What is the point of walkthroughs?

[Sutekh137]

Hey all,

Just getting into AB2, around level 55 or so. The “lives” system…well, I don’t mind a great deal. Rovio needs to make their money, etc.

What I am not sure I understand is the point of even posting walkthroughs? The levels are different every time, yes? Sometimes radically different. On level 26 I wasted all my lives and all the “Watch video” lives and still didn’t even finish it. The next morning I three-starred it the first time I tried again. Why? Because the structures were easier to destroy, cards had a more favorable distribution, and I got dealt two spell cards in the level.

That’s not even mentioning those wholly annoying float pigs and umbrella pigs that also seem mostly random.

It’s sort of like when going to an AB Star Wars 2 walkthrough and seeing them use an infinite Darth Vader. Well, yeah, duh. Darth is going to get it done for you a great deal of the time, but we don’t all have that character (or at least not many).

I’m not saying optimization discussions aren’t needed on how to best handle certain structures, use certain birds well, or how to do maximum damage to a Boss. But specific walkthroughs on non-boss levels seem entirely pointless to me, as the levels rarely look similar twice. Does anyone else really get insight from them?

In that sense I guess I AM saying I don’t really care for the “lives” system, because things are way too random across the board, sometimes resulting in really, really hard level stages.

Thanks,
sutekh137

Topic

[AMslimfordy]

We understand @sutekh137. We dislike the randomness as well. But we are still trying to help people out.

[Sutekh137]

@amslimfordy

Oh definitely — certainly didn’t mean to diminish the community’s (and your) efforts! Sorry if I came off that way…

Once I saw the way Stella played (straight Stella, not POP!) on the main island, I realized randomness was going to enter more and more into things.

I do still find AB2 compelling, though, even if it is arbitrarily frustrating at times.

And I did think of another spot where watching walkthroughs happens — wormhole dynamics. I have totally missed places where a good shot would use wormhole transfer of debris to cause more damage. Walkthroughs are likely to highlight those tactics in a more pronounced fashion.

Thanks,
sutekh137

[sal9]

@sutekh137 The same could be said of every AB game, there are more than one way to pass/3-star/highscore a level. The walkthrough pages offer a platform to share your thoughts and alternatives.

[Sutekh137]

@sal9,

I don’t disagree with the notion of sharing thoughts and tactical advice *which walkthroughs do offer in the comments), but quite often the posted three-star alternative amounts to, “Wait until you get easier structures, better card distribution, spell cards added to the deck, and no damnable umbrella pigs — all of which are mostly random, by the way.”

To put it another way, on some levels it won’t matter how many walkthroughs I watch, because the “alternatives” aren’t alternative ways of shooting my birds — they are alternatives in that the entire level structure is totally different.

In that sense, walkthroughs for AB2 bear little resemblance to walkthroughs for most other AB games. In those other games the shared thoughts are in how to use the same set of birds and level attributes as everyone has — every time.

Thanks,
sutekh137

[ZeBung]

Kind of makes the leaderboards irrelevant

[Mighty Red]

@zebung Actually, it does not – the slightly changing structures have no impact on your score. If you see any huge score differences, it’s because some people had the perfect lineup set up for them. Remember the Strike and Birdie shots, which are 1-birder and 2-birder respectively? They grant 25K and 10K bonus points respectively.

Piggies are not the best builders, and when they are building the structures in a hurry, so when you replay a level, you will notice that the level has changed a little. However, the difficulty is the same, as is the maximum score achievable, so your score won’t be affected.

[Sutekh137]

@mighty-red-1

Yes, but the “perfect lineup” of cards is also random, is it not?

I find it somewhat hard to believe the maximum achievable score is the same, unless they mean a “Strike” in every stage and somehow every single piece of destroyable material getting destroyed. That’s not really a “maximum achievable” as much as an “impossible to achieve”, so I still think leaderboards are going to have too much luck involved as far as who gets closest to that theoretical maximum. Heck, all Angyr Birds levels have a “maximum achievable” in terms of destroying everything and all pigs with one fling, but plenty of levels have no way of having that happen. To say the maximum is the same (not sure what you are quoting there — from Rovio?) doesn’t mean a great deal, in my opinion.

Not to mention drawing into spell cards, plus the randomness in those spells effectiveness (like the chili lighting up a pig who is far from the action).

Thanks,
sutekh137

[burbman]

@admins – With the exception of the boss levels, individual level walkthroughs may not be the way to go on this game, however there appear to be a finite set of structures that repeat throughout the game. The one I think of first here is the Eiffel Tower like structure. Might be more beneficial to build a list of such structures, then show how each one could possibly be destroyed using several different birds.

[Sutekh137]

@burbman

I like it. The following things definitely are good to talk through:

— Bird basics
— Spell basics (including randomness gotchas therein)
— Common/recurring structures
— Wormhole/spit-flower locations
— Boss levels
— Gotchas: umbrella pigs, balloon pigs, rocket pigs, etc.
— Gem management: what is best to spend gems on (I’m thinking spells, so far…)

Thanks,
sutekh137

[ZeBung]

Still think the randomness combined with the “lives” makes this a strange release. And also that the “extra card” thingy isn’t always placed in the same spot. Makes a huge difference in scores. No fun that you never know what layout will show up after a restart – makes it hard to improve one’s strategies.

