How to Succeed in eUSA Part 1 - Strength, Rank, XP

Day 2,246, 11:18 • Published in USA USA • by Gnilraps
I Don’t Want to Grow Up (Mandatory listening)
Day 2246 of the New World
13 January, 2014



by Gnilraps


This is Part 1 of a 10-Part guide called How to Succeed in eUSA.



There are three escalating game metrics which influence how your Citizen impacts the New World. With the exception of “unlocking” certain game features (all of which come very early in your career) by building experience, all three dynamics impact the military aspect of the game ONLY. In other words, other than a very few exceptions, there is no direct political or economic impact from the gain of Strength, Rank, or Experience.

Much of this discussion, then, revolves around the Military dynamics of the game. Part 2 of this guide goes into deeper detail on that topic. But before you learn about those, you need to understand how Strength, Rank, and Experience impact your Citizen.



Strength

The Strength metric is the most cherished of the three. This is for two reasons.

First, Strength can only be added once per day by “Training”. So there is a limit to how quickly Strength will grow. (Occasionally eRepublik will also use “Strength” as a reward for certain achievements. Whenever it is offered thusly, the successful Citizen will endeavor to reach these achievements. None should ever be missed.)

To maximally increase your Strength, Gold must be spent on improving Training Grounds. For this and a few other reasons, Gold is the most valuable monetary commodity in eRepublik. More on that in Part 4 of this guide. But under no circumstances should the successful Citizen ever fail to skip a day of training.

Second, relatively speaking Strength is the most impactful metric on determining each Citizen’s effectiveness on the battlefield. While each minor increment of strength seems only to add a minimal effect on your Influence output, the true value of Strength is that it can be increased without impacting Experience. And as you will see below, this is extremely important.

Strength is of such maximal importance, the improvement of your Training Grounds should be your first and only true priority as a new player (to understand this more fully, see Part 2 of this guide). The more you heed this advice, the more successful you will be in the long run. There is no reasonable argument against this fact.

To wrap this advice into a single memorable nugget: Save all Gold for Training Grounds upgrades until all four TG’s are Q4. Meanwhile, build your Strength.



Rank

The Rank metric is really nothing more than a series of plateaus which are solely achieved by accumulating battlefield “hits”. It is the second most important Military metric.

With each increase in Rank, you are awarded a 5% multiplier increase. For more detail on exactly how Rank and Strength impact your Influence, see Part 2 of this guide. But for this discussion, it is enough to know that there is a reward for increasing your Rank. But there is also a cost.

With each battlefield “hit”, you accumulate 1 Experience Point (XP). As you will see below, accumulating XP in eRepublik, contrary to what you have known from every other game, is a bad thing until you’ve reached Division 4 (XP level 37). After that, XP increases become desirable.

The game will taunt you with a constant visual reminder of your rank, even including a progress bar on the battlefield. Ignore it. Don’t let it suck you into feeding it. Gaining rank is NOT VERY IMPORTANT until you reach XP level 37.

Memorable nugget: Exercise restraint by ignoring your Rank ; let Rank take care of itself while you focus on Strength and the Daily Military Goals outlined at the end of Part 2 of this guide.



Experience

All you need to know about XP can be understood by listening to the song linked at the top of this article. “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” by Tom Waits is a great song, and its main principle should be applied to eRepublik XP until your Citizen reaches XP level 37.

Yes, this is counterintuitive to every other game you’ve probably ever played. But believe me on this, you don’t want to grow up.

There is really only one reason for this, but it is so vastly compelling that only one reason is needed. When you level up in XP, your Citizen moves closer to (or into) the next highest Division on the Battlefield. Read that again, then read on.

You will gain a more complete understanding of this concept after you’ve read Part 2 of this guide on Military Game Mechanics.

For this discussion it is enough for you to understand that whenever your Citizen matriculates into the next highest Division, you will be competing against Citizens whose Strength and Rank are more developed. Your relative impact on the battlefield decreases as your Division increases. The only way to slow down your progress into the next Division is to avoid gaining XP.

This means that the successful Citizen will measure every single battlefield hit against the question: Do I really need this next kill? If the answer is “no”, then walk away. Over time this will have a hugely positive impact on your success as an eRepublik fighter.

What determines the answer to that question? That answer comes in Part 2 of this Guide, Military Game Mechanics. You should read that article after you complete this one.

But the most important concept to understand about Experience is that the successful Citizen will avoid XP level 37 as long as possible. After that, the entire XP dynamic changes.

Memorable nugget: XP is bad. Avoid it like leprosy.



In review, here are some basic facts about Strength, Rank, and Experience.

Strength is always good, and the more you can get of it, the better off you are. Rank is OK and provides a benefit, but it should only be gained accidentally; it should never be pursued. Experience is bad and should be avoided until XP level 37.

Strength and Rank impact your Battle Influence. XP impacts your Battle Division. It is better to have high strength and fight in a low Division than to have lower strength and fight in a higher Division.

Building Strength will cost Gold.
Building Rank will cost USD (in the form of weapons and food).
Building XP will cost you in relevance.



Part 2 of this guide will go into detail about how the Military dynamics can be taken optimal advantage of for the benefit of your Citizen..


You may now return to your regularly scheduled clicking