Difference between revisions of "Strategy"

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==== God Selection ====
 
==== God Selection ====
God selection is essential to victory.  Nothing is worse than picking a god only to discover that the selection is going to prevent you from winning.  On the other hand, getting a god early usually means more piety and access to better  boons.  Whether or not you should grab a god as soon as you see them is a factor of your race, class, level, items, glyphs and the state of the dungeon.  Here are some general rules for each:
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''Main article : [[gods]]''
  
*{{g|Binlor Ironshield}}: Binlor works as a source of magic resistance and resistance reduction, and is an okay source of piety. He grants a free PISORF on worship, which may be tricky to get piety with. You can get ENDISWAL for 35 piety, or can pick one up if it spawns making Extra Glyphs a good preperation to take if you plan on worshiping him. If you have the BLUDTUPOWA glyph then you can accumulate piety with Binlor faster than with any other deity. Constantly requesting Stone Skin and Stone Heart will allow you to rack up a great amount of magic resistance. Binlor is also a good desecration target, as long as you don't have any resistances. One downside to Binlor is that if the boss has high resistance, it's important you find the boss as soon as possible, as Stone Heart works on visible enemies only.
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Gods are among the most powerful features in game, granting powerful boons. Actually, a good god understanding is one the key for successful [[vicious]] dungeon runs. But they might be scary as they will dislike some of you actions, or even punish you if your piety gets below 0.
*{{g|Dracul}}: Dracul is a good selection for most melee classes, due to how much health he can bring to the table. By conserving blood pools and exploiting his Blood Tithe boon, you can get the equivalent of a dozen Health Potions, even more if you're a Bloodmage. Unfortunately, he HATES all holy magic (HALPMEH and CYDSTEPP) so if you rely on these he is not a good choice. The other reason he's useful is for if Blood Shield boon, which stacks extremely well with the Dragon Shield, but has a high piety cost. His Blood Hunger boon works well for striker builds, since you can overheal using life steal.
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*{{g|The Earthmother}}: A somewhat useful deity by herself, but a great source of piety. The exp bonus from IMAWAL can work to your advantage, and you gain piety from it! Her Plantation boon allows you to get 100 Piety extremely easily, which can be used to convert to another deity. She also works well with The Pactmaker. As for her other boons, they provide decent leverage early game, but tends to fall off late game. Vine Form is a cheap source of HP at early levels. Clearance provides a cheap source of mana for the first few requests. Greenblood is a weak boon, but it's usable if you desperately need to get rid of curse. Entanglement can be used for cleaning up, since killing slowed enemies gives you an extra experience point. The Earthmother's also an easy desecration target, since a single Burn Salve negates her punishment.
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They are not equal : some will interact better with some class (you'll get more information in the [[class]] pages), some will be more efficient if you worship them early(Glowing Guardian or Jehora Jeheyu), some can be worshipped or converted to in late game (Dracul, or the Earthmother), some hate when you kill some monster types which might be important in your dungeon.
*{{g|Glowing Guardian}}: A powerful deity for every class except Bloodmage and Assassin, or Tri-Sword/Alchemist's Scroll builds. Worship him as early as possible to get the most piety out of him. Absolution is deceptively powerful, allowing gain a ton of max HP, although it costs 1/5 of an item slot and some potential XP. Enlightenment can be used to your advantage, providing a nice bonus to everything, plus a complete curse wipe. Unfortunately he hates potions, and converting in and out of him isn't a great option.
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*{{g|Jehora Jeheyu}}: A very strange god. His boons can be very powerful, but will deplete your potions so they must be used carefully. Piety gain is random; if you get lucky, he can give you inordinate amounts of piety. However, punishments are also at random! Try to get the Petition boon to end his punishments as soon as possible. Desecrating him is very risky. A desecration can destroy your run, or give you free piety. Desecrate only when desperate.
