25104
We have now seen 3 Atlas events, each working out kinks from the previous ones.I do believe though, that it has reached its regular format from now on. I won't go into the changes from the 1st 2, because they don't really matter going forward. Instead, we'll focus on the rules, some advice for doing better, and why you should even try. You can access new Atlas events, or look at older ones, by clicking the Leaders tab and then the Atlas sub-tab.
Atlas events represent world-effecting disasters that need to be prevented or countered by the hero community as a whole, much like World Raids.
So far, these have included asteroids, tornadoes, and floods.
Players build a Hero Deck out of their regular battle decks, using 45 cards. 12 have to be Att. 12 have to be Def. 12 have to be Move. That leaves 9 more cards that can be from any of your battle decks.
You must have 45 cards in your Hero Deck. No more and no less. You can have a maximum of 3 copies of any single card. This is what you will use to battle whatever catastrophe that particular Atlas event revolves around.
Your Hero Deck can be accessed and changed by clicking the Hero Deck tab in the event, or by clicking your Gear tab and finding the Hero Deck subtab afterwards
.
To access your deck for the event once, it costs 5 fights.
After accessing your deck, it will cost 3 energy to make each attack. This attack randomly gives you 3 cards from your Hero Deck to choose from. The card you choose will be the card used to damage the event for that attack, and then all 3 are put in a discard pile.
Damage will be based on 1 stat on the card. It might be the Att stat, the Def stat, or the Move stat, but you will know which based on the specific rules for that Atlas.
Therefore, when building a Hero Deck, be sure to use the cards with the highest stat used for that Atlas. You can attack 15 times each time the deck is shuffled, at a cost of 3 energy per attack. After your deck is exhausted, you can reshuffle it and start over for another 5 fights.
Despite what some may have tried to claim early on, Atlas isn't designed for a single specific player to win.
Honestly, almost anyone can win. The trick is simply hitting more than everyone else.
Granted, some players will have a little more advantage than others, in that their average card damage is higher, but that difference is negligible compared to the volume of hits.
On the 2nd Atlas, I hit for less damage per hit than anyone I compared to, but still won 1st place through sheer volume of hits.
Increasing the volume of hits is fairly easy.
You have 2 days' worth of consumables to use, if you plan well. There are consumables that add fights and energy as well as ones that increase the rate at which you get fights and energy. (Leveling up re-fills up your fights and energy as well.)
If you have the right HQ buildings, you can increase your fight and energy banks further to collect more resources while you are on other missions or away from the game.
The real trick is right here in this information: consumables.
The tricky part is understanding that it doesn't matter how much damage we do to avert the particular Atlas catastrophe because we're actually competing against each other for rankings. What matters instead is what percentage of the overall damage was done by your particular toon.
Depending on participation, some Atlas events may be far easier than others.
You may gain far more points for far less effort in one Atlas, then turn around and really grind the h**l out of the next but have a smaller portion of the pie. (Remember this so you don't wonder what happened down the road when results end up varying.)
Now, you might be wondering why one might want to participate in Atlas.
Let's 1st take a look at the prizes before we get into the real value of Atlas events.
The main prize at this time is a piece of gear called "Traveling Pants".
For those who win this prize, you are automatically a member of "The Herohood Of The Traveling Pants".
It doesn't matter if you're a hero or not. You're a hero for now. One of us! One of us! One of us! The gear itself isn't tremendously powerful, but it definitely isn't bad, and one that can most certainly find its use in many players' builds.
But even if you do find a good use for it, don't get too comfortable in them. They're called Traveling Pants for a reason... after every new Atlas event, they leave their previous owner and move on to the new 1st place winner.
After that, the rest of the main prizes are divided up by place, with 1 1st/gold, 2 more secondary gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze prizes, consisting of MP cards and rare consumables.
Should the minimum damage goal be reached, all toons that have gone through at least one entire Hero Deck will gain a 1% bonus to one of their attributes for 1 week.
Badge Points act similarly to experience points, except instead of leveling your toon, you're leveling their rank within Badge.
Like with experience points and leveling your toon, each new level costs more than the previous one. You can see how many Badge Points you have on your toon profile page, or on the Perks page found by pushing the Gear tab and then the Perks subtab.
The Perks tab lists how many Badge Points you have, as well as how many it will take to level your toon's rank to the next level.
It also lists how many Perks points you still have to assign, what Perks you have assigned, and what each Perk does.
Even if you have no interest in the rest of the prizes, Perks are a huge edge in the game and any player that wants to be competitive should really be trying to get them. Those that don't will have several fewer edges compared to those who do.
That makes the PvP game harder for them down the road, but that was their choice.
