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## CONSOLIDATED TO [The main R76+ Merc Page](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/8945-realm-grinder/topics/783256-merc-research-production-builds)
It seems that offline mana production is counted at full tilt when unlocking GB11. This means the fastest way to get to 10e9 mana is to get as much mana regen as possible then go offline. Unfortunately the regen is based off of your regeneration with no spells active, so that cuts the upper limit down a bit.
Here's what I have after playing around for a bit with mercenaries. The build doesn't really work without A2950, but a similar idea could be implemented if you're below that:
R79, 2e89 gems
Neutral, Undead Lineage, Druid A2950.
Mercenaries:
FR9,EL1,AN3,AN6,DD4,DD6,DD9,FC7,DN2,DG3,DG4,DG7,SP:Dragon's Breath,SP:Fairy Chanting
Research:
S180,S215,S305,S460,S1450,S1500,
C250,C340,C400,C590,C1300,C1325,
D25,D200,D245,D1275,D1375,D2775,
E135,E145,E330,E350,E1325,E1425,
A55,A120,A250,A305,A1500,A2950,
W150,W180,W250,W275,W400,W1375
This comes out to about 2.7m mana/s to start, which is right around 1 hour of offline time to unlock GB11.
I had to make a few considerations for production since I'm pretty low into the gem range at the moment, but overall I think 2.7m is a good place to be as far as regen.
Looks like a nice build! I used yours as a base to put together a version for higher Rs, specifically after R81. E3250 does craaaazy things for your UB count, which means more max mana, which means more assistants. I got mine up to 10mil m/s.
FR9,EL3,AN3,AN6,DD4,DD6,FC7,DN2,DN8,DG3,DG4,DG7,SP:Dragon's Breath,SP:Fairy Chanting
S180,S215,S305,S330,S1450,S1500,
C250,C340,C400,C590,C1325,C3000,
D25,D245,D250,D1275,D1375,D2775,
E135,E350,E460,E590,E1425,E3250,
A120,A250,A305,A1200,A1500,A2950,
W180,W275,W400,W1375,W3050,W3150
Very encouraging datapoint at substantially lower gems:
R79, 4.8e88 gems [no gifts, 41 rubies, offline sunforce]
Hits CtA6, GG2 and FC2 before reaching the UB unlock, can afford it in under 15 mins.
Also hits 2.7m/s without spells.
Thumbs up.
> *Originally posted by **[Grolm](/forums/8945/topics/785317?page=1#11307525)**:*
> Why should 2 weeks not be doable? Sounds like a normal long run, just like Dragon Challenge 6 and UD Lineage 15 were.
DC6 and UL15 have one thing in common; they actually matter. If you want a comparison, that would be more like doing an Archwizard run early in the game. Besides, at some point you want to get Mana Ocean as well - going only for Sea is a bit like doing a T5 run without T6.
> *Originally posted by **[tluff](/forums/8945/topics/785317?page=1#11307640)**:*
> 2 weeks online is very different than 2 weeks offline. How are we supposed to survive without the wonderful chat rooms?
Simple, set the run up, export a save. Then just idle around in chat in two weeks later you import the save. :P
> *Originally posted by **[Myainsel](/forums/8945/topics/785317?page=1#11303151)**:*
> Looks like a nice build! I used yours as a base to put together a version for higher Rs, specifically after R81. E3250 does craaaazy things for your UB count, which means more max mana, which means more assistants. I got mine up to 10mil m/s.
>
> FR9,EL3,AN3,AN6,DD4,DD6,FC7,DN2,DN8,DG3,DG4,DG7,SP:Dragon's Breath,SP:Fairy Chanting
>
> S180,S215,S305,S330,S1450,S1500,
> C250,C340,C400,C590,C1325,C3000,
> D25,D245,D250,D1275,D1375,D2775,
> E135,E350,E460,E590,E1425,E3250,
> A120,A250,A305,A1200,A1500,A2950,
> W180,W275,W400,W1375,W3050,W3150
>
A1200 doesn't seem to be available with this setup (Neutral, Undead, Druid A2950). Did you choose different alignment or BLs?
> *Originally posted by **[Myainsel](/forums/8945/topics/785317?page=1#11303151)**:*
> Looks like a nice build! I used yours as a base to put together a version for higher Rs, specifically after R81. E3250 does craaaazy things for your UB count, which means more max mana, which means more assistants. I got mine up to 10mil m/s.
>
> FR9,EL3,AN3,AN6,DD4,DD6,FC7,DN2,DN8,DG3,DG4,DG7,SP:Dragon's Breath,SP:Fairy Chanting
>
> S180,S215,S305,S330,S1450,S1500,
> C250,C340,C400,C590,C1325,C3000,
> D25,D245,D250,D1275,D1375,D2775,
> E135,E350,E460,E590,E1425,E3250,
> A120,A250,A305,A1200,A1500,A2950,
> W180,W275,W400,W1375,W3050,W3150
>
Tried this. Not a fan of the E3250 inclusion, to be honest. It costs close to 1e90 in gem equivalent, which means you cannot use it for early entry into mercs. I know you mention high R, but at high R you should expect things to work for earlier gems, not be locked to e90, and even then with substantially increased setup time.
(Talking strictly about pre-merc-prod GB11 buff purposes, objections withdrawn for any other mana generation purposes.)
Are you suggesting that the best use of a GB11 buff is to first use slower merc builds that do not require GB11, take your gems to over e90 (would say some e93 to realistically implement the build above), and only then pick up GB11 for later gems builds?
I really don't see any gains from this.
Between e88-e89 gems I do one run replacing GB with GH (using Rastan's build as a base), then I use this build to unlock GB11 and finish the R with Rastan's unmodified build.
