Strategy Guides/Tips on Building Divine Power

Divine Power is the latest trend on monsters in Castle Age. Some of them have Divine Armors that prevent a certain percentage of damage done to them. This makes the recent monsters more difficult to take down with no need to modify their total health or time limit.

Unlike previous monsters with shields like Ragnarok and Skaar, these things cannot be depleted by using energy (as it has no status bar). The only way to counter them is by having Divine Items in your inventory.

There is a catch however as the most potent divine items can only be obtained beating monsters with divine armor and obtain their epic loot necessary to alchemize divine items. Sounds ridiculous, and it is. Still, this guide will aim to help you build your divine power in such a way that the monsters' divine armor effects are minimized thus saving stamina (and probably FP as well) by not putting them on monsters that block a lot of damage prematurely.

Reference
This guide will use the Divine Items article as a reference to the divine items and monsters with divine armor that will be mentioned. It is recommended to read the article first to understand how divine power works.

Demi Items: 6500 pointers
There are free, but relatively weak, divine items offered in the game. They are awarded by the 5 demi gods for 6500 demi points on their alignment. These demi divine items are worth 10 divine power, weak overall but every little bit helps especially if you are just starting.

The 5 demi gods' items belong in only 2 categories however: armor and amulet. Due to the non-stack rule of divine items, only 2 of 5 will be useful. If you already have Ambrosia's armor, there won't be any benefit for going out of your way to get Aurora's and/or Azeron's since their items share the same slot. Same goes for Malekus' and Corvintheus' items. If anything, try to get the armors as the amulets will be replaced almost immediately. More on this later.

Since the guide has no control on your prayer choices, pvp and/or monster hunting habits, getting these items is not really required. It helps to have them though.

Treasure Chest Epics


Treasure Chest Ascension's, Wrath's, Conquest's epic generals and Phoenix's Ender are also considered as divine items as they have divine power. The Ascension ones have 20 Divine Power except for Alyzia who has only 5. The Wrath ones have 30 Divine Power except for Jaelle who only has 20. The Conquest ones have 45 Divine Power. Ender has 50 Divine Power. As with the Demi Items, having them helps but not required. They are not recommended either as it costs quite a bit of FP just to buy a chance to get them. The chest itself, despite the attractiveness of the generals in more ways than one, has the highest risk of getting useless prizes per roll.

So far, Kanbe is the only Monthly Special Hero with Divine Power.

Even though they are generals, they don't need to be equipped for their divine power to work as with other divine items.

Pre-Warning
The following entries involve the monsters that hold the ingredients to unlock the powerful divine items. Most of them are next generation alpha monsters who have 640M health total and requires at least 8-10 million activity done just to score 1 epic drop. If you cannot get to that amount of damage within the time limit given your stats, it is advised that you build up your character first before tackling these things. If other hitters are the problem (i.e. too much tagging that the monster fails or slayers killing it quickly before you reach the epic point) then it is advised to look for a group that do organized kills, so that you don't need to deal with these problems.

Poseidon and Whirlpool


Poseidon does not have any divine armour. He uses the Piercing/Resistance system. His trident has +15 Piercing Resistance (Maximum block 15%) and +5 Water Resistance (Max block 5%). While his main has +15 Piercing Resistance (Max block 15%) and -10 Fire Weakness (Maximum bonus 10%, enabled when Trident is defeated). This means any monthly general with piercing abilities (besides Frost) will have easy access at him. As Poseidon only requires 5.2 million damage to recieve 1 epic drop he is a great first hit. Poseidon offers Whirlpool, a 30/38 mage with 80 divine power. It is also best in slot item for magic. If you get whirlpool before going after Jahanna you will have enough divine power to completely negate her divine armour.

Notes: Do not use Frost while fighting Poseidon as it will reduce your damage to the trident.

Poseidon is a great choice if you have purchased or access to Brakus as it will allow you to take advantage of his fire weakness.

