Are you a VIP? Sure, we all like to think that we are in at least one part of our life but what about in Game of War? When I asked other players what they thought when I said I was writing about VIP, the response was either that it was useless or that it contained great features that made playing the game easier.
Why such differing views? The answer comes down to one’s style of play. If you are a Lead account, you want to increase your attack stats as much as possible, which is not the hallmark of VIP. If you are looking at pure functionality, VIP contains Very Important Pieces (get it?) that make day to day gameplay easier.
In this article, we will explain what VIP is, the mechanics of how it works, and break down whether it is a feature that you should focus on for your account. Given the release of the Unity Catch-up Token, our focus will primarily be on VIP 90 and higher but we will also address lower levels of VIP in case anyone needs a refresher!
What is VIP?
Put simply, VIP is a set of increasingly stronger boosts that apply to your Stronghold as you unlock higher VIP levels. The benefits from the VIP feature can be divided into four distinct categories: attack or defense stats, reductions, production increases, and convenience features.
For attack and defense stats, players can increase their Troop Attack / Defense / Health Bonuses, March Speed, Hero presets, Empire Assault Attack / Defense / Health percentages, Wonder Rally Troop Attack percentage, Troop Attack Bonus While Occupying The Wonder, Enemy Troop, and Health Debuffs, Empire Defender Attack / Defense / Health percentages, Gem and Banner presets, Dragon Presets, Monster Presets, and Rally Capacity.
For reductions, higher levels of VIP unlocks Instant Construction Speed Up, Loot Tile Gather Speed, Gathering Speed, Gold Gathering Speed, Crafting Speed, and Food, Cane, and Cheese Reductions.
Production increases are generally related to the production of the resources needed to build your empire but also includes the Hero XP modifier, which increases the amount of XP you gain when adding XP to your Hero by attacking monsters, attacking other strongholds, or completing Quests.
One of the biggest perks available from increasing your VIP level is the convenience features that are unlocked at higher levels. The current hot item that everyone is talking about is the Custom Hero Attack Unlock available at VIP 145. This feature works in conjunction with Hero Energy Carry Over and allows you to select the number of hits that your Hero will make against a Monster or Raid Boss.
As many of you know, this feature was added so players would no longer be required to use the millions of Hero Energy that they had stored up while raising their Hero levels for one maximum hit on the Raid Boss (thanks MZ!). Other convenience features include the Smart Item Search System available in your Items view, Quest bonuses and autocompletes (yay for no speeds required!), Free Gem Removal, Master Combine (boo! for the reasons I set forth here), Use All Resources (ditto), Open All – All Crafting Material and Gem Chests (double ditto), Open All – Specific Chests, Choose Item Chest Slider, and my personal favorite – Share Scout Report.
Now that you know what features are available, let us take a look at how VIP works.
How VIP Works: The Mechanics
You access your VIP features by clicking on the VIP button next to your Hero Profile in the empire view (where you see your interior buildings) of the game. Here is what I am referring to:
When you click on the VIP button, it takes you to the VIP screen, which looks like this:
This screen can be broken down into 4 parts:(1) the VIP bar; (2) convenience buttons; (3) VIP details; and (4) your VIP Status. Let’s explore these functions in more detail.
The VIP bar, which tells you how many VIP points you have used and how many points are required to reach the next level is the first component you see.
In order to slide the VIP bar towards the next level, you must first obtain VIP. Where is that available? Regular VIP can generally be found in events, especially the Complete VIP Quests event. Additionally, VIP is regularly offered in packs. At present, if your VIP exceeds 90, you need Super VIP, only available in packs, to advance to higher VIP levels.
Next, the three convenience buttons are shortcuts to help you use your VIP. These buttons allow you to quickly add VIP points, turn your VIP on (unless your VIP is always on like mine), and to “Get More” VIP Points (FYI – it opens the Gold Store).
Below the convenience buttons, you will find the details for a range of VIP levels, up to the maximum currently available in the game. Selecting one of these buttons allows you to see the benefits offered at each VIP level and the cost in VIP Points required, which allows you to decide whether increasing your VIP to a higher level is the right thing for you.
Finally, the VIP screen provides you information on your VIP status, including how long you have on your current VIP (again, unless it is Always On), your current VIP level, how many total VIP Points you have used, and the free VIP Points you will attain at your next login.
Now that you know how to navigate through the VIP functions, the next component you should be aware of is how MZ has structured the VIP boosts. The most important thing that you need to be aware of is that the VIP boosts you see at each level are, for the most part, cumulative. This is especially true of the attack and defense stats. What do I mean by that? Compare VIP 140 and VIP 141 with a particular focus on the Troop Attack / Health / Defense Bonuses.
Looking at these two levels, one could be led to believe that VIP 140 provides +74,500 Troop Attack Bonus while VIP 141 provides an additional +77,300 Troop Attack Bonus. Alas, it is not to be! What you are seeing at VIP 141 is the cumulative total Troop Attack Bonus available from VIP 1 to VIP 141. The increase in your Troop Attack Bonus is only an additional 2,800%. Similarly, your Troop Health and Defense Bonuses only increase by 2,500% and 3,200% respectively. This is why it is important for you to be aware of what you are actually increasing when you are leveling up (more on this later, I promise!).
Remember how I said that VIP boosts are cumulative for the most part? The only time this is different is when a new boost is added into the mix. When a new boost is unlocked, the boost is shown in gold letters the first time it appears in the list of boosts available at a VIP level. For example, VIP 128 unlocks a Rally Capacity increase of +50,000 as shown here:
How VIP Boosts are Structured
As one would expect, the VIP boosts initially available are geared to those necessary to build your account. Thus, boosts between VIP 1 and VIP 50 are primarily cost reductions, production and Quest increases, and convenience features like Hero presets. Unfortunately, all resource production increases are maxed at between 100% and 250%, depending on the resource, at VIP 30. Similarly, the Instant Construction Speed is maxed at 125 minutes once you reach VIP 51.
