đŸ§Ș Early Information on Ninja Tower Event [Part of The Beta Beat v31 & V32]

Gameplay Help & Tactics
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NOTE: Please do not, under any circumstances, share IMAGES OR VIDEOS from Beta in this or any public Forum thread. Violations can cause players to lose their Beta accounts, or threads to be closed down.

This thread is to provide early insights and discussion on the new Ninja Tower event.

Ninja Tower will NOT be included in the final v31 game release, but is starting Beta during the v31 cycle. Final release is expected in late 2020.

Don’t get too attached

Details from Beta, especially brand-new Beta content, don’t tend to be very reliable for actual release.

It’s incredibly common that features are changed during Beta testing, or sometimes even after testing but before release. That is, after all, the purpose of Beta testing.

So I wouldn’t get too attached to any of this — it’s not unheard of for entire portions of features to be removed or reworked, or for radical changes to functionality to be made.

:warning: ADDITIONAL WARNING FOR NINJA TOWER

This feature is incomplete and EXTREMELY early in development.

Release is not expected until late in 2020, and Ninja Tower is expected to undergo several rounds of development and Beta in the coming months before then.

YOU SHOULD NOT ASSUME THAT ANYTHING ABOUT THE CURRENT NINJA TOWER BETA WILL MAKE IT TO THE FINAL RELEASE.

IMPORTANT NOTES

  • Nearly all content in Ninja Tower is placeholder; the Small Giant Staff have explicitly indicated that all the levels, level balance, many art assets and texts, UI elements and rewards are placeholders.

  • Scoring and Tower Energy will likely be changed later too, again per the Small Giant Staff

  • The new Oni Gems, Blessings, and Curses have not been balanced either, and will be changed too (more on those below)

Overview

Ninja Tower is a new event, currently with some elements similar to other events, and some new:

  • The overall goal is to “climb” as high as you can in the Ninja Tower, which features 100 50 “Floors”

  • Each Floor must be completed before progressing to the next one

  • Floors cannot currently be replayed once completed (though that might change)

  • Each Floor is akin to an event Stage, and features monsters and Bosses as usual — but note again that all of the enemies etc. are placeholder, so this may change

  • Ninja Tower Floors feature a new gameplay mechanic, Oni Gems, which can impart Oni Curses on your Heroes, preventing them from further use; more details on this below

  • Every 5 Floors completed, you are offered the choice of a Blessing, selected from one of three random options; these Blessings remain active for the rest of the Ninja Tower event, for all of your Heroes on your Roster; more details on this below

    • These blessings are now the same choice of 3 for every player

  • Ninja Tower uses a new flag energy, called Tower Energy;

    • The Tower energy is no longer purchasable in the Shop
    • Tower Energy now has a total of 10/10
    • Tower Energy now fully replentishes every 21 hours.

  • There is a “tower energy flask” in beta which refills your Ninja Tower energy. It is not clear how this flask will be acquired, if it even makes it to live game and is not just a beta testing feature.

    • this currently maxes out at 8/8, but again, the Small Giant Staff have indicated this is likely to change; instant refills for this energy are currently available in the Shop for 100 Gems; in Beta, the refill time for each Tower Energy flag has been set to nearly instantaneous, so I can’t comment on the actual intended timing; likewise, energy requirements for each Floor are set as placeholders, so I can’t comment on that either

  • Floors currently have a timer, similar to Challenge Event Stages; likewise, the current scoring appears to use the Challenge Event logic; HOWEVER, please remember that this is very likely to change

  • There’s a Leaderboard, also similar to the Challenge Events; again, this is likely to change; one notable difference about the Leaderboard is that it indicates Highest Floor for each player in addition to a Score

  • Rewards are currently structured like a Challenge Event, in that they are based on brackets of a certain number of players; AGAIN, HOWEVER, this is very likely to change;

    • Rewards have been updated in V32 of Beta. See Below Section for information

  • The Tower Event Duration has now been set to 5 days in Beta. It is not clear if this will progress to live game.

In-Game Tooltip

The goal of a Tower Event is to climb the tower as high as possible.

After every 5 stages all your Heroes receive a Blessing. It is a permanent buff that is active for the rest of the event.

All the tower floors feature Oni Gems. If the Oni Gem is not destroed in time one of your heroes will receive an Oni Curse. If [a] hero receives 5 Curses they can’t participate in the [remainder] of the event.

Stage-by-Stage info (& rewards)

will try to add this info in

  • information has been gathered by @cap and her team. It will be made available before the first Ninja Tower Event Starts.

Placement / Tiered Rewards

Per above, the Rewards for the Ninja Tower have now been updated. Note, this could still change before release.