Warning: While the trident is still alive there is a chance that your attack will summon a water elemental. Only you can attack it. It has 1million health and will reduce your damage by up to 45%. Items with water defense such as Kendra will prevent this from happening.

Jahanna and Force of Nature


Among all monster divine armors, Jahanna's is the weakest. Her divine armor only blocks 10% of your damage and deteriorates by 0.125% per 1 divine power. 80 divine power is needed to cancel it. Even without any divine items, that amount of damage prevention is hardly a problem. Because of this, she is one of the first monsters to attack. The divine item she offers is Force of Nature, a 35/50 amulet with 80 divine power and best in slot for defense item. Since it is an amulet, it will replace Juggernaut Medallion or Lionheart Seal demi items. It is worth it though as that 80 divine power will be the key in lowering the effects of tougher divine armors.

Agamemnon and Aegis of Kings
After Jahanna, Agamemnon is one of the candidates to fight next. He has a lot of pros going for him: Shorter summon cooldown, 192 hours time limit, divine armor of 30% block with 0.25% deterioration rate. 120 divine power is needed to cancel it. With Whirlpool and Force of Nature in your possession, his divine armor effect will be completely negated. However, he has two HUGE flaws: his divine item, Aegis of Kings requires a summoner drop and it's been "replaced" (as the best) by Warrior Unbound. Aegis of Kings (50 / 40) is a great shield, the second best in the game with a very strong 120 divine power. However to be eligible to summon Agamemnon, you have to reach Boss Rank in the Tower of Transcendence. The Vanguard rank is particularly painful. Consider the stamina, time and favor point investment you have to make to be eligible to summon him. If you are not in a great position in the tower and are not willing to start the process of climbing, you can look for other candidates below. If you are planning to climb Tower IIsoon, consider abandoning this tower and head straight for Aurora or giants while making your way to the second tower.

Aurora and Heart of the Woods


Consider Aurora as an alternative if you cannot take on the tower challenge. Aurora has a tougher divine armor compared to Agamemnon at 40% block and 0.25% deterioration rate. 160 divine power is needed to cancel it, however with Whirlpool and Force of nature this shouldn't be a problem. She has the Dark Rage system which will help whether or not you have 160 divine power. Dark Rage when active gives a boost of 40 divine power, which is enough to bring her divine armor down to 120 for 60 mins. Dark Rage also increases damage done by 20 % so it's very helpful bonus. Heart of the Woods(30 / 44) has the same 120 divine power as Aegis of Kings. However, unlike Agamemnon's shield, it does not require a summoner drop making it a suitable alternative for those who do not want to take the tower challenge.

Note: Dark Rage does not work in guild conquest, and only provides 20% damage increase on tower monsters.

Giants


The giants are the third candidate for the next hit. There are 4 of them: Kromash, Shardros, Glacius and Magmos. However, the latter two are the only ones with divine armors. Glacius' has a divine armor rating identical to Agamemnon: 30% block with 0.25% deterioration rate, but has less health. 120 divine power is needed to cancel it. Magmos has a stronger divine armor rating of 40% block and 0.2225% deterioration rate. 180 divine power is needed to cancel it. He is tougher than Aurora. With Whirlpool and Force of Nature (and maybe the demi items/kanbe) in your possession, fighting him shouldn't be a problem as you will be taking a 0-4.45% damage reduction. All four of their divine item alchemies offer only 40 divine power compared to the previous two. And all four are replaced by better divine items later. So why are they candidates for the next hit? Because of their availability. Their summon items can be obtained from gifts, meaning a lot more people will be able to summon them.

Note: It is generally accepted that giants are a waste of time and stamina. However if you already have a good deal of the alchemy requirements they can be useful stepping stones.

