Halls Hopper
Posts: 82
Joined: Tuesday, 15th September 2015, 01:06
Tuesday, 23rd May 2017, 06:27
Mibe's guide on scoring lots of points in DCSS tournaments!
For those who aren't aware, the official 0.20 release tournament starts this Friday!
So, scoring lots of points in an official DCSS tournament is not very straightforward. In fact, most people I talk to are either uninformed or wrong about the best way to score lots of points. So, Ive talked to some good tournament players and played in several myself. I also studied the rules from the 0.19 tournament to write this short guide on how to score lots of points!
There are several ways to score points and they are broken up into the categories on the rule page so I will briefly discuss them and then move on to some good practices to take advantage of the rule set. Feel free to skip to the end if you just want to know what to do and don't care why.
General Scoring
This is all pretty straightforward. You get a flat bonus of 100 points for your first win, and 50 more points any time you win with a species or role you haven't won yet. when you get a second win with a different race or role. You also get bonuses for entering and finishing branches, and getting max piety with a god for the first time. The first three players to kill all uniques will also get a bonus, and then small bonus for getting high scores with a combo, species, or role.
The other thing in this section is the points awarded for getting runes. You get 24 points the first time you pick up a rune, and 12 points the next time you pick up the rune. This means that 15 rune games give you more points, but it drops off quite quickly. Its good to think about how much longer a 15 rune game actually takes. If you can win in 4 hours, but it takes 6 hours for you to win a 15 rune game, then the flat 50 point bonus for winning will be worth more than the rune points after just 3 15 rune games. So, don't play more than 2 or 3 of these probably, unless you are really fast at 15 rune games. **
** -edit- I have been corrected that there is no flat bonus for winning. The diminishing returns on rune points means it still might not be always worth the time investment to get the last 12 runes!
Combogod Points
OK, this is a little more complicated. Each race, role, and god has a value assigned to it, and as it gets more wins in the tournament it becomes less valuable. For example, by the end of 0.19 tournament, demigod was worth 129 points while minotaur was only worth 11. So what does this really mean? Well, it means you should pick the most popular races, roles, and gods early on in the tournament when they are worth the most points, and later on play things like felid, arcane marksman, and fedhas once they are worth more points.
But...there is another thing to consider here, which is that this section of points gets scaled down. So, for example points between 800 and 2400 are worth half as much as points between 0 and 800 (on average). This is a lot more noticeable when trying to maximize your clan's score, your individual score probably wont go too far past 800 and definitely wont go past 2400. Its worth noting that unlike most other sections, these points only contribute the highest value to clan score. So if 2 players in a clan both win a minotaur, only the highest value counts towards clan points. Its not really worth trying to micromanage these to maximize clan score, the point scaling means there are much better sources of points.
The other thing to note here is the 'Nemelex choice' bonus. Nemelex choice is a semi randomly selected combo and the first 8 players to win it will get a 75 point bonus. So you will get 125 points from that win, instead of the 50 you normally would. This is a great source of points if you can win the games fast enough, before 8 others do. However, its worth noting these points will also get scaled, so its probably not worth playing some of the really lame combos. But a new Nemelex choice combo will not be announced until the current one has been won once.
Speedruns and Streaks
Again, quite easy. The first win and 15 rune win of the tournament both get large bonuses, with runner up prizes. It's pretty tough to get these, you gotta be really fast...like, win the 3 rune game in 1 hour, and a 15 rune game in 3 hours. But you never know, maybe the player about to win first splats due to taking too many risks!
The next part is where you can rake up some huge points. Getting a low turn count win, a fast real time win, and a great high score can net you huge bonuses. Just as some examples, winning in 2:20 will give you about 150 points. Winning in 25k turns gives you 200 points. And my 55k 15 rune game last time also gave me almost 200 points. So if you can get a decent entry for all 3 of those you can get a bonus of 500 points relatively easily.
The streak bonus is also a huge huge source of points. 100*length score bonus. So getting a 5 streak gives you a bonus of 500 points. All of the points in this section contribute to clan points, and are a much better source of points then combogod.
Special Achievements
These are all flat bonuses for doing special challenges. Most of them are worth 25 points and therefore usually aren't worth the time to go for. Ascetic III is generally not too bad if you are playing something like a MiBe, and vow of courage III used to be not too bad, but with 0.20 changes I wouldn't recommend going for unless you have a specific plan to cheese tomb. Orb run tomb is never worth it since you can easily throw away the game. Branch-less is doable too, but it is much harder than a normal game and should only be attempted if you are confident, but since its worth 50 points it might be worth going for at some point. Ruthless efficiency is incredible difficult especially since the zot changes but there is also a bonus for getting the lowest XL win. Not really worth the time IMO, unless you are a truly great crawl player.
Clan Points
All of these points only go to your clan and don't do anything to help your individual score. Completing a zig gives your clan 140 points, and if it is the first zig you get an additional 100 points. Also a 100 point for killing all the uniques first. The clan also gets large bonus for the players with the most high scores and also for being the clan with the most high scores. These will usually end up with the clans that have the power players and great speed runners. Trying to get the bonus for low XL rune grabs probably isnt a great use of time, there will invariably be some clan who grabs a rune at xl 9 with a spriggan or something.
