The Throne Room – A Player’s Guide At the moment, the Throne Room is one of the most hated aspects of Kingdoms of Camelot. Sadly though, it is only because people don’t really understand it. It definitely had an impact on how battles were fought. No more did the person with the most might and/or troops have the upper-hand. The old strategies, like sending wave after wave of catapults, don’t always work anymore. So, people have had to adapt and learn the new system…those that couldn’t (or didn’t bother to)…learned to hate it and a lot of them left. Hell, even I hated it at first…but, I am WAY too stubborn to quit. So, I took the time to really look into the Throne Room, do my own tests and figure out what did what. And now, I am going to share some of that with you in hopes that you can take what I give you and run with it…learning even more on your own so that you can get back to playing KoC the way you used to…being able to Attack and Defend just like old times. Unfortunately though…there isn’t much you can do as far as reinforcing people goes…that is up to them to work on their Throne Rooms to keep their troops AND yours alive.
Part 1: The Basics Before we can even begin to delve too deeply into the Throne Room, you first need a better understanding of the battle mechanics of the game and the troops you are using. After all, anything you do in the Throne Room affects them…so, you need to know where to start. STATS – Every troop type in KoC has stats assigned to them. They can be viewed when you go into your barracks and click on them to train them. Here is our friend, the Archer:
You see the box highlighted in yellow? That is the Archers stats. There are eight stats list:
1. Attack
2. Defense
3. Life
4. Upkeep
5. Speed
6. Range
7. Load
8. Type
*There is one other stat that ISN’T listed and that is Accuracy. The reason that Kabam doesn’t actually list it here on the screen is because you would need a MUCH bigger box. Each troop has a given Accuracy value against every other troop type and defense…so, 12 different troops and 5 different defense = 17 different Accuracy values.
So, let’s take a look at each stat and what it does:
1. ATTACK – this simply means how much damage they can do when they hit. Anyone ever played Dungeons and Dragons, or any RPG video game before? It was usually referred to as DAMAGE in those games.
2. DEFENSE – is how much damage your troops can absorb before they actually “feel” an attack.
3. LIFE – in most video games, especially RPG type games…this is referred to as “Hit Points”. It is the total amount of damage your troop can withstand before it is considered dead.
4. UPKEEP – how much food your troop eats per hour.
5. SPEED – not a hard one…this is how fast they move. In the board game Monopoly, you roll a die and then get to move however many spaces according to what the die says right? Same thing here…this is how many spaces your troops can move per turn. (we’ll get to “turns” in a little bit)
6. RANGE – this is how far away your troops can attack from. If you think of it in terms of Boxing…if a boxer has 2’ long arms, his reach (RANGE) is 2’. So, if his opponent is 3’ away…it doesn’t make much sense to throw a punch right?
7. LOAD – how many resources your troop can carry
8. TYPE – just like it sounds, it is the classification that a particular troop falls under. (Infantry, Horsed, Ranged or Siege)
9. ACCURACY – this one is a little trickier because it is what is known as a “Troop Multiplier”. I will give you an example of how this works.
a. Archers have a 0.8 Accuracy Stat against Cavalry.
b. So, if you were to send 200,000 Archers at defending Cavalry, it is actually like you are sending 160,000 Archers (200,000 x 0.8 = 160,000)
c. Most are “1” against their own kind (Catapults vs. Catapults)…some are higher the “1” and some are lower than “1”…it just depends on the troop vs. troop situation.
Out of all these stats, only six of them are actually used to determine the outcome of a battle and they are Attack, Defense, Life, Speed, Range and Accuracy. So, from here on out…we are only going to focus on those because, quite frankly…those are the only ones anyone really cares about anyway. Right?
And, as you can see from the “definition” of each stat…they all do play a part in determining the outcome of a battle. Despite popular myth, none of those stats alone can make someone invincible. You just need to figure out what to use to counteract what…and we will get to that later.
Part 2: Finding Items for Your Throne Room (or, The Never-Ending Story)
It really is a never-ending story. As soon as you find one thing that you like and get it upgrading…you will find something else that you like even more. Or…you will just never seem to find that one that you REALLY want.
It’s tedious…I know. It is just like having to hit wilds over and over again to try and find crests for certain cities…you REALLY needed that Lady of Lake Seal and were getting drowned in Sir Kay’s. I think I still have over 100 of those damned Kay’s today…lol.
And…just like the great crest hunts of old…no matter what anyone tells you, there is no “Sweet Spot” to find specific items. Hitting higher level Dark Forests and Barbarian Camps gives you a chance of finding higher level items…but, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are better. Besides, hitting high-level Dark Forests takes troops…and what is the sense in killing off all the troops you are trying to make stronger?
Barbarian Camps work well…but, you have still have to send enough troops to “defeat” it…some folks out there looking for Throne Room items may not have the troops necessary to hit a Lv10 Barbarian Camp.
One excellent side effect of the Throne Room, is the high numbers of recent inactive players with cities all over the map. LOOK FOR THEM! Find a Lv10-12 city belonging to a player who recently quit (check last login date on scout report) and send some Cavalry at it. I usually send 10 waves of 1 Cavalry each. (AFTER clearing defenses of course). As those attacks land, check your reports to see if any of them gave you a Throne Room item. If so…then keep hitting it over and over and over again to keep gaining Throne Room items. If you don’t get anything in those 10 attacks…move on to another target and possibly try coming back to this one later.
But...you need Aetherstone though…
Not a problem…just salvage all the cards you don’t want. You receive a fair amount of Aetherstone for all salvaged items except for “Simple”. So, just keep hitting that city repeatedly and salvaging any un-wanted items for the Aetherstone value.
There you go…Throne Room items AND Aetherstone with MINIMAL troop loss. Not a bad deal at all, if I do say so myself. Plus, if the city is close to you…think about how many times you can hit it. You will be swimming in Throne Room items and Aetherstone before you know it. Sure, they all won’t be useful…but, you will eventually find something you will want to keep, enhance and upgrade.
