Tips for beginner players

Welcome to the game!

Here are a collection of compiled tips for beginner players that began as a reply to Stephanie B. (thank you!) asking on the Battle Camp Global facebook page for the tips each player wished they'd known when they were beginners.  In no particular order, here they are...

• Matching zodiacs is the fastest way to become stronger. Having four monsters on your team with the same zodiac will activate their passive abilities.
• Unless you're facing a difficult battle, challenge yourself to match gems better. e.g. Find a 5-gem match (T-shaped, L-shaped, or straight line) with every turn to hit all targets at once, or start by making yourself find 2 (or more) combos with each move. It may be a slow process at first, but you'll be rewarded with better skills in the long term.
• Find a troop whose company you enjoy. The sense of teamwork and the friendships there can add an extra element to the game. Becoming in-game friends will further enable you to trade among team mates.
• Start collecting and leveling up 3 smokeybears for when you face the warhog in Mt Magma (a challenging battle for most, but made easier with smokeybears).
• Each area of the map will have an additional 5 rares with different abilities and stronger stats.
• Participate in League Events as a way to collect gold. Also use tapjoy and supersonic for free gold offers.
• When the dig site opens for you, use you daily digs and send a monster on a mission each day. This wills tart you collecting jewels for use later in the game. It's a very slow process that you can never begin too soon!
• When feeding monsters, you'll get a 30% feeding boost if they have the same element. Use specials when you're feeding to level monsters up faster.
• Login every day, even if it's only to collect the daily gift, defeat the daily free boss, and the 5 energy and mystery egg from facebook friends. (You can post on the Battle Camp Global facebook page asking to make facebook friends for these gifts.
• If you're planning to evolve a monster, make sure to feed everything up to its maximum level first. This will create a "perfect evolution" that has the best possible stats. (Non-perfect evolutions will have lower stats and be difficult to trade).
• For a chance to win super pieces or monster spins (to possibly win pieces too), play the halls in your completed map areas daily. Especially take part in the final battle when super pieces become part of the prizes.

Best wishes for the game!  

If experienced players would like to add anything, please feel free to comment below. :)

"How does zodiac leveling work?"

Zodiac leveling gives a boost in stats (attack, health and recovery) to all monsters you have of that zodiac when they're placed in your team.

What's the relevance of zodiacs?

Each monster is randomly allocated a zodiac.  For beginners this isn't a significant feature, but once you're wanting to raise your power rating for harder battles zodiacs quickly become relevant.  By matching the zodiac of at least four monsters on your team, the passive abilities of those monsters turn on and the stats of your monster increase accordingly. e.g. Lethal will give your monster an extra 55% attack when the passives are active.

Which zodiac should I choose?

To begin leveling a zodiac, you first need to make a decision as to which zodiac you want to focus on.  The first zodiac can be unlocked for free, unlocking further zodiacs will cost you gold.

People choose their zodiac for many different reasons. The most common strategy is to look at your strongest rarity monster, and see if you can create a team around that zodiac.  Others take a shorter term strategy of seeing which zodiac they have the most of so that they can activate the passive abilities faster. There are even people who choose their zodiac based on their own personal Birthday zodiac.  There are also people who have different teams in different zodiacs, so leveling up multiple zodiacs would make sense to them.

Now that I've chosen, how to I start zodiac leveling?

Zodiac leveling is an Arena based feature.  To unlock a zodiac, click on the Ranger (Phil Nye) on the left of the Arena screen.  Scroll down to find your chosen zodiac and click to unlock it.  Your zodiac level will now be shown here with an option to click "Level Up" (where the unlock button used to be for that zodiac).  Clicking on this new button will open a new screen that shows you the Runes that you will need in order to try leveling up your zodiac.  Note the word "try" as there's never a 100% chance of success once you reach level 20, and the success rates go down as you level up.

For levels 1-20, the three colors of Runes are grey, lime and teal. These are the most common Runes and the easiest to collect. Once you reach level 20, three new runes are introduced that are less common to find: green, pink and yellow. At level 40, three more runes are introduced with an even lower availability rate: blue, red and white.

When you've collected the required runes and stone, you'll be able to press the button to try leveling up your zodiac.  Note that sometimes the runes required won't fit on the screen and you'll need to scroll the runes sideways to see all the runes that you'll need.

How do I actively earn Runes?

Runes are earned by winning Arena battles.  When you click on an Arena opponent, you'll be shown which Rune you'll receive if you win that battle.  After winning a battle, you'll see a new opponent in that position with another rune available to win.  Arena energy (blue) takes two hours to recharge and you can have a maximum of 3 energy stored at a time.

