Training Guide v2.0
For New Players Made in the future (or made recently ie lvl20 or less)
Note, this is for these players' entire careers. When they get older, do NOT switch to the advice in the next section
-Don't buy temporary attribute boosts.
-For your first 3 attributes, If an attribute is between 1 and 30, use INTENSE Training, 31-36 use NORMAL Training, and 37+ use LIGHT Training. Do not stop training your 2nd attribute until you are done pumping your 1st, do not stop training your 3rd until you are done pumping your 2nd. These attributes will likely get trained to around 38-44 overall, which is good because you need the BTs from light training. (if you ignore the rest of this guide, you can do the above on all attributes for your players career)
-I do not encourage training attributes past the softcap unless you are late in your career and out of things to train. If you do so later in your career, use normal.
-Bank all BTs (aside from use on multi-training) to buy and upgrade 4 pieces of AE. Each of these pieces should be enhanced shopping for 55 BTs to get +3 attribute and +1 SA or +2% bonus. Or if you want an end of tree SA, +70 BTs for a +3 attribute and +1 SA is alright as well.
-If you really like a certain +% bonus, its alright to double up on it with 2 AE.
IF YOU THINK THE REST OF THIS GUIDE IS TOO LONG/CONFUSING FOR NEW PLAYERS, YOU CAN JUST USE THE ABOVE ADVICE WITH SUCCESS. Still, understand that you are giving up ~20-30 SP by not multi-training/
------Multi-Training-------
Once your 3rd attribute is softcapped (and your top 2 are much higher) we are going to multi-train 4 attributes. To unlock multi-training, go to your player page and click on "bonus tokens" below your SA list. Also, for every attribute you plan to multi-train, buy lvl1 enhanced training for it, which'll cost 5 BT per attribute
First we need to determine how many attributes (not counting the initial 3) are important to your player. If you only have 4 other attributes you want higher at some point (such as at DT) it is simple. For a position like FS which has 5-6 attributes, its a little harder. Basically, to multi-train 4 attributes, you need to pay to unlock 3 of them, and the first attribute can be whatever you want while not being unlocked. Thus, if you are multi-training more than 4 attributes eventually, you want the one you didn't pay to unlock (first on the list) be the attribute which you plan to switch off of.
The goal from multi-training is to get all the attributes important to you up to at least 27 (though in some it will be much higher). Thus, if you need 5 or 6 attributes multi-trained up eventually, you want to switch off of your free attribute asap once it hits 27. I recommend making this attribute one which has solid auto-level-gains, but also into particularly important to you.
Any attributes which are important to you but don't get any auto-level-gains (they will be 10-or-less when starting multi-training), you want them to be one of the 3 attributes you unlock and train for the entirety of your multi training, since it takes a long time to get from 8 to 27, and also because you are getting the most value on low attributes when using your souped up multi-enhanced intense training.
------At the end of your 7th season------
Once you are at the end of your 7th regular season (you will be aprox. lvl48) you need to switch to light training any of your attributes which were previously multi-training. You will be light training for the remained of your player's career.
For Current Mid-Level and Older Players
-If you need extra BTs to either finish off your current AE, or buy a better AE using enhanced shopping, or want to fit in a 3rd AE, do Light training for all attributes 27+ and normal training for attributes <27
-Keep in mind that starting a new AE will take around 1.4 seasons to make it ready to use, so if you are past ~L62 I would not start an extra piece.
-IF you don't need the extra BTs for AE, do intense 1-30 normal 31-36 light 37+, and just convert 12 BTs = 1 SP.
ABOVE IS THE THE GUIDE AND MY ADVICE. EVERYTHING BELOW IS SIMPLY HOW I GOT TO THE ABOVE CONCLUSIONS. If you don't care how I got to the above conclusions, you can stop reading here.
While the advice outlined at the top does not represent the optimal build strategy, it does represent the near-optimal, such that you can build extremely good players who have the potential to excel at the games top levels. After my changes to this guide due to the changes to training on 6/3/10, this advice is closer to the optimal strategy than the previous advice was.
