Alcatraz is without a doubt the #1 game changer for anyone who is in a GvG based guild, regardless of if you are fighting or farming. The reason being that having Traz means you can both fight extensively, or you can be far more effective at laying DAs if you’re not a fighter. This single GB is the key to sustained work on the maps, because troops are not something you can just easily get, even with the addition of GE. GE helps, for sure, but you’re limited on how many you can earn a week, whereas Traz will just keep plopping troops out for you.

In addition, Traz works off your guild level, in that you don’t have to wait 24hrs for it to produce like with other GBs. Traz will benefit from the reduced recruitment time just like your other troop barracks, so if you’re the kind of person who times it just right (or your guild is of high enough level), you may get to collect it twice in one day without the benefit of double-dipping as you level! That’s never a bad thing!

While Arc is definitely the most powerful GB in the game (so far) because of how it changes the way you can earn FPs, medals, and BPs; Traz is far more effective for actually playing the game. Leveling GBs is all well and good, but at the end of the day, what does that leave? Some people really enjoy the grinding aspects of games, but if that’s not you then Arc is going to be just a tool and Traz will quickly become the GB you love the most. The most interactive part of the game, aside from the community within it, is fighting and trading. As far as fighting is concerned, Traz is it. This GB makes or breaks your fighting game, especially on the GvG maps.

So, if you’re reading this, then you likely have Traz, and you either like to fight or want to farm troops for DAs–doesn’t matter which–and you want to take it well beyond level 10. This is especially so because it isn’t until level 12 that you’re making 10 troops a day, and at level 52 you’ll be up to 50 troops a day. Now, if you fight in GvG, you know that you can go through 50 rogues without blinking just one day on the maps, if not more than that. Depends on how many fighters are on, and the number of sectors you’re after. It’s easy to see how without a powerful Traz you will be out of the fight before you know it.

There are two ways to level Traz, just like with Arc. First, you’ll probably want to prep in a group of three with a Power Arc. If you haven’t read the Arc Prep article to see how that works, now’s a good time to go read it. If you are familiar with Arc Prep, then this is just a brief re-cap.

Essentially, three of you will form a group to level your Traz one at a time. You can either always take a certain spot on a certain person, or you can alternate. We’ll call the members of the group A, B, and C. So your options are:

A takes 2 on B, and 3 on C always
B takes 2 on C, and 3 on A always
C takes 2 on A, and 3 on B always
-or-
A takes 2 on B, and 3 on C; then takes 2 on C and 3 on B, alternating each time
B takes 2 on C, and 3 on A; then takes 2 on A and 3 on C, alternating each time
C takes 2 on A, and 3 on B; then takes 2 on B and 3 on A, alternating each time

Either way will work. The goal here is to raise your Traz in a timely manner, while not over-spending FPs, and earning BPs to keep you going from level to level. Ideally you’ll have people with similar FP incomes to do this, so that no one falls too far behind.

First place will always be taken with a Power Arc that’s 80+ at their non-profit rate, because this speeds things up significantly. The loss of 1 BP here and there to increase the rate at which you level is huge. Especially because unlike Arc, Traz is a lot more difficult to level. The Return-on-Investment (ROI) isn’t there in the rewards to make it easy to level. You can see this because unlike Arc, at no point will 1/2/3 be a clean lock (three Power Arcs can come in and lock their spots with no self-investment by the GB holder).

In addition, with only a few mates in the group you’re protecting yourself from potential snipers, and you’re leaving some spots open on the cheap for fellow guild mates to earn some BPs if they either don’t have Traz, or just need extras. Likely, you’ll need extras from these slots on other mates anyways, because you’re going to want to aim for a minimum of level 52, and that takes 53 full sets of BPs to achieve (1 set to get to 10, and then a full set for each level beyond that).

Unlike some swap groups, you won’t be posting your daily amount. Instead, you’re going to donate until you reach your donation point, as dictated in the table called “Traz Prep Group Reference” below. It should be noted though, that this table does not take into account if you hold a Power Arc, so if you’re in a guild that requires you to be 0 profit, you may need to increase your donation amount to make that happen (and with the latest update, you can see that by hovering over the reward).

The prepping groups are great, but at some point you will outgrow them. If you have a Power Arc, this may be sooner than without, but the recommended time to start getting locks and doing this like the speed run for Arc (another article you’ll want to be familiar with) is around level 30. This is where it gets relatively inexpensive to self-level, where 1/2/3 can be taken by Level 80 Arcs at 1.9 easily, so that you can go even faster. There is a point where you can get some 1/2 clean locks with a 1.9 rate, and those will be the easiest of all the levels. Again, unfortunately unlike Arc, Traz is much harder to level and at no point is 3 able to be clean-locked.

Referencing the table called “Traz Power Run Reference” will show you what it takes to get locks outside of a prep group, and it will overlap with the first table making it easier to determine when you are ready to make the transition.

