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With one month to go until Dog Tags 2020, find out what you should be doing now to prepare for the tournament.
Are you ready for Dog Tags 2020? This solo-player tournament is now less than a month away, beginning on the 5th of November and ending on the 25th. So if you're looking to grab some merits or rank among the top dogs when it's all over, now is the time to start preparing.
If you don't know what this tournament involves, follow this link to bone up. And when you're done with that, cast your eyes over this simple guide which explains what top taggers are doing in the run-up to Dog Tags 2020.
SET YOUR GOALS
There is a big difference between the strategy employed by a top tagger and someone who is going for the 50 or 250 tag merits. The limit of your ambition will be set by your Battle Stats and your budget before anything else. Make sure you go into the competition knowing what you're capable of, and what you can afford to spend.
It's also wise to figure out if your personal life can take the damage that Dog Tags will wreak upon it. This is an arduous competition, so if you're moving house, having a baby, or planning to donate your lungs to needy children, maybe give this one a miss.
SECURE SUPPLIES
The price of many useful Dog Tag items will rise massively in the two weeks prior to the tournament, with some traders suggesting they already have. It is wise to buy your item stocks from a variety of different traders, as some are known to sell their customer information to rich taggers on request - Torn loves a scumbag!
FHCs, Xanax, Cans, and Meds should be your priorities, with meds being especially cheap at this moment in time. Stealth Temporaries will also rise in price, as will most useful temporaries, such as smokes, tear gas, and pepper spray. Stealth boosting items such as Masks and Motorcycle Helmets will be in demand too, in addition to stealth-appropriate melee weapons, such as the Diamond Bladed Knife, Macana, and Nunchucks
We also expect to see specialist supplies rise in value, such as Serotonin, which some players like to use on the first turn of an attack. You should formulate your attack plans now, to ensure that you know exactly what you need to buy, and how much before you are priced out of the market.
PROTECT YOURSELF
Items related to tag protection will also rise in price over the coming weeks, so get them bought up now. Small Explosive Devices are the most popular, as you can use these to self-hospitalize yourself by placing them in a parcel and opening them when you need to go offline - make sure you wrap up a few SEDs ahead of time.
You'll also want to buy up a few litres of the wrong blood type too, as it isn't a great idea to rely solely on SEDs to frag yourself during Dog Tags. Doing so marks you out as a tagger when rivals scour the hospital lists, so you'll need to mix things up by occasionally using the wrong type of blood bag to induce an acute hemolytic transfusion reaction - Irradiated Blood Bags can now also be used for the same purpose, which is good for those who cannot self-hosp with regular blood bags.
Some players are also known to use Business Class Tickets during Dog Tags to fly away and protect their tags that way, but this is only suitable if you need to be away for the specific flight time that a BCT enables. Most people prefer to use regular flights, as these tend to be longer, allowing you to rest safe in the knowledge that your tags are out of reach.
SAVE POINTS
Points can be used to purchase refills during the tournament. If you have a plushie and flower collection, it might be the time to trade them in, as points seem to be slightly lower in value than usual at the moment. If you wish to gamble, you might want to wait a few days to see if this downwards trend continues.
CHANGE CAREER
There are several company specials which can help you during Dog Tags, with the 10-star Farm special the most obvious one, given that it provides 7 energy in exchange for just one job point. Both Candle Shops (7-stars) and Game Shops (10-stars) provide a good second-choice option by offering 5 energy for 1 job point, with the former also giving you the passive ability to see a level holder's true level at 10-stars. A 3-star pub will also give you 3 energy for one job point and a 10% melee weapon damage.
The revamped Gas Station may come in useful too, especially if it's a 10-star company, as its employees receive a 50% increase to burning damage dealt, 50% decrease to burning damage received, and occasional 20% healing during combat. Over the course of entire dog tags tournament, that last one could prove very useful.
Life regeneration specials can also be found at 7-star Fitness Centers and 10-star Meat Warehouses, and the latter comes with a bonus of 10% melee weapon damage too. 10-star Mining Corps will boost life to 150% for 25 job points, in addition to giving you a 10% passive life boost which you gain at 7-stars.
Elsewhere, the Clothing Store 10-star 25% armor bonus is nothing to be sniffed at, with its 5-star Activewear special adding a 25% passive dexterity boost on top. Car Dealerships are often overlooked too, but their 10-star Getaway Car special means your escape button always enabled, which might be useful if you're prone to starting attacks you cannot finish.