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So the trick is to understand what they could do for you, when is the right time to worship them, but also keep in mind that you are not obliged to always do what they wish you to do if you have enough piety in stock. Remember also that if you have more than 50 piety points, you can '''convert''' from one god to another (if there are more than 1 altar in your dungeon), which might entirely change your play style but also open new opportunities. Note that you will keep the traits the god offered you when converting.
*{{g|Mystera Annur}}: Mystera works well for certain strategies. Refreshment is a powerful boon, providing roughly 5-6 Mana Potions worth of mana, so saving glyphs for mana replenishment is crucial. Mystic Balance is a strong boon that allows for 5 MP fireballs and 8 MP CYDSTEPPs, although it fares poorly with other cheaper glyphs. Flames and Weakening is an option if you desperately need magic damage. Magic basically equates to 1 almost-free MP. Don't worship her if the dungeon is full of magical monsters or mana burners, however.
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*{{g|The Pactmaker}}: Not a real deity. The Pactmaker offers 5 pacts which decrease your piety, but give you god effects when certain things happen. If you cannot pay the piety because you have no other god, nothing happens. If you have a god, but can't pay the piety, you do not invoke the gods punishment. You can also use Consensus for instant piety gratification or for converting out of a deity. Works well with "piety farms" like The Earthmother and Taurog, as well as the Stone Sigil.
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If you urgently '''need some piety''', other altars can be '''desecrated'''. The cost punishment for it might be high, it sometimes is extremely useful.
*{{g|Taurog}}: Taurog is a good source of piety, and benefits classes that beg for physical damage, especially the Berserker and the Monk. However, the mana penalty can be crippling and his boons will fill your inventory and prevent you from purchasing other items from shops. With Taurog, you can either worship him full-time and abuse his Unstoppable Fury boon or grab a few of his items and convert out of him before the MP penalty cripples you.
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*{{g|Tikki Tooki}}: Good choice as a later game deity, as he enjoys you slaying lower level monsters, but a big no for tanks. His Dodging boon is useful, and Reflexes gives you two powerful potions at your disposal. Tikki's Edge can also be abused if you saved a lot of low-level monsters. Poison isn't particularly powerful, but the first shot basically pays for itself. The best part of Tikki Tooki is that his boons give you gold, so you can afford buying powerful items and abusing gold-consuming items like the Tri-Sword or Crystal Ball.
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'''Here is short review of existing gods:'''
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*{{g|Binlor Ironshield}}: Binlor is a god of resistance, resistance erosion and might. It is mainly fuelled from wall destruction. When played correctly, it will help you tanking huge damages aggravate your attack. When used correctly, the knockback effect granted by the stone fist might be incredibly useful.  
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*{{g|Dracul}}: The dark god which helps you healing from blood pools and weak monsters. You'll hit stronger, but loose max resistance and max health.  
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*{{g|The Earthmother}}: An extremely powerful god, but which will clutter the map with plants. Used properly, you can get huge amount of piety from her, transforming it into mana, multiple corrosion layers, first strike or resistance.
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*{{g|Glowing Guardian}}: A good god to worship early for XP bonuses and health and mana regeneration in late game. It will clutter your inventory though.
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*{{g|Jehora Jeheyu}}: A very strange god. His boons can be very powerful, but will deplete your potions so they must be used carefully. Piety gain is random; if you get lucky, he can give you inordinate amounts of piety. However, punishments are also at random! Try to get the Petition boon to end his punishments as soon as possible.
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*{{g|Mystera Annur}}: The god to improve your glyph casting.
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*{{g|Taurog}}: Taurog is a good for melee fighters. It will clutter your inventory with powerful objects. An easy to use god, which will provide your useful death protections in late games.  
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*{{g|Tikki Tooki}}: Good choice as a later game deity, as he enjoys you slaying lower level monsters, but a big no for tanks. It loves money, and will help you hitting hard tough monsters.
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*{{g|The Pactmaker}}: A different kind of deity which can be worshipped at the same time as other goods.
  
