Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!
Greetings from the early morning hours here on the East Coast. It’s about 4am here now and Act 2 has just arrived in our games!
Remember…this is an automatic change in your game. Nothing to download, it should just start up in your game..
Homer will kick things off for Act 2…
Just what does Act 2 have in store for us? Let’s take a look…
Take the following with a grain of salt of me typing at 4am after having multiple players tell me they wished they waited…Also, if you don’t want the Farmer’s Market or you’re no where near close to getting it, just upgrade. But if you’re super close (and by super close I mean like a day away) the immediate upgrades are worth it IMO and it’ll take you close to two weeks just to get back to that point..
There are two sides to this, and neither side is wrong. So do what you want, just know that upgrading and burning through all your fertilizer will set you all the way back to the start.
Also note…this is meant for those who are only a day or so away from getting the Farmer’s market. If you’re still really far off (more than a few thousand away) Upgrade. Upgrading is always better in the long run because it’ll enable you to unlock more tasks for DNA and Corn as well (thus allowing you to create the other items and upgrade the Sprayer). This is simply advice for those who are super close.
Guys I’ve said this multiple times and now what I was worried about is starting to come true…DO NOT RUSH TO UPGRADE MONSARNO. If you’re grinding for the Farmer’s Market keep grinding, upgrading Monsarno quickly will just make that currency you worked hard over the last 2 weeks for disappear very quickly (and there’s only 1 new Fertilizer task). Several of you have already stated you rushed to upgrade and you wished you hadn’t. Patience, if you’re grinding for the Market keep grinding. I’ve posted some of the upgrade rewards below…as you can see for the Market you’re better off continuing to grind for it and then upgrade Monsarno.
There are a few early tasks you’ll need to do to get this Act really rolling, so make sure you have Homer, Lisa and Bart all free to get things moving in the new questline.
Initially you’ll have 2 four hour quests for Lisa followed by TWO 24hr quests for Bart for the questline..
Now, let’s take a look at the new stuff added to our games…
New Prize currency for Act 2…
Gas Masks
You’ll be awarded Gas Masks for completing jobs and tapping the new mutants….collect Gas Masks to unlock the Act 2 prizes.
Act 2 Personal Prizes
3 Rakes- 1050 (I think these will come into play when Sideshow Bob hits the game…but for now they do award a .10% bonus on all cash and XP) I can now confirm they will be used for Sideshow Bob in a hilarious task.
200 Fertilizer- 1550
200 DNA Strands- 2100
Minimum Security Prison- 4,200
200 Corn- 6,000
50 Mutant Seedlings- 7,800
200 DNA Strands- 11,000
Dr. Robert Terwilliger- 16,050 (Comes with a questline)
Bonus Donuts
Yes, once again you’ll unlock FREE donuts for every 3,000 you collect AFTER you’ve earned Dr. Robert Terwilliger.
New Crafting Currency
Yup, corn and fertilizer are still around…but now we have a 3rd crafting item added to the mix…DNA strands!
Collect all 3 to craft prizes during Act 2!
Crafting
Yup…the same items from Act 1 are still in the store…for the same amount as they were before. So you’ll still be able to unlock those…except some new ones have now been added!
Here’s a look at the new stuff that’s been added to crafting during Act 2:
Monsarno Flower Wall- Requires:
3,000
1,600
Welcome Bob Sign- Requires:
8,250
4,500
Gas and Grub- Requires:
4,600
8,300
Monsarno Library- Won’t unlock until you’ve upgraded Monsarno to Level 12. Once you reach level 12 you’ll get one for FREE. Only craft if you want more than one. Requires:
1,600
200
Monsarno Human Resources- Won’t unlock until you’ve upgraded Monsarno to Level 14. One will be awarded for FREE at Level 14, only craft if you want more than one. Requires:
4,250
2,100
Act 1 Prizes Now Craftable
Note: these were all tested in my C game. All 3 were there for crafting. If you don’t see these in your game (and you didn’t unlock them) contact EA
If you missed out on any Act 1 prizes you can still get them by crafting them. Here’s a look at what they’ll cost to craft:
Note: you can only craft them if you did not unlock them.
