This game has one of the worst drop rates for a 4* bot. I got my first 4* last week since its worldwide launch. Only half a dozen of 3* (within the past month) and so many 2*.
I only play casually now due to this.

 

They're adding a Commander Mastery system, which provides buffs for your whole squad.

 

I agree that the 4 stars are pretty damned scarce and I've got more two stars than I know what to do with but I've done alright on three stars. I also managed to get my second four star a week ago from the Crystal arena event: just played it like crazy until I'd gotten through all the prize ranks. That plus the prize for being in the top 10% got me enough four star Crystal shards to get my second four star bot.

... Now if only it weren't so damned hard to level up a four star.

 

I guess i've been more fortunate than others. My first 4* was Mirage from premium crystals. I got Windblade from my first 4* shard crystal. I manage to pull a 4* Drift from one of the newer crystals. Finally, I got a 4* IH from enough 4* shards last week. It's taking forever to farm for alphas and I've been losing interest in the game. So far I've only taken Windblade and Drift to rank 2. Debating which one to take to rank 3 n which 4* to level next?

 

Is anyone having trouble doing raids? Whenever I join one and try to engage the first enemy, a black screen comes up and says an unknown error occur. I have to restart the game everytime I do it.

 

Yep
Not everyone has updated maybe need to wait a day. Version 3.0 is now live with masteries and stuff

 

That's what I thought. Guess I should a couple of days before raiding so I know people have updated.

 

Did they tune the a.i. difficulty in raid? I just got freakin' rolled by Mixmaster and Waspinator, two bots who I usually don't have too much trouble with. Mm was decently high level but my movie Optimus was a match for him and I had to use him to counteract the harm accelerator. I try to avoid mm cuz he always seems to take more of my health than I think he deserves but he rarely is able to just outright kill me and he did it while losing barely three quarters of his health. The third fight was Waspinator and he just plain wouldn't let me hit him. He blocked everything and sidestepped all my transformation moves. He was only the third fight in a level 7000 raid and my team was wiped before I could kill him. 7000 is usually pretty tough but I win much more than I lose and I never lose on the third defender. And I mean there was a harm accelerator on the first defender: that's like giving me a free pass past him, and he still slaughtered me!

Also, are the mastery bonuses not supposed to work in raid? When I do story or arena, I can see that my bots read as higher level than they are but that doesn't happen in raid.

 

Noob question: is it worth paying 150 for the special crystals (like the current sideswipe swagger crystal)?

So far I've only bought the regular premium crystals but I've only got 2* bots

 

I don't think so but that's just me. Every time I've bought one of the 150 energon special crystals, I've just gotten a non-rare two star bot.

On the other hand, you're never gonna get the rare ones if you don't try, but I think it's more worthwhile to get three premium crystals for the price of two of the rare ones. At least until you've built up your ranks.

 

Thanks for the reply. That's what I thought. Do you know if all 3* bots are better than any 2*? I have a 3* barricade and a 2* windblade. The windblade wins more easily than barricade most of the time

 

I mean 3 stars can be maxed out to around 1000 - 1100. 2 stars cap at around 600.

 

Another noob question, where do you use raid crystals? I keep getting them from away missions but not sure what happens to them and where you trade them.

Ps. I haven't gone on a raid yet. Is it an important part of the game? There's so many things to track already I'm not so keen on having to defend my Base etc

 

Raid crystals? You mean the raid chips or credits or whatever they're called? You use them in the raid store.
Raiding becomes important when you start leveling up your 3 and 4 star bots. You can max 1 and 2 star bots with basic and class Sparks but to get a 3 star up to rank 4, or a 4 star to rank 2 and beyond you need an alpha spark. Alpha is harder to come by - you can get it from special missions on medium or hard or I think there's a daily that pops up for an hour or so each day, but I find the most reliable way is the raid store. You can get a maximum of 1200 alpha essence a day from raiding. I also get my tier 2 basic spark essence from the raid store so that I don't have to spend my mission energy on it.
Defending you base isn't as important. I mean people will steal your raid chips but it seems they can only take 10% of what you have. I spend them almost as fast as I get them so I don't worry too much about them getting stolen. That said, I am working on my base security so that I can eventually start saving up larger amounts of chips without them getting stolen as fast as I can get them.

 

Unless you are trying to accumulate medals to unlock a reward, I've found that winning a raid defense is worse than losing. Since there's no chips rewards for winning, all it does is raise your medals level, making you a bigger target for the next raid and making your raids harder. Usually I find after winning one, I lose two, losing twice as many chips. The best defense is to be strong enough that they attackers pick someone else.

If I get offered 3 raids too hard to beat I used to "respin" for new opponents. Now, as long as I'm over 1100, I'll raid one I'm overmatched on just to lower my medals level.

 

What I can't figure out is why people bother to attack me at all. I mean my base isn't the toughest but it's not exactly a softie either and I don't keep many raid chips on me so there's nothing to steal. Yet an hour ago I got hit by some guy with two four star bots at rank three and he took 244 chips from me. 244?! I wouldn't waste my time on a take that small. Nice of him to help keep my raid medals down though.

 

So as of yesterday I landed a 3-star Hot Rod, a 3-Star Shockwave, and a 3-star Windblade from different crystals and space bridges. Boy if I wasn't a lucky, persistent person I wouldn't have.  
Too bad leveling them up is a pain, but I think Shockwave's first then Hot Rod.

 

More Noob questions, today's topic: forging

So I've just unlocked the ability to forge. What is forge xp? Is there any strategy to it? Like do I get more xp if I use the same bots (like 1* Arcee for a 3* Arcee) or bots of the same type (like 1* Sideswipe for 3* Arcee) ?

Thanks in advance

 

At least I'm guaranteed Hot Rod in a few days, but I still need Shockwave, Ultra Magnus, Drift, and Waspinator.

I SERIOUSLY wish there was a "Trade Bots" feature.

 

If you've been logging in every day of August, your hot rod will awaken in a few days.

As far as I can tell, it doesn't make a difference. More powerful bots will give you more for xp though. Also, according to one of the tips that pops up at losing screens, you have to use the same bot from the next lowest tier to unlock the final forge level. Meaning, if you got a four star Optimus all the way to the second highest forge level, you'd have to feed him a three star Optimus to get to the highest level.