Is it just me or are all levels after 155 or so insanely difficult

[South Side Slinger]

I’m on 167 right now and the overall cheapness of these levels is getting annoying. Multiple laser pigs in every room, cheap rocket pigs who parachute down to a nigh unreachable position, etc. Etc. I get stuck for days and weeks on these things. Up till 150 or so it was never this frustrating but now I routinely have to start over multiple times in the first room, burning lives.

/rant

Topic

[TheHut]

Can you use one laser pig to take out the others.

[Anonymous]

Just wait until you get even farther. Once you get into Pigsyland from there on it’s mostly 6 wave levels. 302 has 7 waves!

[South Side Slinger]

Laser pig to take out the others…what?

@partshade lol wow. Clearly a money grab

[Ang Ryone]

You’ll learn how to get better. A lot lies in deciding whether you got a good first setup of cards and if the version of the level suits that setup. Otherwise you can restart. There aren’t a lot of levels I can’t 3 star whenever I want to.

Everything in AB2 is possible to beat and 3star without any money being put in, so I don’t think it’s a money grab. I just think it’s smart. Lazy people and kids will pay to advance faster than their skill allows them to. The rest of us have a 5 lives with 30 min refresh which is extremely generous (I had 3 lives on 1 hour refresh).

[South Side Slinger]

Lol ‘get better’ when you yourself said you can get trash cards. Yeah sure start over, but you lose a life. Just now I waited till a laser pig finally went to sleep, which seems to happen less and less. He woke up mid throw and shot the bird down. ‘Get better’

[South Side Slinger]

By the way, it takes 30 minutes for the game to give me one life.

Edit: read your post wrong, nvm

[burbman]

It is just you.

As you progressed through the game, you should have learned various strategies for dealing with different situations/opponents. Each chapter typically adds another feature or degree of difficulty, and the expectation is that you will be able to complete more screens with the same base number of birds. Yes, sometimes you will fall flat on your face on a level until you figure out what works and what does not. If there was not some degree of difficulty, why bother playing?

[South Side Slinger]

Lol elitists everywhere, shouldn’t have expected anything less. But this is a comical thing to be elitist about. Pathetic really.

[Orange Bubbles]

@ssslinger Calm down, no one is being elitist here.

I also find some levels very difficult and sometimes I have to try for 3 days (or more) in order to complete a single level (and spend gems in extra birds). However, this is part of the challenge and we learn how to get better each time we play.

If you could complete every level on the first try… what would be the fun?

But compared with the original game (and also seasons and space)… this one is much easier. I’m in level 230 and managed to get 3 stars in all the previous levels… but in the original I almost died trying to get 3 stars in the FIRST level!

If you find a level too difficult, just relax and take your time choosing the right strategies. In the first room, before launching any bird, you can restart as many times as you want, without loosing lives, and get different combinations of birds, structures and pigs. For example, if the first room is crowded with “laser pigs”, just restart and maybe they’re gone in the next room. ;)

[Sutekh137]

@ssslinger

I’ll admit, some of the responses here aren’t the greatest, but I also agree it would be OK for you to relax a little. *smile*

That being said, I agree with you 100%, with a caveat: the levels aren’t hard, they are simply random and tedious. And annoying. For folks saying “get better” I don’t really understand the logic behind such statements. You can’t get “better” when levels are random and have no real cleverness built in. Umbrella pigs, shooters, wizards, and now potion pigs (who _randomly_ change all bricks to new materials) aren’t something to learn or strategize over — there IS no getting better once you know how to fling a bird.

Yes, there are a few nuances (I can count them on one hand):

— Knowing when you are about to get a new bird and capitalizing on getting a good one back, like bomb. (it boils down to, kind of, just using your best all-purpose birds as soon as you can, IMO).
— Knowing what to spend gems on (hint: about the only answer is continuations and the Eagle Mighty Dish spell — all the other spells pale in comparison).
— Learning how to use Silver. I used to think Silver sucked, but now really dig it.
— Actually, learning how to use EVERY bird to its utmost (still doesn’t help when the deck gives you situational crap, though).

