- Short version: Level 1 maps are better in almost every aspect.
There was a question in the Tavern: "Which expedition should I go on, now that I have all artifacts? Which one is the most profitable?" At the time I thought: "Just do the highest level expedition you can - they bring the most rewards." Some suggested the lowest expedition, because they are the cheapest to craft/mount and are fairly quickly completed. Both answers seemed good at that time, but we will know when we "crunch some numbers", as they say in movies.
Costs and rewards[]
The table below shows:
- [Cost (raw)] - cost of crafting and mounting a map.
- [Cost (normalized)] - normalized cost of crafting and mounting a map (10 Wooden planks = 5 Wood and items are converted to Coins, if they can be i.e. sold in Shop or Caravan).
- [Reward (raw)] - reward for completing a map.
- [Reward (normalized)] - normalized reward for completing a map.
- [Total] - the net profit (rewards minus costs).
- [Total+] - the net profit + using the map fragments to go on the next expedition (only applicable for lvl. 1 (25% of lvl. 2) and lvl. 2 (23% of lvl. 3) maps).
All rewards and costs are with all bonuses, because you already have all artifacts and probably all other bonuses as well (or at least most of them).
|
|
|
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost (raw) |
22 x  10 x  8 x  8 x 
|
52 x 20 x  16 x 16 x 
|
88 x 30 x  48 x  24 x 
|
176 x 7 x  1 x  64 x  1 x 
|
10 x  12 x  3 x  8 x  4 x  4 x  1 x 
|
| Cost (normalized) |
22 x 10 x 8 x
|
52 x 20 x 20 x 8 x 
|
88 x 30 x 30 x 12 x 
|
192 x 7 x 32 x 4 x  1 x 
|
62 x 12 x 12 x 3 x 8 x  1.3 x  0.3 x 0.67 x 2 x 
|
| Rewards (raw) |
9 x 20 x 8 x  0.3 x  0.3 x  7.5 x  5 x 0.6 x 
|
23 x 29 x 14 x 1.2 x 13 x 7 x 0.6 x 
|
26 x 41 x 28 x 1.3 x 27 x 0.6 x 
|
60 x 3 x  60 x 48 x 3 x 35 x 1 x 
|
40 x 60 x 48 x 10 x 2 x 35 x 1 x 
|
| Rewards (normalized) |
84 x 20 x 8 x 5 x
|
158 x 29 x 14 x 7 x
|
214 x 41 x 28 x
|
560 x 60 x 48 x
|
245 x 60 x 48 x 10 x 1 x
|
| Total | 62 x 12 (8(1)) x 8 x
|
106 x 9 x 14 x -8 x
|
126 x 11 x 28 x -12 x
|
368 x 28 x 48 x -4 x -1 x
|
253 x 59 x 48 x 9 x -8 x -1 x -2 x -12 x -3 x
|
| Total+ | 88 x 14 (10(1)) x 11.5 x -2 x
|
139 x 12 x 21 x -8 x -3 x
|
126 x 11 x 28 x -12 x
|
368 x 28 x 48 x -4 x -1 x
|
253 x 59 x 48 x 9 x -8 x -1 x -2 x -12 x -3 x
|
Some key notes:
- (1)Arrows are not counted as cost, because they drop from nonograms very frequently and are usually thrown into the Cauldron.
- The average rewards for expeditions were copied (and sometimes rounded) from this spreadsheet.
- Images for artifacts only show the first artifact in that row/level and don't represent that only that artifact was acquired.
- Experience is not accounted for.
- We are assuming we can go on any expedition (unlimited map fragments).
From the table above it is clear that the higher level the expedition the more rewards it brings. The one exception might be lvl. 4, because Spices are quite valuable - so only do lvl. 4 maps if you have too many Spices. If we value Spices at 50 Dinars/Coins (Caravan) the amount of Coins rewarded comes close to lvl. 3 maps, but if we value Spices at 150 Dinars/Coins, we actually get a loss of Coins.
Solving time[]
The table only considers costs and rewards, but not solving time. If each size of an average difficulty nonogram would take us a set amount of time, we could calculate how much time an expedition would take us to complete and compare the ratios of solving time to the amount of rewards - so we would get rewards per time spent. Let's set each size of a nonogram a time (this is my rough estimate, which might not be very accurate considering I don't solve that many nonograms and don't keep track of time; please post your times in the comments):
- 10x10 nonogram: 1 minute.
