Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: Japan Godfest (11/1~11/2) no rolls

Skipped this one as GFE Heroine REM was announced at 10 magic stones a roll. I also never expect another Godfest announced again in just a short amount of time. (Don't think this has ever happen) This one actually had 5x rates and make me regret rolling more the previous Godfest!

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Clash Royale: Tips and Links (Updated with 2 reddit links)

I'm really late to this game but finally started it a few days ago. It is quite an interesting game that I am considering a tower defense game, especially the "stamina" system. You can keep playing at the expense of forgoing new chests for cards because of the fixed 4 chest slots. It is probably still a good idea to keep playing to 10 crowns to at least get the Crown Chest for the day before stopping.

There doesn't seem to be any easy way to "reroll" your account if you don't like your first Epic rarity card after tutorial; it seems like you will need to do it on a new device: https://www.reddit.com/r/ClashRoyale/comments/41l2f1/anyway_to_reroll/. I got the Skeleton Army for my first Epic and it is not a good card because of numerous easy counters to it but have continued with the account so far. I'm a little tempted to spend some money to get 500 gems to exchange for 10,000 coins and buy the other better Epics from the shop but have managed to resist so far!

The early game so far seems to be just about playing your tanks and supporting it with firepower behind it. Hopefully, things change soon enough when I get to the higher arena levels before I get bored of the gameplay.

Here's are some useful links I researched:

Puzzle & Dragons: My Japan's Godfest (10/28~10/30) rolls

Radious, Dark Metatron, Ruka, Thuban

We are back to the huge lineup for Godfest and I didn't really need to roll 4 times but I was bored. I almost thought I got another Light Metatron at first but it's actually my first Dark Metatron. It's not used as much nowadays, I still see her in Awoken Anubis teams, but it's always nice to get a new card. I don't think the other cards are worth keeping but with YamaP rolling on the 10/31 stream on Monday and buffing whatever he gets, I will hold them for a few days longer.

Looking forward to the stream and one of the highlights should be the evolutions for Ra and Yomi Dragons!

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: Medals in Radar App (Updated)

PAD Radar app introduced medals in version 1.5: Reddit link. Check out what to do with them in that Reddit link.

I actually deleted the app some time back because it was really boring and also part of my plan to reduce my time spend on PAD. I picked it back up again because of this medals system making it slightly more interesting. I wonder if you are able to get Izanagi X and Apocalypse X from just searching for medals in app or only available from physical pins...

Update: Seems like you can get Izanagi X and Apocalypse X from searching in the PAD Radar app: http://www.padpadblog.com/2016/10/pad-r_25.html. A player from Taiwan got it according to PAD blog which references the user from a Taiwan forum!

Monday, October 24, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: My Japan's Halloween 2016 Gacha rolls

I managed to save up 4 rolls: HSopdet, HSonia, HSopdet, HMulan. HSonia is my 4th Sonia after red and 2 blues. It's always nice to get a gold egg from these seasonal gacha even if I may not have any use for them. I don't intend to keep the other 3 silvers though as I don't really find much use for them; I had a HSopdet earlier that I always thought of using in Yomi Dragon team but never got around to skilling up and was eventually sold. I really wanted a HIzanami or Misery but can't really complain much as I got a gold egg. I'm not rolling anymore and saving my stones for the next GodFest or event, I have more "wants" than "needs" from this gacha.

Check out https://setsupad.wordpress.com/2016/10/21/special-rem-review-halloween-2/ for setsu's review of the gacha. It also contains some interesting videos on Misery.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: My Japan's "Halloween" Godfest (10/14~10/16) rolls and some thoughts on upcoming Halloween Gacha

This is probably the smallest Godfest lineup in a while; we got the only pantheon, the Archdemons being split into 2 days for the first time instead of being a pantheon a day, along with selected Dark pantheon cards and Godfest exclusives. We also get 2 evolved version of cards just so they can fill up the higher rarity spots; UUVO Krishna and evolved Sherias Roots. (the latter probably chosen with an eye on the upcoming Halloween Gacha as that contains Halloween Sonia Gran-Reverse)