Many of these Perks are real game-changers. But keep in mind, some Perks are more useful for different players, depending on their situation.
For example, a player with only MP cards has no use for a Perk that increases his Bux. Meanwhile, a free player has no use for Perks that reward them for buying MP.
But let's take a look at these, shall we?
Stipend
Stipend comes in 3 levels. The 1st gives 25 MP at the start of each month. The 2nd gives 50 MP, and the 3rd gives 100 MP.
For the free and budget player, this might seem like a juicy deal, and for some, indeed it might be, but try to put it into perspective.
At level 1, it will take 3 months to earn enough MPs for a single spin in the Shuffle. For level 3, it will take 2 months to get 1 triple spin in the shuffle.
That might be worth it, but all things considered, one may want to look at the other Perks that provide more benefit for their troubles 1st.
Hard Worker
Hard Worker also has 3 levels and increases a toon's income from their career by 4% for Level 1, 8% for Level 2, and 15% for Level 3.
As easy as it is for players to gather Bux, I don't find this Perk particularly valuable. Others might disagree.
It does allow players to run more Bux cards before running up a deficit, and this may be of value to many free players, especially those that play less often.
The value of this Perk is overshadowed by many other Perks, in my opinion.
Redeployment
This Perk only comes in one level, making it easy to complete. It allows you to add 1 retired gear from the Shuffle that is a year old or more, back into the Shuffle for 30 days.
This may seem like an opportunity to get Uber gear from the past but remember, you still have to roll the Shuffle to get it, and even then there's no guarantee... (short of using Shuffle Exchange Tokens).
So before you do pick out a gear, be sure you either have available MPs so you can spin for it till you get all of them you want, or have enough Shuffle Exchange Tokens to get all you want.
Remember, adding a piece of gear to the Shuffle decreases the odds of every other card and gear in there, even though this isn't reflected in the displayed odds. This Perk will favor big-budget players far more than anyone else.
High Roller
This Perk is, without a doubt, made for the paying players.
It has 3 levels that give coupons for bonus MPs when you buy MPs.
Obviously, this has little to no use for free players, but will make a solid difference for paying players.
Level 1 gives a coupon on the 1st of every month that can be added to purchases for 3% more MP.
Level 2 gives 6% coupons, and Level 3 gives 10% coupons.
These coupon consumables can be stacked with sales, as well as with each other.
However, same X% coupons cannot be stacked with each other so it might behoove you to save your 3% and 6% coupons until you can stack them with your 10% coupons.
Free Reign
This Perk allows a player to change the odds of certain events or outcomes happening in their Patrols.
They are given a choice of different outcomes to increase by 3% for Level 1, 6% for Level 2, and 10% for Level 3.
This Perk will only find use by players that grind Patrols on a regular and consistent basis.
Considering lots of resources, like MP, Crystals, Bux, Powers, Gear, and Cons can be found in Patrols, this isn't at all a bad Perk. For grinder players, it should be one of their more favored ones.
War Profiteer
This Perk is HUGE for free and budget players! ABSOLUTELY HUGE!
There are only 2 Levels, making it fairly easy to complete.
The 1st Level allows you to have 0 upkeep on Bux powers on any day that a War battle is taking place.
Level 2 allows you the same as well as every day in between War battles.
For players relying on a large deficit for Wars, this is the Perk for you. This is a game-changing Perk that will allow free and budget players the juice they need to compete against the MP whales, during Wars.
Any free or budget player that wants to be competitive, should get this.
Consumer
This Perk comes in 4 Levels and thus has the most of any current Perk option.
Each Level allows you to add 1 extra consumables usage per type to your daily consumable limits, with the last Level adding not just 1, but 2.
Considering consumables touch every aspect of the game, those players that use them abundantly might want to seriously look at this Perk.
Since it touches pretty much every aspect of the game, it even can help you acquire more Badge Points during Atlas events.
Maurader
This Perk is strictly for Heavy Raiders and comes in 3 Levels.
At Level 1, it gives + 10 damage per hit, against the Raid boss. Level 2 gives 20, and Level 3 gives 40.
It creates many small gains, but small gains add up over time.
Remember this also, Perks are "permanent"... meaning you can't reassign them once initially assigned, except if the Perk is later modified by the Devs, or new Perks are added.
So keep this in mind before rushing to make a choice. Furthermore, take notice that the final Level of each Perk gives the most benefit for that particular Perk.
I'm not going to tell you which Perks I prefer, as that might lend my opponents some insight into how I will play against them, but make no mistake, these Perks are a big deal for those of you willing to take the time, play smartly, and put in the effort.
