What is chip merging and why does it exist?

[Arndell]

You seem to just have 3 slots to combine chips, and the result is a random chip that is always worse than the 3 you used up and a direction that is completely random and nothing to do with the chips you used.

What's the system even for?

[Jazman2k]

I forgot there was such option :D I have not tried it yet.

[Arndell]

Originally posted by Jazman2k:

I forgot there was such option :D I have not tried it yet.

I don't really see why it exists, you would think it would be to combine useless lower tier chips into higher value %, but it doesn't work that way.

Seems you are better off ignoring it so you just have many different chips for different board setups rather than waste them on merging for some reason.

[JReming]

Its to create different types/directions

[Cormoran]

All it seemed to do was make worse chips for me so I only did it a few times before giving up.

[criggie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mxBjcLtvYU&t=15s&ab_channel=GamersHeroes

[Sharkon]

fuse lower tier chips to higher tier ones (random chance) and get rid of useless ones.
level up the mechanic tree otherwise it's not that good.

[Arndell]

Originally posted by criggie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mxBjcLtvYU&t=15s&ab_channel=GamersHeroes

Guess it's bugged out then.

I saw in the video he combined a load of weaker chips to get a 30% one.

Simply doesn't happen when I try it, the end result is always worse than the strongest chip I burn in the merge.

[MonkeyBone]

Yeah in the brief few times I used it I just got junk in return and it resulted in most of the game locking me to just a few PCB's because I didn't have enough chips to try anything else out. Avoid it.

[Empiredoom]

I got more skill points than chips, I'm not sure what they were thinking with this system. If you don't find secrets you get punished by getting no chips.

[Arndell]

Originally posted by Radical Tuna:

I got more skill points than chips, I'm not sure what they were thinking with this system. If you don't find secrets you get punished by getting no chips.

I got the deduction level high enough to see the chests on the map and the "Map maid" in me can't help but clean the whole thing so i'm swimming in surplus chips of all kinds lol.

[AnOldMan]

Originally posted by Eldin:

It’s random and sometimes gives a higher percentage, while other times same or worse. You can also lose good pieces and get worse ones. Don’t recommend trying it out until you get a lot and only then use sparingly then stop before getting more or you risk not having many chips left.

From a ridiculous amount of experimentation, I've arrived at several conclusions about chips.

1) The merge process is indeed random for chip shape.
2) Merged chips will have a value of anywhere from -1% of your lowest value to +2% of your highest value. On average, if your chips are all the same value, you will gain +1% in value.
3)The chips you pick up from chests are almost totally random in value. About the only thing that contradicts this is the last couple levels, which divvy higher percentage chips (anywhere from 33 to 38 percent) in an attempt to ready you for the last couple battles.
4) Most merged chips will not have the shapes most commonly used on the PCB boards, and will therefore either not benefit you, or will actively inhibit you by activating penalty slots.

After much testing, I've come to conclude that if you wish to use the Merge Chips function, you're shooting yourself in the foot. The potential merge of lesser valued chips into higher valued chips is TOTALLY outweighed by the potential or receiving a chip which, in effect, "bricks" you Auto-9 gun.

[Bob Gnarly]

So the general consensus seems to be its a worthless mechanic that can be ignored.

It wouldve been nice if the chances of getting an upgrade were increased.

[RangerXT]

Originally posted by MonkeyBone:

Yeah in the brief few times I used it I just got junk in return and it resulted in most of the game locking me to just a few PCB's because I didn't have enough chips to try anything else out. Avoid it.

you can reset chips from a board to use on others. I only used 1 pcb at a time until I got a better one

[MonkeyBone]

Originally posted by RangerXT:

Originally posted by MonkeyBone:

Yeah in the brief few times I used it I just got junk in return and it resulted in most of the game locking me to just a few PCB's because I didn't have enough chips to try anything else out. Avoid it.

you can reset chips from a board to use on others. I only used 1 pcb at a time until I got a better one

I know, that's what I was doing. However thanks to the chip merging mechanic I only had a handful for the longest time and many of the later PCB's have a lot of slots to the point where you'd be handicapping yourself by using them over the smaller PCB's. Thankfully I came into a surplus of chips before the end but I will never touch that mechanic again.

[AnOldMan]

Originally posted by RangerXT:

Originally posted by MonkeyBone:

Yeah in the brief few times I used it I just got junk in return and it resulted in most of the game locking me to just a few PCB's because I didn't have enough chips to try anything else out. Avoid it.

you can reset chips from a board to use on others. I only used 1 pcb at a time until I got a better one

You don't actually have to reset.

Whenever you select a different board, all chips are returned to your inventory. But the game saves your chip configuration for each board, allowing you to quickly switch between boards, and the chips will auto-load to their last known slots.

The only reason for resetting a board is if you feel the need to start over from the ground up, just to see if some chips in differing slots provide for a better board configuration.