[Introduction to "KOF Dot Battle" for Closing Gaps Quickly—Lucky Ride Is Key to Resources]

Good morning! Thanks for your continued support today!

I’m Ikuro Yamamoto, who made a dramatic entrance but has nothing particularly new to report. Long time no see—how are you doing?

The main battle screen features tiny, dot-ified KOF fighters marching in formation and fighting side by side. All you can do is watch. At the bottom of the screen, there’s a feature called “Lucky Ride,” where Terry rides a motorcycle gathering items—an essential part of character development. The more items your bike collects, the higher your player level goes. Image Gallery No.001 thumbnail / 【Yamamoto Ikuro】Introduction to “KOF Dot Battle” for Closing Gaps Quickly—Lucky Ride Is Key Resource

Recently, I’ve been swamped with work but have plenty of spare moments and waiting time, so I’ve been grinding various idle games. Idle games are great! Just give a few quick commands, then your characters fight automatically, grow stronger, collect items, get more powerful, and either crush or get crushed by other players—no need to overthink anything complicated. It’s perfect for people like me who don’t want to think deeply but still enjoy playing.

After having played over 20 idle games myself, I’m now recommending this one: THE KING OF FIGHTERS Dot Battle (iOS / Android — hereafter referred to as KOF Dot Battle).
KOF is the legendary franchise from SNK, featuring iconic characters like “Garou Den” and “Dragon Fist,” which many of us from the baby boomer generation first encountered at arcades. It’s a crossover showdown among these beloved fighters in an all-star format—perfect for mobile games due to its vast character roster.

As a light spender whose player level is about to hit 200, I’m going to share some tips on how you can efficiently catch up with top players—even if you’re just starting out. Sit down properly and listen!

Focus Your Efforts On Characters With “Human Rights”

KOF features many appealing characters: handsome men, muscular types, tough old guys, sexy women, even high school girls—no matter their appearance, they all fight fiercely, throw sumo moves, unleash special attacks that launch American football players into the sky—all without any sense of absurdity. It’s a fantastic world.

But because there are so many cool characters, it’s tempting to want to raise your favorites. Well, human nature, right?

However, you must let go of such indulgence.

The “Human Rights” characters—the ones that truly matter—are the key players in this game. You’ll see them in the “Participating Pick-Up Gacha” screen. This time it’s LE Athena. Spend every free red diamond and gacha token you have—no exceptions—on pulling for her, even if the odds are minuscule. Your daily deeds will be tested right here! Image Gallery No.012 thumbnail / 【Yamamoto Ikuro】Introduction to “KOF Dot Battle” for Closing Gaps Quickly—Lucky Ride Is Key Resource

While KOF looks flashy and vibrant, this game divides characters into two types—just like other idle games: the “Human Rights” characters (essential, irreplaceable) and the faceless filler units that serve as disposable backup players when needed. Even among LE-rarity fighters, some have “human rights,” while others don’t. Characters below LE rarity are basically useless—they’re garbage.

Features like basic attributes (“Sun,” “Moon,” “Star”) or synergies such as “Execution” and “Endurance”—which activate when multiple characters in a group are deployed—are practically worthless outside of specific modes like “Challenge Mode” or “Club Dungeon.” (Editor’s note: Are they really valueless…?)
Various features exist—“Nest Lab” for tech development, “Faith Temple” to exchange flower bouquets from your garden into buffs, “Ultimate Dojo” with mysterious ability boosts, and “Pet Hotel” that increases team strategy through synergy—but since these grow automatically anyway, just keep tapping away.

But the “Human Rights” characters are different. Without them, you can’t progress at all. If you’re planning to spend money, ignore other features temporarily and focus solely on collecting and upgrading your Human Rights characters—stacking their stars and putting them in your main team. This is a smart way to gain an edge over rivals.

Currently, the only available Human Rights character in “Participating Pick-Up” is LE Athena (available until October 29). Non-paying players should pour every free red diamond into her. Paying users must aim for at least five-star quality—keep pulling! Don’t compromise here. You need a minimum of three copies to unlock three slots in the character selection screen before you can even start fighting.

For those struggling, there’s a “Link” function in Nest Lab that allows you to obtain characters by spending premium exchange items and Fighter Origin from “Premium Exchange.” But never use this on non-Human Rights characters. Only focus on Human Rights fighters—other LEs will eventually be replaced anyway, no matter how many stars they have or how much you like them. Let go.

Left: The “Ultimate Dojo” boosts your character’s multiplier significantly—the higher the level, the more “Ultimate Coins” you earn to buy upgrades. Expand beyond your own dojo by challenging others and gathering coins. Note: Winning streaks lower stats by 10% per win—so lose occasionally to reset penalties.

