Tips for Adventurers Guild

This page is about how you can get all the buildings in Territory in the shortest time possible i.e. most efficiently. This page is more of a opinion, because we don't have the data to back it up. Feel free to share your opinion as well. If you have an idea or a suggestion, you can also write into the comment section below. Some sections might be different/split into two parts; depending on the playstyle of a person. These two playstyles/players are:

A **passive player** (or "casual player") is a person, who spends up to around 30 minutes a day solving nonograms and gets most of their items from buildings that give **passive income** and increase rewards for **daily quests**. This kind of player would prefer/prioritize to build buildings that increase passive income and rewards for daily quests like Guild (building), Garden, Coffee Bonsai, etc.
An **active player** is a person, who spends hours a day solving nonograms and gets most of their items from the **completion of solving nonograms - Loot**. This kind of player would prefer/prioritize buildings, which give access to exclusive items acquirable only by that building, like Ship and Caravan.
For which buildings/technologies are required to build/learn a certain building/technology see Building dependencies.

## Buildings

First you should build your economy with buildings that give you resources back or enable you to get resources. Some building are a waste of your resources and others are an investment, which start making a profit after a long time. Buildings to avoid early are those which make weapons (exception is Alchemist's Hut because of Cauldron). **Ship**, **Caravan**, **Dungeon** and **Airship** are very important, because they enable the player to acquire some items, which can't be otherwise acquired.

 You can provide resources partially.

### Passive player - building order

This list is a recommendation of the order buildings should be built for a passive player:

1. Guild lvl. 2 (increases daily rewards).
2. Warehouse lvl. 1 (unlocks Bourse - watching ads for Treasure map fragments, Katanas and Coffee beans).
3. Shop lvl. 1 (enables the purchase of Chemicals to construct Alchemist's Hut).
4. Alchemist's Hut lvl. 1 and 2 (unlocks Cauldron; don't throw away Steel and/or Iron sand).
5. Field lvl. 1 ("crafts" Rice from Rice - almost passive income; Rice can be sold in Shop).
6. Rock Garden lvl. 1 and 2 (creates passive income of Stone. Get Rock Garden before Garden as Stone is harder to acquire than Wood; increases passive income from 1 Stone to 2).
7. Garden lvl. 1 and 2 (creates passive income of Wood; increases passive income from 1 to 2 Wood).
8. Lumber Mill lvl. 1 and 2 (enables producing Wooden Beams, which is required for some lvl. 3+ buildings; increases production of Wooden Beams).
9. Guild lvl. 3 (enables building lvl. 3 buildings, also increases daily rewards).
10. Rock Garden lvl. 3 (increases passive income from 2 to 3 Stone).
11. Garden lvl. 3 (increases passive income from 2 to 3 Wood).
12. Food Stall lvl. 1 (enables crafting dungeon-related items, which will help heroes survive the dungeon).
13. Field lvl. 2 ("crafts" Wheat from Wheat - almost passive income).
14. Windmill lvl. 1 (enables crafting Flour from Wheat).
15. Furnace lvl. 1 and 2 (required for crafting Steel).
16. Dungeon lvl. 1 (enables converting experience points to Mental power, which are key to progressing through the dungeon).
17. Lumber Mill lvl. 3 (enables production of Wooden planks).
18. Pier lvl. 1 (the Pier is required to advance in the Shogun's Katana quest (Chapter II) and to build the Ship, which allows you to go on ship missions which will allow you to collect items like Spices, Pearls and Salmon, which are necessary to build some buildings).
19. Ship lvl. 1-3 (allows you to send the Ship for missions/voyages in order to get Spices, Pearls and Salmon, which are Ship exclusive loot; getting the Ship to lvl. 3 allows you to send it on 24 hours missions, which is more convenient and efficient - to not mess with your sleep cycle).
20. Guild lvl. 4 and 5 (increases daily rewards and enables building lvl. 4 building; increases daily rewards, enables building lvl. 5 building and completes the Build the Guild quest for a large reward of Coins and experience points).
21. Dungeon lvl. 2 (allows to acquire Drums and 2A is the most efficient level to farm).
22. Windmill lvl. 2 (makes more Flour from Wheat).
23. Chicken Coop lvl. 1(1) (Eggs are required for levelling up Cooking and crafting Ramen).
24. Food Stall lvl. 2 and 3 (allows to produce Ramen and Curry, which are necessary ingredients for mounting Smuggler's maps and Treasure maps lvl. 4; allows to produce Cup of Coffee, which is required for lvl. 4 expeditions).
25. Bridge lvl. 1 (allows to build Caravan, Outpost and Tailor).
26. Outpost lvl. 1 (passive income of Dinars and a 12% reduction of robbery in Caravan, building Workshop lvl. 1-2 is something worth considering, because 300 Arrows are needed).
27. Workshop lvl. 1-5(2) (required for crafting Necklace for Haruka craftifact, it's also useful later for technologies).
28. Outpost lvl. 2(2) (passive income of Dinars and a 12% reduction of robbery in Caravan).
29. Caravan lvl. 1-3 (allows you to get items like Paper, Silk, Glass, etc.; building the Caravan makes only sense when you have enough Dinars/items to trade and chances of robbery are at 0%).
30. Smithy lvl. 1-3 (required for upgrading Dungeon to lvl. 3 and it's also useful for crafting swords).
31. Dungeon lvl. 3 (allows to go deeper and acquire Reagent for the Airship).
32. Airship lvl. 1 (enables acquisition of Gears and Blueprints).
33. Coffee Bonsai lvl. 1 and 2 (passive income of Coffee beans - can be built simultaneously with the Outpost, because Outpost requires a lot of Stone and Coffee Bonsai requires a lot of Wood).
34. Onsen lvl. 1 and 2 (increases daily rewards; unlocks passive income of Chemicals, which can be thrown into the Cauldron).
35. Furnace lvl. 3 (required for crafting Meteoric Steel, which also needs Blueprints to unlock).
36. Tailor lvl. 1 and 2 (required for the Guild banner craftifact).
37. Caravan lvl. 4 (increases carrying capacity).
38. Tailor lvl. 3 (20 Samurai armor are needed for Outpost lvl. 3 and unlocks technologies).
39. Outpost lvl. 3 (increases passive income of Dinars and reduced the chances of a robbery in Caravan; increases the amount of items you can buy and sell).
40. Alchemist's Hut lvl. 3-6 (required for completing the Festival quest and also needed for mounting Catacombs maps).
41. Airship lvl. 2 (enables acquisition of Gears and Blueprints).
42. Pagoda lvl. 1-7 (the extra hints are not supposed to be used, because they reduce loot; the only reason to build this building is to collect the huge amount of loot from the *Build the Pagoda* quest).
43. Dungeon lvl. 4 and 5 (allows to go deeper, find Mandrake root and complete the Emerald tablet).
44. Chicken Coop lvl. 2 (see this post).

Notes:

* (1) Chicken Coop can be delayed, because **Eggs can also be bought in Shop**. The total cost of Eggs required for levelling up Cooking and crafting Ramen (for all required uses) doesn't even come close to the cost of building Chicken Coop to lvl. 1. Although building Chicken Coop gives the player good boost in Mental power via Fried eggs. In case too much Wheat is generated, Wheat can also be used in Chicken Coop to produce Eggs, make Fried eggs and then sell those Fried eggs (unless they are needed). This beats just selling Wheat by 4 Coins per Fried egg (only applicable if the player has no Mushrooms or Ultraviolet Cherries to make Mushroom rice (Bento) or Cherry buns).
	+ Wheat path: 3x Wheat = **3x Coin**.
	+ Egg path: 3x Wheat = 3x Egg = **6x Coin**.
	+ Fried egg path: 2x Egg + 1x Rice + 1x Coin = 3x Wheat + 1x Coin = 8x Coin => 3x Wheat = **7x Coin**.
	+ Mushroom rice (Bento) [or Cherry bun] path: 3x (1x Coin + 1x Rice + 1x Mushrooms) = 3x (6x Coin) = 18x Coin => 3x Wheat + 3x Mushrooms = **15x Coin**.
* (2) Outpost lvl. 2 requires 30 x Mortar. You won't get enough Mortars from levelling, that's why you have to **switch class to Samurai** (or Zen Master) in order to avoid building 4 levels of Workshop. This has been tested and you actually get enough Mortars if you switch classes when you start building Outpost lvl. 2 - yes, even as a passive player. You only sacrifice a little of loot from other (maybe better) class, which costs much less than building 4 levels of Workshop. After you acquire enough Mortars you can switch back. Do note that you'll need to build Workshop lvl. 5 in order to craft Necklace for Haruka, so building it isn't that wasteful. It will also be later needed for Shield for a hero lvl. 1 technology.

Situational buildings:

* Ship lvl. 4 - a stable income of Spices. The player should have enough Spices via random events, but in case they are really needed, upgrading Ship to lvl. 4 is recommended.
* Warehouse lvl. 2-7 - increases storage capacity of items. In most cases storage capacity isn't a problem, because items can be provided partially. The only time increasing storage capacity is need when learning skills in Character. Storage capacity can also be increased with Athlete (skill). For more information about storage capacity see Items > Storage capacity.
	+ Storage capacity will need to be increased (with Warehouse lvl. 2 or Athlete lvl. 1, but Athlete is cheaper), when buying Smuggler's map Chapter III (requires 100 Coffee beans) in Bourse.
* Shop lvl. 2-3 - doesn't add any new items to the shop, but increases the amount of items that can be bought (useful for buying Wood and Stone). At lvl. 3 the player can sell more items (up to 600 Coins worth of items).
* Gong (building) - Hall of Fame rewards only with bugles, which are not items and can't be used for upgrading the Territory. This building is required for competing in the Hall of Fame.

### Active player - building order

As an active player it's recommended to first build the "essential" buildings: Warehouse (Bourse), Shop and Alchemist's Hut lvl. 2 (Cauldron) and then the building, which take a set time to deliver certain "exclusive" resources: Ship and Caravan. This list is a recommendation of the order buildings should be built for an active player:

1. Guild lvl. 2 (increases daily rewards).
2. Warehouse lvl. 1 (unlocks Bourse - watching ads for Treasure map fragments, Katanas and Coffee beans).
3. Shop lvl. 1 (enables the purchase of Chemicals to construct Alchemist's Hut).
4. Alchemist's Hut lvl. 1 and 2 (unlocks Cauldron).
5. Field lvl. 1 (creates passive income of Rice).
6. Food Stall lvl. 1 (enables crafting dungeon-related items, which helps heroes stay longer in the dungeon).
7. Field lvl. 2 (creates passive income of Wheat).
8. Windmill lvl. 1 (enables crafting Flour from Wheat).
9. Furnace lvl. 1 and 2(1) (required for crafting Steel).
10. Dungeon lvl. 1(1) (enables converting experience points to Mental power, which are key to progressing through the dungeon).
11. Lumber Mill lvl. 1 and 2 (enables producing Wooden Beams, which is required for some lvl. 3+ buildings; increases production of Wooden Beams).
12. Windmill lvl. 2 (more efficient Wheat crafting).
13. Dungeon lvl. 2 (allows to do 2A, which is the most efficient level resource wise).
14. Guild lvl. 3 (enables building lvl. 3 buildings, also increases daily rewards).
15. Lumber Mill lvl. 3 (enables production of Wooden Planks).
16. Pier lvl. 1 (the Pier is required to advance in the Shogun's Katana quest (Chapter II) and to build the Ship, which allows you to go on ship missions which will allow you to collect items like Spices, Pearls and Salmon, which are necessary to build some buildings).
17. Ship lvl. 1-3 (allows you to send the Ship for missions/voyages in order to get Spices, Pearls and Salmon, which are Ship exclusive loot; getting the Ship to lvl. 3 allows you to send it on 24 hours missions, which is more convenient and efficient - to not mess with your sleep cycle).
18. Guild lvl. 4 (enables building lvl. 4 buildings).
19. Ship lvl. 4 (faster acquisition of Spices).
20. Food Stall lvl. 2 and 3 (allows to produce Ramen and Curry, which are necessary ingredients for mounting Smuggler's maps and Treasure maps lvl. 4; allows to produce Cup of Coffee, which is required for lvl. 4 expeditions).
21. Bridge lvl. 1 (allows to build Caravan, Outpost and Tailor).
22. Outpost lvl. 1 (passive income of Dinars and a 12% reduction of robbery in Caravan).
23. Guild lvl. 5 (increases daily rewards, enables building lvl. 5 building and completes the Build the Guild quest for a large reward).
24. Workshop lvl. 1-5(2) (required for crafting Necklace for Haruka craftifact, it's also useful later for technologies).
25. Outpost lvl. 2(2) (passive income of Dinars and a 12% reduction of robbery in Caravan).
26. Caravan lvl. 1-4 (allows you to get items like Paper, Silk, Glass, etc.; building the Caravan makes only sense when you have enough Dinars/items to trade).
27. Smithy lvl. 1-3 (required for upgrading Dungeon to lvl. 3 and it's also useful for crafting swords).
28. Dungeon lvl. 3 (allows to go deeper and acquire Reagent for the Airship).
29. Airship lvl. 1 and 2 (enables acquisition of Gears and Blueprints).
30. Furnace lvl. 3 (required for crafting Meteoric Steel, which also needs Blueprints to unlock).
31. Tailor lvl. 1, 2 (required for the Guild banner craftifact) and 3 (20 Samurai armor are needed for Outpost lvl. 3 and unlocks technologies).
32. Outpost lvl. 3 (increases passive income of Dinars and reduced the chances of a robbery in Caravan).
33. Alchemist's Hut lvl. 3-6 (required for completing the Festival quest and also needed for mounting Catacombs maps).
34. Pagoda lvl. 1-7 (the extra hints are not supposed to be used, because they reduce loot; the only reason to build this building is to collect the huge amount of loot from the *Build the Pagoda* quest).
35. Dungeon lvl. 4 and 5 (allows to go deeper and find loot like Mandrake).
36. Chicken Coop lvl. 1 and 2 (see this post).

