FAQ

What is Valkyrie Crusade?
It is a mobile Card Collection Game (CCG) available on iOS and Android created by Nubee, a company situated in Tokyo, Japan.

Can I play the game on PC?
Yes, using an Android emulator, such as BlueStacks. Keep in mind that you may need a powerful PC for a proper experience.

What is the age rating?
The game is rated High Maturity due to suggestive themes and partial nudity.

Is the game enjoyable without spending money?
Yes, free players have the potential to compete in high level gameplay. To make up for the lack of money, they only require patience and knowledge.

What are the advantages to spending money?
When spent wisely, it can allow you to catch up to higher level players at a faster pace, but may not guarantee success. Also, some exclusive cards are occasionally introduced that are available only for short times from summons, and these cards are practically available only to players who spend money.

What are the keys to success, if money isn't one of them?

 * 1) Time — having the best cards in the game means nothing if you don't play.
 * 2) Knowledge — self explanatory, but there are many important things the game doesn't tell you.
 * 3) Community interaction — having reliable comrades and being part of a good alliance (guild) is the biggest factor.

What is the endgame?
Competing in the leaderboard rankings of every event. More info below.

Why am I unable to post to twitter?
The default messages in English are too long. Shorten them to less than 140 characters and it will work — it doesn't matter what is written. Note that if you post the exact same message as you did the day before, it might not give you the vitality/battle points.

At what times are the daily resets?
00:00 (JST): 03:00 (JST): 12:00 (JST): 22:00 - 23:00 (local):
 * Daily Login Bonus
 * Goddess Worship
 * Elemental Hall rotation
 * Friendship gain with a card (no longer available)
 * Daily free Regular Summon
 * Greetings for Friendship Points
 * Helping resources for Friendship Points
 * Posting to Twitter for Friendship Points and vitality/battle point refills
 * Archwitch ranking tally
 * Event ending/starting
 * Vitality refill from Castle

What does N/R/SR/UR mean?
These are the various rarities of cards. Read more here.

What are soldiers?
They represent the card's health points.

How do I decide which cards to use?
A card's usefulness is based on what skill they have and, in high level play, their maximum number of soldiers.

What cards should I use?
Teams will usually consist of SR or UR cards with good skills. Beginners may need to use R cards until they find stronger cards or gain enough deck cost to use stronger cards.
 * For the campaigns and duels, you will want to use area-of-effect (AoE) attackers (cards that deal damage to all enemies). Against archwitches, beginners may want to use healers and ATK debuffers (cards that reduce the enemy's ATK power) to increase their survivability.
 * Once you start gathering SR cards, you can move on to team buffers (cards that increase your entire team's ATK power) and critters (cards that deal critical damage). You can read comprehensive deck-building guides here.

Some skills say "near defeat". What does that mean?
Those skills may only activate when the total soldiers of your entire team is below half the total at start of battle.

Why do the stats on the wiki not match the stats of my card?
"Base stats" on the wiki are the numbers stated on the collection page. If the "Max stats" do not match what you have, you have improperly evolved/amalgamated your card. Read about proper evolution and amalgamation here.

I messed up my evolution/amalgamation. Can I undo it?
No. You will have to obtain more copies of the card to try again.

I raised my card to max level. Can I still increase the stats further?
Yes. Attack and Defense can be raised up to 19999, or 29999 for UR/HUR cards, using the respective arcana. Soldiers cannot be changed, which is why it's important to evolve/amalgamate properly. Read about maxing Attack and Defense here.

What are the blue numbers next to my cards' stats?
These are bonus stats given from elsewhere, which may include buildings, unit bonuses, friendship, upgrade potion, etc.

What is the number inside the heart?
This indicates the level of friendship the card(maiden) has towards you. It has a chance to be increased when using the card in battle or upgrading it. When it reaches the maximum of 30, you will be able to view the card's friendship event and the card gains a 5% bonus to attack and defense.

How do I get SR cards?
Mainly from summons. Participating in archwitch battles also has the potential to reward you with SR cards.

How do I get UR cards?
Mainly from summons. Slightly weaker UR cards are available from events.

Are there quick ways to level up my cards?
Yes. Read about upgrading here.

How do I increase my deck cost?
Deck cost can be increased by purchasing and upgrading Barracks, at certain kingdom levels, or by purchasing deck cost increasing items with Jewels.