Right: This is where you check your character stats or build teams. Currently at player level 160 with a max character level of 100, focus on doing Lucky Ride repeatedly until your Human Rights characters hit level 100. You can’t begin real battles before this—this part is effectively the tutorial. Image Gallery No.003 thumbnail / 【Yamamoto Ikuro】Introduction to “KOF Dot Battle” for Closing Gaps Quickly—Lucky Ride Is Key Resource Image Gallery No.004 thumbnail / 【Yamamoto Ikuro】Introduction to “KOF Dot Battle” for Closing Gaps Quickly—Lucky Ride Is Key Resource

The purchasable Human Rights characters through “Participating Pick-Up” have been: first-gen LE Kyo, second-gen LE Terry Bogard, third-gen LE Mai Shiranui, and current-gen LE Athena. Next is likely to be LE Rugal—but don’t spend precious in-game resources on any other character. Absolutely not.

Focus On Efficiency If You’re Free-to-Play or Light Spender

Unless you’re going all-in like a billionaire oil tycoon chasing the top spot, social games always require some compromise. Whether it’s someone aiming for a strong start on a new server or another player who got hooked along the way—the goal is efficiency.

So what defines “efficiency” in this game? It’s yellow coins (gold), gasoline from Lucky Ride (bike), and dojo progress.

Of course, other features also help characters grow—but to keep up with inflation and steadily increase your multiplier, you must collect as many yellow gold coins as possible. These directly boost the coin level, which appears just left of the second menu icon at the bottom.

Left: Winning repeatedly in COM battles from “Normal Dungeon” yields direct resources—gold coins and experience points—to grow characters. Do this daily, step by step. You may hit roadblocks along the way, but persisting through deep runs is more important than quitting early.

Right: As your Lucky Ride level increases, you’ll obtain rarer items that boost fighter multipliers. The odds are terrible, but over a few days you can amass thousands of items—plenty to get something useful. And best of all: just watching! Convenient!

Image Gallery No.005 thumbnail / 【Yamamoto Ikuro】Introduction to “KOF Dot Battle” for Closing Gaps Quickly—Lucky Ride Is Key Resource Image Gallery No.006 thumbnail / 【Yamamoto Ikuro】Introduction to “KOF Dot Battle” for Closing Gaps Quickly—Lucky Ride Is Key Resource

Spend all collected yellow gold coins to maximize “Influence.” There’s a cap at each level, so just evenly distribute upgrades across the three types—no need to overthink. Unlike other features that boost multiplier, Influence increases in absolute value, so this is your core foundation: use gold coins to raise Influence and Critical Damage.

Gold coin earnings scale with time—the more stages you clear by defeating bosses, the higher your efficiency per unit of time. The key is getting stronger through gold coins, defeating many bosses, and advancing smoothly without stagnation.

But after stage 3000, every five stages triggers a mission. If you just leave it idle thinking “just defeat bosses as needed,” you’ll miss out on essential resources—gacha coins, postcards, fuel, item boxes—which slows your growth and eventually makes boss fights impossible, stalling the game.

So despite being an idle game, you must actually pay attention every five stages to complete missions or risk hitting a wall quickly. In that sense, it’s not truly “idle”—it needs some care.

Also, resources from Normal Dungeon alone aren’t enough for smooth progress. You need:

• Multiplier boosts from purchasing facilities with Ultimate Coins in the Ultimate Dojo,
• Parameter upgrades by offering flowers from your garden to the association,
• Accessories gained through Lucky Ride, and
• Research at Nest Lab.

The most important parameter? Undoubtedly Critical Damage—for now. Even low-rarity characters can deal massive damage if they have high Critical Damage. After extensive testing, while some numbers don’t follow expected formulas, one thing is certain: increasing the Critical Damage multiplier guarantees victory in this version.

Can’t level up your desired character? Can’t afford to advance boss stages? If you must spend money, focus only on yellow coins, blue bottles (XP), and gacha tokens for Human Rights characters. All other purchases should be reserved exclusively for oil tycoons.
Of course, if you want to rank high or show off strong teams—well, that’s another story.

Left: When a character reaches max stars, use “Tarot” cards to unlock their Awakening. The key is Critical Damage—aim for at least 3% increases per card wherever possible. But since the odds of getting your desired Tarot are low, never enable auto-advance; manually tap each one yourself. Promise me.

