When Should You Buy Energy?

Similar to my "When Should You Buy Rubies?" guide on my GoodGame Empire blog, in this post, I'm going to be talking about what you should think about before you start spending your money on Spiral Knights. Of course, this is only my opinions, so if you are extremely rich and don't care about wasting your money, then go right ahead. Below, I'll list a few questions that you should ask yourself and then in parentheses I explain why you should consider it before paying for energy in Spiral Knights.

1. Do you often lose interest in your games in less than a year and change the games you play often? (if you do, then you are likely to pay money for Spiral Knights and then quit Spiral Knights, meaning all that money you used would completely be wasted)

2. Would you much rather like to solo all of the missions and levels in the Clockworks? (If yes, you might want to use crystal energy to purchase better weapons and armor for soloing)

3. Do you play for over four hours of Spiral Knights every day? (If no, then using only your mist energy, it should be able to recharge fast enough for you to play everyday)

4. Do you have friends that you play Spiral Knights with? (Without friends, it is much more likely that you will lose interest in Spiral Knights quickly)

These are just some basics that you should ask. Of course, if you are under 18 and don't have a credit card, you have to go through more trouble buying crystal energy. Luckily, there are lots of options, so even if you have cash, you can mail it in, purchase Ultimate Game Cards, and other options. Personally, I think Spiral Knights is making way too much money and marking their virtual items to be way to expensive. Think of Runescape, you only pay like $7 a month and it's a much better developed MMORPG, while here, there are packages that are as expensive as $40!

Mission: Strength in Unity (Rank 3-2)

For the first time, I've actually noticed that this mission changes every single time you try to complete it. I think I realized the same thing for a few of the other previous missions, but I was just confused and didn't think that the missions actually changed. Because of that, I'm not going to be so specific about the map because there are at least five or six different maps for this same mission. Fortunately, all of the maps follow the same concept.

Right at the beginning there will always be a small maze of buttons, pop-up spikes, blocks, and monsters. Usually, you have to press multiple buttons to get pass the maze, but sometimes there are a lot of gates involved, making it more confusing. After the mazes, there will be a lot of intersections. Remember to never step on the big button if you haven't explored every path, because this mission has a good amount of green and heart blocks.

I'm not sure if crystal blocks are in every version of this mission, but it was in my version, so I'm going talk about it. The trick here, if you don't want to fight all of the monsters that is, is to try to calculate which crystal blocks to destroy since they will destroy all adjacent blocks of the same color. If you want the loot and heat from the monsters, then you shouldn't care about the crystal blocks, but watch out for the explosive ones.

Like most maps, there are two levels/floors to this mission, costing you a total of 20 energy, and you are going to die at least twice unless you get lucky like me and pick up a lot of heart capsules. And for the second level, it has never changed for me, so I think there is only one version to it. So the second level to this mission is kind of similar to the mission Skies Under Cradle (Rank 2-2), except this one isn't nearly as long and isn't nearly as confusing. Be sure to break all of the blocks on this level because there are sometimes hidden buttons that you need to open gates with. After a short exploration, you'll reach the area similar to the screenshot shown above. This is the boss room, where you have to fight around four waves of monsters to open the gate and finish. To the right side of my character on the screenshot above, is a new monster. It is similar to the squirrel/fox monster, except this one is much stronger. This monster attacks more often, attacks three times in a row, and moves quite fast, so avoid getting attacked by it.

