They've been surrounded in rumor for a while, but now we're finally ready to talk about some of the upcoming Tier 4 Talents as well as some changes to certain Legendary loot. Read on to find out more!

Tier 4 Talents

One of the most common questions about Tier 4 Talents that we've seen is what area will you have to reach to unlock them. If you'll recall, you can't buy Tier 1 talents until you reach area 150. Tier 2 require 300, and Tier 3 require 600. Tier 4 Talents will continue the climb and require that you reach area 900 in any campaign before you can buy them. They will also cost a ridiculous amount of idols.

To give you a taste for the power invested in these new talents, we've going to highlight one of the new talents from each tree in this teaser blog. Are you ready?

Active Tree: Instant Satisfaction

This talent allows you to use your active abilities in rapid succession - if you're lucky! Why use Fire Storm once when twice is double as good? Maxing out the 21 levels in this talent to get a 50% chance will cost you just shy of 10,000,000 idols.

Passive Tree: Idols Over Time

The more time you take on a run, the more Idols you will earn. The bonus stacks additively and is progressive, so if you've got it maxed out at 50% for every 2 hours, you'll get 100% more idols after just four hours, 125% after five hours, and a massive 600% more after a day of idling. Great for overnight free plays or adding value to long challenging objectives! Maxing out this talent will cost you a cool 8,400,000 idols.

Utility Tree: Sprint Mode

What is Sprint Mode? Sprint mode allows you to skip between boss areas extremely quickly, assuming you can finish off the boss fast enough! If you defeat the boss and his minions within seven seconds of entering the area, you'll skip ahead five areas directly into the next boss area. This ability is only active in free play, but is definitely the creme de la creme of the new talents. Consider taking only 10 or 15 minutes to reach area 500 on your free plays? The idols will really start to pour in now. This power won't come cheap, though. Unlocking Sprint Mode up to area 500 will cost you more than 25,000,000 idols.

These new changes should allow players to reach new heights and earn idols even faster than ever before. While there is no tier 4 objective talent in this initial release, it is planned for a future update, meaning there will eventually be a whole slew of incredibly challenging objectives available for our most dedicated and voracious players.

Other Changes

We're also making some changes to the effects of several Legendary items - mainly items that increased the effects of existing formation abilities or stacked in unintended and overly powerful ways. These items will now instead provide an additive stacking buff. A full list of affected items will be released in the change log of the update.

But what if you've invested a lot of crafting material and catalysts in these items and don't find the new items to be powerful enough for your tastes? Well, we've taken care of that. You will now be able to disenchant (DE) Legendary items to recover the materials spent on them. Each DE'd legendary will return enough Common material to level them up to whatever level they were, as well as credit a free legendary craft. Free Legendary crafts do not require any catalysts, and are used automatically when you craft your next Legendary item(s).

We've also listened to players who were unhappy that Golden Legendary items used the normal Legendary name and icon, rather than special animated icons. In this update we'll make a change to all Golden Legendaries so that they use the same icon and name as the Golden Epic items that they upgrade from.

Wrapping Up

This update will also refresh players' free Talent respecs back to three. We're hoping to get this update out in the next little while, so stay tuned to the in-game news and change log over the coming weeks! Happy idling, Crusaders!

Hi Whackers!

Remember that stone idol in your quest bar? Well, the Explorer's League is finally ready to do something with it! If you have the Ancient Stone Artifact from the Cliffs of Korak, then speak to Expedition Leader Magellan in the Explorer's Camp to get started!

This update includes over 50 new story quests, relating to the mysterious society the idol belongs to. Set your brain to the task and start the adventure!

The Town Crier will let you know when enough time has passed that you can journey to the Explorer's Camp and pick up the continuing story quests. As you finish the story parts, you'll unlock new daily quests to do!

Choose carefully though, because once you've started an Explorer's hub daily quest, you won't be able to do any Sanctuary or Cloudland daily quests for the next 20 hours.

Completing the Daily Quests will award you Spine Expedition Coins, which can be used to buy a plethora of exciting custom items and treats from the Ye Extraordinary Explorer's Emporium once you've unlocked the store.

Chat about the update on the forums!

The new event can be challenging if it's your first time through. Use these special weekend buffs to power through and unlock those tier 2 objectives!

