Strategy 004: Quarrying Theories

By now, we’ve already played countless Diorama games either from random practice sessions or legit games with the JP.

As mentioned several times in our LS before, items (quarried expendables)—such as Megalixirs, Revitalizers, Body Boosts, and Carnal Incenses—play a prevalent role in achieving victory.  In fact, these items prove to be so significant that they can evidently offset skill differences between players.

Throughout the many Diorama matches that we’ve played, there have been several instances where multiple people have been able to quarry multiple Revitalizers.  However, cases like these hardly ever occur during official matches (OMs).  People can argue that quarrying powerful items is a luck based phenomena.  That may be partially true, but other factors, such as distance between the player and the Rook(s), play an evident role in quarrying.  The shorter the distance between the player and the Rook, the lesser the likelihood of obtaining petras but the greater the likelihood of obtaining expendable items.  The reverse is also applicable: Quarrying further away from the Rooks increases the chances of obtaining petras (40% maximum) and decreases the chances of obtaining [powerful] items.

Relative Rook distance is usually assumed to be the sole quarrying factor, but after multitudes of Diorama games, this claim deems quite superficial.  During some unfavorable matches in Meriphataud Mountains, there were times when one of the three rounds is obviously lost. One of the best strategic moves in these situations is to give up the round, rush to the Rook, and quarry for stronger items, hoping to turn the tables in the following round.  Although items like Body Boosts are commonly quarried in OMs, it is exponentially rarer to quarry higher tier items like Revitalizers and Megalixirs.  During Diorama games, on the other hand, Revitalizers are somehow more commonly quarried—even at distances seemingly “far” from the Rook.  Witnessing and experiencing this on more than a few occasions leaves me curious of this issue.

The Diorama games that most people are accustomed to are the typical 20 minute matches of 5:5.  Lately, though, we’ve been playing smaller games of 2:2 ~ 4:4 to accommodate for lack of cooperation and/or interest with most JP players.  Smaller sized games were continued to be played at the 20 minute duration; however, that much time proved to be too tedious for a reduced match size.  Because of this, the duration of smaller sized games has been reduced from 20 minutes to 15 minutes.  I might be delusional, but from this deduction in match length, Revitalizer usages seem even more prevalent.  Keep in mind that Revitalizers still and most definitely appear in 20 minute games (such as the games in which Dario and Elegy spammed Benediction).  This leaves me to believe that the total game duration is associated with quarrying items, especially since Revitalizer spamming is hardly seen during OMs on the contrary.

With these observations, I conclude with three notable factors that contribute to quarrying powerful items:

1) Quarrying closer to the Rook. [proven]
2) Smaller match size. [proposed]
3) Reduced match duration. [proposed]

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

“Aight, V, why the hell are you talking about this bullshit anyway?”

Well, my friend, Mami (Yes, it sounds like a silly name in English, but it’s beautiful in Japanese—literally) aka Miyuto/Merlia suggested that it takes skill to quarry good items, as skill is to luck and luck is to skill.  In a smaller sized setting, one Megalixir or Revitalizer can steer a relatively even match to the user’s favor.  Choosing to quarry for a petra or a powerful item is a decision that the player has to make.  In which case, the player has to decide whether to quarry closer or further away from the Rook.  Obtaining a powerful item in place of a petra potentially pushes your team’s score back one or two points; however, the win will be marginally easier.  Aside from where to quarry, the player also needs to decide when to quarry.  Quarrying at the wrong times can lead to devastating results, such as giving the enemy a guaranteed WS hit and so forth.  After deep contemplation, I must admit that being able to quarry good items is definitely associated with some skill.  Keep in mind that quarrying for powerful items becomes increasingly significant in smaller sized settings (Diorama) and is less of a necessity in larger and longer duration games (OMs).

So next time during Diorama, don’t just quarry blindly.  Think twice before quarrying—what are you trying to quarry for?