The 2 out of 3 update for the HQ25 had dropped yesterday. It wasn’t a particularly huge update as only the Sculptor, Statue Storage, Smoke Screen ability, Dr Kavan upgrade and Warriors were the parts available. However, at least with the Sculptor part, I think there was a small amount of attention given to offensive players.
Luckily, on my secondary account, I mostly had the resources and pretty much just needed to use my Iron Plan to get my Sculptor upgrade. Also, since I had a Building Classified Plan, I decided to go ahead with that to instant finish my Sculptor. The only bad part was not having anything outside of a +17% GBE statue waiting in storage. I decided to deploy that since now both accounts will have the equal amount of GBE and I can feel the difference immediately on that account.
My main account needed two days to accumulate enough resources, including a hesitant tapping of my resource boat. It was just under the amount of Stone required so I destroyed an NPC base and started building it. Unfortunately, it will take 3 days to complete which will not be in time for Imitation Game Day where I had hoped to have a +20% Resource Reward statue ready, but sadly was not able to craft in time.
Nonetheless, this is pretty good for now. For my secondary account, I might ditch this +75% Power Stone Chance statue if I can craft a +20% RR statue and probably will aim for the same on my main once my Sculptor is completed. My secondary account really doesn’t need the PSC anymore since I have quite a bit of powder and mostly use the Destroy ability on NPC bases, which guarantees me 3 Fragments. Also, my ranks on both accounts give me fair amounts of Shards. Combined with my dives and Trader Tickets, I no longer believe that PSC is really required for me whereas the resource cost has become insane and require a much needed boost.
One comment on today’s Dr T Volcano Island is that the stage 7 felt pretty rough for my Tank-Bombardier-Medic load out. Numerous Boom Cannons and a few Shock Launchers along with high damaging Cannons made me lose quite a few troops. I managed to get through it but it made me realize how badly I needed either a +14% Troop Health statue or another level for my Tanks.
Which brings me to my next point where I really hope that the 3rd part of the HQ25 update comes relatively soon. Right now, outside of the obvious Weapon Lab upgrade, the other things I anticipate are Tanks and Scorchers receiving an upgrade, Shock Bombs, Rocket Launchers and hopefully Cpt. Everspark. The Tanks for me would be a godsend just because the health aspect is key rather than damage in using them with Bombardiers.
Now, with Everspark, I want to point out that in general she’s not great but I mostly use her to deal with mines. Pvt Bullit would probably be better but I’ve had issues with him and Medics where Medics would end up getting slaughtered since he pulls out in front of the Tanks, causing the Medics to come in the line of fire. So on average, I prefer Everspark except that I think her primary damage capability is really bad.
I think in the line of all the shocking abilities in the game, the least thing they could do is make her ability temporarily cause paralysis to defenses. Since her ability only is capable of damaging a single defense at a time, I don’t think it’s too unreasonable for her to cause that defense to go haywire (i.e. paralyzed) with a timer based on her level. That would make her infinitely more useful especially since her normal Critters ability spawns so slowly.
One thing I will say about this delayed style of an update is that I don’t mind it too much as it does allow me to upgrade small sections at a time rather than being overwhelmed all at once with different set of priorities. By the time the 3rd update comes out, I should be able to get my Weapon Lab upgrade almost immediately, even if I have a variety of defenses left. Similarly, most of my main troops, gunboat abilities and mines ought to be done once the Tank upgrade becomes available (if it does, indeed, become ready).
At any rate, I think the next real step is getting that +20% RR statue for both accounts. This setup will replace my old PSC boosts on most event days so this will get costly. But I think the PP will be worth it in the end especially as some of those nastier upgrades like Landing Craft and Boom Cannons are slightly out of reach.