Spark Run!

[Asen_77]

Just passed level 77. What is higher level that you reached till now in the Spark Run? Interesting question is how many levels that put after last update?

[ramonpontes]

@bpmann
The max size of the silo remains the same. But when you start the game it has a very low size, so it is what @moifirst was saying about increasing the silo size. The max promotion bonus is now 140% (for the modest cost of 35k sparks to reach there)

@asen
I also want to know this. I passed level 70 a couple of days after they updated the game. I’m curious about the maximum level, but if I would bet, I think it must be level 100.

[Asen_77]

@ramonpontes I would bet on more – 150. Now there is 4 bots, so for me 100 levels are small amount.

[Googs]

I hate a Spark Run Crash!!!!!

[Asen_77]

Just Pass Level 80. Moving Forward.

[Asen_77]

Just see something strange – my nephew is playing ABT from about a month and he is at about Level 60. He has two bots with 10%, so total for Spark Run 20%. So what I see – he asked me to halp him pass level two. So I played the level and passed it, but what was surprise for me. As his bots are level 6-7 max, they are killing about 40 max 50% of blocks and other targets on the run. At the end he has more then 36k points. So where is logic – I am playing at level 80 and blow almost 85-90% of targets and get around 30k points, he is playing on level 2 and hit 50% of the targets ( mostly blocks, some rockets and some pig – no chance for flying pigs and WMT ) and get more points.

[ramonpontes]

@asen
The problem for him is that the spark prize at those initial levels are very low, so no matter if he can manage to maximize his score, his reward is not compared to what you can achieve in higher levels.

[Asen_77]

@ramonpontes I know that very well. He is reaching 110 sparks for level 2 on the second part of the run. I just don’t see the logic with percentages of blowed targets and points that are received.

[Geli]

Rovio have suspended the use of logic in spark runs

On second thought, Rovio have suspended the use of logic since the introduction of spark.

[Optimus_Pig]

I just ran my first sparkrun in over two months.

UM’s acid rounds don’t appear to be nearly as effective as they used to be in clearing out targets, and don’t seem to be affecting missiles at all.

Did Rovio nerf UM again?

[MillForce2k]

According to an Exient post on FB, he was “broken” and has now been “fixed.” Of course, they waited for many months and after people spent resources, and maybe even real money, upgrading and promoting him.

[Traveler]

UM ‘s effectiveness is greatly diminished from what is was before Rovio “adjusted” it.  As @millforce2k noted, I spent a lot of resources to promote him only to see UM ‘s abilities taken away.

[Optimus_Pig]

Wonderful.

So I wasted 45,000 or so sparks on this guy.

[MillForce2k]

@optimuspig I feel your pain. I gold crowned him right after Deadend, so I’m painfully forced to use him in comps. Just reinforces my not willing to spend real money.

[datguygamer]

@optimuspig @millforce2k All of this is because how everyone and I mean EVERYONE started posting here on how he was strong and useful and stuff and even some started posting pictures of him solo-ing an early level of Spark Run on their Facebook page just to gloat (like how most do in social sites nowadays). So naturally Rovio/Exient took the axe to him. We ourselves are to blame for this and I mention this almost every time something like this happens. When you find something, DO NOT post that publicly or else it will be “fixed” if it tends to help the players.

[Asen_77]

Completely agree with @datguygamer. And don’t be angry that you use sparks for him. For the Spark Run you need 3/4 bots, so as he is already promoted with sparks will help you with total percentage for reload. If you don’t like him, just put him in 4-th place and use only his Sparks promotion. I have only 4 promoted bots and all are used in the Spark Run, so they collect me till now 425%. How will be used is completely my choise and strategy. Today I passed 84 level and continue up. I can say that most of the levels are done because of help of UM and other bots.

[Optimus_Pig]

@asen

Well you’re assuming that I actually want to do Spark runs.

As I mentioned above, I haven’t done a Spark run for over two months.

I would have just saved my sparks and used them to get my top two TFs up to +140%

[ramonpontes]

I don’t agree that “we” are to blame for Rovio nerfing UM or any other bot. It is completely their responsibility. I don’t have to feel guilty for telling how good I was in a competition, and telling other about my strategies, and asking for advices.

That’s the main reason game forums exists (in my concept). I would not join this forum if I didn’t need hints or advices. And I found a great community with lots of helping people.

Now, if Rovio uses this information to downgrade our robots, it just shows how trustworthy this company is. It is not “us” making them nerf the bots. Its “them” collecting information on how to hit us in the right spot.

[Barbatos]

I was planning to Overpower UM when its available then the nerfing happened. UM got ruined after a hard update, all the investing on accessories and Sparks became less useful. UM became the weakest among the three with same type of weapon.

What if I already invested on Overpowering UM then they nerfed him? The fact that they still nerf character whenever they want to contradicts the purpose of Overpowering.

[datguygamer]

@ramonpontes Yeah, it’s “them” collecting information since “we” are providing them with it and as I also said, some people deliberately post pictures to gloat on their Facebook and Twitter pages. That’s a definite “we/that guy” problem. Like how I have found a very useful exploit with stuff in the game in the recent versions and I am not sharing it in fear that it will be fixed. Sorry but that’s how things roll nowadays. If you come here to share, then prepare to get your expenses on anything that you have done axed off. Helping is okay but sometimes you need to consider whether helping someone will do a harm in the longer run.

Sharing strategies is okay as you cannot really mess with it (even then there are exceptions to this rule which Rovio has done in the past with Rio) but sharing something that can be easily changed like a game object; that is a no-no.

[ramonpontes]

@datguygamer
Well, this is a point of view. Of course, if someone start to attract too much attention to some advantage in the game, The devs will investigate and see if there is some glitch related to it.

But in the case of UM, if the expanded effect of his shots was added accidentally, because of their own mistake, they should at least offer a compensation for anyone that spent resources on that bot. I would be very happy if they returned at least the sparks I invested on him. I sent a ticket to rovio to see if this is possible, and I’m waiting for an answer. Of course, I’m not very confident that something will be done in this case.

[datguygamer]

@ramonpontes Well, let’s see what generic reply they come up with.

[ramonpontes]

It didn’t take long for them to answer.

Hello there,

thank you for coming back to us.

We had encountered an issue with Megatron’s shooting pattern, were his blast radius was extending beyond the visible screen space and causing issues elsewhere in the game. We’ve had to reduce the blast radius on his weapon. We didn’t change his damage scaling across all levels and find him to still be pretty strong compared to the rest of the Deceptihogs. However, we understand that making such changes to a design that players have already got used to can be frustrating.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Best regards,

Cory
Rovio Support Team

I think they already had that answer prepared and are replying everyone with this one. Of course, only an apology, and no compensation. I think we can call this “JARGA” – Just Another Rovio Generic Answer.

The funny part is: “causing issues elsewhere in the game”. Elsewhere in this case refer to their pockets.

[datguygamer]

@ramonpontes I expected that.

“We apologise”—– Rovio’s catchphrase.

[MillForce2k]

@ramonpontes That’s almost exactly what was posted on FB by Exient right after they “fixed” him.