NGU IDLE – Tick System and Basic Projections

Invoering

When playing NGU Idle, at some point or another, you will likely want to determine how long it will take to complete something, like maxing out an NGU or purchasing a Perk. This guide will provide some basic information on how to do this, as well as links to resources online that will explain these things far better than I can.

If you are only looking for information about a certain feature, you can hit CTRL + F and look for specific keywords like “NGUs” of “Wandoos”.

I have played NGU for almost 20,000 Uren op dit punt, and consider myself to be knowledgeable about its systems. Echter, my math and/or thought process may not be perfect.Some information in this guide is also taken from the NGU Idle Wiki which is a great resource for information about this game. Information taken from this website is purely quantitative, and no plagiarism or copyright infringement is intended.

This guide is intended to mid-to-endgame players, and will include some “spoilers” about mechanics unlocked in Evil and Sadistic difficulty.

This guide was last updated on September 30th, 2022 in Build 1.260.

Tick System

NGU’s backend revolves around “ticks”. Er zijn 50 ticks in a single second.This means that if a progress bar is gaining levels as fast as possible, it will gain 50 levels per second, regardless of the game’s frame rate.

Originally posted by 4G:

Almost everything in NGU operates on “ticks”. A tick is an update to the game’s internal state and there are 50 tick updates per second. This means that most a progress bar can gain exactly 1 full level per tick, of 50 levels/second.

This means:

• A bar running at maximum speed will gain 3000 levels per minute. (50 * 60 = 3000.)
• A bar running at maximum speed will gain 180,000 levels every hour. (3000 * 60 = 180,000.)
• A bar running at maximum speed will gain 4.32 million levels every day. (180,000 * 24 = 4,320,000.)
• A bar running at maximum speed will gain about 30 million levels in one week. (4,320,000 * 7 = 30,240,000.)

If we know what level we want a certain bar to reach, or the maximum level needed to “compleet” a feature like NGUs, we can use these numbers to determine how long that will take.

Echter, you also have to take into account that most bar speeds and requirements will slowly worsen as the level goes up – especially for Hacks and Wishes.

Originally posted by 4G:

In het algemeen, the further down the list of Hacks the slower they level up. Eindelijk, the most important factor depends on the level of the Hack. For some examples, op niveau 100, it will take 219x longer to gain the next level. Op niveau 1000 it’ll be 2,370,000x to gain the next level.

I should also clarify that, to my knowledge, the tick system is not affected by the refresh rate of your monitor or any other similar factors.I have a 144 hertz monitor, and according to Steam’s FPS counter, NGU Idle runs at 70 frames per second on my computer. Even so, everything is still working at 50 ticks per second. I do not believe that running the game at higher or lower framerates will change this.

Basic Training

Basic Training as it relates to the tick system is simple. If the basic Attack and Defense skills are being leveled up at the maximum speed, they will level up 50 times per second.

If all six skills in each category are being leveled at the maximum speed, you should gain 13,157,000 base Attack and Defense every second.If you have purchased Insta Training Cap from the Sellout Shop and Training Auto Advance from the EXP shop, you don’t have to worry about this in the first place. The energy will be automatically allocated whenever you rebirth.

Augments

Augments are easy. If they are running at the maximum speed, they will level up 50 times per second.

The speed, kracht, and multipliers of your augments depend on various things like NGUs, equipment, challenge rewards, Energy Power, enz.

Advanced Training

Advanced Training is fairly simple and, for the purposes of this guide, works identically to Augments. If enough Energy is allocated to the various stats in the menu, they will level up 50 times per second.

Eventueel, you can get the I wish I was done with Advanced Training forever! wish, which does exactly what it says. If you have this Wish, you never have to manage Advanced Training ever again. All of its stats will constantly level up 50 times per second, even if no Energy is allocated to them.

Time Machine

In relation to the tick system, the Time Machine is fairly simple, but has one unique gimmick that should be kept in mind.

When you first begin leveling up your Machine Speed, it will increase the speed of the yellow Time Machine bar at the bottom of the menu. Echter, op niveau 49, this bar reaches its own maximum speed. This creates a problem, because a bar cannot be filled more than 50 times per second, as we have previously established.

In plaats van, if you level it up further, “Machine Speed” becomes its own multiplier to the Time Machine’s output. Other than this, the output of the Time Machine depends on various factors like your NGUs, challenge rewards, enz.

Blood Magic

Blood Magic is another easy one. If a ritual is being run at its maximum speed, it will produce blood 50 times a second.

Something else to keep in mind is that every ritual requires ten times the amount of Magic as the previous ritual.

In dit voorbeeld, Poke Yourself with a Tack needs about 800 billion Magic, while Turn Yourself Inside Out needs 8 quintillion.

The amount of blood produced by Blood Magic depends on various factors like MacGuffins, Hacks, enz.

ITOPOD

You could theoretically use the tick system to calculate the amount of time it takes for enemies to respawn, and thus how many Perk Points you are earning in any given time frame, but it’s much easier to use the respawn rate presented in the Misc. Adventure section of the Stat Breakdowns:

Divide your Perk Points per kill by your respawn time, and you will have your approximate PP per second.Voor mij, that is about 2,268 right now. You can then multiply accordingly to estimate how many PP you are earning per minute, hour, dag, or any other length of time.

Met deze informatie, I know that I am currently earning about 136,000 PP per minute, over 8 million per hour, and about 196 million per day.

Remember that your results may vary and change drastically depending on your equipment, current ITOPOD floor, NGUs, enz.

Wandoos

As I previously mentioned, bar speeds and requirements will slowly worsen as the level goes up.

Echter, Wandoos is a rare exception to this.Its leveling speed has absolutely nothing to do with its Energy Level or Magic Level. Generally speaking, the leveling speed should never decrease, except for when you rebirth or switch difficulties.

