How many of you use merchants?

Cyphs

Newcomer

19 600g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 8, 2014, 5:47:54 PM

For me it depends on what they have, weapons are usually priority, but I tend to keep dust to defend my base and try and power their rooms. Worst comes to worst I may leave a hero in the room with a vendor that has amazing items. I usually hold off buying til late/end game of a level to protect my base the most.

JacobButcher

Newcomer

JacobButcher

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 3, 2014, 2:23:48 PM

I also feel that the merchant is a bit to pricey for what he offers. With the dust I can power up

more rooms which means better and more defenses till the enemy waves arrive at my choke point(s)

and even get in touch with my heroes.

Maybe the merchant will become more important with the implementation of skills because heroes

will then (hopefully) become sifignicantly more valuable than turrets. Maybe merchants then will

also sell more than "just" weaponry e.g. stuff like one-time use items or "unique" stuff that influences

skills and hero behaviour.

Another simple procedure to make the merchant more important is to cut the prices or

exchange dust with a "trade currency". Maybe something really different or just add food to

the stuff the merchant will also take for trading. That way there would be another layer of tactics

not just the decision to energise a room or buy a new gun.

red_locust

Newcomer

red_locust

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 4, 2014, 7:13:03 AM

Picking up some good weapons from a merchant is very valuable. Hard to say about the +defense items, but weapons are a top priority. If you get a few heroes with upgraded weapons in a room with one (or even two) modules that boost hero attack, you can hold off a sea of enemies. The bonuses multiply to give very high damage values.

I did a run where I picked up the crystal and camped all of my heroes in a 4-module room - 2 hero attack boosting modules, a healing module, and a claymore turret (should have built a third damage boosting mod). They were all in the ~130-200 damage range, and basically took on about 20 minutes of endless waves until I got bored and finished the level.

+Speed items would also be very helpful in larger levels where the ability to move your heroes around the different choke points would save you a lot of turrets/modules. It's already evident on level 3 by how useless the big, slow guy is for anything beyond guarding one specific room, compared to the blue melee girl that can run around to several fronts as necessary.

JIntegrity

Old Survivor

JIntegrity

Old Survivor

21 300g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 4, 2014, 4:59:21 PM

I always buy any +Wit items I can find, if they are better than my own, until all my non-door opening heroes have good +Wit items. Outside of that, except for exceptionally good weapons, I tend to leave them alone. However, seeing as I open every door before moving the crystal, I had over 150 dust before the game was over. An expensive building that causes any NPC you encounter in the level (merchant, additional heroes) to be drawn to it would be nice, so that I would have access to merchants I've found earlier in the floor when I couldn't afford some of their "luxury" (non-Wit) items later on when I have more dust than I know what to do with (having 2/3'rds of a large dungeon powered is nice though...).

acare84

Addict

acare84

Addict

23 600g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 4, 2014, 10:08:55 PM

If merchant has good items I purchase them.

Delrusant

Newcomer

Delrusant

Newcomer

6 000g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 5, 2014, 11:51:40 AM

If a good weapon or defense is available for my door opening heroes, I buy it quickly, if unable, I do try to defend the merchant until the level is cleared, then I make a path to the exit and buy all I can (extra item can be sold for dust in the next level and so on).

Right now they are the only way for the heroes to develop after level cap is reached. and can greatly change there efficiency (got a +55 power weapon on level, found the same but only +39 power on level 3, got a great def 24 t-shirt).

As for item sell, I do not unless a level need it (I stock item to stock dust) : if my level 2 playthrough is pretty "safe" and has a good feel, I generally keep items for later (and further level would be the same, as long as more dust is not needed, keeping item is a good banking tip ^^

JIntegrity

Old Survivor

JIntegrity

Old Survivor

21 300g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 6, 2014, 3:25:31 AM

As for item sell, I do not unless a level need it (I stock item to stock dust) : if my level 2 playthrough is pretty "safe" and has a good feel, I generally keep items for later (and further level would be the same, as long as more dust is not needed, keeping item is a good banking tip ^^

This IS a good tip! Thanks! For someone like me who clears every room on a floor before proceeding, this would be an excellent way to "save" the excess money. I hope, in the full version, extra dust gets transferred to science or something.

fepriest

Newcomer

fepriest

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 6, 2014, 3:32:06 AM

I tend to protect a merchant until right before I move my crystal--then I unpower all but the most critical rooms, buy up as much stuff as I can, equip it, then head to the next level.

x6snake6x

Newcomer

x6snake6x

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 7, 2014, 9:39:59 PM

Yeah since dust doesn't carry over I see no reason not to buy stuff if you happen to have extra dust and also happen to find a useful item on a merchant.