If the randomness and lack of strategy bother you, then I suggest you uninstall AB2. I’ve been close but can’t quite bring myself to do so. But it only gets “harder”, and you can’t really get any “better” once you reach a certain level of slinging.

Thanks,
sutekh137

EDIT: Just had to share, because it perfectly illustrates the randomness of levels and how there really is no “getting better” once you reach a certain point… I spent all of my lives this morning on new level 328, a six-stager that just seemed kinda tough. Burned all five of my lives as well as ones from watching ads, so at least 9 or 10, total. Came back this afternoon and first time through I _ended_ the level with NINE cards. I had as many as 10 cards on the third or fourth stage of the level. So, from not even being able to finish a level to having NINE cards left — pretty clear there is not a thing skill-related about advancing. I was playing the same way I was before, same device, same location, and due to…whatever (structure ease, fortuitous cards, spell drops) I had MASSIVE success out of the blue. I drew into 5 spell cards, one of which was a sardine can (come to think, I never even got to that it was so deep in the deck…lol). In summary, slinger, nope, it sure just isn’t you.

[Ang Ryone]

@sutekh137

The levels are random but only an experienced and skillfull player knows which structures works best with which birds. A skillfull player understand how to create maximum damage with one bird or how to make a good setup for his second bird. He uses the bird that gets the job done and doesn’t waste stronger birds at all times.

There is clearly players who play better than others. I.e skill exists. In my experience only bad players attribute success to dumb luck.

[Sutekh137]

@angryone

As I said, once you reach a certain level of “skill”, mainly with experiential factors you can count on one hand (Blues take out glass, Silver’s good at stone, clear front tower to make way for Chuck against wood…), and after that there is no “getting better”. There’s randomness. Did you read my postscript? I played the exact same level 10 or 11 times in the exact same environment on the exact same device with the exact same mental faculties and hand/eye coordination. For nine runs, I barely even saw the last room (twice). Then, on the tenth try, doing nothing different, I had NINE cards left after obliterating almost every block in every room (had a pretty high score, too).

How is that not luck-based, “dumb” or otherwise? I’ll counter your final statement by saying: “Good players who attribute their AB2 success to anything BUT luck are delusional.”

I’m only stating things this way (and it is just my opinion, obviously) because other Rovio games clearly, clearly require true skill. For one thing, the original AB offers no help for seeing how your bird is going to fly. Some ABSW2 levels have you select your own birds every step of the way (though “Last Chance” strategy blows skill away there — what is your opinion on LCS? Do you call that “skill”?). AB Space requires figuring out how gravity is going to affect trajectories. These are true skills to be learned beyond simply knowing which bird does best against which type of block.

Let me try to zero in on how much “skill” you think you have at AB2 by laying out a scenario:

1. You masterfully restart the first level until you get a setup where you can strike with one bird and even have two birds in the hopper where you know you can Birdie the next room (this assumes you are playing through a level for a second or third time).
2. You proceed to do well on the second and third rooms.
3. In room four you face two wizards, both of which blip to alternate safe areas — twice. You end up burning through four birds to clear the room. (If you have a “skill” that can work around this, please share — that is what the original poster is asking about!)
4. In room five, a laser pig rests right by the slingshot, and a rocket pig resides on the far tower. You wait for laser pig to sleep, but he wakes up mid fling so you waste a bird. Then Rocket lands successfully, right next to the slingshot. But you make it through and still have two birds left…
5. …for the final room which is all stone. The two birds you are left with? Chuck and Blues.

How would you use your “skill”, exactly, to beat this level? You did everything right, yet ended with an impossible situation, a situation that can NEVER happen with AB, Rio, Seasons, Space, SW, or SW2 because the levels are consistent and more cleverly designed. Some of the scenarios that can develop in AB2 are the same as if there was just a big roulette wheel at the end where red indicated LOSE and black indicated WIN. It’s random. That’s why you hear some people saying “money grab” or “uninstalled”. Randomness begets frustration.

