Difference between revisions of "D.E.R.P."

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(Created page with "The '''Daily Exploration Re-Enactment Program''' is a daily challenge complete with score metrics. It was introduced with the Enhanced Edition (beta testing began 10th March 2...")
 
(Strategy)
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'''Altars'''<br>
 
'''Altars'''<br>
 
*Despite his sometimes debilitating random punishments, {{g|Jehora Jeheyu}} is perhaps the best altar preparation / early worship deity (if available). The free {{s|WEYTWUT}} glyph offers a reliable way to de-clog the map; and the sheer power offered by his Boost Health/Mana boons help a lot with leveling; and the extra refills granted by Chaos Avatar and Last Chance help a lot during the boss fights.<br>
 
*Despite his sometimes debilitating random punishments, {{g|Jehora Jeheyu}} is perhaps the best altar preparation / early worship deity (if available). The free {{s|WEYTWUT}} glyph offers a reliable way to de-clog the map; and the sheer power offered by his Boost Health/Mana boons help a lot with leveling; and the extra refills granted by Chaos Avatar and Last Chance help a lot during the boss fights.<br>
*Although he offers no free glyph, the {{g|Glowing Guardian}} also offers boons to boost Health and Mana, as well as boons to refill; and perhaps most importantly, Humility helps with leveling and often makes reaching Level 11 stats possible.<br>
+
* {{g|Binlor Ironshield}} is an acceptable alternative to Jehora on cramped maps, especially [[Shifting Passages]] and [[The Labyrinth]].  While {{s|PISORF}} solves many problems, farming up {{s|ENDISWAL}} early is the safest bet, and the piety will easily earn itself back.  On maps like [[Havendale Bridge]] and [[Berserker Camp]], though, the main bottleneck is indestructible and [[PISORF]]/[[ENDISWAL]] is unreliable.
 +
* Although he offers no free glyph, the {{g|Glowing Guardian}} offers boons to boost Health and Mana like Jehora, as well as boons to refill; and perhaps most importantly, Humility helps with leveling and often makes reaching Level 11 stats possible, and it is one of most crucial boons for players aiming for the top of the XP leaderboard.
 +
* Aside from Jehora and GG, {{g|Tikki Tooki}} is the other experience farming deity.  GG is best early, Jehora grants the most XP when you use him to reach level 10, and TT is good late in the run as long as you can farm a lot of piety while saving lots of popcorn.<br>
  
 
'''Items'''<br>
 
'''Items'''<br>
*{{i|Namtar's Ward}} is a very safe preparation if available, the death protection it offers goes beyond its normal utility, and also helps prevent accidental losses ('misclicks').<br>
+
* {{i|Namtar's Ward}} is a very safe preparation if available, the death protection it offers goes beyond its normal utility, and also helps prevent accidental losses ('misclicks').<br>
*The {{i|Amulet of Yendor}} can be very useful, helping to out-level monsters and take a lot of pressure off the leveling; alternatively, it can be preserved until the boss fight to trigger an extra mid-fight level-up.<br>
+
* The {{i|Amulet of Yendor}} can be very useful, helping to out-level monsters and take a lot of pressure off the leveling; alternatively, it can be preserved until the boss fight to trigger an extra mid-fight level-up.<br>
  
 
'''Bazaar'''<br>
 
'''Bazaar'''<br>
 
*Apothecary is a strong preparation in the dailies because the extended potion assortment can make up for the non-customizable potion kit.<br>
 
*Apothecary is a strong preparation in the dailies because the extended potion assortment can make up for the non-customizable potion kit.<br>
*Elite Items may be worth it just for the shot at having an Amulet of Yendor in store.<br>
+
*Elite Items may be worth it just for the shot at having an Amulet of Yendor in store. If you manage to pair this with {{i|Translocation Seal}}, the result item gained will likely be worth two preparation slots, especially if the alternative preparations are mediocre.<br>
  
  

Revision as of 23:01, 10 August 2015

The Daily Exploration Re-Enactment Program is a daily challenge complete with score metrics. It was introduced with the Enhanced Edition (beta testing began 10th March 2015, official release date 20th April 2015).

Accessing the D.E.R.P.

The D.E.R.P. becomes accessible by unlocking the Audit Zeppelin in a Kingdom. After the Audit Zeppelin is unlocked, it shows individual statistics, as well as allows access to the daily D.E.R.P. challenges and to the Leaderboard. The D.E.R.P. can also be accessed from the main splash screen without loading any of the kingdoms; any gold award received for completing the daily challenge will be added to the most recently played Kingdom's treasury. The daily challenge resets at midnight GMT, and although runs may be attempted even just before the cut-over, any run not finished and reported before midnight will mess up the results for the given day. Each D.E.R.P. can only be attempted once, and the game communicates with the Daily Servers when the daily is started; and when the daily is finished. If the connectivity fails, the server may not acknowledge completion of a given daily, or it may not allow the attempt altogether.