For most people that were complaining about the bloat of the Godfest cards, this reduction of theh lineup is a good sign that things are improving. We'll find out if it is here to stay in the next Godfest. I went for 1 roll each day, thinking of conserving my stones for Halloween Gacha. I wanted Halloween Izanami initially but she does seem a little less used nowadays as I only seen her in 1 Yomi Dragon Arena 2 video. She makes a good base for skill inherit on that team. I am not interested in Halloween Xiang Mei as I already have the red version and the play-style can be boring. Nothing really stands out as must-have and no new leader play-style as well for me. Here are the new cards from padx: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/news.asp?nid=590. Anyway, onto my rolls:

Friday, October 14, 2016

Monster Strike: Japan's 3rd Anniversary Hatcher available now until 7 November + Tier List (Updated with an edit and GameWith's Tier List)

Monster Strike is celebrating its 3rd Year Anniversary in the Japan version at the moment and it has a special Gacha that let's you choose from 5 6* cards of an element. It seems like a really good time to re-roll during this period! I've had problems with the game previously but with this latest 8.0 version, I seem to be able to use the app properly now.

Once you complete the tutorial, which is pretty quick compared to the PAD one IMO, check the red present box icon to find the mail with "3" in its text. (Edit: "3" + it's found in the "[]" brackets) The gacha will appear after you opened that mail. I've tried re-rolling a few times but it is quite tedious as I'm on iOS 10 and have to delete the whole app in order to do so; I did not jailbreak and iOS 10 do not allow using external file explorer. I've read that re-rolling isn't necessary but I'll give it a go until this special hatcher ends and see if I can get any of the OP cards before that.

I've researched around and the top cards seem to be Gabriel from Wood, Lucy from Dark, Arthur and GodStriker from Light. For full breakdown of the elements and their top cards, check out the Monster Strike Blog by SFGundam:

[3rd Anniversary Hatcher] Part #5 - Dark Monsters
[3rd Anniversary Hatcher] Part #4 - Light Monsters
[3rd Anniversary Hatcher] Part #3 - Wood Monsters
[3rd Anniversary Hatcher] Part #2 - Water Monsters
[3rd Anniversary Hatcher] Part #1 - Fire Monsters

If you are starting Monster Strike, here are some resources:
Sub-Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/MonsterStrike/
Ultimate Players Guide from strikeshot.net: http://strikeshot.net/ultimate-players-guide

New:
GameWith's Tier List - https://モンスターストライク.gamewith.jp/article/show/26730

I figured out the location after having use the PAD website for a while. I refer to this list for the 3rd Anniversary Hatcher more than the Monster Strike Blog links above, as GameWith's has everything on a page. I'm still having no luck with the rerolling and I just reroll a few times a day as it is quite tedious on un-jailbroken iOS 10.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: My Rurouni Kenshin Collab roll

Doing a recap about Rurouni Kenshin Collab which happened a while back in Japan version and had also reach the other regions if I'm not mistaken. I did a single roll and was very lucky to get Saito: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=3033.

He was my first orb cross leader and I had quite a bit of fun with this new playstyle. I also did not buy You-yu and he was a decent replacement for a leader with insane attack multiplier. (Not sure if UUVO Sarasvati arrived at that time though) Saito should be very useful against the +297 Zeus dungeon although I have not tried him yet. I have some friends who put him up for a while but everyone had eventually moved on to other leaders like the heart-crossed ones which are just better overall. I hardly use him now although my dark box had the most +297 cards and it's mainly due to my blue cards slowly becoming better after the Summer Gacha and also a certain Blue Miru... I'll talk about that gacha in a future post soon as I continue my recap.

The other card I kept from the Collab was Anji from the dungeon: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=3045. I kept 2 in fact as I managed to max skilled 2 while farming Saito's skill-up card at the same time. I use one of him occasionally in my Red Odin button-press teams for quick Guerrilla Dungeon farming. I didn't get around to fully awakening the other Anji but once done, I can do a team with 5 button-press nukes using them, Awoken Ra and the 2 leader Red Odins. Rounding up the team with a Tengu and the skill boost badge, I'll be able to have all nukes ready on turn 1.