Rank Tower Coins Emblems Battle Items Hunters Lodge Items
1 300 100x of each class 20x Dragon Attack, 20x Tornadoes, 20x Time Stops, 20x Bomb Attacks, 20x Dragon Banner, 20x Revive Scroll, 20x Turtle Banner, 20x Arrow Attack 20x Time Freeze, 20x Hurricane
2-10 250 80x of each class 20x Dragon Attack, 20x Tornadoes, 20x Time Stop, 20x Bomb Attack, 20x Dragon Banner, 20x Revive Scroll, 20x Turtle Banner, 20x Arrow Attack 20x Time Freeze
11-100 200 60x of each class 20x Dragon Attack, 20x Tornadoes, 20x Time Stop, 20x Bomb Attack, 20x Dragon Banner, 20x Revive Scroll, 20x Turtle Banner, 20x Arrow Attack -
101-500 150 40x of each class 20x Tornadoes, 20x Time Stop, 20x Bomb Attack, 20x Dragon Banner, 20x Revive Scroll, 20x Turtle Banner, 20x Arrow Attack -
501-1,000 100 25x of each class 20x Tornadoes, 20x Bomb Attack, 20x Dragon Banner, 20x Revive Scroll, 20x Turtle Banner, 20x Arrow Attack -
1,001-5,000 50 15x of each class 20x Bomb Attack, 20x Dragon Banner, 20x Revive Scroll, 20x Turtle Banner, 20x Arrow Attack -
5,001-10,000 40 10x of each class 20x Dragon Banner, 20x Revive Scroll, 20x Turtle Banner, 20x Arrow Attack -
10,001- 25,000 30 8x of each class 20x Revive Scroll, 20x Turtle Banner, 20x Arrow Attack -
25,001-50,000 20 6x of each class 20x Turtle Banner, 20x Arrow Attack -
50,001-75,000 15 4x of each class 20x Arrow Attack -
75,001-100,000 10 2x of each class 10x Arrow Attack -
100,001 and lower 5 1x of each class 3x Arrow Attack -

Oni Gems

Oni Gems are a new play mechanic on the board during Ninja Tower Floors.

They appear at random, and must be destroyed within 3 2 3 turns, or they will explode.

When an Oni Gem appears on the board, a random one of your Heroes is Cursed. If the Oni Gem is not destroyed before it explodes, the Curse is permanent.

Any Hero who is Cursed 5 3 2 times during the Ninja Tower event can no longer be used in Ninja Tower thereafter.

In Beta V32.3, the frequency of gems occurring was increased. It starts of slowest in Stage 1 and increases along the way.

In Beta 32.5, the frequency of the gems appearing was reduced.

Oni Gems can be destroyed, and the Curse Broken in a number of ways:

  • Use the Oni Gem in a match with other tiles/shields as usual; they can be moved to make a match (unlike the Runes in Season 3)

  • Use an adjacent Dragon to destroy the Oni Gem

  • Destroy a matching-color Diamond to destroy the Oni Gem

  • Complete the Stage before the countdown ends (fleeing does NOT Break the Curse, based on my testing; the Floor must be successfully completed)

In-Game Tooltip

This battle features Oni Gems. Destroy Oni Gems quickly to avoid their powerful curse. A hero that is cursed 5 3 times cannot be used again in this event!

Oni Curses

(This is mostly a recap of information in the section directly above; I’m breaking them out based on how the Build Notes were structured, and in anticipation of further developments.)

As noted above, Oni Curses are imparted by Oni Gems which are not successfully destroyed before the 3-turn countdown on them ends.

A random Hero receives an Oni Curse when an Oni Gem appears, and the Curse will become permanent for the Ninja Tower event if the Oni Gem is not destroyed before exploding.

Once a Hero receives 5 3 2 Curses, they can no longer be used in Ninja Tower for the remainder of the event.

The number of Oni Curses on each Hero is indicated in the Event Team selection screen as an icon and number on their thumbnail.

Blessings

Every five 3 5 Floors completed, you’re offered a choice of a Blessing for all of your Heroes in your Roster.

There are three random options, and you can select one.
There are three FIXED options, and you can select one. Each set of 3 options is predetermined and is the same for all players

The selected Blessing will affect all of your Heroes in your Roster in Ninja Tower for the remainder of the event. Again, they apply to any Heroes you subsequently choose to use during the event, not just ones in use at the time the Blessing is earned.

Example Blessings:

  • +5% critical chance
  • 50 HP every 5 turns
  • +5% defense
  • +5% mana generation
  • Summon a minion with 5% health and 5% attack inherited from the owner every 5 turns
  • 10% mana every 5 turns
  • +5% attack

Blessings appear to be stackable, i.e. you could choose the same Blessing again after a later Floor, and the effects would be correspondingly increased.

Stage Preview

New in Beta V32.3, the devs have added a stage preview for each stage, when unlocked. This allows you to preview the Boss/s and Mobs, as well as the Deadly Chamber Effects

Deadly Chamber Effects

New in Beta V32.3 are “Deadly Chamber” effects. These are battle modifiers which affect the gameplay in some way, just like the special stages in Season 2.

