Bonus Categories

There are two Bonus categories that contribute to your Style Score: **Unworn** and **Season**.
Maxing these categories can take some real strategy, but maxing them is critical to achieving TLs and BLILs.

We've collected tips from a number of HCV players to help you boost these important categories. You may want to grab a calculator!

### **Season**

This category is probably the most straightforward, since you can filter by Season and in-season garments are displayed first, both in your closet and on the Shop tab. Obviously, you want to use in-season garments whenever you can in order to get the maximum .30 Season bonus. For some challenges, the Season will be locked and you won't have a choice. For most challenges, you can use an item in your closet from any Season. This can turn into a real dilemma, especially with Covet Collection items for theme challenges - is it better to go OOS and use the most appropriate items for your look? Or is it better to find something you like that will max your Season bonus? (If you're a CC Pass subscriber, you don't have this dilemma, of course.)

Expensive jewellery can be your saviour. If you do use items from a previous season, you might still be able to max your Season bonus if you have enough expensive in-season items you can wear at the same time. All of that jewellery won in Sprees, Rallies, or by achieving Trendsetter status is especially good for this, but other items of clothing will do the job, too, depending on the challenge requirements. Particularly when it's Pritch London, Stello, or another quite expensive brand.

You can also get a bit of a Season boost by layering clothing. Jackets are the obvious choice, including shawls and capes. Hats, gloves, and other accessories will also give your score a boost if in-season, particularly the more expensive ones.

Here's a good example: This genie is wearing a number of OOS items (the Viperess pants and belt; the Kraken cuffs; and the Justice Armor vest). BUT the player has used the Meghna sapphire necklace (a Trendsetter prize worth more than $15,000 dollars) and the Meghna diamond bangle (a Spree prize worth more than $10,000), both of which were in-season for this challenge. In this example, the jewellery is not very noticeable but it balances the OOS items the player wanted to use, so the player will still be able to max the Season bonus.

***Pro Tip***: Don't forget that many of the swimsuit items can be worn under other clothing -- and often, won't show at all, so it won't change your look the way jackets or accessories might. So as long as the swimsuit items are in-season, this can give you a small, additional boost with no visual impact to your look. Some players invest in the most expensive available bikinis at the start of a season so that they can layer them under other garments. Leggings can also sometimes be layered under other clothing, but there are not usually very many in-season leggings available.

***Pro Tip***: Multiply the total value of any OOS items you've used by 29, and you'll have the total value of in-season items you'll need to use in order to compensate and max your Season bonus. Alternatively, to get to 0.28 season bonus, multiply by 14. For 0.27 multiply by 9, 0.26 by 7 and 0.25 by 5, and so on.

### **Unworn**

Obviously, you want to max your Unworn bonus and again, you can filter items for that. You'll quickly discover that some of the uglier prizes are the ones left hanging around with the "unworn" tag, however. What to do with that ugly pink-and-orange striped cape dress you never want your doll to be caught (ahem) dead in? There are two ways you can use these ugly garments to boost your Unworn, without them ruining your look: hide them (coats, sweaters, and capes are great for this!); use the "**Boost Unworn**" feature whenever it's presented.

When you click on "Submit" for any style challenge, and if you have items in your closet that meet the criteria for Unworn boost suggestions, Covet will prompt you. A screen will ask if you want to boost your Unworn bonus and it will show you the items in your closet you might use do this. You can click on any of the items it suggests to you and the item will be added to your look. (Just one item, though.) Note that items used in this way will **NOT** appear as part of your look. Voters will never see them; they're a strictly behind-the-scenes numbers boost. However, in order for a garment in your closet to be suggested, it has to: have the "unworn" tag; be in-season; and be of equal or higher value to the remaining Unworn score.

Not so fast, though. You may want to consider the possible usefulness of an item before selecting it for the offered Unworn boost. Even an ugly ballgown may come in useful later, so you may want to preserve its Unworn tag. That ugly, shapeless brown sweater, though? Are you really ever going to use it for a challenge? Ok, yes, it's possible it may be a requirement in a future challenge. But it's worth 435$ in-season, now!

There's definitely some guesswork to be done, but that's part of what makes Covet appealing as a game in the long run. Like other good games, there is strategy and skill involved.

Some tips are useful for both the Unworn and Season categories: an expensive piece of in-season jewellery will usually give you a maximum boost to your Unworn the first time you use it, as well. Again, layering Unworn items can help boost this portion of your score, the same as for Season if a current item.

### **Borrowing for Bonuses**

Borrowing items from your FH (Fashion House) or Friends not only helps you to enter more challenges, it can also help you to boost your two Bonus categories. You can borrow in-season items you don't own and have these count towards your Season bonus category. The first time you borrow an item, it will also have the "Unworn" tag on it (as if you had never worn it before, even if you've worn that item in your own closet) - but note that you will need to borrow an item of at least $280 or diamonds value in order to receive a 0.10 boost to the Unworn bonus category.

You will also only receive the .10 boost to your Unworn regardless of the value of the item over $280 dollars/diamonds. If you borrow an item worth, for example, $5000 dollars/diamonds, you won't receive the same boost to your Unworn as you would if you were using it from your own closet (assuming you still have the Unworn tag on it yourself). If you're playing for fun, this may take more time and effort than you're willing to give it - but if you're fiercely competitive, strategizing what to borrow to make best use of the Unworn tags could really be worth it.

Here's another good example: This tea house owner has been styled for a Season-locked challenge. Players can hardly help maxing their Season bonus, then, since they must use all items from the current season in order to submit their look. However, this player is also using items that have already been worn in other challenges, so the player has not been able to max the Unworn category. The player has chosen to strategically borrow the required bracelet from a Friend, even though the player already owns it. That way, the player also gets an additional boost to Unworn they otherwise wouldn't get. It won't max the category, but it will help.

***Pro Tip:*** For the Season bonus, it's a good idea to borrow a higher-value OOS item, even if you own it, because borrowed items only count to a maximum of 600$ Covet cash value or 600 diamonds. Let's say your OOS item is worth 2,500$ or diamonds. It's much better to multiply the capped $600 or diamond value by 29 than to have to multiply the full, owned value of 2,500$ or diamonds by 29!

June 2020