While many people have multiple toons (up to six on member accounts), there are some good reasons for having a second toon with specific characteristics. Creating an additional toon can help your main toon in several ways:
1. Multiple Doodle Toon-up at your estate: Each toon on your account can own a doodle. Having more than one doodle means that you can train all of them at the same time, with pretty much the same effort as training one. With four doodles, you can get up to 20 heal points with Jump! (4 doodles x 5pts) - and more if they are maxed on Jump! (up to 4 doodles x 10 points = 40 points if they all jump at once). You can see how you can very quickly heal at your estate after a battle if you have multiple doodles. Also - I'm not sure - but I suspect that the doodles help each other learn tricks - as it seems that they train faster when there are multiple doodles around. Of course, you can get the same effect if you invite your toon friends to a doodle training party at one of your estates - but each toon only brings one doodle with them on their visit.
2. Different gag tracks: Since a toon can only have six of the seven possible gag tracks, it's good to be able to develop a toon with a different set of gag tracks. You can see how having a different set of gags affects your battle strategy. For extra challenge - develop a toon without Sound or Toon-up - but be prepared for some grief from immature toons.
3. Keep a "New toon" new: If you keep a toon at 25 Laff or less, you can use this toon to help friends who need to "Help a New Toon..." for a toon task. If you use this toon enough to max the gag levels - you'll have an Uber toon who can still help with those New Toon tasks without worrying about going sad - like when doing cog buildings.
4. Doodle Training: My main toon usually has friends that are online - and always too busy fighting cogs and helping friends to train the doodles. Buy doodle tricks for a doodle trainer toon so that you will be able to train your doodles in peace - without feeling bad about not answering help requests from friends.
5. More Friends: Since each toon can have up to only 50 friends, having multiple toons means you can have more friends! 6 toons x 50 friends = 300 friends. You can have toons for different time zones.
6. Different Toons: You can have boy and girl toons, different animal toons, toons with a theme, etc. I have a toon that's got a cowboy outfit and is named after a famous "gunslinger" - his house is decorated with all things cowboy.
7. Twin toons: With your friends - you can each create identical toon twins. I've even got a toon that is part of a triplet. If you all create these toons at the same time, you can see how long you can keep the tasks and gags in sync. Give all the toons the same outfits and speedchat phrases and emotions. And watch a crowd of other toons gather around just to watch!
Wednesday, March 18
Saturday, January 31
Shopping for tasks
One peculiar aspect of TT is that you can see some of the tasks that other toons are working on. Heck you can ask and they can tell you - mostly useful for cooperating and collaborating efforts. But at the end of a battle, the results shown during the dance reveal the tasks of each toon. Sometimes you see some extremely onerous tasks - such as "defeat 1,000 cogs" or "200 5+ story buildings" - tasks that I know will take in inordinate amount of time to complete, with no different a reward than other tasks offered by shopkeepers or even other Toon HQ staff.
I've read about the advice of shopping around for tasks - but I wanted to find out just how varied they were for the same reward. So here is a sample of tasks offered in Donald's Dreamland by various shopkeepers. You can see that for a given reward - 1 Laff boost, for example - there are tasks ranging from 100 to 140 Lawbots to 20 Big Cheeses or Robber Barons, to 10 5+ story buildings, and so on. Some will require you defeat them in Dreamland, others can be anywhere.
Like a good shopper, one needs to evaluate the various "features" and decide what is the best choice amongst many. There is no right answer per se - as the "cost" or difficulty of any given task is subject to individual preferences and perceptions, as well as circumstance. For example, you might be on Nutty River or another district that happens to have a lot of invasions of a particular cog type - Bossbots, for example. Otherwise, in general, having to defeat any kind of Cashbot is easier than having to defeat only Number Crunchers - even if you need to defeat more of them. I once had chosen to defeat 180 Bean Counters -and it took me two weeks of diligent hunting to find and defeat enough of them - usually on streets heavy with cashbots - like Seaweed Street in Donald's Dock. Another consideration is the type of cog - whether its found only in cog buildings or cog HQs, or is typically found on streets.
