The Hunt is On: Importance of Gnomes

The Challenge of Gnome Hunting 

Introduction

Gnomes in Infinity Kingdom are more than just mechanical foes—they're complex enemies with unique mechanisms designed to challenge players. Among them, Trynts, Bakens, and Roques stand out with their continuous damage airship mechanic, which can devastate an unprepared march. But fear not! With the right strategy, you can overcome these challenges, secure valuable rewards, and grow your immortals into unstoppable powerhouses.  

In this guide, we'll dive into:  

1.The mechanisms of Trynts, Bakens, and Roques.  

2.How to counter their devastating airship attacks.  

3.The rewards from hunting gnomes and their strategic benefits, including experience, equipment, and buffs.  

4.Special events and strategies, like Frostborne's Goddess Blessing and Double Rewards events.  

Let's explore how to turn gnome hunting into a crucial part of your game strategy!  

The Mechanisms of Trynts, Bakens, and Roques

Ever wondered what makes these airship-riding foes so formidable? The secret lies in their unique mechanics, designed to challenge even the most experienced players. From their relentless continuous damage to their powerful airship attacks, gnomes require precise strategy and well-timed ultimates to overcome. But don’t worry—breaking down their mechanics is the first step to turning them from a threat into a treasure trove of rewards. 

Trynts

Mechanism: These gnomes specialize in physical damage and their airship inflicts sustained AoE physical damage on your march over time.  

Challenge: The airship can quickly chip away at your team if your immortals don't have sufficient defence or healing.  

Counter Strategy:

  - Use high physical defence immortals like Charles the Great to absorb damage.  

  - Include healers like Zenobia or Cleopatra to mitigate the airship's continuous damage.  

Bakens

Mechanism: Magical damage specialists whose airship deals consistent magic AoE damage.  

Challenge: The magical damage overwhelms low-resistance immortals, especially in drawn-out battles.  

Counter Strategy:  

  - Deploy immortals with high magic resistance, like Alexander the Great or Joan of Arc.  

  - Equip skills like Shelter (boosts magical defence) to minimize the damage.  

Roques 

Mechanism: Hybrid gnomes that deal both physical and magical damage. With their airship amplifying the damage from both sources.  

Challenge: Their versatility makes them unpredictable and difficult to counter with a single strategy.

Counter Strategy:  

  - Build a balanced march with strong tanks (e.g., Charles), healers, and damage dealers.  

  - Equip a mix of physical and magical resistance skills to ensure survivability.  

 Equipment Gnomes drop

1. Trynt Gnomes: These gnomes are known for dropping valuable helmets and weapons. Helmets provide defensive stats that can enhance your immortals' durability, while weapons boost their offensive capabilities. Defeating Trynt Gnomes is essential for building a strong and balanced march.  

2. Bakan Gnomes: Bakan Gnomes reward players with chest pieces and weapons. Chest pieces contribute significantly to overall defence and resilience, making your immortals better equipped to survive prolonged battles. The weapons they drop further enhance attack stats, offering a solid combination of protection and firepower.  

3. Rogue Gnomes: Rogue Gnomes drop offhand accessories and weapons. Offhand accessories are critical for adding utility to your march, such as boosting critical rates, resilience, or elemental damage. The weapons they drop complement these accessories, creating a versatile set of gear to optimize your immortals' performance.  

Focusing on these gnomes ensures you acquire equipment that bolsters both offence and defence, allowing you to build a well-rounded and powerful team.

How to Counter the Airship's Continuous Damage  

The airship mechanic is the gnomes' deadliest weapon, and overcoming it requires a mix of preparation and strategy:  

1. Fast Ultimate Skills  

  - Immortals with fast-charging ultimate skills like Wu Zetian and Alexander can deal significant damage early, reducing the time the airship has to attack.  

  - Use skills like Energy Burst to speed up ultimate charging.  

2. Healing and Damage Absorption

  - Include immortals like Zenobia or Cleopatra with healing-focused skills to sustain your march during the airship's attack.  

  - Equip defensive skills such as Oaken Guard (boosts physical and magical defence).  

3. Balanced Marches

  - A mix of magical and physical damage dealers, along with tanks and healers, ensures your march can withstand both the airship and the gnome's direct attacks.  

Why Hunt Gnomes?  

1. Experience Points (EXP)

- Gnomes are the primary source of EXP for your immortals, helping them level up and grow stronger.  

- The faster your immortals level, the more powerful their base stats and skills become.  

2. Equipment Rewards

Gnomes drop critical equipment pieces, including weapons, armour, and accessories, which:  

  - Enhance stats like attack, defence, and critical rate.

(ss of attributes and the attribute bonus  

  - Offer set bonuses when matching pieces are equipped.  

- Inlaid Stones: Slot these into equipment to provide additional attribute boosts, such as increased damage, critical rate, or resistance.  

3. Event Buffs and Bonuses

During Frostborne KVK, defeating relic alters can unlock the Goddess Blessing buff, which boosts march stats and enhances rewards from gnome hunting.  

