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Hey guys,

I have recently been inspired to start writing again and decided to finish a "eProject" I was procrastinating on since last year.

In the following few weeks I am about to publish a series of guides, most of which dedicated to the aspect of the game I find most interesting - the Military mode.

I have decided to call this set of articles The Feynmann series and I hope they will be worthy of the name.


THE TOPICS:

- Complete Aircraft Mode Guide - The mode explained, tools, relevant packs, medal hunting strategies for the pilots.

- Ground based fighting Mode Guide - The mode explained, tools, relevant packs, medal hunting strategies for the tanks.

- General Utility Guide - Residences, Housing, Travelling, Weekly challenge utilization and Epics.

- Fighting Strategies Guide - How to fight. When to Fight. The eSoldier's fighting manual

- eRepublik Wars Guide - different types of wars, alliances, military campaigns.

Some of the guides will be quite long, but I think it will be better for anyone seeking information about certain topics to find all the relevant information in one place - skip the parts that are known and read the parts that are interesting and new.

I will start with the Complete Aircraft mode guide

Naturally this guide, as the others, is intended to help those elusive eCreatures - the new players. But I will add another group - the returning players.

From what I’ve read and seen the current game meta is probably quite alien for them and similarly to the new players they face significant disadvantages, compared to the active old players.

So with the hope that someone will actually read my guides and maybe, just maybe they will be useful I'm gonna start this one.


Let's set the mood with some music (Click Albert E=MC'stein)








I will divide this guide into 5 segments:

- The Aircraft game mechanics
- The ePilot's kit
- Aircraft mode relevant packs
- Medal Hunting opportunities for the pilots
- The ePilot's account development tips




In brief:

- The Aircraft mode rounds are part of every military campaign in the game, with every 4th round in a campaign being an aircraft round.


- Despite being less frequent than the ground rounds, the Air rounds are crucial for the progression of every campaign, because they grant the winner of the round 22 points, while a normal ground based round gives a maximum of 11 points (if none of the rounds goes Epic). A campaign ends with one of the sides reaching 94 points.


- You can check for active Air rounds on the Wars’ list and look for that icon….
or just use the wars filter.


- The analogue of the strength, you build up by training, in the Aircraft mode is Perception. Despite being introduced as a concept it is still not implemented and as to the present moment there is no way to gain Perception. We can only speculate if it will be implemented in the future and some Perception training grounds introduced.


- The lack of Perception means that every pilot’s damage/hit is calculated based on his/her Air Rank and whether or not (s)he uses weapons. So flying as much as possible and building up your Aircraft rank is a must for players, who focus their account development on the Aircraft mode.


- Unlike the Ground based battlefield structure, there are no Divisions in the Aircraft mode. Therefore players with different experience and Air rank will naturally be fighting together in any given Air round.


There are some unique features of the Aircraft mode in terms of weapons and enhancements, so I will try to explain all of them briefly in the next section






AIRCRAFT WEAPONS



Currently only Q1 Aircraft weapons have been implemented in the game.
Similar to the Ground based weapons the Q1 Aircraft weapons (Missiles) have Firepower and Durability stats - the firepower determines how much damage the weapon inflicts and the durability determines how many hits can you make with that weapon.

Q1 Aircraft Weapons:

Firepower - 20%
Durability - 1

The low Firepower and durability as well as the high production costs -> high market price, renders the Aircraft weapons not worth buying at the current stage of the game. So it will be better to fight without a weapon.

Keep in mind that, despite it is not worthy buying the them, there are some governments and some military unit communes that supply Aircraft weapons, so if you are lucky enough you may still get some missiles.




DAMAGE BOOSTERS & DAMAGE ACCELERATORS





The 50% & 100% damage boosters and the Ghost boosters DO NOT work in the aerial battles.

With that said there are other ways for you to enhance your damage.

- Natural Enemy Bonus

The 10% Natural enemy bonus applies to your Aircraft damage. So try to utilise it, as it makes a big difference for your damage output.