Just to be clear, the clan points is a sum total of all individual player points, with the exception of combo god points, which only use the highest value for each race/role/god.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
What is the best way to score lots of points?
At the beginning of the tournament you should pick a race and role that you know will end up worth almost nothing. MiBe is a classic choice. If you think you have a reasonable chance of getting first win or first 15 rune then go for it, but you gotta be pretty good, there are some really fast players.
You should try to get as long of a streak as possible. In my experience its better to focus on the streak first, and then once you break it focus on other ways of scoring points.
These two tips combined mean you should probably play the strongest combos early in the tournament, when they are still worth some decent amount of points, and to make your longest streak easier. But remember, combogod points get scaled down harshly, and its not really that important to maximize them compared to other bonuses.
For example, in the 0.19 tournament Yermak scored 5787 combo god points, which got scaled down to 2434. Ultraviolent4 scored 3071 combogod points, which got scaled down to 1820 points. So...almost double the combo god points, led to about 600 extra points.
You should win any Nemelex choice combos you have a reasonable chance of doing. Some combos are so bad that they never get 8 wins all tournament, like FeWr or something. That said, if its such a bad combo that it will more than double your time to win, or you think you might break your streak or get a high level splat, its not worth it. Remember these points are scaled with combogod points, so they get less important the more races and roles you expect to win.
You should have 1 high score game (ie a 15 rune speed run), 1 low turn count game ( 3 rune speed run) and 1 low real time win. Even if you cant go that fast, you can still get decent bonuses for reasonable scores. Winning in 3 hours, doing extended in 80k turns, and a 3 rune game in 35k turns are all fairly doable for an experienced player and will give you and your clan decent bonuses.
You should do 2-4 extended games, for the rune bonuses.
You should enter every branch and portal at least once, and reach full piety with every god.
You should beat any highscore that you easily can. Lots of combos wont even be won at all, although its quite tough to get race and role high scores, compared to specific combos.
Besides all these flat bonuses, the best way to score points is just to get lots of wins. There is a reason the top places in these tournaments always have 10+ hours played per day after all.
It is also worth noting that win rate has no effect on your score at all, so feel free to start scum and splat as much as you want!
TL;DR Get a long streak, speedrun a few times, and win a lot. Also play 10+ hours a day.
And as always, if I made any mistakes or anyone has anything to add, feel free to criticize my guide!
So, scoring lots of points in an official DCSS tournament is not very straightforward. In fact, most people I talk to are either uninformed or wrong about the best way to score lots of points. So, Ive talked to some good tournament players and played in several myself. I also studied the rules from the 0.19 tournament to write this short guide on how to score lots of points!
There are several ways to score points and they are broken up into the categories on the rule page so I will briefly discuss them and then move on to some good practices to take advantage of the rule set. Feel free to skip to the end if you just want to know what to do and don't care why.
General Scoring
Spoiler: show
This is all pretty straightforward. You get a flat bonus of 100 points for your first win, and 50 more points any time you win with a species or role you haven't won yet. when you get a second win with a different race or role. You also get bonuses for entering and finishing branches, and getting max piety with a god for the first time. The first three players to kill all uniques will also get a bonus, and then small bonus for getting high scores with a combo, species, or role.
The other thing in this section is the points awarded for getting runes. You get 24 points the first time you pick up a rune, and 12 points the next time you pick up the rune. This means that 15 rune games give you more points, but it drops off quite quickly. Its good to think about how much longer a 15 rune game actually takes. If you can win in 4 hours, but it takes 6 hours for you to win a 15 rune game, then the flat 50 point bonus for winning will be worth more than the rune points after just 3 15 rune games. So, don't play more than 2 or 3 of these probably, unless you are really fast at 15 rune games. **
** -edit- I have been corrected that there is no flat bonus for winning. The diminishing returns on rune points means it still might not be always worth the time investment to get the last 12 runes!
Combogod Points
Spoiler: show
OK, this is a little more complicated. Each race, role, and god has a value assigned to it, and as it gets more wins in the tournament it becomes less valuable. For example, by the end of 0.19 tournament, demigod was worth 129 points while minotaur was only worth 11. So what does this really mean? Well, it means you should pick the most popular races, roles, and gods early on in the tournament when they are worth the most points, and later on play things like felid, arcane marksman, and fedhas once they are worth more points.
But...there is another thing to consider here, which is that this section of points gets scaled down. So, for example points between 800 and 2400 are worth half as much as points between 0 and 800 (on average). This is a lot more noticeable when trying to maximize your clan's score, your individual score probably wont go too far past 800 and definitely wont go past 2400. Its worth noting that unlike most other sections, these points only contribute the highest value to clan score. So if 2 players in a clan both win a minotaur, only the highest value counts towards clan points. Its not really worth trying to micromanage these to maximize clan score, the point scaling means there are much better sources of points.
