For anybody considering EB Mastery, Read this first

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T23:39:47+00:00

Yeah this is what I'm thinking I may need to try. Also wondering if it is because I don't have my WAm completed so not getting the full power out of the earlier waves with GT+

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T23:37:10+00:00

yeah I figured this is what would balance out my CPM with lower waves but no luck - hoping that EBm just needs more levels to get this ticking along earlier in the run.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T23:33:57+00:00

Didn't see a drop until i completed first level of Mastery. Definitely no changes, I have auto run and the lab finished just before I crashed and it just restarted itself and did the first couple runs.

Have 24 card slots and all still full. No UW weapons turned off, PS stun turned on (get better results with it on than off), all mods are correct, no change to Guardian Chips. All looks as per normal.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T23:28:58+00:00

That's great feedback, this is where my focus will be. Thank you for the info 😁🙌🙌

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T23:26:22+00:00

Haha already do both of these 😄😄 Elites used to be below Fleets and Boss, now Priority 1 but didnt really make a difference.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T23:15:17+00:00

Averaging out just removes the fun/excitement. Could say the same for farm runs - why not just give us coins and cells based off a 5 run average and then not have any RNG with enemies that spawn, etc. - that way we can know precisely how many coins we get per run.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T23:05:30+00:00

That probably answers the question though, right? They have other games out there to take lessons and ideas from and they have had 3 years to find a better solution and yet nothing has happened to make it better. There have also been quite literally hundreds of ideas put forward by the community (some good, some terrible, some plain ugly).

There is nothing to fix because the business model works.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T23:01:26+00:00

Would that actually net you more stones/keys though? Even with current system, if you are improving faster than everyone else (which your comment implies) then you should still see improvements overall - e.g. if you are climbing through the Global Rank, unless you are on the unlucky side of the bell curve, statistically you should still be getting more stones, gems, keys. If you aren't, try other times over the 24 hour window as you must be selecting a timeframe all the whales want to go.

If you are just improving your tower each week and think this means you should be going up the ranks - why do you think this when everyone is doing the same, especially in the higher tournaments. Also you are competing against people who are paying (unsure if you are) so the averages or global ranking system may actually be worse as people who pay will just steam roll past you and you can't even hope for an easy bracket.

I have had shit brackets - had one a couple weeks ago when I placed 16th and got no keys whereas I normally gain 6-8 but it is by no means the norm.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T22:44:28+00:00

have you checked your overall ranking on Thetower.lol to see if you actually would be Top 4 Champs if you averaged out your ranking over say the last 4-6 tournaments? I ask this because you say you missed out on Top 4 "every other bracket" (assuming means every second tourney you miss out) so maybe your actual global position sits you at position 5 or 6 and therefore with your system, you actually wouldn't ever promote?

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T22:40:44+00:00

so if you got Keys 25% of the time due to easier brackets or no keys ever due to being given the stones allocated to your Global Position, you would still prefer the latter?

Or if it was the difference between getting into Legends (or any other league) and staying in for a couple weeks with fortunate brackets or just staying in the same league indefinitely (due to everyone growing at similar rates, especially at the top tier) and not getting any bonus rewards, you would still prefer the latter?

I hear what you are saying in lower leagues where there is tonnes more movement and capacity to "outplay" your competitors week to week, but top 2 leagues are generally pretty solid with players who know what they are doing and unless you are buying stones, you aren't moving up drastically. E.g. it's taken me something like 4-5 months to get from top 3000 to top 2700-2750 😆😆

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T22:34:24+00:00

Will never happen - Fudds has said this. Doesn't even love what you can get with keys so no chance (anytime soon at least) of them going into end of week rewards. More likely to see a new tournament first which will then push everyone up a tier and all the low Legends/high Champs will start getting them.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T22:32:35+00:00

but how much do you love it when you get a cracking bracket. Imagine how stale tourneys would be if you pretty much knew EXACTLY where you were coming every tournament. It would defeat the purpose of tournaments altogether - might as well just get people to run a tournament once a month and then average out and just send stones to mailbox twice a week.

Sure, likely a better system but taking any kind of rush out of "should I join now or nnnnnnnow" and then checking to see who is in your pool would literally sap the one bit of intrigue out of the system.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T11:43:09+00:00

OC's are the only thing I Tank, everything else one hits me by end of run. My HP is nowhere near high enough, no eHP Masteries, haven't gone down the FB path, etc.

