Looking for Advice/Opinions about Lab Ray Training

[Koralis]

I was wondering if anyone had any advice/tips/general opinions on training using the lab ray & schools simultaneously.

 

I just traded away my BD pet so I'm looking to start training a new one. My previous BD pet was a draik from the start so I never zapped in case of a species change. I just used the schools on MI, random FQs, some FQCs & neggs. This one will be a non-draik though so I won't care about species changes and I was thinking it might be a little cheaper & quicker to use the lab ray in addition to schools for training.

 

I know I can get some nice HP boosts from the ray, but I'm mainly concerned about decreases in level & defence. Is it difficult/more expensive to keep the stats even when the lab ray decreases them? (as compared to just straight school training)

 

Also, does anyone know off the top of their head at what level my pet is safe from the lab ray decreasing their level back to 1? Or is there no point at which I can stop worrying about having to train their level up all over again?

 

If anyone has any experience in lab ray training (while keeping the stats even) I would appreciate hearing about it! Thanks!

[ranga_muffin]

from my own experience, I only train my pet with the lab ray (too cheap to pay for codestones etc.), and while it is a little slower, it suits me.

I've also noticed that one day it might take away two levels from me, and the next day it'll give them back. this doesn't always happen, but it happens quite frequently. So yeah, definitely a slower option, and I don't think I would mix the training schools/FQs/neggs with the lab ray, as it could just undo all your training (and waste NP). Sorry for the poorly constructed answer.

 

in regards to the levels, I think it's level 10 or 20 where your pets are no longer zapped back to 1. :)

[Koralis]

It's okay, I followed your point and I appreciate your response. The 'undo all your training (and waste NP)' issue is what concerns me most. I can't imagine it'd be that extreme, since it's pretty generous with giving HP (maybe it'd make up for the decreases in other stats?), but that's why I'm curious as to people's opinions on it.

 

I have another pet that I zap everyday and don't train using other methods so his stats are very uneven and I don't want my main BD pet to end up like that. I think once this BD pet gets high enough it's possible I may put them UFT in attempts to trade for a UC and I know that people prefer evenly statted and trainable pets, so I don't want to let this pet's stats to become insanely uneven if I choose to do so in the future.

[ranga_muffin]

I've just checked my BD pet, and his stats are fairly even so far. Maybe you could zap your new pet for a little while, and if the stats just start to differ too much, you could stop and just train instead?

[Lamppost]

I zapped my BD pet for years without supplementing with training, and I ended up with a pet who had about 200 strength, 500 HP, and was level 75. Those numbers are made up because I can't remember the exact ones, but you get the point. She was way from trainable and her stats were so very uneven.

 

The lab ray tends to increase HP a lot (since it will never decrease), increase strength moderately, increase level somewhat, and decrease defense.

 

I strongly recommend zapping and training, especially if you don't care about the color/species of your pet. I think it's the best way to gain stats and I wish I had trained more while I was zapping. It will save you NP in the long run since you woun't need to pay anything for HP increases. You will sometimes have your stats taken away by the lab ray, but overall the lab ray results in gains in HSDL, so ultimately it's worthwhile. I recommend using training just to keep your stats even.

 

I started out only zapping and my stats were so uneven that my pet had to gain over 100 levels to make it trainable. Relatively recently I put in the effort to train her also and now she has more strength and defense than she would if I had only zapped. Her stats are: 1001 HP, 761 strength, 223 defense, and Level 504. (None of her HP stat gains were from training. They all come from zapping.)

 

I hope that helps!

[Avia loves Chias]

in regards to the levels, I think it's level 10 or 20 where your pets are no longer zapped back to 1. :)

 

i read somewhere that it's 20 and somewhere else that it's 60? is that totally wrong?

[Koralis]

I zapped my BD pet for years without supplementing with training, and I ended up with a pet who had about 200 strength, 500 HP, and was level 75. Those numbers are made up because I can't remember the exact ones, but you get the point. She was way from trainable and her stats were so very uneven.

 

The lab ray tends to increase HP a lot (since it will never decrease), increase strength moderately, increase level somewhat, and decrease defense.

 

I strongly recommend zapping and training, especially if you don't care about the color/species of your pet. I think it's the best way to gain stats and I wish I had trained more while I was zapping. It will save you NP in the long run since you woun't need to pay anything for HP increases. You will sometimes have your stats taken away by the lab ray, but overall the lab ray results in gains in HSDL, so ultimately it's worthwhile. I recommend using training just to keep your stats even.

 

I started out only zapping and my stats were so uneven that my pet had to gain over 100 levels to make it trainable. Relatively recently I put in the effort to train her also and now she has more strength and defense than she would if I had only zapped. Her stats are: 1001 HP, 761 strength, 223 defense, and Level 504. (None of her HP stat gains were from training. They all come from zapping.)

 

I hope that helps!

