Feedback on my BD set... Inflation is killing me

[jvance08]

Hi all, I just picked up neopets 4 days ago after an 8 year hiatus. Here's what I have:

 

Items

Constant/Dual Duty: Ylanas Blaster, Golden Compass

Bomb: Honey Potion

Freezer: Snowglobe Staff
Blocker: Leaf Shield
Healer: Blue Scorchstone
Misc: Downsize!, Prickly Potion

Stats

Level: 5

Hit Points: 193
Strength: EXCELLENT (48)
Defence: GREAT (22)

Movement: breakneck

 

I have about 1.3 million on hand. I'd like to buy a Greater Healing Scroll and a Randomly Firing Freeze Ray, but from what I understand they're inflated about 400% right now. Is it worth it? What are your thoughts on Sophies Magic Hat and a Hanso Charisma Charm? Are they worth the money to upgrade from the Leaf Shield and GoC?

[coltom]

You have to get up to 55 Strength for the next boost. That is going to be a problem as you can't use codestones or dubloons to do anything except raise level. Either Bubbling Fungus or Altador Strength Potion would get you to 55, but you're talking 800k for two Strength potions or seven ish Bubbling Fungus.

 

For defense, you could spend enough for armoured neggs, but again we're talking 33 X 40K npoints.

 

Hanso's charm and Altador Swordbreaker would be two good full blockers, there is a full light blocker that is dirt cheap. Otherwise, at you level of defense and Strength you have a problem. You might consider training by buying with real money a FQ Fortune Cookie, as you might be able to get seven strength in one or two weeks.

 

Otherwise, you might borrow a better pet from someone?

[Clumsy rockyroad1]

Since your level is too far from your HP, I suggest that just zap your pet.

Sell all the shields and buy better constants if you zap your pet.

[jvance08]

If I had the secret lab unlocked on two account, is there any rule against trasnferring my pet back and forth every day so I could zap it twice a day?

 

Since your level is too far from your HP, I suggest that just zap your pet.

Sell all the shields and buy better constants if you zap your pet.

What better constants would you recommend?

 

You have to get up to 55 Strength for the next boost. That is going to be a problem as you can't use codestones or dubloons to do anything except raise level. Either Bubbling Fungus or Altador Strength Potion would get you to 55, but you're talking 800k for two Strength potions or seven ish Bubbling Fungus.

 

For defense, you could spend enough for armoured neggs, but again we're talking 33 X 40K npoints.

 

Hanso's charm and Altador Swordbreaker would be two good full blockers, there is a full light blocker that is dirt cheap. Otherwise, at you level of defense and Strength you have a problem. You might consider training by buying with real money a FQ Fortune Cookie, as you might be able to get seven strength in one or two weeks.

 

Otherwise, you might borrow a better pet from someone?

Thanks for all the ideas... How much was the ASP selling for before inflation hit?

[Lamppost]

To answer your questions, only you can decide if the Healing Scroll and RFFR are worth it right now. Healing and freezing can make a huge difference in a battle, but the inflated costs are annoying. If you don't mind trying to get through a war without them, then don't bother. If you think they would make a difference, then get them. Based on your stats, I'd say you could probably do without a healer, but I would recommend a freezer. You have pretty high HP, but your strength and defense aren't great.

 

Sophies Magic Hat and Hanso Charisma Charm are good weapons, but so are the others you mentioned. Again, it's up to you when the right time to upgrade is. It depends on which challengers you're fighting and which icons you want to defend against. I'm always of the opinion that more attack icons is better, so I would recommend HCC over GoC, but you have to do it when you can afford it.

 

 

If I had the secret lab unlocked on two account, is there any rule against trasnferring my pet back and forth every day so I could zap it twice a day?

 

What better constants would you recommend?

 

Thanks for all the ideas... How much was the ASP selling for before inflation hit?

Yes, transferring your pet back and forth would not be allowed. It's taking advantage. Plus, you can't transfer a pet twice in one day, so in fact you can't do it. You *can* get a Fortune Cookie for the Lab Ray, which would cost you NC, but it would give you two zaps a day for a specified period of time.

 

Your constants are already pretty good. I for one really like Ylanas Blaster. Some other options are HCC, Rusty Pitchfork, Brynns Legendary Sword of Wraith Smiting, Wand of Reality, or Altador Cup Throwing Star.

 

ASP was selling for about 500k before inflation. I don't know what it's at now.

 

If you want to train at an academy, you'll have to level up to level 97. That will cost you at minimum 5 One Dubloon Coins, 10 Two Dubloon Coins, 20 Five Dubloon Coins, and 184 codestones. That will probably run you about 5 * 1k + 10 * 1k + 20 * 4k + 184 * 5k = 1,015,000 NP. That may seem like a lot, but then you can train whatever you want, and once you get there, your stat increases will only cost you 4 codestones, or about 20k NP, instead of closer to 100k NP for each strength point. If you plan to increase your stats long term, I suggest you put in the investment to be able to train.