Puzzle & Dragons: My Japan's Story Gacha roll

Refer here for a list of the cards in this gacha: http://pad.skyozora.com/news/期間限定的特別抽蛋「ストーリーフェス」登場!!

I rolled once and got a Chibi Amaterasu and have already sold it. The GFE in the machines are quite attractive but I think it's mostly going to be a Chibi Fiesta so I don't recommend rolling too much in this. Check out Minpuzz's compilation of some Twitter rolls for reference: http://minpuzz.com/blog-entry-13035.html.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Monster Hunter Generations: Tips and Links

I played this game for a while and it helped to take my focus away from PAD for a while. I eventually stopped though as I completed most of the main game and didn't really want to grind for the rest of the weapons and armors. Most of my friends playing together have also moved on to other games so that is another factor. Nevertheless, I had great fun and here are some tips and links that I researched while I was playing:

How I play Pokemon console games now

I used to play really slow and try to catch every Pokemon in an area before proceeding to the next town/gym but now I just go to http://wiki.pokemonspeedruns.com/index.php/Main_Page to find the speed run guides for the particular Pokemon game and follow that instead of a full guide. I don't follow it strictly and try to avoid trainers but this faster way of playing is great because I have a huge backlog of games and want to move on to others. Besides, Pokemon Sun and Moon is coming out in 1 and a half months time...

Pokemon Go: Tips and Links

I played the game for a while but have stopped now except to check once in a long. I figured the end game, other than trying to catch them all, is battling and controlling gyms. I guessed that as the most valuable game currency (akin to the "magic stones" PAD) are given from controlling a gym for a set amount of time. However, I don't like the battle mechanics as it is mostly just rapid tapping on your Pokemon. It definitely does not have the depth of the handheld Pokemon Games are even competitive and have world tournaments. The game has made me interested in Pokemon again though and I went back to try to complete Pokemon White for the DS.

I might pick up the game more if they improve the battling system but I highly doubt so. Here are some tips and links I picked up while researching about the game. I don't use any illegal methods like apps to tell you spawn locations or location spoofers:

Monday, May 30, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: June Bride Seasonal Gacha

Fun Fact about the gacha theme: http://learnjapanese123.com/blog/2010/06/6月の花嫁-rokugatsu-no-hanayome-june-bride

Card art: http://www.padpadblog.com/2016/05/pad_29.html

Full Gacha card list: http://www.padpadblog.com/2016/05/blog-post_72.html (please refer to around the second half of the page)

Card Info in English: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/whatsnew.asp?d=053016

Gadius is the MP card. Light cards galore in this Gacha! If you are running a mono-light team, there are quite a few gold eggs that are great subs in this Gacha.

I love the art for Echidna, Izanami and Eschamali the most but in terms of card usage, I think they are "wants" more than "needs", although Izanami might be good for my Yuna/ADQXQ/Hathor though. The first 2 are probably the most useful cards out of the silvers, Kano and Ruka though.

Kano and Ruka are nowhere near as good as New Year Mitsuki, they could very well just have been silvers but it's great for additional MP when I sell I guess... I rolled a Kano and am planning to sell her.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: New Year Gacha and Dungeon returns for Japan

Previous post: http://simpleduelist.blogspot.com/2015/12/puzzle-and-dragons-new-year-2016-gacha.html

New Year (NY) event gacha and dungeon back to commemorate "Famitsu Awards 2015 Favorite app Award" Gungho received on May 10, 2016. NY Ama will be in the shop for this period as well.

Card buffs: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/news.asp?nid=538

Reddit Discussion: https://nw.reddit.com/r/PuzzleAndDragons/comments/4k78b9/news_jp_ny_gacha_comeback_ny_buffs/?

Notable pulls that I saw used in videos:
- 8* NY Ama on Ra Dragon teams
- 5* NY Hanzo on Superman teams
- 5* NY Mitsuki on Orchid teams (machine killer for Mech Zeus/Hera)
- perhaps 8* NY Kanna as enhancer for Ra Dragon or Dragon teams like the new Sherias Root.

