Clan stats, 2/29/16

Hello Outliers! Mixed results today. Eleven scored cups, 10 lost cups, one player was new and 26 saw no change.

With the return of Ash05 and the arrival of Ashclone3 the clan score is in flux. However, JA lost 36 cups, DP lost 1, and UA gained 16.

Our winners included Ash05 (two-day total from when he left); Zubzubzub4000 (18); Peach2 (14); Zatzat_411 and Restcase (13); Kreshnic (8); Gourd (5); InAFlash and Tough02 (4 ea); Pyroman62 and Tiptop1222 (3 ea).

Please keep your eye on Ashclone3. He is here to demonstrate how a very low rated player can zoom up to a Level 10 totem.

Please attack daily, if you can. We need more clan points. Thanks.

Jungle Wars: Your target list

Sometimes a player will ask a clanmate to attack a certain player (for whatever reason, usually revenge).

The thing about Jungle Wars is that the target list is different for each player. It seems to be set to a limited number of players. As you gain cups, the system changes your target list. This happens at intervals that are hard to define.

So in asking someone to attack a player - that's a gamble with long odds. If you ask your clan to do it, it's possible someone may have that person on their target list.

Clan stats, 2/28/16

Good day, Outliers! 11 players won cups, 6 lost, 3 were new and 28 saw no change. The clan gained 263 cups. JA lost 7, DP lost 10 and UA gained 8.

Winners included Ash_clone (28, good); Zubzubzub4000 (17); Zatzat_411 (16); Cowbow29 and Blasophemia (15 ea); Aleena1009 (8); Restcase (7); Arissa1009 (6); Gourd (5); Stu75 (3); and Chanonry (1).

Welcome to Somanshahzad19 and Deathking9990 who joined today. Mandudemikey and Thomasson1992 were retired and invited to join Rest(----)of Outliers.

Outliers Academy and Rest(----)of Outliers also gained cups.

Keep up this great action, please!

Jungle Wars: Spider upgrades, worth it?

When I was in the 1000-cup bracket, there was an opponent who did his attacks almost entirely with spiders. I was surprised that at our level this might work, spiders being so frail. Perhaps he used this force structure way past its usefulness.

Here is a level 1 stat sheet for spiders (above).

Here is our fuzzy friend at level 6. Is the upgrade worth it? In my opinion, the upgrade is NOT if you are breeding for damage (stamina). The defensive fire that a Level 6 meets with way outmatches 53 damage points. In other words, by the time your spider is upgraded that high, your enemies will have also upgraded their defenses.

How about attacking power (hitpoints)? Again, I think not. You don't see much difference in the speed at which the spider destroys buildings. This is in part due to the fact that the enmy's building upgrades keep pace with your spider upgrades.

In sum, the weakness of the spider in early play persists into late play. I do keep a few (5) in the force mix when attacking; they are fast "mopping up" troops and when the clock is winding down, you need speed to squeeze an extra percentage point out of your win.

Your comments welcome, as always.

Clan stats, 2/27/16

Good day, Outliers! We were 20 cups ahead when Ash05 rejoined us to add 488 cups.

Total of 12528. Outliers Academy and Rest(----)of Outliers also gained cups.

We had 10 gain cups, 10 lose cups, 27 w/no change and 1 player returned. Finald3fense retired.

Ssasdad joined but was expelled as a pirate spy.

Winners included Peach2 (22, good); Miimario (19); Questingraven (17); Cowbow29 (15); Zatzat_411 (14); Gourd (13); Tough02 (9); Nogeenkip (8); LovelyH3 and Ash_clone (4 each).

Thanks everybody, let's keep at it.

Jungle Wars: Combining gems

If you are new to the game and just beginning to collect gems, you may wonder what they are for. They strengthen different traits of the golem, based on color. Speed, attacking strength, stamina.

As time goes on, you are awarded gems when totems are destroyed. The process is random and a rule of thumb might be one gem in every 10 totem takedowns.

There comes a day when you have an assortment of gems (above). Let's call the smallest level 1 size. In the green gems shown above, there are four sizes we'll call levels 1 -4. You need five gems of identical size to combine into one gem at the next higher level. Let's combine five level 2 gems to make a level 3 gem. You want to combine the gems so that the bigger or better gem will give more points in the upgrade tab.

As I select each gem for combining, it disappears from the bottom row and goes to the top area. Notice the yellow stars over each gem. Each has a rating that equates to the power it gives the golem. Once we combine these, a level 3 gem have a star rating. It could be a weak level 3 gem or a strong one. Let's see. It will cost us 10,000 mana to upgrade this gem.