The Value of Advanced Equipment
So many people when doing these calculations are going to rest on valuing a BT as 1/12th of an SP. However, it is widely accepted that BTs have more value in AE than they do when converting to SP. Hence, when a BT is being used in AE, it is likely worth MORE than 1/12th of an SP.
Each AE upgrade will cost 24 BTs. It will also cost 55 BTs to buy a piece of equipment with +3 attribute and +1 SA using the new enhanced shopping system. Hence, to upgrade 1 piece of equipment through L64 it will cost 24*9+55 = 271 BTs.
Now, using conservative estimates on what the piece is worth, lets say you stopped pumping said attribute at the end of the 5:1 cap. Thus, even though auto-level gains have since pumped that attribute much higher, it is safe to reason that +1 in that attribute is worth 5 SP to you. Hence the +3 from the AE, is worth 15 SPs. The +5 in the SA is gonna be worth between 19 and 21 SP (taking it from 5 to 10 is 21, 4 to 9 due to CE is 19) so we can safely put a 20 SP value on the SA portion, making the total AE worth 35 SP's.
Its also worth noting that +% AE is widely accepted as being as good as or better than +SA AE, so though its harder to put a SP value on the +% AE, we can safely assume it is worth at least 35 SP's when it has +3 attribute attached.
Anyhow, 271 BT's/35 SP's = 7.74... Thus, when BTs are put into AE, 7.74 BT's = 1 SP. Again, this is an extremely safe estimate of the value of BTs in AE. It is also worth noting that end of tree SA's, while costing an extra 15 BTs to craft said pieces, are the best value since you are getting a +5 SP bonus for only 15 BTs.
For item crafting (enhanced shopping), +3 in an attribute costs 40 BTs, +1 in an SA (first 3 from trees) is 15 BTs, +1 from an SA (last 2 from the trees) is 30 SP, and +1 extra SA costs 60 SP.
When deciding where to put your AE, never put any in extra SA's as they are a bad value, and if possible try not to put any in the 4th SA in your tree. Any end-of tree SA's should take priority if you plan to have them maxed in your end build, followed by SA's that are in the first 3 of your tree. And of course you probably want at least 2 pieces of +% AE since its great stuff.
Affording 4 pieces of AE
As I showed in the last section, AE is some very amazing stuff as far as adding SP value to your build. As such, since its very possible to afford 4 pieces in the new system, you want to make sure your younger players end up with 4.
For your 10th season you will need aprox 271*4 = 1084 BTs. If a new player normal trained (2 SP/day) his entire 10 seasons, each of which are 55 days, he'd end up with 55*10*2 = 1100 BTs. As such, even without light training, it is possible to afford all 4 pieces of AE (assuming you can normal train from the day the player is created).
Still, as I will show further down, Multi-Training adds a good bit of value for your build. But by multi-training you end up putting yourself behind that 2 BT/day curve which you need to afford 4 pieces of AE. As positions, capping orders, ect ect change, it would be extremely difficult to use straight up math to both find the best days to switch in and out of multi-training, as well making sure you end up with enough BTs.
However, using pabst's training greasemonkey script, I found that using the method in the OP, after the sunk cost of 50-60 BTs from multi-training, will give you between 1020 and 1100 BTs by day 0 of your 10th season (which is when you boost to L64), so as such you'll be able to afford 4 pieces of AE fully upgraded either by that date, or very close to it.
Training Breaking Points
So, we are left with the question:
When should we Intense train? When should we Normal train? When should we Light train?
Assuming you need BTs for AE AE its....
1-26 = Normal
27-48 = Light
However, if you do not need the BTs for AE (or in the case of new players, can safely get the BTs necessary without extra light trainings) its....
1-31 = Intense
32-36 = Normal
37-48 = Light
Especially early in builds, you should never be training past the soft-cap, so I did not include optimal training for doing so. In general, if late in your career you have no choice just go normal, unless you need more BTs in which case you should go Light.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtChW0kjfo6gdHZoY1pXSzFLYlg4d1JsRTJjeWI2Y1E&hl=en
I threw intense out of my "need BT's for AE" breaks, since, you need BT's and normal is better than it when attributes are 26+ anyhow, with normal being barely worse at 15+.