You are entitled to your opinion, of course, but please don’t say complaining about randomness/luck is the mark of a bad player as if you are stating a fact. It’s just not true. I’m pretty good at AB games. Everything is three-starred and I’ve not spent a cent (OK, AB2 isn’t three-starred yet, I am on level 333). And when I see someone plaintively asking, “Is this kind of hard?” I see see no reason not to state things as they are and say, “Yeah, it’s pretty random, but here are some things you can do (if you aren’t already doing them).” Why not turn the moment into a teachable one instead of a contentious one, using terms like “bad players”?

Thanks,
sutekh137

PS. And of course the frustration mounts when the game crashes on room 4 of 5 for no reason — like it just did for me on 333 (I was doing well, too! *smile*). The second time, two “slam dunk” rooms turned into 3-bird crap-fests due to wizard pigs teleporting twice — nothing I could do. The list goes on and on, and there is no “getting better” for me.

[burbman]

@sutekh137 – Sorry to say it, but I think you have missed the point if you think strategy is limited to knowing which birds target which material.

Every structure I have encountered in AB2 has at least one, and usually several weak spots, which are best attacked with different birds, and from different angles.

Laser pig ignores birds which are below his level, so attack him from below, or use a bird that changes direction.

Wizard pig usually will not teleport unless directly threatened by a bird, aim high or low and let the structure get him.

Sure, luck can come into play, but for the most part, and over time for sure, more highly skilled players will obtain higher scores on the same levels.

To prove my point, I offer you a challenge – Pick any level at random and play it ten times in a row, tracking number of birds used, challenges faced, score for each stage, and overall score, and tell me if you do not improve on that level over the course of the exercise. If familiarity breeds success, that demonstrates that skill is a factor and strategy can breed success. Yes there is still an element of chance, but this is more in the range of blackjack or poker than roulette.

[Sutekh137]

@burbman

So you admit luck comes into play (we can agree to disagree on the magnitude of that), yet tell the OP nope, “It is just you.” Like I said, why turn a teachable moment into a contentious one? You admit yourself it is not “just him” — luck comes into play more than any of the original AB games, and randomness adds to frustration.

You are mixing blackjack and roulette in with poker…hm. Poker definitely has more skill to it. Blackjack and roulette, though? Unless you are counting cards, blackjack isn’t a whole lot better than roulette (which has 50/50 odds of winning something). I see your point, but your examples are, I believe, a Freudian slip as to how much you realize AB2 is luck based, especially comparatively speaking. Going from no luck in ten tried to having 9 cards at the end is a variance far, far larger than 50/50. I will state directly and objectively that you probably have better odds on roulette than certain AB2 levels.

I don’t really need to try your challenge, because I’ve lived it. I am on level 334 right now and have played this game for countless hours. I assure you, the only “getting better” is finally having a lucky run (yes, luck — I am not going to take credit for randomness!). I am not getting better at anything. Yes, I know structure weaknesses (how is that not essentially the same as knowing what birds work best against a material?). Look at my scenario and tell me how you are going to knock down an all-stone structure with Blues?

Learning the ins and outs of the various pigs takes all of, what, 10 levels of facing them? That still doesn’t mean you aren’t going to run into a scenario where it is impossible to work around and birds are wasted. I realize that is the nature of multi-stage levels, but the randomness of the structures is what makes the multiple levels really, really frustrating. And who asked for six-stage levels in the first place? Were people complaining about the original AB, saying, “Gosh, what I would like to do is have six rooms in a row where if I screw up one room I have to start all over. With limited lives, too please!” Zero people asked for that, because it would never occur to someone that such a scenario adds to a game’s fun factor. It doesn’t.

In direct answer to your question, no, my scores have never gone up overall the more I play a level (and I am certainly not wasting lives working on one level over and over again to do more testing when I have levels yet to clear). My high score might get higher, but that is a very different thing from saying overall play “gets better” (don’t confuse the two). I am topped out on that, and was topped out roughly by the level the OP mentions (150+). Yes, there were idiosyncrasies to learn in the new(er) circus area and with the green goop, but that took literally two seconds to think through and a few levels to perfect interaction. The one level I DO play over and over (just to get stars) is good ol’ level 2. And my high score on that (220,000+) I got months ago. Haven’t even gotten over 200K since, and have no idea how I got such a high score.

