penips' SUPER APQ Bonus Guide

This guide is only for the Bonus Stage of APQ.
Please refer to Fehi's guide for the other stages:
https://forum.maplelegends.com/index.php?threads/apq-guide-with-pictures.52148/

This should be your baseline pathing with the in-depth explanations to follow down below.
Box ordering goes from 2 -> 4 -> 6 -> 8 etc.
(Note: for the white area in between the Bottom Left & Right spawns, if one person takes the Top Number 16 Boxes, then the other takes the Bottom Number 16 Boxes and vice versa)

[New]: Change to the bottom section area 16 boxes that were previously neutral. Red side taking the top 16 and blue side take the bottom 16 is more fair as both the blue 12 boxes and the top neutral 16 boxes required turning and hitting. Having it so the red side takes the top 16 means that blue spawn doesn't have 2 sets of boxes that require turning and hitting.


LINK TO STATISTICS FOR THE NERDS: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15irty27HQgJTtXmDGmA5_rBkPam_Ludc3LYZOhC2QVY/edit?usp=sharing
SOME QUICK PRO TIPS
(If it's your first time, I'd recommend checking these out before the bonus round starts!)

#1 Fastest weapon and item loot on. Item Pouch > Item Pouch + Meso Magnet
#2 Always be hittin' two boxes at a time!
#3 It takes 4 hits to open a single box, so it'll take 8 hits to finish off a pair of boxes!
#4 As soon as you open a pair of boxes, move onto the next pair of boxes. Don't wait for the loot to spill out!
#5 It takes about 6-7 seconds with Attack Speed 3 to break a pair of boxes and loot the content.
#6 Holding down while attacking will give you the fastest and consistent attack pattern on your weapon. WATCH OUT FOR THE ROPES! You may climb down them by accident and will make you lose precious seconds.

BOTTOM LEFT & RIGHT

Spoiler: Learn to love the bottom spawns

Overview: Bottom Left is slightly harder than the Bottom Right spawn due to the Number 12 boxes requiring hitting and turning.

You should have about 5 seconds of spare time after getting all 18 boxes.

Splitting vertically allows you to play around the other corner player easier

Let's say you had the mindset of splitting top and bottom and chose to go bottom due to whatever reason, maybe the other player went top. If the other player drops down from top, you would then need to run back up to the top row of your side which will take time that you may not have.

By defaulting to top, it always gives you and the other player the option to drop down to the bottom row and is at somewhat of a Nash Equilibrium for both players.

TOP/TOP = Allows you to drop down without risking having to climb back up,
TOP/BOT = BOT player is at risk of TOP player dropping down and thus losing time having to run back up,
BOT/BOT = Both players will have suboptimal pathing as they have to run backwards and then jump up.
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Climbing up the rope to take the Number 4 boxes is MANDATORY

I cannot emphasise this point enough!
Every other spawn gets 18 boxes, so why shouldn't the bottom corner spawns each get 18 too? If you don't feel like climbing up the rope is necessary, I implore you to plot out a better path while somehow giving both spawns the same number of boxes as this guide, for the sake of fairness.
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Lack of boxes is not the issue

Most of the issues people have with splitting vertically is the lack of boxes and confusion on which boxes are theirs. That issue is mostly stemming from people not climbing up the rope to grab the Number 6 boxes. The issue is further exacerbated from people rushing to the centre to grab the "extra" double boxes which leaves the other person having to hit a single box that leaves a bad taste in the mouth...If people take the boxes as shown in the guide, both spawns get the full 18 while always hitting 2 boxes at a time.
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Splitting vertically allows you to go back and pick up your loot easier

There's less distance you need to backtrack if you ever need to pick up loot behind you.​

Blue Area Number 12 boxes

This pair of boxes on the left and right of Amos, does require you to hit and turn each time like Mid Bot Number 6 boxes and Mid Top Number 16 boxes.
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White Area Number 16 boxes

The first person to get to the Top Number 16 boxes should take it and the other person should go down and take the Bottom Number 16.
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BIG UPDATE TO BOTTOM SPAWN



This new ordering as shown in the picture allows for the pet to stay at the new Number 4 boxes at loot the content while you move onto the Number 6 boxes after dropping back down. This makes it so you will never need to climb back up the rope like in the old iteration where you get all the boxes on the spawn platform and then climb up the rope.

Credit to Puisin for pointing this optimisation out!

TOP LEFT & RIGHT

Spoiler: I MEAN IT'S ALRIGHT

Overview: These spawns are mirrors of each other and operate as such. Nothing too special to note on these spawns and I'd say this route doesn't have any variations of box ordering that will be better that the one given.

You should have about 5 seconds to spare after getting all 18 boxes.

WATCH OUT FOR THE ROPE

You may climb down the rope if you're holding down while attacking at Number 4/6 and 16/18 boxes. I do recommend holding down while attacking but play around the rope as it may kill your run.
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Don't start from Number 4 boxes

I've been seeing people start off the run by climbing up the rope and hitting Number 4 boxes out of the gate. I do not recommend doing this as it'll be tougher to backtrack if an apple falls out and you've already jumped down.
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MID BOT

Spoiler: Tough spawn but you can do it!

Overview: The nice thing about this spawn is that it's tough for people that don't know pathing to take your boxes. They would really have to be quite bad to path into your top platform as you should beat them there. The timing is tight and there is little room for errors if you want to get all 18 boxes.

You should have about 1-2 seconds of spare time after getting all 18 boxes.

