Making Sense of the Battleground

[SANDSCApe]

Which animals level to 15?

Actually, since your "wounded" animals heal in some minutes, and you can fight only each hour, in this game it is not necessary to lvl up to to as much animals as you can. Theoretically, it would be enough to lvl up four pieces, to have all elements in a lvl 15 animal.

For example, if you lvl up to 15 an emerald dragon, you will have an animal at lvl 15 with "gem" and "nature" element.
Add a sea drake, then "dark" and "water".
Plus an "electric" "fire", and "earth" with anything and you are ready.

But. If you use your lvl 15 against a particular enemy, it may be that one color would be strong, another weak against it. So, it would be better whether you can choose from at least two animals of yours. For example, when you are facing any opponent with fire element, a sea drake is not a very good choice, because dark is weak against fire, while water is strong.

So, what do you think, what to lvl to 15? (for next tournament....)

My thoughts:
- only super rares (or ultra rares); it is wasting your food to lvl up commons or maybe rares over 10.
- covering at least all colors once, maybe several times
- and... there may be more good thoughts.

There are 21 elemental challenges so far (22 if they create an Electric-Dark combo). Since some animals will present the maximum possible NEB against more than one type, it should be possible to cover all types with 5-10 animals as Anyuszko suggests.

MINIMAL SIX
Based on my insane fight charts, Emerald, Terradactyl, Nightmare, Griffin & Sloth present the best odds against 19 of the 21 current types. The two types they don't trump can be met with Magmacore and a super Electric other than Terradactyl. So all bases can be covered by a minimum of 6 animals.
(Substitute Ox or Phoenix for Nightmare. Substitute Grassquatch for Sloth)

If you don't have an Emerald, Pegasus scores the same NEB against Earth and Earth-Nature, which are the only opponent types to which I've assigned Emerald. If (like me) you don't have all of the 5 supers I've mentioned, you can certainly use other supers, but you will then have a larger group of champions. This can of course be a good thing, but involves a greater investment of food. You may also need a couple rares to substitute if you're missing key supers like me. Beagle & Daredevil have to be in my fight club since they're my only Electric rares and I have no Electric supers.

HIGH ROLLERS
As you raise your tournament cohort, keep in mind that the highest NEB any animal can score against another is 2. It won't happen for most matchups, but the following supers deliver:
Terradactyl against Electric-Water & Electric-Fire
Lion against Dark-Nature
Phoenix/Ox/Nightmare against Gem-Nature & Dark-Nature
Griffin against Dark-Fire, Earth-Fire & Fire
Grassquatch/Sloth against Electric-Earth
Magmacore against Electric-Dark, Electric-Fire & Dark-Fire
Vinotaur against Dark-Nature.

The following is a REVISED list of MVPs overall (not all among my own animals) in descending order:
A. Lion, Magmacore,
B. Phoenix, Ox, Nightmare, Vinotaur
C. Terradactyl, Pegasus, Sloth, Grassquatch
Each of these MVPs is the best pick against 5 or more elemental types.
Keep in mind that top performers may overlap each other so you don't need them all. Although Lion scores the highest NEB against 7 elemental types, Phoenix & Terradactyl cover 5 of those 7, and you may have animals that cover the other 2.

As for whether any of the animals I've mentioned actually NEED to be L15, I find L10 to be sufficient in most cases but, if you can spare the fruit, L15 could certainly add to your advantage.

[zenobia42]

GREAT list, Sand, thanks for all that work!

1. I agree a level 15 gold lion would be a GREAT animal to have for battles. My level 15 daredevil kicked a lot of bootie, and it's obviously just the rare version of that super rare.
2. My sloth also did very well. I am VERY glad I leveled him to 15 early on.
3. Nightmare is next on my list to get to 15.
4. Vinotaur I got to 15 two days ago.
5. Didn't realize that was a priority to get - thanks for the tip! I AM currently trying to get this or the Gold Lion, but with 4 elements at a time again starting tonight (took a day off unicorn futility again lol).

