Td3h [1785428] —
Original article
For the past two weeks, the epic battle royale known as the Dog-Tag Competition has engulfed almost every citizen of Torn City. Yours truly currently sits in second place with 16794 points and a total of 464 tags collected. If you would like to know how I achieved this, as well as which strategies you might employ to collect a few tags of your own, you may wish to read on.
For the less avid readers of this newspaper, here is a short explanation of the way the Dog Tags competition works. At 17:00 on the 5th November, every player in Torn received a Dog Tag engraved with their name. Each tag was worth a set number of points, with the initial value depending on the owner's level and status, and its final value increased according to how many people have held it during the competition. At the end of the event on the 25th of November, the competitors are ranked by the number of points their tag collection is worth.
Each year, the competition passes through four individual stages, each of which requires their own tailored tactics. The first stage lasts only a few hours. During this phase, the goal is to amass as many special tags as possible. There are three types of special tag, with the first being the staff tag, which is worth 100 points regardless of the original owner's level. Next up are the level-100 tags, which are worth 75 points apiece. Further elaboration on the extraordinary third type of tag can be found later in this article.
Once you've acquired as many special tags as possible, the second stage involves attacking as many high-level players as possible to achieve the highest number of points per attack - rinsing ten level-70's is obviously going to get you more points than shaking down twice as many level-20's. A high score in this phase is necessary to be competitive later on, but this phase is also very short-lived.
The third stage however, is where the competition is truly won or lost. It is during this long stretch that the weak and meek are separated from the single-hearted and strong. It begins by farming the tags of high-level inactive players and moving down, level by level, as all inactive players are slowly drained of their tags. This process involves an arduous slog through hundreds and hundreds of individual profiles, each time checking their statistics to make sure they still have their tag. The last thing you want to do is waste a full energy bar, Xanax and a refill on a load of tagless players.
In the final stage of the competition, other taggers are the targets. Yours truly, having revealed himself rather foolishly in this article, is guaranteed to be the target of other taggers that include monsters like Bodybagger (>500 attacks, >360 Trillion stats) and DrGonzo (>400 Attacks, >1 Trillion stats). If you, dear reader, are thinking about taking my tags, just remember that my name td3hSEDb4bounty spells out Td3h uses a Small Explosive Device, before you think about claiming my bounties. I will simply self-hospitalise before any attack can finish, as I have done to more than a dozen of other players that have attempted to lay a claim to my tags.
There are a bunch of decent strategies that must be employed to place well in the competition. Many of them were listed in last year's article on Dog Tag strategy by sugarvalves, but some useful approaches were missing from this piece. The key to becoming a truly great tagger lies in innovation, intelligence and an increase of energy output. Battle stats, levels and money all help as well, but their effects are diminished greatly without a solid, systematic approach.
As we've seen this year, monstrous battle stats are useful but are not necessary to be a top contender. The current favourite to win is a level 100 with less than 5 billion in battle stats. In third place is a level 84 with a battle stats total of 2.5 billion. Certainly, both players possess respectable figures, but they pale in comparison to some of the beasts lurking in the top 10 taggers list.
Still, the fact that at least one of the current top 10 contenders has sub 1.4 billion battle stats proves that dedication and perseverance are more important than statistics. Upon entering the competition my own battle stats and level were 2.4 billion and 73 respectively, which I believe proves that choosing the right approach is more important than your ability to go toe to toe with Torn's toughest.
So what are these strategies which can help you beat the big boys at the dog tag game? Let's look at the simplest strategy first: Maximising energy. This is easy to do but extremely important, especially in the first couple of weeks. Stack before the competition begins and take three or more Xanax a day during it. Use the daily refill and stretch your booster cooldown as far as it will go, ideally using Feathery Hotel Coupons. Job specials that can give energy are also valuable if you have enough points saved up - sufficiently prepared farm workers can gain enough energy for up to 28 extra attacks a day.
During an Interview with Kniv, the double dog tag champion, he backed up the view that this kind of preparation is key if you wish to achieve anything in this competition.
"My biggest strength is long-term planning. I have planned for this competition for a year now, thinking about how I could have the maximum amount of energy available for this competition."
Another crucial trait for a Dog Tag champion is intelligence; not the ability to solve problems, but rather the ability to collect information about potential targets and other taggers. As we've already covered, the process of identifying inactive targets that still have tags is long and drawn out, but you must add to this by gathering as much information about other taggers as possible.