I added-on another column for the SP value of 4x multi training with lvl1 enhanced. As you can see, it outperforms everything up to 48 on the base chart and outperforms light until 42 on the "need BT's" chart. This is just some proof that multi is awesome, though realize that this chart ignores the sunk costs associated with unlocking attributes (the SP values would decrease, though the amount it decreases would be a fuction of how many days you are multi-training. Once the sunk cost of unlocking attributes is paid however, this chart is accurate for future trainings.
Multi-Training
The changes to intense/multi have made it so that we can no longer ignore these options.
Multi excel chart: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtChW0kjfo6gdDlMOEpBV3I2ZUV5SndycVZGV0lNZ1E&hl=en
On the y-axis you have the level of enhanced training hooked up, and on the x axis you have the number of days trained, and the values represent the amount of SP you would have gained by multi-training when compared to normal intense (this takes into account the sunk cost of both the enhanced and multi-training. The avg att=20 chart (first one) will likely be true for those attributes which are not majors or minors, while for your minors, something between the 2nd and 3rd charts will be more accurate (closer to the 3rd chart more likely).
Please keep in mind that the gained SP values shown are across all 4 attributes trained, assuming that they all had that average level (which they won't but it gives us a basis for comparison).
As you can see, enhanced lvl1 is much better than enhanced lvl0, but the advantage of each level decreases before finally going negative (which makes sense since enhanced training becomes more expensive at higher levels (BTs= 5-10-15-20-25). I'd probably argue that lvl2 enhanced is the sweep spot, since the advantage of lvl3 is minuscule, but it is not too large of a difference between lvl1 and lvl2, and being able to save ~50 BTs for AEQ will make our job a whole lot easier, which is why I recommend lvl1 enhanced when multi-training.
In my test runs, I found that given the guide you'll be multi-training attributes for around ~150 days on average.
*separate note* Since kickers, punters, and QBs have better ALG's and less attributes to pump in general, they stand to gain less by multi-training than other positions (since by pumping you initial 3 attributes up higher, you will end up with less time to multi-train. It should still end up being good for you, but just be aware that it won't be as good for you.
Enhanced Training
This is the biggest Headache of the new training system, no doubt about it. When training your 3rd attribute (the only one this will even make sense for since atty 1+2 start too high, and atty's 4-7 are getting multi+lvl1 enhanced anyhow), you will likely be training it for ~65 days, with an average attribute value of ~28 (attributes went from around 18 to 38). Lvl 1 enhanced is your sweet spot, so assuming you get there off the bat, you are only gonna net an extra 2 SPs in that attribute (assuming 12 BTs = 1 SP in value).
If you value BTs at 7.74 BTs = 1 SP however, you are only netting an extra +1 SP over 70 days.
Also, that is assuming you are Intense/Normal training the whole time. Light training makes enhanced in effect worthless. Not to mention you will have to light train at some point to make up the BT sunk cost you spent to buy the lvl1 enhanced.
Simply put, while their may be a small amount of value in enhanced training, the value is small, and you are more likely to get yourself in trouble trying to mess with it, than you are to get any sizable benefit to your build imo.
Below is my chart. For each lvl on enhanced training, the numbers correspond to how many days it will take to break even on the sunk cost of BTs, followed by how many days it will take to break even and then earn +1 SP in that attribute. These are denoted (for instance) "Light" and "Light +1 SP" respectively.
Viewable spreadsheet: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtChW0kjfo6gdEh5UmZvNlZjUG1FV3ZxTnVWUWNZRlE&hl=en
Anyhow, my conclusion is that enhanced training should be avoided (except when associated with multi-training). You will be leaving something on the table, but you will not be jeopardizing your ability to wear 4 pieces of AE, nor will you run the risk of doing sub-optimal training to catch-up on BTs.
