Do you train to level up or let the lab ray etc. do it for you?

[.Brianna.]

I just started using the battledome on a consistent basis and I was wondering if/when it is worth it to train my battledome pet in level or if it is better to leave levelling up to Coltzan, the lab ray, etc. My pet is currently level 22

[slavecrown]

It's never a good bet to use the lab ray if you want to raise your pet's stats, since it can actually lower them as well. Whether you want to rely on random events/Coltzan's whims/ etc. or use the training school is up to how controlled you want your pet's leveling to be and how much you feel comfortable spending on training.

[Batman]

This is really a personal choice. I don't like using pets that I lab to hand train because I just get frustrated every time the stats go down. Although it is good for endurance I don't want the down to level 1 zap or anything like that. So I have one pet that I hand train and 3 that I lab exclusively. Also keep in mind that if you want a level pet the lab ray tends to get your HP way higher (as it doesn't decrease this stat) then any other stat and it can be expensive to get the other two back where they need to be. So each can be twice your level so if your level is 22 then your other stats should be 44 anything above that and you need to train level before you can train anything else.

[Secre]

I've always used codestones/dubloons largely due to the fact that I'm a control freak - you can bring your pet to the next level threshold, train everything to double level, then HP to triple level and then start on level again once you can't go further with HP - it's time consuming and expensive but you always know what you're doing and being able to train HP to three times the amount of level does make things slightly cheaper than they would otherwise be.

[Dashana]

I personally don't like labbing pets that I'm training. Their stats can be reduced, and their level can be reduced to Level 1. Personally, if you're a risk-taker, go for it. But if you're like me, I'd rather stay safe than sorry. :)

[jcpet]

My pet is purely trained by the lab ray except I trained up his level to prevent the lab from making it go back to level 1 (I believe the lab ray stops doing that when your pet is level 20+). You'll get stats that end up looking like this over time: http://www.neopets.com/petlookup.phtml?pet=jc_pet_ixi (high str and HP, low def and level, but you can always train level).

 

However, lab ray training by itself can also take quite some time before your pet stats become somewhat decent.

 

If you want a balanced pet, I'd recommend zapping AND training instead of just training itself because you'll benefit from the free stats that the lab ray gives out. It might be discouraging to see your trained stats go back down, but in the end it's still a net gain.

[patricebee]

My pet is purely trained by the lab ray except I trained up his level to prevent the lab from making it go back to level 1 (I believe the lab ray stops doing that when your pet is level 20+). You'll get stats that end up looking like this over time: http://www.neopets.com/petlookup.phtml?pet=jc_pet_ixi (high str and HP, low def and level, but you can always train level).

 

However, lab ray training by itself can also take quite some time before your pet stats become somewhat decent.

 

If you want a balanced pet, I'd recommend zapping AND training instead of just training itself because you'll benefit from the free stats that the lab ray gives out. It might be discouraging to see your trained stats go back down, but in the end it's still a net gain.

Really?! I didn't know that once your pet was at level 20 that it wouldn't zap the level back down to 1. That is good to know!!

Personally I won't use the lab ray on my most proficient BD pet (or any of the four, for that matter). Apart from the uneven stats (which would drive me nuts!!), he is a lenny and I bought him the Entangling Lenny Lasso which is a species specific freezer. If the lab zapped him into a jubjub or something else, I'd be devastated. No - the lab ray isn't going near him. It can be tempting - believe me. I'm paying 7 codestones each 18 hour session for him to go up 1 level! Yes I use the cookies and so that reduces the training time and also the faerie quests are very helpful, I know that some people are against pushing a pet up into the Ninja school by constantly training level but that is my choice. Anyway - use the lab if you want to take a risk and don't care about species. Since your pet is at level 22, evidently that won't be an issue (having the ray zap him/her back down to 1).

 

One more thing - if you're awake at midnight NST, go visit Count Von Roo!! He's good for leveling up.

[Aquamentis12]

I've never used the lab ray. And I wouldn't choose to for training. Like people have already said, it's a personal choice. It's really up to the player. There are many strong pets who've used the lab. I just prefer to keep my peophin a peophin, and keep his stats intact. It was a lot of work getting him to where he is today and I don't want to lose what I've worked on. The only stat I really "Gamble" with is Levels against Von Roo in Deadly Dice. I rarely play, mainly if I had to lose a level to get to a lower codestone level where I had accidentally gottem my level too high.

 

Site-training was mainly codestones and dubloons, until I could only use codestones, then with regular codestones until I was at about level 242, ran the rest of the level-way to 250 (only 8 levels away) to use red stones to train.

 

Other training methods I use are, Kitchen Quests, Waking Turmaculus, Coltzan's Shrine, Random Faerie Quests, Armoured Neggs, and of course, sometimes Von Roo, since you CAN lose 1 to MANY levels depending on how many times in a row you may tie a game of Deadly Dice. (1 - 2 - 4 - 8- 16, etc)

 

I have not yet used Neggs or Shrooms, and of course not the lab, Nor have I used items that are unbuyable for training purposes.

 

What can I say? I'm thrifty. :D

 

For anyone curious about training methods, TDN Battlepedia, has some interesting articles regarding training methods.

 

http://battlepedia.thedailyneopets.com/index.php/articles/index/

 

The training methods are the 4th topic down, with the red Sho Codestone under the heading.of "Training".

[Lamppost]

Wow, a lot of downers on lab ray training! My pet is lab trained and honestly, I'm thankful for it because her stats would never be as good as they are now. Overall, the lab ray does tend to increase your stats, but each stat goes at a different rate. The lab ray tends to increase HP a lot, slightly increase strength, and slightly lower defense. That's how you can tell a lab ray pet - really high HP, low level, and low defense. It comes with a good strategy, though: don't worry about defense and count on your high HP to take as much damage as your opponent deals.