[jvance08]

Thanks Lamppost, I really appreciate all of your advice. I just put my pet in the training school for his level for the first time ever.

[General Technology]

I totally agree with most of the advice given to you :)

 

I suggest you also check out Bow of Destiny since it wasn't as hardly hit as the other constants (last I checked it was still around 1.4 mil). I saw a bunch of ASPs selling for around 380k-450k before. Inflation got to them but not entirely :/ I do incredibly suggest you try item training your stats though (Bubbling Fungus is a gamble - high payoff or high loss, Essence of Drackonack is based on chance, but when it works it's always a positive thing, and Altador Strength Potion is pricey but gives you stable results).

 

Since your HP is relatively high, I think you can do well with a freezer (as Lamppost said). Go for RFFR if you'd like, but I actually hate the inflation as well :/

 

Definitely go for the Hanso Charisma Charm and Rusty Pitchfork :) They'll serve you well 'til you upgrade. But Ylanas Blaster is actually pretty good already :D

[jvance08]

Thanks General Technology! I'm amazed by how helpful this forum is.

 

So it looks like Rusty Pitchfork does 11 icons of damage and blocks 5 and the current price on the TP is ~800k.

 

Hanso Charisma Charm deals 10 and blocks all dark for ~700k.

 

If you had to pick one, which would it be?

[Lamppost]

Thanks General Technology! I'm amazed by how helpful this forum is.

 

So it looks like Rusty Pitchfork does 11 icons of damage and blocks 5 and the current price on the TP is ~800k.

 

Hanso Charisma Charm deals 10 and blocks all dark for ~700k.

 

If you had to pick one, which would it be?

 

When faced with the choice, I picked Rusty Pitchfork. I always like more icons, especially since I have a lab rat with low defense compared to my strength, so the defensive icons didn't help me much. On the other hand, HCC gives more icons for the price, especially with the full block, so it's a really good value. It depends on what you want!

[General Technology]

Well, I'd personally choose the Rusty Pitchfork because I think that it works up to really high levels and is particularly effective to almost all opponents, because almost all Battledome-related items contain a couple of physical icons. The 11 icons of attack + the 5 physical defense go a long way :)

 

I completely agree with Lamppost with the lab rat thing - the defense might not completely be helpful because your defense boost is rather low and since HCC gives a full block, it might be more effective for you but it's a bit more situational (since the opponent needs to deal a bunch of dark icons for it to work efficiently such as Vira) :D

 

I'd suggest you go for both, but for now... Rusty Pitchfork might be better. Or just get another constant altogether! :)

[jvance08]

Thanks to both of you! I found an RFFR for pretty cheap on the TP, so hopefully my offer is accepted

 

Would you suggest a Hanso Charisma Charm over my Ylanas Blaster? Or should I hold onto the Y-Blaster and try to have HCC, RPF, and Y-Blaster all in my set?

 

Also, do you have links to any good BD strategy guides? I think it'd be kind of silly for me to have all of these weapons and not know how best to use them.

[Lamppost]

Nope, I'd definitely stick with the Ylanas Blaster. Like I said, more attack icons=better! Plus, General Technology has a good point that the defense in HCC is only good if you have an opponent who deals a lot of dark damage, whereas YBlaster is good anytime.

 

Have you tried the guides on the Battlepedia? You can see them here: http://battlepedia.thedailyneopets.com/index.php/articles/index/

 

I'd suggest the Basic Weapon Sets guide, the Fast Training Guide, and the 1-P Challenger guides. If you don't know much about the Battledome, then start with the Introduction. That explains how damage is calculated, how defense works, different types of battle pets, and more.

[General Technology]

Definitely go for the Ylanas Blaster! I'm a huge fan of it, and the only upgrade I see around it is the 13-icon dealing Bow of Destiny (because I like how the icon distribution is and how two of it easily overpowers most things :D )

 

Lamppost's suggestion is what I also suggest. The Battlepedia was really helpful when I started playing Neopets, especially their reviews on the weaponry :) Try lurking on the BD Chat at times. That's what I did and it certainly helped me :D

[jvance08]

Awesome, thanks! I'll definitely check those out.

 

I just put it an offer on an RFP, so if my trades are accepted this will be my set:

 

Constant: Ylanas Blaster

Dual Duty: Rusty Pitchfork

Bomb: Honey Potion

Freezer: Randomly Firing Freeze Ray

Blocker: Leaf Shield

Healer: Blue Scorchstone

Misc: Downsize!, Prickly Potion

 

I'm thinking my next purchases should be a Sophies Magic Hat and a Greater Healing Scroll. I'll continue to train my level in the meantime. After that, I think I'll save for a while and buy either a Sword of Reif or Kelpbeards Trident. Does that sound good, or should I set any other goals for myself?