For New Players Made in the future (or made recently ie lvl20 or less)
Note, this is for these players' entire careers. When they get older, do NOT switch to the advice in the next section
-Don't buy temporary attribute boosts.
-For your first 3 attributes, If an attribute is between 1 and 30, use INTENSE Training, 31-36 use NORMAL Training, and 37+ use LIGHT Training. Do not stop training your 2nd attribute until you are done pumping your 1st, do not stop training your 3rd until you are done pumping your 2nd. These attributes will likely get trained to around 38-44 overall, which is good because you need the BTs from light training. (if you ignore the rest of this guide, you can do the above on all attributes for your players career)
-I do not encourage training attributes past the softcap unless you are late in your career and out of things to train. If you do so later in your career, use normal.
-Bank all BTs (aside from use on multi-training) to buy and upgrade 4 pieces of AE. Each of these pieces should be enhanced shopping for 55 BTs to get +3 attribute and +1 SA or +2% bonus. Or if you want an end of tree SA, +70 BTs for a +3 attribute and +1 SA is alright as well.
-If you really like a certain +% bonus, its alright to double up on it with 2 AE.
IF YOU THINK THE REST OF THIS GUIDE IS TOO LONG/CONFUSING FOR NEW PLAYERS, YOU CAN JUST USE THE ABOVE ADVICE WITH SUCCESS. Still, understand that you are giving up ~20-30 SP by not multi-training/
------Multi-Training-------
Once your 3rd attribute is softcapped (and your top 2 are much higher) we are going to multi-train 4 attributes. To unlock multi-training, go to your player page and click on "bonus tokens" below your SA list. Also, for every attribute you plan to multi-train, buy lvl1 enhanced training for it, which'll cost 5 BT per attribute
First we need to determine how many attributes (not counting the initial 3) are important to your player. If you only have 4 other attributes you want higher at some point (such as at DT) it is simple. For a position like FS which has 5-6 attributes, its a little harder. Basically, to multi-train 4 attributes, you need to pay to unlock 3 of them, and the first attribute can be whatever you want while not being unlocked. Thus, if you are multi-training more than 4 attributes eventually, you want the one you didn't pay to unlock (first on the list) be the attribute which you plan to switch off of.
The goal from multi-training is to get all the attributes important to you up to at least 27 (though in some it will be much higher). Thus, if you need 5 or 6 attributes multi-trained up eventually, you want to switch off of your free attribute asap once it hits 27. I recommend making this attribute one which has solid auto-level-gains, but also into particularly important to you.
Any attributes which are important to you but don't get any auto-level-gains (they will be 10-or-less when starting multi-training), you want them to be one of the 3 attributes you unlock and train for the entirety of your multi training, since it takes a long time to get from 8 to 27, and also because you are getting the most value on low attributes when using your souped up multi-enhanced intense training.
------At the end of your 7th season------
Once you are at the end of your 7th regular season (you will be aprox. lvl48) you need to switch to light training any of your attributes which were previously multi-training. You will be light training for the remained of your player's career.
For Current Mid-Level and Older Players
-If you need extra BTs to either finish off your current AE, or buy a better AE using enhanced shopping, or want to fit in a 3rd AE, do Light training for all attributes 27+ and normal training for attributes <27
-Keep in mind that starting a new AE will take around 1.4 seasons to make it ready to use, so if you are past ~L62 I would not start an extra piece.
-IF you don't need the extra BTs for AE, do intense 1-30 normal 31-36 light 37+, and just convert 12 BTs = 1 SP.
ABOVE IS THE THE GUIDE AND MY ADVICE. EVERYTHING BELOW IS SIMPLY HOW I GOT TO THE ABOVE CONCLUSIONS. If you don't care how I got to the above conclusions, you can stop reading here.
While the advice outlined at the top does not represent the optimal build strategy, it does represent the near-optimal, such that you can build extremely good players who have the potential to excel at the games top levels. After my changes to this guide due to the changes to training on 6/3/10, this advice is closer to the optimal strategy than the previous advice was.