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: PAD Radar app (Updated)

PAD Radar App guides from reddit and discussion

Even if you are not in Japan, you can still collect orbs after you move at least 1KM from a location and use it to exchange for stuff like weekday dungeons, 99 of a stat and piis. I haven't tried out the friend finder yet but I guess it should work for any part of the world...

Update:
The friend finder does work and it seems to be finding friends for me that are from Japan, going by the names, so it isn't as cool.

Useful information from PAD Blog: http://www.padpadblog.com/2016/05/pad-r.html

Orb search reset timings (I'm assuming it's JST)
05:00hrs
11:00hrs
17:00hrs
23:00hrs

I've noticed I can get orbs again while staying at the same location so I think those reset timings are the reason behind it. If you are on the same location and have reached those timings, do a search again before you leave to another place.

Also, it seems that the game doesn't persist over multiple devices of the same OS like how PAD can; if you go to another device, you have to relink your game to retrieve your save orbs via your PAD game but beware, I think the saved data is not instant as I switched and noticed an earlier search I collected not updated to my new device and lost 3 rainbow orbs!

I really dislike the app making me use it every once in a while to swipe orbs on screen; it just feels like a chore. However, I've gotten about 1.5 cards +297 from redeeming the rewards and also with another +297 on the way. I've also redeemed quite a few Monday and Friday dungeons that I didn't play yet. (Note that you might have to change your timezone to Japan to see the dungeons after activating them from your mail) I guess I'll just keep on using the app...

Puzzle & Dragons: Japan's Mini/Chibi Gacha

New Chibis Info: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/news.asp?nid=530

Official Rarity breakdown: http://pad.gungho.jp/member/carnival/pugyucolle/160506/pugyucolle_lineup.html

I believe the seasonal pink REM are no longer having anymore chibis, if it has not already. They get their own gacha now except some like the chibi heroes, normal Isis, normal Amaterasu silvers, chibi Red Odin and Chiyome. 

The most notable pulls IMO will be mini hera and Lilith for their active skill as inheritance for arena. Mini hera in particular has one of the highest % gravity active skill at the moment. Other than that, the boardchanger actives are good for inheritance as well. Do note that other than the silvers, they have the same stats as their normal counterpart and that both Metatrons and Red Sonia chibis will get their leader skill buffed to match their normal counterparts.

In terms of using as a sub though, light valkyrie is probably the most used out of the current chibis. I can see Dark Valkyrie and maybe Awoken Isis, Awoken Amaterasu and UVO Pandora of the new batch of chibis joining her. The last one being a lot of people's favourite. I am going to roll at least once even though I know the rolls are better spent on Godfests.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: Japan's Shonen Sunday (2nd) Collab

New cards info: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/news.asp?nid=523

Sinbad evolution materials and existing REM card buffs: http://pad.gungho.jp/member/collabo/sunday/160422_sunday_sinka.html

This REM used to have a higher chance of getting gold eggs due to the ratio of the rarity. You can also tell from how the 5 star gold eggs sell for only 4000 MP. There's still more gold than silvers but overall, the number of silvers have increased:

4 ->10  4-star silvers
4 -> 8  5-star golds
2 -> 4  6-star golds

Out of all the previous cards, I see Ushio & Tora(6-star) and Lum(5-star) being used the most, mainly in Arena videos. For the new cards, I think the most interesting card is Sesshomaru, the 6-star card, being a good leader pairing for the latest dark MP Flower cards, Xin Hua. The other cards aren't that good IMO with the exception of Sinbad (another new 6-star) being not a bad leader while the rest will probably be useful for skill inheritance.

I'm a fan of manga but never actually checked out these series much other than watching some Inuyasha anime. No must-haves as usual for most Collab REM, this is probably more for the respective manga series fans.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Yu-Gi-Oh! Saikyou Card Battle for 3DS

http://nintendoeverything.com/yu-gi-oh-saikyou-card-battle-revealed-for-3ds/

I've pretty much forgotten all the rules to the game but I'm still interested in news of yugioh nevertheless. I probably won't be getting it though...

Friday, April 8, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: Japan's Batman vs Superman Collab

The REM is basically DC Collab with the addition of a new Batman gold egg.

Batman and DC Collab REM card buff info: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/news.asp?nid=514.