If you're a big dog who is likely to be targeted frequently, the Hair Salon's 5-star Rumors special will reduce your enemies' chances of successfully stealthing you. However, the Music Store is a much better bet, as its 5-star passive reduces enemy stealth, its 7-star guarantees stealth for 10 job points, and at 10-stars you'll gain a passive boost to all stats.
Those who are committed to stealth will almost certainly pitch up at the Theater. Here, you can gain max stealth for 10 job points at just 3-stars. The 5-star special also means you can't be spied, and the 10-star special hides your travelling status and destination too, which is crucial if you want to escape to foreign shores undetected.
DON'T WASTE BOOKS
There are a number of subscriber books which are useful during Dog Tags, so if you have one, don't waste them before the tournament begins, or put yourself under the influence of a book that is not going to be useful. Here is a selection of books which will help you during the Dog Tags tournament. Their effects all last for 31 days.
Fight Like An Asshole - Passive 25% bonus to all stats
Mind Over Matter - Passive 100% bonus to strength
No Shame No Pain - Passive 100% bonus to Defense
Run Like The Wind - Passive 100% bonus to Speed
Weaseling Out Of Trouble - Passive 100% bonus to Dexterity
Medical Degree Schmedical Degree - Decreases hospital time by 50%
Stealthy Stealing of Underwear - Guaranteed stealth
Higher Daddy, Higher - +20% Energy regeneration
No More Sick Days - Doubles life regeneration
Ugly Energy - Increases max energy to 250
Making Friends, Enemies, And Cakes - Adds 100 capacity to Friends and Enemies lists.
NOTE: The last book takes effect after the 31 days have elapsed, so use it now for maximum effect.
PLAN TARGETS
Form a database of targets now. Add labels such as inactive, potential tagger etc. Use the advanced search function available to donators. Top this database up when you can during the weeks running up to DT. Make sure you note down all of the new players whose 14-day protection will expire during the event. There are also lots of new staffers whose tags provide more points but whose names have not been added to everyone's lists. Make sure you add them to yours.
TEAM UP
Reach out to your trusted contacts to find people willing to hospitalise you, sell you some tags, or share target lists. It's a good idea to ask for help in your faction forums too. Your faction members are more likely to slut and spy for you than outsiders, and you may even find a Dog Tag Team buddy to work with during the event.
The key to finding a good partner or partners is to offer yourself up as a team player. Some Dog Tag groups have agreements that everyone will give up their tags to the top taggers once lower-ranked players have hit their 50 or 250 tag merit targets. This makes sense, as only a select few stand a chance of reaching the top 10. If there several members of your faction participating in such a scheme, and your faction isn't actively chaining or defending territories, you may even be able to switch over to a subfaction or ally with more useful faction specials.
LEARN TO SHUT UP
If you are trying to keep your tag haul hidden, make sure you are quieter on the forums than usual. Loudmouths are often attacked for no reason, so it pays to keep schtum just to be on the safe side. You may even need to start doing this now as if you suddenly go quiet at the beginning of Dog Tags, everyone will know why. Try to gradually shut the f**k up between now and the 5th of November.
START SCRIPTING
There are numerous secret scripts out there which are useful during Dog Tags. One which we've been made aware of was made by Cooksie during last year's tournament. If you don't know how to use scripts, start learning now, because you don't want to be fiddling with extensions on day one.
Cooksie's Script Thread
READ THE NEWSLETTER
Torn's quarterly newsletter provides an energy boost which is always useful during Dog Tags. The new one is out imminently - I know because I've just finished writing it - so you may want to hold this back for use during the November slug-fest.
DAY ONE
Speaking of day one, this is by far the most crucial part of the Dog Tags tournament. You must be prepared to fight as if your life depends on it during day one, and that means you have to stack yourself with a s**tload of energy before it even starts.
Day one is when the highest number of weakly held tags are available. After that, it will only get harder and harder to find tags, let alone take them. The top players at the end of the event often perform well on this day, so make sure you keep it free for a tagging spree if you're taking this year's competition seriously.
Cancel your mother's funeral, rearrange your son's birthday, and put off that surgery until next spring. Those things can wait, but those tags sure won't.
