New Battle Module Explained

Day 1,665, 09:40 • Published in USA USA • by Gnilraps

Department of Change
Day 1,665 of the New World
11 June 2012

While many Citizens of eRepbulik were waiting for a potentially massive overhaul of the battle module, the overhaul came. It is not massive.

However it does make for some major changes in how battles might be won or lost, and so 16 Shells will take you into some detail, followed by some opinion about what this means for all of us.



First of all, and quite basically, the "Fight" button is now a one-shot-kill button which will deduct the appropriate amount of health/weapons from you in order to kill your enemy without you having to click multiple times.


Secondly,


Divsions.

That is the new word in eRepublik battles.

Every Citizen who enters a mini battle will fight within one of four divisions. His division will be determined by his game Experience Level.

Division 1 is for newer players levels 1 - 24
Division 2 is for players in levels 25 - 29
Division 3 is for players in levels 30 - 36
Division 4 is for players in levels 37 and higher.

Keep in mind, we are not talking about military rank here, but game Experience Level, that little number next to your avatar in the top left corner of the window.


At level 50, I will fight in division 4.

Each mini battle must result in a total of 1800 points (same as in the old system) being reached, but in the new system 1800 points must be reached by each division. No mini is over until all four divisions have reached 1800 points.

Once each division has reached 1800 points, each winning division scores "Campaign Points" for their side.

The Division 1 winner scores 1 Campaign Point
The Division 2 winner scores 2 Campaign Points
The Division 3 winner scores 3 Campaign Points
The Division 4 winner scores 5 Campaign Points

These points accumulate from one mini to the next until one side reaches 83 total points. As soon as 83 points are reached, the battle is over.



New Battle Hero rules, old Campaign Hero rules.

Under the new system, each minibattle will award 4 BH medals per side, one in each division. Only the Division 4 BH medals will be worth 5G, though.

The Division 1 Battle Hero receives 2 Gold
The Division 2 Battle Hero receives 3 Gold
The Division 3 Battle Hero receives 4 Gold
The Division 4 Battle Hero receives 5 Gold



What hasn't change😛

Your Strength and Rank continue to exert your relative influence on the battle field.

No Minibattle will last longer than 120 minutes.

A battle will still require a minimum of 8 minibattles.

All weapons and food are unchanged in their battle impact.



It will take less time to spend your health in a battle. Duh.

Experience Level is now an extremely important game dynamic. On the surface, it is easy to see that these changes have made lower level players more significant in battle outcomes. But there is even more afoot than just that. Leveling up is now almost a bad thing! A player who has a high strength but a lower level is extremely valuable, as he will exert more influence within his division than others who have leveled up with less attention payed to strength.

This means that Economic "clicks" are more costly now than they were in the past, as they affect 2 experience points instead of just the 1 that comes from clicking FIGHT.

The overall effect of this shift is somewhat mitigated by the lower scoring potential of the lower divisions, but it is worth considering nevertheless. Quite plainly, ranking up in strength quickly while also leveling up in experience slowly is the new method for all Military-minded players.

This could of course have HUGE ramifications if certain countries are able to produce massive amounts of "new players" (sometimes known as "bots"), but that doesn't happen in eRepublik, does it?

It is now of utmost importance to organize our Military structure so that Q6 weapons are in the hands of as many soldiers as possible. In the past, the actual impact of a Q6 weapon in the hands of a 1 month old Citizen was negligible. But now, a pile of Q6's might be the difference in winning a division, extending a battle for another mini, or turning the entire battle altogether.

The change in Battle Hero rules means more BH's for younger players. That's great. Admin has not yet introduced any way to track who is winning the BH race per division, so I'd guess that is coming. But it means that younger players will be able to compete for BH medals without having to save Bazookas for 2 months, only to lose it to someone else who happens to have saved up a few more.

I expect our Government agencies, The Department of Defense, the National Security Council, the eUS Civilian Military Group, and the USAF to consider some revised policies in light of the new Battle module.

HOW TO READ THE NEW CAMPAIGN INFORMATION SCREEN

By clicking the small button labeled, "Campaign Details", the above image is dropped down. This is where we can read the scoring information per division.

In the above image, we see that USA is winning 10 to 1 overall. The first to reach 83 will win the Battle.

We can see that Spain got its 1 point from a Division 1 victory. Sadly, not included in this screen is any information about which mini battle was won by Division 1 for Spain.

The image also shows that in the current minibattle, USA is winning in divisions 1, 2, and 4.

In division 1, Spain is behind 410 to 200. Seeing this means that this division may determine how long this minibattle lasts.

Make note of the faint blue/red arrows extending from the center bar in either direction. Those are the indicator of which side (in each division) is currently gaining points.

There isn't much more to be learned from this screen. However, if you hover your mouse over the big "total points" number, all of the points will flash white. Why? I have no idea. But someone must of thought it looked cool. (Protip: Don't try hovering your mouse over my copy of the Campaign Details screen, it won't work...)

This would be the perfect screen for Admin to add information about Division BH leaders. They also ought to add some details as to which minibattles were won by which divisions. I hope that comes.

All in all, though, it's really not much different than it was...

You may now return to your regularly scheduled clicking