I still have Superman from the first DC Collab and I'm glad he got an ultimate evolution even though I don't see myself using him as a leader or sub for the near future. He probably has the most potential to become the best leader out of all the gold eggs, if not at least very good for farming. If you can form his team and still have enough RCV, he will be better than Supergirl as his leader skill is near unconditional. The only drawback for that unconditional leader skill being the attackers and physical requirements.

I like Armoured Batman's art and he seems to be a nice Awoken Pandora sub with an active skill similar to the green Samurai God Ishida. However, I think the odds are still low to get a gold egg in Collab REM so even though I'm a fan of Batman, I will still rather spend my non-IAP stones on a God Festival instead.

Note that all 3 gold eggs' skill up will be available in the Collab dungeon as you can see them in the card art assets: http://pad.skyozora.com/news/04/08-寵物圖檔更新(共18隻寵物)

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: PAD Academy returns in Japan

New card and buffs: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/news.asp?nid=510

One thing I realised is that there was no cards with co-op boost awakenings this time round and I'm noticing less of that nowadays whereas the killer awakenings continue to be promoted. Some of the more interesting cards introduced are the Green Dark Kali and the Blue Green Sakuya.

Green Dark Kali is probably better as a leader (very similar to FF Lightning's) than a sub although she has the same Dark Kali active skill because she does not have the awakenings of Xmas and the original Dark Kali. I think it is still strong and definitely usable but the other set of awakenings is definitely better utility-wise.

Blue Green Sakuya is available in the MP shop for 300K MP. I will be very tempted to get her if she was unbindable and has Awoken Sakuya's bind clear active skill as I do not have Awoken Isis. However, she only retains the leader skill so I don't find her worth getting.

Overall, I find all the cards having great artwork, with some being hilarious so do check them out, but  as usual, there are no must-haves as with most special REMs.

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Hearthstone and its 'Pity Timer'

I have already quit Hearthstone but this information is really interesting.

Pity Timer on Packs Opening, and the Best Strategy: https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/3z7jyh/pity_timer_on_packs_opening_and_the_best_strategy/

According to the findings, it's a nearly guaranteed legendary card at 40 packs so it is similar to getting one of the highest rarity card when you open one box of TCG booster packs in real life.

Puzzle & Dragons: FFCD Collab 7th and FF Collab 2nd for Japan (Edited 1 new point about Ace)

FFCD Collab 7th
http://pad.gungho.jp/member/collabo/160309_ffcd.html

FFCD REM card buffs, uvos with their evo materials: http://pad.gungho.jp/member/collabo/160309_ffcd_sinka.html

Fencer Santa or Fencer are important silver eggs to get for their AS (it's the same) against Arena 2.0 and Mech Hera: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=536. I thought they will not be as important after Skill Inheritance but it turns out they are getting equipped and are just as important. More on Skill Inheritance in a later post.

No other cards are that essential and the other interesting thing about this return is the UVO of Juggler. I think they have generally become better subs but Black*Mist showed them clearing Arena 2.0: https://youtu.be/hzCzxUwkegc with help from an equipped ARa for the active against predras.

FF Collab 2nd
Cloud, Sephiroth and Yuna UVO details: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/news.asp?nid=494

Rest of the new REM cards & existing REM card buffs: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/news.asp?nid=494

REM card Evo material requirements: http://pad.gungho.jp/member/collabo/160318_ff_series_sinka.html

Fat Chocobo will be available in a gift dungeon: http://pad.gungho.jp/member/collabo/160307_ff_series.html

Some nice leaders in this collab although they are 6 stars, so it'll be hard to get. I don't think there is anything essential from the REM and the popularity of the Final Fantasy franchise is just going to "carry" it and attract people to roll.

Edit: It seems like another popular skill to equip are those damage boost ones, I've seen people used them on Yomi and Ra Dragon. It's probably for Arena/Mech Hera-level kind of bosses.


Ace might be a good silver card equip for red and dark teams, especially if you do not have or want to equip your Awoken Norse Gods...

