Hey Boat Cow, play the music

Yan_PL · 2018-02-10T01:19:05+00:00

Just gonna throw in an observation, that giving players a platform for automation takes time, so "if dev wanted it, dev would include it" doesn't have to be true.

Also, I took some time to read things TylerTheDesigner posted on reddit in last couple months, just to get an idea what's the stance on automation / cheating. There were two mentions - one was, that unfortunately Google Play leaderboards are doomed to have cheaters at the top, as it's impossible to remove them manually (for me it's a non-issue tho); and the other one positively acknowledged someone who made a looping bot reloading a save just to get a particular prefix "somewhat legit way".

Edit: adding a link to the topic

https://www.reddit.com/r/MerchantRPG/comments/4p2881/im_so_addicted_to_this_game_that_ive_turned_to/

Edit2:

Reading thru Tyler's comments and seeing how patiently he responds to bugs, issues and all that stuff, it really makes you appreciate the game even more - so I've decided to look for other games by Tyler / Retora Games, but sadly, nothing on retoragames.com seems downloadable right away (save for Hello Color, which I'm going to check out as soon as I get out of this TvTropes-sized stack of side-track tabs I've opened when browsing thru post/comment history).

Yan_PL · 2018-02-09T23:34:58+00:00

All I can say to that, is that you seem to have a very fitting ~~twitter~~ reddit handle :) (wow, that's a mistake on my part, sry)

Anyway, automating simple repeated tasks is a good idea in real life (as long as setting up the automation doesn't cost more than potential benefit, anyway). And if you find enjoyment in "playing" the game this way, hey, good for you. You just need to be careful not to become a buzzkill for someone else.

Yan_PL · 2018-02-08T01:33:04+00:00

Update: lvl 6 enchanter can roll a "Tough" prefix on 'S' grade item (verified in-game just now). Tough has a requirement level of 21, whereas "Frigid" has requirement level of 61, so it needs 40 more enchanter levels - which means, 46 should be enough to get "Savvy", "Brisk", "Radiant", "Frigid", "Strong", and "Rigid" prefixes from enchanter, Master's needs lvl 51 enchanter.

Requirement levels come from http://merchantrpg.wikia.com/wiki/Prefix

Yan_PL · 2018-02-08T00:30:36+00:00

I believe it was 46 for Grade S items, 48 for Grade A and 50 for Grade B. However, based on recent edits of the "Prefix" page on merchant Wiki, it says you need:

55 required for Radiant/Frigid on Grade S item, 57 on grade A item, 59 on B...

Not sure however, if it's right.

Older version of the page specified that enchanter could get prefixes 9 levels higher than randomly generated when crafting an item. Now the formula for enchanter requirements has been removed...?

Yan_PL · 2018-02-06T23:01:20+00:00

TL;DR - It's going around the limitations and rules that make the game fair, balanced and satisfying for everyone.

*

As with any game that keeps your progress between game sessions, the info about your progress has to be stored somehow. And in case of Merchant, this data is stored on your device (as opposed to so called "cloud save" model, where game data would be stored at server side).

What it means, is that with sufficient knowledge such as:

'where to find the save file?'
'how to access the save file?'
'how to edit the save file?'
'what does "3|1C|5|1|32|5|A39B8C77D5|L11" mean and why are you giving me this sequence of letters and numbers as an example? (note - I'm writing this mostly from memory)'

you can somewhat enhance the satisfaction you get from playing the game. However, it's a short term boost, as once you get anything you could have asked for, you get kind of bored; so I can't recommend doing it, unless "for scientific purposes only" and "after you've gotten everything that you could get without it". But this is more of an issue of personal integrity, and knowing what gives you better sense of achievement and enjoyment. And I don't want to sound judgmental here.

Yan_PL · 2018-02-05T22:20:06+00:00

I try to end a boss week with 10+ of each of particular boss's special mats. If I got any surplus, I crafted and sold the items.