Hammer of Storms
Hammer of Storms(36 / 32) is a divine weapon. It is in conflict with Aurora's Heart of the Woods and Living Death. If you have Heart of the Woods or Living Death, Hammer of Storms' divine power will no longer be used. This is a short term goal weapon divine item if you decide to skip over Aurora. It requires five epic drops from Magmos. You have to do around 12 million activity to get at least one epic drop or 33 million for almost guaranteed three epics. If you have Heart of the Woods or planning to get it soon, you may opt to combine the other giant alchemies below.

Aegis of Stone


Aegis of Stone(30 / 40) is a shield divine item. It is in conflict with Agamemnon's Aegis of Kings and Alexandra's Warrior Unbound. If you have Aegis of Kings and/or Warrior Unbound, Aegis of Stone's divine power will no longer be used. This is a short term goal shield divine item if you decide to skip over Agamemnon. The shield requires 6 Lava flasks, much less than Agamemnon's 15 runes to obtain his divine item. Due to the tower challenge requirement however, this makes a more appealing choice to many compared to Hammer of Storms. Anyway, if you have Aegis of Kings and/or Warrior Unbound or planning to get them soon, you may opt to combine the other giant alchemies.

Glacial Plate


Glacial Plate (33 / 33) is an armor divine item. It is in conflict with Armor of Redemption, Trisoul Plate, Krakenhide Armor and the demi items Tempest Plate and Moonfall Battlegear. It is a good upgrade for the armor slot from the demi items though not so much. Glacial Plate involves fighting Magmos 4-5 times on average (8 Lava flasks needed for the Plate). This of course depends on your playing and FP spending habits. If you are going for the Armor of Redemption or Trisoul Plate any time soon, you may want to save the Flasks and Ices for the last giant alchemy below.

Lava Inferno
Lava Inferno (35 / 19) is a magic or spell divine item. It is in conflict with the more potent Molten Core, and Whirlpool. However, this is not an issue as the alchemy for Molten Core requires Lava Inferno itself as an ingredient. It involves fighting Magmos 6-8 times on average (11 lava flasks). This of course depends on your playing and FP spending habits. It is recommended not to go after it as whirlpool is easier to get, and stronger.

Ambrosia and Helm of Arcane Energies


Ambrosia is the 6th toughest monster with divine armor. Her divine armor blocks 45% of damage and deteriorates at a rate of 0.2045% per 1 divine power. 220 divine power is needed to cancel it. It is recommended to have a divine power of 200 before facing her. A combination of Force of Nature + Whirlpool + another divine item will do this. Ambrosia also has Dark Rage support to help out but without +20% extra damage which was the case in Aurora. With it, 180 is actually the bare minimum. You can go lower but for the purposes of this guide, it is advised to face her with a stack of divine items to minimize or fully eliminate the block. Her divine item is the second best equipment with 48/53 stats and 120 divine power. Getting that powerful equipment comes at a price and Ambrosia's divine armor is proof of that.

Typhonus and Trisoul Plate
Typhonus is currently the 5th toughest monster with divine armor. His divine armor blocks 45% of damage and deteriorates at a rate of 0.18% per 1 divine power. 250 divine power is needed to cancel it. As a third hit, you have to decide between Typhonus and Ambrosia. Same recommendation of divine power apply to both. His upside is that he is very easy to find as the summon ingredients are easily gifted. The downside is the divine item recipe itself. Trisoul Plate offers a high divine power rating of 160, more than Ambrosia's 120. Trisoul Plate is the 2nd best armor in the game but only has 40 / 35 stats. There is a better alternative in Armor of Redemption (45 / 38, 180 divine power) from a much tougher Azeron. If you are interested in that, might as well go for Ambrosia's or Malekus' divine items instead.

