Gameplay Questions Thread

[Dreggit]

On 2/9/2023 at 4:28 AM, Zsolti_HUN said:

 

Yes, the trophy picture is an Orb actually, not a rune, so the text is misleading.  I will continue with story and I'm sure it will pop eventually. Thanks!

No, the trophy, specifically, requires you to activate a rune. Like I mentioned before, many of the general gameplay trophies require you to perform the action in a Story Area specifically, like in this trophy shot below:

[Zsolti_HUN]

On 11/02/2023 at 3:00 AM, Dreggit said:

No, the trophy, specifically, requires you to activate a rune. Like I mentioned before, many of the general gameplay trophies require you to perform the action in a Story Area

You are right, I got the trophy in Story Mode by activating a rune. Still don't understand why the trophy icon is an orb.

 

Anyways, now I got the platinum. Amazing game! I can't recommend the game enough to everyone. It must be frustrating for the first time so please see below my Roadmap for new players:

 

Difficulty: 4/10

Playthrough needed: 1

Time estimated: 10 hours

 

Step 1: Training

Let the game explain its mechanics. With completing the regular training stages you will be familiar with the game and will learn some useful tactics. Finish all regular trainings and a few advanced ones too, preferably with rating S or A. You can also get the Mara and pwner666 trophies from their advanced training levels.

Step 2: Daily Challenges, GOT

Now that you are familiar with the game, the daily challenges will be easy. Just in case, save the game regularly (with the emulator's save states) or use the rewind feature when you mess up a challenge so you will not lose progress. For GOT, you have to complete 30 stages in a row, not so difficult, just save after every stage and rewind/load when you fail.

Step 3: Story Mode

Select l33t difficulty and play a little until you get the trophy. Then, if the game is too challenging, feel free to switch to noob difficulty and complete all 3 story areas. The Superior Dungeon Defense trophy is story-related and will automatically unlock at some point in area 3. You will also unlock most of the other trophies (create monsters, obtain pickaxes) during your playthrough.

Step 4: Clear Up

If anything is missing or you did not reach 50% in the Almanac, replay story mode or training stages to encounter more monsters, items, heroes etc. For me, I was exactly at 50% of the Almanac when I finished story mode.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Zsolti_HUN

[ROFL-WAFFLES]

On 13/02/2023 at 8:12 AM, Zsolti_HUN said:

You are right, I got the trophy in Story Mode by activating a rune. Still don't understand why the trophy icon is an orb.

 

Anyways, now I got the platinum. Amazing game! I can't recommend the game enough to everyone. It must be frustrating for the first time so please see below my Roadmap for new players:

 

Difficulty: 4/10

Playthrough needed: 1

Time estimated: 10 hours

 

Step 1: Training

Let the game explain its mechanics. With completing the regular training stages you will be familiar with the game and will learn some useful tactics. Finish all regular trainings and a few advanced ones too, preferably with rating S or A. You can also get the Mara and pwner666 trophies from their advanced training levels.

Step 2: Daily Challenges, GOT

Now that you are familiar with the game, the daily challenges will be easy. Just in case, save the game regularly (with the emulator's save states) or use the rewind feature when you mess up a challenge so you will not lose progress. For GOT, you have to complete 30 stages in a row, not so difficult, just save after every stage and rewind/load when you fail.

Step 3: Story Mode

Select l33t difficulty and play a little until you get the trophy. Then, if the game is too challenging, feel free to switch to noob difficulty and complete all 3 story areas. The Superior Dungeon Defense trophy is story-related and will automatically unlock at some point in area 3. You will also unlock most of the other trophies (create monsters, obtain pickaxes) during your playthrough.

Step 4: Clear Up

If anything is missing or you did not reach 50% in the Almanac, replay story mode or training stages to encounter more monsters, items, heroes etc. For me, I was exactly at 50% of the Almanac when I finished story mode.

I’ve done training 1-3 and advance 1+2 but the others are not unlocked.

 

This game is very obtuse, and there are hardly any useful resources our there, any chance of a trophy guide?

[Zsolti_HUN]

On 24/02/2023 at 8:28 PM, ROFL-WAFFLES said:

I’ve done training 1-3 and advance 1+2 but the others are not unlocked.

