NG FAQ and pros/cons of both NG and OG

[DarthDuck]

This post needs a lot of work. Please wait about a week and I will rewrite it based on how the discussion turns out.

Useful Links

IB2:

• =Silver=: Dual Survival Guide Series
• DangerCZ: Map of the castle
• gillybean: Complete list of all locked items
• arCtyC: Video walkthrough series
• AzrinRain: Farming the treasure in the king's tomb by resetting

• Gem List
• Backing up game savepoints
• Allocating magic points
• Allocating stat points in OG
• Choosing how much to stack perk gems

IB1:

• Hithere: How to kill the god-king (with animated gifs)
• Voice of Freedom: How to get and keep all unlocked weapons
• Curi: Infinity Blade I Guide

New Game+ (NG)

NG pros

• Guaranteed infinite gameplay (agree: bladet, silversabeast, darth)
  
  
  
  • "It gets easier with each increment since player strength grows faster than enemy strength" (bladet, ericmurphy, darth)
  
  
• You can "load last rebirth" to go back to the last NG if you are stuck—particularly on the shade. (fact)
• Very hard for the first few NGs (agree: bladet, silversabeast, darth)
  
  
  • "Some may consider this a con because it can get too hard, but no one disagrees with this point. Joining NG sooner than later will amplify this difficulty" (bladet, silversabeast, darth)
  
  
• Fighting the Shade without a resistance gem is hardcore (agree: bladet, silversabeast, darth)
  
  
  • "You start against the Shade with a light weapon, and while all of its moves are blockable with a resistance gem, you don't get one so it will break through each block with its elemental damage." (bladet, silversabeast, darth)
  
  
• You get an Anarachax. This is the best heavy weapon. - (agree: everyone)
  

NG cons

You can't fight any given boss more than once in the same NG round. (agree: everyone)
[LEFT]

• There is a strong pressure to make IAPs due to pressure in the early NGs. (agree: everyone)
• Standardized god-king level challenges become obsolete without a ratio of GK level divided by personal level (agree: bladet, silversabeast, =Silver=, darth)
  
  • "Saying that you killed a certain level GK in NG doesn't mean anything without a ratio indicating difficulty since your level rises along with the GK in NG." (bladet, silversabeast, =Silver=)
  
  
• NG is extremely time-consuming, which doesn't work well if you only have a limited amount of time to play the game (silversabeast, darth) (disagree?: bladet) < In need of being reworded, please offer suggestion.
  
  • "The infinite gameplay and sheer amount of time for the remastery process make NG a bottomless time sink" (silversabeast, darth)
  
  
• [bug] The level cap is 604, dropping you back down to level 123 if you hit it. (agree: bladet, silversabeast, ruggedland, leandro)
• All locked items exclusive to NG are worthless except for Anarchax (agree: everyone)

Original Game (OG)

OG pros

• In the long term, OG is far more difficult than NG. (agree: silversabeast, bladet, Harry-Son, =Silver=, darth)
  
  • "If killing a new Raidriar every 5 levels, then on average the Titans only go up 5 levels per rebirth while Thane and Raidriar go up 20 levels per rebirth." (silversabeast, darth)
  
  
• You can "load last rebirth" as many times as you want to lower or maintain Titan levels. (fact)
• You can kill a new boss every rebirth. (fact)
• After a certain point when most of your gems are near-capped, the relative difficulty level only increases, forcing your only asset to be newfound skills. (agree: everyone)
• God-king level challenges are automatically standardized and there is no need for ratios if on an OG campaign. (agree: silversabeast, =Silver=, bladet, darth)
• The bosses get tough after about level 4,000—and that's each boss not just the GK. (agree: silversabeast, darth)
  
  • "This is a pro because using restore points, you can go back to any level boss you want. And if you have a jailbroken device, then you don't even need to be near a computer; instead you can use iFile" (silversabeast, bladet, darth)
  
  
• Entering very high rebirths will cause attack speeds to increase, although it is not yet clear whether this is gradual or in tiers. (agree: silversabeast, bladet, darth) (highly skeptical: =Silver=).