Another approach to select tasks that have a lot of overlap - allowing you to fulfill the requirements of more than one task with each battle. You can look up many of the tasks at toontask.com for each playground and see what the requirements are. For example, it would be great if you took a task to defeat 40 lawbots at the same time as defeating five 4+ story lawbot buildings. Some tasks are "Just for Fun" - and you can accept several of the same exact ones and fulfill all of them for the price of one. The most profitable ones to do this with are the tasks for helping a new toon for a reward of 200+ jellybeans. I once had 4 of these at the same time and was able to earn 800+ jellybeans for helping a new toon defeat just one building.
---------------
House of Hibernation, Lullaby Lane
80 Level 8+ Cogs = Medium Backpack (70)
140 Lawbots anywhere = 1 Laff boost
Nightstand Furniture Company, Lullaby Lane
Five 5+ Story Bossbot Bldgs Anywhere = 2 Laff boost
100 Lawbots Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
Shut-Eye Optometry
20 The Big Cheeses = 1 Laff boost
40 Level 10+ Cogs Anywhere = Medium Backpack (70)
Pillow Fights Nightly
10 Level 12+ Skelecogs, Cashbot HQ = Medium Backpack (70)
130 Cogs Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
Make Your Bed Hardware Store
20 Robber Barons Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
10 Mint Supervisors, Cashbot Coin Mint = 2 Laff boost
The All Tucked Inn
70 Level 9+ Cogs Anywhere = 2 Laff boost
180 Cogs Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
Snore or Less
100 Cashbots Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
Help a new Toon defeat 35 Cogs, TT Central = 250 Jellybeans
Help a new Toon defeat a 2+ Story Bldg = 300 Jellybeans
Crack of Dawn Repairs
70 Name Droppers Anywhere = 2 Laff boost
140 Sellbots Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
For Richer or Snorer
10 Five+ Story Cog Buildings Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
I've read about the advice of shopping around for tasks - but I wanted to find out just how varied they were for the same reward. So here is a sample of tasks offered in Donald's Dreamland by various shopkeepers. You can see that for a given reward - 1 Laff boost, for example - there are tasks ranging from 100 to 140 Lawbots to 20 Big Cheeses or Robber Barons, to 10 5+ story buildings, and so on. Some will require you defeat them in Dreamland, others can be anywhere.
Like a good shopper, one needs to evaluate the various "features" and decide what is the best choice amongst many. There is no right answer per se - as the "cost" or difficulty of any given task is subject to individual preferences and perceptions, as well as circumstance. For example, you might be on Nutty River or another district that happens to have a lot of invasions of a particular cog type - Bossbots, for example. Otherwise, in general, having to defeat any kind of Cashbot is easier than having to defeat only Number Crunchers - even if you need to defeat more of them. I once had chosen to defeat 180 Bean Counters -and it took me two weeks of diligent hunting to find and defeat enough of them - usually on streets heavy with cashbots - like Seaweed Street in Donald's Dock. Another consideration is the type of cog - whether its found only in cog buildings or cog HQs, or is typically found on streets.
Another approach to select tasks that have a lot of overlap - allowing you to fulfill the requirements of more than one task with each battle. You can look up many of the tasks at toontask.com for each playground and see what the requirements are. For example, it would be great if you took a task to defeat 40 lawbots at the same time as defeating five 4+ story lawbot buildings. Some tasks are "Just for Fun" - and you can accept several of the same exact ones and fulfill all of them for the price of one. The most profitable ones to do this with are the tasks for helping a new toon for a reward of 200+ jellybeans. I once had 4 of these at the same time and was able to earn 800+ jellybeans for helping a new toon defeat just one building.