The following Crusaders will get a buff this weekend starting from today until 12 pm PDT on Monday May 22nd.

• Serpent King Draco - Base DPS +400%
• Princess - All DPS +200%
• Khouri, the Witch Doctor - Koffee Potion ability +200%
• Montana James - All Gold Find +200%
• Prince Sal, the Merman - Base DPS +400%

Also, check out the limited-time Premiere Jeweled Chests that contain equipment for the five Crusaders above!

(Please note: The chest will only contain gear for Draco and Montana if you've unlocked them. If you are missing Montana, you can purchase Montana's Golden Epic, and it will be available on him once you unlock him through missions.)

You have to love big budget sequels. Montana James is back in this repeat Crusaders event, Trek Through the Hidden Temple.

This updated event runs from today through to May 30th at Noon PDT. For those players who haven't unlocked them already, this is your chance to add both Montana James and Serpent King Draco to your roster.

Two new Tier Two Crusaders are also available to unlock once you've completed the Tier One objectives: Danni the Daring Damsel and Polly the Parrot.

via GIPHY

New Tier Two Crusader: Danni, the Daring Damsel

The first of the two new Tier 2 Crusaders is Danni, the Daring Damsel who doesn't need to rely on anyone else to get herself out of trouble. Even if she ends up getting in trouble a lot.

At level 100, Danni unlocks Eye Candy which buffs the DPS of all Male Crusaders by 50%.

At level 150, her ability Penny in Your Pocket increases the Gold Find +10% additively for each Male Crusader in the formation.

New Tier Two Crusader: Polly the Parrot

Polly, the Parrot, is the trusty animal sidekick who's always on hand for those comedic moments when heroes are locked in a cell and need a key. Also, he has some wicked one-liners, which kids will be quoting long after the adventure finishes. Probably.

At level 50, Polly unlocks Got a Cracker!, an ability makes monsters move 500% faster.

Polly unlocks Instant Regret at level 150 and monsters that are attacking the formation will then take extra damage.

After you've completed the first new Tier Two objectives for Danni and Polly, there are three new side stories in the form of Tier Two objectives to complete.

New Tier Two Objective: Aliens? Really?

In Aliens? Really?, a set of alien monsters with various effects attack your formation all the way to area 400.

New Tier Two Objective: The Holy Grail.

In the objective, The Holy Grail, every 25 areas one of your Crusaders will attempt to drink from a Grail. The wrong one will permanently disable that Crusader seat past that level. You'll probably choose poorly until area 450.

New Tier Two Objective: Ghosts of the Ancients.

The final new Tier Two objective is Ghosts of the Ancients. Speedy spooky invulnerable ghosts of an ancient Mayan civilization attack your formation all the way to area 500.

Equipment for both Tier 1 and 2 Crusaders can be found in Hidden Temple Jeweled Chests. However, gear for the Tier 2 Crusaders will only appear once you've unlocked the respective Crusader.

You'll have until May 30th at Noon PDT to complete the event.

Hi Whackers!

May 12th is International Awareness Day, and we've chosen to support the ME/FM Society of BC, a not-for-profit organization that was formed to help and support people, and their families, living with the health conditions Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and/or Fibromyalgia (FM).

So, for the next three days you can buy Butterfly Charity Cookie packs in the game, from which 100% of Codename's proceeds will be donated directly to the ME/FM Society of BC.

Talk to the person in the Commons by the Town Hall to learn more.

The cookie packs will be on sale until Monday May 15th at Noon PDT. Thank you for your time and generosity!

We have a special surprise for you this week in the form of four brand new permanent objectives in the Amusement Park of Doom campaign. Plus, we have our weekly weekend buff.

The first of the four new objectives is Log Ride. Players can start the objective after completing You Must be THIS Tall and already have 30,000 idols banked. Every 10 seconds one of your Crusaders gets drenched by water, decreasing their DPS to 0 and disabling their formation abilities for 15 seconds. Players must reach area 650 to beat the objective.

Log Ride

Mauled By Mascots sees the intrepid Crusaders attacked by well-known, beloved characters, including Marty Mouse and Daryl Duck. It wouldn't be right to kill them so you must just fend off the invulnerable mascots until you can advance to the next area all the way to area 750.