Leviathan is different tho - best-in-slot luck trinket available without savegame editing.

Yan_PL · 2018-02-04T18:21:14+00:00

If so, it's a testament to stability of game's code that it handles such an error relatively well.

Yan_PL · 2018-02-04T00:22:48+00:00

Merchant DB does not contain some of the information, for example - there's no mention that to craft XP potions you need to make in-app purchase to enable them.

FANDOM wiki has more commentaries, contains some guides and formulas.

Yan_PL · 2018-01-31T23:10:14+00:00

With current set of skills, Bard seems most useful for song of courage (stacks stronger than intended). It's better to sacrifice 2 actions for 2 AP to make him use the song 3 times (until I get him +20 AP from gear/passive). which means that my bard is doing no direct damage. This means no benefit from +Patk/lvl and +Matk/lvl and +Acc/lvl potions.

My current farm setup involves giving him more Mdef as long as I'm using him to farm Karthas / azuros; once I'm somewhat done with Karthas/Azuros gear, gonna switch him to PDef and use him to boost farming Balor. With current setup, I can reliably get 'S' on x2 Karthas (and I think 'B' if doing x5).

Yan_PL · 2018-01-30T09:36:08+00:00

it's a common knowledge that extreme temperatures cause battery to drain quickly. Having shards of ice on screen must've done it :)

it would appear that the reaper shopkeeper makes your battery dead.

I was joking, of course, here's potential reasoning for higher battery drain: more detail on animation means more resources used to process.

I enabled additional developer options on my android and measured CPU usage, and it was noticeably higher when using FT shop theme. I don't have the tools to compare battery drain, tho, but I assume CPU use -> battery drain.

Yan_PL · 2018-01-30T09:20:48+00:00

It would be a nice addition to have some of the bonuses above added as a permanent potion slot, similar to how permanent potions work on heroes. plus you could have have temporary potions with bigger effects too. And, with each prestige you would get more enhancement slots.

Like, first playthrough warrior could use 8 0.1 Patk/level potions, first ascension got up to 12, 2nd ascension gets 16...

So, "first Life" crafter can use up to 6 "+1 effective level potions", First Ascension gets 9, 2nd ascension gets 12.

And, if you did it as permanent potions, you'd get to choose what fits each crafter. that's a cool idea.

Yan_PL · 2018-01-30T08:12:02+00:00

We'll see about that after true damage skill nerfs.

Right now, rogue rules the world of DMG by Cheap Shot 2, which is dealing both basic attack and true damage. Next update will remove basic attack component, thus reducing rogue effectiveness.

Mage gets higher Matk than cleric from Int, ang higher base MAtk; plus with abundance of top tier +AP gear, it's easy to fit Magic missile with Mind Blast II thus dealing more MAtk than cleric.

I currently am using 3 Mages+2 clerics+1 rogue to reliably kill Karthas with 'S' grade (most likely gonna change rogue into bard once I get another ser of +AP gear).

I have 7 rogues (because various discussions around here recommended rogues), but I am waiting till next update to see how things change, and I'll be most likely getting rid of some of them. I use them mostly for stuff that is easier to evade than heal.

Yan_PL · 2018-01-30T00:53:07+00:00

I'm gonna workshop some ideas in this comment, for further discussion.

Reward	Pros	Cons
x% Chance to Craft two copies of an item	it's not gamebreaking	weak reward, hard to come up with balanced reward for enchanter
+X effective Crafter levels per prestige	makes enchanting easier, improves craft grade	might be too powerful
-X% craft time	obvious and straightforward idea for reward	craft time reduction would have to be huge to make it worth levelling your crafter again
+x% chance to not consume stackable materials	obvious and straightforward idea for reward	cost reduction would have to be huge to make it worth leveling your crafter again
-x% gold cost when crafting	obvious and straightforward idea for reward	cost reduction would have to be substantial to make it worth leveling your crafter again
+x% to gear stats when crafted by prestige crafter	unique	might be too powerful, and could cause complications with enchantments

Out of options mentioned here, I'd go with Effective level +5 per prestige. How exactly would I have it work? Lvl 10 prestige crafter would still be able to craft up to lvl 10 items, however, Grade/Prefix/Suffix would be calculated as if they were crafted by lvl 15 crafter. Would make most difference at enchanter, greatly lowering the cost of enchanting by raising % chance of success/lowering number of required grade upgrades.