OG cons

• The Titans level too slow. (agree: silversabeast, bladet, darth)
  
  • "If killing a new Raidriar every 5 levels, then on average the Titans only go up 5 levels per rebirth while Thane and Raidriar go up 20 levels per rebirth. This means that the Titans will never catch up to the bosses level, and the gap between them will only widen." (silversabeast, darth)
  
  
• [bug] The square gems in heavy weapons break at some point, although magically repair themselves back at some point (agree: bladet, darth)
• [bug] The money cap is 95 million, dropping you back down to 45 million if you hit it. (fact)
• At some point you will become stuck and unable to progress since you do not level along with the Titans. But arguably this can always be remedied with some training sessions against bosses where you force your native skills to increase (agree: silversabeast, darth)
• No Anarchax (fact)

comments:

Many new members come here asking questions without reading the forums (who can blame them really, there's quite a lot). But since they usually ask the same questions over and over again, particularly "Why should I play OG or NG?", I think it would be nice to be able to link them to a thread rather than repeat the same points, which is unfair and tedious to our frequent forum-goers. it's not a secret that I have bias toward OG, so if anyone can find a way to make any points in here more clear-cut and objective then please speak up. Otherwise, I will try my hardest to remain neutrality.

I will begin by adding a pro for OG by saying that it is more difficult. I will state my reason up front: I have spent a lot of times reading the forums and the only reason I have come across stating that that NG is the most difficult is that "OG is for noobs", which is a circular argument. Note that what is a pro for one person may be a con for another; for example, someone might prefer more relaxed gameplay, in which higher difficulty would be a con and not a pro.

Please add to the list, stating which game path you are referring to and whether it is a pro or con. Also, if I add your name to the list because I saw your point in a different thread, and you feel that I am misrepresenting you, please tell me and I will change your point/reason or remove your name.
Contradictions on this chart will be acceptable since the conflicting points will be tagged by supporting members. For example, there might be 7 people supporting the claim that one is more difficult and therefore a pro, and 2 people saying that the other is more difficult and therefore a pro. Readers can judge for themselves based on the quantity of votes and the quality of reasons provided.

If you are making a controversial point, then please provide a reason so that it can be inserted on the list. If you see a point that you support, say so and your name will be tagged either in support or opposition to that point.


As I see "new" questions being asked I will add them to this list, please feel free to chip in to this:


NG FAQ

• How do I start NG?
  
  • After killing Raidrair, it will appear in your character slots assuming you have the most recent update of the game from the app store.
  
  
• I entered NG and I don't have any money or items. Is that supposed to happen?
  
  • Yes
  
  
• NG^1 is too hard! How do I try again?
  
  • From within NG, reset to rebirth 1, then you can delete that game slot. Assuming you have the most recent update from the app store, you will get a new NG slot in your character slots after killing Raidriar again.
  
  
• I killed Raidriar once but don't want to go to NG yet. What if I kill him again to level up more?
  
  • Then you NG slot will rise in level too assuming you never hit the green "PLAY" button, in which case your NG progress will be locked.
  
  
• What equipment should I go for in NG?
  
  • Grinder weapons will give you lots of cheap XP, which becomes increasingly easy to exploit as your NG level rises since you get a higher attack. You will also want to get your hands on a Shield Halo and then an Atomic Loop as soon as you can. As for easy kills, save up for a granite hammer and then an easy stone (awesome heavy weapons).
  
  
• Should I buy keys?
  
  • You should keep your small keys at 4/5, medium at 4/5, and large at 5/5 as soon as possible. Open every chest you can and keep your keys filled up like this. Buying them early is the literally the key to making money.
  
  
• When should I go onto the next NG?
  
  • Be extremely careful before entering the first few NGs, leveling up as much as you can. After that, you will be able to have streaks where you hardly have to level anything at all to progress. But if you jump the gun in the early NG stages then you can get stuck on the Shade and be forced into IAPs unless—

  • You can always choose "load last rebirth" to jump back to the previous NG, where you have defeated the all the intro titans with less base stats. So you must be able to do it again.
    
