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Forum > FAQ's, Player Guides and Newbie Help > Advanced Equipment Store - tips on what to look for?
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savanna
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Hello everyone. I’m just coming back to the game and I remember it confused me back in the day also: the Advanced Equipment store where we can spend BT to get a random set of items to consider buying with more tokens.

I’ve looked and perhaps just don’t see it but is there a general write up on the store? I did read in a build guide here that %gear is good stuff.

For example, I just spent 3 BT to see what I might get and saw a +1 to Run Block (for my Guard) and another piece I think it was a small % to hold a block. Do these scale up or get increased later for more BT?

Any input is appreciated, can’t wait to play this season. Saw a few peeps I remember and have one helping me with pee wee tactics but for my longer term dots I was just wondering how to look at the advanced gear.

 
Sugar Kapaa
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Equipment Shopping
1 Option - Lv 1 - 10
2 Options - Lv 11 - 20
3 Options - Lv 21 - 30
4 Options - Lv 31 - 40
5 Options - Lv 41 - 50
6 Options - Lv 51 - 60
7 Options - Lv 61 - 70
8 Options - Lv 71+

They do not necessarily scale. The higher the level the more options. The more options, the more of a chance of a 5% piece etc.

I typically do not shop until lv 61. It may only be for one piece unless I'm feeling spicy.
 
savanna
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Thank you, I blew 3BT to have a peek. Looks like it’ll be a while
 
PeeJJK
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Originally posted by Sugar Kapaa
They do not necessarily scale. The higher the level the more options. The more options, the more of a chance of a 5% piece etc


Is this tested? I rolled 200+ BT on a level 21 before retiring and never saw a single 5% piece...
 
PeeJJK
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I just shopped on my level 42 DT today and got the 3 5% pieces I was searching for within 15 total refreshes. Total BT cost was 117 after needing to swap the equipment slot of 1 of the 3 pieces for 15 BTs.


Some positions are safer than others to roll for. Trying a CB at level 42 would be much more risky
 
savanna
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Dang. I think it’s less than 200 to build a 5% 3 Attribute piece. Sounds like that’s where my first piece will come from
 
Gambler75
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In the old system, L31 seemed to be a sweet spot for hitting *blank* / +5% items, then you simply pay 50 BT to add the +3 primary enhancement to them. (blue ^ arrow)

Post-Dotpocalypse, it seems like 41 or 51 is more of that sweet spot now, where waiting until 61 or 71, tends to give you more +3 attribute / +5% items. So generally, it'll take more rolls later, to get one that's not 'ruined'. (Like +1-3 Stamina / 5% item, that you SHOULD pass on). But it depends on the position. If it's one with lots of viable second or third options, where splitting gear isn't terrible - waiting indeed may save BTs.

If it's one where scattering the +3 gear bonus will likely gimp the dot and you really NEED that +55 or +58 ONLY in primary, then earlier has historically worked better for me.

YMMV.
 
Theo Wizzago
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To Gambler you listen! Remember your failure at the cave!

FWIW, I almost totally agree. My own guide for 4 AEQ dots and stat keeping on shopping for AEQ is pretty much spot on with Gambler's take. Before the crash, 31 gave me the best chance for half finished pieces (+3 skill OR 5% bonus or solo SA). Now I see those happen more at 41. Where I am slightly different (than Gambler's take) is the % of pieces has never seemed to change no matter how many pieces you have in the store. So @ 31 you get 4 pieces... just follow Sugar Kappa's post for the rest but the thing is, the reason people get so frustrated is they equate MORE pieces with BETTER chances... and decades of doing this has shown me that's not true.
If the % chance for a top piece (+3 skill and/or 5% bonus or a 75bt cost SA)... if the % chance is 20% then it's the same 20% if there are 4 pieces generated (@ level 31) as it is when there's 8 pieces generated (@ level 71+). So what you see is 8 pieces of crap instead of 4 and you get very frustrated because you think shopping sucks. Truth is there's just more "crap" showing... but the % chance, per refresh, is the same.