Perks are residual. So even though the effort may seem high at first, the rewards keep coming from that effort whether or not you continue for more, forever.
And if your opponents aren't making that effort too, all the better for you.
Stipend comes in 3 levels. The 1st gives 25 MP at the start of each month. The 2nd gives 50 MP, and the 3rd gives 100 MP.
For the free and budget player, this might seem like a juicy deal, and for some, indeed it might be, but try to put it into perspective.
At level 1, it will take 3 months to earn enough MPs for a single spin in the Shuffle. For level 3, it will take 2 months to get 1 triple spin in the shuffle.
That might be worth it, but all things considered, one may want to look at the other Perks that provide more benefit for their troubles 1st.
Hard Worker
Hard Worker also has 3 levels and increases a toon's income from their career by 4% for Level 1, 8% for Level 2, and 15% for Level 3.
As easy as it is for players to gather Bux, I don't find this Perk particularly valuable. Others might disagree.
It does allow players to run more Bux cards before running up a deficit, and this may be of value to many free players, especially those that play less often.
The value of this Perk is overshadowed by many other Perks, in my opinion.
Redeployment
This Perk only comes in one level, making it easy to complete. It allows you to add 1 retired gear from the Shuffle that is a year old or more, back into the Shuffle for 30 days.
This may seem like an opportunity to get Uber gear from the past but remember, you still have to roll the Shuffle to get it, and even then there's no guarantee... (short of using Shuffle Exchange Tokens).
So before you do pick out a gear, be sure you either have available MPs so you can spin for it till you get all of them you want, or have enough Shuffle Exchange Tokens to get all you want.
Remember, adding a piece of gear to the Shuffle decreases the odds of every other card and gear in there, even though this isn't reflected in the displayed odds. This Perk will favor big-budget players far more than anyone else.
High Roller
This Perk is, without a doubt, made for the paying players.
It has 3 levels that give coupons for bonus MPs when you buy MPs.
Obviously, this has little to no use for free players, but will make a solid difference for paying players.
Level 1 gives a coupon on the 1st of every month that can be added to purchases for 3% more MP.
Level 2 gives 6% coupons, and Level 3 gives 10% coupons.
These coupon consumables can be stacked with sales, as well as with each other.
However, same X% coupons cannot be stacked with each other so it might behoove you to save your 3% and 6% coupons until you can stack them with your 10% coupons.
Free Reign
This Perk allows a player to change the odds of certain events or outcomes happening in their Patrols.
They are given a choice of different outcomes to increase by 3% for Level 1, 6% for Level 2, and 10% for Level 3.
This Perk will only find use by players that grind Patrols on a regular and consistent basis.
Considering lots of resources, like MP, Crystals, Bux, Powers, Gear, and Cons can be found in Patrols, this isn't at all a bad Perk. For grinder players, it should be one of their more favored ones.
War Profiteer
This Perk is HUGE for free and budget players! ABSOLUTELY HUGE!
There are only 2 Levels, making it fairly easy to complete.
The 1st Level allows you to have 0 upkeep on Bux powers on any day that a War battle is taking place.
Level 2 allows you the same as well as every day in between War battles.
For players relying on a large deficit for Wars, this is the Perk for you. This is a game-changing Perk that will allow free and budget players the juice they need to compete against the MP whales, during Wars.
Any free or budget player that wants to be competitive, should get this.
Consumer
This Perk comes in 4 Levels and thus has the most of any current Perk option.
Each Level allows you to add 1 extra consumables usage per type to your daily consumable limits, with the last Level adding not just 1, but 2.
Considering consumables touch every aspect of the game, those players that use them abundantly might want to seriously look at this Perk.
Since it touches pretty much every aspect of the game, it even can help you acquire more Badge Points during Atlas events.
Maurader
This Perk is strictly for Heavy Raiders and comes in 3 Levels.
At Level 1, it gives + 10 damage per hit, against the Raid boss. Level 2 gives 20, and Level 3 gives 40.
It creates many small gains, but small gains add up over time.
Remember this also, Perks are "permanent"... meaning you can't reassign them once initially assigned, except if the Perk is later modified by the Devs, or new Perks are added.
So keep this in mind before rushing to make a choice. Furthermore, take notice that the final Level of each Perk gives the most benefit for that particular Perk.
I'm not going to tell you which Perks I prefer, as that might lend my opponents some insight into how I will play against them, but make no mistake, these Perks are a big deal for those of you willing to take the time, play smartly, and put in the effort.
Perks are residual. So even though the effort may seem high at first, the rewards keep coming from that effort whether or not you continue for more, forever.
And if your opponents aren't making that effort too, all the better for you.
0 Comments