The Value of Advanced Equipment
So many people when doing these calculations are going to rest on valuing a BT as 1/12th of an SP. However, it is widely accepted that BTs have more value in AE than they do when converting to SP. Hence, when a BT is being used in AE, it is likely worth MORE than 1/12th of an SP.
Each AE upgrade will cost 24 BTs. It will also cost 55 BTs to buy a piece of equipment with +3 attribute and +1 SA using the new enhanced shopping system. Hence, to upgrade 1 piece of equipment through L64 it will cost 24*9+55 = 271 BTs.
Now, using conservative estimates on what the piece is worth, lets say you stopped pumping said attribute at the end of the 5:1 cap. Thus, even though auto-level gains have since pumped that attribute much higher, it is safe to reason that +1 in that attribute is worth 5 SP to you. Hence the +3 from the AE, is worth 15 SPs. The +5 in the SA is gonna be worth between 19 and 21 SP (taking it from 5 to 10 is 21, 4 to 9 due to CE is 19) so we can safely put a 20 SP value on the SA portion, making the total AE worth 35 SP's.
Its also worth noting that +% AE is widely accepted as being as good as or better than +SA AE, so though its harder to put a SP value on the +% AE, we can safely assume it is worth at least 35 SP's when it has +3 attribute attached.
Anyhow, 271 BT's/35 SP's = 7.74... Thus, when BTs are put into AE, 7.74 BT's = 1 SP. Again, this is an extremely safe estimate of the value of BTs in AE. It is also worth noting that end of tree SA's, while costing an extra 15 BTs to craft said pieces, are the best value since you are getting a +5 SP bonus for only 15 BTs.
For item crafting (enhanced shopping), +3 in an attribute costs 40 BTs, +1 in an SA (first 3 from trees) is 15 BTs, +1 from an SA (last 2 from the trees) is 30 SP, and +1 extra SA costs 60 SP.
When deciding where to put your AE, never put any in extra SA's as they are a bad value, and if possible try not to put any in the 4th SA in your tree. Any end-of tree SA's should take priority if you plan to have them maxed in your end build, followed by SA's that are in the first 3 of your tree. And of course you probably want at least 2 pieces of +% AE since its great stuff.
Affording 4 pieces of AE
As I showed in the last section, AE is some very amazing stuff as far as adding SP value to your build. As such, since its very possible to afford 4 pieces in the new system, you want to make sure your younger players end up with 4.
For your 10th season you will need aprox 271*4 = 1084 BTs. If a new player normal trained (2 SP/day) his entire 10 seasons, each of which are 55 days, he'd end up with 55*10*2 = 1100 BTs. As such, even without light training, it is possible to afford all 4 pieces of AE (assuming you can normal train from the day the player is created).
Still, as I will show further down, Multi-Training adds a good bit of value for your build. But by multi-training you end up putting yourself behind that 2 BT/day curve which you need to afford 4 pieces of AE. As positions, capping orders, ect ect change, it would be extremely difficult to use straight up math to both find the best days to switch in and out of multi-training, as well making sure you end up with enough BTs.
However, using pabst's training greasemonkey script, I found that using the method in the OP, after the sunk cost of 50-60 BTs from multi-training, will give you between 1020 and 1100 BTs by day 0 of your 10th season (which is when you boost to L64), so as such you'll be able to afford 4 pieces of AE fully upgraded either by that date, or very close to it.
Training Breaking Points
So, we are left with the question:
When should we Intense train? When should we Normal train? When should we Light train?
Assuming you need BTs for AE AE its....
1-26 = Normal
27-48 = Light
However, if you do not need the BTs for AE (or in the case of new players, can safely get the BTs necessary without extra light trainings) its....
1-31 = Intense
32-36 = Normal
37-48 = Light
Especially early in builds, you should never be training past the soft-cap, so I did not include optimal training for doing so. In general, if late in your career you have no choice just go normal, unless you need more BTs in which case you should go Light.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtChW0kjfo6gdHZoY1pXSzFLYlg4d1JsRTJjeWI2Y1E&hl=en
I threw intense out of my "need BT's for AE" breaks, since, you need BT's and normal is better than it when attributes are 26+ anyhow, with normal being barely worse at 15+.
