Aether Raid, offense or defense?

[Garlyle]

Soon we are getting to the point where upgrading some building become expensive, which raises the question where should you invest instead: offense or defense? Could be the offensive push the way to balance out the losses, even though due to the costs you can do less attacks? Or make sure you won't lose points and you won't drop out of your current rank in case the defenses are too much to handle perfectly? 

So, which one first?

Edited December 5, 2018 by Garlyle

[DLNarshen]

Thus far I've prioritized a strong offense.  If I can reliably get 200 - 300 lift per day while breaking as many Aether pots as possible, that's going to help offset the -80 from a failed defense each day.  Even with a strong defense, it's a total crap shoot.  You could match with competent, well prepared players and get the -80 regardless. 

[Raven]

I reckon this is the order of importance of things to upgrade:

1. Offensive unit slots (no. 5)
2. Defensive unit slots (no. 5 + 6)
3. Offensive buildings
4. Defensive buildings

I've already unlocked the 5th offensive slot, and am currently saving for defense slot 5.

Defensive matches are totally out of our control and there's only so much we can do, anyway. Points earned through strong offense will offset any points lost through lost defenses.

I honestly wouldn't even bother upgrading any of my defense buildings past their initial creation until I've upgraded my offensive buildings to a satisfactory level.

[Arcphoenix]

I'm investing in defense first simply because I have no control over it (I'm prioritizing my defense fortress especially). After having to deal with many of IS's extensively difficult pve maps, I feel it's less important to focus on my offense. I will be building an offense bonus building asap once I get stones. 

[Nym]

I don't think defense is that important unless you are in high tiers when you lose lifts everytime you lose in defense.

It's better that you invest in offense, I might switch from an armor school to a cav school myself since there's brave Veronicas everywhere.

[Johann]

Defense depends on what your tier is:

• Tiers 1-10: Defense is irrelevant
• Tiers 11-17: Getting good Defense results can preserve your score so that you can jump multiple tiers, assuming your Offense is doing well enough
• Tiers 18-20: Good Defense results are necessary to advance to higher tiers from here
• Tier 21: Technically impossible to reach til there's an update of some kind, but in theory you should be incredibly aware of what works and what doesn't if you can get this far

Meanwhile, Offense always matters, though you only need to invest enough that your offense is capable:

• Bonus Structure: Always always always have this, or else you're giving yourself a serious handicap
• 5th Unit: If you find yourself overwhelmed and need the extra support, you really should get this as soon as you can afford it. Units like dancers or Aversa are great choices for the extra slot.
• Specific structures: Best ones are Tactics Room (best if placed 2nd from the left, commonly catching Lyns and Veronicas) and Panic Manor (another way to mess up high offense units), with Catapult and Bolt Tower being fairly useful, Schools being ok, and Healing Tower being borderline useless

Getting a good idea what to prepare for in Offense arguably matters more than spending all your stones on structures and things

[Roflolxp54]

Offense since you have more control. Also, you gain Lift only via Offense. At best, you lose 0 Lift in Defense which is still 0 gain and even that, for the most part, is random.

Also, not sure if this is true but don't you lose more Lift if the defense team is bigger? Or is it always 80 Lift loss max regardless of defense team size?

[XRay]

I generally recommend investing in certain offensive stuff before defense.

Immediate Priority:
1. Fortress (O): Upgrade to as high of a level as possible.
2. Aether Amphorae: Upgrade to level 3 or as high as possible.
3. Bonus Structure (O): Build one once per week only to level 1.
4. Limited Ornaments

Secondary Priority: If you have left over resources after spending on immediate priorities.
5. Add Ally to Raiding Parties: I would save about 100 to 200 Aether Stones in reserve once the player is in Tier 9-10.
6. Add Allies to Defensive Team: I would save about 100 to 200 Aether Stones in reserve once the player is in Tier 9-10 and Tier 17-18.
7. Heavy Trap: Build this only to level 1.
8. Bolt Trap: Build this only to level 1. Bolt Traps can be detrimental to the defense team against offensive players utilizing Desperation. In my opinion, at the very least, these should be placed in a way that offensive players will trip Heavy Traps first before they trip Bolt Traps. These should be treated as "back up Heavy Traps" to slow offensive players' momentum.
9. False Traps
10. Tactics Room (D), Panic Manor (D): Build these only to level 1; these have good effects.
11. Schools (D): They could be good or useless, depending on the offensive player's team composition. I would build 0-3 of these (only to level 1) depending on if the player builds Catapult (D), Healing Tower (D), and Bolt Tower (D). In my opinion, you do not want to build more than 5 Structures (D).
12. Fortress (D): Upgrade to as high of a level as possible.
13. Upgrade: Upgrade the rest of the buildings to as high of a level as possible; upgrade Bolt Traps with caution though.

Build with Caution:
*. Catapult (D), Healing Tower (D): These are unreliable, but they are generally not detrimental. Catapults have a very tiny chance of being detrimental; it clears the offensive player's building in the back, giving their team some extra room to maneuver, but that does not usually matter as a factor. Healing Towers may also be slightly detrimental if the defensive player's team uses Desperation, Vantage, etc., but the chances of that being a factor is also pretty low since offensive players usually just kill defensive units in one round of combat.
*. Bolt Tower (D): If the offensive player runs Desperation on their team, Bolt Tower would be detrimental to the defense team. I personally do not recommend building this unless the defensive player knows what they are doing.

[Azuni]

1 hour ago, Roflolxp54 said:

Also, not sure if this is true but don't you lose more Lift if the defense team is bigger? Or is it always 80 Lift loss max regardless of defense team size?

Always 80. The funny part though is if someone attacks you with a 5 unit offense and they win whilst losing 4 units, that's the same as you winning (+20 to your -80 for every unit defeated) where defense lift loss is concerned.

[Mercakete]

I typically play games defensively anyway, and I just enjoy the defensive aspect better, so I prioritize defense. (Customization is fun!) Besides, for whatever reason, I seem to never lose lift, even when I lose. But since I can unlock extra units, right now I'm prioritizing that for my offensive team, since I already unlocked one for my defensive team.

[Raven]

3 minutes ago, Mercakete said:

I typically play games defensively anyway, and I just enjoy the defensive aspect better, so I prioritize defense. (Customization is fun!) Besides, for whatever reason, I seem to never lose lift, even when I lose. But since I can unlock extra units, right now I'm prioritizing that for my offensive team, since I already unlocked one for my defensive team.

You don't lose Lift until you reach 4,000 Lift.

From there, you can lose up to 80 Lift per loss (less if the attacker loses units to your defense) with 20 hours of Lift protection once any Lift is lost.

[Mercakete]

7 minutes ago, Raven said:

You don't lose Lift until you reach 4,000 Lift.

From there, you can lose up to 80 Lift per loss (less if the attacker loses units to your defense) with 20 hours of Lift protection once any Lift is lost.

Ah, that explains it. Thanks!

[Midnox]

Offense. You lack control in defense, not to mention you’ll only lose points once you’re rank 4000 or less