Just keep in mind…IT TAKES TIME! Nothing in KoC has an instantaneous result unless you have Speed-Ups to make it happen. Remember the Lv10 Relief Station or Lv11 Fletching? I am not a very patient person either when it comes to things like this…but, it is a necessary evil…and sometimes, you just have to wait.
Part 3: Upgrading and Enhancing (or, OMG! Another “X”!?!?!?) Sucks doesn’t it? Wanting nothing more than to see that pretty green check mark come up signaling a successful Enhancement or Upgrade…but…you got that damned red “X”…AGAIN…and AGAIN…and AGAIN!?!? This is nothing but luck…really. Imagine that inside of KoC there is a 100-sided die and each time you click that Enhance/Upgrade button KoC rolls that die and looks at what comes up… Well, that is pretty much what happens. When you first enter the Enhance/Upgrade screen, down towards the bottom you see a pretty colored bar labeled “Success Rate” with a little pointer on it indicating how good your chances are of actually being successful. (in the picture below, the pointer is WAY to the left, just above the “L”).
Well, for every item Quality (Simple, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic and Wonderous) and every Upgrade level…Kabam has a specific success rate assigned, which is what the pointer shows you. (I think numbers would have been better, but that’s just me).
So, in the picture, we’ll say that that is about a 5% Chance of Success.
When KoC rolls that mythical 100-sided die, in order for me to get a successful Enhancement…it has to land on 5 or a number lower than that (1-5, giving me 5 chances out of 100 for success).
So, it really is all luck and chance. Some days you will get a few successes in a row…other days, you might not see one at all…and it gets worse the higher up you go. So BE PREPARED to see that red “X” mocking you time and time again…pointing out your failures!! LOL. It could be anywhere between 1 try and 1000 tries(or more)…but, eventually you will get that beautiful green check mark and the two of you can go skipping through a field of daisies together holding hands!! Too much? Sorry. :P
What about Tokens, Orbs and all the other items you can spend gems on to increase your chances?
Honestly, I don’t even bother with them anymore. I never really have seen a great deal of “bonus” to them and prefer to save any gems I might get my hands on for portals and speed-ups. I have this thing about using gems on “chance” items where you aren’t guaranteed anything in return for using them…just feels like a waste to me. But…they are YOUR gems…not mine, so do with them as you please.
As far as the “Activity Bonus” goes…I haven’t had it really help yet either and stopped trying to use it about the day after it came out. But, that also has to do with my gem-spending habits I just wrote about in the paragraph before. I won’t necessarily see a return on the gems I would use to purchase tokens and such that I would need to keep the items from breaking so that I CAN get that Activity Bonus full. Just not worth it to me…I have better things to spend gems on when I get them.
Bottom line, the Enhance/Upgrade system is STILL usable for those people that don’t want to spend tons of money of gems…or that don’t want to spend gems in the Throne Room. Sure, it will take a little while longer…but, it’s FREE…and who doesn’t like FREE? ;)
Part 4: The ever evil BOTS
Not sure how long the section will remain here before Kabam removes it…so read this part REALLY FAST!
Ever since Kingdoms of Camelot first came out, players have used BOTS to relieve some of the more tedious aspects of the game…using them to fill troop training queues, raid Barbarian Camps, transport resources and other things of that nature. No…they don’t give you free resources, make troop-training any faster or anything of that nature…they just take the boring, repetitive necessities out of the player’s hands and runs then automatically…allowing the player to concentrate fully on chat and attacking.
Kabam frowns on the use of BOTS and it is also against the ToS of the game. So, if you ARE going to use them…you have been fore-warned.
But, they do come in EXTREMELY handy for the Throne Room. They make item collection a lot easier…some have an auto-salvage option and they now come with an auto-enhance/upgrade option. No…this doesn’t mean that it gives you a higher success rate…but, it handles all the upgrade attempting and repairing for so that you are not stuck sitting there in the throne room anymore and can get back to chatting and attacking. Also…as long as you computer is up and KoC is running…it will continue trying, which means while you sleep, are away at work…or are just not around.
I am not going to tell you how to find or use bots…so, don’t bother asking. If you decide that you want to use one, it is up to you to find and figure out. But, you can message me for advice. Again though…the use of BOTS is against the Kingdoms of Camelot ToS.
Neither of them is better than the other…they are opposite entities like Yin & Yang, used to balance each other out. Much like Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion, every action has an equal and opposite reaction…such is technically the same for the Throne Room Bonuses and Debuffs…except, since we are dealing with a computer program, Kabam has given you the power to alter the laws of physics and bring balance (or imbalance) to the universe that is KoC. Welcome to godliness. Feels good don’t it?
Part 5: Bonus vs. Debuff…which is better?
Bonuses are added benefits granted to your troops. Anyone remember the old television program, “The Six Million Dollar Man”? Remember the intro?
“…We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.”
Yep, that’s you…turning your troops into an entire army of six million dollar men. You now have the ability to make your troops shoot farther, move faster, hit harder, absorb more damage and live longer…amongst an array of other benefits.
But…as god granteth, god taketh away…and that is where Debuffs come in. Your opponent has the ability of having the kryptonite for your Superman. Debuffs effect your opponent’s troops and have the ability to reduce, and even negate, your Throne Room Bonuses. Sucks, I know…but there must be some balance in the Force young Skywalker. Everything does have its limits though…and we will discuss those next.