Quick question - so, in the absence of a water-electric super, you don't have any other water hybrids at all. Are all the other water hybrids not worth the effort of leveling then?

[Anyuszko]

I do not agree. Lion is a bad choice, at least perhaps.

I Tell you why. So Lion is am electric x fire hybrid. Electric is strong against water. Water is strong against fire. That means if you attack a water animal, electric+fire is somewhat neutral.

In case the weak color counts. Yet nobody knows the real scoring system of TL.

[SANDSCApe]

I do not agree. Lion is a bad choice, at least perhaps.

I Tell you why. So Lion is am electric x fire hybrid. Electric is strong against water. Water is strong against fire. That means if you attack a water animal, electric+fire is somewhat neutral.

In case the weak color counts. Yet nobody knows the real scoring system of TL.

All elements count. These's no other way for the system to calculate your odds, which has to be done BEFORE you even touch an attack button. After all, the system can't know which of your animal's attack button you will press, so why would it enter values for only one element and exclude the other from it's calculations? Probability is calculated from ALL possibilities.

Lion is elementally inferior to SOME Water types, but not all. In fact, it trumps the elements of 10 different opponent types; more than any other animal.

Here are the Water types against which Lion will have poor odds:
NEB of 0 (neutral) against Electric-Water
NEB of 0 (neutral) against Water
NEB of -2 against Water-Earth

But lion will score a NEB of 2 against Dark-Nature.
Lion will also score a NEB of 1 against all of the following types:
Gem-Nature
Electric-Dark
Electric-Nature
Dark
Dark-Water
Dark-Fire
Water-Nature
Nature
Nature-Fire

See? Who says the big kitty's afraid of water?

[SANDSCApe]

GREAT list, Sand, thanks for all that work!

1. I agree a level 15 gold lion would be a GREAT animal to have for battles. My level 15 daredevil kicked a lot of bootie, and it's obviously just the rare version of that super rare.
2. My sloth also did very well. I am VERY glad I leveled him to 15 early on.
3. Nightmare is next on my list to get to 15.
4. Vinotaur I got to 15 two days ago.
5. Didn't realize that was a priority to get - thanks for the tip! I AM currently trying to get this or the Gold Lion, but with 4 elements at a time again starting tonight (took a day off unicorn futility again lol).

Quick question - so, in the absence of a water-electric super, you don't have any other water hybrids at all. Are all the other water hybrids not worth the effort of leveling then?

I'll answer this one after I get the boss off the bus.

[SANDSCApe]

GREAT list, Sand, thanks for all that work!

1. I agree a level 15 gold lion would be a GREAT animal to have for battles. My level 15 daredevil kicked a lot of bootie, and it's obviously just the rare version of that super rare.
2. My sloth also did very well. I am VERY glad I leveled him to 15 early on.
3. Nightmare is next on my list to get to 15.
4. Vinotaur I got to 15 two days ago.
5. Didn't realize that was a priority to get - thanks for the tip! I AM currently trying to get this or the Gold Lion, but with 4 elements at a time again starting tonight (took a day off unicorn futility again lol).

Quick question - so, in the absence of a water-electric super, you don't have any other water hybrids at all. Are all the other water hybrids not worth the effort of leveling then?

Vinotaur is not all that essential, but he's a great go-to guy for players who may not have all the big shots. His elements trump 9 of the 21 different types; more than most attackers. But his job can be covered by other supers in that first minimal list I gave.

With Water being weak only to Electric, one would think the Water hybrids would be super powers. But Water's combination with Electric, Dark, Earth & Nature produces a balance that trumps only a few elemental types.