 

My suggestion for training is to use the lab ray (only if you don't care about species/color, that is) and keep using the training schools to supplement the lab ray. You may end up paying more for some stats, and it certainly is frustrating when you keep losing stats, but overall you will gain. And you can always stop labbing for a few days to give training time to catch up. That's the way I train and I find it's very successful.

[Clumsy rockyroad1]

I recently (around 6 months ago) started using the Lab to supplement my training. So far it hasn't been working very well, giving me an average of +0.17 stats/day (excluding movement) in 81 zaps. So far I use lab ray and training school at the same time, though my strength is a lot below my defense (faerie quests).

 

Results from 81 zaps:

Level: -16
Hitpoints: +26
Strength: +2
Defence: +2
Movement: +16
Back to Level 1: 0 zaps
Gender: 5 zaps
Colour/Species: 13 zaps
No Change: 0 zaps

[Lamppost]

I recently (around 6 months ago) started using the Lab to supplement my training. So far it hasn't been working very well, giving me an average of +0.17 stats/day (excluding movement) in 81 zaps. So far I use lab ray and training school at the same time, though my strength is a lot below my defense (faerie quests).

 

Results from 81 zaps:

Level: [/size]-16

Hitpoints: [/size]+26

Strength: [/size]+2

Defence: [/size]+2

Movement: [/size]+16

Back to Level 1: 0 zaps[/size]

Gender: 5 zaps[/size]

Colour/Species: 13 zaps[/size]

No Change: 0 zaps[/size]

Similarly, I started keeping track of my lab changes in September (so about 6 months ago). My results are from 174 zaps.

Level: -26

Strength: +24

Defense: -27

HP: +99

Movement: +9

Color: 13 zaps

Gender: 7 zaps

Species: 0 zaps

Species & Color: 3 zaps

 

So overall, the lab ray has resulted in my HSD increasing by 96, and increasing my HSDL by 70. That's why I say the lab ray tends to result in overall gains.

[hrtbrk]

I also zap my lab pet (as well as the occasional faerie quest cookie) and I feel like it is successful... if you want to wait a long time. I've been zapping this pet daily since the end of the Atlas of the Ancients plot and here are his current stats. I have simultaneously trained up level so he could have Lens Flare, and for my battle needs, that is efficient enough.

 

In my opinion, based off my own experience, you can successfully zap and train at the same time especially since you can get codestones for free from the Battledome. It is much more cost efficient and not as big of a loss to you if you lose levels/stats from the lab ray as the codestones were free in the first place.

 

It will take time, but will give you a decent enough pet to get the job done. It just depends on your battle needs (IMO)

 

 

CURRENT STATS:
Level: 82
Health: 690 / 690
Strength: ULTIMATE (417)
Defence: ULTIMATE (172)
Move: ULTIMATE (178)

 

I would be interested in seeing someone create a pet and zap/train from scratch, say to 75, and see how the success rate is.

[fireembemphanatic]

I would absolutely recommend using the Lab Ray to supplement your training unless you're particular about your pet's colour/species.

Since last September the ray has given me:

Level: -4
Hitpoints: +96
Strength: +20
Defence: +1
Movement: +12

Back to Level 1: 0 zaps

Gender: 9 zaps
Colour/Species: 18 zaps
No Change: 0 zaps

 

Since you're above level 20 you don't have to worry about going back down to lvl 0. You'll save a ton of money on dubloons/codestones in the long run, plus you can gain stats faster than if you just train in the academy or training school.

[patricebee]

Btw - I take that back about Count Von Roo. He's done nothing but take level away from me for about a week so I wouldn't "count" on him.

[tomeander]

I train to level up. The lab ray usually leaves pets with very uneven stats. Remember, you can lose 2 levels from the lab ray in one zap.

[siniri]

I also absolutely recommend supplementing training with zapping. It's very easy to keep your pet balanced, and although the lab does occasionally take away stats, on average you're actually gaining stats, so you can save several million NP and years to get a pet up to the highest boosts. Once or twice, one of my pet's stats has run away (most recently because of free stat boosters given out by TNT + daily faerie quests + some FQ fortune cookies + lab ray) and I've had to stop zapping temporarily until I could get my other stats up before bumping to the next codestone level.

 

Here are my pet's current stats:

Lvl : 399
Str : 798
Def : 798
Mov : 798
Hp : 897 / 897

 

I've stopped zapping her until I can get her HP to 3x level before bumping to the next codestone level. (Yes, I deliberately overtrained SD to above the max boost, in anticipation of TNT eventually raising that again, years down the road -- that way, I paid for it the cheapest I could -- and yes, I also trained movement to match, in case it becomes relevant one day.) Once I get to 3 codestones, item-training will be cheaper than lab-training for strength and defense, so I'll slowly stockpile the items, in case more boosts are released later (or I can sell them if prices suddenly spike, maybe during a plot). I'll continue to zap to help increase my HP; I'll need to use armoured neggs to keep my defense up, but the savings on HP will more than offset that cost. At some point (maybe 2000 HP?), I'll decide I'm done with lab-training and retire my battlepet from zapping (though I'll probably continue to occasionally train HP and level, as I get the needed codestones from dailies), and morph her back to her original Mynci. My lab-training savings thus far are already more than enough to pay for both the morphing potion and an Island paint brush (her dream color) -- and that's not including some free clothes I've gotten along the way.