Founder’s Statue- Requires:
3,500
800
Old Simpson Farm House- Requires:
7,000
1,600
Pet Mutant Plant- Requires:
26,750
6,100
New Mutants
The Mutant Veggies are gone! But they’re now replaced with…Mutant Sideshow Bob Veggies! (they make an excellent Soup stock!)
Squishing them will award you 5 Gas Masks and 4 Crafting Currency (at Level 1)
Herbicide Squirter
As always…Frink has come up with an invention to save the day! The Herbicide Squirter will destroy the Bob Clones!
This won’t unlock until you’ve reached The Science of Cooking. And you’ll have to build it from the store (it’s free).
Using the Herbicide you’ll be able to “mow down” multiple clones at a time. You can also increase the spray radius by upgrading the Squirter (think board with nail at Halloween/Upgrading HQ for Superheros). Upgrading the sprayer will also increase crafting rewards that are paid out.
Sprayer upgrades require Corn and DNA
To use the sprayer, you just tap the clones as you normally would.
Level 2 Sprayer will award 7 Crafting Currency (instead of 4 at Level 1)
Level 3 Sprayer remains at the Level 2 rate, but increases radius. (you’ll be required to upgrade to level 3 for the questline)
We’ll break all of that down in another post…
Monsarno Upgrades
Monsarno is still upgradable…and we’ll cover the full details in another post, but here are some quick basics.
Upgrades still only require Fertilizer and Corn
At Level 8 you’ll unlock a task for High Rollers to Get DNA (which you’ll need for crafting)
Level 9 will increase your corn payout for tasks
Level 10 will unlock a job for Kooks to get Fertilizer
Level 11 will increase Fertilizer rewards
Level 12 will unlock a job for Brainiacs to get DNA AND award the Monsarno Library for free
Level 13 will increase DNA rewards from jobs
Level 14 will unlock a job for Civil Servants to get Corn AND award Monsarno Human Resources for free.
More level ups to come in another post…
Changes to Cecil’s Daily Task Payout
Cecil’s Daily tasks are still there, however the payouts have changed slightly…
You’ll be awarded 150 Gas Masks for every daily task you complete and in addition you’ll get some crafting currency at each stage. Here’s the payouts:
First Task- 25 Fertilizer, 150 Gas Masks
Second Task- 20 Corn, 150 Gas Masks
Third Task- 60 DNA, 150 Gas Masks
Fourth Task- 135 DNA, 150 Gas Masks
Neighbor Actions
In neighbor’s towns you’ll be tapping Sideshow Bob clones instead of mutant Veggies, but they’ll still award the same 1 Gas Mask payout and you’re still limited to 90 actions/day
You can also drop Mutant Seedlings, they’ll work exactly the same as they did in Act 1.
Note: Your Herbicide Radius will carry over to neighbors towns, making squishing Mutant Clones a bit easier.
Sideshow Bob
After you’ve completed the main questline the final part will be to build the Outdoor Opera Stage (Free) and you’ll unlock Sideshow Bob!
New Premium
Italian Villa and Francesca Terwilliger- 150 Donuts. Will be in store until the end of the event
And that my friends covers the Act 2 basics…
I know a lot of you want all of the details and you want them right now…but be patient. Remember this is a marathon not a sprint. And as always we’ll be back with more as we go through and break it all down… you know when it’s not 4am 😉
What do you think of Act 2? Any additions you’re happy with? Anything you’re not happy to see? Thoughts on where the questline is going? What about the Act 2 prizes? Sound off in the comments below, you know we love hearing from you!
Uuuuhhh… Oops. I went ahead and upgrade to level 15. I figured why not, if I reach the cap again in two days that just means the rest of the two weeks can be spent saving up crafting because of the bonus’ and what not.
Be careful…there is no cap.
It’s good to know there is no cap.
Does it keep upping the earning of tasks for an additional item each level after a specific point?
I am at level 17 & the level 17 bonus was really good for earning F faster.
The increase is so small once you get to level 20 and up. Some increase by 1 and some increase by none.
