Bask in Glory: Earning and Spending Like a Winner by FlyingFox

Updated to reflect the following changes in 1.1.1:

Glory bonuses from Karma increased to 5% - 24% across levels 1 - 20 (up from 1% - 20% across levels 1 - 20).
Karma bonus now also applies to win-steak rewards.
'First Win of the Day' Glory bonus increased to 50 (up from 40).
'Fifth Win of the Day' changed to 'Third Win of the Day'; its bonus increased to 150 Glory (up from 60).
'Sinister Seven' Glory bonus increased to 250 (up from 200).

I was going to write something else today but realize some of the players are very confused by Glory, the new in-game currency to purchase heroes and other goodies in Vainglory. I hope this guide will help everyone understand Glory and in game currency better.

First of all, let's think about the cost to make a game. Like all good things in life it's not free, there's server cost, development cost, office rent cost, computer cost, electricity, water, food... at some point a game need to cover these cost in order to provide updates and keep servers running so we can play the game.

Most of the MOBA games work by allowing players to have a rotation of free heroes, with the option to purchase heroes you want to unlock, those heores you can then play whenever you want. You can also purchase skins and other cosmetic features. While you do not need to spend any money to play most MOBA game, features that are nice to have, such as newer heroes, cool-looking skins are items most players purchase.

If a game cannot get enough players, or if a game doesn't have enough players that wants to buy heroes and skins, the game will not be able to pay for the cost of keeping the game going, and eventually the game will stop being playable. This is what happened to Solstice Arena, you can still play it but the developers have abandoned the game and it has received no update for 6 months now. There is not enough player right now and queuing takes a really long time.

Having said that, I will go over strategies to maximize your glory earning to spend on heroes, and show you how to buy your first hero and take advantage of the free hero selection so you have as much fun as possible.

Every player receive 50 Glory for the first win of the day, this is in addition to the 40 or so Glory you receive for a win.
You can also receive 250 glory, if you are winning a match each day seven days in a row. This does reset and start over after the 7th day bonus is collected, which means if you are always winning a match everyday, you are getting 250 glory a week!

This is the basis of my basic glory earning boost: Play 2 matches a day and try to win one of them, this really isn't hard if you play regularly. And you can stop and take a rest after your seven day bonus.

In addition, let's say you playing for a long time on a weekend and you get three wins in a day, you get additional 150 glory. Let's do some calculations:

[*]
40 glory for winning 1 match + 20 glory for losing 1 match + 50 glory for first win = 110 Glory a day


You also get bonus depending on your Karma level, I get 5% right now and you can get up to 24% max bonus as you reach higher Karma level.

[*] 7 days of winning 1 match each in a row = 250 Glory

Let's say on Saturday I get 3 wins, I get 150 Glory extra.

So in a week, I can get 110x7 days +250+150=1170 Glory, plus any karma bonus I get. In a month I can get over 5000 glory just for playing about an hour every day, which I do already!

The bonus is absolutely important to earn more glories, you can take advantage of it by getting in a winning match each day. Your day is calculated using the UTC time which is the same for everyone, you can click on the link here to see what time it is in UTC in your country:
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_UTC.aspx

I suggest remembering what time the “day” starts for your time zone, and get a win into each day, or if you want to keep it simple, play around the same time everyday will work. A little bit of planning can helps your earning, so keep note and earn away.

First I want to point out that similar games usually have 3 free heroes on rotation, and you usually get one free hero to start when you sign up. 6 heroes in the free selection is quite a bit to select from, given that we have less than 10 heroes right now.

The strategy I have used is to purchase a hero that you can use in most battles, and then learn to use a few heroes, not just one, so depending on who is on free rotation, you can always have a hero that you are comfortable using.

At 1000 Glory each for Ringo and Catherine, they are very good heroes for beginners. Catherine is tanky and Ringo is slippery while dealing major damage. Both of these heroes are easy to learn(but hard to master) If you have never used them I recommend the following guides:

• Catherine guide by @Toilets: http://www.vaingloryfire.com/vainglory/guide/toiletss-guide-to-jungle-catherine-updated-39

• Ringo guide by @Lexius: http://www.vaingloryfire.com/vainglory/guide/ringo-complete-guide-by-lexius-v1-0-12-26

I also like using Petal which cost 2000 glory. Petal is extremely flexible, she can be support, damage dealer, healing and harassing, and her range makes her an excellent laner and jungler, and she is really adorable to look at, what more can you possible ask for in a hero? With a week of playing even a new player can afford to add adorable Petal to their collection, and there are more Petal guides than any other hero so feel free to read away!

• Petal guides: http://www.vaingloryfire.com/vainglory/guides?fHeroes=11

With 6 heroes in free rotation, the hero you want to use is available half the time, so pick 2-3 heroes you don't own, and use whichever one that is available in the free rotation. And you really don't need to own all the heroes, I usually only own the ones I use frequently, and then I use other heroes when they are on free rotation, this keep it fun while you earn your glory and save up for the heroes you want. Think of it as a game, as you strategy which hero to own first, that would still help you play, have fun and get the most out of your experience.

It's hard to make a game that has enough players, and if you like this game and want to help make sure you can continue to play it in the upcoming future, there are several ways to help and not all of them cost money!

• If you have money to spend, buy a hero, skin, something to support the game, any game need some paying player to continue, else there won't be money to cover the cost of keeping the game running

• Help write guides, answer question, any way you want to add to the game that feels fun for you, these things helps other players out and the more player there is, in general there will be more players who will buy a hero or skin, so having more players is good and it helps the game out

• Tell your friends about the game so there are more players

• Help other players in the community if they are new, or if they want someone to team up with

• Say something nice to devs so they are motivated to keep working on the game, they are human too and have feelings, and you have the power to say something to make them happy for the day!

• and finally, say something to me so I am motivated to keep writing these guides =) The fox needs to know there are someone out there reading this! Else why write to the air?

Thanks for reading and if you think of anything else to add, feel free to include it in your reply and help everyone out!