ANB League FAQ

[Mr.Salino]

ANB Leagues #1 (Feb 2019) Players' Posts:

Gems cost for Event Hero, total 1,545

Sample Gems usages, from my Silver #1 run

• Unlocks: 1,545
• Boosters:
• Jewelries: 3 Uncommons = Total: 156
• Abilities: Total: 43 each ability, Warrior have 21 => 903
• This may have been a bit much, going to level 4 probably would have been enough, and reduced the total to 378, which was what I did in Gold #1, and will be doing for ANB League #2.

(I shortened the quote a bit, hope that's okay).
My question here: didn't you pay for any companions? If so, did you use all three that are given in Act 1?

I will try to contribute to the part of Nhat's guide, for how to level up efficiently. In ANB, you are battling against time. In-map time is the -limited resource. In order to end up high on the LB, you have to level up as far as possible in CLs in the time allotted, and towards the end, have very high level gear & jewelry and attacks/utilities/passives. You also need skill to play well, the hand you're dealt by RNG. All other resources besides time are, in theory, more or less unlimited:

…

That's why the top of the LBs of these events are P2W.
...

So, the key to doing "ok" in these events, is how to do all this "efficiently" while spending a "modest" amount of gems.

... continued ...

Please do allow some newbie questions here:
- RNG?
- P2W?

[Coda]

Continuing...

The next concept that is critical to understand, is how do you 'level up' the fastest? Well, that is the build/map/level/style at which you earn XP the fastest.

Thus it is important to recall:

• XP maxes at Trial 100. Playing this trial as fast as possible yields the most efficient XP
• XP/time is usually greater for the mobs than the boss. However, I haven't re-run the calculations since the balancing patch. Maybe things are different now. Anyways, in ANB you probably do need the loot from the boss -- gears, gemstones, gold, and research books. So, it's a trade-off but in ANB you're probably going to be killing Kara except at the very end when you make your push.
• The more time during the ANB you spend running Trial 100, the higher your XP = CL will be, and then the higher you'll be able to push at the end.
• Pushing higher than 100 (except at the end), is a waste of the limited time you are allotted. You are merely earning XP more slowly by doing that.

Obviously, during the whole event (except at the end), you should run the highest %-XP build you possibly can, and run the max XP booster the whole time.

So, the goals for ANB's are, generally:

1. run the highest % XP build + booster you can at all times
2. get up to level 70 as fast as possible, then
3. get up to trial 100 as fast as possible, then
4. run Trial 100 as long as possible, then
5. at the end, switch everything to a DPS build and push to your max trial

{More on this later when I have time.}

[Coda]

I will try to contribute to the part of Nhat's guide, for how to level up efficiently. In ANB, you are battling against time. In-map time is the -limited resource. In order to end up high on the LB, you have to level up as far as possible in CLs in the time allotted, and towards the end, have very high level gear & jewelry and attacks/utilities/passives. You also need skill to play well, the hand you're dealt by RNG. All other resources besides time are, in theory, more or less unlimited:

You can buy unlimited amounts of:

• gems (with money)
• gold (with gems)
• gemstones (with gems)
• crafting resources (with gems)
• XP & currency boosters (with gems)
• the equivalent of research books = level up attacks/utilities/passives (with gems)

Some things are somewhat limited:

• you only get 6 Epic ephemeral pieces of gear which are of limited use vs. Legendary ; plus a toon uses 9 pieces of gear+weapons, not 6
• Legendary gear/weapons can only be crafted (crafted gear is mediocre) or it can be farmed (so RNG is a factor)
• however XP gear can be reforged to DPS/push gear -- with significant gems
• you only get 2 Celestials
• you only get 3 ephemeral pieces of jewelry (2 rings, 1 necklace)
• you only get 3 P-Rare jewelry boxes
• to reach the highest levels you have to craft one set of either XP jewelry or DPS/push jewelry or a combination ; this takes a huge amount of gold (or gems) & gemstones
• you can buy a limited number of research books ; however these are equivalent to gems

That's why the top of the LBs of these events are P2W. With unlimited money=gems you could do all of the following

• immediately buy & run XP and currency boosters for the entire event
• immediately buy 2 Endars, or, don't even bother rescuing Robin from TBD and buy 3 Endars (500 gems each)
• immediately unlock all attacks, utilities and passives (unlock the third utility and passive when you can)
• as soon as a new attack/utility/passive unlocks, pay gems to immediately level it up (if you do this, you only need one research slot)
• if you're not going to pay to level everything to L10 with gems, then pay to unlock all the research slots
• purchase gear from the blacksmith often on your way up to level 70 (you'll have to buy gold with gems)
• craft gear on your way up to level 70 (you'll have to buy resources with gems)
• craft XP jewelry every 10-20 levels, on your way to level 70. At least pure Epic XP jewelry, if not full legendary (using gems + possibly gemstones)
• as soon as you reach level 70, craft legendary gear + weapons (replace/skip the Epic ephemerals)
• if you're slightly patient, use the ephemeral jewelry once you get it, for your XP set ; then later, craft a full replacement DPS set
• I'm sure I am missing some things you would do if you had an unlimited budget.

You'll also need to already have Crafting Mastery Level 50 and all the important recipes for the toon/class of your choice. Having previously "won" some events and thus having some medals, would also give an advantage.

So, the key to doing "ok" in these events, is how to do all this "efficiently" while spending a "modest" amount of gems.

... continued ...

[Nhat]

I was wondering if you're using a slow hero like a Mage, if it's more efficient to not use a XP booster until CoW. You can buff your fireball to level five, short path the boss on the levels and get to CoW where the movement speed is a non-issue. Since you're lower levels, the mobs are lower level and your fireball is more OP moving you through the long levels faster. You then get to the dense starting mobs on CoW and play catch up.

