Fast Neopoints: Ace vs Walein

     Hi there, Thrifty Dark Faerie Kat here. Ever catch yourself in a pinch and need Neopoints quick? Maybe you noticed that Paint Brush or rare Stamp was an unbeatable price, you were just shy of the pure Neopoints needed to purchase it... And would likely not be there more than a few more days. You might need a way to pay for that Food Club habit of yours, or a little bit to offset the costs of training. Or maybe you just want the best time to money ratio for your earning. Although there is no get-rich-quick method in Neopia and all methods have their flaws there are answers to the dilemma that is "fast neopoints" that you could be capitalizing upon every single day. Well today we are going to talk about the steps needed to have that little extra you can get from none other than the Battledome! Specifically we are going to discuss the age old question: Jetsam Ace, or Mutant Walein?

     To start, how do I define "fast" when earning? It is any earning that can be done in less than 10 minutes a day that will consistently produce a greater increase in net income than playing games (by far the slowest method to amass Neopoints) will. If done continuously over time the amount earned should offset any "normal" daily purchases needed to be made for things like Faerie Quests and some Food Club betting amounts. The point of this earning is to provide a stead, reliable flow of income without taking much time out of your day, meaning even if you aren't online long you can certainly have the time to make a daily Neopoint income on the site. For this edition of fast neopoints there are, however, a few prerequisites.

     Step 1. Training Your Pet

     Unfortunately there just isn't a way around this one. You will need a lightly trained Battledome pet to profit from this. For the Jetsam Ace (who you can battle on all difficulties with minimal difference) I recommend a minimum of 85 strength and a level of at least 50 for Lens Flare. The strategy here is to be able to take him out in one turn -- thus significantly decreasing your time taken. For the Giant Walein, however, you have to go even further. A strength of 125 or higher is preferable for this challenger on easy.

     Why the Walein over the renowned Koi Warrior? It all breaks down to the challenger drops they have. Koi Warrior has significantly more challenger-based prize drops than the Giant Walein, yes, that 3 drops makes a difference when what you want are general drops for the arena. If you cannot beat the Walein, the Koi Warrior will suffice, but you may notice a light difference between your drop rate of what we are after, which in these guys case is Codestones. Koi Warrior can be beaten on easy with the same stats as the Jetsam Ace as detailed previously.

     For weapons, you want something with some punch. Turned Tooth, Yooyu Knuckle Dusters, and the no-trade swords from the recent plot if you have them are all good choices, the more raw power the better. If you're using the Lens Flare method, you will probably not need any defensive weapons, though if you're running short on levels a light healer such as Helm of Recovery or Greater Healing Scroll will suffice and a freezer (though at this level they're quite a gamble) might be handy. As stated, your ability of choice will be Lens Flare, available at Level 50 for fifteen Light Faerie blessings. Once you are equipped and ready to go, the next question to pose is a bit more complex: Which challenger to choose?

     Step 2: Choosing Your Challenger

     You would think this would be easy, and if you don't have premium it is since you'll only have access to the Mutant Walein (if you are battling Koi Warrior you will need to unlock him as a Battledome Challenger, you can use Jellyneo's challenger checklist to know where he's at and how to get him, Mutant Walein is an automatic challenger). Giant Spectral Mutant Walein as he is formally called in the challenger list is found under the Dome of the Deep as indicated by the shield with fish on it and clocks in at a difficult of 90 for his easiest setting. Don't bother battling him on hard -- he only has more prize drops and thus less of a chance to drop the coveted codestones. Battlers with Premium will have to choose between the Jetsam Ace and the Walein.

     But which is more profitable, faster? For this I have collected 5 days worth of data for both challengers that you can see below. All Neopoint totals are the total worth of everything that was collected from that challenger in a single day (that's 15 items max) and priced with the pricing tools over at Jellyneo's Item Database for the sake of consistency in pricing. Your totals may differ based upon prize drops you receive -- this is simply a loose guide to the possibilities.

     Jetsam Ace Day 1: 70,954 - Day 2: 24,975 - Day 3: 88,271 - Day 4: 144,888 - Day 5: 45,462

     Total: 374,550

     Giant Walein Day 1: 59,578 - Day 2: 47,086 - Day 3: 30,664 - Day 4: 60,809 - Day 5: 54,625

     Total: 252,762

     It should be noted that the Jetsam does have the capacity to drop far less or far more than listed. Observations from longer term battling say that the Walein's overall daily sell values are more consistent than Jetsam Ace, though short term amounts earned are definitely lower and will require additional research to know if the long term is affected. For short term earning, it is recommended you battle the Jetsam Ace.

     And there you have it folks, the basics you need to know to earn Neopoints quickly and efficiently with the Battledome. This is Thrifty Dark Faerie Kat signing off, happy earning!