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Gunbound Avatar Optimization and Strategy Guide
v0.2
Copyright Chez Maradine 2004


+=================+
| I. Introduction |
+=================+

I've spent a reasonable amount of time in GunBound watching the way people
play. Sometimes, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of logic involved.
Other times, I see bizarre flame wars and friendly fire over silly things
such as "Kill Stealing". I hope to show that all of that is irrelevant.

This document is meant to address two related issues.

1. What is your goal?
2. How are you planning on getting there?

1. is addressed through a few simple logic problems. 2. is addressed with
some speculative math and empirical data collected by myself and my friends,
as well as anyone who would like to contribute.

But first, lets deal with the red tape!


+==============+
| II. Legalese |
+==============+

As mentioned above, below, and here, this work is Copyright Chez Maradine,
2004. GunBound is a registered Trademark of softnyx, Inc. All game content
belongs to them. All analysis in this FAQ belongs to me.

You are permitted to utilize the content of this work under the Creative
Commons Attribution License 1.0, available at:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/legalcode

In short, you are free to:

1. Display, copy, and re-distribute this work.
2. Make derivative works based on this work.
3. Make commercial use of this work or your derivatives.

Under the condtions that you:

1. Give prominent credit to the original author (me).

Or, in really short terms:

I hope you find this useful, do whatever you want with it.

I recognize that people who want to use this document are going to do so
regardless of what I say here, which is why you are licensed to do as you
please. If you are planning on ignoring the one condition set out in this
license, I won't stop you. Its not worth a law suit. But I will certainly
question the honor of anyone who can't give credit where credit is due.

Now, all that being said, I'm a big fan of community-based learning. If you
have some helpful information or would like to contribute, please let me know.
You are welcome to do so, and will be credited appropriately.

The most recent version of this document will always be posted to GameFAQs.com.
If you are not reading this at GameFAQs, then you are probably behind.


DISCLAIMER
----
THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED AS-IS WITH NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. USE
AT YOUR OWN RISK. AUTHOR AND GAMEFAQS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EFFECTS OF
THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.


+======================+
| III. Version History |
+======================+

V0.1 - 02/08/2004
----
Intial version with inital dataset. Based on my avatar.xls 0.5. Still
need to finish some arguments and get all the girl gear stats done (though
they are fundamentally identical).

V0.2 - 02/08/2004
----
Updated to use avatar.xls 0.6, which includes newly released items.


+=======================+
| IV. Table of Contents |
+=======================+

I. Introduction -- What I'm trying to do.
II. Legalese -- How I'm protecting myself.
III. Version History -- Where I've been.
IV. Table of Contents -- What you see.
V. GunBound Goals -- Why are *you* here?
VI. Stat Metrics -- How the numbers work.
VII. Avatar Optimization -- How to use the numbers.
VIII. Data Collection -- How you can help me.
IX. MetaFAQ -- What you wanted to know.
X. Credits -- Who I couldn't do it without.
XI. Appendix A: Scoring -- What were they thinking?
XII. Appendix B: Stat Tables -- Where am I?


+===================+
| V. GunBound Goals |
+===================+

GunBound is a great deal of fun, and a fantastic time waster to boot. But why
are you playing? Are you playing to have fun, or are you competing?

If its the former, more power to you. I hope I meet you in a jewel match some
time. But the rest of this guide really isn't geared towards you. Still, you
may find parts of it useful and entertaining.

If its the latter, then we need to have a talk.

Logic Demonstration I
----

| P1: GunBound is a scored game.
| P2: Score is based solely on accumulation of "GP".
|----
| C1: To "win", you must gain GP faster than anyone else.

Obvious, I know. But we need a solid foundation. For the next parts, refer to
the Scoring List in Appendix A.


| C1: To "win", you must gain GP faster than anyone else.
| P3: The largest single consistant award of GP comes from winning a 4v4 game.
| P4: In Score and Jewel modes, 4v4 games don't take much more time than 1v1.
|----
| C2: To gain GP quickly, play 4v4 Score or Jewel games.

