BD for dummies (like REALLY dummies)?

[anapm.agostini]

Hi guys!

Since returning to Neopets as an adult I've been trying to do stuff I never really got the hang of and BD is one of them 

(along collecting stamps, Kad feeding, food club...)

But the thing is: it seems that I am completely useless at it lol

I know there are good guides out there, but I really do need like a step-by-step (like: what stats I need to be, the exact weapons, order of attack and everything. There used to be a guide like that back in the good ol days, but I believe the owner's account was frozen (either that or he is just not around anymore, making it impossible to find).

Is there any guide for the completely hopeless like me? Or like a guide to teach me to read the guides? lol

 

Thanks in advance!

[Duma]

There is a guide here: https://thedailyneopets.com/battledome/introduction-to-the-battledome

At the bottom of the page you can see more topics for beginners

• Preparations for Battle
• Inside the Battledome
• Two Player Battles
• Melida's Journey: Training Guide

I would suggest you start with reading these articles, hopefully they'll be enough to help you on your way. Also, practice with One Player Battles first before doing 2P battles, at least you don't have another human's thinking to worry about. One little note: Stealing hasn't been fixed yet so don't even bother trying to figure that out.

A good opponent would be Mr. Chuckles or ChiaClown.

For the Faerie abilities (They are very! Helpful) there's a guide here: https://thedailyneopets.com/battledome/faerie-abilities

[gypsyknees]

I'm definitely not an expert, I only started doing BD during the Wraith Resurgence event. Some of the weapons I use aren't buyable I believe, as they're from that plot.
But my main used weapons that are buyable are Yooyu Knuckle Duster and Turned Tooth. I also have Patched Magic Hat and Greater Healing Scroll but to be honest I don't use them really.

My battle pet's stats aren't super super high. She's level 74 at the moment. I recommend getting to at least level 50 because then you can train a really valuable battledome ability that completely blocks the enemy's moves for one turn (there will be guides on that). Random dailies add to her stats, and I use Faerie Quest Fortune Cookies from the NC Mall and try to make sure that she is always my active pet so she gets the rewards from the faeries which are almost always stats based. When you're training, don't worry about movement/agility. As far as I know it has no effect on results. Endurance (hit points), attack and defence will be what makes a difference. I've never battled another player. I started with Donny as I often got fairly valuable Neggs or decently rare items. Once you get your stats up, look into how to get the Koi Warrior as an opponent. That is mostly all I play now, to get as many red codestones as possible to sell. Again I'm not an expert at all but hope this helps a bit!

Oh and I use Dewberry Revivers in between battles when needed for complete healing (I collect cheap direct from Healing Springs)!
But look up which potion you need based on what HP your pet has!  

[anapm.agostini]

Thanks guys! 

@gypsyknees I'll take note of your tips to use them as soon as I figure out the basics lol

 

[jaydeed]

You might also want to consider what prizes you're after; if you want to train or make a profit, Koi Warrior drops a lot of codestones. I battle with weapons, no defence items and trained so I could get Lens Flare with faerie abilities which gives you one go where your opponent does nothing; very useful! Now I'm at the point where I have two goes like that so i can win pretty easily.

[Aquamentis12]

Duma's post is an awesome place to start out if you're not familiar with how to prep and battle. And Gypsyknees has some great tips! Jaydeed has a good point too. If you are looking for certain prizes, like stamps or books, etc. TDN's pages on the 1p challengers has prize data too! And boy did it take a long time to collect! lol

If you post your battle pet stats, and available equipment if you have some already, people can also help you out with different builds (ways to train your pet) for a style that works for you.

Just don't go into battle with nothing equipped! LOL When I first joined Neopets, many years ago, I figured there would be a default action to attack without any equipment. there wasn't. lol This was in the old battledome of course, but still, go in with something, even against Punchbag Bob, or you'll have to withdraw, which will count as a loss. That was my experience anyway. lol

As for opponents. Before the prices dropped so much, I liked to battle the Jelly Chia. He drops some stamps and a book. Jelly Pop Stamp, Jelly World Stamp, and Jelly Mysteries which is a book. Made some nice NP on the stamps back when I was trying to figure out all of Jelly Chia's prizes. Not sure what they sell for now, but the last time i checked they were both still very much under 100k np on the shop wiz.

Different domes lend to different prize types too. If you take place in the Obelisk Skirmishes, those are all in the Ugga Ugga Dome. The prizes as I recall from there are so common in the user market because of this. There might be a few decent rare prizes there. I usually battle some other opponent in a different dome before I do the battles for the skirmishes. Rattling Cauldron Dome, basically the Haunted Woods Arena, you'll get lots of spooky foods. A lot of which is not as valuable as it once was because they are common prizes in that arena now. Neopia Central Dome has a lot of regular food items. If you're lucky you might get Chocolate Ice Cream, worth about 40k the last time I won any. lol Again each opponent also has some pretty unique stuff, as well as codestones of course. Shadow Usul, for example, has a plushie that sometimes drops, and sells for around 15k-20k.

Anyway, depending on your budget, stats, and the opponent(s) you'd like to battle, post that info either here or in a new thread, and I'm sure you'll get lots of tips. I spent my time budget battling for as long as I've been on Neopets. I'd say that my battle set is still in the low-intermediate to regular intermediate range. I've a few weapons from plots I earned. The majority of my NP spent for battle gear was on my healer, and a Ghostkerbomb. So I consider budget-battling my specialty.
 

I recommend training over expensive weaponry. I mean, I've got my Strength and Defense stats maxed, but my weaponry is not terribly great, as I said above. If you read about "Boosts", those are basically the multipliers for the amount of icons a weapon attacks or defends. If you have a 10 icon weapon, and you've got the highest strength boost, 16, which you get when your strength is 750. Then that attack, if nothing is blocked by your opponent, will do 160 damage.

I also recommend balanced training between Strength and Defense. But that's my training style. lol Movement/Agility is pretty useless except for a couple of items. If you have agility of 201 and an intelligence of... I believe it was 37+, you could consider a Heavy Robe of Thievery to steal a random item once per battle, but stealing is not working right now, so the point is moot right now. Though it might be a good time to buy a Heavy Robe of Thievery for the future, because when stealing gets fixed, the price will probably go back up a bit.

Intelligence, it's useful for some higher-end tunics from the Brightvale Armory. But reading books and visiting Coltzan's Shrine should yield you some decent INT increases. I think the most Intelligence you need for a pet in the BD would be 1000 for one of the tunics. Again though, not something to worry about if you're just starting out. The USEFUL tunics sell for some millions mostly.

Phew! I haven't pulled a post this long in awhile. Sorry, i hope it all makes sense and wasn't too much at one time.

Happy battling!