I wish I had known there were gonna be more Monsarno campus buildings before I made my nice little campus…Will have to figure out how to expand and redesign it to accommodate the new buildings! #vitualworldproblems
Omg I did it I upgraded to level 14 and now I have 600 fertiliser left sob sob!! I figured it would probably take 3-4 days to get farmers market and then I would be losing out on other currency such as dna so in the long run I thought upgrading was better as gonna have to do it eventually anyway to get the two monsarno buildings
Just a heads-up to people having problems crafting the Act 1 prizes:
I contacted EA because I just barely missed out on getting the Pet Mutant Plant before the update, and it wasn’t showing up in my crafting menu. The rep (Manish, I believe) told me outright that it was meant to be a limited item for Act 1, and will not be craftable. I argued that the game itself mentioned that previous prizes would be craftable, and he offered me donuts.
I’m not sure if this is correct and people who are able to craft have a glitch, or if the rep was simply mistaken, but this is likely to be the response you will get if you contact EA’s customer service line.
Yea that EA rep is a complete and total idiot (forgive me for saying that). Seriously tired of them not having a clue what the heck is going on in the game. The items are absolutely craftable..tested it in 4 different games, all 4 they came up. You do however need to ensure that Homer has started the questline (where you have to tap clone bobs)
Working on a post now to outline it.
Thanks, I thought something seemed off. I’m working on The Soup Thickens Pt 2 right now, but I’ll definitely keep an eye out for your post!
Moral of that story seems to be to contact that clueless rep and grab your free “consolation” donuts and then craft the item once it becomes available for crafting! 😉
lol if you can stand the clueless reps…personally I’d rather throw my phone against the wall than deal with them. They really are clueless…
How much fertilizer will it cost me to get Monsarno upgrades 8,9,10,&11?
I’m debating going that far, because that will help maximize my fertilizer income. I’m feeling like the farmer’s market is still way too far away from me right now, so I’m debating taking a few steps back to help move forward at a faster pace. (Upgrades past 11 would wait until after I got the farmer’s market, since they don’t increase fertilizer income.) So I’m trying to figure out where the “payback point” would be, but I need to know the “cost” to compare with the increased income…
8 1050
9 1200
10 1350
11 1500
That’s just fertilizer…
Thank you, thank you! <3
Only worrying about fertilizer for now, since corn hasn't ever seemed to be an issue for me.
just for perspective – 18 is 2550
Hi Alissa,
Just wanna saw how impressed I am at your dedication to this site and us addicts. I came here at 9am GMT (I’m British) not really expecting a post seeing as it was the middle of the night for you, maybe just a short post confirming the change and couldn’t believe how much information you had managed to put on this post! Also you’ve been moderating over 300 comments (sorry to add to the list) and patiently replying to everyone getting their knickers in a twist about to upgrade or not to upgrade!
I hope you have some well-deserved chocolate or baked-good of your choosing.
Aww well thank you 🙂
I wouldn’t say no to a cheesecake 😉
It really is impressive. I wanna say your dedication is down right clinical. So you need to dedicate the rest of your time to unlocking Dr. Terwilliger so he can properly evaluate you.
Hmmm i’m not sure whether to laugh or be insulted….
I’ve started Act 2 but Francesca and the Villa have not shown up in my store yet. Do I have to do a quest that triggers it or something or should I contact EA?
Thanks for the great up-to-date info on this site btw. It’s really helpful.
Nevermind! Found it!!
Is there another way to get the Pet Mutant Plant if you missed it and didn’t realize that it changed befor you werw able to get him.
It should be craftable
I’m not able to anymore bc not its on act 2.
During Act 1 the prizes were prizes…not craftable. You won them buy collecting Spades. During Act 2 the prizes from Act one shift over and become craftable prizes. So any prizes you missed out on should be in your crafting menu…PROVIDED…you’ve started Act 2 (ie had Homer tell you to squish Bob Clones)
This is not showing up as a craftable item. Neither are the other two mentioned, though I have already gotten those without crafting.
What have you done so far for act 2?
I went through all the troubleshooting steps and it still isn’t there. For Act 2, so far, I have done the initial Homer quest to tap five Bob Clones, and Lisa is doing an internship interview at Monsarno.
