The Rikuu Ranking Dungeon is in full swing and North America has already surpassed the JP cutoff. This is a surprising accomplishment as NA is usually behind JP unless the Ranking Dungeon was so delayed that we gained access to new cards/team compositions.
This article will examine the cutoff curve and what assumptions we can make along with what is the most popular/accessible team players are using.
Video commentary
–video coming soon–
JP vs NA Curve
Images courtesy of the Puzzle & Dragons Community Discord Server.
Historically speaking, the crowning score curves for JP and NA look different, but JP usually edges out on top by the end. This is because North American players are able to immediately copy their strategies right from Day 1 and spend less time tinkering or experimenting with teams as they only need to make adjustments based on their Monster Box. Continue reading Rikuu Ranking, JP Cutoff, and Higher NA Scores→
The Rikuu Ranking Tournament is an exciting event as it gives players another chance to acquire Rikuu as well as obtaining a Crown.
Scoring at or above the 26% threshold will yield a Rikuu while 6% will guarantee a Crown. Depending on your personal goals and puzzling skills, both rewards may be obtainable and I wish to share my Crowning strategy with you.
Video clear
—
Team used
Rikuu Ranking – Zeus Verse
Card
Inherit
Latent
x6
Zeus Verse requires players to have 3 heals/full damage voids to maintain their health at 100% in order to waltz through the dungeon. I do not own an Amaterasu so I utilize the Ganesha to void the 99% Gravity from Hino on Floor 5.
In addition, I use Water Resist to reduce the damage from the Cat on Floor 8 to ensure I can heal back to full. In hindsight, I could have just used the Light Metatron Weapon Inherit but this also works.
For the most part, you can simply 1 combo each floor and this ensures a faster clear time and a higher score. Of course, there is some luck involved, but this set up helped minimize the failures and my highest score was achieved with only a few runs.
Conclusion
The Rikuu Ranking Tournament is an exciting event as it offers generous rewards at what is arguably the most generous rates possible.
Let me know what you used for the Tournament and how well you have placed.
The Rurouni Kenshin REM makes a triumphant return after a prolonged absence from Puzzle and Dragons. With this inception, the REM gains 3 new cards along with the ability to Limit Break and grant Super Awakenings to the 6-star cards. Furthermore, players will have the option of using the Monster Exchange System to trade in for all of the 6* cards.
As a whole, the Rurouni Kenshin Collab is reasonable overall but may not be worth heavily rolling for the average player. This is not because the cards are weak, but the top prizes are more niche/geared towards players who are interested in farming more efficiently. In addition, there is hope/speculation that NA will gain Persona or Magic the Gather Collabs and they may have more potential overall.
This article will summarize each card’s strengths and weaknesses to give you a better idea of whether or not it is worth spending your Magic Stones here.
Video commentary
—video coming soon—
Overview
Kenshin REM
6 Star base
5 Star base
4 Star base
Kenshin REM – June 8, 2018
S
A
B
C
D
All 6-star cards are available for trade within the Monster Exchange System.
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.
The PAD Acedemy REM returns this Monday to North America. The event comes with 5 new characters, Limit Break/Super Awakenings for older cards, and the option to utilize the Monster Exchange System to acquire the 8-star cards.
All of this translates into an interesting event; however, the cards themselves are nothing special and after numerous lucrative events, it may be challenging to justify spending your Magic Stones here.
Unfortunately, many of the PAD Academy cards are reskins of existing (and lackluster) REM cards along with the 5 and 6-stars being horribly outdated.
On the bright side, there will be no more 4-star cards coming out of the Event REM and each roll will be festively dressed to fulfill all your School Boy/Girl fantasies.
Video commentary
—video coming soon—
Overview
PAD Academy REM
8 Star base
7 Star base
6 Star base
5 Star base
PAD Academy – June 1, 2018
S
A
B
C
D
All 8-star cards are available for trade within the Monster Exchange System. Sakuya will be available for 300,000 Monster Points but this is unwise as she is underwhelming along with the June Monthly Quests giving one out as a reward for completion.
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.
June is in full swing which means a a brand new set of Monthly Quest Dungeons to tackle! This morning I had nearly full stamina and decided to record my three solo clears to showcase what mechanics to be aware of along with possible counters to them.
