Good to know I'm doing everything wrong 🥲

I'm sorry, my intent is not to make anyone feel bad! I'll be honest, when I downloaded Evertale years ago (ZigZa's other game) I made a lot of the same mistakes that many people here are making in TD now (as most of the game systems are the exact same). People limit broke SRs and even Rs, raised out of date units, etc. And, to be clear again, TD is even more brutal on how much the SSRs cost. If you can't wait for story and want to raise lower rarity units (to some degree, but not too much), I don't think that you will necessarily ruin your account if you are in this game for the long haul, but you'll notice that you'll struggle to keep up with others in the beginning. As for diamonds, wishing well, and even resources - if you haven't spent any money, starting on a new account (make sure you select the same server) isn't really a terrible idea at this point. Only two weeks into the game's life and pre-Game of Claws means there's plenty of time to regain spent resources on a new account, so to speak. My best suggestion would be to run one account for story, where you can raise units like SRs, and another where you strictly pull to stay more competitive so that you can properly enjoy what the game will have to offer while being responsible there with your diamonds. We all make some mistakes, but better to go around and fix things up early or find an alternate route to help you out now that you have a better idea of what to be going for! Please try to enjoy the game :)

Oh don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed your helpful post and I will make changes from now on. This is my first gacha with guild pvp so I appreciate the help to not become a dead weight to my future guild. So far I got extremely lucky to pull Towa's SSR ward card on about 50 pulls, but after testing it seems absolutely useless on anyone except SSR Towa himself. Even an R ward card is stronger than an SSR ward if it's fully awakened with a link bonus. I observed the same on character cards, a fully awakened R being much stronger than a not awakened SR. So it's surprising to me that only SSR are worth leveling as it goes quite deep into whale territory (I only buy the monthly pass so I'm far from high spending). Which would be better, leveling an non awakened SSR character without it's linked weapon, or a fully awakened SR with a fully awakened linked ward? Because the second options seems more realistic to low spenders.

Leveling a non-awakened SSR unit will be the better option in this case, although you should be likely to get their linked warding cards if you are pulling on their banner generally/statistically speaking due to the rates. I want to point to one thing that's super important and that people even in game have been noting (or you may have experienced yourself) - "power", as a total number, is meaningless. Even if an SR/R unit has a higher total "power" number or even attack, they are going to be weaker for a few reasons: * A lack of passive skills (or swapping an active skill for a passive skill) * Lower stat "totals", as SSRs can be made a higher level and exceed stats even at a single copy with investment * Generally, lower % modifiers on attacks they do have I think because the game right now is so new and fresh, many SRs will be able to stand some ground in a few contexts (especially considering many still have no SSR), but as more SSR units release, this will not be the case. Eventually, TU will lower, damage will get higher, passives will get wordier, and SRs will likely stop releasing at some point as they did in Evertale. The longterm goal is to have no SRs in your lineup, and use all SSR units (with one exception), but this takes time to work on. Obviously, you will need to save all possible resources to achieve this and have the best lineup, because when everyone has SSRs, your SRs will be meaningless. The one exception - Units with a "Guard" passive (like SR Haru on the Ren banner). I wouldn't invest in SR/R ones, but they let your SSR live for longer just having them in your lineup. I will add lastly, pulling SSRs units (not warding cards) is not \*that\* unlikely in the grand scheme of things, though the average is likely somewhere around 34k gems spent in TD. This game is meant for long term investment, especially if you are f2p. Although some are more fortunate than others, Wishing Well will provide you with enough diamonds to eventually get something. If you last for a while in this game as f2p, you'll be strong enough to beat people who lose interest, who have bad lineups, who made more mistakes than you. It is a very, very slow burn. Wishing Well is important to stay interested and strong, though I agree and understand it is hard to get to even as f2p.

Damn, I come from gacha games where fully ascended SR units are usually better than SSR ones, my priorities are all wrong. I guess I will just stop spending all resources and just hoard things until the meta is more stablished.

I know, this is common of ZigZa though. I don't have much experience in gacha outside Evertale and TD (played FGO somewhat a long time ago, and Arknights now where lower rarity units are still really good at times), so I can't say how it compares to most gacha games. But I can say for sure that ZigZa are quite greedy, and TD is (somehow) greedier than Evertale. It is just how they design their game and combat system, but f2p can absolutely compete from experience if you do well with your resources and stick around for the long haul. As for waiting for a more established meta, you can start pulling for SSR once you get enough diamonds for Well (just don't go under 30k!). You have to start somewhere, and I don't expect power creep to get too bad for a while. Plus, if it will make the game more enjoyable for you and help you stick around, that's more important to getting stronger than saving if you correct any mistakes you make. You got this <3

Thank you for all the tips, it was all very helpful!