Mauled By Mascots

Couples Day requires you to always have an equal number of male and female Crusaders on the field. However, we do give you some leeway to add one male or female Crusader as you unlock them (otherwise you couldn't add any Crusaders). To complete the objective, you must beat area 800.

Couples Day

The final new objective is It's Over Nine... Hundred? where you have to (you guessed it!) beat area 900.

It's Over Nine... Hundred?

We're also launching the new weekend buff, Amusing Objectives of Doom. The Bushwhacker, Veronica, the Android Archer, Gold Panda, Fire Phoenix, and Exterminator all get a boost for the weekend until 12 pm PDT on Monday, May 15th.

• Bushwhacker - Critical Click Chance +6%
• Veronica, the Android Archer - Precise Aim ability +200%
• Gold Panda - All Gold Find +200%
• Fire Phoenix - All DPS +200%
• Exterminator - Spare Parts, and Slaved Systems +200%

Also, check out the limited-time Amusing Jeweled Chests that contain equipment for the five Crusaders above!

(Please note: The chest will only contain gear for Veronica and Exterminator if you've unlocked them. You will get Golden Epic for the Exterminator with your chest purchase and it will show up equipped on him, once you unlock him!)

Hi Whackers!

The Gorgeous Garden Contest is now underway!

We want to see YOUR talented, artistic skills at gardening/art. It's super easy to get started, just start growing plants. When you've got enough, you can begin to lay out your designs in the event area. Once you've managed to get at least a D from each of the judges, you're golden for entering the contest!

How the Contest Works

When you're ready, talk to the photographer (he's got a yellow ! above his head) and have him take a picture of your fantasy garden. You can submit as many times as you would like, but only your most recent submission will get the votes. Each time you do submit a screenshot, your votes will reset to make it fair for everyone, so plan carefully! Submissions will be accepted until *Friday, May 19th, 2017, - Noon PDT.*

You Get to Vote!

YOU get to vote too! The coveted 'User's Choice' award is picked by the Bush Whacker Community, and has a prize of 50 Bush Bucks! You can vote for as many submissions as you like, and at the end of the event the top submission as voted by YOU the players will be awarded the prize.

Notes about Voting!

• Asking to visit the contest or the voting page no longer takes you outside the game; it simply loads the contest/voting page over top it! Finished voting? You can easily return to the event area by clicking "Back to Game" at the bottom of the screen. Easy as pie!


• Can't decide between two layouts? That’s ok! You now have a way to say "Next Please," and two new images will be loaded up for you!


• Tired of seeing the same layouts previously? We've improved the system, you should see the same layouts repeated far more infrequently now.

You can vote until *Friday, May 19, 2017 @ Noon PDT.*

And the CNE winners are...

At the end of the event, the entire Codename Entertainment Studio will review the submissions and choose their favourites, with 3 lucky players per platform being awarded prizes of 250, 200, and 150 Bush Bucks for first, second and third. All winners will be published in the blog when we've made our decision.

Post questions and comments here!

All the Pretty Flowers in a Row!

The SIXTH annual Grow-A-Thon has returned to the Commons! Whack the bushes and gather their bounty so that you can plant flowers and trees in the Event area to make yourself a gorgeous garden. Impress the judges every 20 hours to earn Spring tokens to buy this year’s Custom Items. You need to impress the previous judge to get a rating from the next one.

Plus, fill your magnificent garden with critters! There are 5 to get throughout the event, starting with the Squirrel today! On platforms with friends, you can send out requests for a free one. On platforms without, you get a free one when the animal unlocks from the animal vendor! The tool-tip when you hover the critter in the store has their unlock date!

Also returning is the Gorgeous Garden contest! Check back next week for more details!

George has such a terrible green thumb, he’ll be looking for you to help him out trying to grow a plant for the first (or third) time.

Spring usually means spring cleaning, right? Freddy needs some help cleaning up his house. It’s gotten a little bit spooky. Cleaning items can only be whacked in his house.

Timmy wants to wake his turtle up from its hibernation after that long, cold winter. Aid him in finding things to tempt it back to consciousness.

New for 2017:

We've added 9 new quests! Last year's beehive quest gets an additional 3 buzzing quests, and learn more about helpful insects from the insect fan!

Event Achievements -- POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT

There are a total of FIFTEEN possible achievements to earn in the Spring Garden 2017 event.

