Special edition: Key strategy (updated 5 march 23)

By Lucvend | Lucvend's Coin Hunt World hunting hideout | 15 Aug 2022

Key Strategy (updated)

by Lucvend

Hello Hunters! I originaly wrote this article in the Fall of 2022 following a debate on key strategy. I had exposed my key stack building strategy. The feedback I had recieved at that time was excellent. I know of a good number of players that have used it with great success. The introduction of Adventure Road and the removal of blue key bonus from blue vaults is requiring that I revisit my key strategy.

First, I will detail the usefulness of each key tier.

White keys (wk)

I will not cover white keys because I have literally no experience with them other than receiving them as reward from HL4. But I will argue that by following the blue key principles you should achieve the same results.

Blue Keys (bk)

You need to use blue keys for opening blue vaults (to get crypto and resources) and to make small increments in the Auction House. Also you need to have enough bk in stock to be able to advance in events. The Hawaii Event required an effort of 1200 vaults of any type. While other events are not effort based, you still need a sizable stack of keys to farm the vaults for resources. 1000 bk is a good ball park figure while counting on Mystery Box keys and walking quests prize to slow the key drain. If you are competing for leaderboards, you will certainly need even more keys to be able to open over 100 vaults per day without drying up your inventory. So what is the ideal bk amount to stack? I have settled on an amount between 1500 and 2000 bks. With that stack you should be able to meet any key needs you have outside of higher tier activities. I have yet to find a good justification to stack more than 2000 bks. Unless, you are constantly aiming for number 1 global (which I am not). That would require a larger stack. It seems that Adventure Road freaks like Minel and Psycho808 that want to finish it in 4 days, would need around 2000 bk to complete it.

Green Keys (gk)

They are needed for unlocking quest chains, store items, Auction House bids, and many other uses. Gk is the second most used key in the game. But do you need to have a lot of them? In the recent past, the store has made available blueprints that could be purchased in large quantities such as the Cat and the Tiki Warrior blueprints. I personally purchase at least 25 of them on each occasion. Events can also require large quantities of gk to farm special items. The Pat Morita Event required us to hit Torii Gates that replaced green vaults. It took a lot of gk to get all the material to print the Pat Morita cubie. Taking that into account this means you may need around 100 gk at any time to meet all opportunities.

Yellow Keys (yk)

They are more put to use in the Auction House for bidding on high end items. Doing so requires a nice amount. The store also offers BPs that need two yellows. Quest chains often need 1 yellow to advance. The introduction of stamps will incite you to go to the yellow vault nearby for a guaranteed stamp. Usually a dozen of yks should do.

Red Keys (rk)

They are for high end auction items, epic blueprints in the shop and advancing in quest lines. Usually having 3 rk should meet all demands.

Purple Keys (pk)

Yeah well. Having 1 purple would be great. Some special occasions may need 1. You need close to 3 of them for the most epic items in the Auction House. But maybe, I’ll have a purple vault close to home eventually. A special occasion, like getting a VIP pass for Coin Hunt Fest, may require a pk.

Ideal stack?

So, what is the ideal stack? As a moderate/casual player playing for both crypto and in game items, here is what I am working for:

White: I have 420 wk. That is plenty and I have no use for them.

Blue: 1500 (achieved)

Green: 100 (achieved)

Yellow: 12 (achieved)

Red: 3 (for special store BP and event quest chains)

Purple: 1 (objective for a real special thing)

With that sort of stack I’d say about 90% of my key needs are met at all times. It also gives me a lot of flexibility to forge up if an opportunity arises in the store. That way I have a potential of 3 additional rk in bk, gk, and yk.

Key Strategy

How am I going about achieving that stack?

Open all mystery boxes
Hit only about 20 to 30 uservaults per day. That should give you a 1 gk every two days, if lucky.
While doing a walking quest to level 6 minimum everyday. This ensures being key positive while opening the uservaults.
Once I reach 1500bk, I forge up to green all bk above that number.
No opening of green and yellow vaults
Once I reach 100gk, I forge up to yellow all gk above that number
Do all my buddy quests quickly. You may be able to squeeze in more than 1 BQ in a single week.
Once I reach 12yk, I can forge up to red all yk above that number.
Competing for the global leaderboard is not key stacking friendly. But you should at least finish top 50 local for the 5 bk local monthly reward.
You may have to consider slowing down on the Adventure Road. Unless you have most cubies and blueprints, going for all challenges will drain your key stack. However, you cant miss the Mystery Boxes that you can claim on the Adventure Road.
Sell stuff in the Auction House. This is still the best way to build your key stack quickly even if selling prices can be low at times. If you observe the market well, you can try to flip items for profit.

So there you have it. A reasonably balanced key inventory that gives you great flexibility at all times. Once you reach your green key objective, it is fairly easy to maintain and to recover even if you have to do a big key spending. No need to swipe thousands of blue keys in a bidding war.

I’d like to have your comments on your key stacking strategy and also I’d like to have your input as to why you keep a blue key stack bigger than 2000bk. I hope you found my key strategy useful.