This research can be conducted in a variety of ways, with creativity often rewarded with a valuable information advantage. One of my favoured methods is to monitor the Torn homepage while logged out to see unstealthed attacks by other taggers. Another effective strategy is to check out the faction attack logs, the list of self-hospitalised players in the hospital and simply ask questions of friends and faction members. Trying out new, unknown methods to identify taggers is an integral part of my approach, and it is one that helps me gain a crucial edge over the competition.
Identifying the competition became a new goal of mine, and using these methods my main competitors were identified swiftly. I shall refrain from naming the person currently holding the first place with a massive lead of over 5000 points, but I have no compunctions in naming some of the others, including myself.
First off, at the time of writing, I am in second place with a total of 392 tags and a score of 15688. Trailing me closely is Ofgortens from MnC with more than 400 tags to his name and a score of almost 14 thousand. With a large gap until fourth place, I suspected both Bodybagger (>500 attacks) and DrGonzo (>400 attacks) may have been in the top 10. I have since been informed that Bodybagger is happy to be exposed as the current holder of fourth, as he does not expect to place within the top three come the close of the competition.
As for the rest of the top ten, I know that my faction mate, Alexstrasza is currently in 6th place. Kniv, the winner of the competition in the last two years, is undoubtedly among the most dangerous competitors. I know of another member amongst the top 10 too, but considering his comparatively low battle stats, I do not think it would be fair to release his name now. As the competition draws closer to its finale, battle stats will start to become more important as tags are stolen from the weak, by the strong.
This brings us to the next important trait to consider: Innovation. Trying out new strategies and approaches is important and can pay off handsomely. At the beginning of this competition, I took almost all available NPC tags, worth 500 points each. Having spoken to other tag competitors since it appears this was something nobody else had thought of doing. My plan worked like a charm. In the first five minutes, I gained a lead of 6,500 points, without which it would have been difficult to achieve my current score.
But like any great inventor, most of my experiments failed miserably - some of them even backfired horribly.
My first attempts at sabotaging my rivals began when I noticed the current leader was catching up with me. I placed anonymous bounties worth 4 million each and paid friends and faction members do the same. I also messaged some of the strongest players in Torn with an offer of 4 million per attack, as well as various bonuses if they made sure he did not get out of the hospital.
When that approach didn't seem to slow him down, I had to resort to attempting to bribe his farm director so that he would fire the man in question, thus depriving him of his energy benefits. Unfortunately, the honest director turned down my first offer of 250 million and declined my second offer of 350 million Dollars. Discouraged, but not hopeless, I attempted to buy the farm but was quickly shot down by the faction leader who owns the farm: 'This company is not for sale.'
Feeling despondent, I hatched yet another desperate scheme. Since I could not get my opponent fired, I had to scale up my plans - destroy the whole company. Or, at the very least reduce the farm's rank to nine stars to remove the energy special. With my bulging wallet ready and a minion eager to act as my proxy, I was about to make my plan reality when I was overtaken by the man I feared. Having examined the situation closely, I realised it would be impossible to catch up to such a dedicated individual. So I decided to stop throwing bad money after good and pulled the plug on my plan to destroy my opponent's employer.
As you can see, not every Dog Tag strategy bears fruit; but when all else fails, you can always fall back on the old reliable bounty. Bounties are a great tool in the arsenal of a tagger; they can be used both to keep the competition at bay and as a deterrent against any taggers trying to steal your tags. I first used bounties as a threat when a poker buddy of mine hit me and stole a tag. The threat of 3 million-value bounties running until the end of the competition quickly put an end to his plans to attack me before he could do much damage.
Especially in the initial stage of the competition, when I did not have many normal tags to protect my valuable NPC ones, it was essential to avoid being hit. Through a mixture of threats, cajoling and SEDs I managed to make it through the competition's early days mostly unscathed and without losing any of my most valuable tags. Unfortunately, my rather aggressive approach didn't exactly endear me to those I tried it on. The second person who caught my attention forced me to prove my seriousness with ten bounties worth 4 million apiece before he would relent. All were claimed rather quickly, and M_P and I subsequently enjoyed a nice talk about how we would stay away from each other in the future.