[Sutekh137]

@zebung

Agreed. Like the island on Stella meets a game of random “Dominion”. *smile*

Thanks,
sutekh137

[Kayreen]

I so want to like AB2, and I’m giving it an honest try, but like @sutekh137, I’m trying to figure out how Nesters can help each other (leaderboard tips) given the randomness of the play. Although there are few Nesters who have posted to the leaderboards yet, I’ve gotten a couple top scores by “paying” for more cards. It doesn’t feel right and that might just be the reason I will abandon AB2.

[Sutekh137]

@kareen

I think your heart is in a right, wonderful place, and I understand what you are saying.

But don’t forget this is a game — have fun. *smile* I am getting close to level 100 and just plowing forward. The grinding factor is still nice with feathers leveling birds up, going back to get three stars on everything, etc.

And this may sound dumb, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate not being interrupted by ads unless _I_ ask for them (for perks, of course). On all the other AB games (except for maybe Transformers and Stella), ads just pop up out of the blue before levels/fights (yeah, I’m looking at you, Epic).

I totally understand “high score guilt” — hence the sentiment behind this post. The same thing goes on over on AB Star Wars 2 where LCS (Last Chance Strategy) kinda hosed up leaderboards). But if you truly enjoy playing AB2, then you should continue to enjoy playing AB2. Don’t feel bad for spending gems at times to get ahead (though I’d save ’em for spells, personally).

Thanks,
sutekh137

[Kayreen]

Thanks @sutekh137, not only did you provide some insight into gaming but you made me chuckle! Most appreciated!

[Sutekh137]

@kareena

Glad to hear it. But know that I am about as insightful as, well, whatever the opposite of something insightful is. *smile*

Thanks,
sutekh137

[Pastakirby7]

I’m much father than angry birds nest is at the moment.

[Sutekh137]

@pastakirby7

Yeah, am I missing something? I am on level 113 and the walkthroughs stop at level 25?

And 113 has me totally stopped, been though all my lives and all the extras you get for watching vids… Haven’t even gotten close. I find a walkthrough online, of course, where the shooter gets lucky every shot and even has one point where stuff starts falling apart before he even fires a bird. Hm. Seems my levels never quite paint so easily. He ended up with 4 spare birds at the end whereas I’ve never even finished the level yet.

This sucks. There’s no other word for it. Complete suckage.

Thanks,
sutekh137

EDIT: Then of course, right after posting, I three-star it (had to use a Mighty Eagle Dish spell, though, and drew into a snowflake spell that totally worked out on the last stage…). Still sucks.

[Pastakirby7]

the whole “Stuff falls apart before a bird is fired” once happened to me. I haven’t got to chef pig in the 5th world yet (The name is too hard to remember, but it is pig city)

[Sutekh137]

@pastakirby7

You mean Shangham? (It’s a play on “Shanghai”, I think, if that helps you remember *smile*). I must have gotten lucky because I think I 2-starred it the second time I tried — is that the one with the two big fans that keep blowing upwards from the bottom? IIRC, that damnable stick-thrower on the left had to be taken out first (low shot with Bomb), and then I bombed the Boss directly with Matilda so the Boss fell. Then the luck REALLY started…stuff kept falling down from various areas (maybe Matilda went behind the stuff in top right and knocked it to the left?). Boss Pig got really battered such that I think all I needed to do was drop Silver on his head or something to finish him off (if even that).

On another thread someone said they thought the AB2 levels were too easy. I’d revise that by saying they are too inconsistent, even just within how a specific level gets built from run to run. Sometimes stages are impossible (a parachute or umbrella bird every stage? Come on!), and other times they are easy to Strike. I don’t think the game is too easy, it’s just too random (especially those damn pigs that throw things!).

Stella POP! suffered from a similar thing at first, IMO — some levels were really easy and then others were impossible. It is also based on lives, and subsequent releases made levels MUCH easier. I’d still be playing that but my game data apparently got corrupted and wouldn’t load any more. So, that’s it for that nonsense.

Thanks,
sutekh137

[epicMarksmen]

@sutekh137 Most of Rovio games have this speciality. Another example: Epic. You can even stuck on one of its levels for one year without Mighty Eagle. However, you’ll find a level with only a Wealthy Rogue after the previous one.

[Sutekh137]

@kenhsieh

I play Epic (am done with Epic, pretty much…). What specialty are you referring to? The random pigs that can appear?

What level were you stuck on without Mighty Eagle? I’ll admit to using ME from time to time, but that’s usually just because I am too lazy to figure out how to win without it. *smile* I also use copious amounts of Rage Cake and have all my birds at level 10 mastery.

Thanks,
sutekh137

[burbman]

@sutekh137 – I believe that @mighty-red-1 has created and posted walkthroughs for most if not all of the boss levels. The boss stage is the same every time, so these could be helpful if you are stuck on how to beat a boss.

[MVNLA2]

@mighty-red-1 — Do you have walkthroughs of all the boss levels? If so, where are they?

[MVNLA2]

@mighty-red-1 @birdleader — I found them on page 5 of the main AB2 walkthrough page:
https://www.angrybirdsnest.com/category/walkthroughs/angry-birds-2/page/5/
It would be nice to have a separate category for the boss levels, since some of them are mixed in with the regular levels, and others only appear at the end of the general list.

[MVNLA2]

Turns out the level I am currently stuck on is completely different than the old walkthrough. Its 4 rooms, and they are all different than the walkthrough.