---------------
House of Hibernation, Lullaby Lane
80 Level 8+ Cogs = Medium Backpack (70)
140 Lawbots anywhere = 1 Laff boost
Nightstand Furniture Company, Lullaby Lane
Five 5+ Story Bossbot Bldgs Anywhere = 2 Laff boost
100 Lawbots Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
Shut-Eye Optometry
20 The Big Cheeses = 1 Laff boost
40 Level 10+ Cogs Anywhere = Medium Backpack (70)
Pillow Fights Nightly
10 Level 12+ Skelecogs, Cashbot HQ = Medium Backpack (70)
130 Cogs Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
Make Your Bed Hardware Store
20 Robber Barons Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
10 Mint Supervisors, Cashbot Coin Mint = 2 Laff boost
The All Tucked Inn
70 Level 9+ Cogs Anywhere = 2 Laff boost
180 Cogs Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
Snore or Less
100 Cashbots Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
Help a new Toon defeat 35 Cogs, TT Central = 250 Jellybeans
Help a new Toon defeat a 2+ Story Bldg = 300 Jellybeans
Crack of Dawn Repairs
70 Name Droppers Anywhere = 2 Laff boost
140 Sellbots Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
For Richer or Snorer
10 Five+ Story Cog Buildings Anywhere = 1 Laff boost
Tuesday, January 6
Free Speech comes to Toontown
While there was always the ability to create "True Friends" on TT that allowed nearly free speech - it was still subject to monitoring and account suspension for inappropriate words or privacy issues - Disney has very recently allowed "SpeedChat Plus" which allows more freedom of speech amongst toons even if they are not True Friends (TF). SpeedChat Plus (SCP) has automatic filtering - so that anyone who is not a TF will not be able to see unacceptable words - which are automatically replaced with "arf" or "eepy" or some other "sound" depending on the type of toon animal.
One of the interesting aspects of this new SCP is which words are not allowed. Because of privacy issues, number are not allowed - even number words - to hinder exchange of phone numbers, addresses, age, etc. Though you can say a few cities or states, you still could get "banned" for inappropriate exchange. There are words like "meet" and "hat" that are not allowed - the former probably to hinder real world rendevous, the latter just incomprehensible. So while you can't say "cowboy hat," you can say "baseball cap." Generally, you can not use single letters, except ones like "I" or "u" - to prevent spelling out banned words with spaces between the letters.
But beyond the technical aspects of SCP is the impact on the whole TT experience. Suddenly, battles can take on a more coordinated effort when toons can discuss strategy or even just inform other toons of intentions - for example, "I'm close to getting fog horn - can we use sound?" And while mostly this added freedom of speech goes a long way to minimizing misunderstandings, it also cuts the other way. Some toons have used the new found freedom to scold other toons or worse -"I want to watch you die." Fortunately, the incidents were infrequent, and seem to have diminished further as the TT community gets used to the new feature.
One very interesting impact of SCP is on friendships. Suddenly, toon friends have even more apparent personalities. Humor and and advice elevate the experience. Players share more personal experiences and are able to recount past events. As sure as instant messaging (IM) enabled online friendships and even romances, SCP will do the same despite whatever limitations Disney may have imposed. Players find ways around the restrictions - even exchanging TF codes through SCP. Clearly, SCP supports an even more actively social online community.
Toontown just became a more interesting place for older players, while remaining relatively safe for the younger children. I think it will be a very fascinating experiment on the implementation of multiple levels of freedom of speech not found elsewhere online - SpeedChat, SpeedChat Plus, and True Friend chat. For example, in any battle or group interaction, there may be toons with various levels of chat freedom. How the group is able to interact and maintain communication is an interesting challenge. Will there be "class" segmentation? Will toons with SCP prefer play with like toons? Will toons without SCP avoid SCP groups where they can not comprehend much less participate in chat?
One of the interesting aspects of this new SCP is which words are not allowed. Because of privacy issues, number are not allowed - even number words - to hinder exchange of phone numbers, addresses, age, etc. Though you can say a few cities or states, you still could get "banned" for inappropriate exchange. There are words like "meet" and "hat" that are not allowed - the former probably to hinder real world rendevous, the latter just incomprehensible. So while you can't say "cowboy hat," you can say "baseball cap." Generally, you can not use single letters, except ones like "I" or "u" - to prevent spelling out banned words with spaces between the letters.