ColdHannibal

Newcomer

ColdHannibal

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 7, 2014, 9:51:00 PM

yeah, i go the same way. But the Contra to that strategy is, that the flying bugs attack them on occasion. So you need to protect the merchants too then.

Green_Clon

Newcomer

Green_Clon

Newcomer

21 700g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 3, 2014, 1:29:42 PM

I just see what that merchant has. If it's something cool, I try to protect him untill I am about to leave sector and then I buy. On my way with crystal. That's when I buy. It's the best moment to do it. And eventho it's kinda risky, I still see it as possible game-abuse. But when the price is so high!

Lulz!

Two

Lulz!

Two

19 200g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 8, 2014, 9:22:04 PM

I find the merchants especially handy when they've got some pretty nice items to pick up for my heroes. Usually what I'll do is try to light up their room so as to defend them, but this isn't always possible or worth doing, in the case of items I don't need. I don't know if this would make things more interesting or just annoying (and I'm pretty sure someone else mentioned this somewhere), but I was wondering: sometimes I run into merchants that don't have anything that I need, so I just leave them callously to die. Should this reflect back on my dungeon runthrough?

Sendaeran

Mezari

Sendaeran

Mezari

11 500g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 10, 2014, 10:29:34 PM

i usually make it a priority to power the room merchants are in and defend them

leadfarmer

Newcomer

leadfarmer

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 11, 2014, 10:22:23 AM

Honestly, a good weapon makes your hero so much better. with decent armor and a good sword (lvl 4), that short guy with a big sword can hold off 2 waves by himself in the third dungeon after 4-5 hours of play I think the game does get pretty predictable. and the items at least provide you with something to earn dust for! had a good laugh when I put the tutu on the big guy. actually makes him better haha +speed ftw

leadfarmer

Newcomer

leadfarmer

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 11, 2014, 10:23:58 AM

Bendercade wrote:
It really just depends on whether or not they have something I want/need. Usually I visit them to sell gear I don't need, and if I see something I'll want in the future (say I'm about to go to the next floor and have some dust to spend) I'll buy it. It really just depends if he's got a lot of good things on sale, stranger!

hahaha Whatcha buyin?!

Cyphs

Newcomer

Cyphs

Newcomer

19 600g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 12, 2014, 7:44:27 PM

If i have the huge dude with the machine guns I usually gear him out first followed by any melee oriented people. they need anything to increase damage and health. I fthey are geared they can usually take on waves by themselves. But priority in order is weapon>armor with hp>def armor>accessories.

KrewlOne

Newcomer

KrewlOne

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 13, 2014, 6:23:59 AM

I have started using them a little more. If there is an item that fills a blank spot it better be a useful item too. Sometimes I only see items the same or worse than I already have.

Char-Nobyl

Newcomer

Char-Nobyl

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 13, 2014, 11:02:27 PM

I usually use them pretty often. Not every single time I find them, mind you, but they're great for selling stuff that I can't use/don't want anymore. I usually visit them before I grab the crystal because dust doesn't carry over between levels and most of your rooms will lose power anyway.

KingxOfxThexvoid

Newcomer

KingxOfxThexvoid

Newcomer

12 300g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 14, 2014, 1:10:26 AM

Havent voted but rarely except o special items comes closest for me as well

Unless there are hp regen items or nice weapons

Hp regen can save heroes in holding a room stalling a wave

DotBeta

Newcomer

DotBeta

Newcomer

2 200g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 14, 2014, 7:46:10 PM

I use merchants to sell my extra items and only buy when I have extra dust, it becomes a nightmare when all of your rooms shut down after purchasing something a little on the expensive side lol.

systemchalk

Newcomer

systemchalk

Newcomer

24 200g2g pts

11 years ago

Dec 31, 2013, 11:32:46 PM

Anosognos wrote:
I do try to protect merchants if I can get power to their rooms.