It certainly wasn’t skill, though. *smile*

Thanks,
sutekh137

[Ang Ryone]

@sutekh137
You are saying that once you reach a very easy-to-reach level there is no skill. I disagree because I know you are wrong. Some of the shots I make not a lot of people would be able to do. They require strategizing, timing, knowledge and precision. How is that not equal to skill? And if there is skill and the skill is such that I score higher than you if I’m better than you over a large enough sample, ie the skill can be measured, then luck is only temporary and non existant in the long run. So away goes your luck.

You talk about randomness, but it isn’t very random. There are a variety of structures, but they are by no means infinite. So out goes your randomness.

I have showed you that “random and luck” matters very little in the long run and that skill will be a determinant factor in deciding who gets the highest score. There’s really not much more to add except for stop whining, l2p etc.

I’m not here to teach.

[burbman]

@sutekh137 – you reduced my previous post to just the first sentence. Please re-read it in its entirety.

[Sutekh137]

@angryone

I am not sure how saying I understand and agree with the OP is “whining”, but you’ve made a very clear example of why the OP found your commentary elitist (I did not, but understand where slinger was coming from).

In my opinion, the forums are a place (especially AB Nest) where people help each other. If you aren’t here to teach, then why post at all? What purpose does that serve? Why did you feel compelled to answer slinger at all? It was very clear that he was simply frustrated, and instead of taking the lid off the boiling water, you chose to turn up the heat. Was that helpful to anyone? Or do I just see these forums differently?

I never said the variety of buildings was infinite. Variety does not have to be infinite for something to be “random”, so I am not sure why you are conflating the two.

In summary, I am glad you have great skill at the game and consider yourself good at it — I truly am. But that doesn’t make AB2 any less randomized and luck-based. Just for the record, I don’t care about getting high scores — never have. I like to try new games, complete levels, and just do my best to three-star everything. So maybe we just have very different goals on the Rovio games we play. I like to have some fun and then move on. Good luck to you with whatever you enjoy!

Thanks,
sutekh137

[Sutekh137]

@burbman

Heh, with my exhaustive posts, I don’t know that anyone has ever said I didn’t respond to everything or reduced it too much… *smile* So, that’s a first!

What did I not address or reduce to fully? I tried to discuss structures, how to fight various pigs, whether or not one can “get better” (in terms of consistently higher scoring over time), etc.

What did I miss? Just so you know, I tend to enjoy and learn a great deal from your posts across several games on these forums. If I sound like I am disrespecting you, you have my apologies. I just have a hard time with AB2 in particular because people who call Rovio out for things on other games tend to defend AB2 tooth and nail as still being some sort of skill-based juorney (which I am just not seeing once one reaches a certain level of play). I am relaying my honest experience with the game, which I have played at least 30-40 hours (I think that’s a long time, anyway). I am a good slinger, I know how to read building weaknesses, and I know my way around most of the piggies. And based on that, the very, very wide variety of success (or lack thereof) I have leads me to conclude the game has more randomness/luck involved than I would like. That’s all. Your opinion is different, and that’s great.

So, please let me know what I’ve missed, because I did read your post in its entirety, twice, before I even started a response.

Thanks,
sutekh137

[burbman]

I was referring to the post that began with “It is just you” which was intended to add levity before I went into more detail.

[Sutekh137]

@burbman

Oh, that post — I thought you meant your reply to me.

Perhaps the levity you intended was not quite perceived properly. *smile*

Thanks,
sutekh137

[Ang Ryone]

@sutekh137

I am not sure how saying I understand and agree with the OP is “whining”, but you’ve made a very clear example of why the OP found your commentary elitist (I did not, but understand where slinger was coming from).