Video clears
Level 10
Tardis is the true hero for granting free stalling on Floor 1 to ensure all relevant actives are ready in time. Just make sure to leave at least 3 poison orbs for Medjedra to lock instead of disabling your awoken skills. —
Level 9
Having a Fenrir inherit prevents any poison orbs from falling down. Just make sure you leave the three Jammer orbs created in the bottom row to ensure you can match any new ones that fall down.
The final boss has 40 million defense to either bring a burst or DEF break to easily kill her. In addition, having a delay or shield ensure you survive her 200% gravity in the advent she prevents matching of your particular colour.
—
Level 8
Level 8 was reasonably straight forward and the only major issue I can foresee is Azazel placing his tape on the top row which prevents players from matching there. The two easiest counters are either the Resistance Immobility awakening or using a 7×6 board. Finally, having a time buffer ensures you can overcome Kushindahime’s massive time debuff and combo shield.
—
Conclusion
These videos are not the only way to go about this and naturally, playing in coop will make things easier. Regardless, this set felt less intimidating overall and I am curious to hear what you have used to clear these dungeons.
The format for Godfests has been dramatically changed through their REM Renewal along with Full Disclosure of Rolling Rates. These changes dramatically improve your chances of rolling a specific card as the pool of available monsters is significantly smaller as only a portion of the all possible monsters are featured at a given time. This is great news for players as you are better able to focus your Magic Stones on key cards.
Godfests no longer advertise “rate increases” and instead Highlighted specific cards along with 6* Godfest Exclusives being available. As such, these events are the best time to roll the REM as the current meta is heavily favouring these rare and elusive monsters.
Rolling rates may change or vary with each Godfest event and some 6* GFE may have higher rolling rates.
Introduction
Thursday’s Godfest marks the debut of the first 7* GFE: Zela . She comes with two unique evolution paths but will most likely be used in her triple 7 Combo form as it is able to unleash explosive amounts of damage. Furthermore, this Godfest contains a respectable roster overall and may be worth rolling in if missing many of the featured cards.
As with always, the decision of whether or not to roll is dependent on your own Monster Box and needs.
Unlike Godfests of the past, only some 6/7* GFE will be featured. If they are listed as unavailable, you will be unable to roll them during the event.
May 31 – June 1 Godfest
6/7* GFE available
6/7* GFE not available
You ideally wish to line up a Godfest that overlaps with several key targets to improve your overall chances of success. Thus, it may be advantageous to wait for a more opportune Godfest if the current one does not feature enough key targets.
Based on the revealed rolling rates, 6* GFE will have 0.6% hit rate each for a total of (0.6*20) 12% for any 6* GFE. With that being said, some 6* GFE may feature an increased rate and you simply have to check the displayed rolling rates each time.
Zela Debut
Zela is the first 7* GFE to be released and is possibly setting an unhealthy prescedent moving forward. This is because she is incredibly powerful along with being even harder to roll than her 6* cousins.
We have seen the trend of GungHo heavily pushing Powercreep away from Farmables and Pantheon cards which can make newer content more restrictive and less accessible overall. Thus, with the introduction of Zela (and more 7* GFE in JP), we may be entering a period where the top tier prizes are even more limited.
Regardless, Zela is an incredible card to own and will more than likely be a blessing for most Monster Boxes.
Pros
Cons
Two distinct forms
Choose either VDP or 7c
7c is almost always better
1,100 weighted stats
Amazing active skill
Makes hearts and wood orbs
+2 combo count
Removes locked orbs
Bind immune
Can have three 7c and FUA
Animated
Modest, albeit orb hungry leader skill
Wood is a less desirable colour
One SB
Longish base CD
Despite having two distinct forms, her triple 7 Combo with the Follow Up Attack is almost always the better form. This is because she offers explosive damage along with the highly desirable FUA. This enables her to function amazingly well on any combo or wood team but her main drawback is the fact that she is Wood.
Presently speaking, the top leaders are Edward , Yusuke , and Diablos . All three leaders have flexible team building requirements, but Zela cannot be used on Yusuke teams due to no Light attribute (and non-synergistic active).
With that being said, one can still use Zela on Edward and Diablos teams, but she is less desirable on Edward due to no Light (cannot benefit from his base active) along with her board changer being unlikely to help the team overall.