D.E.R.P. Overview

D.E.R.P. selects a random map, and a random class/race combination; as well as offers four choices of preparations, each selectable from a set of three. The map can be any Normal or Hard map except for Tower of Gaan-Telet; the class/race combination can be anything (including monster classes; the Enhanced Edition Chemist and Rat Monarch classes; and the Goatperson is also playable this way, even though it is normally only available as part of the Goatperson DLC). The preparations can be anything that are available from fully upgraded kingdom buildings. What makes the preparations very unique is that some of the normal rules governing preparation choice do not apply. For example, it is often possible to prepare multiple preparations from the same building (that are mutually exclusive during normal dungeon runs).

Preparation Effects unique to D.E.R.P.

  • Preparing both Extra Glyph and Fewer Glyphs will keep the number of glyphs at 5, however will increase their conversion value to 130 points.
  • Preparing multiple altars is possible, and each prepared altar will spawn relatively close to the starting location. Preparing four altars on a non-Crusader is possible; however, only three of the prepared altars will actually spawn in the dungeon. There is no way of knowing which one of the four prepared altars will not spawn. All prepared altars - even the one not showing up - will carry their normal preparations penalties.
  • Bet on Boss will work as normal; gold is carried out from the dungeon as normal, as well as the trophy values are awarded as normal. Note though that no items can be kept from a D.E.R.P. run.
  • It is sometimes possible to prepare non-lockerable items like the Item: Dragon Heart Dragon Heart or the Item: Sticky Stick Sticky Stick.
  • Individual potions are never available as preparations (though the Apothecary Bazaar preparation can be), however the Apothecary has an extended potion offering during the dailies, and it includes the three potions normally only available as preparations: Item: Quicksilver Potion Quicksilver Potion, Item: Reflex Potion Reflex Potion and Item: Can of Whupaz Can of Whupaz.

Strategy

Each D.E.R.P. can only be attempted once. Since the primary overall player ranking metric is the current win streak, a lot of players lean towards the "safe" options when playing. Some of the items/preparations/glyphs that are generally useful to win most maps:

Altars

  • Despite his sometimes debilitating random punishments, God: Jehora Jeheyu Jehora Jeheyu is perhaps the best altar preparation / early worship deity (if available). The free Glyph: WEYTWUT WEYTWUT glyph offers a reliable way to de-clog the map; and the sheer power offered by his Boost Health/Mana boons help a lot with leveling; and the extra refills granted by Chaos Avatar and Last Chance help a lot during the boss fights.
  • God: Binlor Ironshield Binlor Ironshield is an acceptable alternative to Jehora on cramped maps, especially Shifting Passages and The Labyrinth. While Glyph: PISORF PISORF solves many problems, farming up Glyph: ENDISWAL ENDISWAL early is the safest bet, and the piety will easily earn itself back. On maps like Havendale Bridge and Berserker Camp, though, the main bottleneck is indestructible and PISORF/ENDISWAL is unreliable.
  • Although he offers no free glyph, the God: Glowing Guardian Glowing Guardian offers boons to boost Health and Mana like Jehora, as well as boons to refill; and perhaps most importantly, Humility helps with leveling and often makes reaching Level 11 stats possible, and it is one of most crucial boons for players aiming for the top of the XP leaderboard.
  • Aside from Jehora and GG, God: Tikki Tooki Tikki Tooki is the other experience farming deity. GG is best early, Jehora grants the most XP when you use him to reach level 10, and TT is good late in the run as long as you can farm a lot of piety while saving lots of popcorn.

Items

  • Item: Namtar's Ward Namtar's Ward is a very safe preparation if available, the death protection it offers goes beyond its normal utility, and also helps prevent accidental losses ('misclicks').
  • The Item: Amulet of Yendor Amulet of Yendor can be very useful, helping to out-level monsters and take a lot of pressure off the leveling; alternatively, it can be preserved until the boss fight to trigger an extra mid-fight level-up.

Bazaar

  • Apothecary is a strong preparation in the dailies because the extended potion assortment can make up for the non-customizable potion kit.
  • Elite Items may be worth it just for the shot at having an Amulet of Yendor in store. If you manage to pair this with Item: Translocation Seal Translocation Seal, the result item gained will likely be worth two preparation slots, especially if the alternative preparations are mediocre.


Some things that are normally good, but may need a second thought in a D.E.R.P., because of their liabilities:

  • God: The Earthmother The Earthmother, while being an excellent deity overall, will make you want to petrify plants and/or opponents. Be very careful not to wall yourself off by being over-zealous in pursuit of Earthmother piety, especially in mazelike maps like The Labyrinth or Shifting Passages; or just stay clear of her if possible.
  • Items that give you Trait: Slow Strike Slow Strike - like the Item: Platemail Platemail or the Item: Really Big Sword Really Big Sword - should generally be avoided unless absolutely necessary. A lot of extra hazards are opened up by losing the first strike against lower-level opponents.
  • Item: Patches Patches is almost never worth it during a Daily. It can teleport the character into a very tight spot, either between tough monsters or even into completely walled-off areas.