Achievements Returning for 2017
Flower Master- You’ve grown 1 of each common plant in the Spring Event!
Beast Master- You’ve gotten every animal in the Spring Event.
Spring Decorator- You’ve bought 3 of each planter and 1 Watering Can.
Impressive- You impressed all of the Gardening Judges in the Spring Event.
Most Impressive- You got the highest mark from the final Gardening Judge in the Spring Event!
Five Days at Freddy's - Complete all of Freddy's Spring Daily Quests!
Spring Botanist - You collected flowers for all the Spring Garden judges.
Beekeeper - You completed the Spring Garden beehive quests.

Added/Changed for 2017
Organic Acquisitions - You bought all the 2017 Spring Garden event items!*
Bee Buddy - Help Joel make Bushwhackia a better place for the bees.
Bug Collector - Help Satoshi expand his bug collection.

We also have 4 achievements from previous years which may be earnable by spending Bush Bucks if you missed getting them the first time around.

Spring Token Trader - You bought all the 2016 Spring Garden event items!
Garage Sale Connoisseur - Purchase all the 2015 Spring Event items!
Spring Spender- Purchase all the 2014 Spring Event items!
Fresh Year Round- Purchase all the 2013 Spring Event items!

*The Spring mini-golf piece is not required for the Organic Acquisitions achievement.

Pet Packs

New 2017 Pet Packs (Coming Soon!)



Post your green thumb adventures and questions on the forum!

The event will run until Friday May 19th at Noon PDT!

Frequently Asked Questions

• How can I find the seeds?
  Just keep whacking. The Holiday Item runes and pets will help attract them as well.


• How do I grow plants?
  There are the planters outside the garden to grow flowers in. If you click on them, you can see the plant store. Each plant has a different cost and grow time to get you your event progress points. You start with 4 free planters.


• Is it good to buy extra planters for growing the plants?
  If you have the seeds to spare and prefer to plant long-growing plants, then yes, it’s worth it.


• How do I get the Decorator achievement?
  If you go into the gardening area, the store button ($) has a selection of garden decorating items, where you can find the planter styles and watering can. These items also cost seeds.


• What are the possible seed combinations for Farmer MacDonald’s quest?
  You can choose seeds that grow either Energy or Gold, and then choose between 20, 15, 4, and 3 hours of growth time.


• Why do my custom seeds cost Gold to plant?
  You created the combination, which is unlocked until they expire. Just like normal plants, they cost Gold for planting. We don't award a flat number of seeds, because not all players have the same amount of farm plots. This way, you get to choose how many you end up growing. :)
  
• Why don’t my custom seeds last longer?
  Because they're OP! Enjoy them while they last. :)


• How do I please the judges?
  Just keep growing plants. As your event progress increases, you will impress the judges more and more. You DO NOT need to place them in your garden if you don't wish to. The plants still count for progress.


• Does the Timey-Wimey watch or Time Turner affect the judges?
  No, judges do not have quest cooldowns, so trinket effects that work for quests will not apply to them.


• What adds to my event progress?
  Growing plants worth points and completing the side quests. To get the points from your plants, you don't even need to place them in your garden! Just grow them!


• Do I have to do the achievements?
  No. Completing the goals for the achievements is totally optional. You get either a large energy pack or a title for your character from them, no event progress.


• Where can I see all the achievements available and how to get them?
  Either on the holiday dialog, the achievements dialog, or on the blog.

Everyone is super psyched about a certain new film coming out this weekend! What a coincidence that it's being released just as the Gardener's event is running.

The following Crusaders will get a buff this weekend starting from today until 12 pm PDT on Monday May 8th.

• Emo Werewolf - Base DPS +400%
• Detective Kaine - A-Hah! ability +200%
• Broot - I am Broot, I am Broot, and I am Broot abilities +200%
• Dark Gryphon - All DPS ability +200%
• Robbie Raccoon - Stay Strong, and Best Buds abilities +200%

Also, check out the limited-time Premiere Jeweled Chests that contain equipment for the five Crusaders above!

(Please note: The chest will only contain gear for Broot and Robbie the Raccoon if you've unlocked them. If you are missing Robbie, you can purchase Robbie's Golden Epic, and it will be available on him once you unlock him through missions.)

