Best way to Treasure Hunt?

[Rockwell]

Ok, so since anyone who wants to complete the Campaign has the tedium of trying to complete three Treasure Hunts with more than 60 turns, perhaps someone could give some good strategies for the best way to do this?

Obviously getting 4 and 5 matches to “save” a turn or get an extra turn is good, but what’s the best way to play when you can’t get them?

I’m sure there are many players who would welcome some helpful suggestions

[Snooj]

My record is 285 turns. I used to be addicted. It’s hard to say “do this, if you can’t then do that, if you can’t then…” Here’s some tips, at least on how I play:

• After so many turns, it gets painfully difficult to clear the brown coins on the bottom. Clear them out.

• Create chests that cannot skyfall (green boxes for example) at the bottom of the board. If they’re made up high, it’s hard to move down.

• Don’t make a vault in the middle of the board because they’re hard to work around. Aim for a corner.

• Even if the only available moves are 3 match, is there one with a good chance of resulting in a five match depending on skyfall? May be time to gamble.

[Lorien1973]

Best way - Pay 100 gems. Move on with life.

[Rockwell]

@Snooj

My record is 285 turns.

Thanks for the useful suggestions, but one question:

@Snooj

Even if the only available moves are 3 match, is there one with a good chance of resulting in a five match depending on skyfall?

I’m not sure what you mean here, can you explain further, please?

[Snooj]

@Rockwell

@Snooj

Even if the only available moves are 3 match, is there one with a good chance of resulting in a five match depending on skyfall?

I’m not sure what you mean here, can you explain further, please?

Consider this example layout: at the very top row there are two silver coins, one gold, then two silver coins. If you could replace that gold for silver, bam, extra turn. Is there a move below that will move that gold? If the RNG gods like you, a silver coin may fall in its place.

I hope that makes sense. If not I’ll try to get a picture.

[Sytro]

@Snooj

Even if the only available moves are 3 match, is there one with a good chance of resulting in a five match depending on skyfall? May be time to gamble.

Also - sometimes when you match3, after upgrade, they automaticaly make a match4-5 with surrounding treasures. Once you play enough games of TH, you know that making some match3 will either:

• make you an instant match 4/5
• set up your board so next move will give you match 4/5

My Best was probably in 170+ or 180+, but most of my games end up near 60, almost never below 40. Ofc, if i’m “gem farming” numbers are lower, because i focus on making as many greens as possible, but that’s not the point of campaign.

[Rockwell]

Thanks for the suggestions

I had another try yesterday evening and certainly getting rid of the red/ silver coins does help, I had one game that was about 120 moves.

I’ve seen there’s an Achievement that requires getting two Vaults, but I’ve only ever managed one, so maybe this will help to do that.

[Sytro]

@Rockwell

I’ve seen there’s an Achievement that requires getting two Vaults, but I’ve only ever managed one, so maybe this will help to do that.

When going for Vaults i would recommend avoiding doing matches of green and red chests with more than 3.
Thing is, there are currently 3 complately separate goals one can do in TH:

• make most number of moves (at least 60 for campaigns)
• make vaults (at least 2 for achivement)
• make most gems/hour (for building up gem stash)

Each of above requires a bit different gameplay. You can get 2 vaults with less than 60 moves, if you get lucky. And you cant get even one if you’re unlucky or focusing other things (like extra moves/gems).

Have fun playing.

[shadyady360]

@Snooj

After so many turns, it gets painfully difficult to clear the brown coins on the bottom. Clear them out.

This would be my top tip, if there are no obvious 4/5 matches, then make sure to clear out 3 matches on the bottom rows to free up more space above.

[Snooj]

@Sytro

Ofc, if i’m “gem farming” numbers are lower, because i focus on making as many greens as possible, but that’s not the point of campaign.

Some time ago someone pointed out that the best way to farm gems in treasure maps was to play as fast as humanly possible and ignore how many turns you get. Don’t worry about which chests you get. Just move. The reward from chests is RNG. You can get a bunch of vaults and no gems. So, by being careless and playing fast, you’ll get more gems/hour.

I timed a bunch of runs and yeah, that seemed accurate. It turned me off of treasure maps because it meant the only useful reward (gems) meant a strategic run would hurt you. Granted, I didn’t test it enough to fully confirm it but it seems accurate.

