Inflation of Codestones

[lovedwallflower]

 

 

The war has awakened the spirit of hoarding & large scale buying & reselling of codestones.

 

It certainly has in my case! I'm not buying anything but I'm not selling either - I'm simply hoarding so I can train evenly

[Clumsy rockyroad1]

Really? No one can do math here?

Price Check:

Vo: 12.9k (+0.2k)

Lu: 11.7k (-0.4k)

Eo: 11.9k (-0.05k)

Zei: 9k (-0.1k)

Tai-Kai: 5k (+0.2k)

Har: 4.75k (-0.15k)

Bri: 4.4k (+0.1k)

Mau: 4.35k (+0.2k)

Orn: 4k (no change)

Main: 3.5k (no change)

Total: 71.5k (NO CHANGE? in 120.2 HOURS)

Prices will not fall sharply until TNT releases the prize shop.

[Emily]

Not sure where you're getting prices, but I've been buying most of mine for cheaper than that for the last few days xD

 

Vo- 12.3k

Lu-11.2k

Eo- 11.3k

Zei- 8.5k

Tai-Kai-4.5

Har- 4.5k

Bri-4k

Mau-4k

Orn-3.8k

Main-3k

 

I think it depends on the time of day you're buying as well. I find that late morning/early afternoon the best time to buy and can usually find stones 500-1k cheaper than later in the day.

[Clumsy rockyroad1]

Not sure where you're getting prices, but I've been buying most of mine for cheaper than that for the last few days xD

 

Vo- 12.3k

Lu-11.2k

Eo- 11.3k

Zei- 8.5k

Tai-Kai-4.5

Har- 4.5k

Bri-4k

Mau-4k

Orn-3.8k

Main-3k

 

I think it depends on the time of day you're buying as well. I find that late morning/early afternoon the best time to buy and can usually find stones 500-1k cheaper than later in the day.

 

Probably. My time zone only allows me to be online late evening or early morning.

[ibril]

Hi, I came back to Neopets after years out of it and I want to train my neopet, but I got scared when I saw the codestone prices of the codestones!!! I only had 18 in my SDB, any new way to train? They just asked me for 2 Eo's and a main and I don't know if it's worth it

[karmacow]

No other way to train, not unless your pet is level 40 or below. But I'm guessing that your battle pet is the level 50 one. Of course you could use the faerie quest fortune cookies if you're willing to use real money on it.

[Lamppost]

Hi, I came back to Neopets after years out of it and I want to train my neopet, but I got scared when I saw the codestone prices of the codestones!!! I only had 18 in my SDB, any new way to train? They just asked me for 2 Eo's and a main and I don't know if it's worth it

There are options through item training, and you can read about that at the Battlepedia's Item Training Guide. The items tend to be more expensive than codestones, though, so it's not the most cost-effective way to train.

 

You could also try training via the lab ray, but only if you don't care about your pet's color or species. The lab ray tends to make HP increase a lot, because it never takes away HP. It also tends to make strength increase and defense to decrease. You can always tell a lab-trained pet by their high HP and low defense. It also typically precludes you from training at the training schools, because it's tough to keep your level up with your HP, so lab-trained pets typically aren't trainable until level is significantly increased.

 

Other more unreliable options include faerie quests, kitchen quests, scratch cards, Deadly Dice, Turmaculus, Coltzans Shrine, and the Wheel of Extravagance. Faerie quests raise a stat (depending on the faerie) for your active pet, but the only way to guarantee you'll receive a faerie quest is by using a Faerie Quest Fortune Cookie, which you can buy with NeoCash. Kitchen quests are a favorite of a lot of battlers, but they increase a stat of a random pet, so there is no guarantee it will help out your battle pet unless you only have one pet on your account. The other options are all very unreliable because there is only a chance that your stats will be raised. A lot of other outcomes do not have anything to do with stats.

 

For more information on training, including the other options for training, check out the Battlepedia's Fast Training Guide.

