As the title suggests, I'm trying to learn the ropes regarding how to grind for idols most efficiently. I know about the talent calculator, but while it's a very useful tool, it only tells me which damage-boosting talents to invest in next. I have some other questions. To avoid my usual wall-of-text posting style, I'm gonna stick to a simple, straightforward list; I'll be happy to elaborate on specific questions as needed.

Some basic background info: I'm still working through late T1 quests. I can hit the low 300s without too much difficulty, and 350ish is about as high as I can go without a LONG run and/or lots of buffs and chests saved up to spam near the end. I have ~3600 idols, invested as follows: 17 passive crits, 16 surplus cooldown, 5 overenchanted, 5 set bonus, 10 efficient crusading, 3 scavenger, 1 endurance training. Oh, and the 'spend all on levels/abilities' ones for convenience, but not the multi-chest opening one (yet). The event crusaders I run frequently are Kyle and Larry, Broot and Robbie, and The Metal Soldierette. I've bought a few event chest packs, so my gear is probably way better than average for my current idol count. Onto my questions:

* Is there a good rule of thumb for when to invest in Efficient Crusading vs. DPS talents? I assume some balance of the two is better than going all in on one or the other, but I have no idea whether I'm hitting that balance or not.

* Any other 'utility' talents I should really have by now? Should I get more scavenger points before opening more chests, or more endurance training points before buffing my way to another objective completion? Or should I just focus on some combo of the middle column DPS perks and EFficient Crusading for the time being?

* When I'm grinding free play for idols, when should I reset? I assume I should never reset before I stop instakilling everything (unless I already have enough idols for some reallllly valuable talent and I'm feeling impatient, I guess), but how far should I push on from there? Is the answer gonna change over time based on a bunch of other factors or is there a consistently applicable rule of thumb I can follow? Should I reset shortly after I stop instakilling? Should I wait until I can only progress with my timed abilities up and/or by using buffs? Somewhere in between?

* When should I start saving for tier 2 objectives? I'm thinking I should keep spending idols on stuff to help me progress till at least ~8k, then consider saving that 1k as I finish off the last handful of tier 1s, but I'm not sure exactly what that cutoff point ought to be, and I'd hate to find myself ready to take on tier 2s, out of tier 1s, but stuck grinding free play for a week or two because I didn't save idols.

* When I'm grinding Free Play, which campaign should I pick? I've been doing the pirates one because it has a buttload of crusader slots and gives extra gold, but would it be better to do a later one where the enemies scale up faster?

* On a related note: is there any difference between grinding Free Play and grinding a "get to level X" objective (assuming I will definitely end up resetting before completing it)? Is one more efficient or are they identical?

* I value gold multipliers above basically everything else. I set up an alternate formation late in the run for pure DPS and switch to it when I stop progressing easily - but usually unless I'm going for an objective I reset around that point anyway. In general, is maxing gold buffs a good idea? I can hit ~2.5M on campaigns that let me get 6 crusaders touching Larry and give me room to run Larry + Panda + Natalie + Broot (I have a 50% gold item on Broot and only 25% on Jason, so I always go Broot and Robbie).

* Just to be sure - there's never a reason NOT to open jeweled chests immediately, since they don't ever contain gold so it doesn't matter which run I open them on or how far into that run I am - is that correct? Nothing they contain is specific to the run they're opened on and the odds for better stuff are complete RNG, not based on progress on the current run, right?


Well, so much for avoiding a wall of text, haha. Please don't feel obliged to read and respond to the whole list - even if you only wanna answer one or two of them, I'd appreciate the advice.

only you cam know which free play missions have best gold bonus (what i guess i care about most) with your crusaders and their gear. so do an experiment and free play each for say 1 hour, or like I suggested above till the instant you can reset. click the spend all gold and reset.
the results will not exactly be consistent though cause each next free play you start out having a few more idols and thus more stuff.

Deep Idol Scavenging is not worth the effort. It's a tiny boost for a big cost.

"* Is there a good rule of thumb for when to invest in Efficient Crusading vs. DPS talents? I assume some balance of the two is better than going all in on one or the other, but I have no idea whether I'm hitting that balance or not." tbh, I'd put almost everything into efficient crusading as long as you can insta-kill up to the point where you can reset. If you need more idle time so you don't need to be checking the game frequently, go ahead and add some more dps. Efficient Crusading is the largest increase in idols/hour and long as you are insta-killing. Well, aside from Deep Idol Scavenger, but I'd still suggest maxing Efficient Crusading first.

"Any other 'utility' talents I should really have by now?" A few points in Scavenger can increase idols/hour if you open chests at the end of a run. They're not necessary, but Spent/Upgrade Them All and Speed Looter are convenient. It's up to you if they're worth the loss or not. Endurance Training may or may not be worth it since it buffs the duration of spawn buffs which in turn boosts idols/hour.

"When I'm grinding free play for idols, when should I reset?" Unless you have Deep idol Scavenger, it doesn't matter that much as long as you're insta-killing. There are slight variations in the idols/hour depending on how far into the run you are, but it's fairly negligible.

"When should I start saving for tier 2 objectives" The number of idols you need to beat tier 2 objectives is extremely high. I would not bother with this right now. 1000 idols is a rather large hit early on. Although you can win some tier 2s with 20k or so idols, I would not suggest buying it until you have over 100k and even then there are some objectives that seem impossible to me right now. It comes down to your personal opinion more than a hard rule, but that's my opinion anyway.

"When I'm grinding Free Play, which campaign should I pick?" Unless you have a lot of levels in Deep Idol Scavenger, you should usually pick the hardest Free Play you have unlocked. Exceptions to this are Descent and Player Two which are typically less efficient than World Wake/Mugwarts. It kind of depends on your gear and formation though. It's not a solid rule, but it seems to be that way for most players I've spoken to.

"On a related note: is there any difference between grinding Free Play and grinding a "get to level X" objective" Yes, later Free Plays give more gold. iirc Mugwarts Free Play gives me enough gold to get Panda on floor 2!

"I value gold multipliers above basically everything else" Until you have Deep Idol Scavenger, this is the correct mentality. It gets a little more complex with Deep Idol though.

"Just to be sure - there's never a reason NOT to open jeweled chests immediatel" Open them whenever you feel like it or hoard them if you want. Unless they decide to change something in the future, it doesn't matter right now.

I hope that answers your questions. Let me know if I missed or misread any.


Amoon:
"Deep Idol Scavenging is not worth the effort. It's a tiny boost for a big cost." You're.....joking, right? It's absolutely worth the time and cost. The increase/hour is enormous. With it maxed out I can get 2000-4000 idols/day depending on how active I am. It will literally pay for itself in about a month. Of course, max Efficient Crusading first.

Solistus

1. Yes. Put all idols to Efficient Crusading (5000 idols), also you can respect your idols

It Is double your idols per run

2. Put idols to
Efficient Crusading
then to some DPS talents.


KNOW!!!!

Before you reach 600 level - DPS not important. You get const idols per location ALLWAYS. So if you cant beat area - RESET world.




3. Next your step - reach 600 level. (i make with 10k iolds)
recpect. put all idols to
Efficient Crusading
and
Deep Idol scavenger

With Deep Idol scavenger you get more idols on 1 location - so you need many dps

4.
> When I'm grinding free play for idols, when should I reset?
If you dont beat 600 -
reset world when you cant instakill. You get const idols per location