Spoiler New Guild Expedition Buildings! (GE Update?)

[Astrid]

What @MooingCat is saying is correct. I also have the video, you defend on all encounters in GE5. But you can also negotiate.

 

[nice2haveu]

What @MooingCat is saying is correct. I also have the video, you defend on all encounters in GE5. But you can also negotiate.

okay, we will defend, then who will attack us. Till now, myself opening the guild expedition doing battles. Now, Is it going to be something like apply defending units to make others attack them. Have missed the video, so no idea what exactly they showed

 

[CrashBoom]

then who will attack us.

the AI

Till now, myself opening the guild expedition doing battles. Now, Is it going to be something like apply defending units to make others attack them

you still start the fight
the only difference will be that you are using defending stats

 

[nice2haveu]

the AI


you still start the fight
the only difference will be that you are using defending stats

Defending army units stats rite, but till today defending army units are immortal.
Did they mention anything regarding specific slots for GE5 defending units in the video?

 

[CrashBoom]

but till today defending army units are immortal

then attacking army units will be immortal
they will be back at full health if you fail to win the battle

your units will stay dead if you don't use diamonds

Did they mention anything regarding specific slots for GE5 defending units in the video?

you select 8 units and click on the button to start the fight (which then will have defend instead of attack on it)

 

[nice2haveu]

you select 8 units and click on the button to start the fight (which then will have defend instead of attack on it)

Doesn't feel appropriate to add defending in this way (approach). Separate GE5 defending army units section would be a good addition. Otherwise, attacking army units which stacked for GBG/PvP/etc in army management will be used for defending accidentally or purposefully.

 

[Kronan]

Defending army units stats rite, but till today defending army units are immortal.
Did they mention anything regarding specific slots for GE5 defending units in the video?

Yeah, that, and a few other things of IMMENSE strategy value:

1) When you get to certain eras, OFFENSE units with special skills goes first, and using a swarm design for example, 8 STRIKE FORCE warriors (Contemporary) go first, and with a good AO, and Kraken on your side, you can literally clear the deck (or make enough pulp out of even a stronger defense...) that you can easily prevail.

ON defense, you don't go, or won't first.the AI will.
It seems there are no defensive warriors specifically designed in the game, for this battle proposition. Precisely because this new idea isn't balanced for a game that has spent 90% of it's design in a OFFENSE forward mode, thinking like an ATTACKER.

What really should happen instead of a MIXED GE like this, is a better strategy idea. GE OFFENSE and GE Defense - 2 GE's (or maybe make that a goal).

You can play 1, either, or both each week, each 4 (or 5) levels.

1) If you play GE OFFENSE (classic GE), you get 4 levels or 5 levels of OFFENSE attack, as we have now
2) If you play GE DEFENSE, (elements of the proposed GE 5 we're about to see), you can play PURE DEFENSE, using city warriors. Inno would build a new warrior type for each era (1 more warrior to add to the 5 you already have), that specializing in city defense. This is NOT an attacking warrior, it's a strong defense warrior.

That would be so much fun. 2 types of GE that are parallel, but allow you to grow BOTH SIDES of your army, as part of your game!

 

[drakenridder]

If they wanted to make GE5 more challenging across the board, they could've done what they've done with ancient Egypt's battles: stripping the player from all their military buffs and perks from GB's. Further more giving every conquered 4th encounter a building slot for fortifications. Which offer support for further encounters:
Encounter: 1-4
0% buff, 8 units 1st wave, 0-3 units, 2nd wave
Encounter: 5-8
25% buff, 8 units 1st wave, 3-5 units 2nd wave
Encounter: 9-12
40% buff, 8 units 1st wave, 5-7 units 2nd wave
Encounter: 13-16
50-80% buff, 8 units both waves

Fortifications offering stackable buffs. For attacking armies a defined buff, for negotiations an X% chance for an additional turn after the 1st goods are payed to start the negotiations. For example:
Fortification 1: 10% buff, 20% chance extra turn