Thus, Zela would be relegated to Diablos teams which is still perfectly acceptable and her board changer is helpful there. While other combo teams can utilize her, they tend to be less powerful overall. Regardless, Zela will be a phenonminal sub provided the team can capitalize on her strengths.
On the other hand, her Void Damage Penetration form should only be pursued if you are truly desperate for this type of awakening. This is because she comes with no natural offensive awakenings and her Super Follow Up Attack is generally inferior to a regular FUA.
As a leader, Zela is stronger in her 7c form as it enables players to better take advantage of her explosive damage, even if unable to hit 2 or 3 wood combos. The fact that both leaders will have a personal 8x damage is meaningful and helps reduce the need to have wood orbs present. With that being said, she is still not the best leader due her low multiplier with only a single Wood combo despite having a wonderful passive damage reduction.
GFE Tier list
This list reflects a card’s overall usage/viability in the current meta as well as moving forward. Cards are in no particular order within each tier.
Use these rankings as a starting point and not as absolute truth. Highly valued cards only have merit if you have a team to support them so they are somewhat subjective to your own Monster Box.
Regardless of card’s ranking, you should almost always keep the first copy of anything you roll
6* GFE Tier List – May 30, 2018
S
A
B
—
C
D
May 30 – June 1, 2018 Godfest Rankings
S
A
B
C
D
Overall, this Godfest features a respectable line up and may be worth pursuing if missing many of the top prize cards. At this point there are no scheduled Collabs/Special Events coming to NA outside of the the off chance we get the recently announced Magic the Gather that JP will be having.
Notable changes
Ilm A -> B
Ilm continues to find less value/usage due to the absence of more and more Ranking Dungeons. The First Pad Challenge Tournament was supposed to be part of a 4-Ranking Dungeon event but we never actually got the rest. I am not sure why GH keeps skipping Ranking Dungeons but this trend continues to make Ilm less desirable overall.
GFE Trading Post
After the excitement of the Yu Yu Hakusho Collab and our first taste of the GFE Trading Post, many players may be in need of restocking back up on 6* GFE. Sadly, gunning purely for 6* GFE was best done during the previous Super Godfest where the chances of rolling a 6* GFE were significantly higher.
Regardless, the Trading Post/Monster Exchange System makes it highly undesirable to actually sell any 6* GFE as they can instead be traded in for a desirable/rare card.
Pantheon/5* GFE Highlights
With the presence of a Godfest, only 6* GFE are Highlighted. As a result, the 6* Pantheon cards now lose their Highlighted rates and drop down to around 0.64% chance to roll which makes them on par with 6* GFE.
This creates an interesting conundrum, during non-Godfest events, the chances of you rolling a 6* Pantheon card are significantly higher but you cannot acquire the GFE.
With this in mind, it is still best to roll in Godfest events as the 6* GFE tend to be stronger overall and you can at least still roll a 6* Pantheon card at the same time.
Rolling rates may change each Godfest so always double check the line up beforehand.
Featured Cards
The Rare Egg Machine will continuously rotate various Pantheon and former 5* GFE cards that will overlap with Godfests; however, I am unable to find what will be available starting tomorrow so just simply check the disclosed rolling rates to see what is available.
Collabs vs Godfests
Prior to the reveal, it was quite risky to roll in Collabs as they often left players more disappointing than anything else. However, after seeing various Collab rolling rates, you have a pretty solid chance at acquiring a 7*+ card. Of course you will have to weigh the pros and cons along with examining the lowest rarity rolls from the Collab.
On the bright side, we are going to be entering an era where we will be able to utilize the Monster Exchange System to trade in for a desirable card. This was most prominent for acquiring Yusuke as players did not actually have to roll in it and could simply exchange four 6* GFE.
Sadly, Collabs are starting to shift towards the strongest cards in the game which is unfortunate for newer players as there is simply not enough Magic Stones to go around.
As a result, it has become more valuable for veteran player to roll in Collabs due to the fact that it offers cards you cannot otherwise replicate. On the other hand, newer players will tend to find more merit in regular Godfests as they need to round out their Monster Box before chasing more niche cards.
Conclusion
The upcoming Godfest is reasonable overall and does include our first ever 7* GFE; however, unless the rolling rates are magically higher than normal, it will just be slightly better than average.
