Empires and Puzzles Q&A

A subscriber recently suggested that I create a section of the blog where readers can ask questions, and get my Empires and Puzzles tips. With that in mind, I’ve created this page. So if you have an E&P question, read on…

Looking for my E&P Tips? Find my best Empires and Puzzles Tips, here.

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So, How Will This Work? (Empires and Puzzles tips)

First, it’s important to note that I don’t claim to be an expert. Also, the information on this page (and blog) isn’t advice -just my opinion. My opinion is based on a history of F2P/C2P, so I generally won’t consider solutions that involve spending money.

We’ll also only cover topics which don’t already have their own page. That way, new readers can find all the relevant information in one place. There’s a Search Box at the top of the site, near the Main Menu, to check before submitting.

To submit a question, simply put it in a comment below.

Each question will be numbered, so readers can contribute to the discussion. If their information is better than my own, I’ll update the answer accordingly.

If you’re going to ask a question, please subscribe to my blog. Please also provide a name or calling card, and your Player Level, so I can address you in my response and have an idea of how long you’ve been playing the game.

That’s it! Let’s get started…

Empires and Puzzles Q&A

Newest Questions/Answers are first on the list.

Old Cynic’s Empires and Puzzles

Question 10: Example text. –Subscriber

Old Cynic’s tip: Wisdom or lunacy.

Should I Keep Duplicate 3 and 4-Star Heroes?

Question 9: With the masquerade going on and keys are being cut everywhere, do you have a recommendation for what 3* & 4* Heroes are worth having two of – one standard and one costumed – to play together (i.e. Kiril for buff and debuff in a tourney or raid)?

I pulled several dupes, and don’t know who’s worth keeping and levelling… –Andrew

Old Cynic’s tip: For me personally, I don’t like the idea of keeping dupes, mainly because I like variety.

The only 3 or 4-Star Hero I have a duplicate of is, Frosty, -because I think he’s a monster. If I pulled a second Poppy in future, I’d consider levelling her.

As for 4-Stars in isolation, nope, -no dupes (not even Rigard).

While we’re on the subject, if I pulled two insane 5-Star dupes, like Ludwig, I’d level them both.

Overall, in my view there isn’t much space to hold all these Heroes, and I’d rather have options than to have doppelgangers.

That said, if you love and focus on 4/3-Star tournaments, then go to town!

Related: Best 4-Star Heroes in Empires and Puzzles

What are the Best Farming Levels for Food?

Question 8: I am always running short of food. Now I am concentrating on getting troops upgraded, I need a hell of a lot. Are there any levels that are the best for farming food? –Andy Hewitt

Old Cynic’s tip: Hi Andy, according to my checks it’s Season 1, 17-1, 20-4, or 13-6. Another option is, Season 2, 15-8, Hard, or 27-9, Hard. Another is, Season 3, 15-5, Hard.

Hope this helps!

Why Should I Level Costumes?

Question 7: I am confused about costumes. If you like the Hero, do you always want his costume and always use it?
Theoretically, the Hero will be stronger? You will always want to level up his costume and always have it equipped?
I have played over a year, but basically ignored costumes. Maybe that’s been a bad idea. I have many costumes now, including some for my 4* and 5* Heroes!
Thanks, –Chris Harding

Old Cynic’s tip: The short answer is, yes -you should always level the Costume. However, you don’t have to use it (you should use the version you prefer).

You already know there’s a significant stats boost for levelling a Costume, but you may not have noticed the different stats each version has. For example; here’s the original Gunnar Vs. his Costume (with Emblems):

Original – 503 Attack 749 Shield 986 Health
Costume – 445 Attack 616 Shield 930 Health

However, just by levelling the Costume, he receives: A 5% Attack, Defense, and Mana bonus. And a 10% health bonus.

Basically, you don’t have to use the Costume to benefit from the Costume bonuses, you just have to level the Costume.

And that’s why everybody does it.

Note: You can tell when you’ve finished levelling a Costume as a golden mask icon appears on the Hero card.

Lepiota x2, Dr. Moreau, or Panther Guardian?

Question 6: Y una gran duda existencial que tengo ….a ver si puedes echarme una mano….tengo una lepiota a tope y me encanta,y esta es mi pregunta…entre ascender una segunda lepiota,al Dr moreau y a guardiana pantera….a cuál ascenderías?los de atacar a 3,siempre me han parecido flojos -Dergoden

Original Spanish: And a great existential doubt that I have … let’s see if you can give me a hand … I have a butt lepiota and I love it, and this is my question … between promoting a second lepiota, Dr moreau and a panther guardian … which one would you ascend to Those of attacking 3 have always seemed lazy to me

Old Cynic’s tip: Lepiota looks like the best Control Hero you could hope to have. Her Ghost mode lasts for 4 turns, and there’s no ambiguity -like with Balbar. But you already have her. And while levelling a second one, especially a fantastic Hero like her, isn’t a bad idea, increasing the depth of your roster may serve you better.