And (I know this may seem silly and redundant) but you checked the entire crafting menu? So when you scroll through you see the Farmer’s Market, Cane Fields etc. and despite scrolling through the whole list you still don’t see it?
If that’s the case…sit tight. We’re working on a post about about the issue, and Bunny’s got a call in with EA to see what’s going on.
That is indeed the case. There were a couple new items craftable for Act 2, but the three mentioned in the article above (from Act 1) were not among them. I scrolled through a few times, just to be certain.
ok then just sit tight for a bit…we’re trying to figure out what’s going on. (4 games we looked at…they’ve all got them)
Yikes…I’m trying to read through these posts and hope this question hasn’t already been asked and answered. I got the Farmer’s Market yesterday and I’ve been able to upgrade Monsarno Research to level 8. It looks like Monsarno Research hold limitless upgrades (per other websites). Do you recommend continuing to upgrade Monsarno Research before crafting, as we did in Act 1? If so, how far? What level should I stop upgrading Monsarno Research and switch my focus to crafting? The math boggles the mind. I’m trying to do a spreadsheet and it is not possible to upgrade Monsarno Research to level 19 AND craft one Sani-John Smokehouse and one Cane Field by May 11 (at my current level of earning fertilizer, anyway). Sorry…you must be exhausted and sick of these questions 🙁
I recommend upgrading before crafting further (since you have the market) until you get to at least Level 16 (which is when the last of the jobs opens up). Anything you can upgrade over 16 is a bonus…but don’t spend all your time upgrading as you’ll never reach the cap. Working on the upgrade post now so you can see the differences…
And again..for anyone reading this comment. She already has the Farmer’s Market, but the advice is exactly the same if you’re more than a day away from getting the Farmer’s Market. Upgrade over crafting. But if you’re a day from the Market, just keep grinding for it (if you want it)
It seems we have a new dilemma… DNA task vs fertilizer task. Any thoughts on which one is better to go for? I’m thinking of doing the 12 hour DNA tasks overnight and fertilizer tasks during the day.
Also, what is the science of cooking?
Science of cooking is a task that’ll popup after you send Bart on his second 24hr task
I want the Gas and Grub the most out of the available craftables, so Im prioritising DNA on all my overlapping characters. I like the cane fields and flower walls for design elements, I hope they are added to the store once the event is over like the islands from the Xmas event.
Oh dear, Alissa. I’ve been reading through the comments and once again marvel at you patience! I think a lot of posters here don’t realize that A) You do NOT work for EA. B) You actually have a real life job that is not moderating this blog. C) You are trying to give us insight and guidance into TSTO, but you are not telling us “this is how the game is supposed to be played”. And D) You often give up sleep in order to keep all us addicts informed. Lots of sleep. And free time. I just want to state once again how appreciated you are for all you do for us (Bunny & Wookie too, but you seem to get the early early shift being on the East Coast). You are an amazing person. And I’m building the Market before upgrading. Not because you said to, but because I like it, I want it, and that is how I have chosen to play.😃
Thank you Miranda. I really appreciate your kind words. And after moderating through now 300 comments in 3 hrs…this was a nice one to finish on 🙂
I honestly don’t know how you have the time.
But do know that without you guys I would not have the understanding of the game that I do gave. I do find myself asking alot of questions but know that you only advise what you think will be best. at the end of the day you all don’t have to do what you’s do. But I am extremely grateful and admire your dedication so much.
I love reading through positive comments for you guys and hope they outweigh the less enjoyable ones.
Thanks again 🙂
Thank you for the kind words suzie 🙂
Here here, Miranda!
I totally agree.
People on here should really READ posts and be aware that the TSTO team is helping us all for nothing in return.
Quit complaining and either 1. enjoy all the hard work they do for us, 2. keep it to yourselves or, 3. stop playing the game if it’s irritating you that much. S’posed to be fun…
A sincere and huge thank you to y’all… Bunny, Alissa and Wookiee.
I’m very grateful for your dedication and time. 🙂
Thanks 😉
Seriously though, why is the farmers market so appealing? It’s not going to produce much cash, it doesn’t look like much. Is it the old, make something unattainable, increase its appeal?
