Welcome to Plant Wars!
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Introduction
Welcome to Plant Wars! If you are reading this, you are at the very least interested in joining or you have already joined this fantastic game. This guide is meant to serve as a basic tutorial for new players. I will try to address questions a new player would have, and try and give some basic strategies for a starting character. So without further ado, let's begin.
Character Creation
On the front page at www.plantwars.com you are presented with the login page. Don't have an account? Then, you will need to click register on the login page. This will take you to the registration page.
Email Address
The first box is for your email address. You will use this email address to login into Plant Wars, so be sure to use an account that you won't forget.
Display Name
The next box is for your desired display name. Your display is how everyone else in the game will recognize you. Choose something that you like, but keep in mind, that you can change your name at anytime.
Password
The next box is for your password. Choose something that you can remember. After your account is created, you will receive an email listing your display name and password. You should probably hold onto this, just in case you forget it. You can change your password after logging in under the Settings menu.
Plant Type
Next you will see three pictures, a cactus, a tree, and a flower. Your plant type will determine what bonus attribute points you will gain when training a plant's attributes. The primary attribute of a Cactus is Potency(Damage). The primary attribute of a Tree is Girth(Defense). The primary attribute of a Flower is Responsiveness(Speed). The consensus is that speed is the most beneficial, then potency, followed by girth. I recommend that you choose flower as your starting plant type, but choose whichever you find most appealing. You will have the option to change your plant type later (for 100,000 Plant Wars Dollars).
Age Verification
Next is the check box verifying that you are 13 years of age or older. You must be at least 13 years old to sign up for Plant Wars. Much of the content of the site is created by users and may contain subjects not suitable for children under the age of 13.
Terms of Service
Next is the check box verifying that you agree to the Terms of Service. You must agree to the terms of service in order to create an account.
Register Button
When you have entered all your information, and double checked that it is correct, click Register and your account will be created. You will receive an email at the address you entered welcoming you to Plant Wars that contains your display name and password you used to sign up. You may want to save this email in case you forget your password.
Page Layout
The Plant Wars screen is split into 3 parts.
Character Information
On the left side of the screen is your character information. It will show a picture of your plant. This page also includes links to your plant's page, your colony's page (if you are a member one; if you just created your character you won't be in one), your hit list (donator only feature), and the wiki (Help). It also shows your current health, money on hand, money in the bank, experience, and fertilizer, and the game clock. Below the clock there are links for donating, earning days, and IM & Chat.
Page Content
On the right side of the screen is the content of the page you are currently viewing. When you first login, you are sent to your home page. This page will show you basic information about your plant, including your plants Potency, Girth, Responsiveness, Experience, Donator Days, Seeds, Items, and any new events. Whenever you navigate to another tab, the content in this portion of the screen will be replaced with the content corresponding to the new page.
Tabs
At the top of the screen are tabs labeled: Home, Bank, Fertilize, Others, Dig, City, Colonies, Forum, Mail, Settings, and Log out. Clicking on any of these links will replace the content portion of the screen with content associated with those tabs.
Fertilizing
Fighting is a key component to Plant Wars, but how can you win fights. By training, of course.
Training Attributes
Now that you have created your plant, it's time to start training. Click on the Fertilize tab to go to the training page. Here you will be presented with the options of Potency, Girth, or Responsiveness to train, and a drop down menu to choose how much you would like to train in the selected stat. For every 10 fertilizer you spend, you gain .75 in the selected attribute. You will gain 5 fertilizer every 10 minutes (10 fertilizer for donators), and you can hold a maximum of 100 fertilizer. So it is best to spend your fertilizer when you can, so you don't waste your extra. In the beginning, you will see the best return out of training responsiveness, but eventually you will want to put points into each attribute.
Bonus Attributes
You also gain bonus points when training in your plant's primary attribute. In addition to your regular gains, bonus attributes will be calculated by multiplying your level by .005. So, if you were a level 20 flower, and you spent 100 fertilizer training responsiveness, you would gain a base of 7.5 (100*.75) responsiveness plus a bonus of .1 (20*.005). These bonuses might seem insignificant at first, but they really add up! A strategy of higher level players is, once they get high enough level, to train only in their primary attribute, and then switch plant types. Then train in their new plant type's primary attribute. This way they are always receiving bonus attribute points. This is however an expensive strategy, and should not be considered until later levels.
Fighting
So you trained some of your attributes. Now what? It's time to fight!
Others Tab
Clicking the Others tab will take you to a list of all plants in the game sorted from highest level to lowest level. You may have to go back several pages to find players your level. Once you've found someone you want to attack, click Attack. Try to find the highest level players that you can defeat, and attack them whenever you get a chance.
