Chocobo Racing

[Jem]

They really need to incentivize the other 2 races because right now I don't see any reason to do anything but Sagoli which is the fastest and most braindead to grind. Is there something I'm missing?

[Lucavi]

I thought it was basically just a static timer on boxes. If you get super luck on speed powerups you're gonna miss out. Is it semi-random?

Can confirm its semi-random. There are times in the upper brackets (R220-ish) where a box won't spawn until after everyone's gone past despite how fast or slow it takes for them to get there.

@Jem: I don't think you're missing anything. Sagoli is easier against bots as soon as R120 switches the placement up and never really gets harder in comparison to the other two, while the other two become increasingly brutal with enemy placement that really gets imposing. The R240 and R300 brackets each have different placement and holy shit, the beach might as well be called the "murder beach".

Also, as long as you win, the XP curve doesn't get that outta control. When you have a TNL of 3k but first place awards 490 XP, its not horrible. Its only if you're suffering and getting consistent 5-8 that things become a miserable slog.

My P9 is coming out in about an hour and a half. It could either be very bad or very good. I'll SS.

Edit:

[Jem]

How come you went to R41 before breeding? Just for chance at an extra ability? Nvm, I see from chat that is exactly why.

At what pedigree should I think about using non-shitty level 1 training food?

[Judai]

I'd argue Costa is easier on some brackets, especially 180s were it's easy win most times.

[Lucavi]

I'll tell you the same as I told my other friends who ask: when you're getting to the point where you aren't winning in a bracket and its turning into a vicious slog. I train enough to stay ahead of the curve and win. When I'm winning easily with a combo, I stop training until I need to again. This goes double for when I decide to drop a good skill in an attempt to get a better one. Losing Choco Dash was painful as shit in the R220.

Edit: I still think Sagoli's easier in 180. Its shorter and you can basically hold all your stamina till the second bridge and win (unless they had stam tonics or hero water going across). Its good to see someone else doing other races, though.

[Jem]

What would you say are the most desirable abilities and in what order? I still have Head Start but I'm R29 now so deciding on if I should try for something better for breeding (Head Start is hereditary, I'd be losing choco reflect). Like I know Choco Dash and Head Start are great but like how would you order them?

Also I thought Briars were the most painful thing but I just had Choco Meteor stolen from me at the final box and they used it to win (I only grabbed it so it wouldnt be used on me!). This was an NPC -_-

[Lucavi]

Head Start II, Choco Dash III, Choco Cure III (9% stamina recovery), Dressage III (15% bonus experience).

Got my P9 but I'm gonna rebreed; I got RNGed on the speed and only have 2 stars. Its not a bad bird because it kept choco dash III but I'm looking for more at this point.

[Deadgye]

Choco Shock is currently my favorite ability. I pop it before the first chest if I see a briar and guarantee I'm not getting hit with any, and then all those birds can't even get items from the second chest.

[Lucavi]

You'll love shock III then, as it lasts for 35 seconds and is a total cockblock.

[Deadgye]

That should block both the second and third item I think, bwahahaha. I want to see it combined with choco dash to hit all the things.

[Judai]

Choco Dash + Briar/Shock/Silence is one of my favorite things to do, hit EVERYBODY. I also love to pop them early and then dash, letting the person just out of range think they are safe.

[Lucavi]

That should block both the second and third item I think, bwahahaha. I want to see it combined with choco dash to hit all the things.

It gets real nasty when you have a person/bot that silences you with it, then manages to get a aether down the race and chains it on top, blocking 90% of your item blocks for the entire race. Rage-enducing, so yeah, go for it.

I really hope they allow for a stable of at least 3 personal race birds in the future. I'd love to have different birds for different races and brackets, and I'd love to have a dedicated "troll bird" just for locking people up with status effects and denying them resources to win races. At the very least, there's a few bots I'd like to pay back sometime in the future.

[Shaano]

First bird almost 40, do I hit 41 for that second ability to hopefully pass down or go for it? Also do I buy a matching grade or go one up to grade 2 right away

[Jem]

Briars hidden within Silence/Shock are the fucking devil. It's also awful when you get hit with a double briar early on, I usually just AFK for the rest of the race when that happens.

Briars in general are so much bullshit though. I've had it before where me and an NPC both have Briar up, neither touching each other. I eat his briar but he doesn't eat mine. The server lag makes them awful as you eat so many even when you're nowhere near them.

First bird almost 40, do I hit 41 for that second ability to hopefully pass down or go for it? Also do I buy a matching grade or go one up to grade 2 right away

I bought Ped 3 for my Ped 1 (which is what Lucavi advised). I am unsure if you can get away with less. You can retire at 40 (The 41 in the above screenshot was him wiping his ability hoping to get a different ability from level up)

[Lucavi]

I still can't quite get the bird I want, but maybe I'll save that for a P10... Another 3/3/2/4/4 bird, but this one has really good genetics if I can just get a decent covering with 100% 4star speed.

[Jem]

How much of a difference does the 3* and 4* make? I've been unlucky so far as every choco has come out all 2's even withdecent covering

And can you get Ped 10? I thought 9 was the top for some reason.

[Korialstrasz]

server lag

This is what makes the whole thing unenjoyable for me. Like, I get that there's going to be some delay, but it's a bit ridiculous especially in all NPC races since they're not subject to said lag. I lose far too many dashes (as mentioned earlier) due to an NPC 2-3 lanes over actually being directly in front of me. I've had items I've picked up used against me as I pick them up because before I'm able to use it, an NPC stole it and used it. Briars? Hit when you're not in it. Directly on top of an NPC with your own briars? No effect, because they're not actually next to you server side. Then there's a whole delay with things like stamina, lathered status etc that is basically 1-2 seconds off of what is actually happening.

What gets me though, is wasn't it said in an interview/liveletter a while back that they set it up a specific way to keep things "equal" between all platforms? I.E they went full Oprah with PS3 lag by just giving it to everyone in general so things are shitty all around instead of just some? I'm trying to find it but I'm coming up empty handed.

[Lucavi]

Starting to 100% feel like each R bracket increases the stamina drain of chocobos by default, forcing you to "keep up" with your stam/end stats. Whenever I bypass a certain bracket entirely (going from R80 to R120, for example), I go from easily finishing with stamina left over to being drained 3/4 of the way without using stamina items in each example. I could see why they'd incorporate that, but its interesting that nothing is said about it anywhere.

I'm not sure I'd label it as "artificial" difficulty, but its interesting.

[Judai]

I haven't had any serious issues with lag, I have the occasional issue were an NPC steals something of mine, but it's rare. I haven't noticed the stam issue either, my last bird had no issues with stam in the higher brackets, in fact it's why I won so many races, having so much stam left over and just cruising by dead birds.

[Jem]

Well if I race in R100 I have 68-70% stamina by the first tunnel of Sagoli. If I switch to R120 I'm at 58-60% stamina by the same tunnel. The spint pad helps but I don't think it's an effective 10% stamina.

I also have to get at least 2 of Sprint/Stamina/Potion/Tonic to get to the end of R120 with stamina. I can get to the end of R100 without any of those (just. Its hit and miss as to whether it wears on the finish straight). I think the only difference is R100 has 1 more spint pad?

It may be that the handicap only applies if you're grossly under the rating? Like I'm R84 right now.

EDIT: Just had a race where I was 50% by that tunnel with nothing hitting me. That has never happened before except with briars