Shendao

[Morhem]

I somewhat understand the default cultivation: You increase max qi for better core, increase stats for better compartibility, learn powers, eat a ton of magical stuff to do all that, and then do the breaktroughs. The goal is more stats and more qi to make better guy.
Body - you remould, then you find essences and remould again, to get cool bodyparts. The goal is.. to just sorta do it? Not sure how you improve the result much, but the basics is understandable.
Shendao.. how do I say this.. what in the ABSOLUTE FUDGE is even happening with it? I tried reading and watching guides, but cmon! What are the goals? There's some sort of inner city, and inner citizens, and core followers, and prayers, and guards, and mental states, and "Indulgence"/"Restrained", and "Divinity/Humanity" and OMFG what does any of this mean and do? And I apparently need to have as little Intellect as possible, but at the same time, above 8. .... What?
And how do you even recruit core followers? I apparently need some miracle that comes with some building, but I only have 1 slot, and I already built a different one......
Can someone PLEASE explain it to me like I'm a retarded 5 year old?

[zoncxs]

Read the wiki for it. I know that is not helpful, but Shendao is the most complex thing in this game from what I have seen. I have over 700 hours in this game and STILL have not made one because that is way to complex. The guide for Shendao is over 60 pages long. Not easy.

[Morhem]

Originally posted by zoncxs:

Read the wiki for it. I know that is not helpful, but Shendao is the most complex thing in this game from what I have seen. I have over 700 hours in this game and STILL have not made one because that is way to complex. The guide for Shendao is over 60 pages long. Not easy.

Well, yeah, thats why I made this thread.. guides tend to be a rambling mess of disorganized information. What I look for is "Look for a dude with stats like this, then do this thing, then do this thing", so it at least would work to SOME extent, instead of not at all. I just figured out, that having 1 building slot in your divine realm is bad, and happened because I made a breaktrough wrong. I thought its just default.

[zoncxs]

Seems like you never looked at it, so here is the link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16tC4T4ke0SLI0r2z_rpzFrfLk2Zj2gnSYQK-3FoMOyE/edit#heading=h.rlf6uqxu3cyu

Go look at it to see if its what you need, which I will say you do. It breaks down everything and has screenshots. If that guide is not what you want, then there is none in existence for you, sorry.

[Morhem]

Originally posted by zoncxs:

Seems like you never looked at it, so here is the link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16tC4T4ke0SLI0r2z_rpzFrfLk2Zj2gnSYQK-3FoMOyE/edit#heading=h.rlf6uqxu3cyu

I only found this one: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pQvNibrw02Aul0POm5eUt8O8a87tkPxH-vQaUgDzJhY/edit#heading=h.rlf6uqxu3cyu
And a 2 hour unedited video by some guy, who rambles like he's gone senile at ripe old age of 20.

So yeah, yours are miles better. This thread is seriously paying up! Time to rebirth my gimpy bastard.

EDIT Quote from this tutorial: "while qi cultivators may struggle to hit 300k Max Qi at golden core"
My best peak primordial spirit cultivator has 190k, FML

[Dragonsouled]

For Body Cultivation

You have Essences - Magical bits of Essence you can absorb by devouring items or get by meditating at certain times.

You use Essences to find labels which activate and buff secret bodies - The way you hit enemies/block attacks.

You can improve the result by using more powerful Essences to get better labels (like innate metal essence over metal essence).

Also getting more of a label increases the effect, even the basic tempered bone label can have massive effects when brought up to 100/999.

It takes around 100 days to max out a physical cultivator who uses only early game labels/secret bodies.
You can also stack dodge chance to 95% (using lunar essence on organs)

[Ed1749]

You'd need a guide to know the full extent of Shendao, but a couple tips off the top of my head. Shedao is all about clearing the mind and achieving a perfect mental state. As such, you want to optimize your shendao cultivator to have as few thoughts as possible, meaning they have an entirely neutral mood. Men are great for this, since being shirtless gives them a mood of +0. A boring room with boring clothes leading a boring life. There's also a bunch of little trials you have to pass where you achieve certain criteria to improve your mental state. Those will just need a guide, it's like a 50 step process that takes like a year. Finally, the step where you form a divine realm is comparable if not more important than forming a golden core for xiandao. If you did that early and screwed it up then that cultivator is dead to you. And I believe you get more buildings by doing a special tribulation where you intentionally give your cultivator an obsession then cleanse them of it. Obsessions include murder and eating good food and the such, they should be the orbs in that cultivator's mood menu.