But beyond the technical aspects of SCP is the impact on the whole TT experience. Suddenly, battles can take on a more coordinated effort when toons can discuss strategy or even just inform other toons of intentions - for example, "I'm close to getting fog horn - can we use sound?" And while mostly this added freedom of speech goes a long way to minimizing misunderstandings, it also cuts the other way. Some toons have used the new found freedom to scold other toons or worse -"I want to watch you die." Fortunately, the incidents were infrequent, and seem to have diminished further as the TT community gets used to the new feature.
One very interesting impact of SCP is on friendships. Suddenly, toon friends have even more apparent personalities. Humor and and advice elevate the experience. Players share more personal experiences and are able to recount past events. As sure as instant messaging (IM) enabled online friendships and even romances, SCP will do the same despite whatever limitations Disney may have imposed. Players find ways around the restrictions - even exchanging TF codes through SCP. Clearly, SCP supports an even more actively social online community.
Toontown just became a more interesting place for older players, while remaining relatively safe for the younger children. I think it will be a very fascinating experiment on the implementation of multiple levels of freedom of speech not found elsewhere online - SpeedChat, SpeedChat Plus, and True Friend chat. For example, in any battle or group interaction, there may be toons with various levels of chat freedom. How the group is able to interact and maintain communication is an interesting challenge. Will there be "class" segmentation? Will toons with SCP prefer play with like toons? Will toons without SCP avoid SCP groups where they can not comprehend much less participate in chat?
Friday, December 19
Gag combos
There are certain common "gag combos" or "gambits" that are good to know and use during battles. Some are good for solo battles, some are better with two, three or four toon teams. Some are good for low-level cogs, some are good for high-level cogs and some are good for a mix of cogs. Keeping in mind that for each round, you have 20 seconds or less to choose - once the last toon has chosen a gag, the round commences immediately. So within that 20 seconds, you must go through a series of "calculations."
1. Assess the cog threat - that is, know what level and states the cogs are in - thus, determine what kinds of gags will defeat them in one round. Cogs in full health will usually require different strategies than cogs that already have been damaged.
2. Assess the state of your fellow team mates. If one or more toon is at risk of going sad, toon-up might take precendence over attack gags. (See also "Buying Time for Toon-up")
3. Assess the gag strength of your fellow team mates. The success of gag combos depends on gag levels being adequate for the cog threat. This part is usually the most challenging because you can't see the gag inventory of your team mates - you don't know what gags they have on hand (unless you have been able to keep track of what gags they have been using). So that means that often you have to rely on what gags they have chosen within that 20 second window. Sometimes, the situation may require a toon to make up for an inadequate gag or even a missing gag (a toon chooses a different gag or fails to choose one at all).
4. Select the gag you will deploy. This part, in combination with step 3 - can be the most critical in the success of a battle. You must be able to recognize what gag combo the team is agreeing upon - assuming there is agreement, and you might need to also determine if that gag combo is appropriate given the cog threat or health of the toons.
This is a lot of calculations to do within 20 seconds or less. Knowing and memorizing the common gag combos and gambits helps response time and selection of an appropriate gag. Over a series of battles inside multi-story buildings and cog HQs, you have the opportunity to assess the gag strength and inventory of team mates - you can figure out what types of gags (toon-up, sound, drop, trap, lure) each toon has (either by usage or by looking at their profile), and you can assess whether they understand gag combos and battle strategies.
Also, when limited to speedchat - which in itself can be cumbersome and slows down your response time - you have to determine and/or communicate what strategy or gambit the team will use. It is not uncommon for either one or more toons to not "get it" - especially less experienced toons (not necessarily by laff level) - or simply, because of delays, time runs out to change or select gags for one or more toons.