Important:

As with the ground based battles, the 10% Natural enemy damage bonus will NOT account for 10% more rank points. In other words you’d do 10% more damage, but the rank points you gain will be calculated using your hit damage value, without the 10% NE bonus.


Elite citizen Bonus


This comes after completing the “My mission 100” mission. Other than the shiny badge you get a permanent 10% Damage booster that applies both on the Ground and the Air and also in any campaign no matter which side will you fight for.

Unlike the NE bonus that 10% bonus damage is added to your rank points gain formula, so completing that mission for the accounts focusing on the Aircraft more is very important.


Damage Accelerators




The damage accelerators increase the rate at which you deploy your damage. By activating a damage accelerator you will NOT be given more damage per hit - you will be able to do more hits per FIGHT button click. Think of it as defeating the same opponent twice or more (depending on the type of Damage Accelerator you use) with one click of the FIGHT button.

The damage accelerators allow you to focus your damage in a short duration of time, making them very important for coordinated strikes and in some cases for medal hunting.

I will explain the value of the damage accelerators in the Medal hunting section of this guide and also in the "Fighting Strategies Guide".


AIM-92 STINGERS


These were first introduced during the 10th Anniversary event and we have recently seen them, being offered with the Spring Packs, during the Easter event. So they will probably be regularly offered during events.

The AIM-92 Stingers work on the same basic principle like the ground based bazookas. Every stinger has a durability of 3 -> you can perform 3 hits with it, as each hit grants you a 1 hit defeat of your opponent. Every hit with the Stinger grants a flat 1000 Air damage, that is not modified by your Air rank.

Similar to the bazookas the Stingers’ damage/hit can be modified, using damage boosters. But since the only damage booster, that applies in the Aircraft mode is the Elite citizen 10% damage bonus, your Stinger hit can only be modified by 10%. So if you have the Elite citizen bonus your stingers will inflict 1100 Air damage per hit, instead of 1000, which, if you think of it that way, is a 1 free regular Stinger’s damage for every 10 stingers you use with the Elite citizen bonus.

IMPORTANT: Similar to the bazookas, the Stingers are equipped by default when you enter the Aerial battlefield. So remember to always switch to "No weapon" if the round is not important and you do not intend to use Stingers.

UPDATE: I would like to thank Magnus Tradeus for the feedback in the comments - he pointed out that NE bonus also implies to the Stinger's damage, so their hit can be boosted to 1210. I tested it and it is correct. SWEET! Thank you Magnus!


ENERGY CENTERS




Since there is no Perception ability implemented, yet, and since most players do not use Aircraft weapons your air damage output will be delivered by meticulously deploying as much basic, unarmed hits as you are capable of.

And to do this you'd either need a substantial Energy pool,a pile of Energy bars or preferably - both.

The energy bars are hard to come buy for new players and non-spenders, so having a sufficiently large Energy pool allows you to save your energy bars for important battles.

There are a few ways to increase your Energy pool:

- Active Houses

Other than a few other features (more on the houses in the Utility Guide), every active house adds some recoverable energy to your Energy pool.

Q1 House - 50 Energy
Q2 House - 80 Energy
Q3 House - 100 Energy
Q4 House - 150 Energy
Q5 House - 200 Energy

So if you have a complete set of active houses you will have 580 additional energy pool or 1160 when at full energy.

Keep in mind, though, that currently the houses are very expensive - a Q1-Q5 set of houses costs ~63 000 cc or more than 130G converted on the current monetary market and lasts for ~200 hours tops, depending on the type of your residence.

Calculate for your specific case, if you will be able to afford buying houses, but generally speaking, if you work for a top job market salary you should constantly use at least Q1 & Q2 houses as they pay for themselves with your overtime works and you even get some currency left. The increased Energy pool and Energy restoration/6 mins will help you, increasing the efficiency of your daily fights.


- Residence

Being a resident of a region gives you an additional +50 Energy pool from the Central park.

- Special items shop Energy centers



You can buy those either using gold or Loyalty points. It is up to you, of course, but it is important to buy them at some point, especially if your main focus is the Aircraft mode.