Fortification 2: 15% buff, 25% chance extra turn
(Stacked with 1st fortification: 25% buff, 45% extra turn)

Fortification 3: 25% buff, 30% chance extra turn
(Stacked with previous fortifications, 50% buff, 75% chance extra turn)

Giving the ability to construct fortifications only at each 4th encounter you've solved. Resulting in increased support while pushing forward, while retaining a though challenge to overcome. As the AI has stronger buffs. Consistently with fortification support 15% more buff, with a few exceptions to the final small encounters. As where the final encounter has upwards to 30% more buff, with full fortification support.
Furthermore with this proposal the negotiations won't have a guaranteed to gain an additional turn. Even at full fortification support. The challenge is equalised for everyone and nobody needs to radically changing their city, regardless of playstyle, to be successful in GE5.

If they care about lore reasons, like why you're main city's benefits don't reaching you're armies/traders. GE5 is too deep in the jungle to establish reliable and sufficient logistics. To maintain the support. To subsidise that, you can construct fortifications/garrisons. To support you're expeditions deeper into the jungle.

 

[Dessire]

I hope they do a complete change of graphics to all levels.

 

[Kronan]

Here's another interesting "how it currently works" dichotomy:

1) Orange Juice from Attack boost FLASKS - DO NOT STACK for attacks. So the BEST you can get "on-demand" (for attacking army) is:

20% attacking inventory flask + best tavern item at 30% attack for silver = 50% total on demand attack.


2) Blue juice from Defense boost FLASKS - WILL STACK for city defense. SO if you have a lot of them.... Hmm. Will they stack for GE 5 defense, too? If you have 50, 20% flasks - you got 1000% defense help (for 8 hours).

Seems like all those blue flasks we usually sell, just got very valuable?...

The price of defense poker just went up..

 

[nice2haveu]

My guessing for the GE 5 logic might be repeated effort (which is summarized below),

• Each encounter fortifications needs to be set and need to be defended successfully with a victory.
• If they succeed on any encounter, it will be captured for limited time and again it needs to be defended.
• Fortifications will reduce the power of defending army inch by inch, so that time to time, each encounter needs to be defended again.
• Player who succeed by defending all GE5 encounter with a victory and not losing any encounter till the end gets GE5 completion (one time) reward. This point is very crucial because, fortification timer let the players to know when fortifications destroys all defending army units and player should be careful at the last day of GE5 to make sure all encounters are under their control and got victory already.

 

[drakenridder]

Here's another interesting "how it currently works" dichotomy:

1) Orange Juice from Attack boost FLASKS - DO NOT STACK for attacks. So the BEST you can get "on-demand" (for attacking army) is:

20% attacking inventory flask + best tavern item at 30% attack for silver = 50% total on demand attack.


2) Blue juice from Defense boost FLASKS - WILL STACK for city defense. SO if you have a lot of them.... Hmm. Will they stack for GE 5 defense, too? If you have 50, 20% flasks - you got 1000% defense help (for 8 hours).

Seems like all those blue flasks we usually sell, just got very valuable?...

The price of defense poker just went up..

Interesting thoughts, actually I think if @Astrid and @MooingCat explanation is correct, all encounters using defence buffs and not just every 4th, using the defence bottles could prove very useful. Attacking % would be rather harder to obtain.

My guessing for the GE 5 logic might be repeated effort (which is summarized below),

• Each encounter fortifications needs to be set and need to be defended successfully with a victory.
• If they succeed on any encounter, it will be captured for limited time and again it needs to be defended.
• Fortifications will reduce the power of defending army inch by inch, so that time to time, each encounter needs to be defended again.
• Player who succeed by defending all GE5 encounter with a victory and not losing any encounter till the end gets GE5 completion (one time) reward. This point is very crucial because, fortification timer let the players to know when fortifications destroys all defending army units and player should be careful at the last day of GE5 to make sure all encounters are under their control and got victory already.