 
==Boss fights==
 
==Boss fights==

Revision as of 10:39, 17 March 2015

This page handles general strategies and give some tricks to solve dungeons. But of course, every game is different, so you won't have a definite solution on how to win. Also these advice are for intermediate to advanced player only : true veteran had to forget everything to push their play style to new height. Alos, if you are new DD, you would be advised to read the New Players Guide first.

The article is divided in 3 parts :

  • The different phases you will go through when exploring a dungeon
  • Some combat tricks, which you could apply to the boss or any other monster
  • Some power-builds and odd tricks, which are not entirely required, but still fun to master

You can also find more specific strategies in the class, race, gods and dungeons topics, and are also encouraged to the read the different Annotated Playthroughs.

Important note : The word "wisely" or similar ideas are often used. It might led you think that if you make a wrong decision, you are doomed to fail ! It might sometimes be the case. But you will be amazed how resourful your hero might be. So don't take that word too seriously. And sometimes, true power lies behind your mistakes !!!

The different phases

The dungeon exploration can be divided in 4 phases, each with their own challenges :

  • The preparation : You are not in the dungeon yet, but you still have strategic choice to make. Which class/race/preparation will the best, or the most enjoyable ?
  • Scouting : Your first few steps in the dungeon, when you are getting a feeling of the place. You are doing more exploration than monster fighting
  • Build-up : When you start building-up your character and stacking resources for the final fight. This is really one of the place where the game is won or lost
  • Boss fight : Unleash all you might to defeat the nasty boss (or bosses) in a firework of deadly blows, powerful mana and yummy potions.

Preparation

Ah, the preparation screen ! Where you can spend hours picking the right class, race and preparations which will allow you to solve you dungeons of choice. Rest assured : every single dungeon can be won by any class and without any preparation (playing as a purist). But for sure, some combination are easier than others...

Race Selection

main article :race

There are two ways to go about race selection: Picking a strategy in advance, or keeping open to whatever the dungeon presents. You should probably pick your race considering the boss (if you know what it will be), but Halflings and Gnomes are almost always helpful.

The races can be sorted in 2 groups :

  • Those giving permanent bonus : Human, Orc, Dwarf. Convert early, and you'll get the benefit of the race for the whole game
  • Those providing resources : Dwarf, Gnome and Goblin. Convert late, for a powerful spike during boss fight, or during build-up to win fight over higher level monsters and trigger XP juicy bonuses.

Character Builds

There are several different approaches to character builds which generally fall into one of the following categories:


Gold-Farming

If your vault is near empty, but you know where to kill the IN DEMAND trophy, take the bet on boss preparation, and you can score 1050 gold off the boss kill.

Prior to unlocking IN DEMAND trophies, Transmutation Seals can be used on boss trophies to convert them to their full gold value. Again, the "Bet on the Boss" preparation increases the cash gained.

Scouting

Levels 1 to 3. It's rarely possible to kill monsters of significantly higher level at this stage, but it can be useful to do some quick scouting around the dungeon and find what Gods and Glyphs are available, as well as what Boss spawned (if in a random boss dungeon).

The length of scouting depends on your play style, but also on the dungeon. Some player would hardly kill any monster before they have cleared 25% of the map, and thus have more choice for early Buil-Up, some would try to level-up as soon as possible to avoid wasting black space. Even though it possible to fully explore Hobblers before fighting any monster and still win, for most dungeons, don't over explore though in scouting phase. Black space a valuable resource.

Tools

The most useful glyph for scouting is LEMISEE which reveal in priority altars, glyphs, the boss, subdungeons, shops, and other glyphs. Some class also provide extra information for scouting, such as the fighter, the wizard, the tinker and the half-dragon

Mana investment

While scouting, you probably won't spend much mana in combat, and might spoil a lot of it. Thus, WONAFIT is another useful glyph at this stage, which lets you efficiently into the preparation of a nice salted popcorn bowl. Each summoned monster will grant 1 bonus XP, but could also be the occasion for a mid-fight level-up. If you are scared of wasting black space, it is also a solution to have potential target travelling directly to you. It is even more efficient if you have a balanced dagger (in terms of XP management).

Build-up

Levels 3 to 7'. It's possible to kill monsters of significantly higher level during this phase, to generate more exp by using the level-up steamroll and the experience catapult. The goal is to create the appropriate conditions for the final boss(es) fight(s) : ready to use resources (piety, conversion points, popcorn,potions...), high enough level close to level-up, boons accumulation, inventory composition...

The build-up phase for the boss battles is highly significant, as it requires maximizing exp gain, minimizing resource usage, and choosing an appropriate strategy. It's worthwhile to note that while dungeon exploration is itself technically a limited resource, it is often desirable or even necessary to exhaust all dungeon exploration during this phase to maximize exp gain, unless intending to use a APHEELSIK glyph or regen tactics to defeat the boss(es). In dungeons where there are two bosses, it can be helpful to try to leave a corridor, corner, or area unexplored to allow for regeneration between boss battles.

