Game strategies

This is a place to present your strategies (please be concrete), tips and tricks for the game that you think will be helpful to other players. It can be generally for events or for what we call normal farming. You can also ask for advice

I will start with a guide to how many 1x1 plots you need to dedicate to event crops to reach your goal. It can not be 100% accurate for all situations and players, for that you need to do your own calculations, but I hope it can serve as an estimate for those who don't want to or don't have time to do that.

Important: Number of harvests refer to harvests after you have built up enough starter seeds for all 1x1 plots. Carrot-apple chutney needs to be active when you harvest. Number of event crops is the total amount you want to donate, including the starter seeds you donate at the end of the event.

Spoiler: Number of 1x1 plots needed for 10-16 harvests after starter seeds

Crops/Harvests	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
10,000	323	295	271	250	233	218	205
11,000	355	324	298	275	256	240	225
12,000	388	353	325	300	280	261	245
13,000	420	383	352	325	303	283	266
14,000	452	412	379	350	326	305	286
15,000	484	442	406	375	349	327	307
16,000	517	471	433	400	373	348	327
17,000	549	500	460	425	396	370	347
18,000	581	530	487	450	419	392	368
19,000	613	559	514	475	442	414	388
20,000	646	589	541	500	466	435	409
21,000	678	618	568	525	489	457	429
22,000	710	648	595	550	512	479	449
23,000	742	677	622	575	535	500	470
24,000	775	706	649	600	559	522	490
25,000	807	736	676	625	582	544	511
26,000	839	765	703	650	605	566	531
27,000	871	795	730	675	628	587	552
28,000	904	824	757	700	652	609	572
29,000	936	853	784	725	675	631	592
30,000	968	883	811	750	698	653	613
31,000	1000	912	838	775	721	674	633
32,000	1033	942	865	800	745	696	654
33,000	1065	971	892	825	768	718	674
34,000	1097	1000	919	850	791	740	694
35,000	-	1030	946	875	814	761	715
36,000	-	1059	973	900	838	783	735
37,000	-	1089	1000	925	861	805	756
38,000	-	1118	1028	950	884	827	776
39,000	-	-	1055	975	907	848	796
40,000	-	-	1082	1000	931	870	817

Spoiler: Number of 1x1 plots needed for 17-23 harvests after starter seeds

Crops/Harvests	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
10,000	193	182	173	164	157	150	143
11,000	212	200	190	181	172	165	158
12,000	231	219	207	197	188	180	172
13,000	250	237	225	214	204	195	186
14,000	270	255	242	230	219	209	200
15,000	289	273	259	246	235	224	215
16,000	308	291	276	263	250	239	229
17,000	327	310	294	279	266	254	243
18,000	347	328	311	296	282	269	258
19,000	366	346	328	312	297	284	272
20,000	385	364	345	328	313	299	286
21,000	404	382	363	345	329	314	300
22,000	424	400	380	361	344	329	315
23,000	443	419	397	378	360	344	329
24,000	462	437	414	394	375	359	343
25,000	481	455	432	410	391	374	358
26,000	500	473	449	427	407	389	372
27,000	520	491	466	443	422	403	386
28,000	539	510	483	460	438	418	400
29,000	558	528	500	476	454	433	415
30,000	577	546	518	492	469	448	429
31,000	597	564	535	509	485	463	443
32,000	616	582	552	525	500	478	458
33,000	635	600	569	541	516	493	472
34,000	654	619	587	558	532	508	486
35,000	674	637	604	574	547	523	500
36,000	693	655	621	591	563	538	515
37,000	712	673	638	607	579	553	529
38,000	731	691	656	623	594	568	543
39,000	750	710	673	640	610	583	558
40,000	770	728	690	656	625	598	572

