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*Warning - long article*

So, I’ve been meaning to get this article out for a few days now. I know a lot of new players, especially within the ADF, are strength training. There is absolutely no problem with that, it’s your game, you play it however you want it. I do just want to point a few things out though.

Firstly, if you are just training, without even doing your daily orders, you are missing out on an energy bar and a bazooka every day. I get that the point is to stay in divisions 1 and 2, but just doing your daily orders isn’t going to rank you up that quickly. And if you get close to hitting the next division, you can always stop fighting. I’m not saying you should fight every single day, maybe just a few times a week, but at least if you do fight you’ll be earning yourself some extra energy for when you do decide you want to drop some damage.

The second point I have (which Hugh actually discussed with me last night over some booze - yes yes, I’m an alcoholic, go screw yourselves 😛), is that division 1 and 2 fighters are extremely important on the battlefield. Take, for instance, the tight victory in QL. We won that 83-82. That battle could have so easily been lost, just by losing one division 1 battle.

Unlike division 4, where a person can drop millions of damage and it doesn’t have an affect (I actually dropped 36mil a few days ago, it moved the bar by less than 0.5%, and within seconds any influence I had on that battle was completely lost), any and all damage within divisions 1 and 2 is vital. A person sitting back and not dropping any damage because they are only strength training isn’t helping anyone. At times like that, more than ever, you need to be fighting.

And of course, by fighting, you’ll be getting rewards from the weekly challenge. You can pick up energy bars, health centres, damage boosters, even strength points. Just because your main focus is training, doesn’t mean you can’t fight!

I know one of the biggest concerns for young players is not having the resources to fight - guys, if you are in the ADF, I am personally supplying those who have done their daily orders. When I get a budget, weapons will be switching to Q7’s, and if the budget allows me I will try to incorporate food into that mix. Between the ADF and the JDS, we are literally giving you everything you need to train and fight.



One of my biggest concerns with those who just train are that they will get bored pretty quickly. Unless you’re getting involved in other ways, I can’t see that many people logging in every single day just to train. And depending on which training grounds you have, and what quality they are, it could be a very long time before you are anywhere near the strength you want to be. I don’t know what constitutes a “tank” within divisions 1 and 2, but it is definitely a good few thousand. That could take you literally years if you are stuck on basics.

Strength is the single most important thing on the battlefield. Your rank or level doesn't matter, just how much strength you have. The higher your strength, the more damage you deal out.

I decided to draw up a table on how long it could take someone to hit 1000 strength, depending on their training facilities. Bare in mind, this is based on somebody training every single day in order to pick up the +1 strength for working and training over four days, and picking up the +5 strength for training 5 days in a row. Every day. That's why the strength earned per day number look odd. So yes, emphasis on activity.

It would be too confusing to combine different levels of training ground, so instead I’ve based it off how much strength your grounds give you per day. If you're wondering why the strength earned per day comes out at a dodgy number, it's because it is based off of someone training every single day.



By looking at that, you can see just how long it takes to hit 1000 strength depending on your facilities. Link is HERE if you need a better look, 'cos it's all squished and stuff.

To those young players who need gold to upgrade their training grounds, go have a look at the JDS tasks. It gives you gold as a reward, and honestly, there isn’t much effort you have to put into it.



I figured at this point, I’d try and give a little extra information, just incase there are any new players who need it.


Upgrading Training Grounds -

Since it’s free to use, it’s always best to upgrade your free (initial) training ground to begin with. The first upgrade to Q2 will set you back 20 gold. This isn’t too bad, since as a very young player you earn gold very quickly, ranking up by fighting to about level 20. I would strongly advise, though, that you wait until the Training Ground offers come out. You’ll save 45% off your upgrades, so instead of it costing you 20 gold, it will only cost you 11. Those offers generally appear every 4-6 weeks. Upgrading your free training ground to Q2 will mean you’ll be earning 10 strength a day without bonuses (11.8 with) for free.

Upgrading your free training ground to Q3 will set you back 50 gold (or 70, if you are upgrading straight from Q1). Upgrading when an offer is available will cost you 27.5 gold (or 38.5 gold if upgrading straight from Q1). See, it’s a heck of a lot better to upgrade when the offers are on.

Upgrading to Q4 from Q3 will cost you, without the offer, 100 gold. It’ll be 170 to upgrade straight from Q1 to Q4 (it’s the same amount of gold regardless of whether you upgrade in increments or upgrade to Q4 in one go). With the offer, however, it’ll cost 55 gold.

Always wait for the training ground offer. Without it, you’d pay a total of 170 gold to upgrade any of the training grounds. With the offer, that figure goes down to 93.5 gold. Ooh, another chart, for those who can't be bothered to read 😃


All training grounds cost the same to upgrade. The only difference is that different training grounds give out different strengths. Your free training ground (aka, the “Weights Room” initially gives you 5 strength. A Q2 will give you 10 strength, Q3 gives you 15 and Q4 gives you 20.

The second ground (aka, the Climbing Centre) will give you 2.5 strength at Q1 strength, Q2 gives 5, Q3 gives 7.5 and Q4 gives 10 strength. This is where you will have to start and pay to train though. It’ll set you back 0.19 gold every day for training here.

The third ground (aka, the Shooting Range) will give you 5 strength at Q1, 10 at Q2, 15 at Q3 and 20 and Q4. This ground costs 0.89 gold to train in.

The last training ground (aka, the Special Forces Centre) gives you the biggest boost to your strength, but also costs the most to train in. Q1 gives you 10 strength straight away. Q2 gives you 20, Q3 gives you 30 and Q4 gives you 40. It costs 1.79 gold to train in.

Oooh, another chart (because sometimes, it’s just easier)




So what about training contracts?

Training contracts are a bit tough. Generally speaking, unless you have the fourth training ground (the one that costs 1.79 to train in) they’re a waste of money and will actually cost you more than training normally. You would have wasted a lot of gold. The only time a contract becomes useful and actually saves money, is if you have the fourth ground. As you can see from another lovely colourful chart, the only time a gain is made is when the most expensive ground is involved.




The easiest way to get everything you want in this game, of course, is to buy gold. Do I recommend it? No. But, I can’t say anything, as I am a gold buyer. Not huge amounts, but I do buy it. If you are going to buy gold to use to upgrade things or create factories or stock up on supplies, be warne😛 It is a very addictive thing. It’s like buying some facebook credits for one of their terrible games, getting a few items that you want, and then thinking “well, another pack won’t hurt, and I do really want that special horse on farmville…” before you know it, you’ve been sucked in. The best value comes from the Combat/War stashes, where you get more gold than if you paid the exact same price from the gold page, plus you get other things like bazooka boosters, energy bars, damage boosters, bombs etc. Those packs come in at 9.9euros. I’m unsure of the Aussie price as I live in the UK, but for me they’re roughly £8, give or take. As with pretty much everything else, every few weeks there is a deal on gold packs. Those are the best ways to buy gold, if that is something you want to do. Don’t say I haven’t warned you though!


To anyone who is strength training, for the love of Cheesestrings and all dairy goodness, go and have a look at the JDS tasks and earn yourself some bloody gold! 21 gold in total can be earned from completing the tasks, so get your arses over there and have a look!


I hope this has at least helped someone, otherwise man have I just wasted a good few hours!


Claire Louise
ADF Marshal