Again…it’s a matter of if you want it or not. Some people want it, others don’t.
For me what makes the Farmers Market so appealing is that it adds +10 to Consumerism, the hardest Conform-o-Meter category to max out.
Of the level 2 prizes the only ones that appeal to me ar the Gas-n-Grub and Dr. Bob Terwilliger.
I like the way it looks and that it’s a different kind of realistic-type element to add to my town. And the fact that it adds to Consumerism is particularly nice for freemium players like me, who find it nearly impossible to get all 5 Consumerism stars without stuffing my town unrealistically full of Kwik-E-Marts!
I’m a completionist!! I have everything in game! (Minus two small items I missed a few years ago which still haunt me)
I am freaking out because “Pet Mutant Plant” is not in my craftAble items. Had I know he would of disappeared I would have donut rushed! What’s the process to contact EA? I can’t miss anything!!
http://tstoaddicts.com/2014/01/14/troubleshooting-101-contacting-ea/
So I have Mutant veggies and Bob veggies in neighbor towns and both are tappable….what does this mean and should I tap one over the other? all my neighboreenos are swarming with mutants
If they give you masks…tap em all
they do. I am. Thank you for all your hard work! the time you all put into helping everyone out is incredible. You deserve big KuDos!!
I seem to be on the decision bubble… 3000 away from the farmers market even though I am at top level, play every 2 hours, complete every daily task on time, visit all neighbors every day, even got up in the middle of the night a few times… and have not even crafted one damn thing yet… Grind away for the Market or upgrade the Monsarno is a catch 22 in either direction… This event is just a very long grindout time killer, with little return for effort until the end of a very long tunnel that will pop your fun factor bubble all along the way, if you have not reset your mindset. Is this event the next WOW factor for this game? Not at all… Is this event a “spin your wheels in frustration” time killer? Yes… Review your approach to this event and play accordingly. It is what it is – and nothing more…
I took the upgrading monsarno research route with what I had I was able to upgrade to level 16, I need more fertilizer for 17. The level 17 upgrade will again increase the amount of fertilizer the tasks earn so I think in the long run it will be worth it.
I agree. Any time you can add earning power, you do it. Every TSTO event has had a limit to the number of productive upgrades you can make, I predict this one will as well. Reach max upgrade, then bank crafting material. I also maxxed out at level 16 right away but I will do at least one more as soon as I’m able.
Also, the Monsarno buildings look so cool. Such a pretty little corporate center! I wonder if they will ever earn $, or if they will always just be decorations? And if they are decorations only, how do they affect the Conform-O-Meter?
Thank you very much Alissa for getting this post up at ridiculous o’clock in the morning. It is very much appreciated.
And I think the upgrade vs craft argument is an interesting one. Obviously people should do what they want, and what’s best for one won’t necessarily be best for someone else – it all depends how much time you spend in the game.
Everybody will have a point where it no longer makes sense to upgrade the research centre, and that point will be different for everybody (not literally ‘everybody’, but you know what I mean).
I might spend a few minutes doing some maths – or I might not. Not in the mood for it right now 😉
(I’ve gone up to lvl 17 and gut instinct says to stay there for the moment, but if I get round to doing the maths and it tells me different, who knows?)
Honestly it’s a matter of do what you wanna do. But stop and think about it before you do it. So many people rushed to upgrade as soon as the update hit and instantly regretted it. The purpose of the message at the top is to make you stop and think before you do it.
But honestly…I’m seriously tired of talking about it. Everyone has an opinion and no ones mind is going to be changed until 2 weeks from now when it’s determined if it’s worth it or not.
Absolutely – the point I was trying to make is that there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ advice cos everyone is different. It’s all about opinion. If I do the maths, the maths will only apply to my situation.
The only right advice is the advice you gave, i.e. think about it first!
Yup…just sometimes doesn’t come out right at 4am lol
i’m sure in the end it won’t matter for those dedicated enough to this event, but i’m crafted the farmers market already, and am glad to have gotten it out of the way.