It was me finding this out several years ago that keeps me starting my shopping @ level 31 still to this day. I already have a level 40 dot with all 4 pieces of AEQ... ready now to have BT's installed as I go. Yet I also have a level 57 that only has 3 and might end up with only 3. It's been a while since that happened to me. Every dot that I have, that is finished growing... all of them have 4 AEQ.
Some dots are MUCH harder to get good pieces when you shop... some are much easier. Kickers and Punters are real easy. I generally never have issues with throwing QB's, rushing HB's, and O and D linemen. It's ok for CB's and Safeties and WR's and TE's. It's horrible for RQB's, LB's, and STOPS. I think that's because LB's are a wreck anyways... with horrible SA trees... and STOPS because you're generally looking for very specific bonuses and SA's and the game is loathe to give them. As for RQB's, I see many more THROWING things for those while passing QB's get too many Rushing pieces. I think that's why there's a good number of builders that build Deep Passer arches as RQB's with power style.
If you've shopped for AEQ long enough, you'll see the trends. You'll learn to plan a BT budget for your dots and stick to it. It's why my guys end with 4 AEQ almost always. A plan will get you better results than just throwing BT's at the problem until you surrender in disgust.
Edited by Theo Wizzago on Jun 10, 2024 17:05:21
 
TJ Spikes
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Originally posted by savanna

I’ve looked and perhaps just don’t see it but is there a general write up on the store?


No. Theo rewrote the old testament a few years ago. That's probably as close as you're going to get.

That's always been one huge issue with GLB. There's no real documentation for anything.

There's almost never a line drawn between facts and opinions, let alone on the quality or popularity of an opinion.

I'll try to throw something together here and now but I'm on my phone at work. Maybe get something actually cohesive later on.

#1 The purpose of the Advanced Store is to gamble on saving a few BTs, so that you can train harder for longer, i.e. 4-way training, instead of having to step down to Light training sooner.

#2 The decision to gamble, may also hinge on whether you want 3 or 4 pieces of AEQ for your dot. Going with 3 AEQ will save you between 350 and 425 BTs, so you might not need to gamble at all.

-- 3 vs 4 AEQ is a topic for debate, I'm not going to get into here. But if you're looking for a guide to begin with, it's probably safe to assume you'd be better off going with a 3 AEQ build until you get a better handle on dot building.

#3 The way % gear works is a final multiplier after your baseline number is produced. For example, when breaking a tackle with an Elusive runner, your base score is made up of Agility, Carrying, some Strength, maybe your weight, your current speed at the moment of impact, the angle of attack, and probably a bunch of other stuff. Then this is where VAs are believed to be added in such as Slippery (because there's VAs that modify SAs like Quick Feet), but they may also come in later in the equation. Then relevant SAs are added in, such as Spin (in this case). That baseline number is then modified by your current Energy and Morale. That magic number is your final Break Tackle score. That's the number that will gett modified by your % AEQ. That super deluxe final number will get added to a Random Number Generation (RNG) to give and ultimate deluxe supreme number. The dot attempting to make the tackle goes through that whole entire process you just did to get a Make Tackle number. Whoever has the better ultimate deluxe supreme number will either make or break the tackle.

Because % gear is the last modifier, almost everyone agrees is way more desirable than other types of gear.

#4 Every 8 levels your dot grows, you can add a "+1" to your AEQ. The attribute will go up by 1 and also a % will go up by 1. A piece with an SA will only go up by 1 every other upgrade. So 1AEQ can be worth up to +13 to an attribute, and then +15% to a score or +6 to an SA. Each upgrade costs 30 BTs, so always plan on 300 BTs OVER THE COST OF THE AEQ to max out all 10 upgrades.