Important:
The special items' shop energy centers may be offered for sale with a discount, during events, Anniversaries, Black Fridays, etc. So if you are low on Gold and do not have a reliable gold income consider waiting for such a discount to buy those centers.

- Packs

Some packs, that you can buy with real money or in-game currency include a different energy center.

I will present the Aircraft mode relevant packs in the next section.







The game is still free and no one is obligated to spend real money to play, so that next section depends on whether you are spending real money or whether you have the infrastructure, allowing you to purchase packs with ingame currency.



Every pack grants you certain features that can significantly enhance your game experience and relevance on the battlefield.

I will try to describe the packs that, in my opinion, are most relevant for the development of the Aircraft mode focusing players.

- Power Pack




This pack provides 2 features that are of great importance for every pilot - Energy center and additional Energy restoration per 6 mins.

- The +20 Energy restoration per 6 mins (for 30 days) is one of the best enhancements offered by the game. It really makes a big difference and allows you to restore your energy a lot quicker, especially when your energy pool is massive and can sometimes take half a day or more to be restored. Depending on your activity you will be able to fight a lot more often, achieving more goals, taking more medals and climbing to lvl 100 and getting that additional Elite citizen bonus damage, sooner.

- The +200 Energy Center (for 30 days) is a nice additive for you and allows you to make more cheap food fights and save some energy bars.

- Some additional gold and energy bars are always cool.

- The bombs will allow you to aid your country/allies on the ground, without the need to waste energy there.

In my opinion the Power pack is the best general purpose pack, suitable for every type of player who wants to boost his/her fighting capabilities. It can easily be used by itself, without other packs. But make sure you are active enough to use it's potential at its fullest.



- Blitzkrieg pack




The Blitzkrieg pack provides another 2 very important features for the pilots.

- The MASSIVE +2k Energy center (for 30 days) allows you to be competitive on the battlefield both in the case of Sky Hero medal hunting or fighting for your country or allies in the real war case scenario.

- The 5x Damage accelerators are very important for focusing your damage in a short time duration, again, both in the Sky Hero hunt and a real war case scenario.

- The gold and the energy bars are a nice additive as always.

- The bombs will, again, allow you to aide your side on the ground, without wasting energy for ground fights.


The Blitzkrieg pack is the pack of choice for the Sky Hero hunters/ Heavy Air hitters. That massive energy center added to your other energy centers allows you to make a lot of food hits, but requires a lot of time to recharge, so it may be a good idea to:

* Start the week, utilizing the Tuesday epics and getting yourself some nice energy restoration per 6 mins from the weekly challenge.

* Combine the Blitz pack with a Power pack.


One can do perfectly ok with only the Power and the Blitz packs, but if you are ok with spending more real money for the game or you have a massive infrastructure, that allows you to buys more packs with ingame currency you can also consider:



- War & Combat Stashes


Those 2 are pretty similar and straight forward.

The War Stash will provide you with a 10% bonus rank points enhancement, that helps you build up your air rank faster.

The Combat stash provides you with a +10% bonus gold for every achievement you gain, so it is only effective if you are actively hunting Sky Hero medals - getting at least a few per day, so that the enhancement is used efficiently.








- SKY HERO



* About


The Sky Hero medal is awarded for dealing the highest damage for a side in an air round.

Winning a Sky Hero Medal provides you with 30 gold.


*Cost and profitability

Although the 30 Gold reward seems quite tempting, bear in mind that since there's no perception ability and no significant damage boosters you need to dump a lot of hits in order to deal enough damage for a Sky Hero, therefore if you do not have a massive Energy pool, you will have to consume a lot of Energy bars.

You get some free energy bars from missions, daily orders and the Weekly challenge, but if you have to buy your energy bars, even with a discount, a single energy bar will cost you 1.37 Gold.

The EB cost of the Sky Hero medal is important if you want to get some profitability out of your Sky Hero medal. So here are some numbers that I hope will visualize well enough the importance of the Air rank, the utilization of the damage bonuses and the impact of the different energy pool enhancements.