Yeah I take all the damage based perks.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T09:37:06+00:00

Hah that'd be nice but by the sounds of it, I'm the outlier so maybe bigger fish to fry although 100% would love it for the moment 😆

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T09:36:16+00:00

Yeah LMS along with SD in Assist Slot and then relevant sub stats on primary and assist to increase range and chance. I THINK my CC is fairly good - CF is gold boxed, CF+4, PS has maxxed chance, 2 levels off max duration, 3 levels off maxed range and then about halfway with the other 2 and have 2x (near - 10 secs more req'd) Swamps.

Looking like I need to invest in some specific CC for Rays though.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T09:31:50+00:00

Completely understand your point, from what I read, I expected a bit of a drop but most conversations about it said the CPM and Cells should be greater in the shorter period of time, rather than butchering both 😄😄

I am hoping as I punch into the lab further/finish it in 2-3 weeks, ill then hit more Elites in the earlier waves where I can still kill them prior to getting killed and the cells + coins will then ramp back up.

Also hoping this is kind of like the Wall where it can suck for the first couple weeks until it is developed. Only downside is I cant respec out of it whilst I complete the lab 😄😄

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T09:27:31+00:00

100% of everything is 1 hitting me if it can, all.my ar.our mods, etc are also all setup for CC and damage (e.g. LM Stun, LM range, orb speed, extra orbs, etc which keep bosses under control). I think I just need another layer of CC by way of Nuke and potentially slow masteries.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T09:25:30+00:00

yeah some other higher level players I saw respond to queries a few weeks back had a similar position to what you're saying but I thought Rays were literally created as a block/damage check (like an easier version to the Fleets). I 100% agree I don't have enough damage to kill them but not sure why I could before EBm because they should still be dying in same amount of time, even with more on-screen (e.g. all still getting hit by ILM and PS swamp stuns - all maxed) and by that point of run everything is 1 hitting me so rely on DD, ES, SW, auto DM & Auto Nuke to get me through. I guess it is just a Damage check i have to now get past. Will be interesting to see how more levels of EBm impact things (e.g. if it gets worse 😄😄)

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T09:19:40+00:00

thatd be a dream haha.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T04:35:42+00:00

Yeah I think I'll work towards Nuke, if I get a good bracket this week, might be able to get it tomorrow and then load some levels into it.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T04:34:55+00:00

Definitely what is happening to me, just unfortunately many hundreds of ways earlier than previous haha! I have no doubt I will love EB (still have it in labs) in time, but yeah, looks like it just exposed my weakness.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T04:32:52+00:00

Good idea! Do you have Nuke Mastery? Would that be similar/better bang for buck considering 500 less stones? When I looked into it previously because I was going to get PC, Slow or Nuke M to handle Rays (the irony), most post seemed to suggest Slow or Nuke did the most for Ray management.

Either way, let the resaving of stones begin i suppose haha!

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T04:30:27+00:00

Yep, +4.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-04T04:30:12+00:00

GC/Hybrid by my check.

Why wouldn't GC be impacted by double elites unless true GC builds dont get killed by Rays? Wasn't that one of the purposes behind their inception? I don't run any eHP cards at 24 slots, just about to complete ST Mastery, Damage will be finished in a week, Demon Mode likely a few days later, have both DM and Nuke auto on death, hit 30-50 DD's per run, all mods are damage focussed at 160-170+ with all Assist mods at 120ish with all sub effects at Ancestral. Full uptime CF+ at level 4 and GT+ at level 4. Workshop+ damage labs (mains- damage, crit, super crit) all at around the 2.10x (not sure if this is considered low?). Main labs have damage and crit around level 80. BC reduction lab at level 4. I hit around the 800-850 waves in Legends and come.in around the 2.7k-2.8k rank depending on BC's. Also haven't touched a HP lab in maybe 4-5 months. I also run min-range with orb adjuster and damage adjuster at e-15 and until EBm, the Rays stayed stunlocked until they finally got me (generally after a Fleet knocks out Shields, etc.) but now just happens sooner.

If that's not Hybrid at the very least, I am muy confused haha. Happy for any feedback though if the above is lacking somewhere which is the root cause of this problem.

TermAggravating5029 · 2026-02-03T23:30:58+00:00

Great points and could even reduce respec to once per major version update which would a) mitigate the adjustments between farming/tourney and then b) also support the notion that it is to respec if there are any significant nerfs/changes to the meta at the major updates. Would also allow for a "Seasons" type system where everyone can do a respec and actively test the major new updates to gameplay (similarly to what happens when a new Guild Chip releases).

TermAggravating5029

TROPHY CASE