The third person attacking me folded as well. The fourth man I attempted to threaten did not react to my, admittedly, quite heavy-handed approach as I had hoped either. After threatening to rain hellfire in the form of bounties and buy-attacks from stat beasts like Bodybagger, Cindyfury and others, I quickly found myself on the receiving end of some bounties that continue up until this day. The accompanying messages included some real gemstones, such as:
"As for bounties and me ****ing you up after the comp is over. I have a history of making people quit this game." and "You made the wrong enemy. I'll make your game suck. Moron.".
I was able to hold on to most of my tags by paying people to claim the bounties while also paying for revives immediately after. However, some attackers slipped through the cracks of my quick self-hospitalisations, and one of them took one of my more precious tags.
***** attacked and hospitalized you. Chojin`s +101 dog tag was taken.
Luckily for me, they were not interested in the tag, but only the bounties on me. I was able to get it back after having a friendly chat with them - I guess not every Dog Tag strategy has to involve violence after all.
So there you have it, my expert guide to the Dog Tag competition as the current number two tagger. While the event still has over a week to go, I don't expect any major upsets. Ofgortens may overtake me, but unless any of those ranked from tenth upwards go on a massive dog tag buying spree, the current rankings will mostly remain as they are. I believe it is almost guaranteed that the current leader will win, and Ofgortens and I are both going to stay in the top three due to our significant leads. Of course, that doesn't mean any of us will attack less.
Since its relaunch in 2015, the Dog Tag competition has become increasingly tougher and more sophisticated with each passing year. Expert tagger Kniv had this to say about how the event has changed over time:
"First year it was a free for all and the scores where tight. Many could have won it. No one seemed to have a clear strategy on how to run away from the field. That changed last year when people knew how to do it. Scores got higher. Same thing for this year again, the top scores will be a lot higher than last years. When this is printed the leader will have passed last years winning score."
Considering how much the skill and effort requirements have risen, it will be interesting to see how high this year's winning score will end up. With this in mind, as someone who started this competition as a massive underdog with a comparatively low level and low battle stats, it has been gratifying to see my strategizing and effort pay off.
Undoubtedly Ofgortens and I will both experience an increase in taggers and token hunters attempting to steal our precious treasures. It is also quite likely that Ofgortens will try to make a move on my position. But my war chest is filled to the brim, and as you may have gathered through reading this article, I will do whatever is necessary to stay in my position.
Bribery, bounties and blackmail all await anyone trying to steal my second place.
For the less avid readers of this newspaper, here is a short explanation of the way the Dog Tags competition works. At 17:00 on the 5th November, every player in Torn received a Dog Tag engraved with their name. Each tag was worth a set number of points, with the initial value depending on the owner's level and status, and its final value increased according to how many people have held it during the competition. At the end of the event on the 25th of November, the competitors are ranked by the number of points their tag collection is worth.
Each year, the competition passes through four individual stages, each of which requires their own tailored tactics. The first stage lasts only a few hours. During this phase, the goal is to amass as many special tags as possible. There are three types of special tag, with the first being the staff tag, which is worth 100 points regardless of the original owner's level. Next up are the level-100 tags, which are worth 75 points apiece. Further elaboration on the extraordinary third type of tag can be found later in this article.
Once you've acquired as many special tags as possible, the second stage involves attacking as many high-level players as possible to achieve the highest number of points per attack - rinsing ten level-70's is obviously going to get you more points than shaking down twice as many level-20's. A high score in this phase is necessary to be competitive later on, but this phase is also very short-lived.
The third stage however, is where the competition is truly won or lost. It is during this long stretch that the weak and meek are separated from the single-hearted and strong. It begins by farming the tags of high-level inactive players and moving down, level by level, as all inactive players are slowly drained of their tags. This process involves an arduous slog through hundreds and hundreds of individual profiles, each time checking their statistics to make sure they still have their tag. The last thing you want to do is waste a full energy bar, Xanax and a refill on a load of tagless players.
In the final stage of the competition, other taggers are the targets. Yours truly, having revealed himself rather foolishly in this article, is guaranteed to be the target of other taggers that include monsters like Bodybagger (>500 attacks, >360 Trillion stats) and DrGonzo (>400 Attacks, >1 Trillion stats). If you, dear reader, are thinking about taking my tags, just remember that my name td3hSEDb4bounty spells out Td3h uses a Small Explosive Device, before you think about claiming my bounties. I will simply self-hospitalise before any attack can finish, as I have done to more than a dozen of other players that have attempted to lay a claim to my tags.
