re: Castle Clash: iOS/Droid Tigerdroppins Guild... iOS boss fight Sunday at 9

**** ANOTHER TORCH BATTLES POST ****

OK, so my thinking USED to be that starting to haul around 8:30 was best, because once the 8:30 rank update passes, we can no longer increase our rank, and that would reduce our chances of being attacked. Also, starting at 8:30 meant that all our guys would be back by 8:40 or so, and able to guard (since a hero can't guard while he's hauling).

BUT

Turns out that, although our rank can't change after 8:30, our torch % does update all the time. So after we cross the 90/120 torches mark, the % by our guild changes from 50% to 75%, indicating to other guilds that we have a lot of torches to steal. To me, if a guild's torch % is increasing, that means they are online and able to guard. Apparently, other guilds don't give a frick whether you're guarding or not, and they just send 60-80 hauls our way all at once and hope they come away with something.

So the torch % is updated immediately based on current number of torches, and the number of torches is updated like so:

If we have 60/120, and I send out 10 haul attempts, our count stays at 60/120 (and % stays at 50%) until my timers run out. Our torch count increases one by one as my guys return. However, the guild I'm hauling from loses the torches as soon as I click the haul button. The same obviously applies when others are hauling from us. You may have noticed that our torch count drops immediately when the guard page shows incoming attacks, so think of it like those guys have already stolen the torches and are currently returning to their own guild with them. If I successfully guard one, our torch count immediately increases by one.

So what is happening to us is that after 8:30, once the first few pages have been depleted (most of them show 75% torches right after the rank update, but drop to 0% a few minutes later), guilds start scanning down the list for guilds that have increased to 75% after the update. The logic here is questionable (because, again, the target guild must have players online), and although their success rate is probably low, there is little doubt that it hurts us by having to guard against 60 or 70 attacks.

So I guess, if you can't beat them, join them. We have to avoid getting to 75% too soon and making ourselves a target. The fastest Ninja's I've seen do a haul in about 5 minutes, so by 8:55 it's too late for anyone to start a haul. So 8:50 is probably the best time to haul, depending on the speed of your heroes. Of course, this means that if you send your 10 best guys out they won't be available to guard while they are hauling.

I'm really not sure whether I'm right about guilds choosing targets that show 75%, or if there are just so many players online that we will get flooded whether we have 75% or 50%. But I guess it's worth a shot.