I have too many cards. What do I do?
Unwanted N cards can be sold for gold or be used as upgrade materials. Unwanted R/SR/UR cards should be exchanged for rare medals. If you want to keep your cards, there is an item purchasable from the shop to raise the limit of your held cards. You also have a collection page that holds up to ten cards and, if desired, 19 additional collection pages that can be purchased.

I'm looking for a specific card. Is there an easy way to find it?
Try the Advanced Search page.

Can cards be traded?
No.

If there is no trading, why do people talk about it?
They are referring to archwitch trading. More info below.

Which card is the best?
It was once Lilim. She increases a card's attack tenfold, essentially making them do permanent critical damage for the remainder of the battle.

As new cards are added and gameplay evolves, the "best" card constantly changes. Often, different cards are better in different situations. See Deck Guides for recommended cards to include in your teams.

Which card has the best art?
This is up to you. ;)

What is an archwitch?
They are the big bosses who represent each event and play a large role in the game. Read more here.

What is AW/FAW/LAW?

 * AW = Archwitch
 * FAW = Fantasy Archwitch
 * LAW = Legendary Archwitch

How do I get the archwitch card?
Keep battling her! For every archwitch that is defeated, you are eligible for a reward which has a chance to give you the archwitch card herself. There is no preset number of battles that is required before you get her — everything is dependent on your luck. Some archwitches have a likability rating which randomly increases as you defeat her. Upon reaching max likability rating, you will receive one guaranteed drop of her card.

Where is the best area to find archwitches?
The area with the lowest vitality cost. All areas have the same encounter rate regardless of vitality cost. The only way to increase the encounter rate is to buy and upgrade a Magic School in your kingdom.

I can't defeat them on my own. What do I do?
Request reinforcements from comrades and your alliance. If you lack one or both of those two, it's time to start looking! Try browsing the Comrade Requests page as well as the Alliance Recruitment forum. Don't be shy — playing the game alone will put you at a disadvantage.

I want to defeat them on my own. Where should I start?
There are various team compositions to choose from. You can read a comprehensive guide here.

Should I spend more than one BP on the same archwitch?
Generally, no, unless you need to request more reinforcements. Join a good alliance or add some strong comrades to help take down your archwitch instead.

I ran out of battle points. What now?
You can lessen this problem by building Yggdrasils in your kingdom and leveling up, or you can recover your battle points using swords. Otherwise, spend your remaining vitality on advancing as far as you can in the campaign.

What is "sending"?
It is a term developed by the player-base. It refers to the act of requesting reinforcements, since this essentially "sends your archwitch to other players".

What is "trading"?
Another term developed by the player-base. It refers to the act of sending to other players for those players to send back to you. Trading is only practical with fantasy archwitches due to their higher subdue points. When done properly, this can yield an increased net gain of points over fighting on your own.

I send very often to the same people. Am I being annoying?
It depends on who those people are and what you are sending. Some players may only be interested in fighting fantasy archwitches, while others will be happy to help you with anything. You should avoid sending to players with "off" in their name, since this indicates that they are not playing.

I can't kill fantasy archwitches. Why are people sending them to me?
These people are sharing with you. Fantasy archwitches are worth more subdue points and tend to have better rewards. Simply fighting the fantasy archwitch will make you eligible for a reward.

When should I claim my reward(s)?
Beginners should claim their rewards right away when they have the chance. High end players may be too busy or lazy to collect them and can leave them untouched for days. You have two weeks to claim your rewards before they expire.

There are multiple campaigns. Which one should I clear first?
New players may want to clear the beginner campaign first, as it has decent rewards and is only available for a limited time.

If possible, clearing the event chronicle first would be wise to claim the jewel rewards. Archwitches can only be found in the event chronicle, so if you still need to fight them, you should stay there. When you are finished with the event, your next goal would be to complete area 8-6 of the Celestial Realm to unlock your second kingdom. After that, clearing 10-6 will give you an item to increase your maximum number of held cards by 15. The second Celestial Realm is optional.

I ran out of vitality. What now?
You can lessen this problem by building and upgrading Great Temples in your kingdom, or you can restore your vitality using shoes. You can take the time to manage your kingdom and level up, which will restore your vitality. Certain levels also grant additional base vitality. Also, every evening from 10pm to 11pm (in your local time), your castle offers an opportunity to restore your vitality, but only when it is not being upgraded. Use this to your advantage.

