Sunday, December 30, 2012

Plarium Support Unavailable 12/30 - 1/2

If you haven't checked the Stormfall community page yet, they have announced that Support will be unavailable for the next few days.

From December 30th to January 2, 2013, Plarium Support will be unavailable. You can send issues to stormfall_support@plarium.in.ua and your requests will be answered in the order they were received starting at 8:00 AM (UTC+2) on January 23rd.

Also, I haven't been able to log into Stormfall for the past few days. I am currently 79/80 on the Uninvited Guest quest. As soon as I'm able to log in, I will start my Raid challenge.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Error Message; New Update Coming

Error Message: "The game is being updated!" Please, try again later.."

It looks like the Beacon update is coming sooner rather than later. I'm sure others have gotten this message as well, when trying to log into Stormfall. It took me around 10 minutes for the game to load and for this message to pop up.

If you are having trouble logging in to Stormfall just be assured that they are updating the game and there is nothing wrong with your computer/internet connection.

War of the Beacons Coming Soon!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

War of the Beacons Coming Soon

Stormfall developers just announced the new addition of Beacons into the game. It looks like it will involve a type of PvP where Leagues will fight each other to control these Beacons. Players and Leagues will likely earn rewards for Raiding and Defending these Beacons.

In order to create your own League you must be at least Level 30 and it will cost you 1000 Sapphire. The other option is to join an existing League, which you can do by going to your embassy. To join, your request needs to be accepted by the League leader and you must be at least Level 16.

Note: Your League's position within the League Rankings and influence on the game map will be determined by the total output of the Beacons currently controlled by your League.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment with any comments, questions or concerns you may have about Leagues and/or Beacons!



Upcoming Raid Challenge

So I tried to play Stormfall again today and the screen showed up this time. It took about 5 minutes, but the game finally did load for me and it now works fine. I assume there were just temporary issues for some players, but they seem to have been fixed now.

In other news, I have about 6 days left on my uninvited guest quest and I have almost completed it. At this rate I should be able to complete it in the next few days.

Currently I am at level 14 Battlegrounds in the "To Battle!" quest. Once I get 5x Dragons and 20x Wyverns, I am going to do a type of survival challenge.

Basically I will continue to Raid battlegrounds until I have no Offensive Army left. It will be interesting to see how far I will be able to get.

Feel free to post your predictions in the comments below!

Stormfall Not Working

Hey guys, so I've tried to log in to Stormfall for the last 3 days, but the game just won't load. I tried playing the game in Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer and I also updated by Adobe Flash Player to 11. Each time the game loads up I just get a white/blank screen.

I know the number of total Stormfall players has risen by approximately a million over the past week or so, but I'm not sure what the loading problem could be. If anyone has any suggestions or has had the same problem please let me know.

If I figure it out I'll make another post, but in the meantime I need your help. Thanks!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Build Up Your Defenses

I just wanted to give Stormfall players some advice during the The Uninvited Guest event. It is likely that many active Stormfall players will be taking part in the Holiday Event Quest. The majority of those players will complete the event and will be rewarded with 5x Dragons and 20x Wyverns. That is around 35,000 total Offensive points, equal to almost 600 (not upgraded) Paladins.

My advice to you guys, is to start building Defensive units as soon as possible. Here are the reasons why:

#1. Enemy Attacks- Other players will have a very strong offensive force that they will use on nearby players. Even lower level castles will become a threat to you once this event has ended. You must be extremely Defensive if you wish to protect your units and resources.

#2. You Won't Need Much More Offense- After completing the Uninvited Guest Quest you won't really have much need for Offense anymore. Mine as well get a head start building up that Defensive force that you will desperately need. If you are level 40 and below, it is unlikely that you can even build Necromancers, Wyverns or Dragons yet. Focus on training the most powerful Defensive units that you have unlocked and don't forget to upgrade them in the Lost Arts area!

#3. Protect Your Units- Dragons and Wyverns are extremely powerful when attacking, but are terrible at defending. For example, 1 Offensive Dragon is about equal to 11 Defending Dragons. You can see on the picture to the right that a Dragon has 1680 Offense and only 144 Bestiary Units Defense.