* (1)Dungeon lvl. 1 can also be built before Field lvl. 1, but doing dungeon runs without healing items is very hard and unpleasant. It will take a lot of time to level one hero to lvl. 6 to be able to get Doctor skill. Dungeon lvl. 1 and 2 also requires a lot of Steel, which will probably not possible to collect just through the Cauldron, thus the Furnace has to be built. 2A is also doable without equipment (depends on hero level and player skill).
* (2)Outpost lvl. 2 requires 30 x Mortar. You won't get enough Mortars from levelling, that's why you have to **switch class to Samurai** (or Zen Master) in order to avoid building 4 levels of Workshop. This has been tested and you actually get enough Mortars if you switch classes when you start building Outpost lvl. 2. You only sacrifice a little of loot from other (maybe better) class, which costs much less than building 4 levels of Workshop. After you acquire enough Mortars you can switch back.Do note that you'll need to build Workshop lvl. 5 in order to craft Necklace for Haruka, so building it isn't that wasteful. It will also be later needed for Shield for a hero lvl. 1 technology.

Other buildings which reward with items, just for building them, but not enough to return the investment in a **long** time:

1. Rock Garden (creates passive income of Stone).
2. Garden (creates passive income of Wood).
3. Coffee Bonsai (passive income of Coffee beans - can be built simultaneously with the Outpost, because Outpost requires a lot of Stone and Coffee Bonsai requires a lot of Wood).
4. Onsen (increases daily rewards; unlocks passive income of Chemicals, which can be thrown into the Cauldron).

Situational buildings:

* Warehouse lvl. 2-7 - increases storage capacity of items. In most cases storage capacity isn't a problem, because items can be provided partially. The only time increasing storage capacity is need when learning skills in Character. Storage capacity can also be increased with Athlete (skill). For more information about storage capacity see Items > Storage capacity.
* Shop lvl. 2-3 - doesn't add any new items to the shop, but increases the amount of items that can be bought (useful for buying Wood and Stone). At lvl. 3 the shop can buy more items from the player i.e. the player can sell more items (up to 600 Coins worth of items).
* Gong (building) - Hall of Fame rewards only with bugles, which are not items and can't be used for upgrading the Territory. This building is required for competing in the Hall of Fame.

### Mortar strategy

This strategy is the fastest way to progress through the guild without grinding puzzles all day. It's recommended for passive and active players, but it requires building some building first. The core strategy evolves around crafting Mortars and sometimes other weapons (Battering rams, Steamobiles or Katanas), and using them to solve puzzles, which reward items to build more Mortars and the cycle continues (like a perpetual motion machine).

Required buildings (not building order):

* Guild lvl. 5 (at least lvl. 4) - to upgrade Workshop.
* Warehouse lvl. 1 - Bourse.
* Shop lvl. 1 - Shop.
* Alchemist's Hut lvl. 3 (at least lvl. 2) - Cauldron for throwing away excess weapons. Gunpowder might be needed.
* **Workshop** lvl. 5 (at least lvl. 4) - for crafting Mortars. Unlocks crafting Battering rams at lvl. 5.
* Furnace lvl. 2 (at least lvl. 1) - for crafting Steel.
* Lumber Mill lvl. 3 - Wooden beams are needed for crafting Mortars (among other things) and Wooden planks are need for upgrading the Ship (among other things).
* Dungeon lvl. 2 (at least lvl. 1) - 2A drops Drums. Dungeon lvl. 2 requires a lot of Steel (can be postponed).
* Ship lvl. 3 (at least lvl. 2) - Ship lvl. 2 in order not to mess with player's sleeping cycle. **Prospecting must be unlocked**.

Recommended buildings (to make this strategy more efficient):

* Field lvl. 2 - completing 2A is hard without consumables.
* Food Stall lvl. 1 - completing 2A is hard without consumables. Also Cherry buns and Mushroom rice can be sold in Shop (a lot of Coins are acquired this way).
* Smithy lvl. 3 with Sword for a hero lvl. 1 technology - makes the 2A runs much easier. Although it can also be bought in Bourse.

Because this strategy requires some buildings it's recommended to follow either the passive or active player building order until Ship lvl. 2 is built and then build the rest of the required buildings. It's recommended to unlock Fishing to collect enough Salmon and Tuna to learn Boatswain, which speeds up the Ship.

Required "ingredients" for this strategy:

* **Wood** is looted from puzzles.
* **Gunpowder** is acquired from Cauldron. Because Gunpowder is also needed for mounting Treasure maps lvl. 3, acquiring enough of it *might* be a problem. That's why building Alchemist's Hut lvl. 3 is recommended. This really depends.
* **Iron sand** is acquired from Ship (Prospecting). The Cauldron doesn't provide enough and buying it in Shop is a waste of Coins.

To make this strategy even more efficient, learn either **Samurai** or **Zen Master**. These two classes provide the player with even more Katanas and Mortars. Learning skills that increase the drop rate of items from solving puzzles is also a good investment, but the most important skills are **Mechanic** (speeds up Workshop) and **Boatswain** (speeds up the Ship). Crafting Battering rams during the night is more efficient, but Battering rams only come handy in combination with Drums (dungeon 2A). Crafting Steamobiles is more time efficient than Mortars or Battering rams, but they also require a lot of Meteoric Steel and Blueprints (to even be able to craft them). Because Workshop will be busy during the day, it's recommended to do any upgrading/technology learning during the night (instead of spending 24 hours in one go, spend 3 nights instead).

**Drawbacks**:

* Crafting Mortars and going to the dungeon requires a little more time investment spread across the day. Even if the player can't constantly be setting Mortars in production this strategy is still worth doing. Excess Steel can be crafted into Shurikens and thrown into the Cauldron.
* Because Workshop will be busy crafting Mortars, it can't be used for crafting other items (e.g. crafting Fans with excess Wood and then throwing Fans into the Cauldron (Fans are the most profitable ) - craft Wooden beams or Charcoal instead) or learning technologies. This may only apply to late game.

This blog post goes into more detail of this strategy.

### Dungeon

Dungeon is an RPG (Role Playing Game) in which the player controls a hero and battles enemies (monsters). The Dungeon (like everything in guild) is not meant to be rushed - when a certain amount of MP is acquired go to the dungeon. Upon entering the Dungeon (building) the player can select:

* A hero - all heros have the same parameters, so any hero can be chosen.
* Hero skills - these skills permanently buff one hero and can be learnt/unlocked (with a cost).
* Equipment - these are items, which buff one hero. They don't last forever i.e. durability.
* (Inventory) - these are items, which get automatically added from the warehouse. There's a limit of how many of each can be taken into the dungeon.
* Dungeon level/depth - 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, etc.

#### Combat mechanics

The most important information is displayed in the combat interface. All icons are explained in the help window (before entering the dungeon).

* Combat bar (red and green circles) - these are hero's AP (Action points), which represent how many actions the hero can make per turn. These are only highlighted when in combat with enemies. Every turn the hero gains 4 AP. When green circles are highlighted it's hero's turn. Each action consumes AP and if an action would consume more AP than available, they are subtracted the next turn. These negative AP are represented as red circles. The turn ends when all AP are used or the hourglass is tapped. Actions consume AP:
	+ Moving one tile costs 1 AP.
	+ Attacking costs 3 AP and 1 Energy.
	+ Waiting skips the hero's turn and thereby gives 4 AP (hourglass).
	+ Consuming consumables costs 2 AP, if used in combat.
	+ Using skills may vary how many AP they cost.
* Health (red heart icon) - hero's health points. If they go to 0, hero gets knocked unconscious.
* Energy (yellow arm icon) - hero's energy. Attacks consumes 1 Energy.
* Mental points (or MP; blue brain icon) - MP are acquired from solving puzzles and are required for attacking some enemies, opening chest, collecting Ancient pages from book podiums, disarming traps and opening some doors.
* Dungeon progress (dungeon icon with %) - percentages of hero's progress through the dungeon. Counts only mandatory objects.

#### Strategy

The core strategy is to level up only one hero and only buff them. The player will need to visit 1A multiple time to even be able to equip equipment. The main power spikes are Mechanical spider (low), hero skills (medium) and equipment (sword, armor, shield and ring - high). When certain depths should be contested/can be completed (in all depths food items are required):

* 1 (A, B, C): with Mechanical spider. For 1C it's recommended to have equipment lvl. 1.
* 2 (A, B, C): with equipment lvl. 1.
* 3 (A, B, C): with equipment lvl. 1 and hero skills (hero lvl. 15 at least).
* 4 (A, B, C): with equipment lvl. 2 and hero skills. Potion "Berserker rage" and Poke are recommended.
* 5 (A, B, C): with equipment lvl. 3 and hero skills. Potion "Berserker rage" is required. Poke is recommended.

**This section is still in testing phase.**  The main limitations are bosses and their minions. Mechanical spider is very useful in early levels (levels 1 and 2, and situationally in level 3), but very useless in later levels (levels 4 and 5). Usefulness of the spider mostly depends on the level of the equipment. Minimal requirements for passing each level (the player should take a lot of consumables):

* 1A, 1B and 1C: Hero lvl. 1 and Mechanical spider. Video proof.
* 2A and 2B: Hero lvl. 5, Sword lvl. 1 and Mechanical spider. Video proof.
* 2C: Hero lvl. 6, Sword lvl. 1, Mechanical spider and Smashing blow lvl. 2. Video proof.
* 2C: Hero lvl. 5, Sword lvl. 1, Armor lvl. 1 and Mechanical spider.
* 3A: Hero lvl. 6, Sword lvl. 1, Armor lvl. 1, Shield lvl. 1, Ring lvl. 1 and Smashing blow lvl. 2.
* 3B and 3C: Hero lvl. 15, Sword lvl. 1, Armor lvl. 1, Shield lvl. 1, Ring lvl. 1, Agility, Martial arts lvl. 2, Hardening lvl. 1 and Smashing blow lvl. 2.
* 3C: Hero lvl. 10, Sword lvl. 2, Armor lvl. 2, Smashing blow lvl. 2 and Martial arts lvl. 1. Video proof.
* 4A: Hero lvl. 18, Sword lvl. 1, Armor lvl. 1, Shield lvl. 1, Ring lvl. 1, Agility, Martial arts lvl. 2, Hardening lvl. 2, Smashing blow lvl. 2 and Poke (for the boss). Video proof.
* 4B and 4C: in testing phase (at least equipment lvl. 2).
* 5A, 5B and 5C: in testing phase (at least equipment lvl. 3).