In their attempt to keep the forces of Good and Evil in balance, Kabam programmed some Bonus and Debuff Limits (or “caps”) into the game…to keep anyone from getting completely ridiculous. And…for you viewing pleasure…here they are:
Part 6: The Confusing Bonus/Debuff Caps ATTRIBUTE MAX BONUS MAX DEBUFF
Combat Skill: 255 none value
CAP TYPE
Inteligence Skill: 145 none value
Politics Skill: 155 none value
Resourcefullness Skill: 165 none value
Attack: 800 -25 percent
Defense: 4000 -25 percent
Life: 200 -50 percent
Speed: 300 -50 percent
Range: 150 -25 percent
Load: 500 0 percent
Accuracy: 1 -0.1 value
March Size: 150 none percent
March Speed: 500 -10 percent
Training Speed: 4000 none percent
Construction Speed: 600 none percent
Research Speed: 400 none percent
ATTRIBUTE MAX BONUS MAX DEBUFF
Crafting Speed: 200 none percent
CAP TYPE
Crafting Success: 25 none percent
Upkeep: 33 none percent
Resource Production: 2000 none percent
Resource Cap: 200 none percent
Storehouse: 1000 none percent
Morale: 50 none percent
Item Drop: 20 none percent
Okay, so now that you know the caps, we can move on right? No? What’s that…you want to know what that all means? Damn…you people are demanding! ;)
Alright, I suppose you do need to know a little bit more about these…so, here we go.
I am pretty sure you can all figure out what the “Attribute” column is all about…but, just in case you are still bewildered by all those words and numbers…Attribute just means the skill that we are dealing with, whether that is Attack or Crafting Speed. Let’s move on…
MAX BONUS refers to the Maximum amount of bonus you can add to you BASE stat using the Throne Room. HOWEVER, all of the caps are what I refer to as “Floating Caps” because they rely on what your opponent has in their Throne Room as well. Confused? Don’t be…I’ll show you using the infamous Range stat and a random BASE stat of 100.
So, you have a 200% Range Bonus in your Throne Room? AWESOME! And, I suppose you think your troops that started with a BASE Range stat of 100, now have a Range of 300, right? Not exactly .
If you attack another player who has no Throne Room at all, the Max Bonus cap for Range drops your Bonus to 150%...so that 100 BASE Range troop is only at 250 Range, not 300.
Enter…the mighty and mythical Debuff!
That same opponent has decided to get his butt in gear and has amassed a Range Debuff of 100%. Now, when you attack him…his Debuff reduces your 200% Bonus to a mere 100%. Ummm…what does that mean? You ask…That means that you can add on another 50% Range Bonus before you are at your Max Bonus Cap. Make sense? Kind of? Sort of? Maybe?
MAX DEBUFF means the most you can reduce their BASE stat by. Those numbers all look pretty low don’t they? Don’t worry…they are that way for a reason. Remember, all the caps are figured off a troop’s BASE STATS (the ones you see when you click on them to train them in your barracks) BEFORE all the other bonuses such as Research, Knight and Shop Items are applied.
It really wouldn’t make much sense if you could Debuff a troop to “0” Life, Attack, Defense…or any other stat that is concerned. In order to maintain some balance, they eliminated the ability to essentially turn another player’s troops into an army of quadriplegics.
So, using the same random BASE Stat of 100 from before…let’s take a look at how the Debuff Caps figure into the equation shall we?
Being the mighty warrior that you are…you have enhanced and upgraded your little heart out to get that intimidating Range Debuff of -200%...Congratulations Conan! But wait…there is a -25 Max Debuff Cap right? So, unless your opponent has Range Bonuses in their Throne Room, that once impressive 200% Debuff has been reduced to a meek and timid -25%. So, the lowest that their Base Stat of 100 will ever go is 75 (100 – 25%).
Well damn! All that Enhancing and Upgrading you did was just a waste of time and Aetherstone! Thanks a lot Kabam!
Just a minute there skippy…not so fast.
What happens when that opponent wins the lottery and devotes all his time and money to getting his Range Bonus to an emasculating 500%???
Your 200% Range Debuff reduces their Bonus to a still-impressive 300%, which means that you can still technically add on another 325% before you reach your limit (300 to counter their remaining Bonus plus an additional 25% for the cap).
It can be a little confusing at first, which is why I would venture to guess Kabam would not post these in the forums…to try and save themselves the hassle of trying to explain it over and over again amidst all the other junk posts and people offering other, incorrect explanations.
You also see that some of the attributes have “none” listed under the Max Debuff column. Look at those…these have no Debuff Cap because debuffs don’t exist for them…mainly because there really is no way to use a debuff on them.
CAP TYPE is the last column and tells you whether the cap is figured as a percentage of the Base Stat, or has a set numerical value.
If it is a “percentage” cap, then that is the max percentage you can increase or reduce the Base Stat by. For a Base Stat of 100, and not considering any other information…you would have a Range of 250 (150% cap) and a minimum Range of 75 (-25% cap).
If it is a “value” cap, the number listed is the most you can increase or reduce that stat by. The mysterious Accuracy stat has a value cap (Max Bonus:1 Max Debuff:-0.1). So, if your troop had an Accuracy stat of 1…the most it can ever be is 2 (1+1)…and the least it can ever be is 0.9 (1 – 0.1). Got it?
The main thing you have to remember is that the caps on your stats are directly related to what your opponent has in their Throne Room. Don’t stop Enhancing/Upgrading an item just because you reached the caps listed above…because they could be made completely useless by the next person’s Throne Room.
You think you have it all figured out, picked a target, attacked and then you look at the battle report to find that their troop stats don’t look anything like what you thought they should be. Must be a new glitch right? Wrong. Well, this IS KoC…so, there is a chance that it could be a glitch…but, more than likely your math is just a little off.
Part 7: How it all works together…
You have to realize how the final stats involved in combat are calculated. Remember, there is more to the stats than just the Base Stat and the Throne Room. You also need to take Research Levels, Knight Scores, Shop Items and Guardian bonuses into consideration…not only that but, you also need to know how each one is used to obtain the final stat that you will see on your reports.