[Morhem]

Originally posted by Ed1749:

Finally, the step where you form a divine realm is comparable if not more important than forming a golden core for xiandao. If you did that early and screwed it up then that cultivator is dead to you.

Thanks! Yes, I obviously screwed that part up, big time. Pretty sure I got the absolute worst posible result. Its just not as clear as with xiandao. There you just need to squeeze as much qi and breaktrough multipliers as possible. Here? Ugh.

[Lloyd]

What surprises me more is that Shendao has enormous damage. Compared to ANY law. 1 artifact has 1kk damage. This is madness. And to be honest, I'm just wildly disappointed.
I'm trying to find a way to get 500k damage now. But all without success. I know that the law of symbols is also strong, but I don’t like it. Its mechanics piss me off. Since he needs hundreds or even thousands of times more Qi. To create a good talisman. I have no problems reaching GC 0, but after 200 hours I still haven’t figured out how to get more damage. Sub-spirit good mechanics bad implementation. There are a lot of skill restrictions everywhere, leading me to the conclusion that any law except Primodial Sumbol>Shendao>Any Physic is not playable when you go to day 500-1000. Since at day 300 the enemies are already starting to heat up and my cultivators are now suffering. And I can hardly hold off the enemy. I have 2 nimbus cultivators. with almost 5kk Qi on PS. But even they are already beginning to lose ground. Although they have maximum Artifact damage. no buffs on Artifact Max Qi. They have 4 QI restoration skills from 500k to 2kk per use. I installed the iguana patches for the Magic CD to work. But there are already wild problems. Although I also have the lagacy artifacts of "Borealis", I have already defeated a couple of ancient cultivators. But I still feel that on the 500th day I will simply be demolished at the time of attack by 3-4 sects. since my cultivators will not be able to break between 15-30 attacking enemies.

And yes, I also created Shendao with 1 platform. Because I still didn’t understand when they had a breakthrough. :D So you are not alone. This was my test, but I realized that I don’t like this mechanic either. She's too sophisticated. Which was not explained in the game. and reading guides is not right when you want to get the pleasure of exploration from the game.

[Ed1749]

Originally posted by Morhem:

Thanks! Yes, I obviously screwed that part up, big time. Pretty sure I got the absolute worst posible result. Its just not as clear as with xiandao. There you just need to squeeze as much qi and breaktrough multipliers as possible. Here? Ugh.

I'm pretty sure it's still just stacking breakthrough modifiers, just different ones. There's a specific breakthrough room you need for Shendao cultivators making a divine realm. I think the idea is to more or less just make a really nice opulent room? Apparently it's one of the few rooms you can get really creative with so long as it's well built. Essentially make a highest quality bedroom with perfect spacing, materials, decorations, and lighting. And of course very auspicious Feng Shui. But that should be a given with this game. Usually it's built almost pure spirit stone, but if your internal designer is flaring up there's some other high quality materials to make it with. You'll know when you're doing it right, watching the divine realm get built over your cultivator's head is very obviously a good result. 48 states is the GC1 equivalent. Make sure you're mind fasted for at least 4 days before it too, mind fasting is very important for Shendao cultivators, it makes everything a lot easier.

[Morhem]

Originally posted by Ed1749:

Yeah, I made a breaktrough in his old room. Which is 3x3 wooden servant quarters he had when he was an outer. There was no indication that place matters whatsoever, if I remember correctly.

Originally posted by Lloyd:

I have no problems reaching GC 0

Are you meaning to tell me, that GC 0 is NOT in fact a joke from devs? Cuz lemme be candid with you, I got curious about it, and after doing EVERYTHING I could think of perfectly (Eternity pill & the other one, full set of stat buffing miracles, forming pill, all the Qi boosting skills and items I know of, correct season, and even got the weather miracle) I got a pretty nice (or so I though) GC 1.. so I saved, re-loaded, and went in with cheat engine. After waiting a while, GC 1 just continued channeling. Seriously, wth, game?
EDIT: As I typed this, I realized I have not yet employed that Refining thing. Sunflower? Spectral? Idk. Is that it?

[iguana]

The game tells you that the location matters. Under the in-game help, and along with other factors that are relevant. Sort of. It's all one sentence, and easily overlooked. And even then, it doesn't mention how the location matters, nor what the actual factors are.

As for GC0, that's just GC1 that's past 300K in score. Golden Core Tier 0 is just one of the achievables, along with all those Dominations (like Plot Domination).
It lights up once somebody reaches that point, and that's it. The only difference between a GC1 with 200K score and a GC1 with 400K score (a GC0 by those standards) is the title they get on their first adventure after forming the core. That and Max Qi, but that's a given.

