NonymousAre the dragon familiars a good deal? - Vampire Wars
June 10th 2010 04:35
Zombie -- 40 favor points -- 25 Energy
Green -- 60 favor points -- 40 Energy
Fire -- 80 favor points -- 55 Energy
Total -- 180 favor points -- 120 energy
People think this is brilliant, because it's effectively costing 180 favor points for 120 skill points. The normal price is 25 favor points for 10 skill points, or 300 favor points for 120 energy...
But, it really depends how you look at it...
For instance, if you're an energy vamp, one 50% red bull, which can be purchased for 6 FP from the Collector if you don't want to wait, is basically equal to a level, and a level is equal to five skill points. 120 skill points is 24 levels, which would cost 144 FP if you spent at the Collector, whereas the dragons cost 180 FP to achieve the same result. So, for an energy vamp, the dragons are not a good deal. (Not to mention that most energy vamps probably aren't interested in spending FP on energy -- you've got enough energy already! -- half the point of being an e-vamp is storing up the FP for LE abilities...)
And if you're not an energy vamp? Would 180 FP for 120 skill points then be good value?
Well, what if you took those 180 favor points and spent them on LE abilities instead of dragons? Let's assume an ability point is worth the same as a skill point (which it is for attack and defence under the new Arena system). How many "extra" ability points would 180 FP worth of LE abilities give you?
There's a zillion variables, but here's some comparisons: --
-- During the Apocalypse event, you could reset a mission for 30 favor points. Summon Famine and Summon Death improved your combat capability by 104 points over Superior Impervious, or 65 points over Paralysis. Six of these Summons (= total of 624 ability points or 390 ability points, depending on what you're comparing with) would clearly be more points for your buck than three dragons (120 skill points).
-- The latest ability, Technomancy, is Defensive 54/83 (137 total). Compared to Superior Impervious 38/44 (82 total), this is an improvement of 55 ability points; compared to Sense Aura (52/85), it's an improvement of only 2 ability points in attack. Five of them (which is the best you could afford at a cost of 35 FP each) would be 275 points better than Superior Impervious, or a meagre 10 points better than Sense Aura.
(Note: Defensive abilities give you much over the best you can buy from the Bazaar over Offensive and Movement LE abilities. See this post for a comparison.)
To sum up... For energy vamps, the Collector is clearly better value than dragons. For the general vamp who just cares about "improving" their character and who treats energy and attack/defence as equally valuable:
-- It's up to six times better value than dragons, to save up favor points to use during special events, assuming another opportunity like the Apocalypse missions comes around.
-- Compared to the "best you can buy from the Bazaar" benchmark, for most vamps it's more than twice better value to spend on new Defensive LE abilities than dragons. (Offensive and Movement abilities are different; I havne't looked into them properly.)
-- For the hypothetical vamp that has 501 Sense Auras already, and who ultimately only cares about improving their combat capability... Well, after they've bought 501 Technomancies, they might as well spend on dragons than not spend, since they've got unlimited favor points anyway...
Green -- 60 favor points -- 40 Energy
Fire -- 80 favor points -- 55 Energy
Total -- 180 favor points -- 120 energy
People think this is brilliant, because it's effectively costing 180 favor points for 120 skill points. The normal price is 25 favor points for 10 skill points, or 300 favor points for 120 energy...
But, it really depends how you look at it...
For instance, if you're an energy vamp, one 50% red bull, which can be purchased for 6 FP from the Collector if you don't want to wait, is basically equal to a level, and a level is equal to five skill points. 120 skill points is 24 levels, which would cost 144 FP if you spent at the Collector, whereas the dragons cost 180 FP to achieve the same result. So, for an energy vamp, the dragons are not a good deal. (Not to mention that most energy vamps probably aren't interested in spending FP on energy -- you've got enough energy already! -- half the point of being an e-vamp is storing up the FP for LE abilities...)
And if you're not an energy vamp? Would 180 FP for 120 skill points then be good value?
Well, what if you took those 180 favor points and spent them on LE abilities instead of dragons? Let's assume an ability point is worth the same as a skill point (which it is for attack and defence under the new Arena system). How many "extra" ability points would 180 FP worth of LE abilities give you?
There's a zillion variables, but here's some comparisons: --
-- During the Apocalypse event, you could reset a mission for 30 favor points. Summon Famine and Summon Death improved your combat capability by 104 points over Superior Impervious, or 65 points over Paralysis. Six of these Summons (= total of 624 ability points or 390 ability points, depending on what you're comparing with) would clearly be more points for your buck than three dragons (120 skill points).
-- The latest ability, Technomancy, is Defensive 54/83 (137 total). Compared to Superior Impervious 38/44 (82 total), this is an improvement of 55 ability points; compared to Sense Aura (52/85), it's an improvement of only 2 ability points in attack. Five of them (which is the best you could afford at a cost of 35 FP each) would be 275 points better than Superior Impervious, or a meagre 10 points better than Sense Aura.
(Note: Defensive abilities give you much over the best you can buy from the Bazaar over Offensive and Movement LE abilities. See this post for a comparison.)
To sum up... For energy vamps, the Collector is clearly better value than dragons. For the general vamp who just cares about "improving" their character and who treats energy and attack/defence as equally valuable:
-- It's up to six times better value than dragons, to save up favor points to use during special events, assuming another opportunity like the Apocalypse missions comes around.
-- Compared to the "best you can buy from the Bazaar" benchmark, for most vamps it's more than twice better value to spend on new Defensive LE abilities than dragons. (Offensive and Movement abilities are different; I havne't looked into them properly.)
-- For the hypothetical vamp that has 501 Sense Auras already, and who ultimately only cares about improving their combat capability... Well, after they've bought 501 Technomancies, they might as well spend on dragons than not spend, since they've got unlimited favor points anyway...
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Comment by Anonymous
It's massively thorough of you to do all the math! And I totally agree. But eh... I eventually yielded at swarm of bats. That made vamp avatars appropriate, at least.
Comment by Nonymous
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