I've always "Gems upgraded" abilities to at least level 4 (18 Gems each, relatively small price to pay) as soon as they unlock and what ever I am currently upgrading just finished - never leave an empty upgrade slot, unless you're asleep... This helps boost Synergy level, giving you Vitality boost - AR and AS are nice too, but not really noticeable at lower levels.

If you've going to rush through the stages, then saving the boosters until CoW would be best, since you're just going to be wasting them while you're running through the other levels...

[NoSuchReality]

I was wondering if you're using a slow hero like a Mage, if it's more efficient to not use a XP booster until CoW. You can buff your fireball to level five, short path the boss on the levels and get to CoW where the movement speed is a non-issue. Since you're lower levels, the mobs are lower level and your fireball is more OP moving you through the long levels faster. You then get to the dense starting mobs on CoW and play catch up.

[ShotDead]

Bronze #2 took me roughly 1 hour to get to CoW, so it's almost 2 hours in total to get to level 70 - ran Warrior and did full clear of other levels, which obviously takes longer than the "rush" suggested. My best was around 1 hour 30 minutes total, again Warrior - I'll do rush in Silver and see how much I can improve on it...

I think Martin (on Discord) took 45 minutes in total with CoW, and there were posts there of people taking only 20-30 minutes or so - not sure what class those were...

BH (in ANB Silver 1 or Gold 1, cant remember ) took roughly 65 minutes from L1 to L70 with CoW farming. Can be better with more efficient farming. Other classes take a bit more time due to low MS.

[Nhat]

45 minutes at CoW plus time to get there? How long did it take to get there so how long in total?

Bronze #2 took me roughly 1 hour to get to CoW, so it's almost 2 hours in total to get to level 70 - ran Warrior and did full clear of other levels, which obviously takes longer than the "rush" suggested. My best was around 1 hour 30 minutes total, again Warrior - I'll do rush in Silver and see how much I can improve on it...

I think Martin (on Discord) took 45 minutes in total with CoW, and there were posts there of people taking only 20-30 minutes or so - not sure what class those were...

[Bob Pond]

Not sure if it's really faster or not, I favour simple gameplay over efficiency, so CoW worked best for me, less thinking involved, haha.

For Bronze#2: Each run averaged around 30 seconds, with average 3 runs per level, so that's about 1.5 minutes per level, from 40 something to 70 => that's about 45 minutes. I've seen posts of people taking a lot less time, so don't know.

If you're lucky and get a lot of Elites, or craft more XP gear, then obviously things will go faster...

45 minutes at CoW plus time to get there? How long did it take to get there so how long in total?

[Nhat]

Ok, I think I've got most of them - there wasn't much more in the "Players Helping Players" section, nor the Archived topics. As always, feel free to add things or asks here, and I'll update things in the main FAQ.

Links to the various announcements, finalised leaderboards and other "what I did" posts have been added too.

[NoSuchReality]

Not sure if it's really faster or not, I favour simple gameplay over efficiency, so CoW worked best for me, less thinking involved, haha.

For Bronze#2: Each run averaged around 30 seconds, with average 3 runs per level, so that's about 1.5 minutes per level, from 40 something to 70 => that's about 45 minutes. I've seen posts of people taking a lot less time, so don't know.

If you're lucky and get a lot of Elites, or craft more XP gear, then obviously things will go faster...

In my recent run, I did the CoW route. I didn't stop at the first three mobs though, I pushed across the bridge and took the four additional small mobs and chest on that side too. It didn't add much time, but seem to drop a number more books of learning and gear pick-ups. I felt (didn't take data) like the gear drops and books allowed me to keep my gear/abilities on pace with my leveling. It also provided enough gold to craft rare XP jewelry picking haste/power to buff through the attacks faster.

Excellent summary in the FAQ as always.

[Cyraph]

A very helpful thread. Many thanks, Nhat.

Quick note: gemstones in your celestial items aren‘t lost but sent to you as well when you end the event.
I‘ve read somewhere about unsocketting them and therefore left one inside intentionally.

[Nhat]

I have not tried the "farm Canyon of Whispers" before. I usually stop playing Story Mode at Broken Dragon. Is that a faster way to farm XP?

Not sure if it's really faster or not, I favour simple gameplay over efficiency, so CoW worked best for me, less thinking involved, haha.

For Bronze#2: Each run averaged around 30 seconds, with average 3 runs per level, so that's about 1.5 minutes per level, from 40 something to 70 => that's about 45 minutes. I've seen posts of people taking a lot less time, so don't know.

If you're lucky and get a lot of Elites, or craft more XP gear, then obviously things will go faster...

[Ozymandius]

I have not tried the "farm Canyon of Whispers" before. I usually stop playing Story Mode at Broken Dragon. Is that a faster way to farm XP?

What I found is that some of the gear drops from earlier trials were valuable if you run the trials earlier rather than later. I usually go back and forth from story to trials as I level up to the enemy level of the next trial.

Thanks for your work on this guide!!

[Nhat]

Ok, I've "fleshed out" the faq and tips section a bit more - went through the first 10 pages of "General Discussion" sub-forum. Will look through the "Players Helping Players" sub-forum next.

If anyone have any suggestions or questions, not yet covered in the FAQ above, please post them here, thank you.

[Nhat]

About how many story levels typically do?

Usually only as far as map 20 - if you're doing the "farm CoW" method for leveling. The exception would be during Bronze, I suppose, since you have more playing time - some people go back and push to the 4th world for farming materials...