Spiral Knights - Crown Farming Efficiency Spreadsheet for F2P players

Crown Farming Efficiency Spreadsheet for F2P players

23 replies [Last post]

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 13:18

Boltzcrank

First off: Link to the Reddit post

I haven't played the game in two years but I had something similar to this that I recorded before. However, because of that time passing, I decided to throw out my old data. And with the addition of the Mission system essentially allowing you skip the less profitable parts of 2* Arcade, it's actually possible to grind certain missions earlier on, allowing you to purchase enough CE just from Crowns gained on runs without selling materials.

Unfortunately, I didn't bother to record anything before 5-2 (The Sovereign Slime) because I was just blitzing through the mission system to catch up to where I left off. There's a good chance that none of the 5-1 or 5-2 missions are self sustaining, in fact.

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Without further ado, the bones of the spreadsheet: [Google Docs]
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I need help populating the sample size. Keep in mind that this is meant for new players who are trying to become self-sustained. Vanaduke runs are probably way out of their reach, but I'm still open to track run info shared.

If you'd like to help improve the sample size, use this format to help me simplify things:

ugh... these forums don't support space formatting in code secions. just copy and paste those two lines into Notepad to get the right format

I don't need the seconds timer for the run speeds, just the hour/minutes. Feel free to include them if you really want to.

Also, very important, I'm not looking for completed runs only. If you fail and have to exit out to the Haven I will count that as well, but please be sure to include a note as to when you bailed out. This will help me with adjusting the difficulty rating (which is just a rule of thumb for other players to reference if they need it).

Please be sure to mark down for yourself how many crowns you have BEFORE starting a run and AFTER you return to the Haven afterwards and the times for when you start/finish. This is especially important when reporting an incomplete run I would ask for screenshots or some form of validation but that could become tedious so instead I'll rely on the honor system/trust + my own experiences to validate things.

EDIT: Updated the link to a new Google Doc that will be cleaner/easier to work on. Each set of missions are in separate documents now.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 13:29

Batabii

Great, just what we need, MORE players encouraged to farm boss missions nonstop.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 13:40

Boltzcrank

... why is that a bad thing?

... why is that a bad thing? It's almost impossible to find groups for missions in general. It's really useful have something for every tier that you can count on finding a group for.

Also, if you look at the link, I'm planning on tracking every type of mission, not just bosses, to determine if they're worth it or not.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 14:28

Ghret

I just love data. Love it.

You may not like the effects of this data, Larry, but the people who are looking for something like this - most profitable run - will praise it. These people are not looking for "fun", they are looking for "crowns", and they shall take every advantage that comes within their grasp.

BTW: Boltz, Your Google Doc is locked. Is this intentional?

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 14:31

Boltzcrank

Yes

I don't want people to just edit it willy-nilly. If people want access, I want some assurances that the public link (I'll always keep backups because, well, y'know) won't just be trolled

I'd rather have people post their data here either as plain text or link to their own logs for me to use.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 17:34

Boltzcrank

Gotta say...

Some of these runs are surprisingly sustainable/profitable. 6-1 High Temperature Hostages takes ~30 minutes, costs 30 energy, and yielded 3435 crowns.

So that's about 114.5 Crowns per 1 Energy spent and about 118.45 Crowns Per Minute.

Haven't rerun it yet because I haven't had the time, but it's WAY easier than the jelly missions and yields almost 2x Crowns Per Minute with ~7 more crowns gained per 1 energy despite paying for 3 gates.

The power of data compels you! Contribute and help me fill this thing out!

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 20:50

Bopp

see also

See also the long-lived Lancer Knightz data project, which has recently collected at least three payout data on every mission (except for Heart of Ice and apparently Operation Crimson Hammer):

http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Lancer_Knightz_(Guild)/Missions

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 21:04

Boltzcrank

Aww

While this is extremely helpful to have available, it's more of an alternative source than a usable one for me. It's also better than what I've tried to piece together.

However, they are missing a VERY important element on that chart: Time

By the same token, however, I have not included Sparks in my calculations. I don't think I will include them after reading their take on it, though. 100 sparks would take a very long time to obtain and as such wouldn't have much impact on farm runs for players trying to just self-sustain play.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 22:14

Bopp

disagree and agree

It doesn't take extremely long to acquire 100 sparks. Consider that a single run of Legion of Almire gives you 5 or 6 sparks. I've converted 100 sparks into 10,000 crowns many times. So I think that sparks are worth counting. In some missions, they account for 15% of the mission's payout.

I agree that time is very valuable to know. In fact, I've brought it up with Donkeyhaute (of Lancer Knightz). He does collect time data, but he doesn't report it for some reason. Maybe it's because time varies so much with skill, party size, etc. He's very conservative in his approach. He seems to present only those data that are objective, reliable, and easy to summarize.

Anyway, more data is always better --- especially if they include time --- so please keep going. :)

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 22:45

Boltzcrank

word

The sparks can be very lucrative if you want to farm bosses if you have the gear/experience to pull it off. Even though my character has the gear for Royal Jelly, I only bothered paying the 3rd elevator to kill him once or twice out of the 15 runs I did this week. Partly because I was rusty and didn't feel to confident, partly because it increased the time factor a bit.

