ALLIES (hotkey: "M" for allies list; "Z" to switch to previously used)
Valkyrie - level 60; 50 gems
Lilith - level 60; 56 gems
Princess Eli - level 75; 60 gems
Huntress - level 75; 64 gems
Gabriella - level 90; 75 gems
Guardian - level 90; 72 gems
- Other people call them "pets". You start off with the Kitten, but as you explore in other towns you will encounter other allies and may opt to change or stay with your current one.
- Every ally has a set of 3 skills. With an Ally Skill Book you can upgrade these skills one at a time. The higher the level of the skill the lesser the chance of success will be. If you fail in upgrading it the chance of success will go up by 5%. However, once a skill reached level 21 the success chance for level 22 to 25 is a permanent 3% - it won’t go up by 5% for every failed upgrade anymore.
- Happiness determines how often an ally will use its skills in battle. Your ally starts with 100% when you obtained it. Every time you run away or get knocked out from the fight your ally’s happiness will drop by 5%. An ally will never leave you, but it’s quite hard when it refuses to heal you in battle due to being unhappy. You can increase its happiness by winning (1% per fight won) or by bonding with it for 1 energy (on Ally screen, click "Bond"). Logging everyday also increases its happiness.
- Premium Allies are bought with gems, are always 100% happy, and follow your level. You may not be able to see the full list until you reach level 75. These are the most commonly used allies, their level requirements and gem prices.
Valkyrie - level 60; 50 gems
Lilith - level 60; 56 gems
Princess Eli - level 75; 60 gems
Huntress - level 75; 64 gems
Gabriella - level 90; 75 gems
Guardian - level 90; 72 gems
- Switching non-premium allies is not possible without the Ally Hotel (comes with the initial purchase of Bankers Guild). If you have it your non-premium ally will automatically be sent there whenever you accept another non-premium ally or use a premium one. Without the hotel your ally will leave you when you use another ally. You can still find it in its same area map where you found it before, but all its skills are back to level 1. Premium allies do not use the hotel as they only go back to their list when not in use.
Which premium ally should I buy?
The general rule is you should have at least one weaken ally (Elf Princess, Valkyrie, Princess Eli, or Gabriella) and one copy ally (Lilith, Huntress, or Guardian). There will come a time, though, when you may need to buy more than one weaken and/or copy allies.
Before I try to explain the comparison, you have to bear in mind that you are not just choosing the ally to use now, but your companion(s) until level 106. You might be wasting gems and ally skill books on an ally that you'll regret later on, so think wisely. Each class also favors different allies under different circumstances. I'll try to explain them here.
WEAKEN ALLIES: Elf Princess vs. Valkyrie vs. Princess Eli vs. Gabriella
Elf Princess skills:
Princess Eli skills:
Gabriella skills:
HEAL - Speaking from a gunner's point of view, ally heal is not important once you have a wand and 39 magic for greater heal. It's also not recommended to just rely on your ally's heal. kingk said allies will prioritize heal only when your hp drops below 30%. From that angle, if you’re waiting for weaken and your hp is <30% your healing ally will heal you first. And if you’re a mage setting up your max talisman hit, I doubt you’ll like that. So we will take heal out of the factors.
EXPERIENCE BONUS - If you're a swordie or a gunner, this might be the only useful skill of Princess Eli. A passive permanent bonus, so after maxing her Beauty you can just forget all about her. Mages, on the other hand, use her because she doesn't have block and shield. But that will be explained later.
BLOCK vs. SHIELD - Gabriella gets both block and shield, so she's the best weaken ally. BUT, you can only get her very late in the game, level 90. So for the sake of level 40 to 89, only Elf Princess and Valkyrie will be compared.
EP has block, the third roll for block rate (refer to Formula - Block Rate). It basically works the same as your block, a chance to nullify your opponent's attack. It's not a surprise that swordies prefer her over Valkyrie. Swordie's talisman damage depends on the number of rounds in battle, so they'll want all the block they can get. This is directly opposite for mages. Their talisman damage gets stronger the lower their hp goes. For 10-round bosses like FW, they need to use their talisman on or before the 10th round, because it's always 1-hit attack on 10th round and after. Block makes it harder for them to be hurt, not ideal when setting up a talisman hit.
For bosses that can 1-hit you with a strong attack (which you can overcome eventually), block can help you lessen the amount of energy you use to cap or kill. In MA, it can lessen the number of dolls you use on Anithea or Fallen One. This applies to all classes.
On the other hand, Valk has shield and works the same as the mage's shield skills. It also stacks with the mage's skills, so more damage reduction for you. Although it can't nullify damage completely like block, shield works every time, and it doesn't need chance or luck. The best use of shield is in MA (Time Bunny to Frozen Pride), where it's kill or be killed; and in close-shave battles where you can survive a boss' stronger attack with 3-digits HP left (or less).
