Rockstars Live Battle Strategy Guide
Battle OverviewThe 2 minute Stamina timer in Rockstars Live makes fighting an especially quick way to gain experience. For active players, experience from fighting can be a quick way to increase your character level. Of course, the only way to gain experience through fighting is by winning so it is important to understand the way fighting works in the game.
There are several factors taken into account in a fight:
- Band Size: Number of band members brought into the fight by each player.
- Gear: The attack or defense point value of the gear used by the band members in the fight.
- Skills: The attack or defense skill points of the respective players.
- Luck: A random chance factor just to keep things interesting.
Excess band members or gear, cash, current health (as long as it is 27 or higher) and character level (other than band size restriction) are not taken into account.
Attacking
In order to initiate an attack against another player, you must have at least 1 Stamina Point and a minimum of 27 Health.
A successful attack generally earns you anywhere from 2 to 5 experience points. Additionally, if your opponent has any cash not in the bank, you can take some of their cash. A failed attack results in 0 experience but you do not lose any cash.
Defending
As long as you have 27 health or higher, you can be attacked by another player.
A successful defense generally earns you 1 to 2 experience points. You can not earn cash by defending. If you lose against an attacker, you can lose some of your cash that is not in the bank.
Calculating Fight Results
Although the exact fight formula is unknown, it can be approximated by understanding each of the factors involved in a fight.
Definitions:
- Tone (Attack)/Clarity (Defense) Points: The total attack/defense point value of the gear that you bring into a fight.
- Skill Points: Your character's current Tone (attack) or Clarity (defense) skill points.
- Total Attack/Defense Score: The calculated total point value based upon your attack/defense points and skill points.
Total Attack Score = Attack Points * (a % of your Attack Skill Points)
Total Defense Score = Defense Points * (a % of your Defense Skill Points)
Band Size
It is important to remember that you can only bring up to 5x your current level in band members into any fight. This restriction is enforced both when you are attacking and defending regardless of the level or band size of your opponent.
Example: A Level 16 player with 1000 band members will still only use 80 band members in a fight.
Gear and Attack/Defense Points
The number of gear items that you can utilize in a fight is directly tied to the number of band members that you can bring into the fight. In Rockstars Live, each band member can only use a maximum of 3 gear items (1 of each type).
Each of these gear items has an attack and defense point value that is used to calculate your total attack or defense points in a fight.
- Tone (Attack): Used to calculate your Attack points when Attacking
- Clarity (Defense): Used to calculate your Defense points when Defending
Example: I am level 10 and can bring 50 band members into a fight. I own 50 Segull Spruce Dreadnought (Atk 1, Def 2) and 50 Epiphone Electric Guitar (Atk 3, Def 1). When I attack, I will be using the 50 Epiphone Electric Guitar for a total of 150 attack points (50 *3). When I defend, I will be using the 50 Segull Spruce Dreadnought for a total of 100 (50 * 2) defense points. The same selection criteria and calculation would apply for any Amps or Percussion gear brought into the fight.
This calculated attack or defense point value largely determines the outcome of a fight. The player with the higher value will usually win.
Skills
Your character's current attack (tone) and defense (clarity) skill points also play a role in fights. Similar to gear, only your attack skill is used when attacking and only your defense skill is used when defending. Keep in mind that the skills of your band members do not matter.
While the exact formula is unknown, my testing has shown that your skill points serve as a multiplier to your total attack or defense points in a fight.
Example: You have a total of 150 attack points and 18 tone skill points. Your opponent has a total of 140 defense points and 24 clarity skill points. Despite your higher attack points, you have a high chance of losing this fight.
Luck
While the results of most fights are fairly predictable once you understand how attack points and skills are calculated, there is still some randomness involved. It is not uncommon to win 3 fights in a row against an opponent and then lose the next one (all other factors unchanged). This "luck" tends to play a greater role when the two players are closely matched.
Opponent Selection
To keep things fair, you can generally only fight against players that are similar to you in level and band size. This restriction does not apply to gear and skill points. Also, both players must have a minimum of 27 health in order for a fight to take place.
Attacking
When attacking, you have a significant advantage because you can choose your opponent. By looking at their band size and gear, you can predetermine the outcome of most fights.
Generally, the attack process begins through the Battle button on the home screen. Pressing this brings up a list of randomly selected opponents that are similar to you in level and band size (for exceptions, see Open Season). Each of the opponents has their band size listed and their name can be clicked on to view their profile. This profile screen contains a list of all their gear.
By analyzing this information and comparing it to your own, you should already have a good idea if you can defeat them in a fight.
Defending
When defending, you can only rely upon having a high total defensive score. Keeping your health below 27 also prevents you from being attacked.
Open Season
At the higher levels, you may suddenly see your fight list populated with players that fall out of the normal restricted range. This occurs because there are fewer players at the higher levels and the game automatically extends the range of available opponents in order to populate the list. While this may seem unfair, it is a part of the game and occurs because you have leveled faster than the majority of other players.
When this occurs, it is recommended that you maximize your band size and, depending upon your income stream, buy more powerful gear. This will increase your chances against higher level opponents.
Strategy Tips
These are some general tips based upon my own experiences:
Band Size
It may make sense - especially at the lower levels - to limit the size of your band rather than maxing it out. This makes sense because it is much cheaper to fully equip a smaller band with gear than a larger band. This also results in reduced upkeep costs and an increased income stream.
The effectiveness of this strategy at your current level can be seen by looking at your fight list. If the players on the fight list all have the same band size (or less) than yourself, then it should be safe to proceed. However, if you see that most opponents have a larger band size, then you should increase your band size to at least match theirs.
I personally like to start with 9 band members and only increase the number if absolutely necessary. Remember that building a large income stream - especially at the higher levels - is critical to your long term success.
Skill Points
In my experience, skill points can play a significant role in a fight. If your strategy is to focus on building income or camping at the earlier levels, I would recommend allocating a greater percentage of your skill points to defense. This will allow you to fend off most attackers even if they have a superior attack score.
Gear (also see the Rockstars Live Gear Guide)
It is not always necessary to equip the best available gear. If you are winning most of your fights with your current gear, then it may make more strategic sense to not increase your upkeep and allow your income to build at a faster rate.
If you are losing a high % of fights to attackers, then focus on buying gear with the best defense point value. If you are losing when attacking, then focus on buying gear with the best attack point value.
Maximize Your Fighting Potential
Because the game allows each band member (up to 5 per level) to use 1 of each gear item type when fighting, you should always make sure that everyone has at least 1 gear item from each category that can be utilized in a fight. It does not have to be the best available gear item, but they should at least have something to fight with.