To start with..EVERY Bonus and Debuff is calculated using that particular troop’s Base Stat…the only exception to this is the Guardians.
Here is how it works:
1. Get that troops BASE Stats
2. Calculate the Research Bonus using the Base stat
3. Calculate the Knight Bonus using the Base stat
4. Calculate the Shop Item (blood lust/stone skin) Bonus using Base stat.
5. Subtract opponent Throne Room Debuffs from your Throne Room Bonuses:
a. If you have a Bonus left over, calculate your Throne Room Bonus using the Base stat.
b. If your opponent’s Debuffs are greater than your Bonuses…calculate your Throne Room Debuff using the Base stat.
6. Add Throne Room Bonus/Subtract Throne Room Debuff as applicable (up to cap limit).
7. Add Research Bonus
8. Add Knight Bonus
9. Add Shop item Bonus
This gives you your new stat. Now, if a Guardian Bonus is available…that gets calculated directly from this number.
Remember…The Throne Room doesn’t affect anything but Base stats and opposing Throne Room Bonuses/Debuffs…you still get the full value from Research, Knight and Shop Items as if the Throne Room did not exist.
Is this the EXACT formula? No. With the exception of the Defense stat…there is actually two different equations for each stat, dependent upon things like Troop Type and Attack vs. Defend status. Do I have those equations? Yes. Am I going to post those here? No. Well…not at the moment at least. A couple of us worked for about two weeks sorting through battle reports in order to reverse engineer the exact formulas…so, not really feeling like just handing them out freely to everyone. Sorry.
But, with the information I have given you already…it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure them out on your own if you really want them.
So, there is a guy on your domain that has 200% Range Bonus and 150% Range Debuff…you can’t seem to find any decent Range items…he is unstoppable and you might as well quit right? WRONG!!
Part 8: Putting it to good use…
Despite what you may read in the numerous posts to the contrary in the forums…a major Range deficiency is NOT the end of the world. Remember what I was saying before about there being a balance system in place within KoC? Well…I wasn’t lying. You don’t have to fight Range with Range.
As I have shown you, there are 6 stats that are used to determine the outcome of a battle: Attack, Defense, Life, Speed, Range and Accuracy. To believe that any one of those stats can solely determine the outcome is foolish. Attack opposes Defense, Speed opposes Range. Wait….what did I just say? Range has an opposing force? Yep…sure does. Look at it this way…
RANGE doesn’t make troops any stronger. What makes Range so devastating is the fact that it allows troops to attack from further away and allowing them to continue firing, unscathed, until the other side’s troops can get in close enough to attack back. Considering the Base Range of Archers, Ballista and Catapults compared to all the other troops…you can see why this can wreak pure havoc.
Battle in KoC is turn-based. Just like the old RPG games of yore…each troop gets a turn…and in that turn, they have two options:
1. If enemy troops are within Range…ATTACK.
2. If there are no enemy troops in Range, move forward according to your Speed stat.
The catch is that the highest-Range troops get to attack first and their Range sets the “starting” distance. So, if you have two sides engaged in battle…SIDE A has a Range of 2000, SIDE B has a Range of 1000.
Since SIDE A has higher Range, they get to attack first and the starting distance is set at 2000 spaces apart.
SIDE B only has a Range of 1000, so they need to move 1000 spaces closer (2000-1000) before they can be close enough to attack back. If their Speed is only 200, this means it will take them 5 turns to close the gap before they can finally start doing some attacking. Unfortunately…this also means that SIDE A gets 5 turns to fire away at SIDE B’s troops before they even have to start worrying about getting attacked. 5 turns is a LONG time on the battlefield and this is where all the death and destruction comes from.
Not really filling you with that warm and fuzzy feeling am I? No worries, like I said…this isn’t Lord Of The Rings and there isn’t “One stat to rule them all.” ;)
Read back a little bit…
A little more…
Yeah, that…three paragraphs into this section, towards the end…
“Speed opposes Range”
Range’s advantage comes from the gap it creates…so, counter it by making your troops close the gap
faster.
Since people are using Archers, Ballista and Catapults to exploit the benefits of Range, let’s look at your troops and figure out which ones to use to exploit the benefits of Combat Speed.
Well…Scouts start off with a BASE Speed of 3000! A little Combat Speed would damn near have them moving at the speed of light! Unfortunately, their other important stats of Life, Attack and Defense are so low…this really doesn’t make them a good option. They just aren’t strong enough.
So…the next option is your horses...Cavalry and Heavy Cavalry…let’s compare their stats.
CAVALRY
HEAVY CAVALRY
ATTACK
500
ATTACK
700
SPEED
1000
SPEED
750
DEFENSE
45
DEFENSE
87
RANGE
100
RANGE
80
LIFE
1000
LIFE
2000
Which one do you think would make the better option?
Speed and Range are higher on the Cavalry. But…Attack, Defense and Life are higher (Defense and Life both being about double that on Cavalry).
Honestly…either one of them could be a viable option…depending on the setup of your Throne Room. If you are set up with a lot of Combat Speed Bonuses and were able to manage getting at least a decent amount of Range, Cavalry could work well for you.
If you have a Throne Room Full of Speed, Attack and Life Bonuses…go with Heavy Cavalry. Personally, I would go with Heavy Cavalry either way. They have always fared decently against archers and with a boost from your Throne Room, can fair equally as well against Catapults…even with a remarkable Range difference.
It really is a balancing act…
Is there a set ratio as far as Combat Speed vs. Range is concerned? No, because there are so many other factors involved that it really is nearly impossible to account for them all. But, the key is to figure out how many free shots your higher-ranged opponent will get before your troops can close the gap. The more you can cut that down, the better. Couple that with Attack, Life and Accuracy Bonuses/Debuffs and you can literally put the advantage back in your court…no matter what their Range is.