    
    And if you do that, you can actually master the "next" level of items (e.g. NG^5 and choose "load last rebirth", you will go back to NG^4. But you will be able to master all items 5 times). This should save you from buying IAPs if intro titans are too hard.

  
  

[Silversabeast]

someone sticky this!

also add my agreement to about every single one of those

[DarthDuck]

also add my agreement to about every single one of those

Ok lol, tell me if you want one taken down, I will sign you up for each point/reason minus the square gem bug with heavy weapons (assuming you have not experienced that).

[Silversabeast]

Ok lol, tell me if you want one taken down, I will sign you up for each point/reason.

yep ii agree to every single one otf these

[BLADET]

NG is extremely time-consuming, which doesn't work well if you only have a limited amount of time to play the game (agree: silversabeast, darth)

only question I have is re this. in what way is NG more time-consuming than OG? the amount of rebirths to face the same titan lvl is roughly the same; titan lvl 1330 in NG lvl 604, which I guess would amount to ca 300 rebirths - the same goes for OG. the time consuming elements in NG is remastering items (and hence also cash) while it is longer fights in OG (since one doesn't gain in stats).

both paths lead to the castle, with the same titans/gods. the question is whether one want to make that journey through longer fights or by searching for items/cash. the prize for taking the first route is higher stats while the latter rewards the player with harder fights.

edit: I do realise that in theory NG is infinitive while OG seem to be finitive, ie at some point it will get to hard. but as long as one would learn all moves by all opponents and never be hit OG would be infinitive too. (as long as there are no caps, as now with lvl 604 in NG, which I presume they will sort in an update.)

I agree with everything else in NG pros and cons; maybe this one as well if you can explain to me why this is the case.

as always a great initiative and most welcome, think this will give many ppl more value for their money spent buying the game and the time invested getting to know it. cheers!

[DarthDuck]

Apologies in advance if I express my bias but I will try to answer this as accurately as I can,

Bladet: "In what way is NG more time-consuming than OG?"

I'm not aware of anyone who's further in OG than either one of us, and that's out of 800k players. Meanwhile, you once mentioned to me that you have minimal time to play this game "sometimes you do 10 rebirths in a day, sometimes you do one". I also have very little time to play so I try to make that time count when I can.

I have easily spent more solid time collaborating on the forums than I have playing the actual game (I have enjoyed that though.) Yesterday I only got through a half a rebirth, and I still haven't even finished that same rebirth today even though it's late-afternoon here in Hawaii. And just as a datapoint, not saying that I am any more skilled than anyone else, but I don't think anyone in the world (playing OG) is remotely near my current GK level. I have no doubt that once more time has passed that plenty will surpass me and prove to be more skilled (coming from the tetris community I'm used to being in the bottom tier of skill), my point is just that I'm currently able to claim the highest OG GK level in the world despite being able to apply a very limited amount of time.

In contrast, consider trying to get to the top in NG. Even if you had IAPs, trying to outgrind Leandro will never happen unless you have 15 hours a day at your disposal. You likely will not pass Ruggedland either (who has very impressive progress by the way). With these examples it should be easy to see how much more sheer time it would take to climb the NG ladder. And without IAPs that might even be impossible even if you made it your life's work.

Note that this is not a slander at all on NG. I once had a lot of time to play games but not so much anymore. I'm just trying to be descriptive about the experience of playing NG—you can play as much as you want but it will always feel like you could have put in more time. With OG however, once you make the initial grind and get to a point of resistance, then you can play as much as you want (or as little) and it's all the same. One last small point is that with NG there are periods in every cycle which are not challenging at all (perhaps once you get that momentum in the mastery process). But past the point of resistance in OG, say rebirth 250+ with near-perfect gems and a GK level of 4,000+, you don't have lulls (or spikes) anymore in difficulty. It's always hard and you don't have to put in blocks of time to get the next difficult phase. One last point is that the length of time between boss fights in NG seems longer since you don't always get to fight a boss and that point alone seems to be enough to show that it feels like you need to spend more time to play NG.