I really hope they won't change GE5 in such a time sink nightmare. While I've maybe remembered incorrectly that it was for each 4th encounter, from what I've seen and heard I'm absolutely positive that the GE5 encounters are fortunately ordinary encounters. Except you can construct fortifications for benefits like app. +/-30% buff and an additional turn in negotiations. Further more defence buffs are used to buffing you're armies rather than attacking buffs. That been said, I really hope they won't making GE5 in such a time sink. In which you need to be 24/7 online and rushing to the lvl to babysit for a full week for best results.

 

[nice2haveu]

I really hope they won't change GE5 in such a time sink nightmare. While I've maybe remembered incorrectly that it was for each 4th encounter, from what I've seen and heard I'm absolutely positive that the GE5 encounters are fortunately ordinary encounters. Except you can construct fortifications for benefits like app. +/-30% buff and an additional turn in negotiations. Further more defence buffs are used to buffing you're armies rather than attacking buffs. That been said, I really hope they won't making GE5 in such a time sink. In which you need to be 24/7 online and rushing to the lvl to babysit for a full week for best results.

We are the people asked for more challenging GE5, and gave my guess towards it. Even I feel, it shouldn't be brought like that, if it happens it will be trouble for sure but challenging one. One easy loophole in my guess is, last day do all the encounters by defending and keep them in your control, but daily rewards of getting defense success on encounters will be missed through out the entire week. Repeated effort mentioned in my guess to get more rewards for each successful defense, sorry missed this point since it is regular concept in GE like left out. Sacrificing all days encounter rewards, you are forced to get one time completion reward at the end. that's what I guessed it.

 

[NoVa]

Some new reward selection kits have been added, also compiled into designated thread. By the naming it suggests they relate to each GE level, how or in what way is not really apparent.

Spoiler: Selection kits

reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX1	reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX2	reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX3	reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX4
Gate of the Sun God + upgrade Face of the Ancient + upgrade	Ritual Flame + upgrade	Tribal Square + upgrade Sacred Sky Watch + upgrade	Terrace Farm + upgrade Fountain of Youth + shrink kit

 

[drakenridder]

We are the people asked for more challenging GE5, and gave my guess towards it. Even I feel, it shouldn't be brought like that, if it happens it will be trouble for sure but challenging one. One easy loophole in my guess is, last day do all the encounters by defending and keep them in your control, but daily rewards of getting defense success on encounters will be missed through out the entire week. Repeated effort mentioned in my guess to get more rewards for each successful defense, sorry missed this point since it is regular concept in GE like left out. Sacrificing all days encounter rewards, you are forced to get one time completion reward at the end. that's what I guessed it.

I get you're point. Personally I think it's beyond challenging. Rather a chore/time sink. I like you're creativity with the concept though. It's surely refreshing but over complicated and flawed. Reminds me of Grepolis, in which ghost towns existed and you could defending it for the lol. The ghost towns grumbled and over time buildings degraded in levels if they where not colonised. Eventually disappearing, some units defending it gotten killed, when it crumbled further. Reminded me of you're concept of degrading fortifications.

 

[xivarmy]

Some new reward selection kits have been added, also compiled into designated thread. By the naming it suggests they relate to each GE level, how or in what way is not really apparent.

Spoiler: Selection kits

reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX1	reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX2	reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX3	reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX4
Gate of the Sun God + upgrade Face of the Ancient + upgrade	Ritual Flame + upgrade	Tribal Square + upgrade Sacred Sky Watch + upgrade	Terrace Farm + upgrade Fountain of Youth + shrink kit

One possibility is that instead of hoping GE4 has the rewards you want, instead there's reliably a selection kit as one of the options that you might win after each encounter and you can choose what you want that reward to be - i.e. encounter 64 could have a 50% of many different things (terrace farm, fountain of youth, sacred sky watch, reno kit, one up kit) - each week only two of those are available, which can be frustrating if there's only one of them you want.