This got me to R89 very easily.
> *Originally posted by **[Toomba1201](/forums/8945/topics/785317?page=1#11332731)**:*
> Between e88-e89 gems I do one run replacing GB with GH (using Rastan's build as a base), then I use this build to unlock GB11 and finish the R with Rastan's unmodified build.
> This got me to R89 very easily.
This build meaning OP or variant?
> *Originally posted by **[Fonzoland](/forums/8945/topics/785317?page=1#11332736)**:*
> > *Originally posted by **[Toomba1201](/forums/8945/topics/785317?page=1#11332731)**:*
> > Between e88-e89 gems I do one run replacing GB with GH (using Rastan's build as a base), then I use this build to unlock GB11 and finish the R with Rastan's unmodified build.
> > This got me to R89 very easily.
>
> This build meaning OP or variant?
I believe I was using the variant with E3250, at least during the later Rs.
One run with a GH-based merc was usually enough to shoot up to e94-e96 gems instantly so it wasn't a big issue to unlock.
OK. Seems very odd to me - I believe that foregoing the indirect benefits of E3250 to mana regen is more than compensated by the ability to start directly with a GB-based production build. In particular GH-based first entry seems really suboptimal, since GH only shines after you have the UB already. But to each their own.
> *Originally posted by **[Fonzoland](/forums/8945/topics/785317?page=1#11332938)**:*
> OK. Seems very odd to me - I believe that foregoing the indirect benefits of E3250 to mana regen is more than compensated by the ability to start directly with a GB-based production build. In particular GH-based first entry seems really suboptimal, since GH only shines after you have the UB already. But to each their own.
That is a bit confusing since GH is based on mana regeneration and you seem to be saying that E3250 is and isn't a huge impact on that in the same sentence?
In practice the GH-run only takes a few minutes, basically as long as it takes to click "buy all" and "load from template" a couple of times.
So the fact that it is some 2-3 orders of magnitude weaker than a full GB11 run doesn't matter very much.
I never talked about E3250 being a huge impact or not, you are putting words in my mouth. I mean, it clearly is for production, but that is besides the point.
GH is based on mana regeneration, which is tiny (hundreds of m/s) before you get into research. Therefore GH is near useless for production until you get the unique building: it is a great spell, but does not help crack mercs open at low gems. In other words, whatever entry point your GH build has (defining entry point as the lowest gem level you can have to get into this build in reasonable time) there is an alternative non-GH build with a substantially lower one (namely by replacing it with a spell that is actually useful pre-research, usually GB/DB/FC).
These "easy-entry" builds are invaluable; not because of their raw power, but by allowing you to skip the last stages of DragFace grinding. The original build presented in this thread is one such build - very low entry requirements which allows you to set up GB11 quite early. The variant is "almost" one of those as well - it would be doable at e88, perhaps even at e87, if only it avoided the dependency on a couple of merc researches that are too expensive for that gem level. For these purposes, C3000 is probably alright, E3250/W3050 definitely not alright, W3150 probably not alright as well since it is a non-prod build.
As a more general point, "I did A and it works" does not necessarily translate into "it is not possible to do better than A." That is, your GH run only takes a few minutes, but another build could also take a few minutes a few orders of magnitude lower, thereby saving you pre-merc time. Not saying your experience is irrelevant - just asking you to open your mind a bit and consider alternative routes.
> *Originally posted by **[Fonzoland](/forums/8945/topics/785317?page=1#11333328)**:*
> As a more general point, "I did A and it works" does not necessarily translate into "it is not possible to do better than A." That is, your GH run only takes a few minutes, but another build could also take a few minutes a few orders of magnitude lower, thereby saving you pre-merc time. Not saying your experience is irrelevant - just asking you to open your mind a bit and consider alternative routes.
The difference seems to be that I am not arguing, just sharing my experience getting to R89. :)
Sure, fair enough. I am arguing because this is a build-making thread, and I assume the goal is trying to improve on existing builds/approaches for the benefit of others.
In a more constructive tone, take the below as an example of an easy access compromise. Not claiming optimality, just something I glued together by modifying Myainsel's.
S180,S215,S305,S330,S1450,S1500,
C250,C340,C400,C590,C1325,C3000,
D25,D245,D250,D1275,D1375,D2775,
E25,E135,E275,E350,E590,E1425,
A120,A250,A300,A305,A1500,A2950,
W150,W180,W250,W275,W400,W1375
Merc part of the build unchanged, so like the others it is very easy to set up at low gems. (Took me 3 minutes at e89, so very doable e88 as well, or even earlier with sunforce.) Confirmed that W3150 not reachable at these gems, so left it out, all other researches buyable without grind.
Generates some 4.4M regen before spells (compared with 2.7M for OP and 10M for high gem version). This gives a max run duration of 40m for full 1e10, in practice some 20-30 should be enough given previous runs.
Regarding easy entry, I just tried both the build in the OP and the following one at R89 with 9e88 gems.
Didn't notice a significant difference in the time needed to get 1e125 coins for the research building, but maybe I am missing something?
Took 3 mins to start research, then buy the rest. After 13 mins (was lazy) I am at 1e97 gems.
EL3,EL7,AN5,GB7,TT3,TT6,DD4,FC7,DN2,DG3,DG4,DG9,SP:Dragon's Breath,SP:God's Hand
S215,S305,S330,S460,S1450,S1500,
C330,C340,C400,C590,C1300,C3000,
D25,D245,D590,D1275,D1375,D2775,
E135,E145,E260,E350,E1425,E3250,
A105,A120,A1200,A1500,A2950,A3400,
W180,W260,W400,W1375,W3050,W3150
(Basically just replacing GB with GH, DD7 with GB7 and C300 with C330)
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