GPX Plus: Tips and Tricks

Since I've quitted GPX I'm providing a compendium of VERY USEFUL hints that will boost your reaction times and chance of grabbing that rare egg.

Starting out
Use an optimised version of Firefox 4 such as Waterfox or Pale Moon. You must have javascript and images enabled.

Optimised browsers have the best settings and are therefore faster than browsers on default settings.

Settings for Firefox: http://www.tweakguides.com/Firefox_1.html
Ensure that Firefox is the only application open on your computer.
Ensure you have the Adblock plus Add-on installed. (I know that we're not meant to block ads, but it takes time to load advertisements and you put yourself at a disadvantage if you download them when everyone else has them blocked).
Ensure that you have MEMORISED the egg descriptions and know which Pokemon your summoning item summons. And the items. Learn to recognise them by sight.

Egg Guide: http://firechao.com/gpx_plus_eggs_eggdex.shtml
Remember to download this complete egg dex via CTRL+S so that you'll have a copy, even if the site is taken down!


Mass Clicking
For guide: http://gpxplus.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Clicking Click
Main way to earn points.
Also, remember that you can evolve/change forms for Pokemon to earn points

Hatching Pokemon
IN addition to having people return interactions, you can gain points from posting image codes on forums (particularly in you signature, via bbcode or html). This is a super effective way to hatch Pokemon, and it'll put you at an advantage in any Shiny Hunts. (e.g. I could obtain up to 1000 views a day).

Account upgrades

Please don't buy stuff you see in the shop immediately, most of it is a waste of money.

The first account upgrade you should buy is the Explorer kit. It'll allow you to send Pokemon Underground and there's about a 65% chance it will bring back an item you will be able to sell. The time that it takes to come back relates to how active you are on the site. DON'T BUY THE JOURNAL OR PAL PAD!! They're a waste of money at this point in time.

For the next two, the best time to buy these upgrades is during a sale when all items (including key items, excluding backroom) are on sale.

The second account upgrade you should buy is the Amulet coin, particularly if you mass click. It raises the chance of earning an extra point with each interaction (about 50%, I think). If you don't mass click, then you shouldn't have joined GPX Plus because clicking and activity is the main way you earn points and hatch/level Pokemon. Don't buy the Itemfinder. It has a very low chance of earning you items (from a year of experience).

The third account upgrade you should buy is the Secret Key. By now, you'll be able to purchase items that other people sell at a discount (and legendary summoning items), increasing the number of aggregated points available to you.

Hunting in the Lab tips

1. KEEP A SLOT OPEN IN YOUR PARTY IF YOU WANT TO HUNT
Don't waste time lurking the Lab. You won't believe the number of times I decide to stalk the lab and forget I don't have a slot available. a) It's a waste of time b) You could be doing something more constructive, like mass clicking parties and earning points. Also, you won't be able to pick up little man eggs and missingno.

2. Summon your eggs 1-2 minutes AFTER the 5 minute egg drop to increase the chance that everyone else's attention on the lab page is wandering in case you miss your legend after your five minute is up!

3. NEVER refresh the page PARTICULARLY if you're the one summoning.
Refreshing wastes time that you could use to read. If you're not summoning, make sure you're at the lab at xx:x4 and xx:x9. As soon as it hits xx:x5 and xx:x0, hold down CTRL+ Click the lab tab until about 100 tabs are open. Now look at the current lab page and for key words. Close lab pages with CTRL+W. It shouldn't take you longer than 3 seconds to check whether your egg is on each page. It shouldn't take more than 2 minutes to catch your summoned legendaries.

4. Open 'About:config' (without quotes) and enter 'browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab' (without quotes) in the search bar. Double click the entry and the text should bold and the value change to 'false'. Now you won't have to waste time re-opening Firefox every time you accidentally close that lab page!

5. Research shows that students who reviewed their lecture notes for just five minutes after class recalled one and a half times as much as students who didn't.
Applicable to GPX. You'll find that if you don't REVISE the Eggdex you'll have more memory blanks, sweaty hands, more panic and slower recall than ninja clickers who do. To reduce the likelihood of panic, visualise yourself clicking rare eggs BEFORE stalking the Lab or you'll miss the egg in WOW OMG RARE EGGG!

6. Never miss a summon on purpose. LEAVE your 'consolation' achievement (Enigma Stone) in the unlikely case you actually miss a summon by accident. It happens.

7. Patience.
Never stalk the lab for longer than 50 minutes, rest for at least 5 minutes. The same research that applies to study skills APPLY ALSO TO GPX. You WILL misclick on eggs or close the tab on them if you don't take regular breaks or are tired. Poor sleep will cause your concentration to lapse, and Murphy's law dictates that rares will appear whenever you least expect it.

Hunting in the shelter

Abandon your computer and pick up an iPod Touch, iPhone or any device that can load the mobile version of GPX Plus. You'll find the shelter background is blank and white (less distracting, improved reaction time). Eggs won't appear under each other, so you'll see Novelties and legends MUCH faster than people on a computer will. And since the mobile version uses AJAX, images that haven't been downloaded will have a slight lag, so you'll recognise new Novelties and Legends super fast. Even if your attention is wandering.

I recommend using the Mercury Web Browser (paid) on iTunes. It has multi touch gestures, so you'll be able to reload the shelter using gestures, and it has full screen mode. It loads faster than any other mobile browser available. For example, I've been using three finger tap middle screen for refresh, and two finger tap middle screen for the toolbar at the bottom to appear.