Training

Schools

In HoboWars, training is essential. If you want to advance in the game and make your hobo a stronger fighter or more productive beggar, you will need to train. Training your hobo can be done in different places depending on what level he or she is. Locations for training are Primary School, High School, and University. Each of these locations has a level range requirement.

Location	Level	Cost Per Train	Entry Fee
Primary School	1-10	$0 & 5T	$20
High School	10-25	$20 & 10T	$300
University	20+	$50 & 10T	$50,000

The entry fees are one-time fees after which the only cost is the fee per train.

As you can see, there are level overlaps between each school. This allows you to check out the next higher school while you can still train at the current school. Things to consider before progressing are time available (the University takes longer to train at because you have to do more than just click) and money available (the jump from Primary to High School can be costly if you don't have a good source of income).

Stats to Train

At each school you can train the same four stats. These are Intelligence, Strength, Power and Speed. The last three have to do with fighting. The first (Intelligence) affects many different facets of the game.

Intelligence

Intelligence training is capped at 1,000. At that point you will not be able to to train Intelligence at school any further. Intelligence increases the experience you get from fights, the money you get from begging, the stat gains you get with each train in school, the amount of money that you can sell your cans for, and the money that you win for beating the Old Man. You can increase your Intelligence above 1,000 by consuming smart foods (namely, smart bread) among other methods. From 1,500 until 3,000, the increases are halved.

Other ways (some more efficient than others) to raise your Intelligence above 1000 and up to 2500 include:

• Receiving special prizes from fights at the arena.
• Receiving special prizes from fights at the Parking Garage.
• Receiving special prizes while begging.
• Sailing the Canbodian River with a Bar of Soap.
• Eating Smart Bread.
• Playing Rock/Paper/Scissors/Lizard/Spock.
• Opening Blue Christmas Presents.
• Exploring the Hoburbs.

More information on Intelligence, including getting past 2,500, see the Intelligence page.

Training Strategies

There are many theories about training strategy. A few are listed below.

Strategy 1

Waiting until University is probably the best and most recommended way to train Intelligence. The stat gains are much higher at University and all of the hobos that max their Intelligence in under 100 days train it at University. It's possible to get to level 20 with low Speed and a borrowed 700 set from a gang. Rats and Rings (when combined with the respect bonus) can make this much easier. If you can't afford the training and entrance fee at University, see if someone in your gang will give you a loan to help pay for your training. Most gangs are willing to make such an investment. Once you reach level 20 you can train Intelligence to 1000 at the University.

Strategy 2

As many of you already know, gains at the University increase with level. Because of this, it is sometimes more efficient to use your T fighting as opposed to training. Some gangs recommend spending T efficiently by training Intelligence on high score University days such as 12 and above, and fighting on low score University days.

Final Note

There are many ways to go about this. Mix and match your strategies to find one that works for you. What strategy you use, how you fight, and how often you do so varies with each strategy. Gangs tend to be a recurring factor in most of them, however. If you get into a good gang, chances are that they'll help you out by loaning you cash or equipment, helping you build a good hitlist, or even slutting for you. Check the Clan Chatter section of the Message Boards to find yourself a gang as soon as possible.

If you are unsure whether you are making the right choice in fighting or training, see this thread.

University

The University is where players level 20 and over go to train their stats. Training at the University is differs slightly from training at Primary or High School. In the University, you play a game every day to see how much your stats will increase while training. The game consists of a 4x4 grid of colored circles. You change their colors to increase your overall score.

The value of each circle is as follows:

• A red circle gives (-1) to your current score.
• A yellow circle gives (0) to your current score.
• A green circle gives (+1) to your current score.

Each point at the University gives an extra +1% to your base stat gain. If you get a 14, 15 or 16, that will increase your stat gain by much more, giving an additional +10%, +20%, or +30% bonus, respectively.

Not every puzzle can be solved to 16 points, but every puzzle can be solved to a minimum of 8. Most people find that they can easily reach a score of 11 or 12 by using their puzzle resets.

You can reset each day's puzzle a total of 3 times.

Christmas Ornaments

The Christmas Ornaments are special items obtained through Christmas Presents that give you a +1 to your university score for 12 hours. It does not change a spot on your board, it simply adds a 17th spot and marks it green.

So if you had a 13, you can "hang an ornament" and get another green circle, changing your score to a 14. However you cannot hang an ornament on a 16 to get a 17. Hanging an ornament on a 16 does nothing but waste the ornament.