Spoiler: Number of 1x1 plots needed for 24-30 harvests after starter seeds

Crops/Harvests	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
10,000	137	132	127	122	118	114	110
11,000	151	145	140	135	130	125	121
12,000	165	158	152	147	142	137	132
13,000	179	172	165	159	153	148	143
14,000	192	185	178	171	165	160	154
15,000	206	198	190	183	177	171	165
16,000	220	211	203	196	189	182	176
17,000	233	224	216	208	200	194	187
18,000	247	237	228	220	212	205	198
19,000	261	250	241	232	224	216	209
20,000	274	264	254	244	236	228	220
21,000	288	277	266	257	248	239	231
22,000	302	290	279	269	259	250	242
23,000	316	303	292	281	271	262	253
24,000	329	316	304	293	283	273	264
25,000	343	329	317	305	295	285	275
26,000	357	343	330	318	306	296	286
27,000	370	356	342	330	318	307	297
28,000	384	369	355	342	330	319	308
29,000	398	382	368	354	342	330	319
30,000	411	395	380	366	353	341	330
31,000	425	408	393	379	365	353	341
32,000	439	422	406	391	377	364	352
33,000	453	435	418	403	389	375	363
34,000	466	448	431	415	400	387	374
35,000	480	461	444	427	412	398	385
36,000	494	474	456	440	424	410	396
37,000	507	487	469	452	436	421	407
38,000	521	500	482	464	448	432	418
39,000	535	514	494	476	459	444	429
40,000	548	527	507	488	471	455	440

Number of 1x1 plots on fields:

Main field	202	Bahamarma	188	Full moon	202
Green meadow	202	Rainforest	188	Mushroom forest	202
Magical glade	184	Crystal falls	156	-	-
Total main	588	Total tropical	532	Total moonlight	404

Total 1x1 plots on mainland + tropical islands: 1,120

Based on the length of the event crop and what you've going on in RL you have to estimate how many harvests you can make in an event. Here's how I usually do it for a standard 6 day event:

I'm in Europe so events usually start 2pm. The first afternoon I dedicate to building up starter seeds, and if it is a short crop, maybe one full round in addition. Unless requirements are very high I like to finish a bit early and calculate 5 days of harvests after starter seeds. That leaves me the last day until 2pm to catch up if I've missed a couple of harvests. Unless requirements are very low I also grow event crops overnight, drops are not a problem for me.

• 8 hr crop takes 6 hours 24 minutes with water, that's comfortably 3 harvests a day
  3 harvests a day for 5 days -> 15 harvests after starter seeds
  If needed: 2 extra harvests on the last day
• 6 hr crop takes 4 hours 48 minutes with water, 4 hours 20 minutes with water and manure
  Water only: comfortably 3 harvests a day -> 15 harvests after starter seeds
  Water and manure: 4 harvests a day -> 20 harvests after starter seeds
  If needed: 2 extra harvests on the last day
• 5 hr crop takes 4 hours with water and 3 hours 36 minutes with water and manure
  Water only: 4 harvests a day -> 20 harvests after starter seeds
  Water and manure: 5 harvests a day -> 25 harvests after starter seeds; only for good rewards and not if I'm busy!
  If needed: 1 extra harvest on the first day, 2 extra harvests on the last day
  
• 4 hr crop takes 3 hours 12 minutes and I usually don't bother with manure
  Up to 5 harvests a day, 4 on days I'm a bit busy -> 20-25 harvests after starter seeds
  If needed: 1 extra harvest on the first day, up to 3 extra harvests on the last day

 

Thank you Mir, as always....... you extend yourself and share your knowledge. All excellent advice. A good tip also would be to suggest the day before an event..... all depending on your time zone..... if you withhold your daily neighborly gift.... on the event day right after it starts .....and before the turn of the clock...... you can share a gift then allowing you to gift an extra drop ......in accordance with whatever event is going on and whether or not it has drops to share. I try to remember to do that when I'm able. Blessings, Molling

 

Thanks Mir. I missed these sorts of strategy threads and posts from the old forum. Happy to see them again as they are very very useful to me. I can now plan something about number of harvests and no. of plots to complete the events Thanks once again for your great effort and hard work.

 

The old forum was before my time (sounds like I missed out on a lot of fun) but even during the early years of this forum, there were plenty of experienced farmers sharing tips and tricks that helped me grow and become the kind of farmer that can complete any event, no matter how difficult, for free. Seeing this thread reminded me of the good old days when the forum atmosphere was more positive.

Thank you -Mir85-.
Your advice has never steered me wrong and I'm glad you're still around to help out newer/inexperienced players.


*****

EDIT: A couple more tips.

General

Any buffs that increase harvest amounts must be activated prior to harvesting.

Any buffs that reduce time on certain items must be activated prior to planting crops/trees, feeding stables/workshops, applying super-grow, etc.