The main point in all of this, is that Range is not the only stat out there and surely isn’t the only one that determines whether you win or lose a battle. You just have to use the other stats to counteract the Range. It works people, trust me…ask around…try it!
Don’t be afraid to test things on your own. If all you are doing is sitting there training troops and searching to Throne Room items…you might as well kill off some troops in the name of research and find what works best for you.
If I missed something in here, which I am sure I did…or, if you just have more questions…feel free to send me a message. I will answer any question I can.
Part 1: The Basics Before we can even begin to delve too deeply into the Throne Room, you first need a better understanding of the battle mechanics of the game and the troops you are using. After all, anything you do in the Throne Room affects them…so, you need to know where to start. STATS – Every troop type in KoC has stats assigned to them. They can be viewed when you go into your barracks and click on them to train them. Here is our friend, the Archer:
You see the box highlighted in yellow? That is the Archers stats. There are eight stats list:
1. Attack
2. Defense
3. Life
4. Upkeep
5. Speed
6. Range
7. Load
8. Type
*There is one other stat that ISN’T listed and that is Accuracy. The reason that Kabam doesn’t actually list it here on the screen is because you would need a MUCH bigger box. Each troop has a given Accuracy value against every other troop type and defense…so, 12 different troops and 5 different defense = 17 different Accuracy values.
So, let’s take a look at each stat and what it does:
1. ATTACK – this simply means how much damage they can do when they hit. Anyone ever played Dungeons and Dragons, or any RPG video game before? It was usually referred to as DAMAGE in those games.
2. DEFENSE – is how much damage your troops can absorb before they actually “feel” an attack.
3. LIFE – in most video games, especially RPG type games…this is referred to as “Hit Points”. It is the total amount of damage your troop can withstand before it is considered dead.
4. UPKEEP – how much food your troop eats per hour.
5. SPEED – not a hard one…this is how fast they move. In the board game Monopoly, you roll a die and then get to move however many spaces according to what the die says right? Same thing here…this is how many spaces your troops can move per turn. (we’ll get to “turns” in a little bit)
6. RANGE – this is how far away your troops can attack from. If you think of it in terms of Boxing…if a boxer has 2’ long arms, his reach (RANGE) is 2’. So, if his opponent is 3’ away…it doesn’t make much sense to throw a punch right?
7. LOAD – how many resources your troop can carry
8. TYPE – just like it sounds, it is the classification that a particular troop falls under. (Infantry, Horsed, Ranged or Siege)
9. ACCURACY – this one is a little trickier because it is what is known as a “Troop Multiplier”. I will give you an example of how this works.
a. Archers have a 0.8 Accuracy Stat against Cavalry.
b. So, if you were to send 200,000 Archers at defending Cavalry, it is actually like you are sending 160,000 Archers (200,000 x 0.8 = 160,000)
c. Most are “1” against their own kind (Catapults vs. Catapults)…some are higher the “1” and some are lower than “1”…it just depends on the troop vs. troop situation.
Out of all these stats, only six of them are actually used to determine the outcome of a battle and they are Attack, Defense, Life, Speed, Range and Accuracy. So, from here on out…we are only going to focus on those because, quite frankly…those are the only ones anyone really cares about anyway. Right?
And, as you can see from the “definition” of each stat…they all do play a part in determining the outcome of a battle. Despite popular myth, none of those stats alone can make someone invincible. You just need to figure out what to use to counteract what…and we will get to that later.
Part 2: Finding Items for Your Throne Room (or, The Never-Ending Story)
It really is a never-ending story. As soon as you find one thing that you like and get it upgrading…you will find something else that you like even more. Or…you will just never seem to find that one that you REALLY want.
It’s tedious…I know. It is just like having to hit wilds over and over again to try and find crests for certain cities…you REALLY needed that Lady of Lake Seal and were getting drowned in Sir Kay’s. I think I still have over 100 of those damned Kay’s today…lol.
And…just like the great crest hunts of old…no matter what anyone tells you, there is no “Sweet Spot” to find specific items. Hitting higher level Dark Forests and Barbarian Camps gives you a chance of finding higher level items…but, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are better. Besides, hitting high-level Dark Forests takes troops…and what is the sense in killing off all the troops you are trying to make stronger?
Barbarian Camps work well…but, you have still have to send enough troops to “defeat” it…some folks out there looking for Throne Room items may not have the troops necessary to hit a Lv10 Barbarian Camp.
One excellent side effect of the Throne Room, is the high numbers of recent inactive players with cities all over the map. LOOK FOR THEM! Find a Lv10-12 city belonging to a player who recently quit (check last login date on scout report) and send some Cavalry at it. I usually send 10 waves of 1 Cavalry each. (AFTER clearing defenses of course). As those attacks land, check your reports to see if any of them gave you a Throne Room item. If so…then keep hitting it over and over and over again to keep gaining Throne Room items. If you don’t get anything in those 10 attacks…move on to another target and possibly try coming back to this one later.
But...you need Aetherstone though…
Not a problem…just salvage all the cards you don’t want. You receive a fair amount of Aetherstone for all salvaged items except for “Simple”. So, just keep hitting that city repeatedly and salvaging any un-wanted items for the Aetherstone value.
There you go…Throne Room items AND Aetherstone with MINIMAL troop loss. Not a bad deal at all, if I do say so myself. Plus, if the city is close to you…think about how many times you can hit it. You will be swimming in Throne Room items and Aetherstone before you know it. Sure, they all won’t be useful…but, you will eventually find something you will want to keep, enhance and upgrade.
Just keep in mind…IT TAKES TIME! Nothing in KoC has an instantaneous result unless you have Speed-Ups to make it happen. Remember the Lv10 Relief Station or Lv11 Fletching? I am not a very patient person either when it comes to things like this…but, it is a necessary evil…and sometimes, you just have to wait.