Usually, the first toon to select a gag chooses the gambit and the other toons will follow. However, there can also be "seniority" - the highest laff level toon gets to choose the strategy, regardless of who chooses gags first. This is often true when there is a choice between lure or sound - and usually lure has precendence over sound. (Sometimes, a stubborn toon will insist on using whatever gags they are "working on" - regardless of whatever strategy the team has chosen - and spoils the team effort)
Sound combos
Sound combos are an often used gambit for teams facing two or more cogs. In cog HQs - and the occasional street battle - where toons face waves of 4 cogs at once, sound is often the gambit of choice. It is quick and simple to understand - everyone selects a sound gag that collectively, will defeat the cogs in one round, and therefore, minimizes the number of gags required and more importantly, the risk of cog attacks. It does not require dependency on a sequence of gags working. However, in order for a sound gambit to work, the toons must have high enough level sound gags. For level 10 cogs (i.e. the highest level cog in the group is a level 10) - four elephant gags will be adequate, while a level 11 will require two fog horns and two elephants. A level 12 cog will require three fog horns and an elephant. Since toons can carry only 3 fog horns, judicious use of fog horns will help prolong the sound combo option in long campaigns. In the factory, mint and DA office, there are sometimes sound barrels to restock during a campaign.
Trap-Lure-Drop combos
The trap-lure-drop combo is the second most often used combo because trap is less common gag track and the combo depends on the relatively low accuracy lure and drop gags. Also, this combo usually is limited to the successful defeat of only one cog, at most, two. But if the lure is successful, the remaining cogs, if any, will be unable to attack in the next round(s). This combo can be successfully used to defeat level 12 and v2.0 cogs in one round with as few as 3 toons. It is also interesting to note that this combo works more often than the lure or drop gags alone. This is due to the increase in accuracy that the trap gag has on lure and drop. A successfully trapped cog is stunned if it survives, and the subsequent drop gag will usually hit. This combo is good for toons needing to work on their drop track. With four toons, two of the toons can both use drop.
Squirt combos
Squirt, being highly accurate, should be used in more risky situations - such as when laff levels are low, or other gags have been missing. While squirt gags are less powerful individually, squirt combos can be very effective for even level 12 cogs - especially if they have been lured. Two rain clouds or even two seltzer and a rain cloud can defeat a lured level 12 cog.
Level 7 combos
Level 7 gags are unique in that they all work on all the cogs at once, and are very powerful. The rarity and animation of level 7 gags also make them a delight to watch in action. Also, unlike the lower level gags, level 7 gags are maxxed from the moment you earn them. However, as powerful as they are, combos are sometimes required to defeat full-health level 12 cogs. The wedding cake requires level 12 cogs to be lured in order to defeat them in one round. The opera sound gag needs the help of a fog horn or two elephants. The geyser can't defeat even lured full-health level 12 cogs, so it needs to be helped with throw, squirt or drop gags on each level 12. The Toontanic drop gag can defeat full health level 12 cogs by itself. The train trap gag requires lure, and a follow-up of sound, throw, squirt or drop on a level 12 cog.
1. Assess the cog threat - that is, know what level and states the cogs are in - thus, determine what kinds of gags will defeat them in one round. Cogs in full health will usually require different strategies than cogs that already have been damaged.
2. Assess the state of your fellow team mates. If one or more toon is at risk of going sad, toon-up might take precendence over attack gags. (See also "Buying Time for Toon-up")
3. Assess the gag strength of your fellow team mates. The success of gag combos depends on gag levels being adequate for the cog threat. This part is usually the most challenging because you can't see the gag inventory of your team mates - you don't know what gags they have on hand (unless you have been able to keep track of what gags they have been using). So that means that often you have to rely on what gags they have chosen within that 20 second window. Sometimes, the situation may require a toon to make up for an inadequate gag or even a missing gag (a toon chooses a different gag or fails to choose one at all).