NOTE: Additions to this article are welcome. Donator Packs paid for useful tips. An article on strategies to be used during the tournament will be released later this month. Contributions to this are also welcome.
Thank you to SinCitySinner and Penicillin for their help with this article.
If you don't know what this tournament involves, follow this link to bone up. And when you're done with that, cast your eyes over this simple guide which explains what top taggers are doing in the run-up to Dog Tags 2020.
SET YOUR GOALS
There is a big difference between the strategy employed by a top tagger and someone who is going for the 50 or 250 tag merits. The limit of your ambition will be set by your Battle Stats and your budget before anything else. Make sure you go into the competition knowing what you're capable of, and what you can afford to spend.
It's also wise to figure out if your personal life can take the damage that Dog Tags will wreak upon it. This is an arduous competition, so if you're moving house, having a baby, or planning to donate your lungs to needy children, maybe give this one a miss.
SECURE SUPPLIES
The price of many useful Dog Tag items will rise massively in the two weeks prior to the tournament, with some traders suggesting they already have. It is wise to buy your item stocks from a variety of different traders, as some are known to sell their customer information to rich taggers on request - Torn loves a scumbag!
FHCs, Xanax, Cans, and Meds should be your priorities, with meds being especially cheap at this moment in time. Stealth Temporaries will also rise in price, as will most useful temporaries, such as smokes, tear gas, and pepper spray. Stealth boosting items such as Masks and Motorcycle Helmets will be in demand too, in addition to stealth-appropriate melee weapons, such as the Diamond Bladed Knife, Macana, and Nunchucks
We also expect to see specialist supplies rise in value, such as Serotonin, which some players like to use on the first turn of an attack. You should formulate your attack plans now, to ensure that you know exactly what you need to buy, and how much before you are priced out of the market.
PROTECT YOURSELF
Items related to tag protection will also rise in price over the coming weeks, so get them bought up now. Small Explosive Devices are the most popular, as you can use these to self-hospitalize yourself by placing them in a parcel and opening them when you need to go offline - make sure you wrap up a few SEDs ahead of time.
You'll also want to buy up a few litres of the wrong blood type too, as it isn't a great idea to rely solely on SEDs to frag yourself during Dog Tags. Doing so marks you out as a tagger when rivals scour the hospital lists, so you'll need to mix things up by occasionally using the wrong type of blood bag to induce an acute hemolytic transfusion reaction - Irradiated Blood Bags can now also be used for the same purpose, which is good for those who cannot self-hosp with regular blood bags.
Some players are also known to use Business Class Tickets during Dog Tags to fly away and protect their tags that way, but this is only suitable if you need to be away for the specific flight time that a BCT enables. Most people prefer to use regular flights, as these tend to be longer, allowing you to rest safe in the knowledge that your tags are out of reach.
SAVE POINTS
Points can be used to purchase refills during the tournament. If you have a plushie and flower collection, it might be the time to trade them in, as points seem to be slightly lower in value than usual at the moment. If you wish to gamble, you might want to wait a few days to see if this downwards trend continues.
CHANGE CAREER
There are several company specials which can help you during Dog Tags, with the 10-star Farm special the most obvious one, given that it provides 7 energy in exchange for just one job point. Both Candle Shops (7-stars) and Game Shops (10-stars) provide a good second-choice option by offering 5 energy for 1 job point, with the former also giving you the passive ability to see a level holder's true level at 10-stars. A 3-star pub will also give you 3 energy for one job point and a 10% melee weapon damage.
The revamped Gas Station may come in useful too, especially if it's a 10-star company, as its employees receive a 50% increase to burning damage dealt, 50% decrease to burning damage received, and occasional 20% healing during combat. Over the course of entire dog tags tournament, that last one could prove very useful.
Life regeneration specials can also be found at 7-star Fitness Centers and 10-star Meat Warehouses, and the latter comes with a bonus of 10% melee weapon damage too. 10-star Mining Corps will boost life to 150% for 25 job points, in addition to giving you a 10% passive life boost which you gain at 7-stars.
Elsewhere, the Clothing Store 10-star 25% armor bonus is nothing to be sniffed at, with its 5-star Activewear special adding a 25% passive dexterity boost on top. Car Dealerships are often overlooked too, but their 10-star Getaway Car special means your escape button always enabled, which might be useful if you're prone to starting attacks you cannot finish.