Part 3: Upgrading and Enhancing (or, OMG! Another “X”!?!?!?) Sucks doesn’t it? Wanting nothing more than to see that pretty green check mark come up signaling a successful Enhancement or Upgrade…but…you got that damned red “X”…AGAIN…and AGAIN…and AGAIN!?!? This is nothing but luck…really. Imagine that inside of KoC there is a 100-sided die and each time you click that Enhance/Upgrade button KoC rolls that die and looks at what comes up… Well, that is pretty much what happens. When you first enter the Enhance/Upgrade screen, down towards the bottom you see a pretty colored bar labeled “Success Rate” with a little pointer on it indicating how good your chances are of actually being successful. (in the picture below, the pointer is WAY to the left, just above the “L”).
Well, for every item Quality (Simple, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic and Wonderous) and every Upgrade level…Kabam has a specific success rate assigned, which is what the pointer shows you. (I think numbers would have been better, but that’s just me).
So, in the picture, we’ll say that that is about a 5% Chance of Success.
When KoC rolls that mythical 100-sided die, in order for me to get a successful Enhancement…it has to land on 5 or a number lower than that (1-5, giving me 5 chances out of 100 for success).
So, it really is all luck and chance. Some days you will get a few successes in a row…other days, you might not see one at all…and it gets worse the higher up you go. So BE PREPARED to see that red “X” mocking you time and time again…pointing out your failures!! LOL. It could be anywhere between 1 try and 1000 tries(or more)…but, eventually you will get that beautiful green check mark and the two of you can go skipping through a field of daisies together holding hands!! Too much? Sorry. :P
What about Tokens, Orbs and all the other items you can spend gems on to increase your chances?
Honestly, I don’t even bother with them anymore. I never really have seen a great deal of “bonus” to them and prefer to save any gems I might get my hands on for portals and speed-ups. I have this thing about using gems on “chance” items where you aren’t guaranteed anything in return for using them…just feels like a waste to me. But…they are YOUR gems…not mine, so do with them as you please.
As far as the “Activity Bonus” goes…I haven’t had it really help yet either and stopped trying to use it about the day after it came out. But, that also has to do with my gem-spending habits I just wrote about in the paragraph before. I won’t necessarily see a return on the gems I would use to purchase tokens and such that I would need to keep the items from breaking so that I CAN get that Activity Bonus full. Just not worth it to me…I have better things to spend gems on when I get them.
Bottom line, the Enhance/Upgrade system is STILL usable for those people that don’t want to spend tons of money of gems…or that don’t want to spend gems in the Throne Room. Sure, it will take a little while longer…but, it’s FREE…and who doesn’t like FREE? ;)
Part 4: The ever evil BOTS
Not sure how long the section will remain here before Kabam removes it…so read this part REALLY FAST!
Ever since Kingdoms of Camelot first came out, players have used BOTS to relieve some of the more tedious aspects of the game…using them to fill troop training queues, raid Barbarian Camps, transport resources and other things of that nature. No…they don’t give you free resources, make troop-training any faster or anything of that nature…they just take the boring, repetitive necessities out of the player’s hands and runs then automatically…allowing the player to concentrate fully on chat and attacking.
Kabam frowns on the use of BOTS and it is also against the ToS of the game. So, if you ARE going to use them…you have been fore-warned.
But, they do come in EXTREMELY handy for the Throne Room. They make item collection a lot easier…some have an auto-salvage option and they now come with an auto-enhance/upgrade option. No…this doesn’t mean that it gives you a higher success rate…but, it handles all the upgrade attempting and repairing for so that you are not stuck sitting there in the throne room anymore and can get back to chatting and attacking. Also…as long as you computer is up and KoC is running…it will continue trying, which means while you sleep, are away at work…or are just not around.
I am not going to tell you how to find or use bots…so, don’t bother asking. If you decide that you want to use one, it is up to you to find and figure out. But, you can message me for advice. Again though…the use of BOTS is against the Kingdoms of Camelot ToS.
Neither of them is better than the other…they are opposite entities like Yin & Yang, used to balance each other out. Much like Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion, every action has an equal and opposite reaction…such is technically the same for the Throne Room Bonuses and Debuffs…except, since we are dealing with a computer program, Kabam has given you the power to alter the laws of physics and bring balance (or imbalance) to the universe that is KoC. Welcome to godliness. Feels good don’t it?
Part 5: Bonus vs. Debuff…which is better?
Bonuses are added benefits granted to your troops. Anyone remember the old television program, “The Six Million Dollar Man”? Remember the intro?
“…We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.”
Yep, that’s you…turning your troops into an entire army of six million dollar men. You now have the ability to make your troops shoot farther, move faster, hit harder, absorb more damage and live longer…amongst an array of other benefits.
But…as god granteth, god taketh away…and that is where Debuffs come in. Your opponent has the ability of having the kryptonite for your Superman. Debuffs effect your opponent’s troops and have the ability to reduce, and even negate, your Throne Room Bonuses. Sucks, I know…but there must be some balance in the Force young Skywalker. Everything does have its limits though…and we will discuss those next.
In their attempt to keep the forces of Good and Evil in balance, Kabam programmed some Bonus and Debuff Limits (or “caps”) into the game…to keep anyone from getting completely ridiculous. And…for you viewing pleasure…here they are:
Part 6: The Confusing Bonus/Debuff Caps ATTRIBUTE MAX BONUS MAX DEBUFF
Combat Skill: 255 none value
CAP TYPE
Inteligence Skill: 145 none value
Politics Skill: 155 none value
Resourcefullness Skill: 165 none value
Attack: 800 -25 percent
Defense: 4000 -25 percent
Life: 200 -50 percent
Speed: 300 -50 percent
Range: 150 -25 percent
Load: 500 0 percent
Accuracy: 1 -0.1 value
March Size: 150 none percent
March Speed: 500 -10 percent
Training Speed: 4000 none percent
Construction Speed: 600 none percent
Research Speed: 400 none percent
ATTRIBUTE MAX BONUS MAX DEBUFF
Crafting Speed: 200 none percent
CAP TYPE
Crafting Success: 25 none percent
Upkeep: 33 none percent
Resource Production: 2000 none percent
Resource Cap: 200 none percent
Storehouse: 1000 none percent
Morale: 50 none percent
Item Drop: 20 none percent
Okay, so now that you know the caps, we can move on right? No? What’s that…you want to know what that all means? Damn…you people are demanding! ;)
Alright, I suppose you do need to know a little bit more about these…so, here we go.