- 15x15 nonogram: 2 minutes.
- 20x20 nonogram: 4 minutes.
- 25x25 nonogram: 8 minutes.
- 30x30 nonogram: 15 minutes.
- 40x40 nonogram: 30 minutes.
- 50x50 nonogram: 45 minutes.
- Assuming colored and black-and-white nonograms take the same time to solve (I usually solve colored ones faster, to be honest).
Time for each treasure map:
- Treasure map lvl. 1: 10*1 min + 5*2 min + 5*2 min + 1*4 min = 34 minutes.
- Treasure map lvl. 2: 20*2 min + 10*4 min + 10*4 min + 1*15 min = 135 minutes.
- Treasure map lvl. 3: 30*4 min + 15*8 min + 15*8 min + 1*30 min = 390 minutes.
- Treasure map lvl. 4: 30*4 min + 15*8 min + 15*8 min + 5*30 min + 1*45 min = 555 minutes.
- Catacombs map: 25*2 min + 20*4 min + 15*8 min + 1*45 min = 255 minutes.
Ratio between map solve times:
- 1 : 4 : 11.5 : 16 : 7.5
Ratio between map rewards (average):
- 1 : 1.65 : 2.12 : 3.13 : 4.62
Coins (-200 for lvl. 4 for Spices), Wood and Stone for each expedition were added and then divided.
Looking at the ratios it's clear that the time spent doesn't equal rewards rewarded. If we look at map lvl. 2, we would spend 4x more time for solving nonograms to only get 1.65x the reward. Therefore Treasure map lvl. 1 give the most rewards for the time spent on solving nonograms.
Solving with weapons[]
As for those who mostly use weapons to solve nonograms (people like I), time spent is not really relevant. But what is relevant is how many 80x80 nonograms it takes to complete a treasure map. So let's look into that. The most an 80x80 nonogram can give is 4 points towards expedition progress. So we can only go by 4 points, but the points don't carry over to the next task. We can make that a little more efficient if we solve nonograms up to that limit (12 of 15 -> solve 3 nonograms, instead of wasting 1 point by solving an 80x80). I have grouped colored and black-and-white nonograms together here.
- Treasure map lvl. 1:
- Without solving: 3 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 8 nonograms
- With solving: 2 + 1 + 1 + 0 = 4 nonograms + solve:(2*10x10 + 2*15x15 + 1*20x20)
- Treasure map lvl. 2:
- Without solving: 5 + 3 + 3 + 1 = 12 nonograms
- With solving: 5 + 2 + 2 + 0 = 9 nonograms + solve:(4*20x20 + 1*30x30)
- Treasure map lvl. 3:
- Without solving: 8 + 4 + 4 + 1 = 17 nonograms
- With solving: 7 + 3 + 3 + 0 = 13 nonograms + solve:(2*20x20 + 6*25x25 + 1*40x40)
- Treasure map lvl. 4:
- Without solving: 8 + 4 + 4 + 2(1) + 1 = 19 nonograms
- With solving: 7 + 3 + 3 + 2(1) + 0 = 15 nonograms + solve:(2*20x20 + 6*25x25 + 1*50x50)
- Catacombs map:
- Without solving: 7 + 5 + 4 + 1 = 17 nonograms
- With solving: 6 + 5 + 3 + 0 = 14 nonograms + solve:(1*15x15 + 3*25x25 + 1*50x50)
(1)You might need 3 nonograms here - depends on the difficulty of nonograms.
Ration between 80x80 nonograms with solving:
- 1 : 2.25 : 3.25 : 3.75 : 3.5
Ration between map rewards (copied from above):
- 1 : 1.65 : 2.12 : 3.13 : 4.62
Even when using weapons lvl. 1 maps are still better (except for Catacombs maps).
Conclusion[]
When all artifacts are acquired the most profitable (time, reward and weapon wise) is Treasure map lvl. 1. If you subtract the Arrows, they are even more profitable. If you are using weapons to solve nonograms, do Catacombs maps (when acquiring enough Catacombs map fragments). Before doing these calculations I was doing the highest expeditions, but now I will be doing only lvl. 1 and Catacombs maps (I still need a bunch of scrolls).
This blog required a lot of math and numbers, and I am not 100% that I copied the numbers correctly (lol) or if I have done the math correctly. If anyone has some time to go over my calculations, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, post your nonogram times in the comments. :)