Trials pointless now?

[CondorDrake]

Hi, came back to play this again after a long time and realized a lot has changed. Am I missing something or are the trials of students quite pointless now? You get some XP which the students / staff will get naturally anyway, so why should I bother doing the trials?

Or does completing trials have any other benefits I am missing? Thanks.

[Jim]

I believe that completing trials also increases the level of relic that they generate when they graduate, become and apprentice, or get hired.

[Jacq]

Each completed trial gives you it's xp boost :-

1) when you complete it
2) again when that initiate becomes an apprentice
3) a 3rd time when that apprentice becomes a teacher.

A gifted initiate with all trials completed can immediately jump to lv12 cap when you apprentice him. And again to Lv16 when he becomes a teacher.

In addition, at each promotion, that mage gives you a new relic. That relic's level is influenced by how many trials are completed. You also similarly get a relic when the mage is graduated. For example, a gifted lv 12 apprentice with fully completed trials will always give you a 1/24 relic when graduated.

Also, the xp boost will level any relics attuned to that mage.

Trial completion is basically key to end game gameplay.

You can choose to grind xp naturally, but it's pretty slow and painful (at least to me in comparison).

[CondorDrake]

Can't make apprentices, don't really understand how it's supposed to work. Also with the new version I don't seem to be able to progress in any way since it seems like you can only recruit students with T1 wands now, so T2 and T3 are also pointless now?

Don't know, I liked the old system a lot more.

[Jacq]

The flow right now is like this:

Recruit initiates with T1 wands.
Unlock T2 wands through research (one research slot for each element)
Find the T2 wand transfigurator in underground
Send your mages there to upgrade to T2

Then unlock T3 wands through research (one for each element)
Find the T3 wand transfigurator in underground
Send your mages there to upgrade to T3

T2 and T3 power up your mages. You get +1 of your mage's element and + random elements every wand upgrade. There is a guide to show what you get at the upper left hand box of your mage screen.

The wands also raise your level cap:

T1 caps at lv3
T2 caps at lv5
T3 caps at lv6

Since you gain stats for each level increase, there is a huge difference in power between a mage with T1 compared to T3.

You also need to unlock apprentices through research (one for each element, surprise)
You can only train your initiates into apprentices when they're fully trained (max level, all skills full). Because of this, most people promote their initiates to apprentices when they hit the cap at lv 3,5 or 6 depending on which tier wands they have.

[Jim]

Also keep in mind that upgrading a wand (via the transfigurator) will also cause (or upgrade) a special need for that student related to the wand's element. For example, fire casters need to feel victory, so they have to go into battle more frequently to remain happy.

Personally, I like this system better than a generic mood debuff, but it does get pretty hard to manage at tier III, so you might not want to upgrade the wands of all your casters.

[Gerion]

Originally posted by CondorDrake:

Can't make apprentices, don't really understand how it's supposed to work. Also with the new version I don't seem to be able to progress in any way since it seems like you can only recruit students with T1 wands now, so T2 and T3 are also pointless now?

Don't know, I liked the old system a lot more.

You promote your students to Apprentices via rituals. You can find that rituals in Advanced Teaching Stations (which needed for top teaching rooms - Fire Teaching Pyre, Water Teaching Fountain and etc).
Also, Apprentices cant level up skills from Learning stone - only from Advanced Teaching Stations, so the best way is upgrade your students to T3 wands before promoting to Apprentice.

Amount of completed Trials affects on Relics max lvl, which you get from Graduate and promote your Students or Apprentices. Graduate or Promote rituals get completed Trials XP again, increase level of Mage and its attuned Relics. Apprentice which have T3 wand and all completed Trials, grants relic with max lvl 24 (maximum possible) via Hired as Staff.

[Gemini]

Originally posted by Jacq:

Each completed trial gives you it's xp boost :-

1) when you complete it
2) again when that initiate becomes an apprentice
3) a 3rd time when that apprentice becomes a teacher.

A gifted initiate with all trials completed can immediately jump to lv12 cap when you apprentice him. And again to Lv16 when he becomes a teacher.

In addition, at each promotion, that mage gives you a new relic. That relic's level is influenced by how many trials are completed. You also similarly get a relic when the mage is graduated. For example, a gifted lv 12 apprentice with fully completed trials will always give you a 1/24 relic when graduated.

Also, the xp boost will level any relics attuned to that mage.

Trial completion is basically key to end game gameplay.

You can choose to grind xp naturally, but it's pretty slow and painful (at least to me in comparison).

You seem to know how this stuff works, and from what I've understood you'll get the XP for each completed trial up to 3 times(if you choose to go Initiate->Apprentice->Staff.
I do however have a question regarding Trial completion XP on a Fully Trained Initiate:

An initiate of mine named Caesar is now fully trained(i.e. capped Initiate level), however I have yet to complete a trial that give 1,500 XP.
If I do this Trial now BEFORE promoting him, will I still get the initial 1,500 XP for Trial completion once I promote him - along with the Apprentice bonus(3,000 XP total)?
OR will I miss out on the initial 1,500 completion bonus since he's max Initiate level and technically can't receive any more XP at this point, leaving me with just the promotion bonus?

I hope that made sense.

[Kahri]

Any exp earned but not applied because the student is at their current max level, will be applied when their level is no longer maxed out.

[Gemini]

Originally posted by Kahri:

Any exp earned but not applied because the student is at their current max level, will be applied when their level is no longer maxed out.

Nice, thank you :)

[Kahri]

:/

Perhaps I used the word 'any' too liberally. Any *trial* exp, to be specific.

[Gemini]

Originally posted by Kahri:

:/

Perhaps I used the word 'any' too liberally. Any *trial* exp, to be specific.

I got that :D

[Gemini]

Originally posted by Kahri:

Any exp earned but not applied because the student is at their current max level, will be applied when their level is no longer maxed out.

...Actually, I can confirm that this is NOT the case!
Did some testing today, and the Initiates did not receive the completion bonus once they got promoted. They only got the promotion bonus part!
This can be confirmed by the green text in the top-right corner in the apprentice ritual screen: I did a Level 2 Trial that gives 7,500 XP, on a fully trained Initiate. I then went to the promotion screen and it said "+9,500 XP from Trials"(I had worked up another 2000 from other trials).
If the completion XP had a rollover effect it should've said "+17,000 XP from Trials".
Also for science, tried completing the trial AFTER promotion. Same amount given.

So to get the most XP out of any trial one should do them as early as possible I suppose.
Though my strategy to do Level 2 wand trials on initiates to blast them through levels just went redundant :P
I guess they don't allow the completion XP rollover for this exact reason. Would've boosted my Level 2 Wanded Initiates from level 5 to 9-ish in one go ;P

TL;DR
So unfortunately the Trial Completion reward, for any trial completed after an Initiate is capped out on XP, does not get added when promoting. Just the promotion bonus.