Top 5 things to understand before treasure hunting
Did you know that spark can regularly be found while treasure hunting? If you have never done treasure hunts before, or are just starting out, here are 5 important things to understand before you start hunting for treasures that hold UPX and spark. You can watch a more detailed explanation in the video at the bottom of this page. Note that treasure hunting is only available on the app, and not on the browser version of Upland.
1. Understand how send work
When you send yourself to a property, you must pay a fee (anywhere from 5-125 UPX depending on the city, and the specific fee the player sets on that property) to go there. You also use one of your 11 sends that you can hold at any given time. However, if you own that property it doesn't cost you any UPX and you don't use up a send. It is a common misconception that you receive 3 sends every 24 hours. There are instances when you do not get any sends, and you must find them on your own to replenish them. Read more here about everything you need to know about visits, sends and collecting them.
2. Spreading out properties you own will save you UPX
This tip is more geared towards players who plan to on average spend over 15 minutes a day treasure hunting. Casual hunters will be less affected by this.
If visits cost you UPX and finding sends also cost you UPX, the ability to utilize your own properties during treasure hunting gives you a great advantage (for standard hunts). It is possible to win a treasure, but end up spending more on spawn costs and visits than the reward. Owning lots of properties in a city can enable you to be more efficient and complete more hunts in a given period of time since you won't need to use your sends. The more properties you have spread out across a city means you have more opportunities to utilize your own properties to help narrow in on a treasure. Given that you must be less than 50 meters away from a treasure to claim it, even players with more than 50 properties in a city will most likely have to use some sends in order to find a treasure.
Owning dozens of properties in a city can come at a cost, which should be factored in. If you only do a few hunts a day, owning dozens of properties for the sake of saving UPX while treasure hunting might not be the best use of that UPX.
Standard treasure hunting also comes with spawn cost multipliers. The more standard hunts you complete in a day, the more you will be paying for the initial spawn cost. This might be a cost you are willing to absorb depending on the value you attach to spark.
When participating in competitive treasure hunts, owning many properties does not necessarily provide a great advantage. The strategy changes as you can't be looking to save UPX on sends, as the majority of treasures are found within 45 seconds.
3. Understand the hints
Treasure hunts are timed, so if you aren't familiar with the signs and hints you will be wasting valuable sends and time.
4 Each city is different
Each city varies in the visiting fees, which also affect the amount of UPX or spark that you can find in a treasure. Cities with higher send fees will have bigger prizes. The geographical size and shape of the city are also important to familiarize yourself with. And lastly, the properties that you own can also help you to set bearings. If you are going to include standard treasure hunting in your overall game strategy, it makes sense to focus on one city and master it. This would include investing in purchasing properties in strategic locations for the purpose of saving on sends. You will likely want anywhere form 20 properties spread out as a minimum starting point for effective treasure hunting in one city.
If you have chosen your primary treasure hunting city, it makes sense to understand distances - between neighborhoods and between your properties. Again, if you are going to be hunting on a regular basis, spend some time in research. Utilize google, or print out a real map to measure distances. If you not familiar with the metric system, translate the graphic above to miles (1 miles = 1.6 km).
Conclusion
You get one free standard treasure chest each day. Use that to practice. Expect to lose money at the beginning. Consider this loss as a long term investment in learning how to do it. Don’t expect to master this task without practice. Lastly, make sure you start treasure hunting with the maximum amount of sends. The last thing you want to do is run out of sends in the middle of a treasure hunt!
Now you are ready to head over to the treasure hunting page to learn how to hunt, and the different types of treasures that can be found.