Yeah I understood slinger too. I had 3 lives on a one hour refresh and no gems or spells and had to wait a few reloads before beating the whole content and I even thought a few levels posed me some difficulty. The horror.

In my opinion, the forums are a place (especially AB Nest) where people help each other. If you aren’t here to teach, then why post at all? What purpose does that serve? Why did you feel compelled to answer slinger at all? It was very clear that he was simply frustrated, and instead of taking the lid off the boiling water, you chose to turn up the heat. Was that helpful to anyone? Or do I just see these forums differently?

I’m here because I want to make the game better because I enjoy the game. I felt compelled to answer slinger because he seemed like a whiner that wants easy mode content. I hate whiners that wants easy mode content because they always end up getting their way through and I always end up leaving the game because of it.

I have no idea why you choose to lead the discussion into “why are you here” but it fits pretty well with how clueless I perceive you to be. Why are you here and not in a teaching forum for teachers who likes to teach?

I never said the variety of buildings was infinite. Variety does not have to be infinite for something to be “random”, so I am not sure why you are conflating the two.

I agree. A COIN IS COMPLETELY RANDOM. No it isn’t. It’s 50 % tails 50 % heads. It’s just a distribution. It’s not random anymore than you calling your mom on her birthday eventhough the distribution probably is 99% will call and 1% won’t call.

In summary, I am glad you have great skill at the game and consider yourself good at it — I truly am. But that doesn’t make AB2 any less randomized and luck-based. Just for the record, I don’t care about getting high scores — never have.

So you don’t care about measuring to see if you can get a higher score than others but YOU ARE DEAD CERTAIN THE GAME IS ALL LUCK. That is like saying you have no idea what you are talking about but we should listen to you anyways.

[Sutekh137]

@angryone

OK, you’re right. And I probably am clueless compared to a skilled slinger such as yourself. It’s clear by the all-caps and the factual inaccuracy of what you are shouting (I never once said the game is “all luck”, and my certainty has been no more heavily professed than you have been professing yours) that you want to be validated.

I’m sorry some of us are making games less fun for you by voicing our own opinions. Just a thought, but perhaps you should get into something that others can’t stain, like weightlifting, running, or triathalons — then you can concentrate on competing with yourself and no one can ever say a whit of it is based on luck (and thereby ruin it for you).

Best of luck to you, and have a good day!

Thanks,
sutekh137

[Ang Ryone]

@sutekh137

First I shouldn’t be in this forum if I didn’t want to teach. Now I should drop the game and start weightlifting.

Drop the satire, stop sucking, stop playing the martyr and go away. K thanks bye.

[Anonymous]

@angryone @sutekh137 Let’s not snap at each other because you both make very good points.

Sure you can’t just be clueless and play the game without thinking as for all angry birds slingshot games you need skill to do well. However Rovio did add the “random structure system”. With randomness comes luck. While you can master how to use each bird, deal with each pig and knock down each structure there will be that super easy level that comes around from time to time making the game seem like it is all luck.

Another reason it has a lot to do with luck is the randomized bird lineup and which pigs are in the level. I’ve had a ton of experience with these problems. Each level I commmonly restart about 2-4 times trying to get the bird that I want to beat the stage. That requires luck. However knowing which birds to use now or save for the next stage to do better in the long run requires skill.

It’s the same idea for which pigs you get in the stage. One time I had a level that was super easy. It was mostly normal pigs with super easy structures. I got strike in just about every stage. However once I got halfway through the level I got to a stage with FOUR LASER PIGS! You couldn’t even shoot below them because the slingshot was up high. So because of that I couldn’t even get a bird close to any of them because the bird was transformed almost immediately after I fired it. I used up all my birds and hardly caused a scratch to the level. While you do need skill to beat the pigs a stage like that just isn’t possible. And it all happened because of the randomness of the game. That’s why there is such a huge luck factor.

The bottom line is that the game requires a significant amount of both luck and skill.

Neither of you are wrong but neither of you are completely right either.

[kedik22]

Agreed, but it surely was a good debate!