Chrono Mine: MS, E or W ahead, 4 ways to show it

Same data, four questions. Every chart uses the Chrono Mine config and the chain strengths from Aureliusz's chain-start table (W chain about 84 times MS, E about 8.6 times MS with 100 shafts), with no boosts. They differ in what they ask.

The big picture agrees. The three ways that include MS all say: after a short E or W opening, W ahead until about W 3200-3300, then MS until about W 5200 (in the race, until the W-only player reaches W 6200). After that E, W and MS trade places, and E finishes on top.

I want to pick one main chart. Look at the four pictures below and pick the number that makes it clearest when to go MS, E or W ahead.

Way 1 · the Violet vs Octavia method

Value per level: is the next E level or the next W level worth more?

At every level number, the chain output that level gives per cash its upgrade costs, E against W. This is the method of the earlier Violet vs Octavia charts, with chain strength in place of the two super managers' multipliers. The thick line is the median of 51 levels, so a single milestone does not flip it; the thin grey line is each level on its own.

Line chart of E versus W output per cash at each level number in the Chrono Mine: near even up to level 1000, W better from 1000 to about 5050, then mostly E with short W stretches. — Above the middle line E is the better buy per cash, below it W is. Chrono reads: W from level 1000 to 5049, E from 5050 to 5433, W to 5749, E to 6699, W to 6813, then E to the end, with small swaps below level 1000.

Weak point

E and W only, level against level

It compares E 2000 with W 2000 although those levels cost different amounts, and it looks at one upgrade, not at where you stand. MS is not in it.

Strong point

One line, familiar

The same shape as the earlier E vs W charts, so it reads at a glance: above the line E, below W.

Way 2 · same cash, with phases

Same cash: which chain is strongest if the same money goes into one area?

For every amount of cash, each area's chain output if all of it went into that area, relative to the W chain. The phases are found by looking 100,000 times further in cash, so a lead that lasts a few levels does not start a new phase.

Chart of the E and MS chains against the W chain for the same cash in the Chrono Mine, with nine coloured phase bands: E or W, W, MS, E, W, MS, E, W, E. — Coloured bands are the phases, thick steps are each chain's typical lead across a phase, thin lines go level by level, and the green line is W. Chrono reads: E or W to W 259, W to W 3236 (there the W chain is typically 84 times the E chain), MS to W 5155, then E, W, MS, E, W and E to the end.

Weak point

"Relative to W" needs a sentence

The y axis is each chain against W, which takes one line of explanation, and the thin lines jump at every milestone.

Strong point

Fair comparison, all three areas

It compares at the same cash, covers MS, and draws the phases right on the chart.

Way 3 · a simulation

Race: where do you end up if each chain reinvests its own income?

All three start from nothing, and each chain's income goes back into its own area, so a chain that is ahead early compounds. Time is relative, because the exact income scale cancels out.

Chart of the E and MS racers against the W racer over log time in the Chrono Mine: W leads early, MS overtakes around 10 to the 20 and leads most of the rest, E leads at the very end. — The higher line is the stronger chain at that moment, and a crossing means one overtakes. W levels here are where the W-only player stands. Chrono reads: W to W 3285 (after a few early swaps), MS to W 6188, a short E stretch, MS to W 7367, then E.

Weak point

Pure strategies only

Nobody runs one chain from start to finish. A chain that pulls ahead keeps that lead, which the other views do not show, and that is why MS lasts longer here.

Strong point

Compounding included

It answers "where do I end up", which is the most intuitive question of the four.

Way 4 · the marginal return, drawn as a route

Next upgrade: where does the next bit of cash work hardest?

At each amount of cash, what the next upgrade of each area adds to its chain, per cash it costs. It looks at the flow of the next spend, where ways 2 and 3 compare the whole chain. One lane per area, filled where that area's next upgrade pays the most. Like way 2 it is smoothed over 100,000 times the cash, so one milestone does not flip a lane.

Three-lane route for the Chrono Mine: a short E block near the start, W filled from about W 300 to W 3270, MS from W 3270 to W 5200, then E, W, E, MS, E, W and E blocks to W 7400. — Read left to right like a route. Chrono reads: W to W 29, E to W 293, W to W 3271, MS to W 5204, then E, W, E, MS, E, W, and E from W 6827 to the end.

Weak point

The next spend, not the bigger chain

It rewards where the next upgrade pays most, not which chain is bigger now, so it answers a slightly different question than way 2 (here most of its switches land 16 to 51 W levels later, and it adds a short E stretch at W 5768-5863).

Strong point

No y axis to decode

Covers MS and reads like a route: one lane per area, left to right.

Your turn

Which picture makes it clearest?

Pick one number

1, value per level (one line, E vs W).
2, same cash with phase bands.
3, the race.
4, the next-upgrade route.

Supporters: react with the number under the Discord post, and DM me a second choice or what confused you. The winner becomes the main chart in the supporter tab, which will cover FM1 to FM10 as well.

The Hub, where the planner with these charts is coming to the supporter tab idle-miners.com