Is this the same standard you'd hold for a merchant deep in the dungeon? It seems a bit inefficient to hold out for 5 rooms worth of power (50 dust) to buy an item worth 2 rooms (20 dust). I don't really have a fixed 'rule' for merchants so much as I notice my tendencies are more conservative.

the_cous wrote:
i tend to invest more in my heroes than i to base building, all i really need is one fully defend-able room to fall back to if needed

I suppose I should have probably mentioned this in my own post as well. My general feeling is that heroes are better investments than turrets because they're the only thing that follow you to the next level (well, plus resources generated, but buildings reduce that). But this is something of a false dichotomy because merchants don't accept industry and so your choices are more "do I invest in heroes and defenses?" not "do I invest in heroes or defenses?"

Bendercade

Newcomer

Bendercade

Newcomer

11 years ago

Dec 31, 2013, 6:19:45 AM

It really just depends on whether or not they have something I want/need. Usually I visit them to sell gear I don't need, and if I see something I'll want in the future (say I'm about to go to the next floor and have some dust to spend) I'll buy it. It really just depends if he's got a lot of good things on sale, stranger!

red_locust

Newcomer

red_locust

Newcomer

11 years ago

Dec 31, 2013, 7:38:45 AM

i use them very often, and I'll sacrifice a lot to buy a decent weapon. There's a bunch of weapons that can double your character's damage!

systemchalk

Newcomer

systemchalk

Newcomer

24 200g2g pts

11 years ago

Dec 31, 2013, 8:56:22 AM

My use of merchants is constrained by their fairly high mortality rates in my dungeons. I've noticed I have a very cautious play style and so they will often die before I am in a position where I am comfortable enough to part with my dust.

Perhaps the prices reflect their insurance premiums

Anosogos

Newcomer

Anosogos

Newcomer

29 300g2g pts

11 years ago

Dec 31, 2013, 2:59:54 PM

systemchalk wrote:
My use of merchants is constrained by their fairly high mortality rates in my dungeons. I've noticed I have a very cautious play style and so they will often die before I am in a position where I am comfortable enough to part with my dust.

Perhaps the prices reflect their insurance premiums

This is exactly what I do. I do try to protect merchants if I can get power to their rooms but, by and large, I find dust too valuable for defense until I've cleared out the level.

I'll only give some up early if an item can give a character a huge boost at the cost of only 1-2 powered rooms.

VIPDigitalhawk96

Mirror

継続は力なり。 (Keizoku wa chikara nari) Perseverance is power.

VIPDigitalhawk96

Mirror

32 800g2g pts

11 years ago

Dec 31, 2013, 3:05:33 PM

I like the risk of spending it there and then on something(s) I want at that moment if it is not viable to protect the merchant; if it is viable I will probably just protect the merchant then spend my dust when the exit is found.

the_cous

Newcomer

the_cous

Newcomer

11 years ago

Dec 31, 2013, 7:11:54 PM

i tend to invest more in my heroes than i to base building, all i really need is one fully defend-able room to fall back to if needed

Bendercade

Newcomer

Bendercade

Newcomer

11 years ago

Dec 31, 2013, 7:15:28 PM

Yeah, I usually have one room with super defenses, and (hopefully) it is just outside where my crystal is. I'll also put out a few "harassment" defenses just to tone down enemies before they hit the big guns.

red_locust

Newcomer

red_locust

Newcomer

11 years ago

Dec 31, 2013, 8:03:00 PM

Bendercade wrote:
Yeah, I usually have one room with super defenses, and (hopefully) it is just outside where my crystal is. I'll also put out a few "harassment" defenses just to tone down enemies before they hit the big guns.

Some enemies will attack your turrets, though. And turrets don't last too long by themselves. Isn't this a waste of money? I'll always defend the front room(s) in the line with full on turrets, shifting my heroes around as necessary.

Anosogos

Newcomer

Anosogos

Newcomer

29 300g2g pts

11 years ago

Dec 31, 2013, 9:28:15 PM

red_locust wrote:
Some enemies will attack your turrets, though. And turrets don't last too long by themselves. Isn't this a waste of money? I'll always defend the front room(s) in the line with full on turrets, shifting my heroes around as necessary.