I could still record how many sparks I'm picking up on these runs while skipping bosses, but I don't know. I could probably just pull their data to use it if they're willing to share : p

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 04:13

#10

Donkey-Haute

sure

You can use our data, but please credit Lancer Knightz and display a link to our data project page:

http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Lancer_Knightz_(Guild)/Data

By the way, you can also contribute your data into our project, even if you're not a member of Lancer Knightz. That's what Bopp does. We scrupulously credit all contributors. Well, it's nice to see more people collecting data.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 08:39

#11

Boltzcrank

data

I meant to the raw data, the logs from each individual run (with the time, too). If I just used what is listed on the page, it would just skew what I have.

I don't really have the time right now to really delve into it, but I'll try to just directly contact you guys on the wiki when I do. I want to adjust my docs to have some capacity to include Sparks as an option

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 09:42

#12

Lukehandkooler

Lukey loves him some theory craft and information!

~Luke

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 10:25

#13

Hogmos-Forum

Great Work

People don't reailse,but when you begin the game Crown farming is very important.We can have fun later.I still manage to do a whole T2 arcade run every 2 days.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 22:13

#14

Donkey-Haute

I've responded

I've responded at the wiki talk page. (I don't often visit the forums.) The short version is that all of our raw crown and spark data are available on our mission data page, hidden in the wiki markup. So you can copy and paste them from there.

Mon, 07/01/2013 - 15:09

#15

Boltzcrank

update

I've updated the link. Also, for making the spreadsheet easier to read, I've moved each mission section into its own workbook and i'm importing the values to the main sheet. I'll add in something on the side that shows the # of runs calculated in the source at some point. I've only repeat run a few missions, though.

Also, I am very surprised at how useless the 7-# and 8-1 missions are.

So far, the only runs worth doing as a new player are High Temperature Hostages and The Sovereign Slime. The daily danger missions have extremely good payouts but they're also very difficult for new players, especially ones without gear. Edit: Oh and the daily regular prestiges are good.

Mon, 07/01/2013 - 15:53

#16

Reto-Da-Liz

ok i don't mean to be a douche but... sovereign slime difficulty: high?!?!?!?!? avg time 28 mins?!?!?!?!?!?
dude cmon. it's low and about 12 minutes going at a normal pace

Mon, 07/01/2013 - 16:31

#17

Blake-Sky-Blade

@Reto-Da-Liz

Annnd are you running that with 5* gear?
This is for the people who are 2*/3* that are just getting to these missions, not those with 5* gear that boosts their 5* shadow weapons into OHKO ranges or have done it 100+ times. High difficulty and longer times is to be expected with unfamiliar territory and not-amazing gear.

Mon, 07/01/2013 - 16:54

#18

Redblades

@reto
not everybody is as skilled at the game as you, and not everybody has full 5* gear. try doing it in full 2* gear using completely new controls. also wipe out your knowledge on tactics and strategies.

Mon, 07/01/2013 - 19:39

#19

Boltzcrank

@Reto-Da-Liz

All of this is done with full clears (kill every enemy that can drop coins) and NEW PLAYERS IN MIND.

Every pug I've seen is pretty terrible at this game and dies a lot. I can do solo runs of Royal Jelly much more efficiently and it's a lot less of a headache. I have no idea how you could possibly do sovereign slime in under 20 minutes and still yield a profit. You would have to skip almost every enemy and just do objectives and even then that's still really unlikely or be so overgeared that you should be embarrassed you're running RJ instead of Van.

Mon, 07/01/2013 - 20:41

#20

Bopp

this is why

This is why Lancer Knightz don't report their times, I suspect: too much disagreement and one-upsmanship. But please continue, because time data are useful.

I do think that the difficulty rating is too subjective and not useful. Even among novice players, the difficulty of a mission depends a lot on their equipment, party size, etc.

Mon, 07/01/2013 - 21:00

#21

Usevnsevnsixfivfor

In Cold Blood is a good mission to farm when JK feels repetitive. You get 1600cr AND beast materials (monster bones, scales, chroma tears) with plenty of grass around for extra crowns and hearts.

Mon, 07/01/2013 - 21:05

#22

Boltzcrank

On difficulty

I'm keeping it as subjective as I can.

A "Low" rating means that you will never be at risk of being surrounded/trapped and all enemies come in short waves and there are very few environmental traps. You can beat these with any gear as long as you have the patience to do so.

A "Medium" rating means that there may be a few arena events and the occasional trap. So long as you're paying attention you can manage through if your gear isn't that great. Medium is probably the best difficulty to farm since it's a nice mix of more enemies without great risk of death.

A "High" rating means that you can't afford to make mistakes if you have inadequate gear. These missions are longer and deadlier, riddled with traps and multiple arena events with enemies that will quickly surround you.

Mon, 07/01/2013 - 21:19

#23

Boltzcrank

@Usevnsevnsixfivfor

1600 cr for 30 energy is a BAD deal.

CE has been going for 7150 CR :: 100 CE for the last week. You need at LEAST 2145 CR from 30 energy spent to break even at that rate. It may be easy, but you end up losing a hell of a lot of efficiency. If you really need beast materials, you'd be better off taking an arcade route instead.

6-1 High Temperature Hostages is a much better option. High potential yield, good minimum yield, quick and easy to boot. It might be more of a medium difficulty because it requires players to have some understanding of combat mechanics (some of the Gremlins have different attack patterns than they might be used to). Because it's easier than Sovereign Slime, you can run it faster, too. More crowns per minute AND well about the threshold of what you need = efficient.

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Crown Farming Efficiency Spreadsheet for F2P players