4. Select the gag you will deploy. This part, in combination with step 3 - can be the most critical in the success of a battle. You must be able to recognize what gag combo the team is agreeing upon - assuming there is agreement, and you might need to also determine if that gag combo is appropriate given the cog threat or health of the toons.
This is a lot of calculations to do within 20 seconds or less. Knowing and memorizing the common gag combos and gambits helps response time and selection of an appropriate gag. Over a series of battles inside multi-story buildings and cog HQs, you have the opportunity to assess the gag strength and inventory of team mates - you can figure out what types of gags (toon-up, sound, drop, trap, lure) each toon has (either by usage or by looking at their profile), and you can assess whether they understand gag combos and battle strategies.
Also, when limited to speedchat - which in itself can be cumbersome and slows down your response time - you have to determine and/or communicate what strategy or gambit the team will use. It is not uncommon for either one or more toons to not "get it" - especially less experienced toons (not necessarily by laff level) - or simply, because of delays, time runs out to change or select gags for one or more toons.
Usually, the first toon to select a gag chooses the gambit and the other toons will follow. However, there can also be "seniority" - the highest laff level toon gets to choose the strategy, regardless of who chooses gags first. This is often true when there is a choice between lure or sound - and usually lure has precendence over sound. (Sometimes, a stubborn toon will insist on using whatever gags they are "working on" - regardless of whatever strategy the team has chosen - and spoils the team effort)
Sound combos
Sound combos are an often used gambit for teams facing two or more cogs. In cog HQs - and the occasional street battle - where toons face waves of 4 cogs at once, sound is often the gambit of choice. It is quick and simple to understand - everyone selects a sound gag that collectively, will defeat the cogs in one round, and therefore, minimizes the number of gags required and more importantly, the risk of cog attacks. It does not require dependency on a sequence of gags working. However, in order for a sound gambit to work, the toons must have high enough level sound gags. For level 10 cogs (i.e. the highest level cog in the group is a level 10) - four elephant gags will be adequate, while a level 11 will require two fog horns and two elephants. A level 12 cog will require three fog horns and an elephant. Since toons can carry only 3 fog horns, judicious use of fog horns will help prolong the sound combo option in long campaigns. In the factory, mint and DA office, there are sometimes sound barrels to restock during a campaign.
Trap-Lure-Drop combos
The trap-lure-drop combo is the second most often used combo because trap is less common gag track and the combo depends on the relatively low accuracy lure and drop gags. Also, this combo usually is limited to the successful defeat of only one cog, at most, two. But if the lure is successful, the remaining cogs, if any, will be unable to attack in the next round(s). This combo can be successfully used to defeat level 12 and v2.0 cogs in one round with as few as 3 toons. It is also interesting to note that this combo works more often than the lure or drop gags alone. This is due to the increase in accuracy that the trap gag has on lure and drop. A successfully trapped cog is stunned if it survives, and the subsequent drop gag will usually hit. This combo is good for toons needing to work on their drop track. With four toons, two of the toons can both use drop.
Squirt combos
Squirt, being highly accurate, should be used in more risky situations - such as when laff levels are low, or other gags have been missing. While squirt gags are less powerful individually, squirt combos can be very effective for even level 12 cogs - especially if they have been lured. Two rain clouds or even two seltzer and a rain cloud can defeat a lured level 12 cog.
Level 7 combos
Level 7 gags are unique in that they all work on all the cogs at once, and are very powerful. The rarity and animation of level 7 gags also make them a delight to watch in action. Also, unlike the lower level gags, level 7 gags are maxxed from the moment you earn them. However, as powerful as they are, combos are sometimes required to defeat full-health level 12 cogs. The wedding cake requires level 12 cogs to be lured in order to defeat them in one round. The opera sound gag needs the help of a fog horn or two elephants. The geyser can't defeat even lured full-health level 12 cogs, so it needs to be helped with throw, squirt or drop gags on each level 12. The Toontanic drop gag can defeat full health level 12 cogs by itself. The train trap gag requires lure, and a follow-up of sound, throw, squirt or drop on a level 12 cog.