#5 Because % gear is so powerful, it was nerfed many seasons ago, to cut down on stacking it.The 1st piece has full effect. The 2nd piece is cut in half. The 3rd piece is half of half. So if you were stacking Break Tackle gear like in #3, getting 1 piece of 5% is vital. After that, the debate starts about exactly how important a 2nd and 3rd piece might be. 5% pieces are the most expensive to build at 75 BTs. 2% are the cheapest at 18 BTs. When you're talking about 7.5% vs 6% (because of the halving) is it worth the difference? Most would say yes. That gets really hard to justify if you're stacking 3 pieces and you're talking about 3.75% vs 3%.

#6 It's highly beneficial to wait to even think about gambling in the store. Every 10 levels you gain (i.e 1. +10 = 11, +10= 21 etc) the store will upgrade the number of options to show you. Also the potency of the items you get shown will increase. I believe that L31 is the soonest almost everyone will try the store. L51 seems to be a sweet spot but that's very debatable.

#7 There's "half pieces" which only have an attribute or a modifier. These are desirable because you can add on the exact other half you want, to make the perfect piece, instead of waiting on the "unicorn" perfect piece to appear. There's thousands of combinations of attributes and modifiers. The odds of getting something perfect is pretty slim.

#8 You can also change the "appearance" of a piece, by spending 15 BTs. Like if you happen to score some awesome shoes, but already have awesome shoes, you can convert either piece to a different slot like hands or head.


Edited by TJ Spikes on Jun 11, 2024 14:31:04
Edited by TJ Spikes on Jun 11, 2024 09:15:21
 
savanna
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This is gold, thank you for taking the time everyone!
 
slughead42
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Originally posted by TJ Spikes
That gets really hard to justify if you're stacking 3 pieces and you're talking about 3.25% vs 3%.


It's 3.75% vs 3% on the third stack (15% vs 12% to start), but yeah, in my eyes if you're gonna take a 3rd piece like that, not a very big difference at that point.
 
TJ Spikes
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Oh yeah, good mathing.

 
Gambler75
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My next batch of dots, I'll keep track of all the rolls. I think there's a lot of gut feelings and confirmation bias being tossed around. I definitely do not agree with Theo's assessment that with a higher number of items generated, there aren't any more +3 / +5% items being generated. If you're writing an item off as trash - when it's "+3 Pole Vaulting / +5% Get Bort'd", just because it doesn't apply to your dot's particular archetype, you're going to come to strange assumptions.

That said, I do TRY to roll at L41, because I strongly prefer my stats to +55 or +58 in primary, and holding out for hitting exactly on +3 primary AND +5% in the % type you need, seems like a bad gamble. Hitting on a blank / correct 5% you need is far more likely.

My personal belief is there's a combination of RNG, and a point system of sorts involved, considering if you've ever tried rolling for gear with Peewee dots (or league underground ones, back in the day), you'll see an absolute ton of 2% and +1 items, and the odd low cost to add (in terms of BT), SA skills showing up. I built around 150 dots PER season back in the ULU + RLU days, and always rolled for gear, so the sample size I saw was enormous.

Whether or not L31 vs L41 in the new system is "high enough" to get past the interference, of the what I *assume* is a point system, is what I'm ideally after with that. The rolls at L31 (post-DotPocalypse) felt awful as many, many other threads have already attested to ... but I want to gather some actual empirical evidence, rather than just going with my gut.

TL;DR - my advice, roll at L41 for blank / 5% or +3 primary / blanks, until someone has concrete data to suggest otherwise, and use BT to add the missing blank part.
Edited by Gambler75 on Jun 11, 2024 15:59:46
 
tdp992
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I read that if we want to "build" our own advanced equipment, we should wait until around lvl 51. Why is that? I understand waiting to use the store, but if you're just creating advanced equipment why does it matter?
 
TJ Spikes
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Originally posted by tdp992
I read that if we want to "build" our own advanced equipment, we should wait until around lvl 51. Why is that? I understand waiting to use the store, but if you're just creating advanced equipment why does it matter?

it doesn't matter. you can build whatever, whenever you want. it's just a matter of BTs. if you wait until later, you could try rolling a couple times, before you start building. that's probably the only reason to wait. it sucks a little if you build a piece, and then end up rolling something good for the same slot.






 
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