The example I have picked is for an average training war Sky Hero damage - 90k and average air ranks - Chief Master Sergeant & Wing Commander.


Just place your particular account case in the table and think before you decide to go for a Sky Hero.


*Getting a Sky Hero medal - Tips


You have already decided you are prepared and will go for it, so how do you do it?

- Start early

Check for air rounds that are about to start and make sure you hit from the first few seconds. Most Sky Hero hunters will do the same.

If you are hitting alone in the first few minutes and you are able to deal more than 80k Air damage without anyone else contesting you it is almost sure that you are getting that Sky Hero.

If, when you start hitting in the first few mins, someone else starts hitting with you, it will be better to check that player, before you continue hitting. If he/she is a "professional" Sky Hero hunter (has hundreds and more Sky Hero medals) and especially if he/she is above lvl 400 you should better step down and save your resources.

- Pick a proper campaign

* Campaigns vs your cs country's Natural Enemy will allow you 10% more damage -> less hits needed -> less resources used. If your cs country is not a top 10 country that would be a logical choice, but in countries like Serbia, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, etc. those Air rounds will be full of Sky Hero contestants, so you can end up using more resources.

* Try hitting for the resistance side in a Training war resistance war.

Those are low damage Air rounds and generally not that infested with Sky Hero Hunters. If you are able to deal ~90k Air damage without being contested early on you are most likely going to get the Sky Hero.

- Consider using damage accelerators

To ensure you are able to dump enough damage early on, so you won't be contested, you may want to use a damage accelerator. The 1 Gold worth 2x Accelerator should suffice, but it is up to you and the particular case.
Keep in mind that if you are contested and your opponent uses damage accelerator too, then he/she is most likely committed to get that Sky Hero, so "weigh" your opponent before you continue hitting.



- FREEDOM FIGHTER & MERCENARY MEDALS


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These two medals are the most commonly seeked goal for the regular fighters, because they do not require a significant resource input and cannot be "stolen" by stronger players.

I am putting those two medals in one section, because the way I see it, they should be "hunted" together.

In brief:

The Freedom Fighter (FF) Medal awards you with 1000 ingame currency for defeating a certain amount of opponents FOR the resistance side in a SUCCESSFUL Resistance war (the resistance have to win).

Every consecutive FF medal requires different amount of opponents defeated and successful resistance war participation.

FF #1 - Fight in 3 successful Resistance Wars and defeat 25 opponents in each

FF #2 - Fight in 3 successful Resistance Wars and defeat 50 opponents in each

FF #3 - Fight in 3 successful Resistance Wars and defeat 75 opponents in each

FF #4 - Fight in 4 successful Resistance Wars and defeat 25 opponents in each

FF #5 - Fight in 4 successful Resistance Wars and defeat 50 opponents in each

FF #6 - Fight in 4 successful Resistance Wars and defeat 75 opponents in each

The number of successful resistance wars will increase and when you complete the 75 opponents defeated stack for 10 countries (FF medal #24)then the resistance wars count will reset back to 25 opponents defeated in 3 successful RWs at your 25th FF medal.

The Mercenary Medal (MM) will award you with 1 000 ingame currency for defeating 25 opponents for 50 countries.

Your progress on both medals can be seen by hovering over the medals on your profile page.

- Tips

* Never go for a MM alone. Get MM stacks as "by-product" while scoring FF stacks. Otherwise the cost of travelling will render the MM income completely useless.

* Score MM stacks ONLY when you are scoring 25 opponents defeated FF stacks. You should score your 25 kills for the resistance and then switch sides and with the rest of your energy score your MM stack for the occupying country (if you haven't already). Scoring the 50 and 75 kills FF stacks will deplete most or all of the regular players' energy and you won't have enough to complete the MM stack for the occupying country.

* Travel wisely - focus on the FF "sweet spot countries". Those are usually top tier countries and have 2, 3 or even more Training wars. That means that they always have a Training war resistance active and you can easily score a lot of FF stacks, together with MM stacks for the "sweet spot" country and its Training War partners.

