PvE Guide v1.1 (Updated January 2016)

123468

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Thanks for making this guide. It is awesome! I learned so much about how PvE works.

    I have a general question (someone out there must have thoughts on this!). I know it's always best to let the whole node refresh, but if I am about to go out or go to bed and won't be back for many hours, is it better to play an event two or three times through, or still just once? I'm trying to figure out how to get max points. Thanks!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    marcusophelius wrote:
    Thanks for making this guide. It is awesome! I learned so much about how PvE works.

    I have a general question (someone out there must have thoughts on this!). I know it's always best to let the whole node refresh, but if I am about to go out or go to bed and won't be back for many hours, is it better to play an event two or three times through, or still just once? I'm trying to figure out how to get max points. Thanks!

    Yes, if you are going to bed for say ~8 hours...it's better to play all nodes down to as close to an 8 hour refresh as you can.

    This has made the difference between top 50 and top 10 for me.
  • Ebolamonkey84
    Ebolamonkey84 Posts: 509 Critical Contributor
    Mike265 wrote:
    "So if you were 2 times X points away from the leader your points per mission would be doubled, 3 times X back would be tripled and so on."

    I must be missing something then. I am currently 4X behind the current leader. I have 4,100 and leader has 17,000. So according to this guide I should be at 4X the point value. But I'm only at about 15%. A mission that earned me 200 points at the very beginning now earns me 234.

    What am I missing?

    X is a static number that can change from PVE to PVE, not a multiplier. So in one PVE X may be something like 10,000. Once you are 10,000 points behind the global sub leader, you would start to see a few extra points added. At 20,000 behind, they would be worth double points.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    "X is a static number that can change from PVE to PVE, not a multiplier. So in one PVE X may be something like 10,000. Once you are 10,000 points behind the global sub leader, you would start to see a few extra points added. At 20,000 behind, they would be worth double points."

    Ok, that makes sense.

    So generally, the best strategy is to not play at all in a sub event until the last hour or two? Assuming that, like me, you have a bunch of lvl 94 2* characters but no 3* characters over lvl 100.

    Thanks!
  • TLCstormz
    TLCstormz Posts: 1,668
    Vertigozooropa wrote:
    That's it really: don't be the one who blinks first. Most of the players who leapt on board at the start will fall to the wayside or forget to play on time. Others will split their focus, and use a few heals on PVP instead. If you're really diligent, and eat lots of curry, you'll be woken in the middle of the night and have to spend a lot of time on the toilet. You can then use that time to make another run.

    That's why it's called, "having the runs."

    OMG........why on earth would NO ONE comment on this gem???????

    I literally woke up my students during their nap, time from laughing so loud.
  • Trisul
    Trisul Posts: 887 Critical Contributor
    This guide is woefully outdated. Since then, personal scaling has been toned WAY down, node refresh timers became visible, and grinding to maximize points is the name of the game due to rubberbanding being toned down, and given a buffer. Reading the OP will just confuse newbies.

    If you want T10:
    - Grind every refresh, then grind like crazy in the last hour (max alliance points)
    OR
    - Wait to join a fresh bracket, and THEN grind every refresh and the last hour

    If you just want the cover for next PvE essential (T150):
    - Wait to join a fresh bracket, then do the last 3-4 refreshes of each sub afterwards. Grind last hour if needed.
  • Ron30
    Ron30 Posts: 22 Just Dropped In
    Trisul wrote:
    This guide is woefully outdated. Since then, personal scaling has been toned WAY down, node refresh timers became visible, and grinding to maximize points is the name of the game due to rubberbanding being toned down, and given a buffer. Reading the OP will just confuse newbies.

    If you want T10:
    - Grind every refresh, then grind like crazy in the last hour (max alliance points)
    OR
    - Wait to join a fresh bracket, and THEN grind every refresh and the last hour

    If you just want the cover for next PvE essential (T150):
    - Wait to join a fresh bracket, then do the last 3-4 refreshes of each sub afterwards. Grind last hour if needed.

    I'm fairly new to the game and still trying to wrap my head around the mechanics, so let me clarify the best strategy here - assuming my goal is to max my position/points in the main event (i.e. obtain star lord in the thick as thieves event currently happening).

    Strat: Play each node once, starting from the hardest or most valuable one and working my way back (to compensate for scaling). Wait 3 hours for them to refresh and then repeat. Before going to bed, grind each node down so that the refresh timer is as close to when I plan to wake up the next day. Would this be correct?
  • action711
    action711 Posts: 129 Tile Toppler
    Ron - that's what I do, pretty much. Seems the sensiblest way to play PvP.

    Basically hit each node once and then wait for them to refresh, unless you're busy for a period of time, then hit each node a few times depending on how long you're busy for, and then smash it at the end!