For example, Dr Moreau might be useful in Defense as well, and the Panther looks versatile, especially useful for 3/2…Mono teams.

Importantly, your roster should dictate who might help you best, but if it were me (who runs a 3/2 purple Raid team), I’d take Guardian Panther. She would be awesome on my squad.

As for you? Well, if you still have problems with raids, then maybe another Lepiota would help. But at the end of the day, you have to actually hit these monsters to get rid of them, and Dr Moreau might be the nice middle-ground; letting you have some Control (-accuracy), while doing some damage.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

The Old Cynic in Spanish: Lepiota parece el mejor Héroe de Control que podrías esperar tener. Su modo Fantasma dura 4 turnos y no hay ambigüedad, como con Balbar. Pero ya la tienes. Y aunque subir de nivel a un segundo, especialmente a un Héroe fantástico como Lepiota, no es una mala idea, aumentar la profundidad de tu lista puede ser mejor para ti. Por ejemplo, el Dr. Moreau también podría ser útil en Defensa, y el Panther parece versátil, especialmente útil para equipos 3/2 … Mono. Es importante destacar que tu lista debería ser el razonamiento final, pero si fuera yo (que dirige un equipo Raid púrpura 3/2), me quedaría con Guardian Panther. Ella sería increíble en mi equipo. ¿En cuanto a ti? Bueno, si todavía tienes problemas para ganar incursiones, quizás otro Lepiota te ayude. Pero al final del día tienes que golpear a estos enemigos para deshacerte de ellos, y el Dr. Moreau podría ser un buen término medio; permitiéndote tener algo de Control (-precisión), mientras haces algo de daño.

¡Espero que esto ayude! ¡Buena suerte!

How to get SG to improve a Hero

Question 5: Hi, congratulations on your blog. I’d like to figure out how to get Small Giant to upgrade Heroes who are incredibly weak still. Example among all MYZTERO. You can have it with 0.1% but it is absurd that it has those characteristics. I wish it would do more damage or at least clean up the ailments the team receives. Thanks. –Andrea Balliano

Original Italian: Ciao, complimenti per il tuo blog. Vorrei capire come spingere la Small Giant a potenziare eroi che incredibilmente sono ancora così deboli. Esempio fra tutti MYZTERO. Lo puoi avere con 0,1% ma è assurdo che abbia quelle caratteristiche. Vorrei che facesse più danni o almeno pulisse i disturbi che la squadra riceve. Grazie.. –Andrea Balliano

Old Cynic’s tip: I had a quick look into this, and all roads lead to the Empires and Puzzles community forum, here. If you hit the in-game button (in Options) called, ‘IDEAS & FEEDBACK’, it leads you to the forum.

You could also email the developers, or contact their Facebook page. But I suspect, the Forum is the best choice.

Good luck!

The Old Cynic in Italian: Ho dato una rapida occhiata a questo, e tutte le strade portano al forum della community di Empires and Puzzles, qui. Se premi il pulsante di gioco (in Opzioni) chiamato “IDEE E FEEDBACK”, ti porta al forum. Puoi anche inviare un’e-mail agli sviluppatori o contattare la loro pagina Facebook. Ma sospetto che il Forum sia la scelta migliore. Buona fortuna!

High Titan Score Tips

Question 4: Any tips on getting those massive scores on titans. I see other players getting some pretty impressive points that seem to elude me. Thanks in advance. Cool site by the way. –Patrick

Old Cynic’s tip: I do enjoy hitting the Titan, but I’m pretty casual about it. -So there may be better advice found elsewhere.

I’ve achieved my best Titan scores by using Heroes that can increase Attack, and reduce Defense.

Great Titan scores are all about tile damage and selecting the right Heroes. If you’re a newer player, then give it time -decent Titan Heroes will come your way sooner or later. But, you may never really be able to compete with P2P players for the highest Titan scores.