 

The most reliable, most cost-effective way to train is the training schools. If you don't want to pay for it with the current prices, you could wait for codestones to deflate. I'm anticipating prices will drop when the Obelisk War prize shop comes out.

[annika~]

I haven't seen Faerie Quest Fortune Cookies for sale in over two weeks (and I check multiple times a day). Anyone else seen them for sale or have a sense when/if they might return?

[siniri]

You could also try training via the lab ray, but only if you don't care about your pet's color or species. The lab ray tends to make HP increase a lot, because it never takes away HP. It also tends to make strength increase and defense to decrease. You can always tell a lab-trained pet by their high HP and low defense. It also typically precludes you from training at the training schools, because it's tough to keep your level up with your HP, so lab-trained pets typically aren't trainable until level is significantly increased.

 

The most reliable, most cost-effective way to train is the training schools. If you don't want to pay for it with the current prices, you could wait for codestones to deflate. I'm anticipating prices will drop when the Obelisk War prize shop comes out.

While I agree that if you train only through the lab ray, it will create imbalances, if you start with a balanced pet and supplement regular training with labbing, it's very easy to keep your pet balanced. I have been doing this for years, myself, and these are my pet's current stats:

 

Lvl : 316

Str : 635

Def : 632

Hp : 583 / 630

 

I'd say that's pretty balanced! I used to pre-train HP to a bit more than 2x level before moving on to the next training group, but I found that my HP would tend to progress too quickly, making me stop labbing (losing the benefit of the average daily net stat increase*) for a few weeks while I waited for my other stats to catch up so I could move on to the next training group. However, now that I rarely train HP, I find that I have to stop zapping at most for only a few days at a time (this was even true when I was at the highest MITS training group and only trained once per day, the same as zapping) once I get close to the next training group. I just train whichever is my lowest stat (usually defense, and only HP if str and def are very, very close to the next boost, and level only when I'm forced to).

 

So... yes, you can always lab to supplement training. If one of your stats is overly favored by the ray, you can always temporarily stop to even things up before moving into the next training group. The other thing to be wary of is if your level is too low (below ~40), because then you can get that dreaded "reduced to level 1" zap.

 

*Some people focus on the net loss of defense in the lab and dismiss it as "negating" their training school training. However, the lab ray on average increases a stat 45% of the time, while only decreasing one 28% of the time (the rest of the effects are on color/species).** That means, since the ray usually changes stats by 2-3 at a time (we'll assume 2, just for the sake of easy math), that on average you'll gain an extra 0.34 stats per day, even when you factor in all those lost stats. The training schools charge the same no matter what you train, so if you're gaining 4 HP for every 3 defense you're losing, you're still spending less on codestones overall, even if you're training defense more often (because you're not paying to train those HP; you pay for 6 trainings -- each defense trained twice because of the loss -- but get 7 total stat increases -- the 4 HP and the 3 defense; note that you also saved the time it would have taken in the training school for that 7th training, so you can increase your stats faster w/ lab supplementation -- the longer each training takes, the more time you save, and the more NP you save).

 

**This is based on JN's estimates, but they didn't break it down by the amount increased or decreased; my actual average is closer to 0.5 to 0.75 extra stats per day (I don't track my daily zaps; I only track my stats).

[Akusu]

Please don't forget the wonder that is the new battledome. I've been compiling data and based on the current value of codestones and an average I calculated based on the number of codestones of each type I've been asked for at the school and I average 35k a day in items. I usually fight the Koi Warrior, but I'm intending maybe next month to try Lady Frostbite as I've heard good things about her. It appears that Ibril can easily handle either of them.

 

I've been waiting for the codestone prices to return to some more normal level but have been training with just the stones I've won daily. The only thing holding me back each day seems to be Zei codestones.

