Path of Valor - Worth it for newer players? - No

Update: Recently returned after a break, I am making an attempt to try to keep track of which PoV is ‘new player friendly’ .

The current PoV is:

  • Not new player friendly. Requires Diamond Raid victories and includes daily challenges in places such as S5.
    (Updated on June 7.)

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Hi everyone :slight_smile:

Fairly new player here - and usually not too hooked on games, nor on spending a lot of money unnessesary. I think the game is great, however, and I am completely hooked! I do want to pay a little here and there to support the development, since it provides me with great entertainment. (I am not interested in spending money on too RNG related purchases, though.)

So I was wondering:

Path of Valor - is that worth spending money on for a newer player?

I have tried to read up on it, and I can understand, that some ‘goals’ are simply out of my reach due to a small roster and base etc.

I´m currently just level 17, with two 3-star heroes, and a Stronghold at level 11 /other buildings scattered around 5 (Forge) - 11 (Training Camp)

But the rewards looks to be worth it, still, or?

Thank you so much in advance and have a nice day :star2:

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I would certainly try it first without paying to see how you go.
To my mind as a c2p person the pass is worth it if you can get most of the way through. In two months time you may be in a much better Position to get to level 48.
Do you participate in wars? That is usually one of the tasks

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I don’t think you will be able to get till 48 at this stage.
Titans will be not doable, war I don’t know you could check that yourself.
I agree with PM229.in this. First do a run, see how it goed and what you can reach. Time to spend will come later as well. No need to rush it is a game that needs loads of time and patience

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Agree @HarryDeB with one proviso. The Titan task depends on the alliance and is easier if it stays as in the current POV, ie no stars

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Ah off course this time around there is no level of titan.
Well the raids in diamond will be a challenge for sure then :wink:

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reward for raids like now again :roll_eyes:… last time it was to make wins without the condition of which “league” u are able to handle, this was OK, now it is again, in my opinion, not fair for many players, which can even not bring it to gold, not even diamond and because of this they loose many points…
return to your question, agree with the others above, …and if u feel later, that the rewards on left side are good enough for the money, u can buy it after, before the PoV will be close and u will get them all according to your progress. ( i have did it, when I was ± the same beginner like u :slight_smile: )

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In my honest opinion, if you are thinking of C2P then yes I would buy VIP to build up your base.
After that try POV For free to see how far you get in the rewards table. Once you can achieve a high enough level to get the 4* mats Then start buying that too.
Good luck

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I bought it as a new player and in my opinion it’s definately worth it - of course depending on how much you are willing to spend on the game.

In the early game the extra iron and ham is huge and and helped me upgrade mines, iron storages and stronghold much faster.

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i wouldnt purchase the pov offer until you see how far you can get in pov then see if it would be worth it

i also wouldn’t stress or go crazy tryin to complete it as newer players have bigger fish to fry imo

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You can buy the Valor pass right up 'til day 50 of the PoV. I’d wait until then to see how far you have progressed and whether the Valor Pass is worthwhile or not. I’d say if you can’t achieve level 48 then don’t bother this time. You really only need to pay to get the extra 4* mat.

For beginners the VIP pass is a better deal as you get daily gems and loot tickets, and a second builder to speed up your progress.

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I would recommend not doing it. It is meant to force you into the repetitive mechanic that eventually creates addictive behaviors and dependence upon the game. Southpark did a great episode that highlights this repetitive loop; it’s supposed to initially appear as deep game play that makes you feel like there is depth and meaning to the game; something to intrinsically work towards, but at the end of the day, it is built to keep you playing while you are exposed to deals like this one that make you feel exactly like you just mentioned ‘I want to support this game’. The repetitive mechanic flows in a loop like this: Explore → Collect → Spend → Improve and repeat. That’s it. That’s the entirety of games like this, games considered gacha games. Their sole purpose is to ‘hook’ you and expose you to the lie that spending will help improve your gameplay. The game itself doesn’t really matter, convincing you and everyone else over time to spend is what these ‘games’ are designed to do from the ground up. Path of Valor appears like a great deal because it offers 4* ascension items in its progression ladder; but its main focus is to make you develop a habit to ensure you play for the longterm. Habits are typically built in a thirty day time frame; coincidence that PoV’s time structure is built in the same time frame? Not at all. Mobile gacha games have had a decade to fine tune understanding human behavior and how to exploit it for the absolute best chance of converting non-spenders into spenders and eventually addicts.

TLDR: PoV is a mechanic meant to force habitual behavior in the game making you think it’s a great deal when in reality, it’s a scam to make you more ‘hooked’ on the game and willing to spend.

