Forums → Games → Potential refinement to 16/32 mana farm?
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So the last two games I've tried experiments with denser starting gems on my mana, kill, and booster gems.
What I mean is, I'll create 3 or more (I've done as high as a ctrl-click entire inventory) grade one gems, and then combine them all into a single grade 2.
1+1+1(+1x?) = 2
This has some interesting benefits and side effects, as well as downsides. The first benefit is that you have stuff you can upgrade more often, since the upgrade costs are staggered. I usually run into a wall around mana pool level 51-53, with my normal 32 mana and 16 boost gems in the high 40s. I'm looking at 1.21e+21 mana to duplicated a mana boost gem, and my income is just too low to make that feasible. After 15 or 16 generations of 16 combines, the 16x mana cost has finally gotten to be much for my patience.... but experimenting today I was able to upgrade a set of denser gems to break past the hurdle.
I've also done this with the mana gems - make grade 2 orange and black gems that are at least 3 grade ones in mana value. (but lately I've been experimenting with 8, 16, and "inventory" values.
The biggest help is with the low levels. It's never too early to build one or more of these. This morning for the first time ever I got to mana pool level 45 by wave eight, which is just all kinds of much better for me. (edited that, originally said 47 but I was wrong) The increased cost of some of these denser gems is waaaay more than offset by the extra boost or mana leech the density gives. It costs more because its denser, but it *gives* more. It's not a straight trade, the gains are decreasing the more you invest (i.e. the improvement is not linear based on density, a 16x boost gem is not even remotely close to 16x better) but at low levels the difference can be huge. Because of the black component the boost value is incredibly important.
I haven't written down numbers or performed analysis to see/plot how the denser gems compare longterm to the standard 16 combine on grade 1 boost, for example. I know that generation-for-generation (meaning, say, 10 or 15 16-combines on each) a denser gem obviously has better values than a standard gem, but if it loses more or less with each combine, I can't say. I can say that by 16 or 17 generations they are still hellaciously competitive and helpful. Just expensive as all get out.
And yes, I also did this with a kill gem, with a mix of denser and standard yellow boosters. The damage was pretty insane for the mana cost, and I didn't really spend much time farming hits for the black component.
Anyway, it's something new to experiment with. I don't claim it's an improvement over the incredibly awesome 16/32, but it's a side track and for me, it helps get over certain mana bottlenecks.
- 3 Replies
What I do is make one duplicate, stick it in a second trap (which usually gives about half as much mana as the first due to the lack of hits on the new gem), Then upgrade the first gem into the 2+1+2 gem when I have the mana for that.
Then I finish supergemming.
That way, I shave off...about 50% of the time between upgrades.
I've tried doing that but it's too easy for me to lose track, especially with pauses and AFK during games. If I can make 6 duplicated and upgrade to 1+1(x6), or 1+1(x6)+2,+2, then I will... but like I said, i lose track.
And I do NOT want to have to keep a notebook in front of me to keep track of what's going on in the game. =P
I organize my combination as follows:
(2+1+2)+[2+1+1+1+1+1+2+2]
by only deploying 1, 2, and 2+1+2, I can easily tell where I am. (pure orange amps are one grade below base, which makes it obvious what grade the base is supposed to be).
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