LogFAQs > #949105650

If anyone else wants to starts preparations for Polarized Light's ranking map, I'll share all the info I've gathered so far. The event is still several months away, roughly, but it doesn't hurt to get ready as early as possible.

I've mentioned before on how easy the campaign of the event will be: only one difficulty choice this time, easy mode, and the EX stages are just dumb orb pushing puzzles. Outside of learning how the new KCCO enemies will fight, it should be a walk in the park. I'll bring up more info on the campaign as the event draws closer. The ranking map is the hard part of the event and there will be a big change compared to how the older servers played it.

Back when the older servers had PL, they could damage the deathstacks on the map with the Landmine Fairy to soften them up and then get full points for beating them (10% of initial enemy CE). In our case, the mechanic has changed and we will only get points based on the current CE value instead. That will force high score chasers to come up with a new strategy to beat the deathstacks (i.e. Beach Fairy) without lowering their CE first. That shouldn't apply to most players who just want a good score though for the rewards. It's better to landmine the deathstacks, take them out of the equation, and get whatever points you can than still have them on the map and get 0 extra points. No big deal there as most players will simply refuse to fight any deathstacks altogether.

PL ranking is still known for being annoying on having to reset fights a lot and I don't see that changing. Changelog and new strategies for tryhards aside, let's get to what I've learned so far.

What rewards can you get from PL ranking?
Special Equipment: AA-12's Frag-12 HE Rounds (modified slug rounds: targets -2, damage +15, accuracy +20)
https://iopwiki.com/wiki/Frag-12_HE_Rounds
Before you blow it off for being slug ammo, AA-12 gets an added effect when she uses it:

[EQ Passive]: When equipped with "Frag-12 HE Rounds", attacks deal 1x armor-ignoring damage to enemies within a radius of 1 units.

Fairy: Auspicious Fairy (localized name not final -- 400,000 points guarantees you one copy with a random talent)
Full power stats:
Critical damage: 22%
Damage: 18%
Accuracy: 66%
Evasion: 88%
Skill [support type - 1 point per use; 3 turn CD]: Deploys a peach on an unoccupied node within 2 nodes that lasts for 2 rounds, which can be eaten by both friend or foe. Enemies who eat it receive a 30% damage debuff for 5 seconds in the battle. Allies who eat it receive a +6 point increase to their movement speed for 10 seconds in the next battle.

So it appears that her stat buffs are a variant of the Shield Fairy. I'm not sure right now how useful her kit is but I at least like the Chinese New Year theme of her design.

Finally, there's a piece of silly headwear for the commander but only for those who score in the Top 10% bracket or better.

The supply line objective also moves around this time on two turns (RNG-based). The recent article on PL prep from Gamepress has a picture of where the flag will move to but it needs to be cleaned up a bit. I'll copy over the text and links at least from here on out.

Here's a map. We'll update with a better version later.
Blue circle = 1st supply flag
Yellow circle = 2nd supply flag
Orange circle = 3rd supply flag
Red circles = boss spawn points
Yegor Ares Mech (boss) spawn requirement = 60 kills
The 1st change happens on either Turn 4 start or Turn 5 start. The 2nd change happens on either Turn 7 start or Turn 8 start. If the changes happen on both Turn 4 AND Turn 8 start, the total points gained from the supply line is 15k higher than any other supply line change combination. This is RNG.

Deathstack Guide
Outdated due to the score calculation, but a useful read nonetheless:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MBKJ_zI-iMgHopss8ByLmVwZmNqdNBODjUi0hduQ2uc/edit

PL Ranking Enemy Formations
This doesn't include every enemy, but should be comprehensive enough.
https://gflinfo.github.io/ranking/2020/12/23/plld-enemy-comps.html

Ranking VODs
These strategies aren't 100% copyable anymore (as they'll yield far fewer points on EN) but show the basics of this ranking map quite well.

Basic runs:
600k+ braindead pl ranking with SL2 airstrike (needs to fight with NPC teams with good kiting) https://www.bilibili.com/video/av88819596
2 combat echelon (1 ARSMG 1 HGRF) 4 dummy, 750k score
https://www.bilibili.com/video/av84070581

Tryhard runs:
1 para 1.27m https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1p7411a7T5
2 para 1 landmine 1.339m https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Q7411J7oS
4 para 1.355m https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Z7411W7n5
5 para 1.358m https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1E7411T7SH
6 para 1.361m https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1xE41177z9

Budget runs:
Polarized Light Low Rarity (2*) Fairy except 5 Star Beach (1.13M, expected top 5%)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/av92797428?p=1
Polarized Light High Score run with mostly 3* Fairies (1.32M, expected top 50)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/av92527824?p=5
Polarized Light Mid-range run, with 1 Para, 1 Landmine, 1 Rocket (1.27M, expected top 100)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/av84691071?p=1

Misc:
Polarized Light Openings (0 to 4+ Paras) https://www.bilibili.com/video/av83900345?p=2
Polarized Light High-end run (full 5* Fairies) (1.31M, expected top 50)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/av92531527

Take note of the objectives, the gear and dolls used, absorb some rough strategies of what to do against what, etc. and you should do really well in the ranking. I wish you all good luck in your preparations!

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