As a gunner with no sword (refer to Boss Fights - swapping, if you're confused), I prefer Valk's shield over EP's block. Although gunners have weapon block, it is almost unnoticeable. EP works best with class/skill block, but i'm too lazy to do full swapping. And gunner's talisman does full damage on first round, sometimes we prefer to just die more often so we can use our talisman more often, too. But that's expensive so I usually wait until I can cap/kill a boss using only one energy. Personally, Valk's shield, Lilith, and life items is the best combination for survival.
On a side note, there were a lot of discussions about EP vs. Valk before the update with Huntress was released. During the first quarter of 2012 there was a significant number of EP users against Valk users, maybe because the bosses during that time were mostly instant kill bosses (AI, MW, Fallen). No one was even talking about Lolith. As the newer patches were released and players got a lot stronger than those instant kill bosses, I believe there was also a shift on the "who's better?" dilemma. I'm one of those who shifted. With the introduction of Gabriella, I once again changed my main weaken ally. Since she now has both block and shield, both EP and Valk basically became obsolete.
COPY ALLIES: LILITH vs. HUNTRESS vs. GUARDIAN
Lilith skills:
Huntress skills:
Guardian skills:
Although they all have copy and block, I believe they all have their own use under different circumstances.
Guardian stands out with her 42% block rate. She's the best ally to use in hell, where you use excessive amount of energy to cap/kill bosses who can 1-hit kill you, and you have no choice but to use talisman on first round. If you also want to lessen the amount of dolls you use against Princess Anithea and Fallen One in MA, use her. Unfortunately, she comes late in game (level 90). Once again, I deem her heal useless, even if she is the most powerful healing ally.
Huntress is the best damage dealer ally because of her passive damage bonus and copy, better when used after 3 weakens. She is also the best all-around ally for mobs and weaker bosses, especially when you are running (your energy) fast.
Lilith is best paired with Valk or Gabriella during survival fights. After 3 weakens switch out Lilith for her copy. That way you'll have constant shield and chance of block throughout the battle.
In short, Huntress is for more damage. Lilith is for survival. Guardian is for using less energy/dolls against tough bosses.
COPY vs. WEAKEN (?)
Another side note, on an even older patch (2011), people were asking whether copy is better than weaken and vice versa. We now know (2014) that if you want to do maximum damage, you have to have both. Weaken and copy allies should help each other, not compete on who's better. For people saying they only have gems for ONE ally, I believe you also don't have the time and interest to go further in the game. You will see the first weaken ally on level 40, and Huntress on level 75, then another weaken ally on 90. Don't tell me that, in order to "save" your gems, you'd rather wait or rush until 90? You will buy more than one ally if you want to progress easier. Read guides, even not mine, and plan ahead.
The general rule is you should have at least one weaken ally (Elf Princess, Valkyrie, Princess Eli, or Gabriella) and one copy ally (Lilith, Huntress, or Guardian). There will come a time, though, when you may need to buy more than one weaken and/or copy allies.
Before I try to explain the comparison, you have to bear in mind that you are not just choosing the ally to use now, but your companion(s) until level 106. You might be wasting gems and ally skill books on an ally that you'll regret later on, so think wisely. Each class also favors different allies under different circumstances. I'll try to explain them here.
WEAKEN ALLIES: Elf Princess vs. Valkyrie vs. Princess Eli vs. Gabriella
Elf Princess skills:
- Protection (block): 32% block (level 25)
- Renewal (heal): 880 heal power (level 25)
- Weaken (debuff): -14.8% enemy defense (level 25)
- Protect Aura (shield): 32% shield (level 25)
- Revitalize (heal): 1320 heal power (level 25)
- Weaken (debuff): -14.8% enemy defense (level 25)
Princess Eli skills:
- Beauty: passive experience bonus +14.8% fight exp (level 25)
- Mermaid's Kiss (heal): 1,638 heal power (level 25)
- Weaken (debuff): -14.8% enemy defense (level 25)
Gabriella skills:
- Teleport (block): 36% block chance (level 25); FREE Isendel pass.
- Protect Aura (shield): 32% shield (level 25)
- Weaken (debuff): -14.8% enemy defense (level 25)
HEAL - Speaking from a gunner's point of view, ally heal is not important once you have a wand and 39 magic for greater heal. It's also not recommended to just rely on your ally's heal. kingk said allies will prioritize heal only when your hp drops below 30%. From that angle, if you’re waiting for weaken and your hp is <30% your healing ally will heal you first. And if you’re a mage setting up your max talisman hit, I doubt you’ll like that. So we will take heal out of the factors.