[Sytro]

@Snooj

The reward from chests is RNG. You can get a bunch of vaults and no gems.

yes it it, but it’s better to have 3 rolls on 1 gem (green chest) than to have 1 roll on 2 gems (red chests)

and it’s definately better to have 9 rolls on 1 gem, than 1 roll on 5 gems (vault) - usualy you will get at least 2-3 from those 9, and 0 from that 1

I did few runs myself and took notes → when playing “careless” i got less gem/hour than when avoiding getting anything higher than green chests.

[Snooj]

@Sytro

@Snooj

The reward from chests is RNG. You can get a bunch of vaults and no gems.

yes it it, but it’s better to have 3 rolls on 1 gem (green chest) than to have 1 roll on 2 gems (red chests)

and it’s definately better to have 9 rolls on 1 gem, than 1 roll on 5 gems (vault) - usualy you will get at least 2-3 from those 9, and 0 from that 1

I did few runs myself and took notes → when playing “careless” i got less gem/hour than when avoiding getting anything higher than green chests.

Clearly I should do more testing then. If I’m wrong I’ll be happy about it.

I agree that more rolls on gems is better, but if you take too long to think about what move to make, that may not make it worth it. Of course, maybe I just take too long! Will have to try it out.

[Rockwell]

@Sytro

You can get 2 vaults with less than 60 moves, if you get lucky.

You’d have to be bloody lucky, I’d think!!

[TheDragonSeoul]

So, what’s the best way to TH?

Depends on your priorities.

If you want to clear those sixty move requirements for Campaign, basic TH strats will apply… scan from top to bottom, prioritizing five, then four matches, clear as much of the board as possible when matching to allow for cascades, etc.

Now, TH strats change if you’re resource grinding, as other forum members have suggested. It’s really contingent on where you’re at in the game.

For example, a late gamer will likely approach TH with gem sourcing in mind, as it is the most valuable resource that requires the least time investment in a TH session (green chest strat).

For an early gamer, every resource is valuable (especially keys), so perhaps matching vaults is worth the extra time and effort involved.

I approach TH valuing every resource (low-level, early player, with no guild assistance here), with a priority on creating vaults in the least amount of time (rushing vaults), while being able to end the map soon thereafter.

All those high move maps are nearly worthless if multiple vaults aren’t created, imho. If one is going to spend a substantial amount of time just to accrue a high number of moves during a map absent of multiple vaults, the net reward is really only multiple chances at arcane traitstones (which could be a strat if that’s what’s intended, I suppose).

Ultimately, your approach (and RNG) will determine what you get out of TH.

[Jonathan]

A while ago I wrote a few things and put some forum links with TH advice in a channel on my Guild’s Discord server. I’ll paste it here (re-formatted).

My summary:

Some general tips I’ve found helpful in the past are to:

1. Make as many 5, and then 4, matches as you can, starting at the top of the board and with the lowest denomination - i.e. bronze coins.
2. If you run out of 4 and 5 matches, try to make a 3 match tending towards the bottom half and middle of the board.
3. Try to avoid (1) over-developing too quickly and (2) lower denomination treasures at the bottom of the board; aim for homogenisation. The treasures that fall from the top of the board range from bronze coins to money bags at the highest. You have a greater chance of something cascading down and matching if the other treasures up the top are of a similar denomination. If you have too wide a variety of treasure types in the same area, it can be very hard to get a match, particularly in the lower half of the board.
4. When you make a match, an upgraded treasure remains in the location to which you were matching. For cascading matches, the upgraded treasure appears in the middle of the match (or I guess probably randomised between the middle locations for 4, 6, 8 matches).

I’ve seen some threads on the forums with people much better than me at it posting videos and sharing the odd tip, so I’ll go fetch some of those now

Here are some links/videos (haven’t watched all of them, tbh, but have read all the posts ) (afaik boogafreak remains the TH champ):

1. Boogafreak (so you know he’s good), with what I understand to be the current highest (published) turn count in TH (700+!!!), posts videos (~3.5 hours) and small highlights of the matches on pages 2 and 3 of this Steam Community Discussion: What is your personal best turns on Treasure Maps? :: Gems of War General Discussions
   I found watching even just a little bit of one of his videos helpful to see how he approaches it.