Clockwise vs Anti-Clockwise

The breaker for me is that going anti-clockwise from 2 -> 18 has a jump where the visibility of the platform is blocked by the tree and you run the risk of falling which will blunder your run. If you're comfortable with the jump then it should be fine to go anti-clockwise and reverse the ordering of the guide for this spawn.
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Number 6 boxes requires hitting and turning

Not too big of a deal as you will still have plenty of time to clear all 18 boxes in the area.
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Number 16 boxes have a tight hitbox

The gap is small enough where it is possible to hit both boxes at the same time but there's also a rope there which can throw you off. If you aren't comfortable with staying still and hitting both at the same time, you can either stand and hit or turn and hit.
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MID TOP

Spoiler: You are blessed

Overview: You lucky, lucky dog!
This is the best spawn as you are able to get all 18 boxes with eaaaaase!
I pray you never experience the hell of the Top Spawns moving onto the middle platform.

You should have about 6 seconds of spare time after getting all 18 boxes.

See who spawns in the Top Right

If you see someone who you don't recognise in the Top Right spawn and have a feeling they're going to jump to the Middle row of boxes, it may pay to cut them off by reversing the order of your boxes by going from 2 -> 18 -> 14 etc. PROTECT YOURSELF AT ALL TIMES!!
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Finally, I'd like to just make some final notes.

It isn't all about the apples.

There's a lot of value in the GFA60's and CapeInt30's, where at the time of this posting, GFA60 is worth 1/4 of an apple and CapeInt30 is worth 1/2 and apple.

Play in a way that protects yourself! Keep an eye on where the other players are pathing and if they deviate from the baseline pathing, try your best to pivot accordingly!

If you have any questions about how to play a certain spawn or on why the boxes are ordered in a certain way or any improvements, please leave a comment and I'll get back to you!

PS: I just added my name and SUPER in the title for SEO so that I can direct people here easier

 

Omg, you're absolutely right! I had noticed that when you jump down from the Number 6 boxes onto the spawn platform, that your pet would stay up top until you drop down again and it teleports to you when you start the Number 8 boxes but I hadn't thought much about it with regards to pathing!

This is actually an insane optimisation as you'll never need to climb back up! I'll edit the picture shortly! Thank you for your contribution!

EDIT: I've updated the image!!

 

I still stand by my guide as I believe it is the most efficient and fair route to take for each of the spawns.

There are many iterations in which people can open boxes. For example, the top corner spawn(s) can jump to the top middle platform (the area where the CYAN spawn would have gone, according to this guide) which is certainly a way to open boxes, but I am sure you can agree that this iteration is not efficient or fair for the CYAN spawn. The point being is that there may be many ways to open boxes, but we can clearly see that some ways are better than others. You may believe that this is an absurd example, but it definitely happens and one of the goals of this guide is to reduce the frequency at which these types of cases happen.

I don't presume people to have already read the guide, which I guess you already knew given, "I am not a big fan of you spreading your guide", which is why if I don't recognise someone I'll ask them something along the lines of,
"do you know bonus map areas, (name)",
if they say yes, I'll respond with "nice" and won't push it any further,
if they say no, I'll respond with "could you google penips apq guide" and I may add "there's a pic in there that'll show each spawns areas".

With regards to following the guide, if their pathing is serviceable but not following the guide, i.e not climbing the rope when spawning bottom, that's fine and I probably won't even mention it. Now, if they do something like the example above with the CYAN spawn or another from the exhaustive list of iterations in which people are able to hit boxes, then I will step in and ask them to google this guide as it is reducing the amount of boxes other party members are getting.

I believe in the right to choose as it is their right to choose how they path and choose to not want to lookup the guide. I really don't have a problem with them not wanting to spend ~30 seconds - 1 minute (however long it takes someone to google something) googling for the guide. I do expect them to afford me the right to choose who I want and don't want to play with.

Look how that turned out.

Spoiler

Just because things were done a certain way before, that does not mean that it's the best way going forward when circumstances have changed.

While not the end of the world, it is a 12.5%-20% efficiency with 16-15 boxes respectively. This especially matters as you increase the number of PQ's one does in a day.

If I told someone that they could increase EV of loot from a boss by these numbers, I am sure it would at least pique their interest. Maybe people don't care, idk.

I'm not forcing anyone to follow this pathing to the tee. I've literally never said that it's the law or anything like that. I don't even think it's the law or anything close. I do think it's the most efficient and fair way to do things and if someone doesn't want to spend ~30 seconds - 1 minute to google this + has pathing that negatively affects others, I will choose to not want to play with that person. I mean surely, we all have that right?

I think that addresses everything here.


Something that you have failed to mention is the value the guide provides to new players.

When I ask players if they know the bonus map areas, it's solely because I don't recognise their IGN. And you may say, "oh how do you know everyone that runs APQ", and it's because I'm running 20+ times a day, every day (currently 24). So, I do tend to recognise when someone new turns up. While not a perfect form of screening, I think the value that a new player gets from the guide is significantly improve their box count. If they say they know, I'll leave it alone.

You have assumptions that people everyone is getting 18 boxes. This isn't the case. This guide can help players increase their box count for all spawns, not just the bottom spawns.

Sometimes I make the mistake of asking someone if they know the bonus map areas who in fact does know them. Most of the time they'll be fine with it and answer "yup" or something along those lines and sometimes people take offence to the question. Like if someone's ego is so fragile where a question to ask if they know the bonus map areas is offensive to them, then I feel like that isn't really on me. Like on the scale of offensiveness, surely asking if someone knows something isn't really up there? Unless??