Malekus and Keeper of Chaos


Malekus's divine armor blocks 45% of damage and deteriorates at a rate of 0.1636% per 1 divine power. 275 divine power is needed to cancel it. It is recommended to have a divine power closer to 250 before fighting him. Force of Nature (80 DP) along with Whirlpool (80DP) and Aurora's Staff or Agamemnon's Shield (both with 120 DP) brings you up to 280. Malekus divine item recipe requires 22 pieces of ingredients including 2 pieces each of 3 powerful equipment that can make most people's War Council gear. Keeper of Chaos is a BIS attack amulet and has 50/35 stats, the reverse of Jahanna's Force of Nature. FoN is not rendered completely obsolete because of the stats (still BIS defensive) but it will be replaced divine power-wise. It's an upgrade of 100 divine power on your amulet slot. Keep this in mind if you are choosing what to hit: Ambrosia (120 DP improvement to head slot, 101 total stats), Typhonus (120 or 150 DP improvement to armor slot, BIS, 75 total stats) or Malekus (100 to amulet, BIS attack, 85 total stats).

Alexandra and Warrior Unbound
Alexandra is currently the 2nd toughest monster with divine armor. Her divine armor blocks 45% of damage and deteriorates at a rate of 0.1551% per 1 divine power. 290 divine power is needed to cancel it. She is a tower boss like Agamemnon although the way towards summoning her isn't so much of a pain compared to the Overseer. Tower of Transcendence II's vanguards are the four demi-gods, three of whom have divine armor. If you haven't built Ambrosia's, Aurora's and/or Malekus' divine items, fighting their tower vanguard versions should be a good opportunity to collect ingredients. Not only do you have 24 hour extra time to kill them, you'll also collect vanguard points towards unlocking the boss floor. You will need to fight these demi brutes 35-40 times (depending whom of them you'll fight) to get 20 000 points. Switch to Corvintheus if you are getting tired, at least he has no divine armor that could potentially hold back your fellow attackers. Anyway, the main difficulty about Alexandra is her divine item recipe. Warrior Unbound is the new best shield with impressive 52/48 stats and 180 divine power. But the price of that is 3, yes three summoner drops. So you will have to summon her at least three times to cross out the Soul of the Warrior ingredient. Don't forget to check your tower battles every 24-hour so as to not potentially miss your loot collection time.

Kraken/Alpha Kraken, Atlantis II and Helm of the Deep


Alpha Kraken has a divine armor which blocks 45% of damage per attack. It deteriorates at a rate of 0.1636% per 1 divine power and will take 275 divine power to nullify it completely, similar to Malekus. Kraken differs from other divine monster that Helm of the Deep (55 / 60, 180 divine power, BIS) is not created by loot drops from monster. Instead you need Relics of the Kraken to finish two last quests in Atlantis II. It is possible to skip Alpha Kraken and only fight regular Kraken (no divine armor) but in order to get one Relic, you must be the summoner of the regular Kraken. And while Alpha Kraken can give possible of two Relics per kill, normal Kraken gives maximum of one. Thus Alpha Kraken is a bit better choise for your energy in order to get the best helm in the game (if you have enough divine power to do decent damage against Alpha Kraken). You will need at least 9 relics to obtain the horns which are necessary for the last quest.

Once you have obtained 5 Horns of the Sea, you can now quest in the Underwater section of Atlantis II. This quest gives the ingredients needed to create the divine item. However, this is a huge energy sink that unless you have tremendous amounts of energy (or are willing to use favor point refills), it will take a very long time for you to complete your quota. If you are planning to skip Ambrosia's helm, Helm of the Deep maybe worth the time and resources spent on it. However, if you already have Helm of Arcane Energies or are soon getting one, Malekus, Azeron or Alexandra would probably be better choise loot-wise.

Krakenhide Armor
Two Krakenhide Armors are required to complete Helm of the Deep. It is a decent divine item with 30 / 35 stats and 40 divine power. However, there are a more potent armor divine items in Typhonus' Trisoul Plate (40 / 35, 160 divine power) and Azeron's Armor of Redemption (45 / 38, 180 divine power). There is also a relatively less intensive alternative in the giants' Glacial Plate (33 / 33, 40 divine power) which also has better combined stats for both attack and defense. Thus Krakenhides are only recommended to pursue for the purposes of creating the best equipment in the game, Helm of the Deep. If you are looking to replace your demi-reward armor, go for Typhonus, Azeron or the giants instead.