Between VIP 51 and 150 the focus of the boosts available from VIP shifts to attack and defense stats and related convenience features. Thus, you see the release Empire Assault and Wonder stats at VIP 51 and Empire Defender stats at VIP 61. More critically, higher VIP levels open additional convenience features related to attacking and defending, such as dragon combat and skill presets.
Some notable VIP boosts, and the level at which they unlock, include:
VIP 20 – Share Combat Report (for bragging, of course!)
VIP 24 – Hero I presets
VIP 30 – Free Gem Removal
VIP 34 – Hero II presets
VIP 41 – Hero III presets
VIP 51 – Empire Assault and Wonder stats
VIP 57 – Enemy Troop Defense Debuff
VIP 60 – Gem Presets
VIP 61 – Empire Defender stats
VIP 75 – Enemy Troop Health Debuff
VIP 81 – Unlock Instant Research
VIP 94 – Open All – Specific Chests
VIP 102 – Reveal Banner Preset
VIP 111 – Share Scout Report
VIP 117 – Unlock Dragon Combat Preset
VIP 124 – Unlock Monster Combat Preset
VIP 128 – Rally Capacity increase
VIP 131 – Wonder Troop Health Bonus
VIP 141 – Dragon Skill Presets for the Dragon and Terra Dragon
VIP 143 – Dragon Skill Preset for the Inferno Dragon
VIP 145 – Dragon Skill Preset for the Hydro Dragon and Custom Hero Attack Unlock
The current maximum VIP boosts for attack and defense available at VIP 150 are shown in the blog for the VIP 150 release:
Choosing the Right VIP for your Account
Remember when I said that VIP is one of the visible features of your account that other players evaluate before they march against you? The level of VIP that you chose to display tells other players a lot about your account. If your Profile states “VIP Inactive” under the VIP heading, your account appears to be dead or a farm. On the other hand, if a player views your Profile and sees that your VIP is over 140, they could believe that your account is fairly strong since your VIP is close to the current max of 150.
The right VIP for your account will depend on what you want other players to see. For Leads, the higher the VIP the better. A true lead account wants every stat as maxed as possible so they have an edge over their competition. Similarly, a true Filler account may want to keep their VIP as close to max as they can for the March Size and March Speed increases available to them. A trap, on the other hand, does everything that it can to minimize visible features so that the attacker is left guessing at the strength of the account. If you are a trap, more likely than not your VIP is running at or under VIP 130.
In the end, you are the one best suited to decide what VIP level is right for you. Remember, it is always best to err on the side of caution in Game of War with certain features. If you are wrong about the VIP level you select, you may not get as many hits as you would like. The good news, though, is that if you wait long enough new VIP levels are likely to drop and your hits will increase!
VIP – Worth it or Not?
One of the questions that I am frequently asked is whether one feature in the game is better than another feature. The answer to that question depends on your personal approach to building your stats. This is especially true with the VIP boosts.
If you are the player who must always have the shiny new toy then you are more likely to care about reaching the maximum VIP available. This makes sense as you are probably a competitor for the Dragon Throne and do everything you can to gain an edge when it comes to your stats. If, on the other hand, you are a trap, maximizing your VIP is probably not the right call for you. Why? Because VIP is a visible feature that attackers evaluate when deciding whether to march against you. Neither of these approaches, however, really address the cost versus benefit of raising your VIP level.
I think the best approach a player should take when deciding whether to purchase a pack is to look at the potential stat increase available from your purchase. Given the mechanics of how VIP is structured, it is easy to compare the number of VIP points gained from a pack versus the number of points needed to achieve your stat goal.
At present, there are two packs available on my account which provide Super VIP points. Pack A, highlighted as a Featured Sale, provides 400 Million Super VIP points. Pack B, under the VIP tab in the Gold Store, provides both regular and Super VIP points and contains 1.6 Billion Super VIP points. Obviously, if my focus is only on raising my VIP then I go with Pack B. But that should NOT be the focus of most players! Remember, the name of the game is to increase your stats, not the items in your inventory!
So, what can I do with 1.6 Billion Super VIP points? Currently, my VIP is 127 and my Empire Defender stats at that level are: Attack (54,500%) / Health (42,500%) / Defense (54,500%). If I use almost all of the VIP points available from the pack, I can reach VIP 134 and my Empire Defender stats would increase to this: Attack (78,000%) / Health (58,000%) / Defense (80,600%). In this scenario my attack increases by 23,500%, my health by 15,500%, and my defense by 26,100%. To some, this is a healthy stat increase for the low, low price of $99.99! For fun, let’s take this evaluation to its illogical conclusion.
To progress to VIP 135 I would need an additional 500 Million Super VIP Points above what was available in the pack I just purchased. Sitting aside that Pack B is probably still up, and I could obtain an additional 1.6 Billion Super VIP Points, would it be worth buying another pack to level my VIP to 135? Absolutely Not! The increase in my Empire Defender stats is only an additional 3,250% Attack, 2,000% Health, and 3,900% Defense. The moral of the story is to always be sure that the items you purchase can strengthen your account in a cost-effective way!
Now for the fun part! Can I achieve the same, or an even better stat result, for the same cost involved in purchasing 1.6 Billion Super VIP Points without broadcasting such a high VIP to other players? After reviewing my account and the available packs, I am able to quickly determine that I cannot match the stat increase for the same cost. Am I worried about this? Not at all! I have other ways that I can currently raise my stats without alerting my attacker to the strength of my account. Besides, there will be another drop and another opportunity to re-evaluate my account!
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