There are a bunch of decent strategies that must be employed to place well in the competition. Many of them were listed in last year's article on Dog Tag strategy by sugarvalves, but some useful approaches were missing from this piece. The key to becoming a truly great tagger lies in innovation, intelligence and an increase of energy output. Battle stats, levels and money all help as well, but their effects are diminished greatly without a solid, systematic approach.
As we've seen this year, monstrous battle stats are useful but are not necessary to be a top contender. The current favourite to win is a level 100 with less than 5 billion in battle stats. In third place is a level 84 with a battle stats total of 2.5 billion. Certainly, both players possess respectable figures, but they pale in comparison to some of the beasts lurking in the top 10 taggers list.
Still, the fact that at least one of the current top 10 contenders has sub 1.4 billion battle stats proves that dedication and perseverance are more important than statistics. Upon entering the competition my own battle stats and level were 2.4 billion and 73 respectively, which I believe proves that choosing the right approach is more important than your ability to go toe to toe with Torn's toughest.
So what are these strategies which can help you beat the big boys at the dog tag game? Let's look at the simplest strategy first: Maximising energy. This is easy to do but extremely important, especially in the first couple of weeks. Stack before the competition begins and take three or more Xanax a day during it. Use the daily refill and stretch your booster cooldown as far as it will go, ideally using Feathery Hotel Coupons. Job specials that can give energy are also valuable if you have enough points saved up - sufficiently prepared farm workers can gain enough energy for up to 28 extra attacks a day.
During an Interview with Kniv, the double dog tag champion, he backed up the view that this kind of preparation is key if you wish to achieve anything in this competition.
"My biggest strength is long-term planning. I have planned for this competition for a year now, thinking about how I could have the maximum amount of energy available for this competition."
Another crucial trait for a Dog Tag champion is intelligence; not the ability to solve problems, but rather the ability to collect information about potential targets and other taggers. As we've already covered, the process of identifying inactive targets that still have tags is long and drawn out, but you must add to this by gathering as much information about other taggers as possible.
This research can be conducted in a variety of ways, with creativity often rewarded with a valuable information advantage. One of my favoured methods is to monitor the Torn homepage while logged out to see unstealthed attacks by other taggers. Another effective strategy is to check out the faction attack logs, the list of self-hospitalised players in the hospital and simply ask questions of friends and faction members. Trying out new, unknown methods to identify taggers is an integral part of my approach, and it is one that helps me gain a crucial edge over the competition.
Identifying the competition became a new goal of mine, and using these methods my main competitors were identified swiftly. I shall refrain from naming the person currently holding the first place with a massive lead of over 5000 points, but I have no compunctions in naming some of the others, including myself.
First off, at the time of writing, I am in second place with a total of 392 tags and a score of 15688. Trailing me closely is Ofgortens from MnC with more than 400 tags to his name and a score of almost 14 thousand. With a large gap until fourth place, I suspected both Bodybagger (>500 attacks) and DrGonzo (>400 attacks) may have been in the top 10. I have since been informed that Bodybagger is happy to be exposed as the current holder of fourth, as he does not expect to place within the top three come the close of the competition.
As for the rest of the top ten, I know that my faction mate, Alexstrasza is currently in 6th place. Kniv, the winner of the competition in the last two years, is undoubtedly among the most dangerous competitors. I know of another member amongst the top 10 too, but considering his comparatively low battle stats, I do not think it would be fair to release his name now. As the competition draws closer to its finale, battle stats will start to become more important as tags are stolen from the weak, by the strong.
This brings us to the next important trait to consider: Innovation. Trying out new strategies and approaches is important and can pay off handsomely. At the beginning of this competition, I took almost all available NPC tags, worth 500 points each. Having spoken to other tag competitors since it appears this was something nobody else had thought of doing. My plan worked like a charm. In the first five minutes, I gained a lead of 6,500 points, without which it would have been difficult to achieve my current score.
But like any great inventor, most of my experiments failed miserably - some of them even backfired horribly.
My first attempts at sabotaging my rivals began when I noticed the current leader was catching up with me. I placed anonymous bounties worth 4 million each and paid friends and faction members do the same. I also messaged some of the strongest players in Torn with an offer of 4 million per attack, as well as various bonuses if they made sure he did not get out of the hospital.