Electric-Water trumps Dark-Water, Dark-Fire, Water, Water-Natur & Nature-Fire, each by 1 point.
Dark-Water trumps only Gem & Gem-Nature, each by 1 point.
Water-Nature trumps Dark-Earth, Water-Earth, Earth, Earth-Nature & Earth-Fire, each by 1 point.
But Water-Earth is a powerhouse! It trumps Dark-Fire, Earth-Fire & Fire, each by 2 points and also trumps Electric-Fire & Nature by 1 point.
The Water hybrids are not to be dismissed. They just don't trump the elements of as many opponents or by as many points as do the fighters in my MVP list.
Electric-Water and Water-Earth are the most productive of the Water bunch. The super Electric-Water just isn't here yet.

Note that when I say one type trumps another it only means it is elementally superior. It doesn't mean it will win; it just has better chances. That's why I say "trumps" and not "beats."

Also, the fighters in my minimal list and MVP list are not meant to exclude others. It's just that they score more NEBs.

But my first list DOES have a Water hybrid -- Griffin! I wouldn't go far without my Water-Earth. Consider this also -- whatever you may trump with Water can also be trumped by Earth. The list is somewhat Earth-heavy but that element simply covers more ground! LOL

Earth and Fire are the only elements that trump two others. But whereas Fire is weak against two other elements, Earth is only trumped by one.

[SANDSCApe]

...
But lion will score a NEB of 2 against Dark-Nature.
Lion will also score a NEB of 1 against all of the following types:
Gem-Nature
Electric-Dark
Electric-Nature
Dark
Dark-Water
Dark-Fire
Water-Nature
Nature
Nature-Fire

See? Who says the big kitty's afraid of water?

If you question how Lion can trump Dark-Water and Water-Nature, here's the break-down:

Against Dark-Water, Electric is neutral against Dark (0) and strong against Water (+1). Fire is strong against Dark (+1) and weak against Water (-1).
Total of 0+1+1-1=1

Against Water-Nature, Electric is strong against Water (+1) and neutral against Nature (0). Fire is weak against Water (-1) and strong against Nature (+1).
Total of 1+0-1+1=1

[Anyuszko]

I still disagree. Lion is a bad choice. It is much smarter to raise an electric-earth super to 15. Electric is strong only against water. So, why would you pair electric with fire, which is makes it weak? It is much better to avoid such combinations.

Also avoid: fire-earth combo, or water-nature etc.

What I think is good:
electric-earth
dark-nature
fire-nature, fire-dark

and so

[SANDSCApe]

I still disagree. Lion is a bad choice. It is much smarter to raise an electric-earth super to 15. Electric is strong only against water. So, why would you pair electric with fire, which is makes it weak? It is much better to avoid such combinations.

Also avoid: fire-earth combo, or water-nature etc.

What I think is good:
electric-earth
dark-nature
fire-nature, fire-dark

and so

To each his own. Electric-Earth trumps eight elemental types compared to the 10 types trumped by Electric-Fire. But Terradactyl is already on my list in addition to Lion and I don't see the need for one to exclude the other.

My MINIMAL list was the least number of fighters that would trump ALL 21 elemental types.
My MVP list consisted of the fighters that scored the highest NEBs overall against the opponents they trumped.

You can take the approach of raising what you consider to be a well balanced representative of 7 elements and hope that covers it all. My exhaustive approach was to actually score every single elemental type against all 21 elemental types and compare the NEBs. That's how I generated my lists.

But you don't need to go by the numbers. That's just my own madness. I have a very calculated way of doing things. In the end, it's still only theoretical since I don't have all the animals on my own lists. That means my actual fight club will deviate considerably from my ideal and still be fine.

I'm sure yours will be fine also.

(I'm chuckling to myself because I think neither one of us has that Lion or Terradactyl ANYWAY, unless your breeding luck has returned. LOL)

[Anyuszko]

(I'm chuckling to myself because I think neither one of us has that Lion or Terradactyl ANYWAY, unless your breeding luck has returned. LOL)

Not yet. Instead, my daughter breed two electric-green supers in a week... (on Anyuszko account)