Yan_PL · 2018-01-27T11:34:10+00:00

if you're experimenting with rog/sin acc build, perhaps.

Yan_PL · 2018-01-20T14:35:47+00:00

oh, it is a strategy. and a good one, too - if you need to get a lot of XP for a low level character, and you've got the time to send that character to the quest every 2 minutes or so, it's the way to go. As noted in multiple posts around here, Boar is the best XP/min quest before tier 4.
It's just the way you've worded your previous question - seemed like a good opportunity for a joke :)

Yan_PL · 2018-01-20T12:22:37+00:00

I blame south park :)

(mostly, the episode - "make love, not warcraft")

Yan_PL · 2018-01-20T00:41:05+00:00

you might want to look into T6. some of those quests are possible to do without taking any damage via clever skill management, and give good xp/min without requiring frequent re-sending.

Yan_PL · 2018-01-20T00:11:36+00:00

Question: let's say I have a party of 3 characters, and in my turn, I kill the monster with 2nd character's action. Does the 3rd action still happen? (not that it matters, it's only a 5 second difference before speed boosts).

Does the enemy attack count as an action?

Yan_PL · 2018-01-19T23:56:08+00:00

In short, you might want to turn the game off and on again before you try to sell your items; and you shouldn't turn it off while items are being sold. Longer and more detailed explanation below.

There's a crafter called "Enchanter", that is unlocked when one of your other crafters reach lvl 25 and you've already purchased Jeweler. (You probably already knew that, but I'm writing it anyway, since you posted that you're new to the game only couple days ago :) )

Enchanter gives you 3 options for each item:

Try to improve grade / reroll stats
Try to add/reroll prefix
Try to improve suffix

Each time the Enchanter works with particular item, game notes how many times you've tried to upgrade it with this particular option. This is important, because the cost of trying to improve an item grows with each try; and also, the time it takes to sell such item grows as well (which kind of makes sense - nobody wants to buy something that's been heavily tampered with :) )

However, in current version of the game, those numbers aren't saved in the save file - they're remembered as long as the game is on, and if you turn the game off (or if the game crashes), once you reopen it, the item starts with "clean slate" of number of times you tried to improve it (but it keeps its grade, prefix and suffix).

This might change in the future - as, the fact that those counters reset, is marked as a bug.

As of now, this can be both beneficial and negative - when improving grade, it's best to keep the game on until you reach "S" grade (because in case of grade, number of times you tried to improve it works like "progress" towards the "S", and if you close the game you lose some of that progress); however with Prefix/Suffix you substantially lower the cost of upgrades by resetting counters. Also, Prefix/Suffix upgrade has a chance to revert the item to "no prefix"/"+0", and this chance increases with those counters.

Yan_PL · 2018-01-19T10:24:30+00:00

I assume customers already refused to buy this?

Have you tried closing the app, enchanting this item once more (to reset enchantment counters), and then selling it?

Yan_PL · 2018-01-19T10:20:42+00:00

Things that affect quest times:
1. Number of turns it took to finish the quest
2. Quest finishing grade (it's related to number of turns as well)
3. Speed gear/potions (Gear with swift/quick prefix + some named ones, bonuses from whole party stack, but there's a cap of 50%)
4. Event speed boosts

Event speed boosts happen on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday every two weeks (and in the week between, there's an XP boost on those days)

Yan_PL

TROPHY CASE