I crafted it yesterday and am grateful it’s over and one with.
I know you’re bored of this topic by now (long ago, I’m sure) but I did do some basic maths – for my own peace of mind more than anything.
I looked at the cost/benefits of upgrading from level 11 to level 17 – purely from a fertiliser point of view. And, for me, it will be worth it – just. I stress “for me” because it absolutely won’t be for many – and I say again, I’m purely thinking of fertiliser here.
I’ll need to send people on their 1hr job at least 10 times a day for each of the next 20 days to make it pay, and many won’t be able to do that. Also, I was able to upgrade straight away, if I’d left the upgrades to, say, the weekend it wouldn’t be worth it.
I don’t know if things will last 20 days or not, but even if not I’m ok with my decision because of the other benefits levels 12-16 give – but my point is that it is not cut and dried even for me and I’m a fairly addicted player. For very, very many upgrading past level 11 will probably be counter-productive.
(One last caveat, my numbers were really quick and dirty – done for my benefit alone – they wouldn’t get past anything other than the most cursory peer review!)
Drew-
Seriously, you just saved me an entire morning of frustration. My plan for tomorrow was to start my day doing EXACTLY what you posted. I’ve already upgraded to 16 and am planning on going to 17 for the small fertilizer increase it shows, and then I’ll stop there, but I wanted to sit down and do the math so I can anticipate earnings instead of freaking out over when/if I’ll craft items I want so I could prioritize.
I am primarily bed bound due to chronic pain, and today was a BAD day, so I’m further behind than I’d like to be. So thanks a bunch for saving me the time and mental energy!!!!
Alissa-
you Addicts need to open up P.O. boxes so we can send you copious amounts of jelly beans (and whatever Bunny and Wookiee’s favorites are, too) after holding our hands (our tiny little hands attached to our whiny little mouths 😉 ) through this crafting nightmare. As cranky as a lot of folks are getting, I’m amazed you all haven’t simply spontaneously combusted out of sheer aggravation.
Only, what, 35 more days til it’s over? 😉
I keep wondering if we will get to craft Bob in act 3, or will we get him like we got Cecil? Because if we get him right at the beginning of act 3, it probably means we get to craft mama Terwilliger :D. I really hope she is not premium :(, but she probably is…. Is there a possibility that Bob would be premium? O.O That would be seriously awful!
I’m really hoping not. I’ve got 180 spare sprinkles if he is though.
I’m expecting him to be a bit like Radioactive Man, i.e. the big prize at the end – or just before the end so he can be thwarted in the final throes of the event.
There are other sites that answer your questions. However be warned: they have many spoilers, which IMHO takes away from the fun. That is why I prefer this site.
Anyone noticing that the pet mutant plant isn’t in the craft area? It’s the only item from act 1 that I didn’t get!
Honestly…it should be there so I dunno what happened. I verified all the info in my C game before posting, and the items were there for crafting. I would contact EA and let them know.
I an having the same issue waiting on a response from ea I was only 400 spades away from the plant and it’s not the too craft
I’m about 6,000 fertilizer shy of getting the market. Don’t know how cause I play at least 3x a day. Recommend upgrading or keep grinding? I want the market, gas and grub and the billboard eventually. Your thoughts? And thank you.
That far away, i’d upgrade. You’re still several days off from getting the market (the advice of not upgrading is more for those that could get it tomorrow)…and for you upgrading will only benefit you.
I went ahead and upgraded. Adding the kook jobs is helpful and puts more folks to work. I had about 10,000 fertilizer and now dont have enough for the last upgrade yet, but whatever. There is over a month left and I got started late, so I think I will have plenty of time to craft. Also, it added to my fetilizer payout and added a 60 minute fertilizer job, so I think I can come back from the hit pretty quickly.
Two questions regarding bob clones:
1. What’s the time needed in spawning a bob clone?
2. What’s the maximum number of bob clones that a springfield town can accomodate?
Thanks.