    Play a node down to 1 point? Why? So that means you're sometimes playing a node for around 5 points? Seriously? Even I've got better things to do than that!
  • Ron30
    Ron30 Posts: 22 Just Dropped In
    Yeah that makes sense, but would the strategy change when, for example, there are 8 hour refreshes instead of 3? I understand it probably won't change when it comes to positioning in the Top 100/50/10 etc, but what about earning event points for the reward? For example, you need 60,000 points over the course of the event (was it 7 days long?) to earn all the rewards in Thick as Thieves. I unlocked this today, but I'm not sure I'd hit 60,000 if I was playing less frequently.

    or do they set the point triggers lower to compensate during higher refresh cycles?
  • Nymr83
    Nymr83 Posts: 74
    on the 8 hour refresh "test event" they set the thresholds lower i believe. but really its very easy to hit the top progression award thanks to rubberbanding, just make sure you play each sub in the last hour and you should be fine
  • DCUDCU
    DCUDCU Posts: 131 Tile Toppler
    If you grind a node down to nothing each time, how long does it take to get the full points back? Never?
  • Ron30
    Ron30 Posts: 22 Just Dropped In
    It should tell you in the top left corner where the point values are displayed... "Full points in x hrs x mins"
  • DCUDCU
    DCUDCU Posts: 131 Tile Toppler
    Ron30 wrote:
    It should tell you in the top left corner where the point values are displayed... "Full points in x hrs x mins"


    Yes but my question is if you grind it down to zero, does it ever get back to full at all.

    If you do a node twice now it refreshes at 16 hours..so if it keeps adding 8 hours, it never refills?
  • Ron30
    Ron30 Posts: 22 Just Dropped In
    If you keep adding to the timer, then no, it won't ever fill back up. If you wait the 8 hours, or 16 or 24, etc (obviously, however high the timer is when you've finished grinding), then yes it will fill back in. Keeping in mind that if you have a 32 hour timer on a 24 hour event, you'll only hit max score once and it would make a lot more sense to hit it once every 8 hours and then grind it to nothing in the last hour, ensuring you get full points at least 3 times.
  • Chirus
    Chirus Posts: 191 Tile Toppler
    In an event such as this where we'll only get 1 full refresh. If the time remaining on the sub is less than the time left to refresh the nodes (in other words, I will NOT get a full stack for the remaining duration of the event), should I still wait until the last 2 hours to grind everything down to zero? or is it okay at this point to go ahead and grind everything to zero and wait until 2 hours left and do it one more time?
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    I just noticed, you added the lumbridge guide rfd in the magic xp quest reward section, if you want to keep 1 defence it is impossible to do it, please remove it.
  • DaBeast911
    DaBeast911 Posts: 77 Match Maker
    Very nice guide. I'm just confused on the terms level cap and level Max. Can someone explain this to me?? I'm a newbie, thanks.
  • Ron30
    Ron30 Posts: 22 Just Dropped In
    DaBeast911 wrote:
    Very nice guide. I'm just confused on the terms level cap and level Max. Can someone explain this to me?? I'm a newbie, thanks.

    Level max means the highest level you can upgrade a character to, based on the number of covers you have, while level cap means the highest level you can upgrade a character to once you have their full amount of covers (10 or 13 covers, depending on the character).

    For example, a 3 star character starts at level 40. If you train them with a second cover, they can be upgraded to level 43, so 43 is their level max. However all 3 star characters can be upgraded to level 166 when you have trained them with the maximum 13 covers, so 166 is their level cap and they can never be upgraded higher than the cap.

    1 star characters start at level 1 and cap at level 40 or 50
    2 star characters start at level 15 and cap at level 94
    3 star characters start at level 40 and cap at level 166
    4 star characters start at level 70 and cap at level 270
  • Ebolamonkey84
    Ebolamonkey84 Posts: 509 Critical Contributor
    Chirus wrote:
    In an event such as this where we'll only get 1 full refresh. If the time remaining on the sub is less than the time left to refresh the nodes (in other words, I will NOT get a full stack for the remaining duration of the event), should I still wait until the last 2 hours to grind everything down to zero? or is it okay at this point to go ahead and grind everything to zero and wait until 2 hours left and do it one more time?

    Once you are past the point where the nodes can fully refresh (< 8 hrs left in sub), you should try to grind down to zero as late as you possibly can, but I usually err on the side of starting early. Getting an extra clear in is usually more valuable than the bonus you get by waiting. With 6 stacks per node, each clear reduces the value of the node by 1/6 of the full value. If you could instantly clear the nodes, you would get 250% of the full value of the nodes by doing a grind to 1 (5/6 + 4/6 + 3/6 +2/6 +1/6 = 15/6 =2.5). Since that is not possible, you also need to factor in the points that have been regained over time. Since each clear removes roughly 16% of the value of a node, and it takes 8 hours after one clear to get back to full, each node gains ~2% of its full value every hour.

    I would figure out how long it takes you to do a complete clear of a sub, and give yourself that amount times 5 to start your grind. So if it takes me 30 minutes to clear, I would start with at least 2 hours 30 minutes to go. I would probably also give myself a little buffer room to be safe.
  • Twoslot
    Twoslot Posts: 49 Just Dropped In
    With the current state of pve being what it is, we are seeing quite a few 24h subs with 8h refresh. Simply following the 8h and then grinding down the nodes at the end is fine for top 10, but it's clear that it's not optimal as the top 2-3 are typically 25% ahead of the rest. Anyone care to share the optimal clear schedule and the math behind it? Is it the same for a 36h sub as well?

Categories