BATTLEDOME GUIDE by:  CuzRainbow Lesson 1: Defensive weapons. I see that many people train their pets in the lab. This makes low level pets with high hp, str and spd. but without some defence, those pets get damaged more from battling than a well trained, balanced pet. For this type of pet defensive weapons are the way to go. Fire snow, dirty and radioactive snow are the best of the defensive weapons. Each does a solid 4 icons attack and will also defend 2-4 icons of different types of damage. Try these weapons out and find out what they do for damage and what each one defends.

Lesson 2: Abilities. Many faerie granted abilities are a waste because they are not properly written into the subroutines of the dome program, of those that do work the best seem to be heal, magic berries, burrow, sink and some of the lesser abilities like fiery gaze which will sometimes freeze an opponent. Restore does not fully restore a pets hp. Regenerate does not give a few hp/turn. The other healing abilities work same as heal level 1. Try as many as you can and decide what works for your pet.

Lesson 3: Healing. Obviously, make sure you always have some. Faerie abilities like heal, negg, magic berries, all can help but more important is permanent healing in quantity. Some potions can be carried but they take up space better used for weapons. Best if your pet has a scorchstone. Try to always carry enough healing to heal your pet fully or close to it. The longer your pet lives, the better it's chances of winning.

Lesson 4: Attack weapons. As we all know by now there three classes of weapons. (4 if you count those which do absolutely nothing at all) Today we talk about attack. As we all know, weapons like attack fork and grand lightning beam and black frost cannon are among the strongest weapons available outside the hidden tower. But there are others also. Bows and slings etc. as we all know, weapons like bows and slingshots, cannons and explosives(like snowballs etc) do not defend at all, their whole potential being given over to attack. that is why they do more damage. The strongest that I know of is the ancient manchu bow, followed closely by dual expert bow, glb, af and black frost. (I dont count snowballs and other single use items here. They are lesson 5.

Lesson 5: Single Use Items. Now as we all know who have played in the dome, some of the most damaging and best protecting and strongest healing items are single use items. Damaging: snowballs, clockwork grundos, muffins, battlecards etc. Protecting: shield of reflection, amulets, potions etc. Healing: lucky robots foot, amulet of life etc. Remember that these items can be expensive and hard to replace. Use them carefully. Great to have as emergency reserve and they can mean the difference between win or lose.

Lesson 6: Hidden Tower As everyone knows, the Faerie Queen's hidden tower battle shop has a couple of dozen extremely expensive and powerful weapons. Needless to say smaller pets (hp less than 50) shouldn't play against those who use them, but a smaller pet using such weapons can kick butt hardcore. among the best I have had used against me are the Balthazar Claw, Tiki Bomb Bbag and Dung Catapult. They hurt!!!

Lesson 7: Training. Ever notice how some pets seem to be really strong but only lowl evel? (lev3, hp 72, str 68, def armored, move 88, intell stupid) These are pets whose sole means of training is in the secret lab. They are Conans.(strong like truck,smart like stick) Then there those others who read more like: lev high or too high to count with balanced stats 150+ all across? these have been to one of the actual training schools. The owner has taken time to build a strong pet and spent wasteful wads of np in training. Yet which will win a battle if hp and weapons are roughly equal? The well trained pet will win every time. The extra defence gives more protection, higher intelligence makes abilities like heal stronger (or will when that equation gets factored in *see lesson 8)and the fact that the owner plays more consistently and with forethought means he/she knows the pet and what it can do much better. Train with care and thought for the future.

Lesson 8: Battledome Subprogram. Well, here comes the hardest one for me. I am not into math of any kind so I cannot give you the actual numbers ,only a close guess. I have spent some time learning to program in c and qbasic and have figured out the following. The subprogram seems to work according to the following formula: (pet a:lev+speed+strength+item+item+ability=*+att)/over/(pet b:lev+speed+defence+item+item+ability=**+def)=?hp damage to pet b. (pet b:lev+speed+strength+item+item+ability=*+att)/over/(pet a:lev+speed+defence+item+item+ability=**+def)=?hp damage to pet a. where the value of att =+10% if ability = attack and the value of def=-05% if ability = attack. where the value of att=-05% if ability = defend and value of def =+15% if ability = defend

Lesson 9: Armor and Shields. I never use them anymore. I have tried most of the non-pet specific armors,(like kau hoof guard,gelert full armor)and found that most of them are not much help. Using one weapon, one shield or armor and an ability meant an effective attack of 6-15 hp/turn. Most pets using only defensive weapons do 15-25hp/turn with defend or improved defend, and that means you are taking more damage than your opponent. Not happenin!! I cannot stress enough the superior value of two defensive weapons rather than any armor or shield.

Lesson 10: Superweapons Those ultrarare weapons acquired from places like the pirates cove, hidden tower and certain quests. These weapons are very strong in attack power and can deliver massive damage in a single turn, but if your pet is not strong enough you should consider the danger that your opponent has them too and your 30-50 hp pet could be devastated:(among older,higher level pets these weapons seem to make the difference between hour long boring battles and fast exciting matches of strength and bravery. Get them if you can but use them with care:)