Winning the Master's

[gpk99]

Finally did it.....took too long perhaps but lucked out when a few top guys went(Serrano did it twice...whoohoo) crapped out to my lucky advantage.
(PUFFS out CHEST)

[mr. z]

Done it several times - but so far never won all rallies. Just now struggling with 2010's in Greece after winning 4 other rallies. The hard to win rally seems to change in different classes - so far Sweden has been the toughest one to win (60's, Gr A, where winning Greece was a breeze).

[gpk99]

OMG sippe...todays weekly is a real intense struggle in the Manta...and the Lancia Delta daily for today...well...I just threw up my hands ion disgust...lol

[Arya]

Congrats! What were you driving?

Like Sippe, I don't really struggle with Masters - mostly because I prefer older cars. Winning Masters in a Fiat 131 Abarth really just comes down to setting a clean time for each stage and waiting for your opponents to expire. Winning it in a Modern car however, is a huge and worthy challenge.

[gpk99]

thank you very much NL...I was driving the Ford rally RS 2001....great little car....changed the setup a few times depending on the conditions and rally and rejoiced of course when Mr Serrano went down....he was the benchmark to chase after.

[Rookie-31st]

Anyone won 1980s Master?

By the way, there is an achievement for winning Masters in three different classes. Which are the easiest?

[Meszes]

Originally posted by rookie31st:

Anyone won 1980s Master?

Many players here unlocked that at Masters. If you can post top 200 stage times, you should be able to.

Originally posted by rookie31st:

By the way, there is an achievement for winning Masters in three different classes. Which are the easiest?

In my opinion '60s (Alpine), '70s (Kadett) and Group B 4WD (205).

[Arya]

Originally posted by rookie31st:

Anyone won 1980s Master?

By the way, there is an achievement for winning Masters in three different classes. Which are the easiest?

I have. It's actually one of my favourite classes.

The car you really want for '80s is the M3 E30. Having one of these will make the class a lot easier - it's very consistent and predictable, with outstanding handling on any surface. Alone, the handling would make it fast - but it also builds up your confidence in a way the other two don't, which makes it faster still.

And I agree with Meszes on which classes are easiest. Group B 4X4 with a Peugeot 205 is like shooting ducks at the fairground... ...with a grenade launcher. You barely have to drive the thing - it's so fast in a straight line that winning takes no effort.

1960s with a Renault Alpine is almost as easy. The Alpine handles well, and like the 205 it's fearsomely powerful.

Finally, '70s may be the easiest class - the carts are very sorted and forgiving. I would actually pick a Fiat 131 Abarth, but that's just me. Avoid the Stratos and Ford Escort, they both have handling issues that'll drag down your stage times.

[Rookie-31st]

Did you do it before 1.1? Didn't they change AI strenght? I was driving in Elite Championship before v1.1, got there by beating Open (using keyborad) and Clubman in 1960s, and then Pro in 1970s. Didn't have problems, won without restarts on first attempts. Started Elite in 1980s, got 1st and 2nd place in first two rallies before v1.1 arrived, and hit the wall after update. I could still get to top 3 there if careful enough, but winning didn't seem possible. I don't have much time playing, but I want to win championships in every class to get achievements, before moving to Masters, so I went back to Open since it is shorter, and... hit the wall again. I am almost always 1-4 seconds behind first, so far only Finland and Germany gave me some 1st places on stages. I am not super fast, but I would not consider myself slow so much that I couldn't beat Open with the steering wheel after I did it using keyboard before v1.1

[gpk99]

after 1.1

[Arya]

Yeah, after 1.1 and within the last month.

Consistency will make a huge difference to your stage times. Forget about going fast - focus on clean lines through the corners, and avoiding any spins, overshoots/resets/crashes. You can make up a couple of tenths per corner if you push, but there's a strong chance you'll lose a few seconds if you crash. Consistency trumps speed here.

[Rookie-31st]

Yeah, I did some experimental runs yesterday. When I tried to race at the limit, any mistake is critical and I lose 7-15 seconds at the end. However, I tried racing at "leisure pace" and finished just 1 second behind. Weird, but I think AI times is an algorithm of some sort based on players average speed

[Arya]

Originally posted by rookie31st:

Yeah, I did some experimental runs yesterday. When I tried to race at the limit, any mistake is critical and I lose 7-15 seconds at the end. However, I tried racing at "leisure pace" and finished just 1 second behind. Weird, but I think AI times is an algorithm of some sort based on players average speed

That's not correct. AI time generated through a series of multipliers, based around a baseline time.

Without knowing where you're losing all that time, I can't really help you - beyond giving general tips. Is there anything in particular that stands out as a problem?

And for my sake: what are you actually driving? which car?

[Rookie-31st]

Well, obviously there is a baseline time, the question is what kind of multipliers are there. Player's average speed might be one of them.

I don't really need help, I have several years of experience racing in Richard Burns Rally, so I know what it takes to be fast. I am just surprised that Open Tier AI times do not appear to be slow at all. Those are decent times, at least in some countries, the only really noticable difference is that with Open AI you really have just one strong opponent and this number increases when you go up while AI times don't seem to change much, Elite maybe just 10-15 seconds faster on average.

I just finished Finland and Sweden without any problems at all, once again driving at a leisure pace, not really attacking. Open AI was always 8-17 seconds behind on every stage. Greece and Monaco, on the other hand, are my least favorite, and I tried hard to be fast and 2nd was my best I could get even without any serious errors. I was driving 1980s BMW. Going to start Gr.B 4WD Open Championship today, will go up again after I get championship achievements for all classes

Thank you for your input, much appreciated

[BloodCat]

Originally posted by rookie31st:

Well, obviously there is a baseline time, the question is what kind of multipliers are there. Player's average speed might be one of them.

All the multipliers are described here http://blog.codemasters.com/dirt/12/dirt-rally-road-book-181215/

[Rookie-31st]

Thank you for the link! So, there is a bogey time and some variation.