Right: Photo Cards that boost multipliers—increasing stats like HP and Defense with each stack, while Attack Speed and Skill Damage vary by rarity. Even low-rarity cards can significantly raise base stats—so carefully select high-rarity ones for essential parameters. Image Gallery No.008 thumbnail / 【Yamamoto Ikuro】Introduction to “KOF Dot Battle” for Closing Gaps Quickly—Lucky Ride Is Key Resource Image Gallery No.009 thumbnail / 【Yamamoto Ikuro】Introduction to “KOF Dot Battle” for Closing Gaps Quickly—Lucky Ride Is Key Resource

If you can upgrade Lucky Ride and use all your 5-minute time-saver vouchers to fully equip accessories, aim first for Player Level 100, where character levels cap at 100. It may seem far off, but it’s achievable in just three weeks max. Conversely, reaching player level 160 with characters at level 100 is essentially the start of real gameplay—around stage 5,000. If that seems impossible to you, maybe idle games aren’t for you—you lack determination.

While typing on your keyboard at work, watch boss battles briefly, stop after five or so rounds, complete missions, pull gacha, raid others’ gardens and dojos to boost multipliers. The only thing needed is focus—a quiet mindset of relentless effort: pure KOF passion and willpower. That’s all.

The classic idle game feature: the research lab where you develop technology. In this game, it’s called “Nest Lab,” which also features a “Link” system that converts resources from premium gacha into Legend fighters—saving players who’ve spun endlessly. But only use this on Human Rights characters. Never waste it elsewhere. Image Gallery No.010 thumbnail / 【Yamamoto Ikuro】Introduction to “KOF Dot Battle” for Closing Gaps Quickly—Lucky Ride Is Key Resource

When the “Console” feature is added, just equip four Sun/Moon/Star attribute emblems—ignore rarity—and boost Critical Damage by 15%. Otherwise, prioritize stats like Critical Rate, Final Damage, or Accuracy that increase critical hits. Multiplier boosts on other parameters are only marginally better than nothing.

Sometimes, even with a stronger team setup in ranked battles, you still lose—but the reason is usually one of three: missing LE Orochi Leona in front line, lower Critical Damage multiplier, or simply insufficient Legend rarity. Make sure to include at least one star-1 LE Orochi Leona as standard.

Free red diamonds appearing periodically? Spend them all on Athena—your Human Rights character. Also, the mysterious system allowing you to exchange Sun/Moon/Star attribute LE characters via “Link” in Nest Lab is tempting—but no matter how much you love a character or how many stars it has, do not trade non-Human Rights LEs.
Absolutely never spend resources on anyone other than LE Kyo, LE Terry, LE Mai, and LE Athena.

What If You Can’t Increase Human Rights Characters?

Even without spending money, focusing all your efforts on Human Rights characters won’t get you past star level 2. Without sufficient growth, you can’t progress through boss stages—your server-wide growth rate falls behind, leading to severe resource shortages.

The classic idle game mechanic: “Lucky Roll,” which extends login time. You roll every five minutes, up to ten times a day—so unless you play for over an hour, you won’t finish the dice rolls. Great design! While fighting bosses or breaking dojos, keep rolling the dice—but expect only modest rewards.

If stuck, just keep stealing flowers from gardens and challenging weaker opponents in Ultimate Dojo to accumulate Ultimate Coins and buy upgrades. Also, by steadily building up “Event Participation Rewards,” you can eventually obtain LE Orochi Leona.

Despite her intimidating appearance—tall, mentally unstable woman who makes people instinctively step back on trains—she’s actually a saint among fighters: simply adding her to your party boosts the attack power of all members based on how many she has. Sorry for doubting you earlier!
Even better: when her HP hits zero, she becomes invincible for one turn—perfect for absorbing front-line attacks that would otherwise kill allies instantly, allowing backline survivors to stay alive. Thank you, Leona!

For other Human Rights characters, reach at least star level 1, unlock slots, and stack Critical Damage. If you run short on Tarot cards for slot upgrades, use Critical Rate or Accuracy instead.

If asked which Human Rights character is most important? LE Kyo comes first—everything else depends on your team strategy and personal preference.

This game is one of the highest-quality idle games ever made—a chaotic mix of features with endless customization. You can endlessly tweak things, keep tapping away, maintain characters, and feel like you’re truly nurturing them.

But as with all idle games: spending money won’t let you overpower strong players head-on—no matter how efficiently you grow or how passionate your love for the game is, paying players will always beat you.

However, if you’ve got a brain between your ears, even a small edge can help you turn things around. You’ll be able to humble competitors with similar spending habits and leave ordinary free-to-play users far behind—then truly enjoy the brutal, intense world of KOF.

Image Gallery No.014 thumbnail / 【Yamamoto Ikuro】Introduction to “KOF Dot Battle” for Closing Gaps Quickly—Lucky Ride Is Key Resource

By the way, my favorite KOF character is Clark. I love him—but he’s painfully weak. Help me!