There are three deadly chamber effects:

  1. Toxic Vapour – Toxic vapor deals {x} damage to all heroes every {x} turns
  2. Erratic Time – All status effects cast by Heroes are {x} turn(s) shorter than normally. They will always last at least 1 turn.
  3. Fragile Floor – The number of items you can bring into this battle is {x} less than normally per item. you can always bring at least 1 item.

The numbers above are written as {x} as the severity of the effect gets worse at higher levels. Details in table below

Stage Range Toxic Vapor Erratic Time Fragile Floor
1 - 5 - - -
6 - 10 50 damage per 3 turns - -
11 - 15 " Effects 1 turn shorter -
16 - 20 " " 1x less of each item
21 - 25 75 damage per 3 turns " "
26 - 30 " Effects 2 turns shorter "
31 - 35 " " 2x less of each item
35 - 40 100 damage per 3 turns " "
41 - 50 " Effects 3 turns shorter "
Note: " means as above

In Beta V32.5, the third difficulty of “Fragile Floor” was removed. Stages 46-50 now have the same deadly chamber effects as stages 41-45 do.

For a full list of items currently in beta testing, as well as their related threads, please see:

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Again, excellent explanations by Lord Zephyr :blush:

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Quite early to comment on this, but from the description it looks quite deep and promising.

Thank God for no infinite retries like in the challenge events. I hope they will punish abuses such as fleeing just to be able to grind for high score.

Fingers crossed.

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I just hope the rewards are tailored toward “engagement” and not score (such as the challenge events). For example, complete “X” stages to get rewarded instead of promoting players to buy the most “refills” and not guarantee a reward. Please value people’s time.

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Thank you so much for putting all these info together for us, @zephyr1. :hugs:

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Oni curses is work only within one Ninja Tower or if hero will be cursed 5 times, then he cannot be used next month too?

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First, great to see you still active, @zephyr1. Hope your cut-back on time spent in-game and on the forums is going well.

As to the event itself, it seems to have a lot of promise. The strategies around the Oni curse will be interesting. I know it’s too early to tell, but I wonder if we should employ a strategy like the Tavern of Legends, where we use the weakest possible team to get the job done and save our best heroes from getting cursed early on. Or maybe it would look more like basketball, where if one of your “starting five” gets an early foul (curse) or two, you bench them for a few levels and let a bench guy come in and take a few. I’m all for anything to which we can apply basketball strategy! hehe :basketball::wastebasket::+1:

Also, when you say blessings apply to “all heroes”, is that your entire roster, or just those used to reach the level where the blessing was applied?

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I like the idea of Blessing and Curses.
A prior the oni gem seems easy to counter but lets see what beta testers think about it. Its a good thing that you cant use a hero who had been cursed several time.

Blessing seems to be a very cool concept. Like those dungeons games with random choices(roguelite).

One Negative aspect is the event scoring system. I hate challange event format. I would like Ninja Tower to be a different concept

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The drawback of that play may be that your 3 star heroes may take longer to take down the ‘floor’ as opposed to legendary heroes.

I wonder how they are going to play that out though, so this ends up balanced but at the same time, won’t make me play through first 70 stages like they are nothing with my end game team.

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True. I don’t usually compete for very high tiers in challenge events, so I’m not as used to thinking this way. The (current) inability to replay stages ought to make things interesting in that regard. I wonder if there will be completion rewards like challenge events. That’s what I play for most of the time, although I’ve started hitting some of the lower tier rewards consistently.

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Personally, I doubt it will be a tower and that the opponents will be ninjas.

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I like the sound of this, I hope it’s done well. I’m hoping for a similar vibe to slay the spire, in getting (permanent for each run) blessings as you go and curses forcing you to change tactics as you go. Maybe some extra mechanics too could make this game mode very intriguing!

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Guess it may be subject to change, but what is the typical count down time on Oni Gems as currently observed? 30s
1m.?

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I really love the concept of blessing and curses also the fact that stages cant be redone i think meh if score is based on the floor you arrived then ye great, but if score is based on the time+level+whatever the fact that you cant redo stages not a great idea i think cause if you do it the first time maybe you do not know all the mechanic yet and also the blesses (or bless idk how to write it to mean more than one bless) would be great to use them in lvl 1-5 so you would go to lvl 100 quick and then replay all of them once more. Anyway i hope that refill will come also naturalli with a good time not like titan flag that is 4 hours and that you do not need to buy at shop to finish whole event. Also, maybe i missed but did not saw the duration of the event.

Edit: forgot to thank zephyr for the awesome work he do and did till now :smiley:

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I guess it will be three moves like the eggs in spring event. :thinking:

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Oh no this oni curses will destroy my tornado (already monthly event is destroying it ) since I hv limited roster I’m going to try like ToL to use small heroes first .

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All Heroes from your entire roster.

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They are 3 turns but do not know if there may be more then one at the same time or the spawn rate

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Blessings. You folks that contribute in your second (or third, or fourth) language amaze me. I definitely couldn’t contribute meaningfully on a board in Spanish (the only other language I sort of know, excluding programming languages).

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oh ye you’re right, sorry for my mistake

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