2. A tip from Mr.Strange on the forums that helped another user breach 60 turns:

@Mr.Strange

Here’s a tip for increasing move count that really helped me:

Focus on eliminating TYPES of items. What you really want is a board that is 80% silver & gold coins - because that leads to lots of cascades & 5-matches. If your board is 15% bronze, 15% silver, 15% gold, 15% sacks, 15% chests, and 25% high-level stuff you’ll probably run out of moves soon. Avoid matching the things you have a lot of, to increase your odds of getting extra turns soon.

I 100% agree about homogenising (perhaps not the right word, here?) towards Silver/Gold coins for the greatest chance of ensuring matches.

3. Some great basic tips from Shimrra! Mostly covered in what I mentioned above, I think but also perhaps one of the better general guides for doing better:

Treasure Hunt high scores 1.0.9 (screenshots)

Very basic rules of thumb are to go for, in this order: 5-matches (duh) - but starting from the top so as to not ruin other ones 4-matches - if they are numerous, start from the top as above… … but if not, try to hit lower on the board to potentially trigger 5-matches 3-matches - lower on the board as above A major trick is getting used to the behavior of these things when they’re matched, since unlike gems they will leave an object behind. Other things to remember: A main goal is to (count…

4. More good tips!

@utfanx2

The biggest thing I believe is noticing patterns to match 5’s; not all of them are super obvious. For example, two gold coins up above a match three of silver coins with a gold coin on each side. It can be pretty easy to miss an extra turn like that.

My strategy is to play the center. It is harder to get higher matches on the sides, so I avoid them. Specifically, I play the bottom center, since it is also hard to get a higher match with a chest blocking the spawns on top. You eventually want to end up with all of the caskets and chests at the bottom where they are out of the way.

“Patterns” or “structures” (as boogafreak referred to them) seem to be the key to really high scores, kind of like how a very good chess player is familiar with lots of game boards/situations.

Part of a post I made in the Lounge category:

(Note that that ‘project’ hasn’t really gone any further, since Treasure Hunt doesn’t have much incentive …)

That thread has some other good pointers:

@Personette

One tip which I read somewhere else on the forum, and which I’ve found useful, is this:

(1) Match 5s first
(2) Match 4s from the top down
(3) Match 3s from the bottom up

I also try to think about whether, all things being equal, I should match the lower value or higher value gem. Lower value gems make more matches; higher value gems allow you to push chests down the board or clear space.

Good, easy rules of thumb to get more moves (what I’ve seen described as a ‘heuristic’ style of play).

5. Tacet, the most prolific GoW streamer, with a how-to (28 mins): https://youtu.be/A07YnmpWS7g

6. Tacet, aiming for the 2 vaults achievement (15 mins): https://youtu.be/VlxpMfh-sj8

[Sytro]

@Rockwell

You’d have to be bloody lucky, I’d think!!

My best was probably 2nd vault arround move 65 and whole run ended up arround 75-80 moves total. But I bet with some better luck it’s possible to get 2 Vaults below 60.

@Jonathan

“Patterns” or “structures” (as boogafreak referred to them) seem to be the key to really high scores, kind of like how a very good chess player is familiar with lots of game boards/situations.

Part of a post I made in the Lounge category:

Yeep, Patterns and finding them - that what makes TH runs longer, but as TDS said:
Also @Jonathan, nice summary.

@TheDragonSeoul

All those high move maps are nearly worthless if multiple vaults aren’t created, imho.

And agree with that. Unless you go directly for getting those campagin requirements, making a longer game will give you less benefits over time, than going for:
*max vault strat (for overall gain)
*green chest strat (for maximizing gems gained)

[Denthegod]

I have a simple strategy that works for me and I’m normally horrible at these types of mini games:

1. always scan for 4 or 5 matches from the top first. If you have two opportunities take the one on the top first so you can get the second one. However if there is a 5 match and it is below the 4 match take the 5 match only if taking the 4 match will make the 5 match disappear.

2. if there are no 4 or 5 matches start scanning from the bottom to top and take the first 3 match. I do this because if you do it from the bottom the chances of it causing a chain reaction and getting a 4 or 5 match is a lot higher.

I’m no expert at this mode but this strategy always works for me. Ever since I started doing this it is extremely rare I get less than 60 moves.