Hi everybody, started play Idle few weeks ago but started looking for better tactics and strategies than mine. I fucked up a little with AP distribution, now I’m going to feed Joint strike and mercenary %. However, which is the best strategy for Phase 1, when you don’t have really good artifacts and other good bonus (joint strike etc. etc.)? Always keep mercenaries for the latest big stack? Improve army camp? Improve mines and sell alloys? I didn’t find a very satisfying guide around, if anyone can help me clarify few doubts would be great <3

The two most important pieces of advice for a starting player: Maximise Joint Strike as soon as possible, and aim to always be digging an artifact (once this becomes possible, which is to say from Floating Rocks onwards).

I'm not sure any of my rambling here is actually helpful or addressing what you are asking, so make of it what you will. :) This early on you're probably going to be trying to generate armies mostly from army camps, and that skews strategies. A lot of advice assumes you have more stuff available (abilities and artifacts) and will advocate strategies that are not effective without those. e.g., the "market strategy" which essentially requires a high-level Alloy Values artifact.


With regard to AP: The good news is that you can't really have made that much of a mess of AP this early. (If it's any consolation, my first time around I put points into increased copper and tin production, which I would not do now.) Other that maximising Joint Strike, useful Phase 1 advancements include Increased Army Camp production, Additional Mercenaries, and (depending on play style) Increased Idle Time.

The Increased Army Camp Production is cheap and shows immediate benefits; definitely worth spending a bit on at the start. Additional Mercenaries will definitely be wanted eventually as you'll need, oh, around +100% to have enough armies available to clear some of the later levels. But early on you're more likely to run into money woes and be unable to afford them, so there's a bit of a line to walk. Basically, start increasing this once you find yourself running out of mercenaries rather than money.

As for Increased Idle Time, the overnight army production could be very significant for a starting player; I was happy to bump it up enough to get 8 hours total (including the 2 hours one starts with), but your mileage may vary. These days I would not take much of it, if any, as the market strategy obviates the need for it.


With regard to artifacts: You probably don't have much leeway about which digs to take, but common and uncommon ones will probably serve you better at the moment. You need quantity more than quality right now, in order to hit the ones you actually want and upgrade them. Supercharge Army Camp is probably the most needed one for your current situation, even at uncommon it can be very valuable for the start of a level. I also like Army Camp Boost and {Territory/Bonus} Money Boost as always-slotted passives for the small continual gains. Obviously there's more that one wants -- Alloy Values is very wanted, but doesn't really shine until Legendary -- and the various other discounts and boosts are good to have handy to swap in as needed. I'm also a big fan of high-level Time Warp but that takes quite some time to acquire.


For general strategy... I chose to go the route of developing mines and get money by selling alloys (or even ores). I found this enjoyable, but my playstyle was a slow one where I was prepared to treat the game as more of an idle one than it really is. If you're a completionist who likes to complete tech trees, this may serve you well.


If you can afford it, making a one-off payment for the SuperCamp (and 400 coins) is particularly useful early. Plus it supports Fizzer.


If you are in a clan then the Clan Request feature lets you get armies from someone in your clan. That can be a big boost, of course, at the right time.

Ooow thank you, I find it very useful. I just bought the supercamp, at the beginning I didn’t want to make it all by myself, but now I already see that i need a boost.
I have another question: generally how much time takes to arrive phase 2? Now I’m at the siege of feldemere.
Uh! And the free cache thread by fizzer really works?

Edited 1/22/2024 00:10:43

For new players, play Hardened Ursa Luna.
Unlock Superpowers.
Use 10 x skip level.
Play Level Old Town & move forwards
Come back to Level Sengoku through AD 1045 later, before your 1st ascension.

The levels from Old Town to Africa, & Australia are very good for AP reward.
They are fast & easy to play & have a good AP value.

Old Town is particularly good for AP reward.
Play Level Old Town several times, get familiar with that level.
Invest in Additional Army Camp Production to at least 200%, invest in Additional Mercenary as much as you can.

Your life will be much easier from then on.

Thank you very much

I figure if you skip ahead on your first run, without additional mercs you are going to slog down.
Better not use skip level... also better to save them to jump to Hex Earth.