
D
Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking
The rolling pool does not add up to 100% because Pantheons are also included
Icons show Base form
Regardless of card’s ranking, you should always keep it if it is your very first time acquiring them
Puzzle and Dragons is a tremendously deep game that has years worth of content waiting for players. Sadly, there is essentially no in-game information as to what mechanics, spawns, or what can actually happen in a dungeon which in turn creates a terrible guessing game.
Thankfully, we are eventually able to “solve” any dungeon with enough trial and error and for myself, what I find most helpful when trying to tackle a new dungeon is a Checklist of notable mechanics. From this Checklist, I will try my best to address all of the dangerous mechanics while prioritizing unavoidable abilities.
With this in mind, I would like to create a master Checklist for all of the Arena, Colosseum, and World of Carnage dungeons to help players better prepare themselves as knowing what can possibly happen is a huge asset in PAD.
Video commentary
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How to use my checklists
With any dungeon, there are avoidable and unavoidable mechanics and it is important to address the unavoidable mechanics first. As such, there will be a priority-like system when looking at dungeon mechanics and you may have to forgo certain solutions depending on the depth of your Monster Box. Furthermore, certain teams/leaders may naturally counter specific mechanics. Continue reading Arenas, Colosseum & WoC/Shura Mechanics Checklist→
Super Godfests are 10-Stone events where players will have at least a 1/3 or 33% chance of acquiring any Godfest Exclusive (GFE) but this changes when it becomes a Seasonal Super Godfest.
Seasonal Super Godfests are unique as they feature 7-9 star Seasonal cards in the line up but omit all the horrible bottom rarity cards that are found in their respective REMs. This is important as rolling in Seasonal REMs tends to be an underwhelming affair whereas the “bad” rolls in a Godfest are at least Pantheon cards who will have value for more shallow Boxes or are actually potent in their own right.
Furthermore, Seasonal Super Godfests also include 6 and 7-star Godfest Exclusives but will have their rates adjusted due to the inclusion of the Seasonal cards. With this in mind, I tend to lump all of the valuable cards (Seasonal, GFE, Samurai 3) into the “good” to roll pool which comes to 37% chance for the current Seasonal Super Godfest.
While this is potentially lower compared to PCGF/anniversary events, neither of these allow players to directly roll the higher rarity Seasonal cards who are often acquired via Monster Exchanging. This in turn means that rolling any of these cards can be thought of as acquiring 4-5 GFEs as you just saved yourself the Monster Exchange.
Video commentary
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Rolling pool
Seasonal Super Godfests differ from regular Super Godfests as they push out varying amounts of GFEs in order to accommodate the Seasonal cards. This adjusted rolling pool will still have a >33% chance to acquire any “good” card (Seasonal, GFE, Samurai 3). As such, the featured Seasonal cards will be the main motivator to roll in this event as many of them are incredibly difficult to replicate otherwise. Continue reading 10 Magic Stones Seasonal Super Godfest April 29 – May 5→
![Upcoming Events in July – P&D Pass Bonus, Heroine, [Fairy] Title Challenge, & Fairies Event](https://mantasticpadblog.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/faries-coming-2.png?w=672&h=372&crop=1)