**Combat strategy**

When entering a room with enemies, try to position the hero far enough from enemies, so that the next hero's move will be an attack. Positioning the hero 3 tiles from a red scorpion and skipping a turn (tap hourglass). This will allow the hero to attack first and also twice, because they have full Action points (later AP). Because enemies can make a waiting move, the player can position an addition tile away from the enemy. If enemies make a waiting move, the next turn they will have one extra AP. Because enemies making a waiting move is random, the hero can move back until they don't make a waiting move. Instead of moving back the exact amount of tiles, move one tile more (e.g. positioning 4 tiles away from the red scorpion). The enemy will come 2 tiles away from the hero. Hero then moves one tile forward and still can attack twice. This is not recommended if multiple enemies are in the room, because it wastes 1 AP.

* Bringing health-recovery items with is very important.
* Equipment is very important in order to progress deeper.
* The player can send up to 5 heroes in (one after the other) to collect as much items and experience, before running out of Health or Energy. This is very effective when playing time and/or Mental power is limited.
* The player can convert Mental power to Energy by tapping the blue-yellow arm icon (a skill called "Charge of motivation"). This skill is best used out of combat, since it costs 3 Action points.
* It is best to destroy crates, barrels and vases after rooms have been cleared because destroying them consumes Action points (only in combat) and Energy (in and out of combat).
* Loot can only be found in "single" objects, not in "piles".
* To avoid fighting multiple enemies, go out of combat (12 tiles away from enemies) and then go back in, but only in sight of one enemy (7 tiles). Then move back, but save 1 AP (so other enemies don't follow).
* Mechanical spider (later spider) is a very effective weapon for conserving Health and Energy. When an enemy approaches the hero and the hero has full AP throw a Mechanical spider one tile beside the enemy. The spider will attack the enemy (twice) and the hero can also attack once. If the spider attacks first is determined randomly.
	+ The spider can be bought in Bourse for 7 Ancient pages. The upfront cost is high, but it is well worth it.
	+ Don't let the spider die. Save it for the next level.
	+ The spider should be used on isolated enemies.
	+ Don't throw the spider near enemies with *Tactics*.
	+ Because it costs 1 Energy to throw, it should only be thrown, if an enemy is 2 hits away from dying (preserves Energy and sometimes Health). This can be done in every room on the last enemy, which save a bunch of Energy through the level.
	+ To preserve spider's Health throw the spider one tile further than the distance from enemy and hero. Example: Hero is one tile away from an enemy. Throw the spider 2 tiles away. If the enemy attacks first it will attack the hero (hero's Health can be recovered, but spider's can't). If the spider attacks first, it will kill the enemy in 2 hits.
	+ The spider can be thrown behind the hero to prevent enemies from sneaking behind them. Note that the spider can jump 2 tiles (also diagonally), that's why this is best used in a corridor.
	+ Tip for saving Energy: If there are a lot of objects to destroy in a room, find an enemy and "drag" them to that area. While still in combat throw the spider behind the objects and let the spider destroy these objects (the hero must be in combat the whole duration). Be careful that the spider doesn't destroy any single boxes, vases or barrels, which also destroys loot in them.
	+ While the spider is in combat, the hero is in combat as well.
	+ Enemies only attack the spider, if it has less Health than the hero (if the hero and spider are at the same distance away from the enemy).
	+ If the spider gets blocked by an enemy with Tactics and the hero can't remove them, position the hero behind the spider. The spider will Sneak behind the hero the next turn, which will then enable the hero to remove Tactics.
* The duplicating demon only duplicates when below 50% Health. One way to defeat him is to walk up to them, skip a turn and attack him twice. Another way is to throw a Mechanical spider at them, which usually kills them in one turn.
* Dealing with ranged enemies is best done by either throwing a Mechanical spider at them (doesn't work on enemies with *Tactics*) or to wait outside of their range + the tiles they can move. Ranged enemies have an effective range of the amount of tiles they can move (their Action points) + throw range (3 tiles). In earlier levels that's usually 6 tiles.
* When the player wants to "save" a solved nonogram for later, they could leave a couple of squares empty or they can solve it entirely and where it asks them to tap "Continue" they can tap the back button on their phone instead. This will exit the nonogram and say it's 99% complete. The player can re-enter it, tap "Continue" and collect the rewards.
* Acquiring a lot of MP is best done, by using weapons on large nonograms (Mortars, Battering rams, Anchors, Drums and Katana).
* Trivial nonograms don't give MP. (Puzzles which reward less than 45 XP don't yield Mental power.)
* Some puzzles reward quite a lot of MP, but require not much solving. Nonograms like this are quite hard to find, but here are some authors that make such nonograms: kata57, Namose. Symmetrical nonograms are also quite easy to solve and reward a decent amount of MP.
* A good way to explore the **whole** dungeon is the same way to escape a maze - just follow one wall. Image placing a hand on one wall and going along it. This is very useful doing from the beginning and when the dungeon level is very big and only one door is left to open. This is also useful doing, when the dungeon is "complete" - there might be some rooms left to explore. However, try the free routes (wooden doors) first if possible, because these may lead to the same place as other doors or routes with traps (which cost MP or Energy).
* The Spider (enemy) can throw a web at a hero. This lasts for 2 turns (or until the combat ends). The hero can't move during this time, but can still attack. Press the hourglass or kill the Spider (with Greek grenade, Throwing knife or Mechanical spider).
* Crypto-coins can be exchanged in Bourse for Wood, Stone or Gold ingots (don't exchange them for Coins, because they are valued at 0.5 Coins less than Gold ingots).
* To see hero stats and their equipment, tap the level in the top right corner.
* When dealing with spiders (enemies that can web the hero), place the hero 5 tiles away - so the spider has to travel 4 tiles. When the spider webs the hero, their next move will be moving 1 tile away from the hero.
* Avoid walking on possible traps, while in combat. When the hero finds a trap and the trap has to be disarmed, the hero will be put in "out of combat mode". After disarming the trap enemies will be have all AP and will be closer to the hero.
* When counting tiles (to position the hero enough tiles away from an enemy), use the "Pick tile" mode (green diamond) to accurately count tiles. Don't double tap on tiles!

##### Kiting

Kiting refers to staying at a distance from an enemy. This can only be done with melee enemies and enemies that have 2 AP or 3 AP, but the hero has to have Agility. This can take a lot of turns as enemies can make waiting moves. Kiting is mainly done to preserve Health and sometimes also Energy. Note that this can "cost" the player a lot of turns, because enemies can make waiting moves (which happens randomly).

The example below describes a melee enemy with 2 AP and hero with 5 AP (4+1; without Agility).

1. Position the hero 3 tiles away from the enemy.
2. Tap hourglass.
3. The enemy moves 1 tile away from the hero (very close), but doesn't attack the hero.
4. Normal attack the enemy (3 AP). DON'T use Smashing blow, because it uses 4 AP.
5. Now the hero has 2 AP left. Move the hero away from the enemy.
6. The enemy will then either make a waiting move (moves 1 tile) or a normal move (moves 2 tiles). In both cases the hero will not be attacked by the enemy.
	1. If the enemy makes a **waiting move**, move the hero 3 tiles back (4 tiles away from the enemy), because the enemy has 3 AP now then start from (2.).
	2. If the enemy makes a **normal move**, DON'T attack the enemy, because the hero will not have enough AP to move away from the next enemy's attack. Move the hero 3 tiles back then start from (2.).

*Here should be a video explaining and showing how this works AND/OR a gallery of images showing each step.*
##### RATH strategy

Also known as **R**un **A**way to **T**hin the **H**orde is a strategy to isolate one enemy from a room of enemies and only fight that enemy one-on-one. This only works because enemies have combat range of 12 tiles (air square distance) and 20 tiles walking distance. If the hero goes out of that range, the enemies will not follow the hero and the hero will be considered as out of combat. This involves a lot of running away from enemies (thus requiring a lot of space) and sometimes careful positioning. This strategy can only work if enemies in that room have lower AP than the hero. If only one enemy has the same AP as the hero and others have lower AP, this can also work.

If enemies have different AP, the strategy becomes easier. The player must run away enough, so that the faster enemies overtake the slower ones.

If enemies have the same AP, the strategy requires a bit of precise movement. The player must position the hero so that the first enemy is still in combat and the second enemy is not (1 tile precise!). Because counting tiles is hard to execute without counting tiles on the fly, this is usually done by going out-and-in of combat multiple times and just guess where the line is.

If there are a lot of corridors and tight spaces, where enemies can't overtake each other (if they have different or the same AP, but make waiting moves), kiting can also be performed (only for melee enemies).

A variation of this strategy is **RAUD** (Run Away to Use Doctor). The hero goes out of combat to use the Doctor skill to recover Health.

*Here should be a video explaining and showing how this works AND/OR a gallery of images showing each step.*
#### Hero skills

Hero skills need to be unlocked for each hero. They cost some amount of Coins and Ancient pages. There are **2 playstyles**: one that focuses on "farming" the items in the dungeon and the other that focuses on progressing further in the dungeon.

* **Charge of motivation** - shouldn't be used, because it consumes MP, use food items instead. The only reason to use it when food items are gone and there's a chance to complete the dungeon successfully. Also use it, if it's already determined that food supply will be an issue.
* **Smashing blow** - only really useful at lvl. 2. Useful for finishing enemies and bosses (since it does twice the damage and consumes 4 AP instead of 6 AP for two attacks). In most cases it exchanges Energy for Health.
* **Round kick** - really only useful at lvl. 2. Useful only for enemies that *Sneak* behind the hero. Enemies can be stunned (either the one in front or the back of the hero), so the hero only fights the one who isn't stunned. Multiple enemies should not be fought at once.
* **Throwing** - situational. It can be useful, if throw items are more frequently used. Can be useful for ranged enemies, like the Duplicating demon.
* **Traps** - situational. Traps in early levels don't do much damage and traps cost 3 MP to disarm. In later levels traps can do a lot of damage, thus making this skill more useful. Even when farming for XP, this skill should not be learnt because MP can be used in the next dungeon, which will yield equal or more XP per MP used.
* **Doctor** - situational. Because it consumes MP, it should be used sparingly. In early levels food items will be enough (they also don't consume MP). In later levels food storage might not be enough (depends on hero's equipment), thus making this skill essential. Recovers a random amount of Health from 8 to 12, but only when hero is below half Health and not in combat.
* **Demoralization** - situational. Because it uses MP it's not worth using in early levels. Might be useful for bosses and a large group of enemies in deeper levels. Range: 4 tiles.
* **Trained eye** - doesn't help the hero pass harder dungeons, but makes the easier dungeons faster.
* **Sprinter** - doesn't help the hero pass harder dungeons, but makes the easier dungeons faster.
* **Tactical gaze** - not essential. A hero can remove *Tactics* from 3 tiles away, which consumes the required MP and 4 AP This can be then used to attack from range or to have an additional attack when the enemy comes closer.
* **Martial arts** - very useful. Get as soon as possible.
* **Hardening** - very useful. Get as soon as possible.
* **Equipment preparation** - situational. Increases the amount of items, that can be taken into the dungeon. In early levels it's not useful. In later levels this is very useful.
* **Traps indifference** - allows to take full damage from traps instead of spending MP. This is especially great for lower dungeons, where food is plentiful. Note that Traps lvl. 1 is required.
* **Agility** - very useful. Get as soon as possible.