What should I spend my Jewels on?
After these purchases, it is a good idea to focus on buying card expansion slots and also the unit cost expansion items if your team absolutely requires that you do.
 * Build the two most important buildings in your kingdom: Magic School and three Yggdrasils. More details about buildings here.
 * The Magic School will increase your archwitch appearance rate which vastly helps new players that start out with low vitality and need the archwitch rewards. Upgrading your Magic School's level to 6 is also very helpful since you gain two more battle points and an increased encounter rate of 30%.
 * Three Yggdrasils will help out with the low starting battle point cap, allowing more to regenerate from leveling up or using swords.
 * The third workshop is also a very smart purchase, as it will allow you to upgrade up your buildings more efficiently.

How often can I get free jewels?
There are several opportunities for free jewels, including:
 * Login Bonuses (100 jewels for logging in every day for seven days)
 * Quest completion
 * Event campaign — most event campaigns reward jewels throughout the map
 * Free Jewel offers, or installing apps that are offered by nubee (depends on your country)
 * Events which feature the "Slots". Slots offer a chance to earn either 5 or 100 Jewels, as well as other prizes.

Should I care about Premium or Exclusive Summons?
For free players, no. The drop rates for Premium Summon are often dismal if jewels are not spent in great amounts, with an estimated rate of SR at 3% and an even lower UR rate at 1%.

I am willing to spend money. What are the best investments?

 * As stated earlier, the Magic School and Yggdrasils are important, but with your luxury, the Magic School can be immediately upgraded to Lvl 10. A fourth workshop is also very convenient. A fifth may not be necessary, but it is entirely up to you.
 * Spending money on Premium Summon is always a gamble, but can offer cards that deal 5x/10x damage to archwitches. These bonuses, however, only last for the duration of the event. When the next event starts, you will have to summon new cards again with those bonuses.
 * If you are extra lucky with summons, but are unable to use the cards due to their unit cost, buying the extra unit cost items will help with that problem.
 * Box Summons, when available, are excellent opportunities to acquire great cards.

Why rank?
Exclusive cards are rewarded to players who compete on the leaderboard. These cards cannot be obtained in any other way. Two copies of a UR card are rewarded to the players in the top 300, while only one copy is rewarded to those in the 301 - 1000 range. There are also some "lucky ranks", where players at an exact rank (2000, 3000, etc.) are given one copy of the card, but these are not ideal goals.

I want to rank. Where do I start?
Ranking is based on the archwitch subjugation points of each player. The main source of points come from Fantasy Archwitches (aka FAW). Farming on your own isn't good enough — you will need other players to help you. Finding these players requires pro-activeness — they will not come to you unless you put in some effort.

Here are the key factors to success:
 * 1) Time. The more time you have to devote to subduing archwitches, the easier it is to rank.
 * 2) A good team. The faster the better, since you will be able to exit FAW with more points and attend other FAW you would otherwise have missed. You can read more about building a good attack unit for subduing archwitches here. You can view the different types of cards here.
 * 3) Jewel buildings. Most traders prefer you have at least a level 3 or higher Magic School (as this will increase the rate of AW appearance vastly from the base rate) and at least two Yggdrasils to increase your BP cap in case you are using valkyrie swords or want to get more out of your twitter and regen BP every day.
 * 4) A number of senders and traders. Senders are those who will send FAW and not expect anything back other than to have their own FAW subdued, and traders are those who send FAW back in exchange for receiving FAW requests. There is more information regarding FAW trading below.
 * 5) A good alliance. A good alliance is a great way of getting FAW sharers that you might not otherwise have such easy access to. Fairingrey has written an blog post explaining more about FAW sharing in an alliance here.

How many points do I need to earn per day to reach rank 300/1000?
This number is not set in stone and is different for every event. The various factors that can affect this include: Check the current event's ranking trend for an idea of how many points are needed.
 * The length of the event.
 * The ranking reward's skill (usefulness).
 * The ranking reward's art quality.

What are archwitch traders?
Traders are those who send FAW reinforcement requests back in exchange for receiving FAW assistance requests. Typically these players will notify other players of their online status through the use of terms such as "FAWT", "on", or "online" and their offline status through various other terms such as "off", "zzz", or "away".

Most traders are rankers, and most traders trade with other trading rankers. There do exist some traders that do not rank, however.

A good handful of players send back their FAW at full or almost full HP, although there are some that will send their FAW at barely under half HP so as to secure their own ace. However, not all traders send either full or half. Some might send FAW with their HP anywhere in between, and others might send very low HP FAW. Most traders prefer to trade with traders that send almost full HP, but there are some who are willing to trade with half HP.