I added-on another column for the SP value of 4x multi training with lvl1 enhanced. As you can see, it outperforms everything up to 48 on the base chart and outperforms light until 42 on the "need BT's" chart. This is just some proof that multi is awesome, though realize that this chart ignores the sunk costs associated with unlocking attributes (the SP values would decrease, though the amount it decreases would be a fuction of how many days you are multi-training. Once the sunk cost of unlocking attributes is paid however, this chart is accurate for future trainings.
Multi-Training
The changes to intense/multi have made it so that we can no longer ignore these options.
Multi excel chart: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtChW0kjfo6gdDlMOEpBV3I2ZUV5SndycVZGV0lNZ1E&hl=en
On the y-axis you have the level of enhanced training hooked up, and on the x axis you have the number of days trained, and the values represent the amount of SP you would have gained by multi-training when compared to normal intense (this takes into account the sunk cost of both the enhanced and multi-training. The avg att=20 chart (first one) will likely be true for those attributes which are not majors or minors, while for your minors, something between the 2nd and 3rd charts will be more accurate (closer to the 3rd chart more likely).
Please keep in mind that the gained SP values shown are across all 4 attributes trained, assuming that they all had that average level (which they won't but it gives us a basis for comparison).
As you can see, enhanced lvl1 is much better than enhanced lvl0, but the advantage of each level decreases before finally going negative (which makes sense since enhanced training becomes more expensive at higher levels (BTs= 5-10-15-20-25). I'd probably argue that lvl2 enhanced is the sweep spot, since the advantage of lvl3 is minuscule, but it is not too large of a difference between lvl1 and lvl2, and being able to save ~50 BTs for AEQ will make our job a whole lot easier, which is why I recommend lvl1 enhanced when multi-training.
In my test runs, I found that given the guide you'll be multi-training attributes for around ~150 days on average.
*separate note* Since kickers, punters, and QBs have better ALG's and less attributes to pump in general, they stand to gain less by multi-training than other positions (since by pumping you initial 3 attributes up higher, you will end up with less time to multi-train. It should still end up being good for you, but just be aware that it won't be as good for you.
Enhanced Training
This is the biggest Headache of the new training system, no doubt about it. When training your 3rd attribute (the only one this will even make sense for since atty 1+2 start too high, and atty's 4-7 are getting multi+lvl1 enhanced anyhow), you will likely be training it for ~65 days, with an average attribute value of ~28 (attributes went from around 18 to 38). Lvl 1 enhanced is your sweet spot, so assuming you get there off the bat, you are only gonna net an extra 2 SPs in that attribute (assuming 12 BTs = 1 SP in value).
If you value BTs at 7.74 BTs = 1 SP however, you are only netting an extra +1 SP over 70 days.
Also, that is assuming you are Intense/Normal training the whole time. Light training makes enhanced in effect worthless. Not to mention you will have to light train at some point to make up the BT sunk cost you spent to buy the lvl1 enhanced.
Simply put, while their may be a small amount of value in enhanced training, the value is small, and you are more likely to get yourself in trouble trying to mess with it, than you are to get any sizable benefit to your build imo.
Below is my chart. For each lvl on enhanced training, the numbers correspond to how many days it will take to break even on the sunk cost of BTs, followed by how many days it will take to break even and then earn +1 SP in that attribute. These are denoted (for instance) "Light" and "Light +1 SP" respectively.
Viewable spreadsheet: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtChW0kjfo6gdEh5UmZvNlZjUG1FV3ZxTnVWUWNZRlE&hl=en
Anyhow, my conclusion is that enhanced training should be avoided (except when associated with multi-training). You will be leaving something on the table, but you will not be jeopardizing your ability to wear 4 pieces of AE, nor will you run the risk of doing sub-optimal training to catch-up on BTs.