Below is the skill order for the **Farming playstyle** assuming skills can be learnt (to max level) without level requirements:

* Agility
* Martial arts
* Hardening
* Smashing blow
* Traps indifference (also requires Traps lvl. 1)
* *For faster runs:*
	+ Trained eye
	+ Sprinter
* *Optional:*
	+ Throwing
	+ Equipment preparation
	+ Round kick
	+ Tactical gaze
* *Not suitable for this playstyle:*
	+ Doctor
	+ Demoralization
	+ Traps

Below is the skill order for the **Progress playstyle** assuming skills can be learnt (to max level) without level requirements (yet in consideration; feedback wanted):

* Doctor
* Agility
* Martial arts
* Hardening
* Smashing blow
* Equipment preparation
* Demoralization
* Traps
* Throwing
* Round kick
* Tactical gaze
* *Optional:*
	+ Trained eye
	+ Sprinter
	+ Traps indifference (not recommended)

#### Farming the dungeon

There are items, which can only be acquired from exploring the dungeon. Below are listed levels and items, which can be obtained with least MP used (lower levels usually cost less MP and less health and energy items):

* 1A: None.
* 2A: Crypto-coin, Drum, Ancient page, Mushrooms, Ultraviolet Cherry.
* 3A: Thread, Meteoric Iron, Reagent.
* 4A: Mandrake root, Soy sauce, Catacombs map fragment (4A is a clear winner; 2A and 3A don't differ much from each other).

Hero experience points: higher levels reward more XP per MP, but they also cost more consumables.

Tip: When interacting with summoning enemies (most notably the Duplicating demon), let them summon their minions to get more XP.
The values above are based on the dungeon spreadsheet. All numbers are consider the Drum gives MP (either Cauldron or puzzle MP).

There are two main strategies when farming the dungeon, which are not mutually exclusive from each other.

* **Active farming** - only levelling up one hero (sometimes 2) at a time. The hero goes into a dungeon and fully completes it. This strategy is useful for collecting Ancient pages, Meteoric Iron and Catacombs map fragments. This strategy is used to level up one hero in order to be able to go to deeper levels in the dungeon, while also collecting useful items. It's called active farming, because the player must solve a lot of nonograms. In case the main hero is resting, the player can put the second hero into any dungeon and when the main hero is done resting, the second hero exits the dungeon, while also taking out all MP in potions, which were gathered in the meantime. While the main hero is resting, nonograms can also be solved up to 99% and once the main hero is in the dungeon, solved to 100%.
* **Passive farming** - sending all 5 heroes (one at a time) in the dungeon and gathering as much of resources as possible, without spending any (or very little) MP. This strategy is useful for collecting Mushrooms, Ultraviolet Cherries, Crypto-coins and sometimes Drum, Reagent and Mandrake root (depends if the hero can enter a certain dungeon without immediately dying). It's called passive farming, because the player doesn't have to solve many nonograms and is especially good for passive players, because it allows them to collect common resources, which can then be sold for Coins. Crypto-coins can be traded in Bourse for Wood, Stone or Gold ingot; Mushrooms and Ultraviolet Cherries can be crafted into Mushroom rice and Cherry buns, which sell for much more than their components. Since passive players will have a lot of Wheat and Rice from the Field, this strategy works that much better. The best levels for this strategy are:
	+ 1A: easy for hero lvl. 1.
	+ 2A: recommended for hero lvl. 1 with Mechanical spider. This only works with the spider and the spider must be thrown at all or almost all enemies, otherwise the hero loses too much Health.
	+ 3A: for collecting Reagent (can be done with hero lvl. 1, but it might take a while to collect 20 for the Airship).
	+ 4A: for collecting Mandrake (hero level, other requirements and if this is even viable, are in progress of being determined).
	+ 5A: probably not.

#### Completing harder levels

This section mostly applies to level 5, but is also applicable to earlier levels (in case the player doesn't have high level equipment yet).

* Skills:
	+ **All the passive skills are very recommended.**
	+ **Doctor** - Use it as much as possible. Sometimes that means taking an extra hit just to get the hero below 50% Health.
	+ **Smashing blow** - Use it on everything. The amount of Energy used is not significant, because in tougher levels Health will be the problem. Also, Energy can be replenished easier.
	+ Demoralization - Use it on bosses and/or groups of enemies. Some like using it as it makes clearing the room faster/easier. Some don't like using it, because it consumes a lot of MP, is unpredictable and sometimes it is barely noticable (still needs to be discussed upon).
	+ Traps - By detecting traps the player saves a lot of Health. By not learning Traps the player can go to corridors and try to find a trap the get the hero below 50%. It might be worth to heal the damage as opposed to negating it (still needs to be discussed upon).
	+ Round kick - Because the player usually doesn't want to position the hero near more than one enemy at a time, this skill is not recommended. A lot of enemies in level 5 have ranged attacks, so this skill is rarely useful. Although with the combination of Poke (and Potion "Berserker") can save some energy, if surrounded by all 4 sides.
	+ Tactical gaze - By removing tactics from enemies from a distance it allows the hero to make one attack more and it also helps with kiting enemies.
* **Don't smash objects.** Objects like vases, boxes and barrels should be avoided until the very end. They cost 1 Energy per object and can hide an enemy (only barrels and vases), which causes unnecessary Health loss. Once the hero is almost below 50%, the player can smash these objects and try to find an enemy, which will get them below 50%.
* **Use RATH.** (Run Away to Thin the Horde) - Upon entering a room run away from enemies, until only one follows the hero. Be careful to avoid enemies sneaking behind hero. This requires a lot of space. More info here: RATH strategy.
* **Kite enemies.** - Carefully spacing enemies to avoid taking damage. More info here: Kiting.
* **Multi-room buff.** - This applies to Poke and Potion "Berserker" (later Berserker). Because the effect of the buffs end when "new enemies" are encountered, the buff can't be applied before entering a new room - but after. The main strategy is to have the Poke and/or Berserker buff for more than on room of enemies.
	1. Enter a room (only move the hero to where the door is) and run away.
	2. Enter as many rooms as possibly without losing to much Health. Throwing net can help keep enemies away.
	3. When enough enemies are "gathered" use the buff (Poke and/or Berserker) and easily overpower them.
	4. Enemies that are "left" in other rooms can be "picked up", by leaving a melee enemy (to be still considered in combat) and letting him follow the hero to that room.
	+ Enemies are not consider "new", if the hero has entered the room they are in, no matter if the enemies "see"/follow the hero. This strategy increases the buff duration and thus save Health and Energy. Be careful when "gathering" enemies to not lose too much Health. Poke is better against ranged enemies and Berserker is better against melee enemies.
* **Use MP.** Use Doctor and Charge of motivation as much as possible (at least in 5C) and save the consumables for fights. Once consumables are gone Doctor will not be much of help in a fight.
* **Ambrosia.** Some enemies can crit and take 20 Health in a single shot. This item can save that unlucky run.
* **Have full inventory.** Have a full inventory of potions and other food items.
* For 5C only maximum equipment is enough (Sword for hero lvl. 4 is not required, but recommended). Bring as much food as possible.
* Use Poke and Berserker for bosses.

*For more details see Dungeon.*

### Ship

Ship is a building, which is built to acquire resources like Pearl, Anchor, Salmon, Tuna, Spices and Treasure map fragment lvl. 4 (which craft into a map). These resources can only be obtained by going on ship missions. In the Ship the player can choose a ship mission type (which must be unlocked with Rubies, Coins and some other items - depends on the missions type) and the duration of that type (which is unlocked with Ship levels). An exception to this rule is Spicy Odyssey (later SO) and New York (later NY). SO unlocks with Ship lvl. 4 and has only one duration. NY unlocks with Astrolabe and also has only one duration. One segment of any ship mission (except for SO and NY) is 6 hours. Here is the list of all ship mission types, their duration, when they unlock and their rewards:

* **Trading** (unlocks with Ship lvl. 1).
	+ Available durations:
		- 6h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 1) costs 2 x Coin.
		- 12h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 2) costs 4 x Coin.
		- 24h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 3) costs 8 x Coin.
	+ Rewards: 4-10 x Coins for one segment.
* **Exploring** (unlocks with 1 x Ruby, 200 x Coins, 30 x Coffee beans and 2 x Treasure maps lvl. 1).
	+ Available durations:
		- 6h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 1) costs 2 x Coin.
		- 12h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 2) costs 4 x Coin.
		- 24h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 3) costs 8 x Coin.
	+ Rewards: 1 x Treasure map fragment lvl. 1, 2 or 3 for one segment.
* **Fishing** (unlocks with 1 x Ruby, 200 x Coins, 50 x Arrows and 3 x Pearl).
	+ Available durations:
		- 6h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 1) costs 2 x Coin.
		- 12h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 2) costs 4 x Coin.
		- 24h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 3) costs 8 x Coin.
	+ Rewards: 1 x Salmon or Tuna for one segment.
* **Prospecting** (unlocks with 1 x Ruby, 200 x Coins, 20 x Bomb and 60 x Steel).
	+ Available durations:
		- 6h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 1) costs 2 x Coin.
		- 12h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 2) costs 4 x Coin.
		- 24h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 3) costs 8 x Coin.
	+ Rewards: 4-7 x Iron sand for one segment.
* **Patrolling** (unlocks with 1 x Ruby, 200 x Coins, 20 x Katana and 10 x Mortar).
	+ Available durations:
		- 6h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 1) costs 2 x Coin.
		- 12h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 2) costs 4 x Coin.
		- 24h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 3) costs 8 x Coin.
	+ Rewards: 200-400 experience points for one segment.
* **Spicy Odyssey** (unlocks with Ship lvl. 4).
	+ Available durations:
		- 48h (unlocks with Ship lvl. 4) costs 16 x Coin. Requires to solve at least a 10x10 puzzle after half duration.
	+ Rewards: 1 x Spices (guarantee).
* **Treasure Island** (unlocks with Ship lvl. 4).
	+ Available durations:
		- 48h (unlocks upon meeting a Pirate skeleton in dungeon 3A) costs 16 x Coin. Requires to solve at least a 10x10 puzzle after half duration.
	+ Rewards: 1 x Pearl, 1 x Treasure or 1 x artifact lvl. 4 (or maybe some other loot).
* **New York** (unlocks with Astrolabe).
	+ Available durations:
		- 48h (unlocks with Astrolabe) costs 16 x Coin. Requires to solve at least a 10x10 puzzle after half duration.
	+ Rewards: 3 x Blueprint (guarantee).

The rewards are not a guarantee (except for SO and NY). If **all** segments of a ship expedition fail, compensation rewards are given (1 x Coin, Fan, Arrows, Shuriken, Spikes, Boomerang, Wood, Wooden beam, Wooden plank, Stone, Coffee beans or Treasure map fragment lvl. 1). Every ship mission type can be leveled up (except for SO and NY), by going on more ship missions of that type. By levelling up a mission type the odds of a successful segment increase (longer ship missions give more experience). When level 10 (maximum) with a certain ship mission type is reached, the chances of a successful segment are 100% (except for Fishing and Exploring). Fishing and Exploring always have a *natural* chance to fail, which is around 20%. By learning Koi fish technology the odds of a successful Fishing mission are 100%.

One **random event** can occur during any type of ship mission (successful or unsuccessful). The odds of a random event occurring in a 24h mission (with all related artifacts) is 100%; for a 12h mission 50% and for a 6h mission 25%. With **all related artifacts**, chances of finding a specific item in a 24-hours mission are:

* Spices: 25%.
* Pearl: 25%.
* Treasure map fragment lvl. 4: 25% (only with Ship in a bottle artifact).
* Anchor: 12,5%.
* Salmon: 12,5%.

#### Ship strategy

When Ship lvl. 1 is built, unlock **Prospecting** as soon as possible. Prospecting brings Iron sand, which is required for crafting Mortars (see Mortar strategy). If the player doesn't go for the Mortar strategy Prospecting is overall more profitable than Fishing, because of the *Iron sand > Steel > Shuriken > Cauldron* path (ISSC path). **Fishing** provides more Wood by trading Salmon in Bourse, but a little less resources overall than Prospecting. If warehouse is full Iron sand/Steel, it's recommended to go Fishing instead. Even though Prospecting is overall better than every other ship mission type, Salmon and Tuna will be needed in some cases. The most important case being Boatswain (see Character > Skills). This skill should be learned as soon as possible to speed up ship missions. 3 Pearls (obtained by a random event) are required for unlocking Fishing, which means that the player has to go on other ship missions first. It's recommended to upgrade the Ship to at least lvl. 2. If the player wants to sleep continuously, they can only do 3 x 6 hour ship missions per day. If the player has at least Ship lvl. 2, they can do 4 x 6h ship missions (2 x 12h) per day.