Edit:

it's just that NG might feel like more of a time consumer

Yes I was just trying to describe the experience of playing and how it feels like you need to put in more time (to keep up).

[Aussi3]

Apologies in advance if I express my bias but I will try to answer this as accurately as I can,

Bladet: "In what way is NG more time-consuming than OG?"

I'm not aware of anyone who's further in OG than either one of us, and that's out of 800k players. Meanwhile, you once mentioned to me that you have minimal time to play this game "sometimes you do 10 rebirths in a day, sometimes you do one". I also have very little time to play so I try to make that time count when I can.

I have easily spent more solid time collaborating on the forums than I have playing the actual game (I have enjoyed that though.) Yesterday I only got through a half a rebirth, and I still haven't even finished that same rebirth today even though it's late-afternoon here in Hawaii. And just as a datapoint, not saying that I am any more skilled than anyone else, but I don't think anyone in the world (playing OG) is remotely near my current GK level. I have no doubt that once more time has passed that plenty will surpass me and prove to be more skilled (coming from the tetris community I'm used to being in the bottom tier of skill), my point is just that I'm currently able to claim the highest OG GK level in the world despite being able to apply a very limited amount of time.

In contrast, consider trying to get to the top in NG. Even if you had IAPs, trying to outgrind Leandro will never happen unless you have 15 hours a day at your disposal. You likely will not pass Ruggedland either (who has very impressive progress by the way). With these examples it should be easy to see how much more sheer time it would take to climb the NG ladder. And without IAPs that might even be impossible even if you made it your life's work.

Note that this is not a slander at all on NG. I once had a lot of time to play games but not so much anymore. I'm just trying to be descriptive about the experience of playing NG—you can play as much as you want but it will always feel like you could have put in more time. With OG however, once you make the initial grind and get to a point of resistance, then you can play as much as you want (or as little) and it's all the same. One last small point is that with NG there are periods in every cycle which are not challenging at all (perhaps once you get that momentum in the mastery process). But past the point of resistance in OG, say rebirth 250+ with near-perfect gems and a GK level of 4,000+, you don't have lulls (or spikes) anymore in difficulty. It's always hard and you don't have to put in blocks of time to get the next difficult phase. One last point is that the length of time between boss fights in NG since you don't always get to fight a boss and that point alone seems to be enough to show that it feels like you need to spend more time to play NG.

I think it would feel like a more time consuming task taking on NG, But if you had a player that spends 15hr's a day in OG then a player that spends 15hr's a day in NG+ their both as time consuming as each other it's just that NG might feel like more of a time consumer because you have longer between boss fights if you take a high RB to master more items or if you stay on NG to gain a few levels or do some gem hunting and stuff like that.

Nice thread by the way it will be helpful for new players and maybe old to help make their decision

[BLADET]

I'm currently able to claim the highest OG GK level in the world despite being able to apply a very limited amount of time... In contrast, consider trying to get to the top in NG. Even if you had IAPs, trying to outgrind Leandro will never happen unless you have 15 hours a day at your disposal. You likely will not pass Ruggedland either (who has very impressive progress by the way). With these examples it should be easy to see how much more sheer time it would take to climb the NG ladder.

what you say is true, but that doesn't mean OG per se is less time consuming than NG. it just means people - and probably more people - have spent more time playing NG and hence that it's harder to reach "the top" in NG. when/if ppl who have time to play 15 hours a day chose to play in OG they will race ahead of us quickly.

[Laughzxc]

But if you jump the gun in the early NG stages then you can get stuck on the Shade and be forced into IAPs.

You can always choose "load last rebirth" to jump back to the previous NG, where you have defeated the all the intro titans with less base stats. So you must be able to do it again.

And if you do that, you can actually master the "next" level of items (e.g. NG^5 and choose "load last rebirth", you will go back to NG^4. But you will be able to master all items 5 times). This should save you from buying IAPs if intro titans are too hard.

[DarthDuck]

Thanks I will add that point as a pro to NG. I will also add the parallel pro for OG that you can take a step back in the rebirths.

Edit: I will think about what you said Bladet. Maybe you can help me reword that point?