Azeron and Armor of Redemption
Azeron is currently the toughest monster with divine armor. His divine armor blocks 45% of damage and deteriorates at a rate of 0.1525% per 1 divine power. 295 divine power is needed to cancel it. He is very much like Alexandra but with less time to kill and a bit higher divine armor rating. His divine item is anotherarmor piece (the 7th in the game!) though it is BIS at 45 / 38 with 180 divine power. The good thing about it is that it gives the best alternative path to fighting divine monsters. With AoR, you can choose to skip Typhonus' Trisoul Plate and focus on improving other slots like Ambrosia's Helm of Arcane Energies for helmet or Malekus' Keeper of Chaos for amulet. You can also cross-out Glacial Plate from your giants list and consider the 3 others depending on your chosen path.

Kessaran and Living Death


Kessaran's Divine Armour deteriorates at 0.095% per divine power. It will take 315 Divine Power to completely negate his Divine Armour. By this time you should have enough divine power to completely negate his Divine Armour. However Kessaran also uses the Piercing/Resistance system. It will take +20 pierce to completely negate his piercing resistance. So a general with piercing such as Kanbe will be needed. Kessaran is a good choice as he only requires 3.5 million damage for an epic drop. However due to this fact, many Kessaran's on the public list fail. It might be difficult finding successful Kessarans as such I'd suggest looking on the forum's or finding a private group.

Note: Please do not join a Kessaran unless you can deal 10million damage or more.

Vermilion, the Tyrant and Dragonform Claw
Vermilion is a strange monster in the divine armor scheme. The summon is available freely via gifting making him readily available to fight. He has 300 Divine Power, but only half the total health of most divine monsters (~350M) and only requires about 6M damage for the maximum of 2 epic drops (however, this seems very random similar to Alpha Kraken). It will take a total of 22 epic drops for the first part, the Vermilion's Grasp gloves, and another 50 to convert that into the divine Dragonform Claw with 100 Divine Power. Due to the low damage requirement, low health of monster, high availability, and large number of required drops, if you wish to pursue this you can take these monsters on throughout the entire divine armor growth quest.

Demon Realm's Cave of Wonder and Molten Core
Molten Core can be pursued simultaneously while hunting the divine monsters. It has one HUGE fatal flaw though, more fatal than Agamemnon's Aegis of Kings. Not only does it require Lava Inferno in its recipe, the other ingredients can only be obtained from the energy vacuum Cave of Wonder quest in the Demon Realm. It needs 6 Temporal Rune of Embers: 3 for it's recipe and 3 for Meteor Stormwhich is another ingredient for it's recipe. The ember runes are very rare and would require high level excavation for a chance drop (highest level is 8). FP is mandatory to get to that level. It can be obtained slowly by combining lower level Temporal Rune of Mists and Leaves but the time investment will be a long one. Not to mention that the quest does not offer skill points so think twice about your situation in the game whether to pursue this or not.

Note: Molten Core is not recommended as Whirlpool is much easier to get, and has 80 Divine power opposed to Molten Core's 70.

Final Words
Currently, the highest divine power needed to cancel a monster's divine armor is 300. 200 divine power is already acceptable as it is enough to bring down the damage reduction to around 10% or below on everyone else except Malekus, Alpha Kraken, Alexandra and Azeron. The first steps of fighting Jahanna and then Aurora, Agamemnon or the giants will be huge in our development as our divine power improves at a better rate than new monsters' divine armors. When choosing which monsters to fight next, consider your build, time, FP, longevity (how long before you will replace your newly obtained DI, this includes your potential next target monsters) so you can plan your path to the best that your playstyle can accommodate.

I hope this guide has been helpful to you and may you rid of your divine armor troubles in your monster fights.