Spicy Odyssey brings 1x Spices, which is a guaranteed drop. This is the only way to guarantee Spices using the Ship, so you don't have to rely on random events. However, due to the 48h duration of the trip, it gives 1 random event every 48h, as opposed to 1 random event every 24h for other trips, effectively halving the rate of random events. Additionally, Spicy Odyssey doesn't award Spices themselves as a random event, so the chance of random events is further dropped to 75%. Unless you're desperate for Spices, it is better to farm them via other Ship missions, which bring, on average, 1x Spices every 4 trips (effectively half of what Spicy Odyssey would give), but also give other guaranteed loot (e.g. Iron sand from Prospecting).

Trading brings little Coins, but still better than nothing. Exploring and Patrolling have their niche, but are not recommended (at least not for passive players).

First Pearls should be spent on unlocking Fishing (3 Pearls) and then on buying the Smuggler's map in Bourse (15 Pearls).

*For more details see Ship.*
### Caravan

Caravan is a building, which you build to get resources like Paper, Silk, Olive oil, Glass and Honey (also Spices, Treasure and Dates, but they can be acquired elsewhere). The Caravan works like a Bourse with waiting times (i.e. production/travel time) and chances of trades not succeeding (i.e. robbery). Here are listed all cities your caravan can travel to, unlock cost, what you can buy and sell there, their travel time and default chances of robbery:

* **Beijing** (unlocks with Caravan lvl. 1).
	+ Item you can buy: Paper.
	+ Items you can sell: Ruby, Gold ingot, Pearl, Tuna, Silk, Spices, Treasure, Dates, Olive oil, Glass, Honey.
	+ Travel time: 10h.
	+ Default chances of robbery: 20%.
* **Xian** (unlocks with 1 x Ruby, 100 x Coin and 3 x Paper).
	+ Item you can buy: Silk.
	+ Items you can sell: Ruby, Gold ingot, Pearl, Tuna, Paper, Spices, Treasure, Dates, Olive oil, Glass, Honey.
	+ Travel time: 12h.
	+ Default chances of robbery: 24%.
* **Delhi** (unlocks with 1 x Olive oil, 1 x Glass, 1 x Honey and it also requires Spicy Odyssey quest, i.e. Ship lvl. 4 ).
	+ Item you can buy: Spices.
	+ Items you can sell: Olive oil, Glass, Honey.
	+ Travel time: 16h (must solve at least a 15x15 puzzle after half duration).
	+ Default chances of robbery: 28%.
* **Baghdad** (unlocks with 1 x Ruby, 120 x Coin and 4 x Paper).
	+ Item you can buy: Treasure.
	+ Items you can sell: Ruby, Gold ingot, Pearl, Tuna, Paper, Silk, Spices, Dates, Olive oil, Glass, Honey.
	+ Travel time: 18h.
	+ Default chances of robbery: 32%.
* **Cairo** (unlocks with 1 x Ruby, 140 x Coin and 5 x Paper).
	+ Item you can buy: Dates.
	+ Items you can sell: Ruby, Gold ingot, Pearl, Tuna, Paper, Silk, Spices, Treasure, Olive oil, Glass, Honey.
	+ Travel time: 20h.
	+ Default chances of robbery: 36%.
* **Athens** (unlocks with 1 x Ruby, 160 x Coin and 6 x Paper).
	+ Item you can buy: Olive oil.
	+ Items you can sell: Ruby, Gold ingot, Pearl, Tuna, Paper, Silk, Spices, Treasure, Dates, Glass, Honey.
	+ Travel time: 24h.
	+ Default chances of robbery: 40%.
* **Rome** (unlocks with 1 x Ruby, 180 x Coin and 7 x Paper).
	+ Item you can buy: Glass.
	+ Items you can sell: Ruby, Gold ingot, Pearl, Tuna, Paper, Silk, Spices, Treasure, Dates, Olive oil, Honey.
	+ Travel time: 30h.
	+ Default chances of robbery: 44%.
* **Kyiv** (unlocks with 1 x Ruby, 200 x Coin and 8 x Paper).
	+ Item you can buy: Honey.
	+ Items you can sell: Ruby, Gold ingot, Pearl, Tuna, Paper, Silk, Spices, Treasure, Dates, Olive oil, Glass.
	+ Travel time: 36h.
	+ Default chances of robbery: 48%.

Travel time can be reduced by 20% with Dates, Olive oil or Honey. It can also be reduced by 10% with every level of the Cameleer skill. Chances of robbery can be reduced by building Outpost (3 levels; each gives flat 12% reduction) or by crafting the Guild banner craftifact (flat 12% reduction). When you get robbed, you lose every item in that trade (you get some Arrows as compensation). A  (black cloud with lightings) beside a city means that the city is closed and you can't trade with that city. This happens randomly and can only happen after 2 or more cities are unlocked. The odds of a city being closed doesn't change with more unlocked cities.

#### Caravan strategy

The strategy is to only unlock Xian (Silk) and visit it as many times as possible. After enough Silk and Paper are gathered, AND Outpost lvl. 3 is build AND Guild banner is crafted, other cities can be unlocked as well.

Even though it can occur that 1 city is closed with 2 unlocked cities, it's still recommended to unlock only Xian (for Silk). Caravan will always have at least on city open. It's recommended to prioritize gathering Silk, because of the Guild banner and later Airship. If Xian is closed, the caravan can be send to Beijing instead. Avoid overpaying for trades, if there are any chances of a robbery. Even if extra Dinars are given back, the extra Dinars will be lost if the caravan gets robbed. Thus losing more, than the items that would be bought. Don't trade with Delhi (only once to complete the quest), the trade is not worth. If Spices are needed go on a Spicy Odyssey. Rubies (at least from the start), Pearls (only after acquiring Necklace for Haruka) and Spices should not be sold, they are worth more than just a couple of Dinars. A good time to start saving Gold ingots, Treasures, Tunas and artifacts (and also Rubies) is after the Bridge is built. If Coins are needed to upgrade a building, sell some Gold ingots.

How first **Paper** should be spent:

1. 3 x Paper for unlocking Xian.
2. 20 x Paper for learning Cameleer lvl. 1.
3. 20 x Paper for Caravan lvl. 3.
4. 26 x Paper for unlocking London and New York (Airship).
5. 10 x Paper for Tailor lvl. 1.
6. 100 x Paper for crafting Guild codex.
7. 30 x Paper for unlocking other cities (not including Xian).

How first **Silk** should be spent:

1. 30 x Silk for Cameleer lvl. 2 (assuming you have Cameleer lvl. 1).
2. 120 x Silk for Airship lvl. 1.
3. 100 x Silk for Guild banner.
4. 30 x Silk for Caravan lvl. 4.
5. 60 x Silk for Tailor lvl. 1-3.
6. 20 x Silk (20 x Samurai armor) for Outpost lvl. 3.
7. 100 x Silk for Airship lvl. 2.
8. X amount of Silk for crafting dungeon armor (see Tailor > Technology).

*Tip:* If you have enough Dinars for the trade, you can just press "Send". You can also deselect items in the "Buy" area, if you want to buy less items.

Avoid trading with cities, which have a chance of robbery. When building Tailor lvl. 2, there will be at least a 20% chance of robbery for Glass (Rome). When building Outpost lvl. 3, there will be at least a 4% chance of robbery for Oil (Athens). These are the only times you have to "experience" how it is like to be robbed. In case you have a lot of items to sell in Caravan (active player playstyle), you can even send the caravan to cities with robbery chances, because of how many "caravan items" are needed for progressing through the guild.

There are three possibilities to **make the Caravan's trips more effective:** to raise the number of item-slots (by upgrading the Caravan), to reduce the odds of failed trips (chances of robbery) and to reduce the traveling time (Cameleer skill). At first it is worth considering to upgrade the Caravan, as a second slot increases the effectivity by 100%. The next level would be an additional increase of 50%. While gathering Paper and Silk for the craftifacts, the next step would be to invest in the Outpost, which will be even more useful for the further trades. Getting the Cameleer skill and further more item slots can be useful, if you have a lot of items to sell.

**Advanced tips:**

If you need **Dinars** and your caravans are not being send anywhere, you can send them for any of these items (cities): Treasure (Baghdad), Dates (Cairo), Olive oil (Athens), Glass (Rome) or Honey (Kyiv). Then you can sell these items on another caravan mission for a profit of 20 Dinars with Caravan lvl. 4. This works because these items sell for 5 more Dinars then they were bought. The shortest route is Baghdad-Cairo with 18h + 20h = 38h (without any bonuses). These cities might not always be open so you can choose the next ones (with the shortest routes). Do note that this is only profitable, if you don't get robbed.

If you need **Coins**, you can send your caravans for Silk (Xian). Then craft Kimono, Ninja suit or Samurai armor and sell them in Shop. Here's the math (assuming 1 Coin = 1 Dinar):

* 1 x Silk (35 x Coin) => 1 x Kimono, which you then sell for 39 x Coin.
	+ Profit: **4 x Coin**.
* 1 x Silk (35 x Coin) + 4 x Charcoal\* => 1 x Ninja suit, which you then sell for 42 x Coin.
	+ Profit: **7 x Coin**.
* 1 x Silk (35 x Coin) + 4 x Steel\* => 1 x Samurai armor, which you then sell for 46 x Coin.
	+ Profit: **11 x Coin**.

\*By throwing Charcoal into the Cauldron you get ~0.6 x Coin and ~0.1 of other items. By throwing Steel into the Cauldron you get ~1.2 x Coin and ~0.25 of other items. This is why the values of Charcoal and Steel was not accounted for.

Also note that for this tactic to work you'll need Tailor (at least lvl. 1) and not get robbed.

You can also craft Date cake and sell it, but this will take you longer (1 x Silk = 1 x Kimono, Ninja suit or Samurai armor = 12h vs. 0,5 x Dates + 0,5 x Olive oil + 0,5 x Honey = 1 x Date cake = 40h). Here's the math (assuming 1 Coin = 1 Dinar):

* 1 x Dates + 1 x Olive oil + 1 x Honey (30 + 40 + 50 = 120 x Coin) => 2 x Date cake, which you then sell for 70 x Coin each, which is 140 x Coin.
	+ Profit: **20 x Coin** (Flour is not not included, because it's almost free).

*For more details see Caravan.*

### Airship

Airship works very similar to Caravan, but without chances of robbery and closed cities. There are 4 cities, where the airship can travel to. All cities need to be unlocked with Rubies, Coins (or Crypto-coins) and Paper. Each city has one item they would like to buy and one item they would like to sell. The player must provide more of the items than the city. The airship can carry maximum of 2 items (4 at Airship lvl. 2) of chosen city. The Airship is mostly built because of Gears and Blueprints.

**The strategy** is to only go for Gears until Mechanism technology can be unlocked and then go for Blueprints, if there are enough Ancient pages to be traded for. First Blueprints should be spent on getting more Blueprints (see Craftifacts).

1. Unlock London (Gears).
2. Gears for Airship lvl. 2.
3. Unlock New York (Blueprints).
4. Gears and Blueprints for Gears technology.
5. Learn Aeronaut lvl. 1 and 2.
6. Blueprints for Meteoric Steel technology.
7. Blueprints for Mechanism technology.
8. Blueprints for Astrolabe (Ship brings 3 Blueprints per 48h or 38h 24m with Boatswain lvl. 2).
9. Blueprints for Telescope (1 Blueprint per day).

*For more details see Airship.*

## Technologies

Technologies are additional researches conducted in various buildings in order to unlock certain new crafting possibilities, improve existing crafting options, increase passive income in some buildings or increase warehouse capacity.