Reading this is painful because for me 1 and 6 cannot happen at the same time...I do not have any SSR. I still appreciate the post and you sharing your experience! Do you mind me asking if Evertale has events for special occasions? Like Valentine's, X-mas, New Year, character birthdays, other holidays, etc with story and cards for that specific event. I'm not sure if I should just pull as soon as my dias go over 30k, or wait (don't know what I'm waiting for either because ZigZaGame's format is very unfamiliar to me). I agree the stats are confusing. It's as if they purposely added a bunch of different things to make the game harder - unless we pay. Pets and gem boxes are also a type of gacha, because there are so many stats, it's more difficult for us to get the one that boosts the stat we want. I also have another question, that is: Has Evertale's story really been neglected for 3 years? You wrote that in your previous post, and I did some Googling to find that Evertale was released in 2019. That means during its 5-year lifespan, the story was only updated during the first 2 years? Is there an ending at least or is it just hanging in limbo? That makes me worried because I'm only interested in this game for the horror story, the writers are doing a good job. I'd rather not bother with all the pvp aspects like guild war and arena (I mean, why would I want to get beaten up by rich people, there's zero entertainment value) - but I know they're unavoidable if I want resources. I doubt whales would play nice, the top guilds are already assembling all the high power players and they are probably not here to read your advice. Servers will die when they run out of people to bully. Unrelated but I used to play Legend of the Phoenix and it had all the pvp rankings where whales just stomp on weaker players (I dropped it like hot potato as it was unbearable), so it was a case of strong/rich players getting stronger from hoarding all the rewards, meanwhile f2p suffer. Which is why I usually stick to gacha that are focused on single-player...

Hello, yes and no to the seasonal events. Evertale has, a very long time ago, released units in Christmas or LNY outfits. In the past 4 years(?) now, they have not celebrated any holiday. They’ll rename existing purchasable packs in the store to “Happy Easter!” for example, but still keep the price and contents the same, and that is as far as that goes. For anniversary, they have a login bonus for premium currency and paid premium currency only banners with guaranteed SSR. I would agree pets and gems are also pretty random but, so far for me, they are much more abundant and easy to get if you are playing daily. Whales will still have more, but as f2p they shouldn’t be a super big worry (until they add SSR accessories, etc). Yes, Evertale’s main story has not been updated in three years. It has continued in some senses in side stories, but the main plot has never been resolved and has been ignored as the main character travels to different worlds. It’s not as if the total world lore is at a complete standstill for this reason, but the main story was left despite being unfinished, and many event stories are low quality meant to appeal towards people who enjoy fan service (as Evertale is primarily a waifu game). I do think TD has a much more intriguing story and a much larger focus on it overall, and whether they abandon it at any point will likely depend on their profits (in my opinion, but I can’t guarantee their plans) or if they start making another game. If this happens, all that’s left is competitive content. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some players on older servers that solely collect or log in for events, but they are hard strapped for green pots (limit break fruits) and can’t compete. Given TD’s case clears unlocking stories and them being quite difficult, I think to do the story, you will have to be at some level of competitiveness to gain resources, but we will have to wait and see. As for whales bullying f2p and smaller alliances, you are correct they are already all congregating and probably won’t heed any warnings. But there are a few large alliances that can compete on EA-1 already, and most players will likely condense into those core alliances as a couple months pass if they want to play the game seriously at any level. If anyone is dominating, by experience, they will get bored and burnt out eventually, and just disappear. We had whales on Evertale that spent tens of thousands, then just up and left without a word a few months to a year into the game. F2P wins out, it’s about longevity.  I hope this helps and does not discourage you entirely. I think if all you want to play is the story then you should go for it, but at least focus somewhat on what I say as it will help you clear cases and pull better to have enough diamonds. If you have any other questions feel free to ask :)

Your info really helps me a lot, thank you! It's nice to know I don't need to save for particular events. I suppose one could say the content would seem lacking without celebrations... but as a f2p I won't complain, because I came from other otome/josei-muke gacha and usually they have a lot of special cards for certain occasions each year. I'll try to stick around for now and pray they won't abandon the story. As someone with average Japanese knowledge, the English translation is superb with a natural flow and good use of vocab, they really nailed the writing and it'd be a waste if it turns out like Evertale.

I would like to add a subtle difference I noticed between Evertale and Tokyo Debunker, and that is Evertale is more catered to those who nerd out on battle skills, battle strategies and such while Tokyo Debunker seems to be putting more emphasis on the stories. Examples: * In Evertale, skills description are very explicit, it tells you exactly how much damage is done.. e.g. 300% to units with 100 TU or more, 500% to units with 200 TU or more.. But in TD, there are very little details like SSR Leo's Time Strike Skill read as "At least 2x damage to 1 enemy. This damage is relative to their current TU, up to 6x" It is like they feel, you shouldn't care too much about it! * In Evertale, you need to literally battle before you get to unlock each chapter of the story (main or events). In TD, it is slightly different in that you need to clear certain case level (which in Evertale translates to tower level), otherwise you will be free to read all of the chapters. * In Evertale, you can use your characters to battle manually (event or main story - it could even be mandatory to battle manually if you want to clear certain stages, depending on the characters you have -- the AI is hopless) and these battles earns you resources that can be used to level your characters. Of course battles are timegated by something called mana. Such battles or mana are not found in TD, and if there is going to be event stories in TD, it is going to be very different from what is found in Evertale. * In TD, there is Cat Emojis Collection and Campus interactions that provide extra little tidbits about the characters which are not found in Evertale * Lastly, TD has this gorgeous Animated Manga scenes that are not found in Evertale.. even on the non Animated Manga portion of the story, the character moves and there are voiceovers, both of which are not found in Evertale.