When reaching level 6 to 7, it's often beneficial to have explored most if not all of the dungeon, and begin creating an "exp farm." By weakening several lower level monsters to within a single hit from death, they can be finished later to gain exp for further level steamrolling. Note, it is less useful or even dangerous to leave creatures with the First Strike ability weakened as a part of an exp farm, as they will deal still deal damage to you when you come back to finish them off.

Exploration

Main article : Exploration

Always remember that during Build-Up, black space is your main resource. Black space is mana and is health. And you will transform that health and mana into damages, experience, objects... for the final fights.

So don't be shy in exploration, but explore wisely (easier to say than to do, no ?)

Monster selection

To be done

Select carefully your monster for next fight.

Inventory management

There is on important rule when taking items : the occupy room in your inventory. And the only way to get rid of them, is to convert them. On the one end, it is a conversion bonus triggering your race bonus. But on the other hand is would be silly to clutter you inventory with objects you don't need now, or to be obliged to convert an item too early to make room for another powerful artefact...

So think twice before picking something-up, and think twice too before converting an object.

In the same way, spend you gold wisely in the shops.

Single-Use Glyphs

Single-Use Glyphs are a special case. If you know early on in the game that you will be worshipping Taurog, you can still get limited use from some glyphs. The effects of CYDSTEPP, BYSSEPS, and GETINDARE will persist after you convert them, and those effects activating will not anger Taurog (or Binlor, for that matter), so it can be very beneficial to pick up and activate these glyphs (especially CYDSTEPP for non-Fighters), before beginning worship, then convert them afterwards for piety and the racial effect.

LEMISEE is another situation where you might want to convert early, once you done enough exploration with it.

Experience Catapult

Depending upon the hero's class and which glyphs and items are available, there are different ways that a low-level character might be able to take out a quite high level character. When such an opportunity arises, it is beneficial to follow through when your hero is at the lowest possible level. The experience formula greatly rewards going after creatures above your level.

  • For example, a level 1 hero killing a level 9 monster gets 81 experience, and will suddenly catapult to level 6.
  • A level 2 hero killing the same level 9 monster gets "only" 65 experience, and will wind up at level 5.



God Selection

Main article : gods

Gods are among the most powerful features in game, granting powerful boons. Actually, a good god understanding is one the key for successful vicious dungeon runs. But they might be scary as they will dislike some of you actions, or even punish you if your piety gets below 0.

They are not equal : some will interact better with some class (you'll get more information in the class pages), some will be more efficient if you worship them early(Glowing Guardian or Jehora Jeheyu), some can be worshipped or converted to in late game (Dracul, or the Earthmother), some hate when you kill some monster types which might be important in your dungeon.

So the trick is to understand what they could do for you, when is the right time to worship them, but also keep in mind that you are not obliged to always do what they wish you to do if you have enough piety in stock. Remember also that if you have more than 50 piety points, you can convert from one god to another (if there are more than 1 altar in your dungeon), which might entirely change your play style but also open new opportunities. Note that you will keep the traits the god offered you when converting.

If you urgently need some piety, other altars can be desecrated. The cost punishment for it might be high, it sometimes is extremely useful.

Here is short review of existing gods:

  • God: Binlor Ironshield Binlor Ironshield: Binlor is a god of resistance, resistance erosion and might. It is mainly fuelled from wall destruction. When played correctly, it will help you tanking huge damages aggravate your attack. When used correctly, the knockback effect granted by the stone fist might be incredibly useful.
  • God: Dracul Dracul: The dark god which helps you healing from blood pools and weak monsters. You'll hit stronger, but loose max resistance and max health.
  • God: The Earthmother The Earthmother: An extremely powerful god, but which will clutter the map with plants. Used properly, you can get huge amount of piety from her, transforming it into mana, multiple corrosion layers, first strike or resistance.
  • God: Glowing Guardian Glowing Guardian: A good god to worship early for XP bonuses and health and mana regeneration in late game. It will clutter your inventory though.
  • God: Jehora Jeheyu Jehora Jeheyu: A very strange god. His boons can be very powerful, but will deplete your potions so they must be used carefully. Piety gain is random; if you get lucky, he can give you inordinate amounts of piety. However, punishments are also at random! Try to get the Petition boon to end his punishments as soon as possible.
  • God: Mystera Annur Mystera Annur: The god to improve your glyph casting.
  • God: Taurog Taurog: Taurog is a good for melee fighters. It will clutter your inventory with powerful objects. An easy to use god, which will provide your useful death protections in late games.
  • God: Tikki Tooki Tikki Tooki: Good choice as a later game deity, as he enjoys you slaying lower level monsters, but a big no for tanks. It loves money, and will help you hitting hard tough monsters.
  • God: The Pactmaker The Pactmaker: A different kind of deity which can be worshipped at the same time as other goods.

