Agree w/JK, I think Fizz foresaw the importance of JS. It's pretty easy to see that it will be easy to do JS attacks for most territories, and that the result will be nearly 25% reduction of armies required across the board.

I think what you're missing is that the level generation takes all this into account. The algorithm is something like this: first, decide on target # of days the level should take to clear; then dependent on # of territories assign # of recipes/camps/markets/smelters/crafters/total # of armies on map taking JS/etc into consideration.

So if JS wasn't in play, there would be less armies on the map. With JS being such an early and cheap upgrade, it means it's actually very easy to factor into the level generation (everyone will get it).

I guess I can see it. It just strikes me that it is so much more powerful than any other ap upgrade. It's like other ap upgrades are on a scale of 0-3, and joint strike is an 11.

Certainly not all Advancements are made equal. Some are simply better than others, and JS is the king of them all - not only b/c it's cheap, but b/c it constantly maintains its value from the moment you unlock it through 1st Ascension and long after even after 4th or 5th Ascension, it still holds value, which isn't the case for all Advancements. Merc & money based Advancements are directly after JS. Counting only army camp units & mercs, my ratio of armies earned is 4% army camps, 96% mercs. As you progress through levels, your speed gets QUICKER not SLOWER -- so army camps that require you to wait longer to get the benefits from (and let's be clear here - if you clear a level more quickly, you're earning less armies from your camps unless you somehow hyper-upgrade them asap, but then you still have to wait to earn the units from them) do not align to this strategy, but merc & quick money making strat aligns to clearing faster. Basically, it's quicker to craft, earn money & buy mercs, then it is to craft, earn money, upgrade camps, wait for armies to accumulate.

In my opinion, the best advancements are, in order of raw value, not in order they should/can be unlocked:

- Joint Strike
- Better Hospitals
- Increased Cache Armies
- Increase Crafters Speed
- Increase Item Sell Values
- Additional Mercs
- Discounted Mercs
- Increased AP
- Increased Cache Money
- Increased Army Camp Production
- Increased Ore Sell Values
- Discounted Mine Upgrades
- Faster Digging
- Increased Cache Resources

And I've purposely left these two out . . . b/c they are essentially a set pair, and by the time you can afford them, you likely no longer need them b/c you've already Ascended 3-4 times and probably don't care about playing ML anymore, and maybe not even WZI anymore at all.

- Simultaneous Levels
- Can Skip Levels

But of course you can't unlock them in that order b/c some are locked in phase 2, 3 or 4. Now if I reordered these into the order that they should be unlocked & unless stipulated also fully maxed out before continuing down the list, I'd probably say:

[phase 1]
- *Joint Strike
- Increased Army Camp Production - only to ~100%
- *Additional Mercs
- Increased Ore Sell Values
- Discounted Mine Upgrades
- *Increased Cache Money
[phase 2]
- *Increase Crafters Speed
- *Discounted Mercs
- *Increased AP
- *Increased Cache Resources
- Increased Army Camp Production - up to 200-300%

[phase 3]
- *Increase Item Sell Values
- Increased Money from Bonuses

[phase 4]
- *Increased Cache Armies
- *Better Hospitals
- *Faster Digging

NOTE:
- Items with asterisks are the ones that will give the highest value AFTER your 1st Ascension b/c they aren't related to time, but rather to activity, such as capturing a territory, crafting items, etc. Completing a level more quickly doesn't impact the value these advancements provide.
- Item without an asterisk are time based, meaning you need time to pass in order to get benefit from those advancements, and thus as you level up and begin to complete levels more quickly, the less value these advancements will provide.
- Thus, imho advancements like JS, Additional+Discounted Mercs, the Cache bonuses, Better Hospitals, Crafter Speed, Item Sell Values have higher longer term value than advancements like IACP, Ore sell value, Increased Money from Bonuses. We can call these "long term benefit advancements" (LTBA) and "short term benefit advancements" (STBA).
- STBA are still necessary to do better on your 1st playthrough, even to some degree on your 2nd playthrough. IACP up to 200-300% is still likely going to have some value in early level phases before mercs & crafters come into play.
- But as your level clear times decrease, you're going to have less time to mine ore, to earn money from bonuses, to accumulate armies from army camps, etc. What took 16+ days to clear on the first playthrough and allowed you to generate lots of armies/ore/money, will only take 4-7 days on the 2nd playthrough, vastly reducing the benefit you receive from these STBA. This became clear to me when I compared my level clear stats of levels from my 1st and 2nd playthroughs, and finding that despite upgrading IACP, Ore sell values, Money bonuses, etc, that my armies from camps, income from selling ore & from bonuses was significantly down each time. Of course this is the simple math of VERY LONG TIME * MediumValue >> VERY SHORT TIME * HighValue.
- But the LTBA are related to activities such as buying mercs, capturing territories or caches, crafting items (technically this is still somewhat time based but this LTBA actually makes things craft more quickly, so it mitigates this factor), finishing levels, etc. So the benefit these provide doesn't reduce as your clear speed decreases, and they continue to offer high value despite the value of the STBAs reducing.
- It actually poses the question whether investing in a blend of STBAs & LTBAs to get through the 1st playthrough and maybe part or all of the 2nd is still recommended, and then resetting AP to focus on the LTBAs from that point forward.

Edited 8/5/2021 05:55:17

Probably the best analysis on advancements I've seen yet, and by no small margin. well done, and thanks.

Very nice analysis krinid, but those advancements only really cover the normal levels. For challenges and WZIB, players who have a lot more than 100% camp production tend to be more successful.

How good will your item based strat work after the new update?

@JK
This is a strictly WZIP (WZI Proper) strat. WZIB & WZIC require other considerations that I shall refrain from weighing in on.

As for after this update . . . too soon to say. Still on the first level ... Hardened copper Creek, finishing soon . . . and so far the markets are giving me varying results. Some don't go up much, only 1-2%, and others have gone up 10-15%. All I can say so far is that it seems that the more expensive items go up more quickly. Which is terrible, b/c it means gold, platinum, neodymium will be smashed for market-profitable crafting.

As for adjusting the strat ... see this thread:
https://www.warzone.com/Forum/568266-new-warzone-5140-smeltingcrafting-guide?Offset=0

It seems KCE & Sefer's methods are the way forward. This is the way. I think it will slow progress down, b/c it makes the early and mid games slower while investing in mining. Otherwise you get to the end game without enough ore, can't craft, and have missed the potential benefit of having higher ore levels since early game. Maybe Supercharged Mine artifact will become a necessary friend? To put in the 4th Boy.