 

Thanks, that does help. Yeah, I haven't been zapping my lab pet for that long yet and I would already need about 150 levels to make her trainable. So I would train while zapping because if i let it go that long I'd imagine it would end up costing me more in the long run to even out the other stats (ex. having to pay 3 or 4 codestones for a defense point when I could have only paid 1); plus, I'm impatient so I want to see the HSD rise as quickly as possible. If I probably won't have to pay for any health though, I'm thinking zapping while be a worthwhile addition to training.

 

Also, what does the 'L' stand for, when you wrote HSDL? I don't recognize that one.

 

 

 

i read somewhere that it's 20 and somewhere else that it's 60? is that totally wrong?

 

I'm not sure, that's why I ask :P Maybe someone else will know for sure, or else I guess I'll start doing some research.

[Rune Valentine]

 

i read somewhere that it's 20 and somewhere else that it's 60? is that totally wrong?

The popular theory is level 20. While I can't confirm 100%, I had a labbie that I kept training and zapping over level 20 (to level 50) and never got the "Back to level 1" zap. It will still occasionally drop a few levels, but won't bring your pet's level back to 1.

 

HSDL = Health, Strength, Defense, Level :)

[Koralis]

The popular theory is level 20. While I can't confirm 100%, I had a labbie that I kept training and zapping over level 20 (to level 50) and never got the "Back to level 1" zap. It will still occasionally drop a few levels, but won't bring your pet's level back to 1.

 

HSDL = Health, Strength, Defense, Level :)

 

Wow, level :* that's embarrassing, I should have been able to figure that out! I just couldn't get past trying to figure out how L would somehow stand for movement.

 

Thanks!

[Ranaki]

My pet HorseFefathers86 was the one I was training until I got my lab ray ages ago. If you look him/her up now (taking into account my overall 4-ish year hiatus and days I forgot to use it), the stats are kind of ridiculous - not entirely in a good way.

 

I would not recommend island training + Lab ray, unless you have VERY good RNG, something I apparently do NOT have xD

[Koralis]

My pet HorseFefathers86 was the one I was training until I got my lab ray ages ago. If you look him/her up now (taking into account my overall 4-ish year hiatus and days I forgot to use it), the stats are kind of ridiculous - not entirely in a good way.

 

I would not recommend island training + Lab ray, unless you have VERY good RNG, something I apparently do NOT have xD

 

 

Okay, an opinion against island & lab ray training, that's interesting, thanks. Just so I can better understand your point, what does RNG stand for? Usually I'm really good at figuring out acronyms so I really hope it's not one I should already know, or easily figure out, like that embarrassing level situation above!

[siniri]

I think RNG stands for Random Number Generator.

 

I have been concurrently labbing and training for at least 5 years, maybe more. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's insanely easy to keep your stats even. If the lab is being overly generous (or overly mean) with one stat, there's a very simple solution to keep you from going to the next training price too early: you simply stop zapping that pet until you catch up (just don't tempt fate by zapping once the pet's stats get within range of the next price). Overall, the net effect of the lab ray is a positive increase in total stats, so even if you have to train defense more often because on average you might lose defense more than you gain it, in terms of net effect you're still coming out way, way ahead. (I calculated that I had saved at least 6 million NP in training costs with 3 years of labbing, and I know I've also saved considerable time, too. And your savings only increase the more expensive training becomes.) Don't worry about short term runs of bad luck -- the law of averages pretty much guarantees that if you zap long enough, you'll come out ahead in time and NP saved.

 

One of the tricks to supplementing training with labbing is to not overtrain HP before going to the next training cost. HP is by far the stat most often given by the lab, and it's the only one you can't lose (unless there's a new method to lose it that I haven't paid attention to). Especially when you get to the once-every-24-hours training, you'll want to only train defense and/or strength. (When you're on the train-every-two-hours cycle, it becomes really easy to keep things balanced with training, and you might want to overtrain HP a bit to take advantage of the cheaper prices. You'll just have to try to find a balance that works for you; my personal goal is to basically never train HP but also never have to stop labbing either, and the balance adjusts as your training times change. I got pretty good at keeping to that goal, but it was more by feel, so I can't give specifics.)

 

I used labbing to supplement training from the Academy, through the Island training school, and into the Secret Ninja School. My battle pet is at 800 strength and defense (well, 798, so I don't bump to three reds... I trained over the max in anticipation of the max boosts eventually being raised again), and I'm taking a long break from zapping while I get her HP to 3x level (because all my other stats will be as cheap or cheaper to item-train vs. codestone train from now on, and since I'm at the max boost, I just plan to gradually stockpile items in my SDB -- armoured neggs to help keep her defense up when I resume zapping, and the rest in anticipation of the next war and/or more max boost increases). Once her HP is at 3x level, I'll zap her until I think her HP is high "enough" (probably until I hit the max number of codestones, though I may not want to wait that long), and then I'll finally turn her back into a Mynci and paint her island.

 

While I do get a bit sick of some of her colors, I've already saved way more than the cost of the MP/PB to change her to her desired combo, and the time savings has been significant as well.