The other thing to note here is the 'Nemelex choice' bonus. Nemelex choice is a semi randomly selected combo and the first 8 players to win it will get a 75 point bonus. So you will get 125 points from that win, instead of the 50 you normally would. This is a great source of points if you can win the games fast enough, before 8 others do. However, its worth noting these points will also get scaled, so its probably not worth playing some of the really lame combos. But a new Nemelex choice combo will not be announced until the current one has been won once.
Speedruns and Streaks
Spoiler: show
Again, quite easy. The first win and 15 rune win of the tournament both get large bonuses, with runner up prizes. It's pretty tough to get these, you gotta be really fast...like, win the 3 rune game in 1 hour, and a 15 rune game in 3 hours. But you never know, maybe the player about to win first splats due to taking too many risks!
The next part is where you can rake up some huge points. Getting a low turn count win, a fast real time win, and a great high score can net you huge bonuses. Just as some examples, winning in 2:20 will give you about 150 points. Winning in 25k turns gives you 200 points. And my 55k 15 rune game last time also gave me almost 200 points. So if you can get a decent entry for all 3 of those you can get a bonus of 500 points relatively easily.
The streak bonus is also a huge huge source of points. 100*length score bonus. So getting a 5 streak gives you a bonus of 500 points. All of the points in this section contribute to clan points, and are a much better source of points then combogod.
Special Achievements
Spoiler: show
These are all flat bonuses for doing special challenges. Most of them are worth 25 points and therefore usually aren't worth the time to go for. Ascetic III is generally not too bad if you are playing something like a MiBe, and vow of courage III used to be not too bad, but with 0.20 changes I wouldn't recommend going for unless you have a specific plan to cheese tomb. Orb run tomb is never worth it since you can easily throw away the game. Branch-less is doable too, but it is much harder than a normal game and should only be attempted if you are confident, but since its worth 50 points it might be worth going for at some point. Ruthless efficiency is incredible difficult especially since the zot changes but there is also a bonus for getting the lowest XL win. Not really worth the time IMO, unless you are a truly great crawl player.
Clan Points
Spoiler: show
All of these points only go to your clan and don't do anything to help your individual score. Completing a zig gives your clan 140 points, and if it is the first zig you get an additional 100 points. Also a 100 point for killing all the uniques first. The clan also gets large bonus for the players with the most high scores and also for being the clan with the most high scores. These will usually end up with the clans that have the power players and great speed runners. Trying to get the bonus for low XL rune grabs probably isnt a great use of time, there will invariably be some clan who grabs a rune at xl 9 with a spriggan or something.
Just to be clear, the clan points is a sum total of all individual player points, with the exception of combo god points, which only use the highest value for each race/role/god.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
What is the best way to score lots of points?
At the beginning of the tournament you should pick a race and role that you know will end up worth almost nothing. MiBe is a classic choice. If you think you have a reasonable chance of getting first win or first 15 rune then go for it, but you gotta be pretty good, there are some really fast players.
You should try to get as long of a streak as possible. In my experience its better to focus on the streak first, and then once you break it focus on other ways of scoring points.
These two tips combined mean you should probably play the strongest combos early in the tournament, when they are still worth some decent amount of points, and to make your longest streak easier. But remember, combogod points get scaled down harshly, and its not really that important to maximize them compared to other bonuses.
For example, in the 0.19 tournament Yermak scored 5787 combo god points, which got scaled down to 2434. Ultraviolent4 scored 3071 combogod points, which got scaled down to 1820 points. So...almost double the combo god points, led to about 600 extra points.
You should win any Nemelex choice combos you have a reasonable chance of doing. Some combos are so bad that they never get 8 wins all tournament, like FeWr or something. That said, if its such a bad combo that it will more than double your time to win, or you think you might break your streak or get a high level splat, its not worth it. Remember these points are scaled with combogod points, so they get less important the more races and roles you expect to win.
You should have 1 high score game (ie a 15 rune speed run), 1 low turn count game ( 3 rune speed run) and 1 low real time win. Even if you cant go that fast, you can still get decent bonuses for reasonable scores. Winning in 3 hours, doing extended in 80k turns, and a 3 rune game in 35k turns are all fairly doable for an experienced player and will give you and your clan decent bonuses.
You should do 2-4 extended games, for the rune bonuses.
You should enter every branch and portal at least once, and reach full piety with every god.
You should beat any highscore that you easily can. Lots of combos wont even be won at all, although its quite tough to get race and role high scores, compared to specific combos.
Besides all these flat bonuses, the best way to score points is just to get lots of wins. There is a reason the top places in these tournaments always have 10+ hours played per day after all.
It is also worth noting that win rate has no effect on your score at all, so feel free to start scum and splat as much as you want!
TL;DR Get a long streak, speedrun a few times, and win a lot. Also play 10+ hours a day.
And as always, if I made any mistakes or anyone has anything to add, feel free to criticize my guide!
Last edited by mibe420 on Tuesday, 23rd May 2017, 09:36, edited 7 times in total.