Winter Season

If you use your season tokens to buy one type of bonus in the shop multiple times, all buffs will run at the same time and it will multiply the +200% or +1 by that amount instead of extending the time. I believe this is true for any buff that doesn't take up a slot like farm wheel or CR bonuses.

For example, if you buy the +1 bonus for larger workshop harvests three times at once, you get a +3 bonus when you harvest your workshops, rather than getting a +1 bonus that runs for 6 hours.

 

Wow, that's great. Now I will plan accordingly. Thanks.

********

One more tip from me. - If you upgrade your season trophy ( from season event)once - you can harvest +1 animal from your stalls for 23 hrs & if you upgrade twice , you can harvest +2 animals from your stalls.

 

There was a time that I always kept out my special trees - the ones for sugar, salt and floral wire. Now, I don't put them out at all. I also no longer have my scent trees out. I do check the market daily for bargain pheromones (among other things).

DO NOT EVER PAY MORE THAN 600CC for a pheromone on the market. NEVER EVER. If you do, you're wasting your CCs. You can ALWAYS buy pheromones for 600CCs a pop from the supply store - 100 at a time even! So during breeding events when other farmers list pheromones at astronomical prices, be smart - shop the supply store.

Now, as for why I've stopped keeping out the Artisinal trees... I've stopped making most of the buffs. (not all of them, just most of them). Because you can almost always get them for next to nothing in the markets. So why waste precious resources to make them?

Okay, last one...need CCs? Sell things on the market. Especially breeding animals, but also any item that is in demand. Before you list an item in the market, see what the current going rate is for that item. You want to price your items to sell. That doesn't always mean the lowest price - sometimes farmers are willing to pay more to click once and get a larger number of items. I really dislike it when a farmer just lists one each when they have multiples to sell. It's rare that I want just one. I know there are others who say it works for them...it just infuriates me. I will pass them up, even if they are cheaper, to just have to click once to get 100 manure or 1000 wheat. Or whatever. In the case of rare tree fruit - new trees, the fruits are astronomically priced - so if you lucked out and have a new rare tree, do you want the CCs or do you want to fulfill the quest? The quests aren't timed. They'll still be there waiting to be fulfilled once the price drops. So sell your rare tree fruit while the price is sky high. Do the quests when the price drops and there's no profit in selling it. Always keep your mills running - some of the bahamarama feeds can go quite high on the markets - check the prices - mill and sell excess feed. The markets are dynamic...and it's a whole additional area of game play if it's something that interests you.

 

Thanks everyone for feedback and contributions



Building up starter seeds for events

In events we usually start with 10 seeds. To get a good start on an event it is essential to make the most of the initial seeds.

The first step is always the same: Sow the 10 seeds on 10 2x2 plots. I would recommend using super-grow in addition to water to speed up the process and suzy's super-grow to increase the first harvest. In addition you can use manure, white innocence and/or fruit cake to decrease the time even further. White innocence adds 10% (technically 10 percentage points) to the efficiency of super grow, fruit cake adds 5% (5 percentage points). They must be in place before you add the super grow. With suzy's super-grow and carrot-apple chutney the first harvest will yield 100 event crops.

The next step is about planting the 100 seeds, ideally on as big plots as you can fit on the available fields. This will depend on how many fields you have available:

• on 3 or more fields you can fit 100 2x2 plots which will then yield a harvest of 700 event crops
• on 2 fields, use mostly 2x2 plots and fill in with 2x1 plots (and maybe 1x1 plots in the end), you should get at least 600 event crops
• on 1 field use mostly 2x1 plots and fill in with 1x1 plots for the rest, you should get at least 400 event crops

After this you will usually have enough seeds to plant in 1x1 plots on all fields.

If your FOCD is as bad as mine (my condolences), and you really want to maximize each one of those 100 seeds, see the spoiler for exact numbers for round two.

Spoiler: Exact numbers for round two of building up starter seeds

Three or more fields: Sow the 100 seeds on 100 2x2 plots. You'll get a harvest of 700 crops. For most events you can now start using 1x1 plots. If you are using all 3 mainland + 3 tropical fields, first do one more round with 420 2x1 plots and 280 1x1 plots, this yields a harvest of 3,220 crops.