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: Skill Inheritance (Updated with a note and 3 edits)

Skill Inheritance details: http://pad.gungho.jp/member/skill_keishou/160314.html

GameWith assist recommendation: http://パズドラ.gamewith.jp/article/show/25843

Game8 with list of good base (top list) and good assist (bottom list) cards: https://game8.jp/archives/48674

I like this mechanic a lot as it encourages creativity and makes the game interesting again for a while. (Edit: With the tan guerrilla dungeon returning frequently, Gungho seems to encourage you to equip/unequip and experiment too!)

Cards with increase in value because of this system IMO:
- Dupe ROdin, Dupe ARa, Neptune and Chibi Lilith for nuke/poison against preDra
- REM cards with gravity to replace Zeus-type sub for arena (Edit: or damage booster active skills)
- Collab Silver and silver cards with good actives but not so good awakenings (Note: needs to be able to evo into 5* and have awakenings)
- Cards with low CD to be the base card (Edit: although in the end, the base card still have to be good in the first place)

I made a thread of Arena 2 team clearing with their latent and assist setup over at the PAD forum: http://puzzleanddragonsforum.com/threads/arena-2-videos-with-skill-transfer-latent-setup.90849/

Quitted Hearthstone

Signs when it's time to quit:
- Stopped checking Hearthstone news
- Checking Hearthstone news to find a new expansion coming but not the least interested
- Didn't feel like logging in to play the week's Tavern Brawl or to get to rank 20 for the month

GG.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: Japan's Bleach Collab

Card info from PADX: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/news.asp?nid=483
Game8 card ratings: https://game8.jp/archives/46568
GameWith card ratings: http://パズドラ.gamewith.jp/article/show/24191

There is already a post in Reddit about Ichigo clearing Arena 2.0: [video] UVO Ichigo clear of Arena 2.0 [posted by Shuu Games]. The best cards IMO are Ichigo, Rukia and Urahara but for Urahara, you might need to get a few copies of him to form an effective team. The thing to note is that the 5 stars actually sell for 4000 MP instead of the usual 5000MP. I'm a fan of Bleach but I now prefer the normal REM cards so I rolled once and got Inoue silver egg. I most probably won't be keeping her and will sell for MP.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Hearthstone: A new way to play? (Added an Edit on 10 Feb 2016)

http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/19995505/a-new-way-to-play-2-2-2016

Huge announcement by Blizzard regarding Hearthstone with the move to introduce game formats to the game; Standard and Wild. It is quite similar to the formats in Magic: The Gathering. For Standard in Hearthstone, the Basic and Classic set will not be rotating so Classic packs are probably one of the best pack to buy at the moment if you are still missing key cards from there. I've stopped spending coins as I have most of the cards required to build the decks I want and even with the Standard format, I should be spending my coins on the latest spring expansion as it is always nice to experiment with new cards.

More deck slots were also announced but when I checked the Hearthstone reddit, there wasn't much posts about it in the first few pages which is strange for something much asked for! It seems that mostly the format change had quite an impact on the Hearthstone community that everyone was talking about it instead.

Standard's introduction in Spring will "rotate" out Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins vs Gnomes and there are so many staples from those sets that cannot be used; Zombie Chow, Haunted Creeper, Webspinner, Mad Scientist, Piloted Shredder, Antique Healbot, Loatheb, Sludge Belcher, lightbomb, shielded minibot, muster for battle, death's bite and the infamous Dr. Boom! They are definitely still usable in Wild mode and solo play and should be helpful in Adventures and the Heroic quests.

I look forward to Standard format as it should shake up deck building and keep things fresh with each rotation!

Edit: I realised I forgot about this line from the official article, "While normally we’re quite conservative about making balance changes to Hearthstone cards (and we’ll continue to be in the future), we’re planning to take the new Hearthstone year as a golden opportunity to re-evaluate a number of cards in the Basic and Classic card sets, including class cards, and make some long-considered adjustments." It looks like there is going to be a number of card changes!

More Readings:
https://tempostorm.com/articles/hearthstone-gone-wild
https://tempostorm.com/articles/the-inevitability-of-standard-mode

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: Japan's new Constellation Gods 2.0

http://puzzledragonx.com/en/news.asp?nid=469

I've written some thoughts over at the PuzzleandDragonsforum so I thought I will do a post about them here.