Or possibly just that upgrades will be replaced with selection kits so you don't wind up with "dead upgrades". On the new world back in September I won a terrace farm upgrade the first week, what luck! I didn't get the terrace farm *to* upgrade until January however. If instead of the upgrade I had gotten a selection kit then I could've gone "well at least a level 1 terrace farm doesn't have to sit in inventory". I also have 7 fountain of youth shrink kits without their base on that world atm!

All 4 of these selection kits include the upgrades which until now are GE4 exclusive - while I guess we might see some of them bleed down to lower difficulties (particularly if an encounter has a chance for a tribal square, perhaps we can get the selection kit instead), I still expect them to be predominantly the rewards for difficulty 4. My guess is the numbering is just because they're mostly not exclusively one building, they weren't sure what else to name them.

 

[mcbluefire]

I'll have to wait until I can try GE5, but if it is going to be some ridiculous town defense needed that is on par with the offense boost required to auto-attack all of GE4 it'll be a hard pass for me.

I just can't wrap my mind around using our defense boost for initiating a take-over on an encounter. This is feable minded nonsense at it's best to force using a stat we have avoided because it was of no use before this. So thrilled I've sold off hundreds of defense boosts, many thanks FOE!

 

[xivarmy]

I just can't wrap my mind around using our defense boost for initiating a take-over on an encounter. This is feable minded nonsense at it's best to force using a stat we have avoided because it was of no use before this. So thrilled I've sold off hundreds of defense boosts, many thanks FOE!

Well I mean, if they want us to *start* making use of it, it does have to start with a *why* we should want it. If some people start adopting it because of this, then that'd give them more space in terms of rewards and features that are of value to "someone".

But yes, from a position of "what I have by accident" (castle system, extraneous stat on some building I built for another reason, left over stuff I hadn't got around to selling to antique dealer yet because I had higher value stuff or didn't feel i needed any more AD currency), it's not clear just how much they'll "expect" of us.

It'll probably be easier for lower ages to adapt as they won't have as far to go from zero investment. For higher ages, if they ask too much it'll just probably "make" most high age players negotiate instead rather than make some crazy amount of investment in defense (both in space and in effort into events). But perhaps new cities will develop with defense in mind too.

Regardless, I can't wait to see what will now be asked of us. Figuring how to best work around/towards new expectations is the fun part of the game! Hitting autobattle for rewards, not so much

 

[CrashBoom]

I am wondering if we can use the old upgrade kits to upgrade the Sacred Sky Watch / Ritual Flames to level 3

Some new reward selection kits have been added, also compiled into designated thread. By the naming it suggests they relate to each GE level, how or in what way is not really apparent.

Spoiler: Selection kits

reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX1	reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX2	reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX3	reward_icon_selection_kit_GEX4
Gate of the Sun God + upgrade Face of the Ancient + upgrade	Ritual Flame + upgrade	Tribal Square + upgrade Sacred Sky Watch + upgrade	Terrace Farm + upgrade Fountain of Youth + shrink kit

or the number isn't for the level
and you can all those 4 in level 5

Otherwise, attacking army units which stacked for GBG/PvP/etc in army management will be used for defending accidentally or purposefully.

many players will use the same units combo for the 5th level like everywhere else

 

[Owl II]

But perhaps new cities will develop with defense in mind too.

They won't start. The thing that the developers don't understand: the mechanism for defending the city was made for another game. That game didn't contain GE, GBG, or even GvG. There was no "auto battle" button in that game. There were only neighbors. And there was some balance between defense and attack. But all this was broken at the moment when special buildings with attack have been added to the game. And when devs forced the players to increase the max attack for GBG, the mechanism of defense of the city was finally buried. Currently, there is no such defence that a player who beats GBG with a attrition of 100, +- could not break through. So, we can not remember at all about the defence of the city in its initial sense. And they should introduce rewards comparable to GBG to make this parameter somewhat attractive to players. But we know that won't happen. But if it happens, it will be another of the greatest stupidity of development