Still not shocking stuff. I'll get around to demonstrating the supporting
facts on P4 at some point.


| C2: To gain GP quickly, play 4v4 Score or Jewel games.
| P5: In Jewel play, many useful gold and GP bonuses are disabled.
|----
| C3: When trying to gain GP rapidly, Score is better than Jewel.

So at this point, we're playing 4v4 Score games, preferably with people you
know, as they are less likely to lag out or quit. Now we get to the offensive
part.


| P6: A "kill" is worth 1 GP.
| P7: In a Score game, there can only be 5 kills before the game ends.
|----
| C4: Getting every kill in the match (sweeping it) nets you 5 GP.

Still with me?


| C4: Getting every kill in the match (sweeping it) nets you 5 GP.
| P8: Winning the match is worth 12 GP.
|----
| C5: THERE IS NO POSSIBLE CIRCUMSTANCE WHERE INDIVIDUAL KILLS ARE
WORTH RISKING LOSING THE GAME.

So what am I trying to say?

There is no "kill stealing". While the intial anger at losing a hard-fought
kill is annoying, you'll get over it. Why? Because the enemy that just
dropped doesn't get to act anymore. He's gone until he spawns again. He can't
hurt you or your teammates.

So if the choice is between letting your buddy finish the kill when the kill
still has an action left before that happens, or swooping in and ending it,
end it. Fretting over kills is never worth risking the match. Never.

That being said, understand that I am not advocating being a prick. If your
team is up by 4 kills, you are in little risk of losing. Let your teammates
finish what they started, and expect them to do the same. Play nice.

Note that this logic applies in all game sizes, not just 4v4. In 3v3, the
ratio becomes 9 to 5. In 2v2, 6 to 5. In 1v1, well, no one will be stealing
your kills in 1v1.



+==================+
| VI. Stat Metrics |
+==================+

Now that we have our goal firmly in our mind (to win, right?), we have a
fundamental choice to make. Do we play avatar-on, or avatar-off?

Avatar-off is very tempting. Everyone, no matter how long they've played, and
no matter how much money they can throw at the problem, is equal in an avatar-
off server. It is simply a question of skill and asthetics. If our goal is
to win, then this is where the even odds are.

However, right now, there is a bit of a misunderstanding within the Gunbound
community that makes avatar-on servers interesting. That is, namely, this:

Everyone thinks attack is better than defense. They are wrong.

A high attack stat is certainly good for picking up damage-based bonuses,
mostly Gold. However, our goal is winning the match, right? Let's see why
this is important.

The Argument of Shields versus Swords
----
Two Grubs are next to each other, siumltaneously trading shots. Grub One is
doing 20% more damage than Grub Two. Observe their health totals over time.

Health Totals
----
| T T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4 T+5 T+6 T+7 T+8 T+9 T+10
G1| 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 dead
G2| 1000 880 760 640 520 400 280 160 40 dead


This time, Grub One is taking 20% less damage than Grub Two.

| T T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4 T+5 T+6 T+7 T+8 T+9 T+10 T+11 T+12 T+13
G1| 1000 920 840 760 680 600 520 440 360 280 200 120 40 dead
G2| 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 dead

For equal magnitudes of enhancement, defense allows us to finish an engagement
in significantly better shape than attack. This scales with increased damage
potential weapons.

Enough theory. Let's observe the damage over time of two actual Grubs from a
test match. Grub one is at +12 Swords and +6 Shields. Grub Two is naked.

Damage Done
----
|
G1| 120 127 119 124 142 116 127 145 102 138 119 116
G2| 82 80 83 77 77 79 80 81 80 80 81 80

Those of you who have been keeping up should notice something odd at this
point: Defense scales one and a half times as fast as attack power. Each
point of attack was buying us roughly 2 points (or 2%) of damage. Each point
of defense was buying us about 3 points of damage reduction.


The Argument of Shields versus Hearts
----
[finish text brick. upshot: shields are better]