Reward: 30 prestige, Defender, Blast Bomb

Guide to Auction House 3

Yeah...sorry that I didn't post anything for about a week. I was playing to much other games that I didn't really feel like playing Spiral Knights anymore. Well, I've found time again and after you start playing the game, it can get pretty addicting if you have a ton of time to play, which I don't, since high school is starting for me in a week and I've got to get ready. Anyways, this post is another guide about the Auction House, and this time it's about purchasing items. For this strategy, instead of choosing the "Sort by Buy Price" on the top right corner of the Auction House page, you can either select "Sort by End Time" or "Sort by Bid Price." Basically, you want to find an item that has a really high buy price, so that it is certain that no one is going to buy that item using the buy price. Also, it's good to look for items with no bid price limit so that you can bid one crown for items that require hundreds or even thousands of crowns to buy. Also, you want an item with a really low amount of time left, so that it is more unlikely for someone to bid just a little bit above you and be able for them to get the item. This is a great and easy way to make lots of crowns if you do it right.

Mission: Faith in Armor (Rank 3-2)

This mission is short, but it can be challenging, especially if you are trying to play this mission along. Unlike recent missions, there is only one level to this mission, so all you need is 10 energy. There are also a lot of new features and you need to be very good at dodging. The first feature is shown below, and it is those monsters that I think are called drones. They are similar to the moving spike things, except these cause the fire status when you touch them and they revive themselves if you kill them. Simply avoid them and keep going.

The next new thing is cages, inside those cages shown below contains fairly weak monsters, but you can avoid them if you don't open all of the cages. Cages are the same size as blocks, but they are red and white.

Below I have shown the first confusing spot. So you are trying to open the gate on the right side (not shown in pic). However, when you press the button at the bottom left of the screenshot, you open the top gate with heart blocks and green block inside. Then you must destroy the cages (which in the screenshot should be the area my character is looking at) and you should release a NPC knight that follows you. After you destroy the cage and free the knight, then the gate on the right side of the room will open.

Right after that confusing room, you will enter the final battle room. As you can see below, there are three indestructible moving spikes. After all of your teammates stand on the big button, there will be a lot of monsters and stone cannons that will appear, so you will lose a ton of heath from the cannons and the spikes. If you always stay in the center of the room, the spikes will never get you, but the cannons will, so you need good reflexive dodging.

Reward: 30 prestige, Cobalt Helm, Cobalt Armor

Mission: The Pioneers (Rank 3-2)

I believe that this mission is the only easy mission in Rank 3-2. Like most other easy missions, all that you have to do is read the chat between your character and Kora. Kora tells you about elite knights that were first sent into the Clockworks who never returned. In the four missions in Rank 3-2 following this one I'm assuming you try to solve the mystery of the missing knights who first went into the Clockworks.

Reward: 15 prestige

Guide to the Auction House 2

Making money from the Auction House is one tricky thing, just as it is in real life. In my previous post about the Auction House, I wrote about a strategy to buy items. This post is about one good strategy to sell your items. For those who don't know you are required to pay a listing fee that is refundable only if your item is sold. If not, then you lose the money you paid for the listing fee. This means that if your auctions are constantly not getting sold, you end up losing money. First go to "By Category" on the top left of the Auction House page. Then search the item that you want to sell. Make sure that your search results appear in order of lowest to highest buy-prices, which you can change at the top right corner of the page. Look at the offer at the top of the page and calculate their price per item. Then when you make your auction, make your price per item a few crowns lower than the current lowest buy-price item. That way, your offer will appear at the top when sorted by buy-price, telling buyers it is the cheapest buy-price, and getting the item/s to be sold quickly. It is also smart to sell items such as materials in groups of 5 or 10, because not many buyers want to buy hundreds of materials or other items at a time.

Mission: Toy Soldiers (Rank 3-1)

This mission is one of the hardest missions so far. If you plan on trying to complete this mission alone, be prepared to die at least once. There are almost no heart blocks at the places you need it the most, and there are two bosses that have a ton of health. Before we get to that, let's start at the beginning. So as usual, there are two levels in this mission, requiring 20 energy total, and there are no energy gates on this mission. Even at the beginning, the map for this mission is quite confusing. There are lots of split roads and hidden buttons, so be sure to destroy all of the blocks just to make sure. Also, if you see a really big button that requires your whole team to step on it, do not step on it until you have explored every path and room before that button. There are a few (at least three) rooms filled with green blocks that give you goodies that you don't want to miss. Throughout the entire mission, be careful of the stone cannons because they can cause a lot of damage and you don't get to heal a lot.