Dark Constellation 2.0, Hamal is a good sub for dark teams focused on dark OE and is like a mini-Eschamali for Yomi Dragon and Eschamali teams, okay as a leader but you'll probably lead with MP dragons or awoken tier cards or even Eschamali if you have her. The same goes for the light Constellation 2.0 probably and that is a good sub for Sakuya and her variations.

RGB Constellation 2.0 are better used as leaders (36x is not too bad while not even factoring in God Killer awakening which is an additional 3x for themselves and they have elemental resists for 2 colors although none of them block dark) or subs for their own team at the moment IMO because their AS produces jammers. If you use them as subs for non-jammer-based leader, you can combo their active with Constellation 1.0 or some other card that can convert jammers but I think it is situational to have to use 2 skills to do that and their actives alone is not that useful. Red and Blue can use their respective Marionettes perfectly and resist the changed color, Green can't but can use red marionette to get resistance to the changed green color without elemental advantage.

I got the red Constellation 2.0, Denebola and I think she might be a situational sub for the latest Co-Op Descended Gainaut: http://www.puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=1839. Gainaut can also be used as her sub too.

Regarding the new GFE, Fenrir, I think it is powerful with the 10x multiplier and God Killer awakening, the highest multiplier for a card with God Type awakening at the moment; double Fenrir leads will have each Fenrir leader dealing 300x to God types! It should be able to handle a lot of high end contents. (not sure about arena 2.0 or possibly arena 1.0 though)

Friday, January 22, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: Japan's CROWS x WORST V Collab

Card character images: http://pad.gungho.jp/member/collabo/160106_crows.html
There's a promo card that is redeemable for Android users, the character is shown at the bottom of the above site.

Full character card art: http://www.padpadblog.com/2016/01/worst-v_19.html
Full card info: http://pad.gungho.jp/member/collabo/160122_crows_chara.html

Gold card translations in Chinese: http://pad.skyozora.com/news/「クローズ×WORST-V」合作角色介紹(金蛋)
(MP card costs 100K MP and available from 02/05 00:00JST ~ 02/15 23:59JST or you can get it from a serial code for Android users in the Weekly Shonen Champion magazine from 02/05)
Silver card translations in Chinese: http://pad.skyozora.com/news/「クローズ×WORST-V」合作角色介紹(銀蛋)

GameWith ratings: http://パズドラ.gamewith.jp/article/show/4729
Game8 ratings: https://game8.jp/archives/43096

What is CROWS x WORST V?
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2008-07-21
http://www.konami-digital-entertainment.co.jp/en/news/topics/2015/1105/

There is quite a few mix and match of existing leader skills and active skills for this collaboration. All the gold cards, except the MP card Saburo Hanazawa, have a type killer awakening so their total multiplier is actually quite high against the relevant types. Here are some of the notable cards for me:

6* Harumichi Bouya

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: Japan's Duel Masters Collab (2nd)

http://puzzleanddragonsforum.com/threads/duel-masters-collab-2-1-18-10-00jst-1-24-23-59jst.87602/

The main gold egg Bolmeteus gets a split evolution to be more sub focused and provide a lot of useful awakenings. It will be a great sub for the upcoming green MP Mech Dragon, Ragnarok Dragon (New MP Dragon, Ragnarok @JP) fulfilling 2 other missing colours for the team plus a ton of good awakenings. Its active skill provide a randomise board skill which is useful for a team that needs to match 4-5 colours plus to handle the newer locked orb mechanics. The other evolutions were given to Bolshack and Urth which is most likely to cater to the newer players who can use them as leaders.

I find Bolmeteus the most appealing card for now and it being a gold egg will be very hard to get so it is probably out of reach for most non-IAP players. For those of you who have a Phoenix Rider, take note that the collab dungeon will have skill up cards for it!