Buying Time for Toon-up
Often during a battle, a toon-up is needed by one or all toons. However, regardless of whether or not the cogs can be defeated in the current round, it is sometimes better to buy some time to toon-up all the toons to full laff - in anticipation of the next round in the battle or next battle in a campaign. Also, It is a good practice to end a campaign with all toons at full laff. To buy time, one toon uses the appropriate lure gag, while the other toon(s) use the appropriate toon-up gag. With teams of 3 or 4 toons, the best approach is for the healthiest toon to toon-up all the other toons, and ideally, for another toon to toon-up that toon with a targeted gag. When there are only two toons on the team, the toon doing the luring ( and hence, receiving the toon-up) should reciprocate in the next round if possible.
Play like a pro
or at least look like one.
Seriously, here are some things you should know in order to play well.
1. Know your strength. It's very important to know what level cogs your gags can defeat in one round. Keep in mind that your strongest gags will get stronger the more you use them - until they are maxxed. If you plant gag trees, some of the gags will increase 10% in strength once the tree is mature and fruiting. A birthday cake gag starts out at 40-something and goes up to 100 when maxxed. An organic birthday cake (gag tree) will do 110 point damage - that's enough to defeat a lured level 11 cog. Why is it important to know? So that you can make sure you choose the right gag to finish-off a cog in battle. It is best if you develop a second sense about this, and especially - can quickly figure out what gag to use to in combination with other toon's gag in order to defeat a cog in one round, and not have to risk losing laff points. Why not just use the most powerful gag you have until you run out? Exactly - using a higher level gag than necessary will mean that you may not have your powerful gags later when you most need them - inside buildings and HQs.
2. Learn to jump. Timing is everything. To defeat goons and get through obstacles in higher-level cog HQ's beyond the Sellbot HQ, you need to be able to accurately and precisely jump your toon. Practice, practice practice. Not being able to jump accurately means you will endanger your toon and risk going sad. I recently did a DA's Office B (Lawbot HQ) and we were passing a set of goons. One of the toons went sad unexpectedly - I think he lost some laff points getting squashed by stompers, but when he couldn't jump out of the path of some goons, he went sad. And the really tragic thing is that we were almost finished - there was only one set of cogs left after doing 3 floors of what must have been 12 cogs per floor. When you go against the CFO, you will likely need to be very good at disabling goons and avoiding their deadly cone of death. The larger goons can cost you 24 laff per hit. Even 100+ laff toons can't survive too many of those in a row.
3. Power of observation. in many battles, it's very important to know the level of the cogs coming out of the elevators - because too often you can NOT see their floating tags that show their level - and you don't want to wake a lured cog without being able to finish them off. Knowing the level of the cogs means you can select the right level gag to do the job.
Other things to observe: the capabilities of your fellow toons during battle. Besides the Laff Meter, you should know which gag tracks they have, and the level of gags. All too often, I've entered elevators without really checking and find out once we're inside a building or cog HQ, and finding out that one of the fellow toons has very low laff and/or missing toon-up or sound. After a few very very close encounters with going sad, I now check that there is at least one toon in the party that has toon-up.
Seriously, here are some things you should know in order to play well.
1. Know your strength. It's very important to know what level cogs your gags can defeat in one round. Keep in mind that your strongest gags will get stronger the more you use them - until they are maxxed. If you plant gag trees, some of the gags will increase 10% in strength once the tree is mature and fruiting. A birthday cake gag starts out at 40-something and goes up to 100 when maxxed. An organic birthday cake (gag tree) will do 110 point damage - that's enough to defeat a lured level 11 cog. Why is it important to know? So that you can make sure you choose the right gag to finish-off a cog in battle. It is best if you develop a second sense about this, and especially - can quickly figure out what gag to use to in combination with other toon's gag in order to defeat a cog in one round, and not have to risk losing laff points. Why not just use the most powerful gag you have until you run out? Exactly - using a higher level gag than necessary will mean that you may not have your powerful gags later when you most need them - inside buildings and HQs.