I am pretty sure you can all figure out what the “Attribute” column is all about…but, just in case you are still bewildered by all those words and numbers…Attribute just means the skill that we are dealing with, whether that is Attack or Crafting Speed. Let’s move on…
MAX BONUS refers to the Maximum amount of bonus you can add to you BASE stat using the Throne Room. HOWEVER, all of the caps are what I refer to as “Floating Caps” because they rely on what your opponent has in their Throne Room as well. Confused? Don’t be…I’ll show you using the infamous Range stat and a random BASE stat of 100.
So, you have a 200% Range Bonus in your Throne Room? AWESOME! And, I suppose you think your troops that started with a BASE Range stat of 100, now have a Range of 300, right? Not exactly .
If you attack another player who has no Throne Room at all, the Max Bonus cap for Range drops your Bonus to 150%...so that 100 BASE Range troop is only at 250 Range, not 300.
Enter…the mighty and mythical Debuff!
That same opponent has decided to get his butt in gear and has amassed a Range Debuff of 100%. Now, when you attack him…his Debuff reduces your 200% Bonus to a mere 100%. Ummm…what does that mean? You ask…That means that you can add on another 50% Range Bonus before you are at your Max Bonus Cap. Make sense? Kind of? Sort of? Maybe?
MAX DEBUFF means the most you can reduce their BASE stat by. Those numbers all look pretty low don’t they? Don’t worry…they are that way for a reason. Remember, all the caps are figured off a troop’s BASE STATS (the ones you see when you click on them to train them in your barracks) BEFORE all the other bonuses such as Research, Knight and Shop Items are applied.
It really wouldn’t make much sense if you could Debuff a troop to “0” Life, Attack, Defense…or any other stat that is concerned. In order to maintain some balance, they eliminated the ability to essentially turn another player’s troops into an army of quadriplegics.
So, using the same random BASE Stat of 100 from before…let’s take a look at how the Debuff Caps figure into the equation shall we?
Being the mighty warrior that you are…you have enhanced and upgraded your little heart out to get that intimidating Range Debuff of -200%...Congratulations Conan! But wait…there is a -25 Max Debuff Cap right? So, unless your opponent has Range Bonuses in their Throne Room, that once impressive 200% Debuff has been reduced to a meek and timid -25%. So, the lowest that their Base Stat of 100 will ever go is 75 (100 – 25%).
Well damn! All that Enhancing and Upgrading you did was just a waste of time and Aetherstone! Thanks a lot Kabam!
Just a minute there skippy…not so fast.
What happens when that opponent wins the lottery and devotes all his time and money to getting his Range Bonus to an emasculating 500%???
Your 200% Range Debuff reduces their Bonus to a still-impressive 300%, which means that you can still technically add on another 325% before you reach your limit (300 to counter their remaining Bonus plus an additional 25% for the cap).
It can be a little confusing at first, which is why I would venture to guess Kabam would not post these in the forums…to try and save themselves the hassle of trying to explain it over and over again amidst all the other junk posts and people offering other, incorrect explanations.
You also see that some of the attributes have “none” listed under the Max Debuff column. Look at those…these have no Debuff Cap because debuffs don’t exist for them…mainly because there really is no way to use a debuff on them.
CAP TYPE is the last column and tells you whether the cap is figured as a percentage of the Base Stat, or has a set numerical value.
If it is a “percentage” cap, then that is the max percentage you can increase or reduce the Base Stat by. For a Base Stat of 100, and not considering any other information…you would have a Range of 250 (150% cap) and a minimum Range of 75 (-25% cap).
If it is a “value” cap, the number listed is the most you can increase or reduce that stat by. The mysterious Accuracy stat has a value cap (Max Bonus:1 Max Debuff:-0.1). So, if your troop had an Accuracy stat of 1…the most it can ever be is 2 (1+1)…and the least it can ever be is 0.9 (1 – 0.1). Got it?
The main thing you have to remember is that the caps on your stats are directly related to what your opponent has in their Throne Room. Don’t stop Enhancing/Upgrading an item just because you reached the caps listed above…because they could be made completely useless by the next person’s Throne Room.
You think you have it all figured out, picked a target, attacked and then you look at the battle report to find that their troop stats don’t look anything like what you thought they should be. Must be a new glitch right? Wrong. Well, this IS KoC…so, there is a chance that it could be a glitch…but, more than likely your math is just a little off.
Part 7: How it all works together…
You have to realize how the final stats involved in combat are calculated. Remember, there is more to the stats than just the Base Stat and the Throne Room. You also need to take Research Levels, Knight Scores, Shop Items and Guardian bonuses into consideration…not only that but, you also need to know how each one is used to obtain the final stat that you will see on your reports.
To start with..EVERY Bonus and Debuff is calculated using that particular troop’s Base Stat…the only exception to this is the Guardians.
Here is how it works:
1. Get that troops BASE Stats
2. Calculate the Research Bonus using the Base stat
3. Calculate the Knight Bonus using the Base stat
4. Calculate the Shop Item (blood lust/stone skin) Bonus using Base stat.
5. Subtract opponent Throne Room Debuffs from your Throne Room Bonuses:
a. If you have a Bonus left over, calculate your Throne Room Bonus using the Base stat.
b. If your opponent’s Debuffs are greater than your Bonuses…calculate your Throne Room Debuff using the Base stat.