[Koralis]

Thanks so much Siniri for the lengthy and articulate response. You've addressed many of the issues I've been contemplating and added some really helpful tips that I hadn't even considered. It did hit me after I started the thread that I could just stop zapping a pet at any time if I need to do some catch-up, but you laying that out as well, especially about not overtraining and entering the next codestone threshold before necessary, makes it sound like such a no-brainer. I feel much more confident now about codestone & lab ray training so once I find my next BD pet, I intend to give it a shot.

[savamal]

Depending on your pet's level, you also have to consider Faerie abilities.

 

Lately, i.e. since the start of the year, my spoilt pet lost about 40 levels with the daily zap. Without trainings and neggs, I think it can be over 70 levels.

 

I was not far from level 500 and the last Faerie abilities, but if I got more than 150 health points, I also lost a lot of levels. The advantage of the Secret Ninja Training School is that you can cancel your training (penalty is to wait 24 hours). So I mainly stock up red codestones from the battledome and cancel trainings which requires red codestones that I don't have or those asking for 2 or 3 of the most expensive ones. I have 10+ Vux and Cui codestones, but I guess I'm unlucky to be asked for Kew or Zed ones only...

 

Always keep an eye on your pet's level as it is the key to train other stats. Sometimes, loosing levels can be a benefit since you'll require less (red) codestones. But most of the time, there will be a stat which forces you to train level.

 

Wish you good luck with your training

[sumtingwong]

Ive just started using lab recently on a lower level pet and have been training defense/levels when possible. Last few days I had my levels stabilized to the point where I was able to bring up defense as i had a couple days in the last couple weeks where i received -2defense. My pet started with pretty even stats when i had gotten the lab but my hp/str has been climbing up. I just got +5hp today so now i have to train a few levels to get back into defense. Even with the losses, so far i have been able to supplement my defense with training, armourd neggs from battledome bot, and if im lucky shrine/kitchen. I currently have a ton of neopoints so i have been running wheel of extravagance as well and ive gotten a decent +5 to other prize ratio.. Ive been running deadlydice lately too and I was on a 5 win streak till today. I may avoid this for the rest of the week till Im able to bring def up just to avoid more possible losses.

 

Pet is currently: Lv-36 / HP-77(+5 Extravagance today) / STR-53 / DEF-40(-2Lab today)

 

I just started playing again a few weeks ago and my pet started with base stats so i guess hes been steadily climbing up.

Any suggestions on how i could approach the continued leveling of my pet from here? Basically im just training defense at the school since it doesnt get raised much from dailies and has been the most common stat to be lost. Levels trained when needed for defense.

 

For this type of high stat / lab pets what is generally a good def to hp or str ratio to have if any. Im thinking i should be okay at trying to keep it at no more than 2 stat boosts lower than the current str/hp. Hopefully i get some luck during this process and am able to catch more def points in the next couple weeks

 

This pet isnt being built for any specific leagues or battling tier as i just want to make this my pet that goes for highest possible stats to complete daily bd with ease and to be able to take on any plot/war events that may happen in the future. Also hoping DoN gets re-implemented at some point. Will be used for 2p battles that i can find in same stat range but i have another pet ive trained normally for stuff like L97 or other leagues.

[Lamppost]

Ive just started using lab recently on a lower level pet and have been training defense/levels when possible. Last few days I had my levels stabilized to the point where I was able to bring up defense as i had a couple days in the last couple weeks where i received -2defense. My pet started with pretty even stats when i had gotten the lab but my hp/str has been climbing up. I just got +5hp today so now i have to train a few levels to get back into defense. Even with the losses, so far i have been able to supplement my defense with training, armourd neggs from battledome bot, and if im lucky shrine/kitchen. I currently have a ton of neopoints so i have been running wheel of extravagance as well and ive gotten a decent +5 to other prize ratio.. Ive been running deadlydice lately too and I was on a 5 win streak till today. I may avoid this for the rest of the week till Im able to bring def up just to avoid more possible losses.

 

Pet is currently: Lv-36 / HP-77(+5 Extravagance today) / STR-53 / DEF-40(-2Lab today)

 

I just started playing again a few weeks ago and my pet started with base stats so i guess hes been steadily climbing up.

Any suggestions on how i could approach the continued leveling of my pet from here? Basically im just training defense at the school since it doesnt get raised much from dailies and has been the most common stat to be lost. Levels trained when needed for defense.

 

For this type of high stat / lab pets what is generally a good def to hp or str ratio to have if any. Im thinking i should be okay at trying to keep it at no more than 2 stat boosts lower than the current str/hp. Hopefully i get some luck during this process and am able to catch more def points in the next couple weeks

 

This pet isnt being built for any specific leagues or battling tier as i just want to make this my pet that goes for highest possible stats to complete daily bd with ease and to be able to take on any plot/war events that may happen in the future. Also hoping DoN gets re-implemented at some point. Will be used for 2p battles that i can find in same stat range but i have another pet ive trained normally for stuff like L97 or other leagues.

In general, I think most people aim for an equal strength and defense boost, especially if your BD strategy involves using a lot of shields. Most people also go for a 3-to-2 HP/Strength ratio, since that's what the training academies allow. For a chart to see what the Battlepedia recommends for building a pet's stats, view the Fast Training Guide.