EXPERIENCE BONUS - If you're a swordie or a gunner, this might be the only useful skill of Princess Eli. A passive permanent bonus, so after maxing her Beauty you can just forget all about her. Mages, on the other hand, use her because she doesn't have block and shield. But that will be explained later.
BLOCK vs. SHIELD - Gabriella gets both block and shield, so she's the best weaken ally. BUT, you can only get her very late in the game, level 90. So for the sake of level 40 to 89, only Elf Princess and Valkyrie will be compared.
EP has block, the third roll for block rate (refer to Formula - Block Rate). It basically works the same as your block, a chance to nullify your opponent's attack. It's not a surprise that swordies prefer her over Valkyrie. Swordie's talisman damage depends on the number of rounds in battle, so they'll want all the block they can get. This is directly opposite for mages. Their talisman damage gets stronger the lower their hp goes. For 10-round bosses like FW, they need to use their talisman on or before the 10th round, because it's always 1-hit attack on 10th round and after. Block makes it harder for them to be hurt, not ideal when setting up a talisman hit.
For bosses that can 1-hit you with a strong attack (which you can overcome eventually), block can help you lessen the amount of energy you use to cap or kill. In MA, it can lessen the number of dolls you use on Anithea or Fallen One. This applies to all classes.
On the other hand, Valk has shield and works the same as the mage's shield skills. It also stacks with the mage's skills, so more damage reduction for you. Although it can't nullify damage completely like block, shield works every time, and it doesn't need chance or luck. The best use of shield is in MA (Time Bunny to Frozen Pride), where it's kill or be killed; and in close-shave battles where you can survive a boss' stronger attack with 3-digits HP left (or less).
As a gunner with no sword (refer to Boss Fights - swapping, if you're confused), I prefer Valk's shield over EP's block. Although gunners have weapon block, it is almost unnoticeable. EP works best with class/skill block, but i'm too lazy to do full swapping. And gunner's talisman does full damage on first round, sometimes we prefer to just die more often so we can use our talisman more often, too. But that's expensive so I usually wait until I can cap/kill a boss using only one energy. Personally, Valk's shield, Lilith, and life items is the best combination for survival.
On a side note, there were a lot of discussions about EP vs. Valk before the update with Huntress was released. During the first quarter of 2012 there was a significant number of EP users against Valk users, maybe because the bosses during that time were mostly instant kill bosses (AI, MW, Fallen). No one was even talking about Lolith. As the newer patches were released and players got a lot stronger than those instant kill bosses, I believe there was also a shift on the "who's better?" dilemma. I'm one of those who shifted. With the introduction of Gabriella, I once again changed my main weaken ally. Since she now has both block and shield, both EP and Valk basically became obsolete.
COPY ALLIES: LILITH vs. HUNTRESS vs. GUARDIAN
Lilith skills:
- Protect Aura (shield): 32% shield (level 25)
- Wingshield (block): 34% block chance (level 25)
- Copy (attack): copy 37% damage (level 25)
Huntress skills:
- Visionscope: +14.8% player damage (level 25)
- Nanoshield (block): 36% block chance (level 25)
- Copy (attack): copy 37% damage (level 25)
Guardian skills:
- Megaheal (heal): 4950 heal power (level 25)
- Cancel (block): 42% block (level 25)
- Copy (attack): copy 37% damage (level 25)
Although they all have copy and block, I believe they all have their own use under different circumstances.
Guardian stands out with her 42% block rate. She's the best ally to use in hell, where you use excessive amount of energy to cap/kill bosses who can 1-hit kill you, and you have no choice but to use talisman on first round. If you also want to lessen the amount of dolls you use against Princess Anithea and Fallen One in MA, use her. Unfortunately, she comes late in game (level 90). Once again, I deem her heal useless, even if she is the most powerful healing ally.
Huntress is the best damage dealer ally because of her passive damage bonus and copy, better when used after 3 weakens. She is also the best all-around ally for mobs and weaker bosses, especially when you are running (your energy) fast.
Lilith is best paired with Valk or Gabriella during survival fights. After 3 weakens switch out Lilith for her copy. That way you'll have constant shield and chance of block throughout the battle.
In short, Huntress is for more damage. Lilith is for survival. Guardian is for using less energy/dolls against tough bosses.
COPY vs. WEAKEN (?)
Another side note, on an even older patch (2011), people were asking whether copy is better than weaken and vice versa. We now know (2014) that if you want to do maximum damage, you have to have both. Weaken and copy allies should help each other, not compete on who's better. For people saying they only have gems for ONE ally, I believe you also don't have the time and interest to go further in the game. You will see the first weaken ally on level 40, and Huntress on level 75, then another weaken ally on 90. Don't tell me that, in order to "save" your gems, you'd rather wait or rush until 90? You will buy more than one ally if you want to progress easier. Read guides, even not mine, and plan ahead.