I’m not sure how long this one will be, I just wanted to share my thoughts on Partners. I’m not really going to argue against any of the approaches you will find elsewhere while searching the internet, but rather offer my opinion from my playing experience.
To start off, I think how you prioritize your Partners is a reflection of your creativity and personality. And while I definitely think there is something to be said for focusing on princes, dukes, female generals, confidant/partner combos, etc. (mostly because of all the available bond boosts), I’m also kind of in the which-ever-one-you-focus-on-will-perform-exceptionally-well-in-the-long-run category too. (Especially with all these Partner skins I’m such a big fan of.😏 Since you never know which Partner will get a new outfit next. 😅)
I feel like I’ve sort of seen this to be the case with a couple of mine, that I’ve prioritized based on confidant bonds. (Cough, cough Xue Yuan and Rong Yin.) But honestly, as I’ve hinted at throughout all my posts, I have a very eclectic strategy, mainly focusing on balanced/warrior specialities and TV personalities from palace harem dramas I’m digging in the moment. 😂 A perfect reflection of my own personality. 🤓
Partners though are the one area of LOP where I’ve noticed the time value of long term game play (and the real difference between F2Ps and P2Ps). Or in other words the longer you have a Partner, the more seasoned they become with each passing ranking events cycle (assuming you’re regularly boosting them each Dom cycle). Being a hoarding cycle skipper for the past year, give or take, my stack is a little out of whack, because more often than not when I drop I’m trying to amass as much power as I can and end up giving it all to my top 1 or 3. 😅
However, my slightly unorthodox approach (maybe, I don’t know, I feel like I see more even leveling up out there 🤷🏻♀️) has enabled me to get Matron Rong (a partner I originally gave up on achieving) and Shangguan (a cycle or two ahead of schedule). Which I’m super excited about and will discuss in more detail in a future post. But as I’m sure you’ve seen either on Facebook or elsewhere on the internet, there are pros and cons to leveling up all your partners evenly and focusing on one or eight. Whichever way you go, what’s important to remember is that you get stronger with time. So whatever that looks like for you, own it and enjoy it.
And don’t worry, you can readjust your Partner stack at any point. It may take a little longer than you’d like it too, but, at least for me, that’s really the only down side. Because as long as your feeding your Partners, your stack is getting stronger one way or another.
Not sure if any of this was helpful, but that’s all I really wanted to say about Partners. 😅 Until next time.