 

Training stats (Lab Ray, Island Training, Neggs, Faerie Quests) along with some analysis:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ar8lCLOcp43AdHh1MUpjNUZmRDJaZVhsZ0QwVmNxNVE&output=html

 

Battledome results:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ar8lCLOcp43AdHh1MUpjNUZmRDJaZVhsZ0QwVmNxNVE&output=html

[gingerew]

So... yes, you can always lab to supplement training. If one of your stats is overly favored by the ray, you can always temporarily stop to even things up before moving into the next training group. The other thing to be wary of is if your level is too low (below ~40), because then you can get that dreaded "reduced to level 1" zap.

 

Are you saying that if your pet is a higher level (ie over 40) that you are not able to get the reduced to level 1 zap? I've never heard of this before, but if it's true, I'm going to start raising my level to that point so that I don't have to worry about that horrible zap!

[siniri]

Are you saying that if your pet is a higher level (ie over 40) that you are not able to get the reduced to level 1 zap? I've never heard of this before, but if it's true, I'm going to start raising my level to that point so that I don't have to worry about that horrible zap!

I don't know what the cutoff is, exactly, but according to several guides, it's around 30-40. And I have been training from that level all the way to... 318 and never lost more than 2 levels at a time. So yes, it's probably worth training without zapping to get past it (and then stay past it). I never actually did the math on it (I trained for a bit before I started zapping), but in terms of time, at the very least, it's worth it.

[Clumsy rockyroad1]

Price Check:

Eo: 12k (+0.1k) ----- people holding off prices of these for a long time

Vo: 12k (-0.9k) ----- Yay!

Lu: 11.2k (-0.5k) ------ First sub-10k prices I've seen in months!

Zei: 9k (unchanged) ----- Move along, nothing to see here...

Tai-Kai: 5.05k (+0.05k) ----- Can't get lower than sub-5k prices, I'm afraid.

Har: 4.85k (+0.1k) ----- *cough*

Bri: 4.3k (-0.1k) ----- Can't get away from the 4-4.5k range...

Mau: 4.3k (-0.05k) ----- TNT! Where's the prize shop?

Orn: 4.1k (+0.1k) ----- *frowns at prices*

Main: 3.95k (+0.45k) ----- Silly people.... don't you get cheaper training?

Total: 70.75k (DOWN 0.75k in 95.45 HOURS)

I'm getting bored... I wish I had a program to do the math for me. Setting that thought aside, Vo and Lu prices are sliding, Main prices are rising, and all other codestone prices are stable.

[karmacow]

It's starting to look more reasonable. But yeah, come on come on, prize shop!

[Christie99]

Please note that I am NOT using rockyroad's method of posting prices. This is just a snapshot of where prices are right now, they change very fast.

 

The following are the best prices at this time on the SSW.

 

Eo: 11.3k

Vo: 11.4k

Lu: 10.3k

Zei: 8.4k

Har: 3.8k

Tai-Kai: 4.9k

Orn: 3.7k

Bri: 3.8k

Mau: 4k

Main: 3.4

 

Edited to add: right now the boards here are displaying in a way that's really hard to read, with no breaks showing between posts etc. Does anyone know where in my settings I can fix this, or if it's like it for everyone now?

[Clumsy rockyroad1]

Please note that I am NOT using rockyroad's method of posting prices. This is just a snapshot of where prices are right now, they change very fast.

 

The following are the best prices at this time on the SSW.

 

Eo: 11.3k

Vo: 11.4k

Lu: 10.3k

Zei: 8.4k

Har: 3.8k

Tai-Kai: 4.9k

Orn: 3.7k

Bri: 3.8k

Mau: 4k

Main: 3.4

 

Edited to add: right now the boards here are displaying in a way that's really hard to read, with no breaks showing between posts etc. Does anyone know where in my settings I can fix this, or if it's like it for everyone now?

 

Those are the cheapest prices, aren't it?

 

Update tomorrow morning NST (evening today in here).