Because technologies require buildings upgraded to maximum, they come into question later in the game. Also because most of them require Blueprints, which can only be acquired from Airship, they cannot be researched before that. Here are some technologies, which don't require Blueprints:

* Alchemist's Hut: Greek grenade, Potion of healing, Potion of energy, Potion "Berserk rage", Potion of healing lvl. 2, Potion "Ambrosia".
* Bridge: Koi fish.
* Smithy: Throwing knife (Kunai), Sword for a hero lvl. 1.
* Tailor: Armor for a hero lvl. 1, Ariadne's thread.
* Workshop: Shield for a hero lvl. 1, Throwing net.
* Outpost: Optional contracts.

Technologies: *Greek grenade*, *Throwing knife (Kunai)* and *Ariadne's thread* should only be consider, if the player has a lot of Catacombs map fragments. Note that Throwing knife is also needed for upgrading Dungeon to lvl. 3. Prioritize researching Sword for a hero lvl. 1 as this makes 2A very easy. Once Airship is built, technologies which **increase gathering Blueprints** should be researched **first**. After that, **technologies from the "useful" technology list are also worth considering**; like technologies Conveyor lvl. 1 and 2 (Workshop) and Seed drill (Field). Conveyor allows the player to produce more Mortars (through the day) and Battering rams (through the night) and makes it more convenient to only check on the Workshop less (see Mortar strategy). Seed drill will allow to produce more Rice/Wheat by constantly buffing it with Chemicals. This will increase production from 3 cycles to potentially 4 of Rice/Wheat cycles per day. This is only recommended, if Rice/Wheat is falling behind. The player should then focus on researching technologies for equipment and potions, so they can complete dungeon 5C.

Recommended order of technologies:

1. Sword for a hero lvl. 1 (doesn't require Blueprints) - makes 2A very easy.
2. Greek grenade (doesn't require Blueprints) - required for mounting Catacombs maps.
3. Ariadne's thread (doesn't require Blueprints) - required for mounting Catacombs maps.
4. Throwing knife (doesn't require Blueprints) - required for building Dungeon lvl. 3 to get Reagents for Airship.
5. Gears - relieves Airship from going for Gears.
6. Meteoric Steel - required for Mechanism.
7. Mechanism - required for craftifacts like Astrolabe and Telescope (more Blueprints) and other useful technologies.
8. Steamobile - useful when the player has a lot of Meteoric Iron and for researching some technologies (Combine harvester). Required for quest completion (Quest for Knowledge).
9. Potion of healing (doesn't require Blueprints) - essential in higher level dungeons.
10. Potion of energy (doesn't require Blueprints) - essential in higher level dungeons.
11. Sword for a hero lvl. 3 (requires researching lvl. 1 and 2 before) - required for completing dungeon 5C.
12. Armor for a hero lvl. 3 (requires researching lvl. 1 and 2 before) - required for completing dungeon 5C.
13. Shield for a hero lvl. 3 (requires researching lvl. 1 and 2 before) - required for completing dungeon 5C.
14. Potion "Berserker rage" (doesn't require Blueprints) - essential in higher level dungeons (mostly 4 and 5).
15. Potion of healing lvl. 2 (doesn't require Blueprints) - essential in higher level dungeons.
16. Potion "Ambrosia" (doesn't require Blueprints) - essential/very recommended in higher level dungeons.
17. Quintessence of taste - required for Culinary battle quest.
18. Mayonnaise - required for Culinary battle quest.

Other useful technologies:

* Conveyor lvl. 1 and 2 (Workshop) - very useful for **Mortar strategy**.
* Seed drill and Combine harvester - useful for speeding up Rice/Wheat production in combination with Synthetic fertilizer. Combine harvester requires Steamobiles.
* Synthetic fertilizer - great for speeding up Field production. Recommended with Seed drill and Combine harvester technology. Great use of Reagent and Chemicals, but very expensive.
* Optional contracts (doesn't require Blueprints) - reduces the odds of a closed city in Caravan.
* Futures contracts - no closed cities in Caravan.
* Strong rivets - useful if armor is being used a lot.
* Strong glue - useful if shields are being used a lot.
* Weapon grease - useful if swords are being used a lot.
* Galvanization - useful if rings are being used a lot.
* Shield for a hero lvl. 4 - useful for dungeon lvl. 5 runs/trips.
* Sword for a hero lvl. 4 - useful for dungeon lvl. 5 runs/trips.
* Mandra-Cola - useful for decreasing resting time of heroes with a low price.
* Koi fish (doesn't require Blueprints) - increases the odds of finding Salmon and Tuna from ship missions.
* Sprinkler - more Wood.
* Rake - more Stone.
* Sayonara tax - more Dinars.
* Pre-orders - useful for selling a lot of items at once.

Non-essential technologies:

* Stackable racks lvl. 1 to 3 - only increases warehouse capacity.
* Conveyor lvl. 1 and 2 (Alchemist's Hut) - convenience.
* Strong stitch - Kimono, Ninja suit and Samurai armor are very expensive to craft.
* Mechanical spider - they can be bought in Bourse.
* Explosive mechanical spider - requires Mechanical spider technology and is not very useful.
* Throwing net (doesn't require Blueprints) - rarely used in dungeon.
* Conveyor (Furnace) - convenience.
* Arsenal lvl. 1 and 2 - more storage capacity of weapons.

## Solving puzzles

* **Sent by Users**: After entering the Play section, head to the Sent by Users section. While the app included puzzles in the other sections will most often count towards expeditions, this is not always the case. Additionally, you will find more easy puzzles among the user submitted puzzles.
* **Search filter**: In the Sent by Users section (or in any subsection further on), make use of the Search Filter function. It allows you to quickly hone in on puzzles of a desired size, type, style of solving required and many other options.
* **Sort function:** Once you are in a screen with a list of puzzles, at the top of the screen there is a Sort button, that can make your life significantly easier if you sort by difficulty (sometimes bigger puzzles are easier than smaller ones!)
* **Assist options**: In the game's settings, there are many options that will make your puzzle solving a lot easier (especially larger puzzles) most of which are not turned on by default. ***Note:** these settings are by no means "cheating", they just make the game a lot easier. Admittedly, these settings do significantly reduce the challenge of solving a nonogram, and if you are just playing the game for the purposes of enjoying a tough nonogram then you should decide which of these settings you want to use. If your goal is to move quickly through the guild, though, these settings are highly recommended.* In settings, under "Assist", you can turn on the assistance settings. These are the most useful:
	+ "Automatically cross out numbers" *(this will cross out numbers which the system has determined you have completed in the puzzle).* This disables the option: "Cross out cells only if numbers are crossed out", since you are not crossing out numbers manually. On the other hand it enables the option: "Cross out ambiguous numbers".
	+ "Fade out lines with completely crossed out numbers" *(if you complete a row or column it will be faded out).*
	+ "Cross out border cells" *(this will automatically place crosses around completed cells, that the system determines requires crosses).* The game even states that this setting makes things very easy, so only use this if you aren't interested in the challenge of the nonogram.
	+ "Highlight errors" *(this will highlight rows or columns in which the system determines there is an error, although only by checking the row clues or column clues for each cell - it will not tell you that the cell is wrong compared to the final picture if it still conceivably satisfies the row or column clue).*
	+ All the other settings ("Highlight numbers", "Cross out ambiguous numbers", "Cross out a completed line", "Cross out cells only if numbers are crossed out") except for one (see next dot point) don't affect rewards, but are not super helpful.
	+ ***Warning:*** the following setting does reduce rewards, often significantly. "Suggest to fill trivial lines at start" *(this will give you a prompt at the start of the puzzle to fill any row or column in which the author has filled 100%. e.g. if you are doing a 15x15 black and white puzzle and the author made one row have any mix of numbers that add to 15 with required minimum empty cells, like 5-3-3-1, the system would automatically fill the row)*. After testing, it seems that filling trivial lines will significantly reduce the reward for a puzzle, even if the lines are trivial to fill on your own. If your goal is to complete expeditions or achievements quickly, go ahead and fill trivial lines. However, if your goal is to get the maximum reward for a puzzle then you should not automatically fill trivial lines. Reward reduction depends on how many lines it fills for you.
* **Puzzle properties**: In the search filter mentioned above, you can choose puzzles that have certain properties. Puzzles that have the property "A lot of trivial lines (Coloring)" tend to be easiest. The quickest puzzles to solve will be ones with large numbers of consecutive filled squares, especially those puzzles where this large number of squares occurs along the puzzle edges. A slightly less easy property is "Symmetry (95%)" where one can take advantage of the symmetry property to fill in cells centered around the vertical (or horizontal) line of symmetry of the puzzle. This property is less easy since the puzzle isn't always fully symmetric and one must reduce it to a state where the remaining clues are truly symmetric, before one can use this property at all.
* **Weapons/Items**: There are several items (details found on the Items page) that fill some (or many) cells. The following (not as powerful) items can be used multiple times per puzzle: Fan, Arrows, Katana, Shuriken, Spikes, Boomerang, Petard, Bomb, Mortar and Drum. The following (very powerful) items can be used only once per puzzle: Firework, Battering ram and Anchor. Moreover, you can only use one of Battering ram or Anchor on a single puzzle. Using items does not reduce rewards for puzzle completion.
* **Hints:** The game provides you with 10 hints (lightbulbs). Several of the character classes will decrease that amount as a penalty. Each new level constructing the Pagoda will increase the amount of hints by one. Hints are helpful, but be **warned**: using hints decreases the reward from completing puzzles. It is, therefore, not advised to use hints (use Fan instead). Using the "Check for correctness" button can also use up hints and therefor reduce loot (use Boomerang instead).
* **Progress bar:** Many are not aware but there is a subtle progress bar while you are working on a puzzle. It appears as a yellow bar above the ribbon bar at the bottom of the screen that has all the buttons.