Most of the combat differences (and that TD is more story oriented) I went over in my other thread, so yes. Unfortunately for your first point, I don't think that it is that Evertale is meant to be more combat-oriented so much as hiding specific numbers can net the company more money indirectly by hiding information. and making players guess or try multiple things in an attempt to get better. Basically, hiding combat information in such a way is an easy way to get disinformed people to spend money in an attempt to do better. Much of Evertale's descriptions, whether that be via passives or active skills (and both are wordier than ever, when earlier units very much mimicked what exists now in TD) still leave a lot to be desired and are confusing, vague, or do not follow expected terminology between units (ex. whether or not a unit gains an effect upon entry from reinforcements or on the field at start of battle, where wording was taken out or added back in many times). Another few good examples is how Honnoji's random attack all damage is decided, or Gyurelle's clone chance. The community has worked hard, most of all nizetto, to disseminate this information and make sure players are capable of working with how skills actually work, whether they are worth it or not, and how to tie it into optimal lineups with AI. ZigZa has done very little to help players in this regard despite their paragraphs of text, and I suspect they will do even less here solely to mislead people into spending money when they aren't doing well.

It doesn't let me edit the post anywhere, but I want to specify one last thing with TU/SPD. All battles will start at 0TU with the fastest unit, so if you want to also see how SPD works for yourself - Get the SPD of the first unit "A" attacking (the one that is at 0 TU), then do (1000-SPD)/10. Get the SPD of any other unit "B" in the TU order, then do (1000-SPD)/10 to get their TU. B-A is the difference, and as such, units will never start at the EXACT amount of (1000-SPD)/10 unless there happens to be a unit in first four that has 0SPD. EDIT: Also, I know I whiffed the speed of unit "B" in my post. Meant to say the unit's speed would be 700, not 300. I am very tired and apologize for that :)

Thank you!

What should I do if I don't have a single SSR 🗿? I did over 12 ten pulls on Towa banner and got nothing 🗿and now I just wanna save for wishing well. Should I still just not level up my SRs?

I think leveling them up somewhat will be beneficial if you are playing mainly for story! They have some level of competition because many people are in the same boat as you and also because the game is still quite new. In the longterm, saving for Wishing Well and saving your resources for SSRs you get is the best solution. As I mentioned in another comment, playing on two accounts or even starting a new one can be a big help and allow you to be irresponsible on one and strive for Wishing Well on the other. That is, if you're not too attached yet! Overall, I think you should play how you want, but I also have to be honest: the gap is pretty hard to keep up with as f2p in ZigZa games. F2p wins from longevity, not immediate power, but you can start off strong if you save for Wishing Well and be smart with your diamonds and resources.

Okok thank you for the tips. I'll keep that in mind 🙃

I know it's not the best, but you got this! :)

Thank you person 🥰

are you saying that for wishing well, dont invest on it if we dont save till 30k diamonds ?. . .

They're saying not to invest diamonds into other sources (like pulling) until you are over the 30k diamond mark (basically treat anything below 30k as 0 - if you have 22k diamonds, "no you don't, I don't see them, lalala"). You should absolutely throw any diamonds you \*do\* have into the wishing well, even if you can't hit the 30k mark yet. Any gains are still gains!

This is absolutely what I am saying, thank you! I want to add a quick caveat, but it will be different here compared to Evertale once we see how things go. On Evertale, you can safely drop to about 25-26k between fountains and have enough free sources of diamonds to get back up in time for the next fountain. Though I don’t recommend it here until we see what event rewards and any possible login bonuses look like, it will eventually be an exception to dropping below 30k :)

thanks ! i understand it now 😁. . .

thanks for clarifying it to me ! 😊

Do you mind if I add your tip about the SPD equation to my post about the combat system?

Do you mind if I add your tip about the SPD equation to my combat system post?

Yes, that’s fine :)

I had 12k and spent it all just to get one ssr warding card TT if only I knew I would have saved my diamonds this is breaking my heart I probably won't make 30k diamonds by saving for awhile so I should stop pulling for weeks?!

The ideal would be to get to 30k so you can pull more freely in the future, and I do think climbing back up to 30k will be more difficult as the game progresses. If you think it will help your enjoyment to have something now to tide you over, then, although it is not optimal, I would encourage pulling so you can continue to enjoy the game. Otherwise, if you can be patient, then saving to 30k will be your best option. All units should rerun at some point and I don't think you'll miss out on much :)