I've noticed it randomly, its probably a game feature but not really an obvious one: I was standing in front of the elevator to the next stage, and after about 3-5 minutes, the level it was leading to changed from a "Devilish drudgery" kind of level to an Arena!
No doubt many knows that already, but for players going through the strates alone, and who aren't in a hurry this can be very useful to get maximum benefits from the world you visit! To those who didn't discover that yet, like me just a couple minutes ago, enjoy!
"Trick" to select the level you want to visit!
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 12:10
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 12:17
#2
That's the level rotation;
That's the level rotation; it's also very unreliable at times. It takes 5-7 minutes for a rotation: a rotation either consists of the levels moving in the direction of the arrows, the arrows changing and the levels moving the other direction, or the level and player moving so that effectively everything stays the same but the gate map looks slightly different.
In a strata with an arena or something we usually wait for one rotation and if it doesn't make it we move on; otherwise it could take forever to get the desired level.
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 12:21
#3
Well that's a pretty cool
Well that's a pretty cool feature!! =p
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 12:55
#4
You can always look at the
You can always look at the Gate Map before moving to the next level. It will tell you what your options are.
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 13:06
#5
I thought everyone knew that.
I thought everyone knew that. I don't ussualy wait for levels to change though, unless there's a particular reason.
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 13:07
#6
Don't take any info about the
Don't take any info about the time it takes to rotate for granted, i've been farming jelly farms when they were at depth 1 on some gate and i remember the gate taking ~2-3 minutes to rotate. This section needs some real research and since its so timetaking no one ever bothers.
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 13:13
#7
I always try to wait for
I always try to wait for arenas whenever possible I just wish this was common knowledge or part of the tutorial because most players I play with have no idea about this and then I'm forced to explain.
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 13:55
#8
I don't remember if its
I don't remember if its actually told in game by a NPC or not, but this is a surprisingly not well known feature of the gates. I know it is written out on the wiki... but not everybody looks at that even though there's a direct link to it in game. If it is told by a NPC, or during the initial tutorial then it could very well be that people just aren't talking to that NPC, reading the text... or just not comprehending it.
I've had the time taken for the floor rotate range from 3 minutes to 10.
~Gwen
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 14:28
#9
OK. Lets clear somethings
OK. Lets clear somethings up.
The stage will rotate in the direction of the arrows (see the gate map). It is NOT random.
It takes 7 minutes (or thereabouts) for one stage rotation. The reason it might take less is because you have arrived at the elevator several minutes after the previous stage rotation and therefore you will have to wait less time to see the next rotation.
That is all.
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 14:39
#10
I've got to say in my
I've got to say in my experience, the stage rotates opposite the direction of the arrows. And yes, the position of the arrows stay the same, they have not reversed.
I never understood why this was, but when I've cared to pay attention, it had been like this for me and other people in my party.
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 16:26
#11
Also...
I have definitely seen the line move. So my 'path' will be the rightmost of 3 gates, and then the levels rotate... and so does my path so now it's pointing to the leftmost gate and I have to give up or wait 2 more rotations.
It certainly doesn't appear to be random, but it appears to be more complex than the levels simply moving in the direction of the arrows once every 7 minutes. Or, possibly, there are display bugs that are causing people confusion and it really is that simple when displayed properly.
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 17:44
#12
From what I've seen:
The
From what I've seen:
The levels *always* move in the direction of the arrows (wrapping around to the other side if it goes off the end).
The elevator connection (the line) *always* moves opposite the direction of the arrows, again wrapping around to the other side if it goes off the end.
But these two movements are *not* synchronous - you may see the levels move, then have to wait for the gate connection to move. Or see the gate connection move, and then have to wait for the levels to move.
Anyone have any hard observations that contradict this?
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 18:09
#13
The time it takes for a level
The time it takes for a level to rotate also depends on the depth. So the upper floors rotate much quicker than lower floors. So some floors might take 2 or 3 mins while others can take 15+ mins.
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 23:46
#14
As the one who said it was
As the one who said it was random I am going to defend my position.
I've sat there and watched it rotate with, then against, then with, the arrows, while waiting for a stage (meaning it flipped back and forth between two directions rather than go with the arrows). I've seen the monitor refresh only to have it stay the same stage. And I've seen all the stages move, along with the stage path, without the actual stage changing.
It is not random in the strictest sense, but as far as I am concerned it is random in that it cannot be terribly accurately predicted.
Edit: After the most recent balance patch I think it has become more reliable, however.
Tue, 05/31/2011 - 03:57
#15
It's not random
It's not random. The line that's drawn on the gate map is buggy and sometimes leads to the wrong gate, but you can ignore the line. It's a display error. Look at the stage that the elevator currently leads to, and then look at the choices that are shown on the gate map. If you wait, the elevator will switch to the next stage in the sequence, meaning the one to the left of the current stage.
Tue, 05/31/2011 - 07:47
#16
A very nice trick to know for
A very nice trick to know for getting the levels you want or avoiding levels you don't want. Not many people seem to know this feature, or have the patience for it.
Tue, 05/31/2011 - 10:23
#17
People don't usually have the
People don't usually have the idea to go look for those misknown SK features, and I don't really think of it very often, that's too bad for us!
Tue, 05/31/2011 - 10:58
#18
My experience has been that
My experience has been that the levels don't move in the direction of the arrows. I was on the T2 gate with the triple arenas, and when it was clearly marked to be the next in line of the cycle, it completely missed it and cycled to a random level.
It's documented on the wiki and I'm pretty sure an NPC tells you about the rotation as well.
So yeah. Don't overgorge yourself with dem arenas. :)