[General Technology]

Definitely a nice set. Though personally, I am not a fan of Honey Potion and right now, since it is inflated, it's probably better to sell it instead (others might contradict me with good reason as well) and buy a constant (like Bow of Destiny or another Ylanas Blaster).

 

I do agree with Greater Healing Scroll and Sophies Magic Hat since you'll need them eventually. Go for it! I suggest you save up for weapons and training simultaneously (as I am doing now). But so far, go for the goal of getting to a 250 strength boost, 250 defense boost :) It'll be hard but you'll do extremely major damage once you get there XD

[coltom]

<p>Inflation of the ASP has been modest if it even exists.   The decrease in Red Codestone prices has eliminated the need to use stat increaser.   At 400K an ASP give +5 Strength so effectively 80K per Strength Point.   Bubbling Fungus on average gives +1.8 points (there is debate on this, not sure anyone has the sample needed to have a statistically significant result, but assume a range of +1.5 to +2)  Assume effectively a +1.5 Strength than Bubbling Fungus at 90K np gives you 60 np per strength point.   Still, since the BF can give anywhere from -5 to +5 it makes your situation an exercise in statistical risk versus reward, with incomplete data on risk.   Tricky,  I'd buy three Bubbling Fungus and one ASP, but that is not cheap.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>In respect to almost everything Ineopets, training is far more cost effective than better weapons.  You're at 1.5X attack boast, your YB attacks with 13.65(ish) icons.   You get effective attack of 20.45 icons.  Now if you train to 55 strength, your attack is now 27.3 icons.  Training has increased your attack by six to seven icons.  To get the same result from getting a better weapon, you'd have to upgrade the base attack icons by (7/1.5) or upgrade to a 17 icon weapon like KelpBeards trident.  That's going to run you 8 million neopoints.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>BTW, I am too lazy to research the exact icons/cost.</p>

<p> </p>

<p> </p>

<p>If you stopped playing 8 years ago, have you looked in your Safety Deposit box for old and rare items that have appreciated greatly in value?   Some of the retired/festival items are worth a pretty np?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>P.S.  I can see no rational reason to think about getting either a shield or a dual duty weapon, now with your defense boost being so low.   With the current weapon's universe, defense has become at a premium and attack is cheap.  HCC is an exception, a full dark blocker is nice, as is Alt Swordbreaker in case there is an opponent dealing massive physical.   At your defense boast you're going to be beat upon like a sloppy Marine. You need to out firepower, out hit them.  It is easier to get better weapons than most current battledome computer generated opponents, I suspect you'll be able to do the same in the next War.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>There is one strange exception to all this, and that is the <b style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.222222328186035px;">Parasol of Unfortunate Demise</b>.  It blocks full light, 3 water, and 1.4-5.0 earth.  Light isn't that common and its usefulness as a full blocker isn't that great.  However, the water and earth are going to be blocked based upon your opponent's strength, not yours.  Still, three water and variable earth isn't that useful.   Still, they are dirt cheap and you never know what a war time foe is going to weld, light is a possibility.   Still, I have to recommend Swordbreaker, five offense and full physical blocking.</p>

[jvance08]

Thanks for the advice, coltom. I've been training, and here are my updated stats:

 

Stats

Level: 13

Hit Points: 193

Strength: 48

Defence: 19

Movement: 13

 

With all of these earthquake events, it looks like the war is starting soon. I'm obviously not where I'd like to be stat-wise, but I'm going to keep training around the clock and hopefully I'll be ready for the next war. I've made quite a few np over the past few days, so here is my current set:

 

Constant: Ylanas Blaster

Dual Duty: Rusty Pitchfork

Bomb: Honey Potion

Freezer: Randomly Firing Freeze Ray

Blocker: Sophies Magic Hat

Healer: Greater Healing Scroll

Misc: Downsize!, Prickly Potion

 

The SMH and GHS pretty much wiped out my bank account, so I'm saving up now for an Altador Strength Potion, 2x Bubbling Fungus, and Hanso Charisma Charm as coltom suggested. Any other suggestions are welcome!

 

Also, since it's going to take so long to get my level up, do you guys think Armoured Neggs would be a good idea for me? I already bought one to get my defence back up to 20. I'd have to spend another 600,000np to reach the 35 boost...

 

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[General Technology]

You're pretty much on the right track :) Your set looks so much better than mine and I'm pretty confident that you'll do well, so long as you increase your stats :) Good luck!