What are archwitch killers?
Killers are those who will subdue either FAW or AW in exchange for receiving FAW. They may either be rankers or non-rankers.

If a player does not want to have a great focus on FAW trading or sharing, then he or she may opt to be an archwitch killer that focuses mainly on assisting lower level players that cannot subdue their own AW yet. In exchange, the player may receive FAW from these players in lieu of receiving FAW from trading comrades.

Most players aren't only archwitch killers, however. Archwitch killers will oftentimes have at least some FAW trading activity, since players aren't on all the time to send AW or FAW.

There is more information regarding types of ranking players here.

Do I need Jewels?
Preferably, yes. Jewel buildings in particular will help out vastly with ranking, and make your kingdom more attractive to senders and traders alike. The increased AW appearance rate is very useful regardless of if you are a ranker or not, and the higher BP cap for archwitches helps out if you are low on swords or want to get more BP out of your twitter and time regenerating BP.

Most traders look for potential comrades with at least a level 3 MS and two or more Yggdrasils, with many traders themselves possessing a level 5 or higher Magic School and three Yggdrasils. The most ideal trader's kingdom has a level 10 Magic School so as to maximize AW appearance and have the maximum BP possible through jewel buildings.

The current event's damage/subdue points up cards are also a great boon to players looking to rank. These cards can only be obtained through summons.

Jewels aren't absolutely imperative if one has a particularly good degree of activity, but without them ranking is more difficult. Senders and traders tend to look for players who are more invested in the game, and wisely spent jewels are a sign of that.

Where can I find traders or senders?
You can find some comrades over on the VC wiki's Comrade Request page.

Alternatively, there is also a comrade requests spreadsheet managed here.

I ranked in the top 300/1000. Where's my ranking reward?
Final ranking rewards are given at around 4:20 JST on the following day after the event is over. You will be rewarded depending on your final placement in ranking by the very end of the event.

Note that ranks outside of the top 1000 will only receive the ranking reward UR if they place exactly at the specified rank (2000, 3000, 4000, etc.) by the end of the event.

When does the time for ranking begin and end?
The time for amassing archwitch subdue points for the current event ranking reward begins at the start of an event and lasts until the event ends. A new event usually begins at 12:00 JST, or within a few minutes after the previous event ends.

It is important to note that the final nine hours after the current event's last point tally at 3:00 JST count towards the final placement for ranking. If you ranked in the top 300/1000 as of the last day's ranking update, this does not guarantee that you will keep your placement in ranking. Ranking for an event is over when the event is over.

When does ranking update?
Archwitch subdue points for the day are tallied at 3:00 JST and rankings update at 4:20 JST everyday.

The final rankings for an event are updated the day following the last day of the event at somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30 JST after the new event begins. Because of this, the first set of archwitch subdue points for ranking on the next event are tallied the day after, 39 hours after the new event begins.

What are sacred treasures?
Sacred treasures / relics are items that can drop from dueling other randomly chosen players or going through the campaign or event map. A player will only be able to attain 4 types of the 6 available sacred treasures for any one reward; the player must duel other players to get the remaining treasures to complete their set.

To complete a set, a player must have at least 1 of every sacred reward. Once this is attained, the set is consumed and the reward can be collected. Three rewards can be collected from sacred treasures. The first and the third reward are the copies of the sacred treasure R card, and the second reward is a Metal Slime.

Why does dueling pit me up with such hard teams? There's no way I can beat them!
Duels for sacred treasures match up players by the unit cost of their highest attack unit with the unit cost of the other players' defense unit. To get easy match ups for sacred treasure duels, it is a good idea to empty out all your attack units save for 1 N card. This way, you can find and defeat players that usually only have a single card with one soldier for defense. Doing this is a guaranteed win for a sacred treasure.

Will sacred treasures expire?
No.

What happens if I don't complete the event's sacred treasure set by the end of the event?
If you have at least 1 sacred treasure from an event, you can collect the rest of the sacred treasures through dueling other players at any time.

Do players care if I attack and steal their treasures?
Not really. Most players who complete the set are already in abundance of sacred treasures save for the two sacred treasures they are required to duel for.

Do players actually use traps?
Yes, but often only among those who are constantly matched up because of their defense team's high unit cost or strength. Some players may use them to protect relics from a set that they are currently trying to complete.

Traps are used by some players to protect their strong defense team from losing any soldiers during an event like an alliance duel to keep their defense team at maximum health.

Otherwise, traps are used just to be wasted, since they will clog up the presents inventory if a player's amount of traps is capped at 999.