What makes a good Titan Hero?
☆ Heroes who can increase Attack, like Miki, Wu Kong, and Sergei (also, learn who Stacks)
☆ Heroes who can reduce the Titan’s Defense, like Tiburtus and Grimm
☆ Heroes who can enhance the tiles on the board, like Alexandrine
☆ Heroes who can increase Critical chance, like Malosi and Melia

I don’t have those Heroes in the same color, so I have to be willing to try mixing teams if necessary (as long as I’m not weak against the Titan’s element).

Finally, you need a reasonable strategy and a willingness to use Items.

Here’s what I do:
Start the battle with a Bear Banner. They’re cheap and give me a little boost at the beginning. If things go well, I normally use more Items, if not, I back off.

I might also fire-off mana on a single Hero if I need the Special. This might be for Gullinbursti, on a high-star Titan, to give all my Heroes over-life… So they don’t die! Or, it might be a Tiburtus type, if the tiles look good.

I will also use Tornados to get the board moving, if necessary (Scrolls of Alteration are also great, but expensive). And against super-strong Titans, I’ve used Time Stops.

With items, if I’ve got ’em, I’ll use ’em -as long as it looks like it’s going to be a good score, otherwise, I abort.

My strategy is to create as many Diamonds as possible, and to get tiles moving, and flying into the side of Titan’s head. If I can, I always try to Stun the beast, too.

For some Elements, I’m able to get into the 80K range, for others, it’s the 40-50K range. Ideally, you’ll have five 5-Star Heroes on a Mono team against the Titan. And while I can field 4&5-Star Heroes, they are far from “Titan” specialists. But that’s fine for me.

My ideal line-up looks something like this:
ATT-UP/STACKorCRIT/DEF-DOWN/SNIPER/SNIPER

I asked my wife for tips since she has scores of over 100K. Her best advice was:

Have good luck.

~Which may be more valuable than what I’ve said.

Aegir Tips

Question 3: Please share your thoughts on Aegir. Also, where would he fit in best – Titan, Offence, Defence (Tank, Flank or Wing)? –Satish

Old Cynic’s Tip: First, he didn’t appear in last month’s E&P Blog roundup list of top Defenses (he’s not currently considered a top Hero). Personally, I’m not a fan. He’s more of a slight irritation when I face him.

As I often point out, I field Malosi to deal with all status Heroes, and Aegir is routinely just another of his victims. Looking at his skillset, I’m not too bothered by Group-sharing of damage, and +30% Defense-up isn’t much. The healing looks OK (odd wording, so hard to quantify without playing him), and the element link is only relevant for Titans and stacked teams. He’s a busy Hero for Average mana speed, and at one time I remember seeing him a lot in Defenses. In today’s game, there are just better options (Taunt).

I’d probably play him on the Flank -on Defence… maybe elsewhere if I didn’t have anything better. As with all Heroes, it’s best to move him around to see how he fares. Finally, if you’re P2P, there are many better options. If you’re C2P, he’s an OK Hero. If you’re F2P…. he’s your only 5-Star, so play him : ).

Anyway, I make that your second question, so you officially have to share a post from my blog somewhere! Hope this helps.

Tips for levelling Troops

Question 2: Best way to level up troops? –Tom Jones

Old Cynic’s tip: Firstly, Troops are a resource hog -a serious long-term grind. Here are the steps I’d take to speed up my Troop levelling:

1. Prioritise Troops over Hero levelling. That means using Food on Troops before Heroes, and manufacturing Troops rather than training low-level Heroes.
2. Keep improving your Farms, because you’re gonna need Food for the Troops.
3. Train Troops in the Hero Academy. Do the math and work out which level provides the best value.
4. When Farming old Map stages, focus on those which offer the most Troops (I believe Season 1-8.7 & Season 3-4.5 are good options).
5. Enjoy the grind: Complete all Quests, Watch Mystic Visions, use up World Flags, and generally do all you can to accumulate resources and low-level Troops.

You can now find an entire post about Empires and Puzzles Troops, here.

Tips for the Hero Academy

Question 1: Which building do I convert into HA (Hero Academy)? I don’t really wish to sacrifice a farm & at the same time would like to have 1 forge available at all times. –Satish

Old Cynic’s Tip: As you level up your Stronghold, you’ll find that 4 Forges become available (at 1, 3, 8, & 15). And if you have a Builder free, you can convert them in seconds, and at no additional cost. I used a forge for the HA and converted it back when I needed to. Now, at my level, I’m happy to sacrifice a Forge for the Hero Academy.

As the Hero Academy becomes available at Stronghold 25, you should have all Forges available to you.

To submit a question, simply ask it as a comment at the bottom of the page.

While I’ll try to respond in good time, sometimes it may take a day or two.

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