 

Edit:

Price Check:

Eo: 11.9k (-0.1k)

Vo: 12k (unchanged)

Lu: 10.6k (-0.6k)

Zei: 8.8k (-0.2k)

Tai-Kai: 4.95k (-0.1k)

Har: 4.8k (-0.05k)

Bri: 4.4k (+0.1k)

Mau: 4.3k (unchanged)

Orn: 4.1k (unchanged)

Main: 3.9k (-0.05k)

Total: 69.75k (-1k)

7 AM NST 4/14/13

[BEE.]

Wow, I can't believe how cheap the bottled faeries are right now!

Surprised Vo, Eo & Lu Codestones are still rather pricey! Thought they would have dropped a bit by now..

[siniri]

Zed jumped over 2k in just a few hours two days ago, and continues to rise (it's risen 1k since last night, cheapest is ~21k right now). It was at 15k about 4-5 days ago. Of course I've been asked for at least one for every single training the last three days (I canceled last night's).

[gpssaylost]

I'm looking closely at the price of Zed codestone too. I cancel all the training sessions with two zed but I might start cancelling every time they ask for one. =[

[siniri]

I've actually been winning 3-4 reds the past several days in the BD, just not any zeds -- today's were all Mags. I think it's hoarders deliberately trying to jack up the price. The thing is, we can cancel trainings, and I'm not in an uber-rush to train, so I don't mind the 24-hour penalty if it'll save me over 10k. Hopefully the hoarders will realize it's fruitless sooner or later.

[Duskitty]

I'm still in the pirate training academy, haha. I can just sell my codestones. *arrogant smirk*

[Clumsy rockyroad1]

Sorry for not being here the past week.
No motivation.

Price Check:

Eo: 11.8k (-0.1k)
Vo: 11.2k (-0.8k)
Lu: 10.3k (-0.3k)
Zei: 8.9k (+0.1k)
Tai-Kai: 5.3k (+0.35k)
Har: 4.9k (+0.1k)
Bri: 4.3k (-0.1k)
Mau: 4.2k (-0.1k)
Orn: 3.9k (-0.2k)
Main: 3.9k (unchanged)

Total: 68.7k (-1.05k in 167.25 Hours)

Prices are cooling down a bit.


1 question: Do I need a Honey Potion? I'm sick of the 1 use bombs. And I definitely don't want a bomb that is more expensive than my 2 constants. With 137 HP and 125 Str and Def boost and Rusty Pitchfork + Scroll of Knowledge as constants.

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[siniri]

Zeds are at 28k today. At this point, if I get any, I may as well sell them myself. Sheesh!

 

Had to cancel another training today. :( I refuse to reward people for contributing to hoardflation. (I know, I know, I just said I'd take advantage of it myself. Just because I won't reward someone else doesn't mean I won't take advantage of those who don't care if they're being taken advantage of!)

 

ETA (again, because the edit didn't take last time): And I just realized I didn't battle yet today and won a zed. Decisions, decisions... I already canceled the training. Do I sell since prices are twice what they were a week ago? Or save it for the next time I'm asked for one? In the long run, I should average 1/day (given 2 codestones/training and up to 3 trainings per day). Or I could just continue to cancel ~1/3 of the time, losing a full day of training each time. *sigh*

Edited April 22, 2013 by siniri

[gpssaylost]

Wow. Zed is 27.5 today and I was complaining when it was 20k. I cancelled one this morning too. how/why are the prices rising to this extent? hoarders?

 

And I have been having terrible luck with my scratchcards to help me level. I can't even remember the last time I trained for something other than level... the down side to a lab rat.

[Clumsy rockyroad1]

Wow. Zed is 27.5 today and I was complaining when it was 20k. I cancelled one this morning too. how/why are the prices rising to this extent? hoarders?

 

And I have been having terrible luck with my scratchcards to help me level. I can't even remember the last time I trained for something other than level... the down side to a lab rat.

 

And now Zed are at 28.5k. Then I got 1 from the BD!

So alot of earnings from the inflated red codey prices today!