In plaats van, you should concern yourself with the amount of Energy and Magic deposited into Wandoos. Om de een of andere reden, your Energy and Magic

powerhave no effect on the leveling speed, unlike other features.

Originally posted by 4G:

OPMERKING: Energy Power and Magic power don’t work here: This version of the OS just doesn’t support those features.

Your Wandoos leveling speed will also vary based on the specific OS it uses, as well as Advanced Training, NGUs, Gold Diggers, Beards, certain items, item sets, and MacGuffins.

I believe that the Energy and Magic levels in Wandoos both cap at 1 billion, though I don’t know this for sure. If it is one billion, you would need to run Wandoos at maximum speed for about 232 days to max it out. I do not recommend doing this unless you have literally nothing else to do with the Energy and Magic –

remember that Wandoos’s Energy and Magic levels reset when you rebirth, change difficulties, or switch the OS.

NGUs

NGUs are one of the most difficult features to completely max out, and the main reason I wanted to learn about the tick system.

Er zijn 9 Energy NGUs, en 7 Magic NGUs for each difficulty. That means we have a total of 48 NGUs to level up. Making matters worse, the maximum level for each NGU is 1 billion. If an NGU is being run at the maximum speed 24/7, it will take roughly 7.5 to completely level up from start to finish.

That may seem like an intimidating figure, especially when you take into account the fact that NGUs have diminishing returns. I completely understand if you don’t want to wait that long, and it isn’t really necessary in the first place. That being said, if you choose to “work smarter, not harder”, there are some ways we can bring down the amount of time needed to complete all NGUs. There are three main ways to do this:

1. Level up NGUs simultaneously when possible. as best you can. Niet, onder alle omstandigheden, pour all of your energy into NGU Augments, wait for it to finish, then NGU Wandoos, then NGU Respawn, enzovoort. In plaats van, make an effort to level up all of your NGUs for every difficulty at once.

Nu, I do understand that most of the time you will not be able to level up every NGU at the same time, especially in Evil and Sadistic difficulty. In those situations, the best thing you can do is determine which stats you value most, and thus NGUs should come before others. Voor mij, those are Adventure, Stroom, Respawn, and PP. Ultimately however, I cannot decide that for you. Pick whatever you feel like you need more of and can level up at a reasonable speed.

2. Buy the NGU Quirks. The Beast sells two amazing Quirks that can make this process much easier: The Beast NGU Quirk Ever en An even Beast-er NGU Quirk. The former makes it so when you level up an Evil NGU, the normal version of that same NGU also levels up.

Bijvoorbeeld, if you have this quirk, Evil NGU Augments level 50, and normal NGU Augments level 75, then proceed to level up your Evil NGU, beide will level up. Evil Augments will become level 51, and normal Augments will become 76.

Beast-er doet hetzelfde, but for Sadistic and Evil NGUs respectively. That also means that if you have both Quirks and proceed to level up a Sadistic NGU, you will receive a level for the Evil and normal NGU as well.

Echter, there are some limitations to this Quirk. Allereerst, it does not work in reverse. Leveling up a normal NGU by yourself will never increase the Sadistic NGU equivalent. This Quirk also loses its use case and becomes somewhat redundant after the first two difficulties’ NGUs are complete.

Als jij, for whatever reason, are only seeking to level up your Sadistic NGUs, this Quirk does not help accomplish that. Echter, if your normal and Evil NGUs are below the maximum level, I would still recommend obtaining it regardless, since they are still valuable and can even boost your Sadistic NGU leveling speeds.

In dit opzicht, the Quirk is still indirectly useful in Sadistic Difficulty.

3. Understand the rules and limitations of NGUs.

• You can level up previous difficulties’ NGUs, but not NGUs from later difficulties. Bijvoorbeeld, in Evil difficulty, you can switch between normal and Evil NGUs, but not Sadistic NGUs, even if you already have Sadistic difficulty unlocked.
• You cannot level up NGUs from different difficulties at the same time, outside of situations involving the previously mentioned Quirks. I should clarify that what I mean by this is that you cannot have energy assigned to, inspraak, normal NGU Augments and Evil NGU Wandoos at the same time.
• NGUs require more resources to maintain the maximum leveling speed as the level of the NGU increases. This isn’t as harsh as other features like Hacks, but should still be taken into account. Do not assume that an NGU that is left running at maximum speed will still be at maximum speed when you return, especially if you close the game for a long period of time.

If you level up your NGUs in an optimal manner, and as I have previously described, it will take a theoretical maximum of about two years. The theoretical minimumis the previously stated seven and a half months, but that relies on conditions that frankly aren’t practical. I highly doubt you are going to enter Evil difficulty without getting at least some levels in your normal NGUs, much less get to Sadistic and save 100,000 QP for the Beast-er Quirk. If this is actually possible, I would love to know.

Beards

Beards are even easier than Advanced Training, and require little-to-no maintenance after you unlock all seven slots.

Originally posted by 4G:

When a beard is active, the speed it gains levels is based on your Energy or Magic Bars and the Sqrt of your Energy or Magic Power, divided by a speed factor which varies from each beard, and the number of beards active.

While Beards don’t have a dedicated Quirk like Advanced Training, it is fairly easy to have them all running at their maximum speed 24/7.

Other Features

The following menus have little to no reliance on the tick system, and thus are not included in this guide:

• Fight Boss
• Money Pit
• Inventory
• Yggdrasil
• Gold Diggers
• MacGuffins
• Hacks
• Wishes
• Kaarten
• Koken

Many of these are strictly reliant on time, or otherwise level up too slowly to be measured in terms like “per seconde”.