By the time this event ends I hope to have 300 (Level 13) Nomads for defense, which gets my defense to around 45,000. Although it's expensive I have been raiding other players to get enough resources.

I know that many players will not have enough to Defend against 5x Dragons and 20x Wyverns, so I recommend you also check out the Protect Your Army Trick. You may lose some resources if you are raided, but your units will be protected.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment with any comments, questions or concerns you may have!

Other Articles You May Be Interested In
Raiding Other Players Guide
Spying Guide
7 Ways To Get More Resources
6 Ways To Get More Sapphire

Stormfall Holiday Event

Stormfall recently released a Holiday Event for all players. The quest is called The Uninvited Guest and it will go on for 13 days. The rewards for completing this quest are 5x Dragons, 20x Wyverns and 4 Skull Runes. Basically the reward is almost 8,000 Sapphire worth of units if you wish to complete this quest.

How To Start the Quest/Task
Simply click on the Christmas Tree on the left of your screen and accept the quest. The game froze for me when I clicked on the quests using Google Chrome. If it doesn't work for you, try refreshing the page or try a different browser (Eg. Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer).

How To Complete The Quest
You will have 13 days to collect 80 Christmas items for Oberon. These items can be found scattered around your castle, just as the resource tributes are. The items to look for are Christmas Trees, Warrior Penguins and Christmas Treasure Boxes.

Click on the "Special Holiday Picture" on the right to see a larger image of the items you will need to collect.

My Experience
I just started the quest today and found out that the only place to collect these is around your castle. You cannot find them at friend's castles. Today I found six Holiday items and I expect to be able to find 6 more a day for the next 13 days. Since (6 * 13) = 78 and I got 6 today, this would give me the 80 I need by the end of the 13th day.

This will make players check their castle every day for the next 13 days in order to get the rewards. Though it may sound like a chore it took me less than 1 minute to log on and collect these 6 items. In addition to this, the 5x Dragons, 20x Wyverns and 4 Skull Runes is definitely worth it. Lower level players will benefit the most from this quest, but I highly recommend that everyone complete this quest.

Also just another note; Stormfall also released the Winter Fortress that can be purchased from the Black Market if you have enough Sapphire. Just go the the Black Market, click on fortresses and you will see Frostbite for 2000 Sapphire. It will give your castle a 1500+ Defensive Bonus as well as change it's appearance.

Thanks For Reading. Feel Free to Comment With Any Questions And/Or Comments You May Have!

Also be sure to check out the reasons why you should Build Up Your Defenses during the Event.

Other Articles You May Be Interested In
Raiding Other Players Guide
Spying Guide

Monday, December 17, 2012

Nomads & Imperial Nomads

Nomads & Imperial Nomads are much better than Archers & Dwarves but cost more resources. The Nomads & Imperial Nomads have the same stats, but Imperial units can be trained at a lower resource cost for the price of some Sapphire. Nomads have a very good defense against all units and cost 2 Food per hour. However, they are not a good Offensive unit. Nomad Speed can be upgraded up to 40 times at the Obelisk of Power.

Requirements:
Lost Arts: Horsemanship
Building: Order of Knights

Best At Defending Against: Calvary, Occult


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

6 Ways To Get More Sapphire

Sapphire is the most valuable resource in Stormfall. You can purchase powerful units, resources, castle defense and scrolls for lost arts. The appearance of your castle can even be changed for a large amount of Sapphire.

Some Stormfall players may not know how to earn Sapphire. Here are the five different ways to obtain Sapphire.

#1. Leveling Up
Each time you gain enough EXP you will level up and get some Sapphire and Skull Runes. You can level up relatively quickly up until about level 25. I found it best to save this Sapphire to purchase Dragons and Griffins. You can always use the Protect Your Army Trick to protect these units until you build up enough defenses within your castle.
 
#2. Quests
Quests will usually reward you with EXP and units. You will also get Sapphire sometimes from certain quests that you complete. Be sure to complete as many quests as you can; they will allow you to progress through the game much more quickly.

#3. Settlements 
Once you build the House of Lords you will be able to locate Settlements. Conquering and defending Sapphire Settlements will allow you to collect Sapphire once every hour. Note: Sapphire filled Settlements are usually the most difficult to hold since all players want Sapphire.