You are amazing. No, really. Every one of our players is awesome. That awesomeness has lead to one awesome player nominating another awesome player for this month's player interview.

Zodi is a Crusaders player who has created one of the most popular fan-created resources for other fans since the launch of the game: Zodi's COTLI Spreadsheet.

In Zodi's own words, "This spreadsheet is specifically meant as an on-line resource for COTLI players to learn about the game and crusaders they have or want to collect." It's a free Google spreadsheet available to anyone who wants a little more help in getting the most out of the game.

We spoke with Zodi to find out more about this labour of love.

Please tell us about yourself (name, background, location) that you're comfortable sharing.

My username is ZodiPhd, I live in Wisconsin, and enjoy working with spreadsheets and databases.

When did you start playing Crusaders of the Lost Idols and how did you discover the game?

I started playing COTLI in March of 2016 just looking for an on-line game through the Big Fish platform. I wasn’t sure I liked it at first because I didn’t understand the goal of the game. This was the first time I was exposed to the “idle” game genre. I played for a few hours, then left the game for a few weeks.



When I got a bit bored with other games, I came back to COTLI and was surprised to see the game picked up where I left off. I decided to continue playing and then started paying attention to the chat.

What is it about Crusaders of the Lost Idols that keeps you playing?

The chat was fairly quiet back then, but occasionally I’d see someone post a tip and, soon after, I started asking questions. The friendly chat and informative answers from other players is what kept me going. Once I understood the goals and started advancing in idol collecting, the game became a bit addictive. We, in the Big Fish chat, fondly call it “idol fever.” LOL

What was it that inspired you to create your spreadsheet?

Over several months of playing, I started keeping track of questions and answers, as well as learning tactics and strategies for making the most of the crusaders I had. That led me to start a spreadsheet so I could sift through all that information. I noticed there seemed to be a pattern of questions that all newbies asked. As I became knowledgeable enough to start answering questions myself, I also kept track of those Q&A’s. Pretty soon I had enough information for a dynamic spreadsheet that I thought might benefit other new players.

Zodi's Crusaders Spreadsheet can be found here.

I did look into uploading it into the wiki, but wiki only accepts static tables. However, I found out that Googledocs did allow for multiple users (max 200) to share the spreadsheet, each with their own personal “view.” So that was a better option for players that want an interactive experience setting up their objectives and missions.

November 25 of 2016, I contacted Erika via “Help and Support” and told her of my desire to share the spreadsheet with others and obtain authorization or blessing to do so. To my delight, I was told to go ahead. I uploaded the spreadsheet and posted the link in the Big Fish chat. A multi-platform player (she knows who she is and a shout out to her) also posted it in Kong and I had almost 100 views in the first 48 hours! Then the link appeared in the COTLI Twitter feed and the response blew me away and let me know that this is something that players were interested in viewing. Consequently, I started expanding it by adding tabs with more information.

*** Shout out to all the players in the Big Fish Chat, and Erika, who answered my COTLI questions! ***

What was the most time-consuming part of creating the spreadsheet?

The initial time spent on setting up the “Crusader Abilities & Tag Labels” tab and the on-going maintenance for new crusaders.

What kind of feedback have you had from other players who have used the spreadsheet?

I’ve received amazing feedback from the Big Fish chat players, which makes me feel grateful that others are getting benefit from what was once just a personal spreadsheet.

Do you have plans to make a new spreadsheet or resource for another part of the game?

One player had the idea to start a tab for legendaries, which got a lot of support from others. I said I’d do it only if I got info from others. I have received a lot of information from other players for that tab, another shout out to all of them. But the wiki also has legendary info uploaded now, so I will only finish out the level one info as I get around to editing it. It is an on-going editing process to maintain what's there.

I haven’t hit the maximum viewership yet (200 at a time) and I don’t need to duplicate all the other resources out there. I mostly wanted a spreadsheet that could sort and filter crusader information to be available on-line, along with event info, general info, tips, tactics, and strategies. However, if someone wanted to pay me to do more, well, I’d definitely consider that!

You can check out Zodi's COTLI Spreadsheet here. Zodi has included a guide to learn how to filter and perform keyword searches to get the most out of the spreadsheet.

If you'd like to be interviewed for the official Crusaders blog, email us at crusaders@codenameentertainment.com.