Here's the result. Before combining the level two gems I had: 1 level 3 5-star; 2 level 3 2-star; 1 level 3 1-star. Looking at the level 3 gems above, I see a 4-star gem. So my combination gained me a 4-star level 3 green gem. As a result of combining the five level 2 green gems into a level 3 gem, I now have five level 3 green gems.

And of course I can combine these into a level 4 gem although the cost is different. Now it's 1,000 wana. BTW, level 5 gems have a big G on them, not sure why and I haven't combined level 5 gems yet. Let's see what happens with that!

Your tips and comments welcome.

Clan stats, 2/26/16

Very good day, Outliers! We had 11 gain cups, 11 lose, 1 new person and 25 with no change. Outliers gained 61 cups. JA lost 8, DP lost 54 and UA lost 70.

Leading us were: Miimario (151 cups, wow!); LovelyH3 (137, great!); Copro73 (125, awesome); and Sascha18 (111, super); Darkholme1906 (22, good); Questingraven (16); Restcase (9); Ash_clone (8); Redwood23spooky and Arissa 1009 (7 ea); and Aleena1009 (6). 

Welcome Peach2 and Copro73. Thanks everyone for the high scoring!

Clan stats, 2/25/16

Good stuff today Outliers! Some 12 players gained, 9 lost cups, 26 saw no change.

Welcome to Sascha18 and Miimario; welcome back DaBigKahuna who joined Rest(----) of Outliers; Good for Outliers Academy reaching 18th place with just a few members!

Outliers gained 8 cups; JA gained 33; DP gained 122 and UA saw no change.

Restcase lost 42 cups in the morning (which depressed our score) and gained back 23 during the day.

Leading the way today were Sascha18 (77 cups, wow); Miimario (76, wow); Blasophemia (60, vg); LovelyH3 (21, good); Questingraven (15); Chanonry (11); Arissa1009 (9); Nogeenkip and Janatik (7 ea); MattIsSwag (6); Aleena1009 (5) and Darkholme1906 (3).

This is all very good, let's keep it going. Thanks.

Jungle Wars: Anybody love wasps? Not me

Anybody love wasps? I think not. Here is a level 1 snapshot:

Notice that the hitting power (12) is similar to that of a single level one warrior! So this guy is flying into enemy territory with the hitting power of a single warrior and the enemy has slinger towers, magic towers, volcanos, and traps awaiting.

Here is a level 4 wasp. There are higher levels but I wised up after reaching level 4:

The damage inflicted by a level 4 warrior is 24. A level six warrior hits with 34. Imagine paying 2600 mana for one level six warrior who is subject to all manner of anti-aircraft fire! Those 340 hitpoints look good but trust me, they don't last long.

In the early stages of the game, say 600-900, I have seen opponents use mass wasp armies. The tradeoff in cost vs. time to produce vs. fragility seems unworthy of the inputs.

Clan stats, 2/24/16

Good day Outliers, though we lost clan cups via transfers. 11 gained cups, 8 lost them, 26 saw no change. Shafinshahzad2 and King 72 left for UA and Mindbreak retired. Quoin1 joined but left for the Academy. Ash is there now.

Winners included Janatik (20, good); Zubzubzub4000 (18); Questingraven (16); Gourd (15); Cmdr0 (13); Arissa1009 (11); Hilljack2008 and Chanonry (6 ea); Darkholme1906 and Restcase (4 ea); and Redwood23Spooky (3).

Keep pushing, team!

Clan stats, 2/23/16

Hello Outliers! Great day, major offensive! 12 gained cups, 3 lost cups, 31 saw no change, 2 returned and 1 was new.

Welcome back Ash05 and King72 and welcome Shafinshahzad2.

We gained 111 cups today reaching 120009 before Ash rejoined and 12526 after. JA gained 47 when clone Ash3 joined; DP lost 18 cups; UA lost 87 (someone must have left).

Leading the way was Alfax21 (57 cups, wow); Zubzubzub4000 (18); Restcase (16); Blasophemia (15); Gourd (11); BlakeG22 (10); Ash_clone (9); Cmdr0 (5); Darkholme1906 and Aleena1009 (3 ea); Hilljack2008 and Tough02 (2 ea).

Thanks for a great day, team!

Jungle Wars: Free coins

People would tell me that you got coins for junk removal and I never believed them.

As I would clean up my base area to extend walls, I would never see a popup screen announcing "You've won X coins."