#4. Rankings
Players each week will earn Sapphire for being on top of the rankings list. Categories include raiding, besieging, battlegrounds, offense and defense. This is the most difficult way to obtain Sapphire if you are not a high level player.

#5. Special Offers
In my opinion, free offers are the best way to gain Sapphire. There are usually movie clips you can watch for 15 - 30 Sapphires each. In addition, you can complete free online surveys for up to 300 Sapphire. Personally I have had more luck with the movie clips than I have with the surveys. New/Special Events are usually the best offers you can complete for Sapphire.

#6. Purchase
As a last resort you can always purchase Sapphire for actual money. This is really the fastest way to get Sapphire if you have the money to spend. The latest discount I saw was 3000 Sapphire for $10 (USD).

Thanks For Reading. Feel Free to Comment With Any Questions And/Or Comments You May Have!

Other Articles You May Be Interested In
Raiding Other Players Guide
7 Ways To Get More Resources

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Importance of Scroll Trading

Once you build a House of Scrolls, you will receive a new Scroll every 24 hours. You can either check the House of Scrolls or the Scribe to see which new Scroll you have been given. Scrolls can sold, used or exchanged with other players at the Market. It is best to use these scrolls to research Lost Arts rather than selling them for resources.

Side Note: The House of Scrolls can be upgraded to reduce the research time of all Lost Arts.

Here are some tips to use Scrolls efficiently and effectively.

#1. Avoid "Wasted" Scrolls
You will receive a new Scroll each day, but only for the very next Lost Art(s) that you have not yet unlocked. For example, if you have just unlocked the Lost Art of Composite Bow you will be given a scroll for Bran's Seal each day.

You will continue to be given Bran's Seal Scrolls until you finally unlock it. This particular Lost Art needs Bran's Seal Scroll 1 and Bran's Seal Scroll 2 in order to be unlocked. Individual Lost Arts can require up to 20 different Scrolls to unlock (Wyverns & Dragons). Make sure you unlock each Lost Art as soon as you have the correct amount/type of scrolls to do so.

#2. Exchanging Scrolls
Exchanging Scrolls with other players makes it easier to obtain the scrolls you need. Horsemanship for example, requires 6 different Scrolls to unlock. Let's say you have 6 Scrolls; Horsemanship Scrolls 1-5, and an additional Horsemanship Scroll 3. You can trade your extra Scroll 3 to another player for his/her Horsemanship Scroll 6.

You can check Scroll trade offers in the Market and if no trade is available you can create your own. People will generally only trade if they are getting similar or rarer Scrolls in the trade. You won't be able to get a Horsemanship scroll by trading a Divine Blades Scroll. It is possible to get lucky with a favorable trade offer such as this, but it is not likely.

#3. Progression
Getting further through the Lost Art tree allows you to create much better units. Producing powerful units is much better than buying them at the Black Market or trying to get some from Battlegrounds as Spoils of War. In addition to this, you can unlock better resource facilities in the later levels such as the Spring of Life and the Forge.

I am currently level 39 and I wasted at least 12 Scrolls because I forgot to exchange for scrolls and unlock new Lost Arts. I now have 5x Wayfaring Scrolls, 4x Smuggling Scrolls and 3x Divine Blades Scrolls all of which are now useless. Make sure you follow these tips and don't make the same mistakes I did.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below with any questions, concerns or insight!

Other Articles You May Be Interested In
7 Ways To Get More Resources
Spying Guide
Guide To Raiding Other Players

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Raiding Other Players Guide

So What Is Raiding Exactly?
When you put your mouse cursor over another players castle you will see a bunch of different icons. The one that looks like a money bag is the icon you click when you want to Raid that particular person's castle.

After clicking the Raid icon you will choose which units and how many of each unit you want to send to battle. Once you send your units you will see a timer letting you know how long it will take your forces to reach the enemy castle.

Note: The further away the other castle is, the longer the trip will be for your units. The same goes for the return trip of your forces.

Once your forces reach the enemy, they will engage in battle. If the total Offense of your force greatly exceeds the Defense of the enemy forces you will successfully Raid your opponent. Both sides will usually lose units if there is a substantial defending force.