6. Add Throne Room Bonus/Subtract Throne Room Debuff as applicable (up to cap limit).
7. Add Research Bonus
8. Add Knight Bonus
9. Add Shop item Bonus
This gives you your new stat. Now, if a Guardian Bonus is available…that gets calculated directly from this number.
Remember…The Throne Room doesn’t affect anything but Base stats and opposing Throne Room Bonuses/Debuffs…you still get the full value from Research, Knight and Shop Items as if the Throne Room did not exist.
Is this the EXACT formula? No. With the exception of the Defense stat…there is actually two different equations for each stat, dependent upon things like Troop Type and Attack vs. Defend status. Do I have those equations? Yes. Am I going to post those here? No. Well…not at the moment at least. A couple of us worked for about two weeks sorting through battle reports in order to reverse engineer the exact formulas…so, not really feeling like just handing them out freely to everyone. Sorry.
But, with the information I have given you already…it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure them out on your own if you really want them.
So, there is a guy on your domain that has 200% Range Bonus and 150% Range Debuff…you can’t seem to find any decent Range items…he is unstoppable and you might as well quit right? WRONG!!
Part 8: Putting it to good use…
Despite what you may read in the numerous posts to the contrary in the forums…a major Range deficiency is NOT the end of the world. Remember what I was saying before about there being a balance system in place within KoC? Well…I wasn’t lying. You don’t have to fight Range with Range.
As I have shown you, there are 6 stats that are used to determine the outcome of a battle: Attack, Defense, Life, Speed, Range and Accuracy. To believe that any one of those stats can solely determine the outcome is foolish. Attack opposes Defense, Speed opposes Range. Wait….what did I just say? Range has an opposing force? Yep…sure does. Look at it this way…
RANGE doesn’t make troops any stronger. What makes Range so devastating is the fact that it allows troops to attack from further away and allowing them to continue firing, unscathed, until the other side’s troops can get in close enough to attack back. Considering the Base Range of Archers, Ballista and Catapults compared to all the other troops…you can see why this can wreak pure havoc.
Battle in KoC is turn-based. Just like the old RPG games of yore…each troop gets a turn…and in that turn, they have two options:
1. If enemy troops are within Range…ATTACK.
2. If there are no enemy troops in Range, move forward according to your Speed stat.
The catch is that the highest-Range troops get to attack first and their Range sets the “starting” distance. So, if you have two sides engaged in battle…SIDE A has a Range of 2000, SIDE B has a Range of 1000.
Since SIDE A has higher Range, they get to attack first and the starting distance is set at 2000 spaces apart.
SIDE B only has a Range of 1000, so they need to move 1000 spaces closer (2000-1000) before they can be close enough to attack back. If their Speed is only 200, this means it will take them 5 turns to close the gap before they can finally start doing some attacking. Unfortunately…this also means that SIDE A gets 5 turns to fire away at SIDE B’s troops before they even have to start worrying about getting attacked. 5 turns is a LONG time on the battlefield and this is where all the death and destruction comes from.
Not really filling you with that warm and fuzzy feeling am I? No worries, like I said…this isn’t Lord Of The Rings and there isn’t “One stat to rule them all.” ;)
Read back a little bit…
A little more…
Yeah, that…three paragraphs into this section, towards the end…
“Speed opposes Range”
Range’s advantage comes from the gap it creates…so, counter it by making your troops close the gap
faster.
Since people are using Archers, Ballista and Catapults to exploit the benefits of Range, let’s look at your troops and figure out which ones to use to exploit the benefits of Combat Speed.
Well…Scouts start off with a BASE Speed of 3000! A little Combat Speed would damn near have them moving at the speed of light! Unfortunately, their other important stats of Life, Attack and Defense are so low…this really doesn’t make them a good option. They just aren’t strong enough.
So…the next option is your horses...Cavalry and Heavy Cavalry…let’s compare their stats.
CAVALRY
HEAVY CAVALRY
ATTACK
500
ATTACK
700
SPEED
1000
SPEED
750
DEFENSE
45
DEFENSE
87
RANGE
100
RANGE
80
LIFE
1000
LIFE
2000
Which one do you think would make the better option?
Speed and Range are higher on the Cavalry. But…Attack, Defense and Life are higher (Defense and Life both being about double that on Cavalry).
Honestly…either one of them could be a viable option…depending on the setup of your Throne Room. If you are set up with a lot of Combat Speed Bonuses and were able to manage getting at least a decent amount of Range, Cavalry could work well for you.
If you have a Throne Room Full of Speed, Attack and Life Bonuses…go with Heavy Cavalry. Personally, I would go with Heavy Cavalry either way. They have always fared decently against archers and with a boost from your Throne Room, can fair equally as well against Catapults…even with a remarkable Range difference.
It really is a balancing act…
Is there a set ratio as far as Combat Speed vs. Range is concerned? No, because there are so many other factors involved that it really is nearly impossible to account for them all. But, the key is to figure out how many free shots your higher-ranged opponent will get before your troops can close the gap. The more you can cut that down, the better. Couple that with Attack, Life and Accuracy Bonuses/Debuffs and you can literally put the advantage back in your court…no matter what their Range is.
The main point in all of this, is that Range is not the only stat out there and surely isn’t the only one that determines whether you win or lose a battle. You just have to use the other stats to counteract the Range. It works people, trust me…ask around…try it!
Don’t be afraid to test things on your own. If all you are doing is sitting there training troops and searching to Throne Room items…you might as well kill off some troops in the name of research and find what works best for you.
If I missed something in here, which I am sure I did…or, if you just have more questions…feel free to send me a message. I will answer any question I can.
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