Let me know what you think about this event in the comments below along with how much you plan on rolling.
Version 14.1 is now live in NA and comes with the highly anticipated Evo Material Stacking feature. This allows all Evo Materials to only take up a single space and duplicates will simply “stack” on top. Thus, having 50 Keepers of Rainbow will only take up a single Monster Box Space instead of the previous 50.
In addition to this, several new evolutions were released along with some other Quality of Life improvements. This article will summarize all the notable changes as well as providing my perspective on how to take full advantage of Version 14.1.
The GungHo Festival in Japan is a large event that also comes with numerous exciting changes for Puzzle and Dragons. When there are exciting updates/news in JP, I tend to do a First Impressions video for YouTube and due to the size/level of excitement for this upcoming update, I decided it would be best to share it on my website as well.
Video commentary
—
Notable highlights
Red Starter Dragon becomes viable/amazing (Wood to a lesser degree)
Archangel Lucifer becomes a viable sub and God Killer
Vajrayaksas become amazing button bases due to double Coop Boost and 3 SB
Plus Bank (saves box space)
Tamadra and latent Tamadra stacking
QoL changes to fusing pluses/awakenings
Evo materials changed to Rare Stones (can be exchanged for)
Conclusion
North America will be gaining access to all of these exciting changes/buffs in approximately 2-3 months time. This downtime is the only major problem I currently have with Puzzle and Dragons as some of the hype inevitably dies down. Regardless, this is an incredibly exciting update and players should not need to purchase additional Monster Box space along with NA gaining Evo material stacking this Tuesday.
I used to do this type of post series and thought it was time to bring it back. The general gist of Question Time posts are for players to ask various PAD-related questions that do not have a simple/Google-able answer. With that being said, there will be some restrictions on the types of questions I will be answering.
Another reason why I want to revive this type of posting at this point in time is because I am currently suffering from variuos physical health problems which makes it challenging to sit down and write longer articles.
Do’s and Don’t
The following types of questions will not be answered by me either because it has a simple Google-able answer or shows a lack of effort on the reader’s part:
Anything that PADGuide/Padx can answer
A link to your entire Monster Box and saying “make me a team”
For the most part, almost any other question will be answered, even some non-obtrusive Off-Topic ones; however, it is best to ask questions that require explanation/why/my personal opinion. The following examples are Fantastic types of questions to ask:
Of these options, what is the best Yusuke team I can make for Arena 3?
What direction do you think GH will take with the new 10c awakening?
Can row teams be revived and if so, how?
Conclusion
I hope my viewers use this opportunity to ask questions that will hopefully improve their overall game play and progression.
On a side note, hopefully things settle down and I can resume my strange normal life.
Yusuke is the newest craze to come to NA Puzzle and Dragons as he is one of the best leaders in the game along with being an amazingly powerful sub. Furthermore, he will be one of the most widely available cards due to the fact that he is available to trade in for via the Monster Exchange System (can read more about that HERE).
These factors have led us into a throwback to Dark Athena era as a large chunk of player’s friend list may now be populated by Yusuke.
This article will summarize my thoughts and rationale for building a Yusuke team; however, team building is more about countering the dungeon mechanics and somewhat removes the notion of “perfect set ups.” As such, I find it best to understand how each sub functions as well as Yusuke’s strengths and weaknesses.
Video commentary
–video coming soon–
Sample gameplay
—–
Yusuke at a glance
HP: 4,035
ATK: 1,820 RCV: 410
Active: Reduces cooldown of other skills by 1 turn. Removes lock status on orbs. Change all orbs to Water & Light orbs (13 turn CD)
Leader Skill: Light attribute cards HP x1.5, ATK x1.5, RCV x1.5. All attribute cards ATK x4 when reaching 7 combos or above. All attribute cards ATK x2.5 when reaching Light & Water combos
Patreon
![[Videos] June Quest Dungeons – Solo Level 8-10](https://mantasticpad.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/capture.png?w=672&h=296&crop=1)
The following types of questions will not be answered by me either because it has a simple Google-able answer or shows a lack of effort on the reader’s part:
For the most part, almost any other question will be answered, even some non-obtrusive Off-Topic ones; however, it is best to ask questions that require explanation/why/my personal opinion. The following examples are Fantastic types of questions to ask:
Mantastic Puzzle and Dragons 