You can store up to 10 total Raid attempts at any one time and you will receive a new Raid Attempt every 2.5 Hours.

What Is So Great About Raiding?
When you raid another player you can take as many resources as your army can carry (Total Carrying Capacity of attacking army) up to a maximum of 50% of that player's total resources. You will also receive experience points (The more units you kill the more experience you will gain). The best targets are those without much of a Defensive army and a large amount of resources. High level inactive players tend to be the best targets as they have no Defense and a large amount of stored resources.

How Can I Raid Others Effectively and Efficiently?
I wasn't very good at raiding when I first started playing and I lost a lot of units for no reason. Here are the 3 best steps to Raiding another player efficiently and effectively, with minimal unit losses.

Step #1. Spying - Before any raid attempt you must first scout out your target. If you haven't checked it out, I strongly suggest you read this Spying Guide first. Spying will save you time, resources and units. I guarantee it!

If you have a decent army size I would suggest Spying on players a little bit below your own Castle level. For example, if you're level 20 try to Spy on Level 17-19 players. I'll reiterate that inactive players are the best targets especially when they are around your target level (Usually the higher the level of the player, the more resources they will have stored).

Step #2. Choosing A Target- The perfect Raiding target is A. Close To Your Castle, B. Has No Defense, and C. Has A Lot Of Stored Resources. If you cannot find a perfect target, make sure the target at least has enough resources to even make the Raid worthwhile. Also note that the location may not matter if you won't be playing or defending at that time.

Step #3. Sending Your Army- If your target has a lot of Defensive units it is usually better to find another target. However, if you must attack them, make sure to send a lot more of an Offensive force then they can defend against. If you do not send a strong enough army you will basically be wiped out.

Finally, make sure your attacking army has enough Carrying Capacity to take 50% of the enemy's total stored resources. In the example on the right I saw that I needed at least 7,075 Carrying Capacity to take the maximum amount of resources. Unfortunately I only had a large enough army to carry 4,440 resources. I am currently building up my army so this will not happen anymore.

Conclusion
You should use this article as a guideline when Raiding other players, but definitely use your own judgement as well.  Make use of your ten Raid attempts each day to obtain extra resources for yourself.

As you continue building your army you will be able to Raid multiple players at once. The better you get at Raiding, the faster your castle will grow and the stronger you will become. Good Luck Raiding!

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below with any questions, concerns or insight!

Other Articles You May Be Interested In
7 Ways To Get More Resources
Spying Guide

Offense Per Total Resource Costs (Pikemen vs. Paladins)

So I took the Offensive stats and total resource costs of Pikemen, Imperial Pikemen, Paladins and Imperial Paladins. By dividing the Offensive stats by resource costs we can find the most efficient way to obtain Offense among these units.

Initially we see that Pikemen actually have a higher offense/resource cost ratio than that of Paladins (Assuming that all resources are equal in value). However, in my own experience I found that Food is less valuable than Gold and Iron. So if we take just Gold and Iron into consideration the Pikemen ratio would be 0.71 versus the Paladin ratio of .82; Meaning that you get more Offense for your Gold and Iron with the Paladin.

Overall it can be seen that the Imperial Paladin has the greatest Offense to Resource Cost ratio. Although you have to take into consideration the cost of the 4 Sapphire per unit.


Unit Off. Gold Iron Food Sapphire Off./Gold Off./Iron Off./Food Total Offense/ Total Resources
Pikeman 40 90 150 60 0 0.44 0.27 0.67 1.38
Imperial Pikeman 40 27 45 60 4 1.48 0.89 0.67 3.04
Paladin 60 100 270 150 0 0.60 0.22 0.40 1.22
Imperial Paladin 60 30 75 45 4 2.00 0.80 1.33 4.13


Paladin Pros:
- Upgrades are more valuable on Paladins (60 * 2% = 61.2) then they are on Pikemen (40 * 2% = 40.8).
- Paladins can carry more resources when raiding
- Paladins have double the movement speed of Pikemen

Pikemen Pros:
- It takes a while to get the scrolls needed to make Paladins (Divine Blades)
- Faster training time per unit (5 Minutes vs. 8 Minutes)

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below with any questions, concerns or insight!