[Lloyd]

Originally posted by Morhem:

Originally posted by Lloyd:

I have no problems reaching GC 0

Are you meaning to tell me, that GC 0 is NOT in fact a joke from devs? Cuz lemme be candid with you, I got curious about it, and after doing EVERYTHING I could think of perfectly (Eternity pill & the other one, full set of stat buffing miracles, forming pill, all the Qi boosting skills and items I know of, correct season, and even got the weather miracle) I got a pretty nice (or so I though) GC 1.. so I saved, re-loaded, and went in with cheat engine. After waiting a while, GC 1 just continued channeling. Seriously, wth, game?
EDIT: As I typed this, I realized I have not yet employed that Refining thing. Sunflower? Spectral? Idk. Is that it?

No this is not a developer joke. You can see the “getting” GC 0 in the achievements.To the right is the top menu icon with the Hieroglyph. There will be a window with the boss, main story, captured sects, and ancient cultivators. The icon will change to a brighter color after getting GC0. To get it you need 147k qi x2 = 300k qi total during the breakthrough . The bonuses will be a bit different from what you get when you reach GC1 at 147k qi during the breakthrough.

In the game you don't get a description on the GC0 character. On his icon. You just get more characteristics.
Also to get a stronger character you need to use the ♥Manual qi burst technique♥. There are some videos on how to do it. A short one for 5 minutes and a detailed one I didn't watch I don't remember the length but I've definitely come across it. You will be able to create GC0++++ and get a 1kk+ gold core. My nimbus has about 500k in each core. which can be equated to 1kk total. But I didn't use the Qi burst mechanic fully, just 1\4 of it. Just to test it out. The difference is enormous.

Also, you need Air of cultivation. + the weather effect of your law. Even though the game does NOT show more than 5 +++++. These effects give a boost anyway, my personal feeling. And in the guides also write about it. But the point is that you already have to raise a law that allows you to do Air of Cultivation. Defend from master as I recall. You pray to your ascended one. And then use a weather effect that suits your law.


Season very much affects your breakout +5 gives about 75k qi. and correspondingly -75k at breakout if -5. (Breakthrough bar). all other conditioning +5 .

[Lloyd]

Everything affects your breakthrough. By EVERYTHING I mean EVERYTHING :D

1) The tile on which the cultivation takes place
2) The ground underneath the tile on which the cultivator sits.
3) Your sect's feng shui.
4) Your mental/emotional state.
5) Season
6) What items you use in the room if you use the standard breakthrough (spiritual wood) it will be 2 times worse unless you replace them with items like dragon scales + spiritual fruits of your law for example.
7)weather effects stack.
8)Alchemy “ Alchemy Qi Fullness: After a successful alchemy, there will be alchemy qi in your sect. The Qi amount is based on the tier and element of the drug.” from 1.25
When you reach 100% in element + 400 units of qi you get a big boost in “weather” (breaks fenshui) be careful (reset the current one by Five Qi Dispel) these are skills from the book. can't remember how I got it but it seems to drop randomly.
And all that is originally stated in the breakthrough.
Above I described what is not quite “described” in the breakout menu.
and the strongest influence is of course ♥ Manual qi burst ♥

I'll briefly describe what MQB does

1) Gathers ALL Qi around
2) Dumps all Qi in all cells in the radius
3) Transfers all Qi from the collected cells to a specific cell
4) Roughly doubles the Qi on a particular cell
Which greatly increases the duration of the breakout during GC
It takes 5 days to recover. And yes never do a breakthrough in a cultivation room you just built, it's like doing it in an empty room. Although you will get a message that Qi +++++.
For more detailed information about what is going on in your breakthrough cultivation room, you can use the “More grid Info” mod.
For Shengdao, it's even more fun and complicated.
You have to pass the stages before you can break through. So you have to clear your mind for 3 days. Being mentally stable for 6 days. etc. etc. etc. And only then do the breakthrough. And also you must have all parameters 5+ otherwise he will be weak and get 1 tile in realm :D

[Morhem]

I see. It is now obvious to me, that the reasonable thing to do is give up.

[Ed1749]

Ignore Lloyd's text dump, it's really not that hard, it's mostly just a synthesis of everything you can learn over the whole game. And half of that is endgame stuff. Just play through the game normally a couple times and you'll learn some new tricks as you go, and eventually you'll be able to apply all the things you've learned to the process of cultivation. Very Tao, it takes a lot of practice. And, uh, pay attention to the menus, I know there was something in there to imply location. In taoism and feng shui, location always matters.