## Items

* Weapons can't be sold at the Shop, but can be thrown into the Cauldron to receive construction materials such as Wood, Stone and Gold ingots. Just be aware that a few weapons will be required for construction (Fan and Katana for later levels of the Pagoda) or for level 1 expeditions (Arrows). Generally you can throw all weapons except Arrows into the Cauldron. This is why the Cauldron is so vital to unlock as soon as possible.
* Certain buildings require that the user reaches a certain level in the guild to continue. Getting experience can be hard early on, which is where the Sushi item is very useful. But *you should only really use Sushi on hard 80x80 puzzles to maximize its value.* A "hard" 80x80 puzzle will usually offer 1500-3000 XP. A 20% experience boost from the Sushi represents an extra from 300 to 600 experience. This is particularly useful at lower levels, however once you get past level 20 (or so) Sushi becomes less valuable. Side note: don't use Sushi immediately on an 80x80 puzzle. First assess the puzzle to make sure it is hard. If you think it is going to be hard (as determined by the fact that there are very few trivial lines filled), use it (there is no penalty for using it at different times) for the 20% boost.
* NEVER sell Rubies. They are hard to come by and are required in every aspect of the game to advance (in building, in skills, etc.). 50 Coins for selling a Ruby early on in the game seems tempting, but once you get the Cauldron, your Coin needs will plummet as the chance of getting a Gold Ingot is quite high, especially if you throw the right items in there (e.g. Katana). Note: You can trade Coffee beans you get from watching ads for Rubies (20 Coffee beans = 1 Ruby). Once you've build the Caravan and run out of items to sell, you can sell Rubies.
* Coffee beans and Treasure maps should not be sold. These items are more common, but still hard to gather over time. Coffee beans will be required to construct the Coffee Bonsai (120 and 240 for lvl. 1 and lvl. 2), and 100 coffee beans will required to advance in the Shogun Katana quest, to purchase the first Smuggler's map. Two level 1 expedition maps will be required to learn a ship mission type. Note: It's better to construct Coffee Bonsai later in the game (at least 25+ level). Therefor you should sell your Coffee beans once you learn all Haruka skills (expedition tab), since you will have plenty of them from watching ads and going on expeditions. Treasure maps have more value, if you complete expeditions, rather than selling them. It's better to convert Coffee beans into Rubies as Rubies are required for upgrading buildings. If you only need Coins, it's better to just sell Coffee beans instead of trading them for Rubies.
* Mortar, Drum, Battering ram, Anchor and Steamobile should really only be used on puzzles that are 80x80 to maximize their value. You should use these items before you hit your maximum capacity to avoid getting "paid out" in XP for excess capacity. If Battering ram, Anchor or Steamobile were used in a nonogram, the remaining percentages of a nonogram can be filled with Drums or Mortars. **Eternal mortar** is also best used on hard 80x80 nonograms, but not at the very beginning - there are some easy lines to be filled. If you don't have to time to do 80x80 nonograms you can choose a hard 80x80 nonogram and throw 10 Eternal mortars at it in a span of 10 days.
* Katanas are best used on or close to borders of a nonogram. Once you have a border filled, it's much easier to continue from there. It's better to used in on a line with the most clues (filled squares).
* It's not recommended to throw every Sushi into the Cauldron. 7 Sushis will definitely result in a greater reward from the Cauldron. But be careful, check whether you still need Sushi or not (e.g. Smuggler's map or Caravan lvl. 1).
* If the player has excessive Wood, don't throw it directly into the Cauldron, instead craft Fans and throw them into the Cauldron. Same goes for Iron sand; craft Steel then craft Shurikens and throw Shurikens into the Cauldron.
* You should avoid letting items get to their maximum capacity, if you can. Getting paid out in experience for excess items is not as good as using, selling or throwing into the Cauldron. Here are some tips for avoiding maxing out your capacity:
	+ Build up the Warehouse to increase capacity.
	+ Learn the Athlete skill to increase capacity.
	+ If you are about to maximize your Wood, fabricate some Wood beams or Wood planks (assuming you have constructed the Lumber Mill). You will always need more. Note: Early on you will need a lot Stone. Wood can be traded for Stone in Bourse.
	+ If you are getting tons of Coins and you don't want to max out your Coins storage, don't sell items that are only for selling (Gold Ingots, Treasure, duplicate artifacts, Coffee beans, etc.). Keeping the saleable items is like virtual storage. Having 50 Gold ingots is like having 1000 virtual Coin storage which you can sell at any time. Note: There is a 150 (600 at lvl. 3) Coins limit per cycle in Shop.
	+ If you are about to max your capacity of a weapon, throw it in the Cauldron.
	+ If you are about to max your capacity of Chemicals, Gunpowder, Iron sand, Charcoal or Steel, throw some into the Cauldron. Do note that you need Steel for lvl. 2 expeditions and Gunpowder for lvl. 3 expeditions.
	+ If you are about to max your capacity of Mortar or Battering Ram, use them. What I did (since I want to complete all the achievements) was focus on an achievement (e.g. completing 500 puzzles in the section "Anime"), go immediately to the 80x80 puzzles and one by one, download them, open them and fill all trivial lines (if they existed). Lots of times you find puzzles with 70%, 80%, or even 90+% immediately filled. For the Battering ram, I would identify puzzles that were 75% filled such that using the item would immediately complete the puzzle (and to feel like I'm maximized the Battering ram's 25% fill). Similarly, for the Mortar, I would identify puzzles that were 90% filled (and to feel like I maximized the Mortar's 10% fill).
* You generally don't need a lot of storage capacity, because you can provide items partially to buildings, so increasing it (especially early on) is not recommended. The only time you'll need more storage capacity is for learning skills (you can't provided Coins partially).

## Watching ads

There are 4 items someone can watch ads for: 2 x Treasure map fragment lvl. 1, 2 x Coffee beans, 5 x Katana or 1 x Potion of healing.

* Treasure map fragment lvl. 1
	+ Pros: Much better rewards overall.
	+ Cons: Grinding expeditions.
* Coffee beans
	+ Pros: Good for getting just Coffee beans, Coins (sell in Shop) or Rubies (exchange in Bourse).
	+ Cons: Doesn't give any experience or any other items.
* Katana
	+ Pros: ~~Gives Wood, Stone, half raw Coins than Coffee beans (ad), experience points and some other items which could be thrown into the Cauldron.~~ Do not throw them into the Cauldron. Instead use 80 of them to fully solve a 80x80 hard nonogram, which will yield better rewards than Cauldron, progress the current expedition and reward Mental points (see Dungeon).
	+ Cons: Less raw Coins than Coffee beans (ad) and no Rubies or Coffee beans (item).
* Potion of healing
	+ Because more than 5 can not be brought into the dungeon, there is no benefit for owning more. They should only be used in the dungeon as a backup plan, when food items are gone.

This blog post explains the benefits and drawbacks of first 3 in more detail (also comments below the post).

Just looking at Dinars, if you watch 10 ads, you get:

* 20 x Coffee beans = 1 x Ruby = 55 x Dinar.
* 50 x Katana = 1.45 x Gold ingot = 36.25 x Dinar.

You get less Dinars by going for Katanas, but you get more other items.

## Achievements

Here is a list to keep in mind when completing achievements:

* **Solve small nonograms first (from 5x5 to 9x9).** These are quickly completed and they are also not needed for any expedition, so you can solve them when you are on any expedition. Before going on a rampage of solving small nonograms, it's recommended you learn all skills in Character to maximize loot. Also note that these probably won't reward Mental points.
* **Solve nonograms with a lot of trivial lines (with  or optionally ).** Enabling "Auto fill trivial lines" can sometimes solve the whole nonogram. Do note that enabling this will reduce loot proportionate to the amount of lines filled. **Tip:** Solve only the outline of the nonogram and tap "Fill trivial lines (Coloring)" in the Zen menu (circle icon). This will fill trivial lines, which weren't trivial at the very start. This can be tapped multiple times. Also note that these probably won't reward Mental points.
* **Solve easier nonograms.** Easier nonograms can be found by sorting them by "Difficulty", ascending.
* **Solve nonograms which count towards the current expedition.** To be more efficient, solve nonograms that the expedition requires and from a certain Category.
* **Complete categories with small nonogram sizes.** Solve 5x5, 10x10, etc. in Black-and-White Nonograms and "Colored Nonograms Beginner" in Colored Nonograms.
* **Try to complete multiple achievements at the same time.** For example: completing "Anime Fan" and "Maximalist".
* **For any guild related achievements follow the guide above.** It might be tempting to check some achievements off (like "Craft: Katana"), but this will delay the "The Last Brick" achievement (and others as well).
* **Learn skills.** Learn Antiquarian for "The Last Mosaic" achievement and Intellectual for reaching levelling faster. Do not learn these skills right away, because other skills will help much more by completing the "The Last Brick" achievement.
* **Avoid solving standard (preinstalled) nonograms.** Once all achievements that require solving them have been acquired stop solving them. These nonograms have a nice image, but are usually a medium to hard difficulty and therefor take longer to solve.

## Expeditions

The requirements for an expedition will seem daunting from the start, but as you become more accustomed to them they are not that bad. Here are a few quality tips for expeditions.

* The quickest way through an expedition is to focus on puzzles which meet the minimum requirements. If the expedition asks for puzzles no less than 10x10, then focus on only 10x10. Yes, bigger puzzles will satisfy the requirement, but it is wasted effort. The maximum you can get from a 80x80 nonograms is 4 points.
* Use the "Weight Categories" option (under the user submitted section) to identify puzzles by size.
* When in a weight category, identify puzzles which are easier and quicker to solve by using the sort function and sorting by "Difficulty" in ascending fashion.
* When searching for "True Nonograms" use the filter function to filter out puzzles that are required by the expedition. If the expedition asks for you to complete a 40x40 puzzle, instead of scrolling to find a 40x40 puzzle (a huge time waster) the filter function will find them for you.
* If you run out of puzzles in a certain weight category (as some made the mistake of doing before the guild was created by the developer, by making a personal challenge to finish certain weight categories such as 20x20 black and white, or 20x20 colored) you should be able to solve puzzles, which you haven't solved in some time (31 days to be exact). You can also wait and over time new user submitted puzzles will be added to the section.

Early on it is best to really only focus on doing only level 1 expeditions and try to get the "Axe" and "Pickaxe" artifacts to increase your chances of getting Wood and Stone. Level 2 and 3 artifacts have their utility, but early on they are not worth the expense of doing the expedition especially considering there is only a 60% chance of finding an artifact. You should delay wasting Rubies on learning the "Cartographer" expedition skill to unlock level 2 and level 3 expeditions. You will eventually get to a point that learning them is useful (you need to do a level 2 expedition to advance past Chapter 2 of Shogun Katana for example), but very early on, there is no need to burn Rubies that can be better spent on buildings.

### Expedition skills

This is probably the most optimal order of learning expeditions skills:

1. Initiative - more Treasure map fragments lvl. 1.
2. Economist - reduced cost of starting expeditions.
3. Some more coffee! - rewards more Coffee beans per expedition.
4. Cartographer lvl. 2, 3 and 4 - allows going on expeditions of higher level.

## Classes

* One of the best classes for progressing faster in the Guild is Geologist, which increases drop chance of Wood and Stone (+15% each) at the cost of 5 hints (which is not a big deal since you really should avoid using hints to maximize puzzle rewards). These two resources are the most important for construction. It also gives you a chance to find Charcoal, Iron sand and Chemicals (which is nice, but Cauldron rewards plenty of those).
* Before reaching the required level to learn Geologist, Rogue can be temporarily learnt. It increases drop chance of Coins, Gold ingots and Treasure.
* Classes that increase drop chance of weapons or experience are a waste.
* Classes that increase drop chance of Coins/Gold ingots/Treasures like Rogue/Ninja/Adventurer can be even better than Geologist.
* Samurai or Zen Master can be very useful when solving a lot of larger nonograms, because they can reward Mortars, which can be used to solve more large nonograms.
* Changing classes has a cost and it doesn't matter if a class was already learned or not.

## Skills

Skills can be found in Character and they are a permanent buff, that usually buffs rewards for solved nonograms or speeds up production in buildings. Buying skills is best done in the early stages of the game (before Caravan). The player should prioritize building buildings and spent the rest of Coins (mostly from selling Gold ingots and Treasures in the Shop) on skills. Buying skills will not be very noticable, but in the long run they will repay the investment.

* **Logistician** increases drop chance of Wood and Stone, 5% for each level for a total of 25%. This is a great skill to focus on, because you need Wood and Stone for building buildings. All 5 "Logistician" levels + "Geologist" class = 40% increased drop chance of Wood and Stone. And if you find the "Axe" and "Pickaxe" level 1 artifacts, which offer a 10% increased drop chance of Wood and Stone, that is a combined 50% increased drop chance of Wood and Stone.
* **Weapon Collector** is an underrated skill. While you don't need the weapons, you can throw weapons into the Cauldron to get more building materials. I wouldn't focus on this skill until you complete the "Logistician" and "Treasure Hunter" skill.
* **Treasure Hunter** is a great skill. You always need Coins, for skills, construction and buying Wood and Stone. It's probably better than "Logistician" skill.
* **Athlete** is a nice skill later in the game. Each new level of the Warehouse gives you a larger capacity, but the "Athlete" skill does this quicker (especially if you are in a position to get a large reward from a mosaic and need space for the Coins, for example).
* **Antiquarian** is really only a skill for people trying to finish the mosaics. However, I would still skip it. One Fragment is only worth about 0.6 Coins (see Mosaic). Get this skill when you have Coins to spend.
* **Intellectual** is really only a skill for people trying to get higher levels to finish the achievement. Get this skill when you have Coins to spend.
* **Gardener** and **Rock Garden Contemplator** are really good skills to learn. Increasing production (or reducing the time to produce passive income) is very very helpful. Each level is a 10% drop in time. Side note: the 10% is not compounded. It is 10% of the original value. Meaning, if the time required is 1 hour (or 60 minutes), then each level would be a 6 minute decrease and the final time would be 48 minutes with level 2 skill.
* **Carpenter** is useful later in the game when you start constructing Wood beams, and even more importantly, Wood planks. 100 Wood planks require 8 hours to complete *with* both skill upgrades. Without it, it's 10 hours.
* **Metallurgist**, **Mechanic**, **Blacksmith** and **Alchemist** are completely useless and should be avoided.
* **Boatswain** is also a great skill. It reduces the duration of ship missions. It's very useful to get this skill as soon as you get Ship lvl. 1.
* **Cameleer** is only useful if you have enough items to trade in the Caravan. This skill reduces time the caravan has to travel to each city.
* **Aeronaut** is very useful. It allows to get Gears and Blueprints faster.