Two fields:

• Main field + green meadow, or two moonlight fields:
  place 43 2x2 plots and 7 2x1 plots on each of the two fields.
  The harvest will yield 672 crops.
• Bahamarama + rainforest:
  On one field place 36 2x2 plots and 15 2x1 plots,
  on the other place 37 2x2 plots and 12 2x1 plots.
  The harvest will yield 646 crops.
• Magical glade + main field/green meadow:
  Suggestions?
• Crystal falls + bahamarama/rainforest:
  Suggestions?

In any case, you will now have enough seeds to start using 1x1 plots.

One field:

• Main field/green meadow/moonlight field:
  Place 98 2x1 plots and 2 1x1 plots, yields 498 crops.
• Magical glade:
  Place 84 2x1 plots and 16 1x1 plots, yields 484 crops.
• Bahamarama/rainforest:
  Place 88 2x1 plots and 12 1x1 plots, yields 488 crops.
• Crystal falls:
  Place 56 2x1 plots and 44 1x1 plots, yields 456 crops.

In any case, you will now have enough seeds to start using 1x1 plots.

 

Thanks -Mir85-. My FOCD is quite bad, I need all the condolences I can get.

• Magical glade + main field/green meadow:
  On magical glade, place 40 2x2 plots, 4 2x1 plots, and 7 1x1 plots
  On main field or green meadow, place 44 2x2 plots and 5 2x1 plots.
  The harvest will yield 661 crops.
  
• Crystal falls + bahamarama/rainforest:
  On crystal falls, place 31 2x2 plots, 8 2x1 plots, and 16 1x1 plots
  On bahamarama or rainforest, plant 41 2x2 plots and 4 2x1 plots
  The harvest will yield 628 crops.

 

Thanks!

 

I used Mir85's suggestion of starting with 10 2x2 plots for the first planting with green goo and suzie's super for the last couple events. The yield is larger than if you use 1x1 plots.

After that initial harvest, I switch back to 1x1s on my "main farms". I left 2x2s out on the baby farms. So that experiment taught me that the 1x1s have higher drop yields, but if you don't have harvester function, the 2x2s are the only way to go.

 

Yes, when you have a limited number of seeds to plant, the yield is bigger with larger plots. As soon as you have enough crops to plant all fields with 1x1 that will bring the largest harvest. That's with carrot-apple chutney or pumpkin jam, without either plot size makes no difference. I recommend always using carrot-apple chutney if you can afford it, if not, use pumpkin jam which is really cheap to buy in the market.

If you use 1x1 plots for the 10 starter seeds you get 30 crops less than if you use 2x2 plots. That might not seem like a big loss, but say you use suzy's super grow and get 70 crops from the first harvest and then replant those on 70 1x1 fields. Without suzy's super grow you'll now have 280 crops, not enough starter seeds for even two fields. Using 2x2 plots you would have had enough starter seeds for three fields of 1x1s.

 

The drop rate for the 1x1 is actually 1/4 that of the 2x2.

It only looks like the 1x1s have higher drop yields when the drop rate is above a certain threshold (which is generally true for most events) due to the fact that a single plot/tree/stable/workshop can only yield a maximum of 1 drop.

For example, let's say BP set the drop rate to 200% for the 2x2 and therefore, 50% for the 1x1. The 2x2 will only yield 1 drop (since you can't really go any higher than 100%) but you might get 2 drops out of 4 1x1s in the same amount of space. So a field full of 1x1s would give twice as many drops than a field full of 2x2s.

When the drop rate is below the aforementioned threshold, it doesn't really matter if you use 2x2s or 1x1s.

Note: Drop rate also depends on crop duration, but I'm leaving that part out of this discussion to make it easier to understand.

 

That's right. For most event crops, the average amount of drops should be the same for a field of 1x1 and 2x2 (filled up with 1x1 around the edges), unless the drop rate is really high.

Please note though that this is on average. With 2x2 plots the amount of drops per harvest will vary more than if you have 1x1 plots. That's because with 1x1s you have more plots per field which smooths the randomness out a bit, and the number of drops per harvest is more stable. The average should be the same though.

But note that if you plant longer crops to be ready at the start of the event, 1x1 can give a lot more drops than 2x2. That's because longer crops have higher drop rate and so it may be over the threshold zerodegrees mentioned.

My advice to players harvesting by hand is therefore not to grow event crops on 1x1 in order to increase drops, that's a waste of clicks. You might of course want to do it to increase the harvest of event crops, but not for drops.