 

This game is very obtuse, and there are hardly any useful resources our there, any chance of a trophy guide?

Hmm I don't remember exactly, but I recall something at  training courses not unlocking at first. Try other game modes (Story, Daily Challenges etc) and then back to Training, hopefully the courses will unlock then. Regarding game tips, although it seems confusing and hard first, the training levels will explain all game mechanics so don't worry. The most useful tip I read in this Thread is the "water trap" e.g. force the enemy walk through a water corridor, it is great because the monsters can be easily regenerated there.

[ROFL-WAFFLES]

1 hour ago, Zsolti_HUN said:

Hmm I don't remember exactly, but I recall something at  training courses not unlocking at first. Try other game modes (Story, Daily Challenges etc) and then back to Training, hopefully the courses will unlock then. Regarding game tips, although it seems confusing and hard first, the training levels will explain all game mechanics so don't worry. The most useful tip I read in this Thread is the "water trap" e.g. force the enemy walk through a water corridor, it is great because the monsters can be easily regenerated there.

Yeah I’m struggling to understand the the game, and with the tutorials not unlocked I am unsure how I’m supposed to learn anything.

 

[Shintetsuken]

2 hours ago, ROFL-WAFFLES said:

Yeah I’m struggling to understand the the game, and with the tutorials not unlocked I am unsure how I’m supposed to learn anything.

 

After you’ve done the tutorials that you can, try out what you learned in Story. You will definitely lose, but don’t reset your game! Losing still unlocks more training, IIRC. If that doesn’t work, you should be able to do at least SOME of the Daily Challenges, which will also unlock more. If you’re struggling with a specific task on daily training, ask here and we can answer it for you.

Edited February 27, 2023 by Shintetsuken

[ROFL-WAFFLES]

3 hours ago, Shintetsuken said:

After you’ve done the tutorials that you can, try out what you learned in Story. You will definitely lose, but don’t reset your game! Losing still unlocks more training, IIRC. If that doesn’t work, you should be able to do at least SOME of the Daily Challenges, which will also unlock more. If you’re struggling with a specific task on daily training, ask here and we can answer it for you.

Ah thanks mate

 

my daily is to make a talos, I can only make dragons and witches based on the icon that comes up?

 

talos is layer 2 but ive tried lower down the map 

[Shintetsuken]

3 hours ago, ROFL-WAFFLES said:

Ah thanks mate

 

my daily is to make a talos, I can only make dragons and witches based on the icon that comes up?

 

talos is layer 2 but ive tried lower down the map 

 

Haha, this was the first post I made to start the thread!

 

To spawn a Rune, a Lv. 3 square has to have nothing around it:

OOO

OXO

OOO

 

When you hit the X, a Rune will spawn instead of a monster. When you click the Rune, something will come out.

 

The Runes cycle through different possible monsters. If you wait a little bit, you can see that the appearance of the rune will change.

 

If you’re in the second layer, make a rune and then try to spawn a Talos from it. If it spawns the wrong monster, rewind, and then wait a moment for the graphic to change.

[ROFL-WAFFLES]

1 hour ago, Shintetsuken said:

 

Haha, this was the first post I made to start the thread!

 

To spawn a Rune, a Lv. 3 square has to have nothing around it:

OOO

OXO

OOO

 

When you hit the X, a Rune will spawn instead of a monster. When you click the Rune, something will come out.

 

The Runes cycle through different possible monsters. If you wait a little bit, you can see that the appearance of the rune will change.

 

If you’re in the second layer, make a rune and then try to spawn a Talos from it. If it spawns the wrong monster, rewind, and then wait a moment for the graphic to change.

Ah I’m getting the hang of it now!

 

how do I make a Dvagon?

[Shintetsuken]

3 hours ago, ROFL-WAFFLES said:

Ah I’m getting the hang of it now!

 

how do I make a Dvagon?

There’s a post on the first page explaining how!

[Dreggit]

On 2/27/2023 at 4:15 PM, Shintetsuken said:

 

Haha, this was the first post I made to start the thread!

 

To spawn a Rune, a Lv. 3 square has to have nothing around it:

OOO

OXO

OOO

 

When you hit the X, a Rune will spawn instead of a monster. When you click the Rune, something will come out.