As a fighter it’s never too early to think about Traz, but it should be noted that for the first few levels (even though they’re included), you really don’t need the prepping group. They should be fairly simple to get taken care of without one. But around level 5 or so you may want to consider finding two other mates and starting the prep work.

These tables only go to level 80, but you can take Traz as high as you want. It will continue to get more expensive to do so, but just think… if you get to level 102, that’s 100 troops a day. That’s a lot of troops. 52 is a sweet spot and a good goal, but the higher you go, the more effectively you can sustain fighting or laying DAs.

As far as DAs go, a level 66 Traz will start bringing in 64 troops a day, and 64 troops will completely fill one sector in GvG to defend it. Since Traz will give you a mix of whatever racks you have down (attached to roads and built or not), that would mean that you would be extremely effective at helping your guild keep the sectors that fighters fought to take. That’s some pretty powerful stuff!

So again, regardless of if you’re using Traz to get troops (rogues most likely) for intense fighting in GvG, or to gather a lot of troops to plant DAs (if you don’t fight), it is absolutely beneficial to take it beyond level 10. It helps to have your trifecta well-leveled already, but there is nothing wrong with pausing your trifecta once it hit’s an appropriate level for a fighting town of your current era to work on Traz. And if you hit a point where you need to pause on Traz to gather more BPs for it, or because you’ve aged up an era and need to work on your trifecta to be effective as a fighter again, you can absolutely do that. Balance is important, too.

Finally, an unintended side-effect of leveling Traz like this means you’ll probably never have to worry about happiness, again. Hooray for that! Happy leveling!

Traz Prep Group Reference
Arc donation at 1.9
Reminder for those with a Power Arc to make sure you’re not profiting if that is a guild rule, these rates may not reflect that.

To Reach
Level
Cost to
Level
Power Arc
Donation
Self Leveling
Donation
Second Place
Donation
Third Place
Donation
Remainder
290025302015
3170045504035
4260065806055
53406790656058
644086130858059
75301051801009550
863012422512011546
974014326014013562
1083016228016015078
1185118127518015065
1287320027519515548
1389422827520015041
1491724727520015045
1594026627520515044
1696329525020515063
1798731425020515563
18101233325020515569
19103736125020515566
20106338025020515573
21109040925021515561
22111742825023015554
23114545625024015544
24117347525024516043
25120350422526516049
26123352322527516050
27126355121028516057
28129557021029516555
29132759920031516548
30136162720032516544

Traz Power Run Reference
Arc donation at 1.9

Getting to
Traz Level
Cost to
Level
First Place
Lock
Second Place
Lock
Self Donation
1/2 Lock
Third Place
Lock
Self Donation
1/2/3 Lock
Fourth Place
Lock
Self Donation
1/2/3/4 Lock
Fifth Place
Lock
Self Donation
1/2/3/4/5 Lock
Clean Lock
1/2
11851181954892951710526N/AN/A
128732001054733849210510N/AN/A
138942281144383847610494N/AN/A
149172471244233847010488N/AN/A
159402661334084844510473N/AN/A
169632951523734842010448N/AN/A
179873141623595739719416N/AN/A
1810123331713465739419413N/AN/A
1910373611813155738119400N/AN/A
2010633801903036735919388N/AN/A
2110904092092726733819367N/AN/A
2211174282192617631819356N/AN/A
2311454562282337630919347N/AN/A
2411734752382237630819346N/AN/A
2512035042571958627019318N/AN/A
2612335232661878627219320N/AN/A
271263551276161952462928310292
281295570285155952502928710296
2913275993041291052142926110270
3013616273141071052102925710266
3113956463231031052162926310272
321429675342791141842924010249
331465703352591141822923810247
341502732371381241512921710226
351539751380371241602922610235
361578779390201331433820010218
37161780840911331343819110209
38165883641801431183818510203X
39169985542801431303819710215X
40174188444701521063818210200X
41178591245601521133818910207X
4218309414750162903817610194X
4318759694850162973818310201X
4419229985040171784815310181X
45197010175130171984817310201X
462020104552301711104818510213X
47207010745420181924817710205X
482122110255101811074819210220X
49217511315700190944818810216X
502229115958001901104820410232X
51228511885990200984820210230X
522342121660802001184822210250X
532400124562702091105720510242X
542460127363702091325722710264X
552522130265602191265723110268X
562585133066502191525725710294X
572650135968402281515726510302X
582716138769402281795729310330X
592784141671302381795730310340X
602853144472202382115733510372X
612925147374102472176733010377X
622998150175102472526736510412X
6330731530770132572596738210429
6431491558779332572986742110468
6532281568798922663306746210509
6633091625817592763156745710504
6733921653827862763606750210549
68347616828461122853787651119549
69356317108551432854287656119599
70365217398741742954497659219630
71374417678842102955037664619684
72383717969032453045307668219720
73393318349222653045697672119759
74403118629313073146107677219810
75413218919503503146637682519863
76423519199603973237108686119909
77434119489794453237688691919967
784450198699847833380086961191009
79456120141007533333874861035191083
80467520431026589342922861092191140