Gold vs. DPS

[Tristan]

is there any rule? how many goldfinders do you need in a formation?
i really want to do it right und get the best results...

when i play ghostbeard's greed, i have kaine, gold panda, greyskull (+200%) for finding gold, the other crusaders are the damage dealer and supporters.

when i play world's wake / descent into darkness, i have kaine, gold panda (early) OR greyskull (later) for finding gold

i've got some other gold finders like natalie dragon or jason...

what do you think about that?

[Noodlebrainz]

It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish. For example, if you want to purchase all upgrades and formation abilities ASAP, you would want to slot in as many gold finders as possible, without caring too much about dps at the early stage of a run. This is a highly advantageous tactic especially if you want to set up a speed formation quickly, or even needing to hire key crusaders (your main dps, Mindy, Speedsters, Kaine, Storm Riders, Ana, Mycall, Langley).

It also depends on what stage of the game you are in. Gold -> DPS only becomes relevant once you have invested idols into the ''Golden Age'', a T4 talent. Before that, legendaries that boost gold aren't as potent (as dps boosting legendaries) and therefore gold finders aren't used in dps / pushing formations.

Once you have the relevant legendaries, Kaine is one of the best gold finders by far, among the gold finders that you have listed. I still use him to this day, as a key buffer.

If you're interested in a rough number guide, in the early days I'd normally use 2 or 3 gold finders (normally someone in Kaine's slot and someone in Panda's slot). When using pushing/dps formations (without Golden Age), you'd drop that to perhaps no gold finders and just go full on dps + support. Nowadays I use 5-6 gold finders in my formations (even at the end of runs).

[Tristan]

thank you, that helps a lot. :)

golden age seems to be a recommendable talent for the late game. i'll keep that at the back of my mind.

[lorddragon97240]

Originally posted by Tristan:

thank you, that helps a lot. :)

golden age seems to be a recommendable talent for the late game. i'll keep that at the back of my mind.

Oh yeah it is a good talent. If you can have Ana Guinness and go to area 1500 (for the example), you may find it hard to replace her in your formation. Now, with Langley, it may be 2 crusaders who give a good bost to your DPS thanks to that talent.

From the mentionned crusaders (and your others posts), I suppose you still are in early game so I would recommend to use gold finders as soon as possible in any run and keep them until you swipe to have the maximum of levels as soon as possible, then switch to a more offensive formation. Of course, it depends on the objective too but it usually work wonders.

[Tristan]

yes, i am in the early game and only played two events. atm i've got 279k idols and reach area 880 in world's wake in a run for farming idols.

i really appreciate your help. thank you!

[chakatfirepaw]

If you aren't hitting the crusader level cap then goldfinding is not quite as good as DPS, (loosely, +125% gold = +100% DPS). OTOH, in the early game, the goldfinding buffs can be much bigger than the DPS buffs you lose to get them[1].

Once you start hitting the level cap with your end of run DPS crusader[2], then gold becomes worthless after you reach the cap, (or reach the point that you will hit the cap before you stall). Goldfinding comes back into things once you start buying ranks of Golden Age or get one of the recent crusaders with repurchasable abilities.

[1] That's why the old advice was "gold first": You were grabbing these +50-100% gold buffs and only giving up +15-25% DPS buffs for them. Once upon a time, getting a net of +200% DPS out of a support crusader was a big deal.

[2] There is a period where you may need to use an early seat crusader for part of the run, then switch to a late seat one for the end because you are level capping. Thankfully, this period is brief and you quickly reach a point where the late seat DPS isn't going to stall or you have an early seat support/DPS, (*cough*Mindy*cough*), that can carry you.

[Tristan]

it is really nice to learn these things from all of you. thanks!