Working on getting the info…it was an late night/early morning still lots of info we need to pull
…more hugs…more jelly beans…
you are doing a great job Alissa : )
lol thanks. Ironically my morning started off fantastic (despite the 4am wake up hr)…now just trying to finish through this comments lol. I need all the jellybeans I can get…
To upgrade or not to upgrade. I will be upgrading to level 17 later today. That means I collected approx. 20k of fertilizer in about 2 weeks. To craft all the prizes released so far, ignoring the wall, requires approx 36k fertilizer. So I can either not upgrade and have approx. 20k more in fertilizer in another 2 weeks (for a total of 40k) or I can upgrade to level 17 and collect approx 34k in two weeks (level 17 bumps you to +150% on fertilizer.
Also, keep in mind that level 8 gives you more jobs to earn fertilizer, level 9 +50% more corn, level 12 more DNA jobs, level 13 +50% DNA, level 15 +50% more corn, and level 16 more DNA jobs.
In my opinion, it is better to maximize your earning potential sooner then later. I will be able to craft the prizes in about two week and have also earned more DNA and corn in the process.
Right now I have 8168 Fertilizers – I am tempted to just say forget the Farmer’s Market. I have been playing pretty consistently since the event rolled out but still seem no where near getting that dang market. Would you advise forgoing it for now? It will probably take four or five days to get the amount I need and I fear I will be too far behind to upgrade my Monsarno Plant.
For you, i’d upgrade. The advice was more for those that are a day away…
I guess my comment got deleted, can’t find it to see if you replied? I upgraded just once on the monsarno building and stopped. But see level 10-11 bring in more fertilizer. I’ve got about 8990 at the moment. So think I should follow the advice on the thread and hold out? Hate not getting much fertilizer now 🙁
At that low of a count I would upgrade over holding off. Upgrading will benefit you more. The hold off advice is more for those that are a day away from getting it.
So what constitutes “close”? I am about 4000 away from the Farmers Market which I really want. Worth it to wait on upgrading?
That one’s a tough one…how much are you earning each day?
When I say close I mean someone who could get it tomorrow..but you’re on that line of tomorrow and the next day. I’d take stock of what you’re earning each day and break it down…and then see if the blow of losing 11,000 fertilizer would upset you more than just being a couple of days behind.
Oh no MATH!! hee hee. Okay thank you for the advice. I am doing well with the gas masks without upgrading for the moment based on the event calendar, so I think I’d rather go down the “FM First, then Upgrade” route.
…still giggling over sideshow cob : D
First off, I wanted to say great job on the site, it’s been a super helpful resource when trying to figure out exactly how all these events work.
So, I was one of those who decided to upgrade my Monsarno before coming to this site and seeing your suggestion on waiting. Given that, I decided to try to do the math to see if it was actually worth upgrading from a fertilizer perspective. I’ve done the calculations assuming you upgrade to level 11 to get the new job for the Kooks and an increased fertilizer for all jobs.
It’s a bit of a long post, so for those TLDR people, upgrading Monsarno to level 11 could net you up to an extra 1,360 fertilizer per day, but this is dependent on the number of premium kooks you have and your ability to log in every hour. If you don’t have many, the improvement may only be half that, or around 700 per day.
I’ve used the same assumptions that Alissa did in her Terwilliger’s Guide to Leveling Up Monsarno Research: Act One post, that people are awake 14 hours per day. I’ve also assumed that you would send characters on the shortest fertilizer task to maximize the returns. Finally, I have ignored the affects upgrading has on corn and DNA.
By upgrading you get the following improvements in the amount of fertilizer per task:
Dimwits (8 hour task): 14 to 18
Pessimists (4 hour task): 8 to 10
Seniors (2 hour task): 5 to 6
Kooks (1 hour task): 0 to 4
For Dimwits, you can send them out 2 times per day, so the amount they receive per day increases from 28 (2 x 14) to 36 (2 x 18), or 8 per day.
For Pessimists, you can send them out 4 times per day, so the amount they receive per day increases from 32 (4 x 8) to 40 (4 x 10), or 8 per day.
For Seniors, you can send them out 8 times per day, so the amount they receive per day increases from 40 (8 x 5) to 48 (8 x 6), or 8 per day (do you see a pattern here?).