Infantry Units

Unit Type Off/Def Off. Infantry Def. Calvary Def. Occult Units Def. Bestiary Units Def. Carrying Capacity
Pikeman Infantry Off 40 12 5 5 5 20
Imperial Pikeman Infantry Off 40 12 5 5 5 20
Archer Infantry Def 10 20 20 18 18 10
Imperial Archer Infantry Def 10 20 20 18 18 10
Dwarf Infantry Def 15 30 26 16 16 13
Imperial Dwarf Infantry Def 15 30 26 16 16 13
Paladin Infantry Off 60 12 12 8 8 33
Imperial Paladin Infantry Off 60 12 12 8 8 33

Paladins & Imperial Paladins

Paladins & Imperial Paladins are better than Pikemen, but cost more resources. The Paladins & Imperial Paladins have the same stats, but Imperial units can be trained at a lower resource cost for the price of some Sapphire. Paladins have a solid amount of offense against all units and only cost 1 Food per hour. However, they are not a good defensive unit. Paladin Speed can be upgraded up to 40 times at the Obelisk of Power.

Requirements:
Lost Arts: Barracks
Building: Bran's Seal

Best At Defending Against: Infantry, Calvary


Unit Type Off/Def Off. Infantry Def. Calvary Def. Occult Units Def. Bestiary Units Def. Carrying Capacity Food Cost Per Hour
Paladin Infantry Off 60 12 12 8 8 33 1
Imperial Paladin Infantry Off 60 12 12 8 8 33 1










Unit Type Speed  Time Building Lost Arts Gold Iron Food Sapphire
Paladin Infantry 120 mph 8 min Barracks Divine Blades 100 270 150 0
Imperial Paladin Infantry 120 mph 8 min Barracks Divine Blades 30 75 45 4

Dwarves & Imperial Dwarves

Dwarves & Imperial Dwarves are better than Archers, but not as good as Wraiths. The Dwarves & Imperial Dwarves have the same stats, but Imperial units can be trained at a lower resource cost for the price of some Sapphire. Dwarves have a solid amount of defense against all units and only cost 1 Food per hour. However, they are not a good offensive unit. Dwarf Speed can be upgraded up to 40 times at the Obelisk of Power.

Requirements:
Lost Arts: Barracks
Building: Bran's Seal

Best At Defending Against: Infantry, Calvary


Unit Type Off/Def Off. Infantry Def. Calvary Def. Occult Units Def. Bestiary Units Def. Carrying Capacity Food Cost Per Hour
Dwarf Infantry Def 15 30 26 16 16 13 1
Imperial Dwarf Infantry Def 15 30 26 16 16 13 1










Unit Type Speed  Time Building Lost Arts Gold Iron Food Sapphire
Dwarf Infantry 60 mph 4.5 min Barracks Bran's Seal 90 60 42 0
Imperial Dwarf Infantry 60 mph 4.5 min Barracks Bran's Seal 27 18 12 4

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Defending High Level Battlegrounds (11, 12 & 13)

So I decided to take a risk and see how far I high I could go defending Battlegrounds. I also had to complete these for quests and I had a lot of archers and dwarves to spare...

Tower of Mages Level 11

Losses: 84 Archers, 65 Dwarves

Spoils of War: 2x Skull Runes, 9x Barbarian, 3x Knight

I would say I came out ahead since I can't make Barbarians or Knights yet and I have a lot of resource income to make Archers and Dwarves. I'm currently at about 670 per hour for each type of resource.

Village Level 12

Losses: 96 Archers, 71 Dwarves

Spoils of War: 2x Skull Runes, 4x Griffin

I came out ahead again in this battle even though I lost more units. I'll take 4x Griffin for 200 low level units. No Problem! Griffins are the best defensive unit in the game currently (Especially against Dragons.)


Village Level 13

Losses: 192 Archers, 106 Dwarves

Spoils of War: Small amount of resources, 2x Skull Runes, 1x Necromancer, 3x Golem

Ehhh, this was definitely a loss for me. Golems are alright and Necromancers are pretty good, but I only got 1. I think I need to send higher level units to defend next time (Eg. Golems, Barbarians).

Fell free to share your Raid Results Here. Thanks for reading.