Well, I was doing some cleanup this week and I noticed my coin count go up. It pretty much worked as described in this chat excerpt from Talt (right).

The only hitch to this is that when you are resource poor, you need the coins the most and it costs food and mana to clean house.

Late in the game, when you are looking for ways to burn off excess food and mana, you're cleaning up and you earn coins that you don't need as much.

In any case, don't miss out on free coins. The junk regenerates creating a steady supply.

Jungle Wars, Kongregate: Clan turmoil

Lot's of doings to puzzle clan players. Two 700-level players quit their top three clans to form Rise of the Dark. This followed UA cutting Vyasada and Butuca a week after Chris W switched from UA to DP.

DP cut Grkmori today and Quoin is supposed to have quit  DP to take up residence in JA, a DP R&R station (BTW).

Let's see what emerges.

Clan stats, 2/22/16

Hello Outliers! Mixed results today. With the departure of King72, we lost 30 cups to reach 12414.

JA gained 570 when Pirate Quoin joined; likewise DP lost 412 when he switched; UA gained 161.

We had 8 win cups, 7 lose cups and 32 with no change.

Leading the way were: Questingraven (51, wow); Shark07 (13); Aleena1009 and Stu75 (12); Darkholme1906 and Restcase (5 ea); Arissa1009 and Ash_clone (1 ea).

Keep pressing, without the member loss, we would have gained today.

Jungle Wars: Slinger upgrades, worth it?

One of the frail units in Jungle Wars has a pretty good usage level well into the player's 1000-cup career, and that is the slinger. Some use armies of slingers well into their middle careers.

Here's the basic slinger.

Here's the max upgrade edition. What do you think?

Clan stats, 2/21/16

Hello Outliers! Quite the day: 12 gained cups, 8 lost cups, 28 saw no change. The clan added 46 cups. JA added 12, DP lost 28 and UA lost 598.

Winners included Blasophemia (47, vg); Restcase (27); King72 (27, good); Arissa1009 (19); Ash05 (16); Kreshnic (12); Aleena1009 and Ash_clone (10 ea); Tough02 (7); Darkholme1906 and Gourd (5 ea); and Shark07 (2).

Good stuff, more please!

Clan stats, 2/20/16

Hello Outliers, quiet day. We had 7 win cups, 9 lose them and 32 with no change.

Before Ash rejoined a little while ago, we had 11,884 clan cups, up 13 from yesterday.Current total is 12,389. JA was up 11 cups, DP down 2, and UA netted 41.

Winners included King72 (24 cups, good); Ash05 (22, good); Janatik (15); Arissa1009 (12); Chanonry (5); Gourd (2); and Ash_clone (1).

Let's get back to those active days!

Jungle Wars: Gorilla upgrades, worth it?

So here is the basic gorilla with values at level 1.

Here is the same at max upgrade:

Is it worth it? Notice that the punishment the ape takes increases much but the attacking power not so much.

The gorilla is in an "arms race" against the firing platforms that are gorilla attack priority #1, so the increase in hitpoints is important. The highest level gorilla can take a few hits from the second-highest rated mortar, and that's worthwhile.

I think most players would agree that gorilla upgrades are worth it, almost a "no brainer."

-- Restcase

Clan stats, 2/19/16

Astounding day, Outliers, best ratios ever. 15 won cups, 3 lost them, 27 saw no change, 1 retuned, 1 player was new.

Schlomotion and Ash went to the Academy, Cmdr0 returned and King72 joined.

Clan cups totaled 11871, up 55 from two days ago. JA gained 4, DP gained 13, UA gained 20.

Winners included: Blasophemia (55, wow); Questingraven (52, brilliant); Chickenm (41, excellent); Aleena1009 (24, good); HutCD0305 (16); Zatzat_411 (13); Restcase (12); Tough02 (5); Gourd and Ash_clone (4 each); Darkholme1906, Alfax21, Shark07, and Hilljack2008 (3 each); and Chanonry (2).

Thanks all for this great effort. To open a 2,000 cup gap with #4, we need just another 1,000 clan cups.

Jungle Wars: Totem 11 glitch

MasterKeys posted information at the Kongregate public chat sharing some bad news (shown at right).

If you have more on this to share, please use the comments field below.

At Kongregate, as of this writing, four of the top 10 players have totems at level 11: Talt, Arrgh1, Gg1111, and Furia_2.

Looking at the silver lining in this, the developers say they are busy with something else; let's hope something good is on the way.

Update: Here is the link to Armor's chat (scroll down). It includes notes on which Armor players have Totem 11 and a screenshot of what it looks like.