The first level (or floor or whatever) of the mission should easy, and you shouldn't die at all. However, on the second level, the hard part comes. Not long after you take the first elevator, you will go into a room with the first boss, as shown below.

Yep, you should have met a similar boss in a previous mission, but that time was nearly not as hard as this. This time, not only does this boss shoot black orbs in a much less predictable fashion, but it also has big black spikes circling around it. Also, right in front of the boss, there is a square that respawns an enemy Mecha Knight every time you kill the previous one, making it quite annoying if you play this solo. This boss has so much health that it takes around 5-10 minutes to kill this guy if you play by yourself. The next boss is not far after the first boss and it is stronger, as shown below.

This second boss not only has a new shield surrounding it, but it has spawns two Mecha Knights on each side of it. Plus there are two stone cannons at the far top corners of the room that you should take out first. This is the place where I died the first time I played this mission. There ends up being two Mecha Knights that harass you while the boss never seems to die. This boss takes even longer to destroy. Luckily, this boss doesn't shoot anything or have anything that it can attack you with (other than the Mecha Knights). After this boss, go a little farther and you're done. When you play this mission as a team, you can support each other and deal more damage together, killing the boss a lot qucker as well.

Rewards: 30 prestige, Emberbreak Shield, Firecracker

Mission: Alien Ooze (Rank 3-1)

This mission is actually one of those that I like. It's not too long and doesn't have too many boring monsters. Like all of the other missions that I've been playing recently, there are two levels to this mission, meaning you have to spend 20 energy without including the energy needed to open energy gates, which didn't appear anywhere on this level. So the first part of the mission is so easy, you just basically explore a one-path map, and kill until you reach the elevator, which is extremely close by. The only thing is that I think there is at least one hidden button that is under a block somewhere, so destroy all of the blocks just in case. In the second part of the mission, the map is completely different. It's grassy, not what I would think a Clockworks should look like. There is also a new thing that looks like vines, as shown below at the left side. When your character touches the vines, you get poisoned, meaning you can't heal yourself, but I don't think you lose health. There are also lots of hidden buttons on this level. In the screenshot below, there is a hidden button under one of the crystal blocks at the right side.

Then, shown below, is the only boss in the mission. It is a slime that has spikes, which I'm assuming damages you when you get too close to it. I somehow killed it in a matter of seconds somehow, but maybe it was because I was using the Super Slime Slasher, which is the recommended weapon for this mission because all monsters here are slimes. After the boss, you get to the last elevator very quickly and then you're done.

A note about the reward, if you do make the armor from the recipe that was rewarded, be thoughtful because the helm looks like it's for a girl, so think twice before using energy and crowns to make it.

Rewards: 30 Prestige, Emberbreak Armor Recipe, Emberbreak Helm Recipe

Newsletter Promotion

Today, I've somehow discovered a promotion where you can be rewarded signing up to Spiral Knights' newsletter updates. I think this promotion appeared either in the Spiral Uplink (which opens up when you log in and you can view it in-game by clicking your mailbox and then the "News" tab). The reward is an accessory known as a Proto Crest and can go on the front of your body armor, as shown above. I believe that this is the easiest and first accessory that you can receive in the game. Of course, you can unsubscribe from the newsletter immediately after you receive you reward and you will still get to keep your reward. Then, check your in-game mailbox and you will find a message that you have to accept in order to transfer the Proto Crest into your arsenal. After that, you must go to the Accessory Forge in the Bazaar in Haven in order to place the accessory on your armor. The Accessory Forge is the same place you need to go to remove your accessories from your armor. It requires no energy to place or remove the Proto Crest from your armor, but the Proto Crest will be destroyed and you will never be able to get another one, even at the Auction House.