If you're a big dog who is likely to be targeted frequently, the Hair Salon's 5-star Rumors special will reduce your enemies' chances of successfully stealthing you. However, the Music Store is a much better bet, as its 5-star passive reduces enemy stealth, its 7-star guarantees stealth for 10 job points, and at 10-stars you'll gain a passive boost to all stats.
Those who are committed to stealth will almost certainly pitch up at the Theater. Here, you can gain max stealth for 10 job points at just 3-stars. The 5-star special also means you can't be spied, and the 10-star special hides your travelling status and destination too, which is crucial if you want to escape to foreign shores undetected.
DON'T WASTE BOOKS
There are a number of subscriber books which are useful during Dog Tags, so if you have one, don't waste them before the tournament begins, or put yourself under the influence of a book that is not going to be useful. Here is a selection of books which will help you during the Dog Tags tournament. Their effects all last for 31 days.
Fight Like An Asshole - Passive 25% bonus to all stats
Mind Over Matter - Passive 100% bonus to strength
No Shame No Pain - Passive 100% bonus to Defense
Run Like The Wind - Passive 100% bonus to Speed
Weaseling Out Of Trouble - Passive 100% bonus to Dexterity
Medical Degree Schmedical Degree - Decreases hospital time by 50%
Stealthy Stealing of Underwear - Guaranteed stealth
Higher Daddy, Higher - +20% Energy regeneration
No More Sick Days - Doubles life regeneration
Ugly Energy - Increases max energy to 250
Making Friends, Enemies, And Cakes - Adds 100 capacity to Friends and Enemies lists.
NOTE: The last book takes effect after the 31 days have elapsed, so use it now for maximum effect.
PLAN TARGETS
Form a database of targets now. Add labels such as inactive, potential tagger etc. Use the advanced search function available to donators. Top this database up when you can during the weeks running up to DT. Make sure you note down all of the new players whose 14-day protection will expire during the event. There are also lots of new staffers whose tags provide more points but whose names have not been added to everyone's lists. Make sure you add them to yours.
TEAM UP
Reach out to your trusted contacts to find people willing to hospitalise you, sell you some tags, or share target lists. It's a good idea to ask for help in your faction forums too. Your faction members are more likely to slut and spy for you than outsiders, and you may even find a Dog Tag Team buddy to work with during the event.
The key to finding a good partner or partners is to offer yourself up as a team player. Some Dog Tag groups have agreements that everyone will give up their tags to the top taggers once lower-ranked players have hit their 50 or 250 tag merit targets. This makes sense, as only a select few stand a chance of reaching the top 10. If there several members of your faction participating in such a scheme, and your faction isn't actively chaining or defending territories, you may even be able to switch over to a subfaction or ally with more useful faction specials.
LEARN TO SHUT UP
If you are trying to keep your tag haul hidden, make sure you are quieter on the forums than usual. Loudmouths are often attacked for no reason, so it pays to keep schtum just to be on the safe side. You may even need to start doing this now as if you suddenly go quiet at the beginning of Dog Tags, everyone will know why. Try to gradually shut the f**k up between now and the 5th of November.
START SCRIPTING
There are numerous secret scripts out there which are useful during Dog Tags. One which we've been made aware of was made by Cooksie during last year's tournament. If you don't know how to use scripts, start learning now, because you don't want to be fiddling with extensions on day one.
Cooksie's Script Thread
READ THE NEWSLETTER
Torn's quarterly newsletter provides an energy boost which is always useful during Dog Tags. The new one is out imminently - I know because I've just finished writing it - so you may want to hold this back for use during the November slug-fest.
DAY ONE
Speaking of day one, this is by far the most crucial part of the Dog Tags tournament. You must be prepared to fight as if your life depends on it during day one, and that means you have to stack yourself with a s**tload of energy before it even starts.
Day one is when the highest number of weakly held tags are available. After that, it will only get harder and harder to find tags, let alone take them. The top players at the end of the event often perform well on this day, so make sure you keep it free for a tagging spree if you're taking this year's competition seriously.
Cancel your mother's funeral, rearrange your son's birthday, and put off that surgery until next spring. Those things can wait, but those tags sure won't.
NOTE: Additions to this article are welcome. Donator Packs paid for useful tips. An article on strategies to be used during the tournament will be released later this month. Contributions to this are also welcome.
Thank you to SinCitySinner and Penicillin for their help with this article.
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