Boss fights

Levels 7 to 10. At this point, dungeon exploration likely stops (unless you're using a poison glyph against a boss or can out regen them), and the battle begins. It can be useful at this point to be almost at the next level, allowing the player to use the level-up steamroll to instantly heal to full health and mana, possibly even multiple times during the fight.

The ideal position to be in when starting a boss battle is at Level 7 with 34 / 35 experience, with proper runes, and all health / mana potions remaining, and an exp farm containing 96 experience worth of monsters (enough for level 10) although this is very hard to do,. The first phase of the boss battle involves the player, using all available health and mana points (but not potions) against the boss before killing weakened monsters to gain a level. This phase ends when the player no longer has enough weakened non-boss creatures to gain another level, or has reached level 10.

Phase two of the boss battle involves the player using other available resources (health & mana potions, etc.) to defeat the boss. This is sometimes called to spike the boss.

In dungeons with two bosses, it can often be effective to kill the "hard hitting" boss with magic attacks during phase one, as they usually have lower max health. This allows the player to save as many health and mana potions as possible for the "tank" boss, who generally doesn't retaliate as powerfully.

Combat tricks

First Strike Finisher

First strike will often allow you to kill a monster you couldn't otherwise beat. Cast it just before the final blow, and the monster gets no retaliation hit.

  • Keep in mind that you still take a retaliation hit if the monster has first strike as well.

Read more in the Strike Order article

Fireball Softener

Hitting a monster with fireball before combat will often reduce the number of hits it takes to kill it. Can be used with first strike to take on otherwise dangerous foes without taking any damage.


Battle of Attrition

If you have enough attack to do more damage in one hit than your enemy is able to regenerate in the time it takes you to regenerate the damage that he does with a single hit, you can heal between attacks and still be able to have a net effect of his health decreasing. Be careful however, that it might be very exploration consuming.

  • A way to determine if you are able to damage your foe quicker that he would heal, is to compare the number of tiles you would need to recover from one of his strikes (damaged caused his attack / health you recover per explored tiles), and the number of tiles he would need to recover from one of your strikes (damaged caused by your attack / health he recovers per tile you explore). If you need less tiles than he does, you will heal quicker. Don't forget to take your spells in account !
  • Even if you heal slower than the enemy does, sometimes exploring one or a few blocks mid-battle can regenerate your HP/MP for additional hit/spell so that you can deal enough damage to kill the enemy.

Slow Poison

Attacking an enemy and then poisoning it and exploring (or using the LEMMISI glyph) allows you to take on enemies that would otherwise outlast you in a fight. If attacking with magic you can use this technique to beat a foe that would otherwise kill you with one hit.

  • This technique relies on either of two abilities. You can last as long as you can survive a single hit, so if your HP or resistance are as high as possible, you will be able to outlast harder hits.

Level-up Steamroll

With very few experience needed to gain the next level, you can fight a tough monster, and then when you can't fight any more, kill a low-level monster in order to level up. This will restore your health and mana without healing the tough monster. You can then go back to killing the tougher monster with full strength. It is possible to level up more than once during a single fight. This usually requires the player utilizing the "Experience Catapult" strategy first (see below) so that he has a lot of low-level monsters to kill. Nonetheless, keeping track of how many experience you can get from the available monsters is always a wise thing to do.

Brawling

It often seems more efficient to fight only one monster at a time, entirely devoting your mana and health bar to this fight. But in some case, it is actually much more efficient to fight two or more monsters at a time. Popcorn for mid fight level up is an example. But more are listed in the Brawling article.

Power builds and other odd tricks

This section lists particularly powerful builds tricks and niche strategies, which -honestly- no sane person could have imagined. The fact that they have been developed tells a lot about DD Community's fading sanity.

Level 1 Boss fight

To be done

Self Canon

To be done

Zero Damage killer

To be done