For Kooks, you can send them out 15 times per day (once for each of the 14 hours and once more overnight), so the amount they receive per day increases from 0 (15 x 0) to 60 (15 x 4), or 60 per day.
I did this fairly quickly, so someone may want to check my counting on this, but I counted 9 Dimwits who aren’t in a better category, 9 Pessimists who aren’t in a better category, 12 Seniors who aren’t in a better category, 4 Kooks who’s best jobs were Dimwits before, 2 Kooks who’s best jobs were Pessimists before, 2 Kooks who’s best jobs were Seniors before and 16 Kooks who didn’t have a job before.
Based on this I calculated that doing these upgrades would net you
Increased fertilizer from Dimwits, Pessimists and Seniors: 8 x (9 + 9 + 12) = 240
Increased fertilizer from Kooks who were Dimwits: 4 x (60 – 36) = 96
Increased fertilizer from Kooks who were Pessimists: 2 x (60 – 40) = 40
Increased fertilizer from Kooks who were Seniors: 2 x (60 – 48) = 24
Fertilizer from Kooks who had no jobs before: 16 * 60 = 960
This all adds up to around 1,360 additional fertilizer per day. Given that it costs 5,100 fertilizer to upgrade levels 8 – 11, you would be able to get the cost back in just under 4 days.
However, most of the benefits are from being able to send Kooks on a job that they couldn’t do before, and it turns out that 14 of the 24 Kooks are premium characters. So, if you are like me and are a fremium player, you may have less Kooks than that (I have 4 of the 14), so my benefit is only 784 fertilizer per day.
Anyway, just though I would put this out there, given that I have seen the math, I would have probably not upgraded my Monsarno until I bought the Farmer’s Market, but hindsight is 20/20 now.
Thank you for doing the math 🙂
At 4am my brain was just not working lol
No problem, this was an 8 am brain after getting a full night’s sleep. The update was out at 1 am my time, and I wasn’t even able to stay up til then, let alone 4 am 🙂
lol at least one of us is functioning…
Are you assuming that those who don’t upgrade now will eventually upgrade? Then don’t you have to calculate the DNA and corn that they’re losing out on now by not upgrading?
The thing is…my upgrade advice (of not upgrading) is meant for those who are a day or less away from getting the Farmer’s Market (and who want it). If you’re still multiple days away…upgrade, upgrade upgrade. But if you’re a day away hold off..1 day of not getting DNA won’t kill you.
As Alissa said, I was looking at it from a farmer’s market perspective, and how much fertilizer you would be losing out per day by not crafting it (as there were tons of people debating on whether they should purchase the farmers market first, or upgrade Monsarno).
If you are not planning wanting to purchase the farmers market right away (you are either going to buy it later or don’t want to buy it), I would upgrade Monsarno to increase your fertilizer and DNA tasks (the amount of corn wasn’t a limitation in Act 1, and doesn’t look like it is one in Act 2 either).
However, if you are a few thousand fertilizer away from buying the Farmers Market, it may be worthwhile to wait a day or two to buy it (that way it is out of the way), and then upgrade. My post was looking at the fertilizer you would gain each day by upgrading Monsarno.
Excellent post! Just the kind of analysis I was looking for! I think I have 12 Kooks, so I’ll have to factor that in.
I’ve been planning to get Bumblebee Man for quite some time, but every time the game gets quiet and I’m about to pull the trigger, another event comes along and I postpone it, since I don’t “need” the fun of a new questline to follow. However, now I’m debating getting him now, so that I have an additional Kook to work with, and just postponing following his questline until the event is over (or I’m feeling bored with the event stuff).
I’ve been debating the same thing as well, partially to have my Channel 6 have a 24 hour task, and partially because I like him as a character (and he is relatively cheap). I have the extra donuts to get him, just want to be able to make sure I have enough left in case something tempting comes in Act 3 🙂
Really, he is probably worth an extra 600 or so fertilizer over the next couple weeks (depending on how often you log in), probably not enough to sway you completely, but if you have been planning on getting him anyway, it might be worth it…decisions, decisions…
*waves hello again*
…just popping by to give Alissa a hug and some jelly beans too : )
Thank you 🙂