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lol pov just extra rewards for crap we do anyways

if what you’re sayin is the case then a lot of people wouldnt still be here from before path of valor was even a thing

and let’s not use a simple minded cartoon as an educational source of reference lol

cartoon is entertainment, not educational…

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Rigs, I use to argue those same points right alongside you. Also, School House Rock would like a meeting with you. :joy:

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I wouldn’t expect anything less from you with your resistance and antagonism Rigs; its long been your staple here on the forums and chats in Line. Here are a couple of videos from gaming conferences where developers directly address and teach the gacha methodology:

These are primary sources.

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either wanna play the game or you don’t

but tellin someone not to collect $200 everytime they pass go is a bit ridiculous (hence my ridicule :slightly_smiling_face:)

Wow, thank you so much for all of your answers, everyone. I greatly appreciate it!

I didn´t think about waiting, until I see how far along I can get - that makes a lot of sense to do, thanks! My reason for considering it was, that it looks as if, it would help me along greatly in the beginning, with the extra ressources and such. I shall ponder a bit, and take your advice, thank you again, everyone who participated and shared their thoughts. :slight_smile:

@CRX1701

That is such an indepth view on this - and one I am really fascinated by. I´ve been reading a few guides recently, and watched a few youtube videos of the game, and one of the youtubers shared his reflections on RNG, and what it does to us in these types of games too.

Thank you for your thorough response, it is certainly food for thought. And it was part of the reason, why I hesitated to spend money in the first place; I worry it becomes a slippery slope, where I just end up not getting what I wanted.

I do get a good amount of entertainment out of this game though - and was wondering, if a middle way could be reached. But I really appreciate the insight you gave - it´s a field I am really interested in to explore more. As with so many other things; moderation is key, I suppose. :slight_smile:

Thank you again all!

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No problem. The reality is, some of us are more likely to be ‘sucked in’ to the mechanics built into gacha games to cause addiction compared to others. My hypothesis? Higher ACE scores. I am a social worker who also happens to be working towards being licensed as a therapist; yes, it is tragic that someone like me who has the knowledge base that I do was lured into this but at the same time, my personal trauma history gives a possible narrative as to why.

The term ACE stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences; these are traumatizing experiences we may have as children that have lasting impacts for us over the remainder of our lives. Studies have shown that those who have had more ACE’s in their childhood are more likely to develop disease, mental health problems, struggle financially through out their life and have relationship problems as well. Higher scoring in this area also trends towards struggling with stressors and having maladaptive coping skills; one of those being games like this that draw you into a faulty sense of achievement and happiness due to the stream of dopamine rewards to make you feel good as well as the social structures that make you feel like you are connected to others with the same goals of progression. Here is a video on ACE’s:Nadine Burke Harris: How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime | TED Talk

Here is an NPR story on and link to take the ACE test for yourself to see what your individual score is:Take The ACE Quiz — And Learn What It Does And Doesn't Mean : Shots - Health News : NPR

My ACE score is seven. You will understand the implications of that once you have learned more about it above.

Lastly, here is another video discussing gacha games and their intentional addictive mechanics:A Critical Thought on "Gacha" Game Design - YouTube

Again, not everyone is susceptible to the draw built into gacha games. I applaud those who are F2P that have not succumb to spending; however, I say that with a caveat, what has been lost in real life to maintain playing games like these due to the never ending mechanic built into them of always logging in, spending down your energy and completing events/quests with your guild mates?

I hope you are able to take all of this information and use it to help in your decision making.

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Mystic Vision. :grin:

More seriously, there are plenty of good points mentioned. I’d go along the buy the Valor pass on the last day just to see how far you managed to get; more value that way.

In terms of progress, VIP is good as it can speed up the building upgrade process. Just need to make sure you can balance the resource demand to really use the second builder efficiently.

And there is the gacha issue at heart too if one is inclined to be wary of the ‘turning players into payers’ thing from publishers. Though CRX1701 seems to have covered that extensively already.

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I’ve been watching deals come and go for the 14 months I’ve played.

The ‘best’ ones end up costing about $1.50 US per summon. Deals that are give more summons for less are ‘worth it.’

At $9.99, POV provides (counting gems as summons) a total of 9 summons, not to mention the 3 and 4 star ascension mats. That’s ~$1.12 per summon, so (if you can complete it) it’s a very good deal.

Besides that, occasionally buying the VIP pass, or the $0.99 event deals (that just came and went this weekend) are probably the most cost effective way of getting gems.

I’ll also point out that saving your gems for a 10x pull essentially gets you a free one, so it’s worth waiting.

Good luck and battle forth!

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A couple more things that I wish someone had told me when I was still working on my 3 star teams…

Don’t use your epic hero tokens! Save them for seasonal events, where you can get something better than a vanilla 5 star.

Don’t summon from the ‘regular summon portal.’ Save your gems for Events, Atlantis, Valhalla, and the Costume Chamber.

Tavern of Legends is the WORST place to summon from, very bad chances for a good hero, and no chance at getting a hero of the month.

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