This is a valuable buff, not to be missed, should your Alliance be lucky enough to be awarded this Blessing during the Ancient Altar of Frostborne. To gain 50% more Legion Marks is a bonus. Let’s hope you have been saving your AP in your backpack because these points also relate to Alliance & Federation Reputation. You are helping yourself along with your Alliance during the KvK season.

Double Rewards Events: During these events, gnomes drop double the loot, making itis an ideal time to hunt for equipment and resources.

The biggest take away point of this 3 day event is LEVELLING UP YOUR IMMORTALS. You will have the option to gain double the Enchanted stones, Inlaid Stone, and Equipment. Your immortals EXP will thank you for taking advantage of this event. When it comes round be sure to save your AP and grind these Gnomes. Neither the Gnomes of Norheim nor Frostborne will know whats hit them lol.

Critical Analysis

The Rewards vs. The Risks  

While gnome hunting is essential, players must carefully manage stamina and march composition to avoid unnecessary losses.  

Pros

- Regular gnome hunting ensures steady progression through EXP, equipment, and resources.  

- Strategic buffs from events like Frostborne provide significant advantages during hunts.  

- Builds player skill in optimizing march compositions and equipment management.  

Cons

- Poor march setup or stamina management can waste resources and limit progression.  

- Randomness in equipment drops means you may not always get the gear you need, requiring patience and resources. 

On the Left, the Immortal HP bar is almost full, while on the right the Gnomes have taken a serious hit to their HP. All Gnomes had over 5k in deaths, compared to the opposition with avg 45 deaths and 183 seriously wounded. Not to heavy a tax to pay on the Training Ground and Hospital.

Alex overall DMG was 18mil, the Crit Rate: 1 hit = 845k DMG compared with 421k Normal Attack DMG. Something to experiment with, to improve the DMG output of Alex. See if the % for Crit rate could improve overall, or Phys. Attack be increased.

Hammurabi produced a respectable 15 mil DMG, and 10 normal attacks but only 2 were critical hits…1 crit hit = 772k magical DMG, a mere 20% accuracy rate. This is an area to be worked to improve the Crit. Rate and increase the accuracy % and rate. We also see the advantages or disadvantages of using Skills effectively within a march build. This may be an area that needs to be investigated to establish if the skills used worked effectively. Overall, an adequate battle!

 The Gnome Airship got 4 attacks in, 1 hit = 59k, not exactly going to blow the opposing army out of the water. Maybe it is time the Gnomes got a revamp. They are only 27 Immortal Boost, they don’t benefit from Portraits or Immortal Specialisation. Once you have reached max level across your Primary March, Gnomes aren’t going to represent that much of a challenge.

Compare the above battle report using an Earth/Lightning march vs a Lightning/Himiko march vs the same Gnome.

See if you can pick out which has the better death rate, less troops to heal, whose Crit Rate is better and does most DMG over all?

Key Points for Players  to Consider

1. Understand Gnome Types: Tailor your march to counter Trynts, Bakens, or Roques effectively.  

2. Prioritize Survivability: Focus on defensive and healing skills to counter the airship's continuous damage.  

3. Optimize Equipment: Use inlaid stones to enhance your march's strengths and address weaknesses.  

4. Leverage Events: Maximize rewards by hunting during double rewards events or after achieving buffs like Goddess Blessing in Frostborne.  

5. Experiment: Test different march setups and skills to find the combination that works best for your playstyle.  

Conclusion: Turning Gnomes Into Stepping Stones  

Gnomes may seem a challenge, but with the right strategy, they become an invaluable resource for progression. By understanding their mechanics, building a balanced march, and leveraging event buffs, you can turn every gnome battle into a victory for your kingdom.

In summary, gnome hunting isn't just a task—it's an opportunity to elevate your gameplay. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned player, taking down these mechanical foes can transform your march, strengthen your kingdom, and give you an edge in every battle. Understanding the mechanics of gnome hunting through experimenting with immortals, and skills, is a foundation. This information gathering can be utilized in other events, such as Time Rift, Titanualar, and Infernal Assault. Regardless of whether you’re an early gamer or a seasoned pro, hitting gnomes should be a priority on your daily to-do list. Often, we strive to gain the upper hand over these pesky gnomes, trying to compensate for the damage they cause to our training grounds and hospitals. Our challenge is to develop a strategy that can outsmart these gnomes. Many players will set out on a quest to find the Holy Grail of Zero deaths, which does exist.

This article, I hope this has provided an overview of what Gnomes do and the importance of our journey through Infinity Kingdom. What I haven’t done is provide details of Gnome march build, this I will do in a follow-up article. To allow more time explore early game builds and their potential.

Go forth and challenge yourselves!

 So, what are you waiting for?

So gear up, experiment, and smash those gnomes like the fearless Lord you are!

SOURCES

1.GRAMMARLY

INFINITY KINGDOM HELPFUL LINKS

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