Starting September 25, 2016, Aardwolf saw a major change in how stats are saved across remorts/retiers. This generated a lot of confusion, bots stopped working and had to be rewritten, a lot of blood was spilled on the altar of PKstats and countless arguments were kindled on the Imm (profane language approved) channel.

We've sent our reporters deep undercover in the Wolf clan halls to investigate the change. The following guide will try to shed some light on how superhero stats saving works and how you can make the most of it. It is basically addressed to low tier players that did not reach max stats on their characters. Also, this guide might be useful to high tier players too lazy to read the help files, or too busy enjoying the other changes (PKing OPK newbies or reducing the 3 minutes Hardcore player average lifespan to 2 minutes).

Up until this change, only hp/mana/moves values were saved across tiers, and only those from the last remort of each tier. The saved values were made available to the players at the end of their next tier, when they reached Superhero level for the seventh time.

That led to the following old-school tiering rules:

• there was no reason to power-up until the end of the tier, since anything gained during any other remorts was completely lost at remort
• each time a player wanted to tier, he had to use the free rebuild to get back all the trains that he had previously used to train stats, and place them in hp/mana/moves before using the retier command, and
• any instinct available trains when reaching superhero level, during the first six remorts of a tier, were deposited for instinct.

Our reporters found out that none of the above applies anymore. After the change, all stats, including hp/mana/moves, along with trains and practices, are saved each remort, regardless if it's the first or the last remort of the current tier, and they are all restored together next time you reach superhero level.

The first consequence of the change: rebuilding as superhero and using all the trains for hp/mana/moves, while possible, is a VERY BAD idea. Doing so after the change would leave the players with no stats next time they reach superhero level, and the only option left (excluding having your tushy dragged
arround for a long enough time to gather the trains needed to recover the stats) would be to ignore the saved stats altogether, effectively losing all previous trains.

The players can power-up any time they're superheroes, without losing at remort any of their hardly earned trains, covered in the blood of all the slaughtered kittens, puppies and bunnies, that were invested in building their stats or in building hp/mana/moves.

To make the most of the new system, Lasher magnanimously ruled that a free rebuild will be provided for anyone that reaches superhero, if they don't already have the free one that is provided each tier. Beware this Greek gift: while this free rebuild is only provided if a player has already used the one provided at the beginning of the game or when starting a new tier, the two types are not identical. The one provided when reaching superhero is only available at superhero level, and will not be available after remort.

Our reporters found the silver lining: a player can have two completely different races for normal levels and for superhero. That would involve rebuilding at level one (not free, except first time, but with a small cost considering the reduced number of trains) and again at superhero (this time free, without paying the 20% tax on all the saved trains). Whether this is useful or not depends on play style, but considering it can be done with minimal costs, and also that there are wolfen clerics in the game (talk about alternative play styles), we had to mention this possibility in the guide.

In general, rebuilding will lead to stats being lost. At least the first time it is used, when the superhero stats are actually based on stats gained from level 1 to 200,  rebuilding means losing all bonus stats (those stats that were gained automatically and not trained). Also, if a player rebuilds at superhero, after reaching a new tier and picking a completely different primary class (for example, from melee to spellcaster), the saved stats will "One free rebuild ought to be enough for anybody." Lasher, September 2016usually cost more trains than those available after rebuild. This is based on the fact that the racial modifiers for the new race would make the same stats more expensive than their cost during the previous tier (what did we say about wolfen clerics?).

For this reason, unless the player has reached maximum stats and is ready to enter bot mode, or is nearing that point, and the saved non-primary stats are above a decent level for the new class, it might be a better option to simply move forward with the saved stats and increase primary/secondary stats with
new trains, at their new current costs. This way, even without power-ups, a player can still continuously increase superhero stats during the first tiers, moving from a primary class to another and increasing each time the primary stats for the current primary class.

When reaching superhero, after previously saved stats are restored, the only things kept from level 200 are the trains that are available for instinct (all the trains that are not the result of a rebuild). Practices are also lost, even if they are converted to trains (those trains are not available for instinct). In order to not completely waste those instinct unavailable trains and practices, they can be used up to level 200 for training stats, or they can be used at level 200 to practice any yet unpracticed skills or spells, things like 'change sex', 'scry' for noPK players or 'share wisdom'.

The fact that the same trains that are carried over from level 200 to level 201 are also available for instinct doesn't mean that they should be deposited for instinct. As we said above, that's old-school tiering. Instinct is a highly expensive game option that should usually be approached only after attaining maximum stats and after considerably increasing hp/mana/moves values.

While power-ups at level 200 are possible, the trains gained at level 200 should not be used to actually train stats while at level 200, considering those stats will be replaced when the player reaches superhero. Also, the same trains are available for instinct, so they will be added to the saved stats when they are restored after superhero. On the other hand, power-ups at level 200 are a bad idea anyway: the player only has the stats gained during the last 200 levels, and no successful bot can be safely started on those stats.

With careful consideration, using any unused trains gained while reaching level 200 (for example trains gained from level 186, while getting a drag to superhero) and also the trains provided by the 'loud' option for superhero, any new players can slowly increase their superhero stats even without power-ups, up to the point when they can become self-sufficient as bots...as superheroes, that is.

To summarize the results of the investigative report:

1. DO NOT train stats when reaching level 200, those stats are sacrificed to Ayla, Ivar, Seshat or whatever deity you're lighting up candels to
2. DO NOT deposit the trains gained before level 200 in instinct just because the help file says they are instinct available
3. DO superhero loud, 200 trains for 200 quest points is not a bad deal for a fresh superhero, plus you'll look cool and you'll might even be able to find a female spouse
4. DO NOT, unless actually being short on quest points, power-up at level 200, since you're 13 letters away from wearing your superhero robe and wizard hat, and the same power-ups will be a lot easier (if they're not easier with superhero stats, then you're doing it wrong)
5. DO NOT be afraid to use the free rebuild, more rebuilds are on the way when you reach superhero (besides, didn't Lasher tell you that it's not a +1 thing, and if you already have a free one you will not get another?)
6. DO NOT rebuild, even if more are on the way, without first checking if you don't actually lose stats ('rebuild check' and a little second grade math should do the trick)
7. If getting dragged to superhero, DO save the trains for AFTER you superhero, and DO use the practices to practice any remotely useful skills/spells
8. DO NOT, for the name of Ayla, rebuild you character at superhero and dump all your trains in stats. You'll turn yourself in Rehsal, know-it-all tier or Whiny Emo Kid (take your pick) next time you reach superhero.