Monday, January 11, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: Japan's 7th Shinrabansho Choco Collab New REM cards and buffs

New cards and card buffs translation: http://puzzledragonx.com/en/news.asp?nid=457
GameWith card ratings: http://パズドラ.gamewith.jp/article/show/11338
Game8 card ratings: https://game8.jp/archives/23935

The 3 new gold collab cards are generally improved versions of existing PAD cards: Athena, Red Sonia and Kirin, gaining skill bind resists, haste or delay to their skills. The most important new addition is the co-op stats awakening.

Those above 3 cards will be useful for co-op and as the roll out for those awakenings are slow, these are expensive "early access" cards for you to help farm co-op for MP like in the highest difficulty Zaerog Infinity co-op dungeon. (Colored preDra are drops on that difficulty)

I actually rolled silver egg Kai (http://puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=1978) in one of the returns of the Collab and kept him for a long time. He is like a poor man's Loki, with great typing and good awakenings for leaders like Hathor, Halloween Kali and even Asmodeus Another to boost their multiplier. However, the long cooldown and my unwillingness to skill up with pii means the team needs to stall for it to be up. Somehow, I ended up never using him on my Hathor team as I have other options for dark and recently sold for MP as I cleared most of my non-Pantheon God cards!

My single roll for today's collab return was Asmodeus Another! I have enough leaders for now but I'll be keeping her around as she has a board change which is almost always useful and it's nice to have an alternative to Hathor. Hopefully, I can hold onto her until she gets an alternative evolution!

Edit:
minpuzz.com is discussing the possibility of using Shinra Sacred Demon God Ark as a sub for Yomi Dragon, in Japanese: http://minpuzz.com/blog-entry-9161.html

http://puzzledragonx.com/en/monster.asp?n=1975

I tried to run the page through Google translate and still didn't understand much of it although the God typing, good awakenings and AS do fit into Yomi Dragon teams but probably only if you do not have the main Yomi Dragon REM subs.

Puzzle & Dragons: Latest Japan Tier List (Updated on 11 Jan 2016 with new links)

I found out about the site through Nez's posting in the Puzzle and Dragons Forum Japan Q&A section.

GameWith's Puzzle & Dragons Tier List. You can use Google Translate to get it in English.

It was updated for November 2014 and includes the new Egyptian Gods, albeit only Hathor made it and is in S Rank Edit: Nephthys is actually at A Rank and Osiris is at B Rank, along with Hathor at S Rank. Regarding the ranking, the only change that I will make is to put Umicachi & Yamasachi and Bastet to A rank instead of B rank. The overall A Rank seems to be favouring Red Leaders primarily as well.

The website also includes a page containing template teams (23 June 2015: Link fixed!) for a lot of popular leaders, separated by colour and even has a section on leaders from Collabs, although Hunter X Hunter is notably missing currently. Edit: Saint Seiya, Hello Kitty and Crystal Defenders too!

Update (20 June 2015):
Game8's PAD Tier List

There have been some discussion on this new list by Game8 and it is a list that is constantly being updated. It's in Japanese but has the card icons which makes it easy to understand even if you do not know the language. It also includes Collaboration leaders which GameWith did not so in a sense, the list is more "complete".

Another use of the tier list IMO is in assisting with figuring out which Godfest combination and Collaboration to go for. For example at this time of posting, Egyptian 1.0 Gods and Indian 1.0 Gods are great for leaders while 3K Gods make for great subs. The top 3 collaborations to go for are DBZ, FF CD and Monster Hunter Collaborations. Final Fantasy Collaboration is great if you are aiming to get multiple Cloud-s but that can be very expensive.

Update (23 June 2015):
Game8's Template Team page

Game8 has a page dedicated to sample teams as well but it is a little hard to navigate to individual teams; you need to go to a leader's page by clicking the icon and then if the page isn't filled with template teams, look for a "▶XXXXのテンプレ" link around the middle of the page where XXXX is the name of the leader. (You can find other card's template teams using the above link on their respective pages as some are not featured on the Template Team page) The template teams are usually more than GameWith's so I think it is an excellent alternative resource!

Update (15 July 2015):

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Puzzle & Dragons: Arena 1.0 team with latent setup links

Created another thread over at Puzzle and Dragons forum collecting Arena 1.0 team with latent setup links: http://puzzleanddragonsforum.com/threads/arena-team-with-latent-setup-links.87233/