Yeah, after getting too many of my turrets knocked out I started using my heroes as mobile emergency backup.

A_Gun_For_Sale

Newcomer

A_Gun_For_Sale

Newcomer

11 years ago

Dec 31, 2013, 6:02:39 AM

Just curious, as I find their cost to benefit ratio not really worth the expense; at least right now.

Anosogos

Newcomer

Anosogos

Newcomer

29 300g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 1, 2014, 12:56:45 AM

systemchalk wrote:
Is this the same standard you'd hold for a merchant deep in the dungeon? It seems a bit inefficient to hold out for 5 rooms worth of power (50 dust) to buy an item worth 2 rooms (20 dust). I don't really have a fixed 'rule' for merchants so much as I notice my tendencies are more conservative.

That's exactly what I mean. If they're right next to a room that's already in my powered-room-chain anyway, I'll power their room and put defenses in it so I can come back later. If they're 3 unpowered rooms away, it's just not happening.

I suppose "If I can get power to their rooms" should, more accurately, read: "If powering their rooms is a cheap investment."

red_locust

Newcomer

red_locust

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 1, 2014, 2:27:38 AM

Anosognos wrote:
That's exactly what I mean. If they're right next to a room that's already in my powered-room-chain anyway, I'll power their room and put defenses in it so I can come back later. If they're 3 unpowered rooms away, it's just not happening.

I suppose "If I can get power to their rooms" should, more accurately, read: "If powering their rooms is a cheap investment."

I usually put in a lot of effort to defend merchants if the items are good, like running most of my heroes to the merchant if he's in danger but I can't reach him. The great thing is that if the merchant survives till the end of the mission (like, if you can get some turrets in his room), you can power off a bunch of non-essential rooms and spend your dust before you make the final run.

T41

in Disguise

T41

in Disguise

14 100g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 1, 2014, 3:08:23 AM

I buy all the merchants good items right when I'm going to leave the level, that way I don't use all the Dust to divert from my rooms. I also don't normally go out of my way to protect them.

Masta_Steve

Newcomer

Masta_Steve

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 1, 2014, 6:43:40 AM

I usually buy up w/e my heroes need on site, but I rarely power up more than a 3 or 4 rooms on a floor, leaving me a plethora of dust.

Have to power up the heroes if I'm going to turtle

Bendercade

Newcomer

Bendercade

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 1, 2014, 7:45:16 AM

red_locust wrote:
Some enemies will attack your turrets, though. And turrets don't last too long by themselves. Isn't this a waste of money? I'll always defend the front room(s) in the line with full on turrets, shifting my heroes around as necessary.

I haven't had issues with turrets being destroyed, as they usually defeat the creatures who stay back to hit them.. I only use this strategy when I have enough industry, and have blueprints for the high-powered defenses. It hasn't failed me yet on any of my last four go-rounds. Sure, it'll fail eventually, but every strategy can fail if the situation is right. I adapt to each floor, which is the most important thing to do... If a strategy fails, come up with a new one, that's the joy of tower defense/offense games.

Bendercade

Newcomer

Bendercade

Newcomer

11 years ago

Jan 1, 2014, 7:46:49 AM

Bendercade wrote:
It really just depends if he's got a lot of good things on sale, stranger!

It saddens me that NO ONE has caught my reference...

spelk

Timer

spelk

Timer

18 700g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 1, 2014, 9:54:29 AM

Spending dust at the merchant is a major decision for me, the commodity is just too precious to waste on only small boost items - so something offered has to be really worth it, and give my heroes an edge at survival to warrant handing dust over, or even shutting power off from rooms. I like the current balance, and the fact that a purchase becomes part of an important decision in compromise, but sometimes you do get several merchants, and a lot of the time, you just haven't got the dust to spare.

Kido

Old

Kido

Old

24 000g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 2, 2014, 6:05:25 PM

When i found the exit and i'm ready to leave, i spend all my dust at the merchant when he's got something useful. Dust is getting reset after a level anyway.

bargol1

Addict Celestial

bargol1

Addict Celestial

27 900g2g pts

11 years ago

Jan 3, 2014, 5:45:07 AM

In fact, i use the merchant only to sell my stuff. I never have all the ressources he want ...