EA - when to advance?

[Kraitok]

I know these have been done before (repeatedly), but I wanted some advice/opinions on when to head to the Industrial Age. I'm currently level 133, max defenses except 2 garrisons that need an upgrade. I have 12 or so more levels to go before library research is complete, but the most important ones are done. Generals are 10, except Napoleon who's 2 days from 20. All unit upgrades are done in the armory, although I have a few tactics left that I don't use. My walls are about 2/3 of the way to 10. The real question regards the university.

If I advance, I'll immediately need to upgrade all of my offensive buildings and start researching the new units asap, and then bump up defenses obviously. Most of the buildings are 7+ days, which tie up workers significantly. This pushes back some of the very good university techs by a long margin, potentially months. Im approaching a point where I will have nothing else to use workers on but the university. Should I stay comfortable until getting some of the better university techs, meanwhile finishing out generals and possibly level 11 walls, or take the plunge for the far superior IA units?

 

[Ravenlord]

Once you reach IA you will be picked on by Globals so be prepared. Some would say it would be prudent if you stayed in EA just a little longer and got your UNI to the point where you're happy with the troop upgrades. The question for you is: do you want to spend the time doing the Uni incremental upgrades or just advance to IA and do the troops upgrades in one hit? That's something only you can answer. My personal choice, if I had the option of the Uni when I went to IA & Global, would've been to advance - the better toys are worth it, especially if you like HC/Tanks. But in general the toys are much better.

My advice to you about your defences: forget about upgrading your walls. (just do the remainder of them to lvl 10 for aesthetics!). They will be too much of a drain for the return on investment and not enough of a deterrent for high IA and Global players. Once you get established in IA & have the necessary 'toys' & Uni upgrades you'll have fun but it's going to be a grind for a while - just so you're aware I'll say it again - it's going to be a grind for a while!

The upgrade times are a real bottleneck and the game won't flow like it has - but if you persevere I guarantee it will be worth it. Life's too short to waste time on horses - get those tanks!

 

[Player Killer]

When you reach lvl 80 lol

 

[_Flash_]

Here's my take on the given situation. Others might have alternate thoughts.

The two most constrained resources in the game are worker time, and armory time. Developing your base is most efficient if you can keep these two constrained resources as fully utilized as possible.
I don't consider upgrading generals and upgrading tactics which you don't intend to use, to be optimal usage of armory time.

If you choose to stay in EA and work on your university upgrades, you're sure to keep your workers utilized. But, the armory time is going to be under utilized.
So, if you intend to develop your base most efficiently (maximum output/returns for the minimal investment of your playing time), it'll help advancing to IA.
If you are not worried about how long you play the game, and if you would enjoy playing the game differently, you may choose to focus on university upgrades while staying in EA.
These are the trade-offs, and the choice is truly yours.
Cheers and happy gaming!

 

[Magnifico]

Excellent, sensible advice as usual. What _Flash_ said.

 

[Danix den Andre]

danix IV is staying in EA until i run out of uni/library/armory stuff, even though the other three sort of pushed it, uni is a big change

 

[BV123]

My rule of thumb. Advance when you :

-Max the troop upgrades that you use
-Max the factory/airstrip
-Reach @75% max defence upgrades

The uni is nice... but compared to the new toys you will be getting, that is just a side dish.

The 1st 2 weeks will always be hard no matter which age you are at. It will get better as long as you don't age rush. Even after that 1st 2 weeks, your base will still be raped by GBAs. But now you will be in a better position to recoup the losses form EA players.

 

[_Flash_]

Thanks, Magnifico!

 

[Kraitok]

I think I'm going to get a couple of key things at the uni worked on, namely cannon damage and archer damage, prior to advancing. It will probably be delayed months if I advance now, and I think those are relevant enough to be patient for.

 

[Glacier]

Lol, I just went EA at level 110!

Level 80 isn't even a capped Medieval lmao!

 

[Glacier]

Lol, people without patience push stuff. Run on up there with your toothpick fences. Go get the Offenses and forget everything else, the NFL has adopted that "flashy flash" mentality, why wouldn't you do the same?

I was told capping was hurting my alliance, well isn't those pushers hurting me instead? Lol I like the compliments from my bases standing firm in wars, well until the globals figure out they gotta waste an attack on my capped base.

Bottom line, choose a style you like and run with it. Never ever listen to anyone that bashes your style. Enjoying this game is the #1 priority, so find what you like and stick to it ;-]

 

[Player Killer]

I'm lvl 70 EA. Ten more levels and I will jump to IA. My bases holds fine against most EA and IA attackers. Lose heaps of resources but not 5 stars. But I can get back the resources in 2-3 battles.

 

[Tenacious D]

Wait until Atomic age is released.

 

[Kraitok]

Rofl, I've actually considered that Tenacious D. It'll encourage bases being rushed and I'll have a somewhat easier time without near max Global players whacking me. As flash said, time is the #1 resource in this game so I won't put anything off specifically to wait for Atomic.

 

[Glacier]

From my experience, more upgrades would have lessened those raids to where you wouldn't have to raid at all to replace what was lost. All on the individual though as this debate started in the Dawn age ;-]

 

[Glacier]

I try to keep at least one worker free to hit walls while the days chug along watching and waiting for the rest of my worker army to free up. Imo, if I have all workers busy then I have no need to raid. Why raid to get raided, so what I raid is put on walls. If time is your issue, just so ya know I went from capped medieval to capped gunpowder in about 3.5 months using my above model. That is light years faster than how I capped medieval.

 

[Tenacious D]

I am a big believer in advancing slowly, but 107 is too slow. My lvl 105 EA base would decimate yours.

 

[Quang t legend]

When you reach lvl 80 lol

Well best answer! I don't know about later but the best time to advance to EA, IA, GA is level 60, 80, 130. You can get 500k gold each battle in Global Age, so don't waste time farming 100k and let your fellow allies disappointed when you insisted on give them Yeomanry!

Also every junk you research at the armory will put the hard work to your allies in war, because some said the game only count number of upgrades for matching, useless or not!

 

[Player Killer]

lvl 75 EA Ranked 23 in last war. 2 players failed to 5 star me, ended with their no 7. IA came and 5 star me. So it is not all about maxing each age before advancing. It is about upgrading structures that matters. I did try to attack their no. 9, but I forgot to sab the tc after rallying and watch hopeless while my army got slaughter, but still managed 2 stars.

 

[AbbyVille]

Max troops
max defensive: don't wanna play catch up
max wall: level 9 would be good till global.

Do more forest and save the offering. My second is still in gunpowder, i was going to advance to ea but the university came along and I'm in no hurry so I stick around and build up university, it'll be a while but I'll hit the ground running once I advance.