When that approach didn't seem to slow him down, I had to resort to attempting to bribe his farm director so that he would fire the man in question, thus depriving him of his energy benefits. Unfortunately, the honest director turned down my first offer of 250 million and declined my second offer of 350 million Dollars. Discouraged, but not hopeless, I attempted to buy the farm but was quickly shot down by the faction leader who owns the farm: 'This company is not for sale.'
Feeling despondent, I hatched yet another desperate scheme. Since I could not get my opponent fired, I had to scale up my plans - destroy the whole company. Or, at the very least reduce the farm's rank to nine stars to remove the energy special. With my bulging wallet ready and a minion eager to act as my proxy, I was about to make my plan reality when I was overtaken by the man I feared. Having examined the situation closely, I realised it would be impossible to catch up to such a dedicated individual. So I decided to stop throwing bad money after good and pulled the plug on my plan to destroy my opponent's employer.
As you can see, not every Dog Tag strategy bears fruit; but when all else fails, you can always fall back on the old reliable bounty. Bounties are a great tool in the arsenal of a tagger; they can be used both to keep the competition at bay and as a deterrent against any taggers trying to steal your tags. I first used bounties as a threat when a poker buddy of mine hit me and stole a tag. The threat of 3 million-value bounties running until the end of the competition quickly put an end to his plans to attack me before he could do much damage.
Especially in the initial stage of the competition, when I did not have many normal tags to protect my valuable NPC ones, it was essential to avoid being hit. Through a mixture of threats, cajoling and SEDs I managed to make it through the competition's early days mostly unscathed and without losing any of my most valuable tags. Unfortunately, my rather aggressive approach didn't exactly endear me to those I tried it on. The second person who caught my attention forced me to prove my seriousness with ten bounties worth 4 million apiece before he would relent. All were claimed rather quickly, and M_P and I subsequently enjoyed a nice talk about how we would stay away from each other in the future.
The third person attacking me folded as well. The fourth man I attempted to threaten did not react to my, admittedly, quite heavy-handed approach as I had hoped either. After threatening to rain hellfire in the form of bounties and buy-attacks from stat beasts like Bodybagger, Cindyfury and others, I quickly found myself on the receiving end of some bounties that continue up until this day. The accompanying messages included some real gemstones, such as:
"As for bounties and me ****ing you up after the comp is over. I have a history of making people quit this game." and "You made the wrong enemy. I'll make your game suck. Moron.".
I was able to hold on to most of my tags by paying people to claim the bounties while also paying for revives immediately after. However, some attackers slipped through the cracks of my quick self-hospitalisations, and one of them took one of my more precious tags.
***** attacked and hospitalized you. Chojin`s +101 dog tag was taken.
Luckily for me, they were not interested in the tag, but only the bounties on me. I was able to get it back after having a friendly chat with them - I guess not every Dog Tag strategy has to involve violence after all.
So there you have it, my expert guide to the Dog Tag competition as the current number two tagger. While the event still has over a week to go, I don't expect any major upsets. Ofgortens may overtake me, but unless any of those ranked from tenth upwards go on a massive dog tag buying spree, the current rankings will mostly remain as they are. I believe it is almost guaranteed that the current leader will win, and Ofgortens and I are both going to stay in the top three due to our significant leads. Of course, that doesn't mean any of us will attack less.
Since its relaunch in 2015, the Dog Tag competition has become increasingly tougher and more sophisticated with each passing year. Expert tagger Kniv had this to say about how the event has changed over time:
"First year it was a free for all and the scores where tight. Many could have won it. No one seemed to have a clear strategy on how to run away from the field. That changed last year when people knew how to do it. Scores got higher. Same thing for this year again, the top scores will be a lot higher than last years. When this is printed the leader will have passed last years winning score."
Considering how much the skill and effort requirements have risen, it will be interesting to see how high this year's winning score will end up. With this in mind, as someone who started this competition as a massive underdog with a comparatively low level and low battle stats, it has been gratifying to see my strategizing and effort pay off.
Undoubtedly Ofgortens and I will both experience an increase in taggers and token hunters attempting to steal our precious treasures. It is also quite likely that Ofgortens will try to make a move on my position. But my war chest is filled to the brim, and as you may have gathered through reading this article, I will do whatever is necessary to stay in my position.
Bribery, bounties and blackmail all await anyone trying to steal my second place.
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