It is best to focus on skills in this order, and learn them whenever you can (assuming you have them unlocked) - **for passive players**:

1. **Treasure Hunter** - you should be able to get all 3 levels before you unlock Rock Garden Contemplator and Gardener.
2. **Logistician** - all 5 levels, to increase your chances of finding Wood and Stone.
3. **Rock Garden Contemplator** - all levels, to decrease production time at the Rock Garden.
4. **Gardener** - all levels, to decrease production time at the Garden.
5. **Boatswain** - all levels, to decrease production time at the Ship.
6. **Weapon Collector** - all levels, to increase your chances of finding weapons, which you can then throw into the Cauldron.
7. **Cameleer** - all levels, to decrease travel time of the caravan. Learn when you unlock all cities or have enough items to trade in Caravan. Once you've unlocked all cities, you can go to Baghdad-Cairo to farm Dinars, if you don't have any.
8. **Aeronaut** - all levels, to decrease travel time of the airship. Very useful to get as soon as the Airship is built, but not before upgrading the Airship to lvl. 2.

## Speeding up production

In most cases it's not worth to speed up production. Let's use Dates as an example, since you can also buy them in Bourse (45 x Coin). They last 18 hours and they "cut off" 4.5h, 5.1h, 6h or 7.2h depending on which skill level you have for that production. Let's use one Date for passive buildings at maximum level with maximum skills. Below are listed buildings and how much extra they produce:

* Garden: **3.75 x Wood**.
* Rock Garden: **3.75 x Stone**.
* Coffee Bonsai: **1.25 x Coffee beans**.
* Onsen: **1.25 x Chemicals**.

In these cases even buying the same amount of Stone in the Shop is cheaper (30 x Coins), so not worth.

Ship and Caravan are a little different, because of how they function. They provide you with items you can't get from just solving nonograms and crafting. Items like Spices, Pearls, Paper, Silk, etc. ("special" items). They also have an upfront cost. Ship mission costs 2 x Coin per segment and time. Caravan requires items to trade and time. Even if you finish a ship mission or caravan mission earlier, you'll still have to pay the same amount for the next one. Therefore the only benefit of speeding up Ship or Caravan is decreasing travel time. Decreasing travel time only makes sense, when you're only waiting for those "special" items and you don't want to wait or have a full warehouse of "normal" items (i.e. for very active players).

Speeding up production in "active" buildings (e.g. Lumber Mill, Food Stall, etc.) is never worth. You never have enough items for said buildings in order for them to be continuously running and even if you would, you'd only be saving time (i.e. same problem as with Ship and Caravan) and wasting Coins or Dinars. Speeding up Workshop to craft more Mortars and Battering rams (see Mortar strategy) is probably not cost effective.

Speeding up production in Field is *usually* not worth it. Production can be sped up with Chemicals from 7.5h to 6h, which theoretically means that instead of 3 batches of farming/sowing 4 batches can be produced. 4 batches can be produced per day, but only if set in production one after the other, which is usually inconvenient. The only time it should be sped up is to be able to produce 3 batches instead of 2 (if the player was not able to set in production at the right time).

With technology **Seed drill** and **Combine harvester**, and with Synthetic fertilizer the player can speed up the production of Rice/Wheat from 3 batches to 4 batches. Even with just Seed drill and Chemicals, the batches come very close to 4, due to sowing Rice/Wheat overnight (although Chemicals only last for 6 hours).

## Projects

Projects are little boosts, which require a lot of resources. Projects are aimed for veteran players to "dump" all their resources in. Projects are not meant to be completed quickly or prioritized. Although the player can liquidate all their items into projects when they have nothing else to invest into, it is still recommended to leave some items for the next game update as it is very likely that they would be better spent for new buildings, technologies, etc. Most of the production boosts only make a difference, if the player can set the next production right after the last one (later referred to as "Production buffering"). Getting at least 1% of the boost, allows the player to set the production at the same time every day, because of that 1% time buffer. 1% of 24 hours is 14.4 minutes so with 4 levels the time is decreased by almost one hour for 24 hour production cycles, so the production buffering is not that significant.

What projects to invest into:

* **DCT** (extra loot: Coin, Gold ingot, Treasure) - the extra loot might not be worth investing into, but can be useful for active players.
* **INX** (extra Dinars) - probably the best project to invest into and even has quite a good return of investment.
* **BXP** (bonus XP for solved puzzles) - expedience points are not important at this stage of the game. The player will get the levelling reward a puzzle or two earlier, but that barely makes a difference.
* **BMP** (bonus MP) - if the player is doing the Mortar strategy, get this at least at lvl. 1 for +1 MP per large puzzle.
* **MHP** (max hero HP) - this can save one Onigiri per run and also use the Doctor skill at a higher Health threshold.
* **MMP** (max Mental power) - this is usually irrelevant, because most heroes at that point have very high MP caps already.
* **RFD** (increase production: Field) - production buffering problem. Getting at least 1% of the boost, allows the player to set the production at the same time every day, because of that 1% time buffer.
* **RCC** (increase production: Chicken Coop) - production buffering problem. Getting at least 1% of the boost, allows the player to set the production at the same time every day, because of that 1% time buffer.
* **RGC** (increase production: Garden and Coffee Bonsai) - in theory it pays off itself, but it takes a VERY long time.
* **RRO** (increase production: Rock Garden and Onsen) - in theory it pays off itself, but it takes a VERY long time.
* **RWS** (increase production: Workshop) - Mortar strategy optimization, but it only works if production is not buffered.
* **RAH** (increase production: Alchemist's Hut) - Alchemist's Hut is usually not busy all the time, so buffing it doesn't make much sense. Production buffering problem.
* **RSH** (reduce ship mission time) - production buffering problem.
* **RCV** (reduce caravan mission time) - production buffering problem.
* **RZP** (reduce airship mission time) - production buffering problem.
* **UWH** (increases storage capacity) - pretty much useless, if the player invests all resources into projects.

One of the best projects are:

* INX (Dinar passive income boost) - best for passive players.
* RCV (Caravan boost) - allows to get more Paper and therefore more projects.

If the player neglects production buffering (i.e. if they set timers), these are one of the most optimal choices for projects:

* RCV (Caravan boost) - allows to get more Paper and therefore more projects.
* RWS (Workshop boost) - allows to craft more Mortars, Battering rams and Steamobiles, and therefore increase loot from puzzles.

Here are some recommendations for faster investing:

* If an item can be directly invested, directly invest it (except for Mechanism).
* Mechanism should be used to craft Steamobiles and solve large puzzles.
* Best use for Crypto-coins is to convert them to Wood (via Bourse).
* Best use of Caravan is to send it for Paper (not Glass).
* Best use of Airship is to send it for Avocados (not Blueprints), craft Smoothies and use them on nonograms.
* Best use of Ship is to send it for Iron sand.

## Preparing for the update

Some players can complete the guild before the developers can update the game with new buildings, quests, etc. In such cases the player can stockpile items and prepare for the next update and have a "faster start".

* **Stockpile items** - the player can stock up items to the maximum available capacity. Especially items that can only be obtained with certain buildings (Ship, Caravan, Dungeon, etc.). Because the developers will not say which items will be needed in the next update, a safe bet would be to stock up evenly *or* on items that are more likely to be used in large quantities (player preferences and guesses).
* **"Save" nonograms** - solve nonograms, but exit (tap the "<" button on the top-left) instead of tapping the "Complete" button at the bottom. When the game is next updated, the player can come back and solve all these nonograms in no time and get the corresponding items and XP. This effectively allows the player to "extend" their maximum storage capacity of items (and MP). Note that classes and skills only apply when the nonogram is started, not when completed. Also, if the device with the saved, not-completed-yet nonograms breaks down, the progress on these nonograms will be lost. It is better to not fully solve them, but instead leave one pixel. That way items like Sushi, Fried eggs or any new items can be used to buff the rewards.

## Adventurers Guild on computer

The Nonograms Katana website doesn't have the Adventurers Guild. If you want to play with the Adventurers Guild on computer you'll have to download an **emulator**. An emulator is a program, you can download from the internet (usually for free), which emulates a phone (pretends it's a phone) and functions very similar to a phone.

Below are gather some reviews of emulators, from the standpoint of just playing Nonograms Katana on it (although you can play pretty much any mobile game on it). These reviews are not meant to promote any emulators, but are here to help you decide, which emulator to install, based on a pros and cons list. You can also add your own review and sign it with ~~~~. Do try to be as objective and honest about pros and cons of an emulator.

**LDPlayer**

I have used this emulator for months and I am satisfied with it. There are some minor "problems" (see cons), but nothing major.

* **Pros:**
	+ Free.
	+ Fast.
	+ Quick setup.
	+ You can bind keys on your keyboard to certain clicks on the screen (e.g. binding "E" to click "Adventurers Guild" icon in home screen; binding "W" and "S" to scroll up and down).
	+ Sometimes the ad section in Bourse will say that you need to wait 30 min to watch an ad (even though you just open the app). You can fix that by restarting the emulator (press "X" and "Restart"), which takes ~30 seconds. After it restarts you'll need to quickly open Nonograms Katana app and go to Bourse. After you've watched the ad you can save your progress to the cloud and do it again as many times you want. If the Bourse timer doesn't reset, you've done it too slowly (the window for this to work is cca 1 minute). Here is the proof. Do note that this also works on phone (you need to restart your phone).
* **Cons:**
	+ You must save your progress to the cloud (in the app) before exiting or your progress will be lost. It's good to have "Save progress to the cloud" enabled. I always click "Synchronize Now" before exiting.
	+ If you open an app on the emulator too quickly after the emulator starts, it's possible that you'll get an error message, which you can ignore. The emulator just needs to update the "LDStore".
	+ Scrolling up and down with your mousepad (with mouse it is possible) is not really possible - you can bind keys to do the scrolling.
	+ Time "stops" on the emulator is you put your computer to sleep. You can fix that by restarting the emulator.

Overall a good emulator and I would recommend it. Review by: The Crossblade (talk) 06:29, 29 March 2023 (UTC)

For a smoother Dungeon experience MuMu Player (emulator) can be used.

#### Screen mirroring with scrcpy

Scrcpy (pronounced "screen copy") is a free and open source application which copies your android phone screen to your computer. It also allows keyboard and mouse input. This is useful for solving large nonograms, recording video replays of solutions or dungeon crawling, or taking screenshots. Scrcpy is available for Windows, Linux and MacOS. This guide assumes you have Windows & an Android 11+ phone. Older versions of Android can also use scrcpy using a USB cable to set up the wireless pair. You can google on how to set that up. If you do, please add information with screenshots below.

To install scrcpy on Windows:

1. Download scrcpy from the official site: https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy/blob/master/doc/windows.md
2. Extract the zip file and use File Explorer to go to the scrcpy directory.
3. Run the file: 'open\_a\_terminal\_here.bat' and a terminal window will appear.

On your Android 11+ phone:

1. On the device, go to **Settings > About phone**.
2. Tap the **Build number** seven times to make **Settings > Developer options** available.
3. Go to **Settings > System > Developer Options**.
4. Find the **Wireless Debugging** option.
5. Set to **enable**, it will show a confirmation dialog to allow debugging on current wireless network, click **allow** to enable it.
6. Click the **Wireless Debugging** option, this will bring Wireless Debugging Configuration, this will show the IP ADDRESS and PORT
7. Click **Pair Device with pairing code**, this will show the IP ADDRESS, PAIR-PORT and PAIR-PIN to be used by the pc to pair with the phone
8. On your computer in the terminal window type:
	1. `adb pair IP ADDRESS:[PAIR-PORT] [PAIR-PIN]`
	2. `adb connect IP ADDRESS:PORT`
	3. `scrcpy`

You should have your screen mirrored on your computer. Have a read of what's possible with scrcpy here: https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy/blob/master/README.md

Terminal window (Command prompt) with all 3 commands.Phone settings - wireless debugging with IP and port number.Pair with device with the pairing code.Scrcpy on the computer (the screen can be enlarged).