Note that your opponents will have power ratings at a similar level to your highest recorded power rating. As you increase your power rating, your opponents will become more difficult too.

A free "refresh" of opponents is available every 24 hours by clicking on the Ranger in the middle of the Arena.  (Additional refreshes cost 10 gold, but most people simply wait for the next day).  Refreshing will give you a new set of 5 opponents with random runes, as well as a harder "Foe of the Day" who will earn you two runes.

How can I passively earn Runes?

By fielding a defensive Arena team, you can passively earn additional Runes each day.  The first two wins that your Arena team make each day will automatically win you two random Runes.  Each time your Arena team loses, you will have an hour to notice (in your game newsfeed) and choose to play 2 daily Revenge battles against the players who beat your team.  Note that these players will have a power rating about the same as your defensive Arena team, so setting a low power rating team can be advantageous.

To submit a defensive Arena team, click on the Ranger on the right side of the Arena.  Your monsters will not be available for you to use while they're active as an Arena team.  You can change (or remove) your team once per day for free, or more often by paying gold.


Examples of High Zodiac Levels (added March 2017)

This post has been updated in March 2017.  At this time, the highest known zodiac level of a player is level 90 as shown below, achieving a 40% increase to all stats for monsters of his zodiac.  Other screenshots have been provided for level 85 (by Broyalty) and level 80 (by FloEl).  Note the difficulty with such low success rates and the expense of stone required.

 

Level 90 - Sean C.

Level 85 - Broyalty

Level 80 - FloEl

How to use Rerolls

What is a reroll?

A reroll is saved into your account after you claim the code. At a future time of your choosing, you will be able to "reroll" the active and passive abilities of one monster. e.g. Snipe/Lethal => Barrier/Gladiator. All other attributes of your monster remain the same, including the passive leveling. Note: Due to the random nature, it's advised only to use this on a monster with such bad active/passives that you don't mind a random change. (Last year a reroll code was released and many people used them on average monsters, only to have them made worse... there is no "undo" function to this and reroll codes are rarely given).

How to use a reroll?

1. Move the monster you want to use the reroll on into your inventory.

2. Use the facebook login at support.pennypop.com

3. Select Reroll from the top menu

4. Find the monster you wish to reroll from those displayed from your inventory and press the button below it.

5. Double check this is really the monster you wish to change.

6. Click Reroll.

Which monster should I reroll?

It's generally best to use your rerolls on your highest rarity monsters, as you'll likely be playing with these for the longest period of time.  Epics and Ultras are the usual targets, although evolved supers are another option.  If you're still playing with rares and supers, it may be worth saving your reroll for a later point in the game, as they never expire.

It's common to reroll monsters with the old active/passive abilities (listed in the chart below) as they're difficult to level up the passives and their active abilities tend to be weaker than newer ones. The tier 1 passives can be worth keeping though. 

To determine whether your monster is "good" or not, consider looking them up on the new active/passive chart below. A feeder (tier 4) monster generally can't become worse during a reroll, and so they're the safest to reroll. Be prepared that you may receive any other combination on this tier chart through rerolling.

Good luck with your reroll. :)

Frequently Asked Questions (June 2016)

Q: If I reroll a reward monster, will the active still have a "+"?
A: No, the possible reroll combinations don't include the reward actives.

Q: Is it possible to get old active/passive combinations from a reroll?
A: No, only the new actives/passives are available (see chart directly above)

Q: Should I reroll dominion or troop wars monsters?
A: If you're planning on using these monsters again in their future events, it's usually best to keep the active as snipe for the best damage possible.  Some players do choose to reroll these monsters until they can turn one into a swap active, and that's considered the exception.  As an example, a dominion monster that is rerolled into something defensive or that spreads its offensive ability onto multiple targets (like blast/lacerate) will have a reduced damage against a single tower.

Q: I used my reroll but was given the same active/passive combination?
A: Unfortunately all combinations are equally likely and this has been known to happen.

Q: Can I trade my reroll?
A: Not directly.  Some players may offer to gift you a good monster if you'll reroll a monster for them.  In this case, they'll trade you their monster, you'll use your reroll on it, and then you'll trade it back to them.  Please make sure to take a screenshot of the reroll in case the same active/passive is given to the monster - you may need to prove that you did in fact reroll it.  The value of reroll trading increases when it's been a really long time since rerolls were given out.