* If your energy pool is not big enough to score 75 Air round kills in one discharge, consider completing your 75 kills stack on the ground (in the next round) using bazookas or Ghost booster, so you get 1 shot kills and waste less energy on the ground.

* Never use Energy bars to complete FF or MM stacks. Better wait for your energy to recharge or even lose the FF stack, instead of wasting EBs.

* If you have scored all of your FF stacks but the last 1 or more have not yet ended and you still haven't gotten your FF medal, but you have enough energy you can score the next FF medal's stack and it will be counted for your next FF medal as long as you make sure that the next FF medal's campaign will end after the last campaign you have scored for the previous FF medal.

Example:


The last of my 25 kills in 7 RWs I have scored in Burgundy for France, but I had enough energy to score 50 more kills, so I traveled to Canada and scored 50 kills in an Air round in their TW with The Netherlands.
The campaign in Burgundy was in its last round while the campaign in S. Netherlands was in its 4th round, so I knew it will end after Burgundy, so the 50 kills in S. Netherlands will be added to my next FF medal progress. If S.Netherlands ends first I will still get the FF, but unless I don't travel back to fight in Burgundy and score 24 more kills I will lose that stack for the next FF medal.






- Training Grounds upgrade

Upgrade your Weights room training ground to Q4 first and when you have enough gold upgrade the Climbing Center Training Grounds to Q4.

Important:
Only Upgrade training grounds when there's a 45% Training grounds upgrade Discount. It happens roughly once every 40 days.

Upgrading the training grounds may seem counterproductive, because you don't need strength to fight in the air. Think of the First two fully upgraded Training centers as a Gold producing company.

Let's do the numbers

The Q4 Weights room gives you 20 Strength/day with no cost of training
The Q4 Climbing center gives you 10 strength/day and you need to pay 0.19 Gold

So 30 Strength/day for both and if you work and train every day you get a bonus strength from your daily task - 1 Str every day and +4 str every 5th day you have worked and trained in a row.

So you get 4 Super Soldier Medals in 32 Days = 20 Gold.
You pay 0.19 G for Training in the Climbing centers so 32x0.19 = 6.08 Gold spent for Training

So you get a 13.92 Gold every 32 Days.

You have invested 93,5 x2 = 187 Gold (while on discount) in upgrading your Training grounds, but I like to think of that "investment" more like as a deposit. You can always Downgrade your training grounds to Q1 and get 85 Gold in return. That's only 8.5 Gold wasted and if you have trained long enough you would make up for that difference multiple times.
And since the Training grounds discounts are somewhat frequent you can upgrade again at some point in the future.

Important: NEVER use Training contracts, while training in only your Weights room and Climbing center.


- Always use Q1 and Q2 Houses

The higher quality houses might be out of your reach, but the Q1 and Q2 houses pay for themselves.

The Q1&Q2 will increase your Energy pool with 260 (when at full energy) and provide you with +4 additional energy restoration/6mins, making it easier for you to complete your fighting goals.


- Purchase the Special items shop Energy centers.

Whenever you feel comfortable, depending on your goals and gold balance, purchasing the +50 and +100 Energy centers will make a big difference for you.

Do not rush it though. Present your personal case to your MU friends and ask for the right time to buy.

Consider waiting for discounts.


- Fly as often as you can

The Pilot's analogue of training in the world without "Perception" is fighting in Air rounds as often as you can.

As you saw in the table, in the Sky Hero section, the Aircraft rank makes a huge difference.

- Be self-sufficient

Most governments and MUs provide food for those in need, but at some point you may consider producing your own food. Not having to pay for your food will increase your profitability from Freedom Fighter and Mercenary medals.


- Aim for lvl 101

Try to get that 10% Elite bonus damage as soon as possible - it will make a big difference for you. Do not be concerned about leveling up.







Thank you all for reading till the end.

If you consider this guide useful, please - vote and share it and as always I would appreciate your feedback in the comments section below.