 

The Runes cycle through different possible monsters. If you wait a little bit, you can see that the appearance of the rune will change.

 

If you’re in the second layer, make a rune and then try to spawn a Talos from it. If it spawns the wrong monster, rewind, and then wait a moment for the graphic to change.

This isn't quite right. Each layer has a specific rune monster tied to it. Layer 1 has Wookiemen, Layer 2 has Golems (Talos), and Layer 3 has Ladies. Layer 4 is the only one that cycles between the three monster families. Level 3 nutrient blocks that make runes creates a physical subspecies of the monster. Level 3 mana blocks that make runes creates a magical subspecies of the monster. Using spirits (level 1 mana block), and having them pass over the rune will charge it. With enough charge, it will upgrade the resulting rune monster and the color of the rune will change accordingly. A Mara is an exception in that it can spawn from any rune so long as all nutrients and mana are depleted from it.

 

There are challenges in the DC/GAT that involve either removing or adding nutrients/mana from a block to change the resulting Rune monster type from magical to physical, or vice versa. So for example, if a block has 20mana | 18nutrients, the rune spawned will produce the magical subspecies of that rune monster, but if you don't want the magical subspecies, you can get slimes to move nutrients into the block so it is 20mana | 21nutrients, or have spirits take mana away from the block until it is 17mana | 18nutrients. Whichever is higher when the block is broken is what determines the subspecies of that rune monster. You can also cull monsters near the block (mana or nutrient species) to disperse that monsters resource type to blocks in a 4x4 diamond range around where you culled the monster. This particular culling strategy can also trivialize many challenges to quickly produce a monster you might need.

[SupergiantStarr]

I'm trying to figure out a way to reliably distribute nutrients in soil. Occasionally it will work out when digging in an O or C or U or T formation like the game instructs for you to do in the training missions. Other times, I'm left with absolutely nothing other than an absolute shitton of slimes. Then by the time I finally get an Omnom to spawn, those slimes are now flowers that kill the Omnoms anyway.

 

I feel like I'm really close to figuring the game out, but getting so frustrated. Is this just a random element to deal with or is there a better way to optimize the dungeon that is just going over my head? I've completed up to Training 9 and currently stuck on 1-3. Any advice on starting dungeon builds?

[A-Ravenwing]

On 05/03/2023 at 6:45 PM, SupergiantStarr said:

I'm trying to figure out a way to reliably distribute nutrients in soil. Occasionally it will work out when digging in an O or C or U or T formation like the game instructs for you to do in the training missions. Other times, I'm left with absolutely nothing other than an absolute shitton of slimes. Then by the time I finally get an Omnom to spawn, those slimes are now flowers that kill the Omnoms anyway.

 

I feel like I'm really close to figuring the game out, but getting so frustrated. Is this just a random element to deal with or is there a better way to optimize the dungeon that is just going over my head? I've completed up to Training 9 and currently stuck on 1-3. Any advice on starting dungeon builds?

 

Unsure about your first point, sometimes I feel it's just luck but I'm most likely missing something. I've taken to culling monsters to spread around an area.

 

The second point, I did the whole story mode using a single water tunnel. Upgraded Turtles are hero killers and the spiders shoot sticky webs to slow heroes down. The water pickaxe you unlock first helps with this too. At the start of a level, I zoom out, create a zigzag between the water spots on the map (but stagger it so you save some dig power for upgrades), use the water pick to add water if I go too far, and the enemies regenerate so fast that if a hero made it through, they then need to fight an army of water monsters on the way out. I also created tunnels at the top off to the side so that heroes would split up so the turtles weren't taking on like, 3 heroes at a time though.

 

If you're at 1-3 you may not have the water pick unless you've done Dungeon-a-Day (I think) but you don't need a long tunnel for stage 1 and if needed, you can bump down to n00b difficulty to get the pick and then bump it back up if wanted.

 

Unrelated but adding it here to avoid a double post, this page on the Wiki is also super helpful for the Dungeon-a-Day and I assume the God Challenge (haven't started that yet) as it lets you check the rune creature requirement at a glance - https://holybadman.fandom.com/wiki/Rune_Creature_and_Skeleman_Guide_(No_Heroes_Allowed)