2. Learn to jump. Timing is everything. To defeat goons and get through obstacles in higher-level cog HQ's beyond the Sellbot HQ, you need to be able to accurately and precisely jump your toon. Practice, practice practice. Not being able to jump accurately means you will endanger your toon and risk going sad. I recently did a DA's Office B (Lawbot HQ) and we were passing a set of goons. One of the toons went sad unexpectedly - I think he lost some laff points getting squashed by stompers, but when he couldn't jump out of the path of some goons, he went sad. And the really tragic thing is that we were almost finished - there was only one set of cogs left after doing 3 floors of what must have been 12 cogs per floor. When you go against the CFO, you will likely need to be very good at disabling goons and avoiding their deadly cone of death. The larger goons can cost you 24 laff per hit. Even 100+ laff toons can't survive too many of those in a row.
3. Power of observation. in many battles, it's very important to know the level of the cogs coming out of the elevators - because too often you can NOT see their floating tags that show their level - and you don't want to wake a lured cog without being able to finish them off. Knowing the level of the cogs means you can select the right level gag to do the job.
Other things to observe: the capabilities of your fellow toons during battle. Besides the Laff Meter, you should know which gag tracks they have, and the level of gags. All too often, I've entered elevators without really checking and find out once we're inside a building or cog HQ, and finding out that one of the fellow toons has very low laff and/or missing toon-up or sound. After a few very very close encounters with going sad, I now check that there is at least one toon in the party that has toon-up.
Saturday, December 13
Finding Cog Types by Street
Many TT tasks require finding and defeating a specific type of cog - bossbot, lawbot, cashbot or sellbot. Eventually, after defeating enough of a type of cog, the Cog Gallery can become a cog radar and show how many of each type and kind of cog are present on the street. Defeat even more cogs and that same cog radar will show how many buildings are present.
However, the cog radar only works on the street you are on, so sometimes you have to go to each street at a playground to find the type you seek. Toontown actually has some rules on what types of cogs you will be able to find on each street (with the exception of a cog invasion - in which you will find the same kind of cog on every street and inside every building*). The rules about what types of cogs are on each street are general guidelines - that is, at any given moment, the percentages vary widely. I think this has to do with cog invasions displacing the normal resident cogs, but also - other toons may have hunted specific types or kinds of cogs to temporary extinction. If this is the case, you can change districts and search the same street.
Below is a chart summarizing the rough percentages of cog types by street. Some streets will have predominantly one type of cog (up to 90%), and some streets will not have any of a specific type - barring a cog invasion. Still, it is a useful chart that I've consulted myself numerous times and should be useful to other toons.
I am currently considering compiling a more detailed chart of where to find specific kinds of cogs - e.g. Name Droppers - but I have to do some research to figure out the feasibility and accuracy of such a chart.
*except the factory, mint, DA's office or cog golf courses).
However, the cog radar only works on the street you are on, so sometimes you have to go to each street at a playground to find the type you seek. Toontown actually has some rules on what types of cogs you will be able to find on each street (with the exception of a cog invasion - in which you will find the same kind of cog on every street and inside every building*). The rules about what types of cogs are on each street are general guidelines - that is, at any given moment, the percentages vary widely. I think this has to do with cog invasions displacing the normal resident cogs, but also - other toons may have hunted specific types or kinds of cogs to temporary extinction. If this is the case, you can change districts and search the same street.
Below is a chart summarizing the rough percentages of cog types by street. Some streets will have predominantly one type of cog (up to 90%), and some streets will not have any of a specific type - barring a cog invasion. Still, it is a useful chart that I've consulted myself numerous times and should be useful to other toons.
I am currently considering compiling a more detailed chart of where to find specific kinds of cogs - e.g. Name Droppers - but I have to do some research to figure out the feasibility and accuracy of such a chart.
*except the factory, mint, DA's office or cog golf courses).
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