 

zerodegrees...interesting information. Thanks. And yes, Mir - without harvest function, using 1x1 plots is just sheer torture.

 

Yes, very important point. I remember a player who was very confused about a mod's comment on the "random" nature of drops in a previous event. This is exactly what they were talking about. We see some variation from harvest to harvest but it averages out over time.

Good advice.

Drops aren't much of an issue these days but in the past, whenever a new event FAQ was released, one of the first things I looked at was how many drops were required. I then divided the total amount of drops by the number of days we had to work on the event (usually 6) to calculate the number of drops I needed daily.

If I felt the number was somewhat high, I prepared for the event by planting my longest crop on 1x1s in order to maximize drops on my initial harvest, unless we had drop items that only came from trees/stables/workshops.

During the event, however, I found the longest crop was usually not the best option as it was an inefficient use of time and space. I preferred to go with a slightly shorter crop where I had refinements that reduced time by a greater percentage, such as raspberries (for lower level farms) or valerian (for farms at level 175 and above). I also used artisan products and manure to further reduce time.

Drop rates have improved a lot since then and I rarely see events that require such measures anymore. It's mostly the event crops that I see holding players up nowadays.

 

Exactly this is probably the best way to deal with a shortage of drops. If you want a crop for a shorter time window, crop square is also great. Refinements and water reduce the time from 12:42 to 6:33, with manure down to 5:54 (I don't remember if this is with or without the manure refinement). I used to be a great proponent of refined crop square

The crops of course have to be refined first. A process that can be long, tedious and frustrating, I will admit. But if you stick to it you will succeed in the end, so start today if you haven't already Even if you don't normally struggle with drops, just knowing you have the opportunity to pull out the refined crops if you need to, makes it easier not to worry so much about drops. Another benefit is that you can use them to increase drops in events without event crops, like the fishing events, or other events where more drops = more prizes.

The downside to this strategy is that with the high event crop requirements of late, you might not have time to grow refined valerian, raspberries or crop square. But refinements together with super grow can save you here as well. Some crops have super grow refinement that reduces the time the crop takes with super grow applied. Used together with white innocence and fruit cake the two best are roses which can be reduced to 8 minutes growing time (32 minutes on comfort fields) and crocus which can be reduced to 0 (yes zero) minutes! These instant crops as we call them, are well know to forum veterans, but since we have some new players I can make a separate post on them later (feel free to beat me to it if you want ).

 

LOL Speak for yourself... Refining crops and finding ways to maximize drops used to be one of my favorite aspects of the game.

I have crop squares refined but never used them because 1) too much clicking and 2) they appeared to yield less drops per hour compared to refined raspberries with all buffs applied, though the usual caveats about small sample sizes apply here so I can't make any solid conclusions. But they are definitely a great option if you're looking for a crop with a shorter time window.

I also have both crocuses and roses refined on my main farm. Can't remember ever using them there but it's nice knowing I have the option. Instant roses saved me several times when I wasn't able to harvest my side farms on time, though.

Please go ahead and make a separate post about instant crops. You are much better at explaining things than I am, and I found that info invaluable when I was trying to learn more about the game.

 

I love refining crops too, but I have had a few experiences where it took forever and ever to find the last refinement that I wanted for a crop but usually it went ok with some patience.

For some time now I haven't had a new refinement project. Couldn't find something to get exited about. I worked for a long time to get a lot of the good super grow refinements (+25% so instant crops with chestnut cloud row), all the best time-refinements, refinements for drops and for artisan drops. Then the new refinements came and I got the refinements for valerian (good time reduction as you mentioned), crocus (instant finish) and wild roses (super grow refinement + wood board bonus), but now I don't know what else I could possibly need. Another part of it is that I am growing crops for the insanely high requirement FSQs like "forget me not", so I don't feel like also growing crops for a refinement project.

But if anyone has a good suggestion for a crop to refine, please let me hear it

 

I have the exact same "problem" - can't think of any other refinements I need and too busy with events, high level FSQs, and seasonal farm orders to care.
And we just got another batch of high level FSQs. Really want those BBs... no time to think rationally. Told you my FOCD was bad.

 

Did you know that buying 300 seeds from the seed shop daily adds up to over 100,000 of that crop in a year?

Most days I buy 300 seeds of all baha crops, and of main crops up to persian buttercup. I rarely find the need to grow any of these crops anymore