Combat
Combat is automatic. Each plant will take turns attacking each other, until either one is defeated or 1501 turns (which results in a tie). If you win the fight you will gain experience and half of the money they were carrying. If you lose, you will lose half of the money you were carrying (so it's always a good idea to keep your money in the bank where it is safe). If you are noticing that you don't get to attack very often, you need more responsiveness; If you aren't attacking hard enough, you need more Potency; If you are being hit too hard, you need more Girth.
Fight Simulator
Fight Simulator allows you to simulate a fight between Fred and George. You set their stats and see what a fight between them would look like. Because this is a luxury for planning your plant life, it costs one seed. Also note that there is some randomization in fights means that the outcome is not guaranteed to be consistent.
Experience
When you defeat a plant in battle, you will gain 10 times their level in experience (Ex: a level 1 players is worth 10 experience, level 2 players is worth 20 experience, etc.). If you defeat player that has higher level than you, you will gain 10 times your level difference as a bonus experience (Ex: if level 10 player defeats level 20 player, he will gain 300 experience - 200 normal experience and 100 as bonus). When you gain enough experience, you will level up. When you level up, you're supposed to get 2.5 times your level increase in your maximum health.
Level Limits
To prevent higher level players from attacking lower level players, there is a limit in place. A player can only attack a plant half their level and above (Ex: a level 10 player can attack players level 5 and up, while a level 30 player can attack players level 15 and up).
Healing
Once a player is defeated, they cannot attack or be attacked until they are healed. Every hour all player's health is restored to maximum. A player can also pay 10 dollars per character level to heal by clicking on health in character information. A player's health is not reduced if they win a fight, even if they were damage during the fight.
Money
So how do you get money? Well, you could try and fight players with money, but the best way is by digging.
Digging
Each reset, a player is given one free dig sessions. To dig, click the Dig tab. During a dig session, you will dig 50 times. Each time you will find either money, grubs or nothing. At the end of your digging session, you will sell your grubs for more money. You can dig additional times in a reset by using 50 fertilizer. You will find that digs increase significantly as you increase in level; for this reason, your fertilizer might best be spent on training or fighting until it provides more worthwhile returns.
Shop
Now that you have money, you can spend it at the shop. The shop sells weapons and armor. You can wear one piece of armor and one weapon at a time. Weapons and armor modify your plants attributes. When you first start out, money may be scarce, so you will want to stick with the cost efficient $1,000 items. To equip an item, click on Inventory on the home page. The shop also sells Miracle-Gro. Miracle-Gro will replenish 10 fertilizer, but can only be used 5 times per reset.
Bank
Unless you are about to make a purchase, you should always keep your money in the bank. Any money that you are carrying is fair game for players that attack you. Money kept in the bank is safe.
Conclusion
At this point, you should know how to train, how to fight, and how to make money. There are more advanced features such as the forums, colonies and in-game mail, but this should be enough to get you started.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Which plant should I choose?
A. It is up to you, but I recommend flower to start.
Q. How do I get money?
A. Digging. If you are in great need of money, dig multiple times by spending fertilizer. Keep in mind, you get more money for digging at higher levels.
Q. Should I level or train first?
A. You should train a little at first, it's not efficient to attack people lower level than you. So you will want to train enough to be able to beat people your level and higher.
Q. How do I heal?
A. On the left side of the screen is you character information. Click on health.
Q. How do I make a colony?
A. Colony creation is not enabled. Occasionally Jon will give a colony to someone in a contest, but asking for one will only hurt your chances.
Q. How do I join a colony?
A. Ask nicely? You should probably play a little while before you try ask. Demonstrate that you are an asset and not a liability.
Q. What do I get for donating?
A. For 5 US dollars, you will be a donator for 31 days. Donators receive 10 fertilizer every ten minutes instead of 5 fertilizer every ten minutes. They also have access to a personal hit list.
Q. Can I use my real money to buy something else than Donator Days?
A. You may purchase 50 seeds for $5. If you eat five of the unborn (seeds), you will regenerate to 100% of your fertilizer. You may refill only twice a day. You also need seeds to use fight simulator.
Q. Why should I invest in Beehive?
A. Beehive produces honey which can be sold for cash. After buying a beehive you can feed your bees and collect honey. If fed regularly the beehive will level up in 3 days. Higher the level of your beehive, more the honey it produces. The maximum level your beehive can reach is 25. (Check out Beehive)
Q. How do I protect myself from being attacked by bees?
A. In order to avoid bee attacks you should buy smoke gun when your beehive is at level 5 and bee suit when your beehive is at level 15. (Check out Beehive)