I appreciate the luck and variability of this game, but I'm starting to wonder if the latter floors rely far too heavily on luck.



The reason is the amount of dust you get in latter floors and the amount you start with is so low that it's a struggle to get any rooms lit and any defenses built. A bad start on those floors (a dead end off the main room) when you only have enough dust to light 2 rooms and are getting virtually none per rooms seems to be a death sentence and considering how long it can take to get to these floors, this is a very frustrating reason to lose a game.



Late game there just doesn't seem to be very many dust generating options. Pickpocket doesn't raise chances that much, shops generate more or less just one per room (this adds up but doesn't help a lot for the start of a level). Emergency generators are extremely expensive to use and the amount you find late game per room is very low.



It would be nice if we had some more clever dust generating options, or at least ways to defend the crystal in the crystal room or reduce the random factor for the first few doors opened in a dungeon.



I might be off base, so if other people can give me tips on what I'm doing wrong. . The lack of margin of error late floors is good, but the possibility to be screwed by a roll of the dice is bad.

I've run into the problem a few times, including ruining a no-damage run on the last floor. Its a good thing in a way to have that difficulty dynamic (better try to save up more resources etc), but yeah things can get ugly sometimes. Its less the lack of dust but the lack of major modules (or even minor modules) to get a decent defense (and some production) up in the first floors.



Also, in some of those cases I opened like a dozen doors without encountering more than a few monsters, so I got very little dust to prepare for when the first real attack came in with 5 waves.



To some extend this is to be expected in a roguelike game though.

I expect the luck factor, but things could be adjusted just a little so the situation where you have no chance doesn't come up. It shouldn't be possible to go to the last floor and not be able to light/build modules to light enough doors to build a defense. If you have 2 lit rooms, no encountered monsters and a dozen unlit (extreme example) than the algorithms should be adjusted because that's just frustrating.

I actually find earlier rooms to be more luck dependent than later rooms though occasionally things can be very difficult.



Things that tend to help me a lot:

Pilfer. Third eye if I can find it I will sell a right leg, or even dismiss someone for. Or have Max. Who very well may be OP.



Mechanical Pals + highest wit operator on shop: Shops are luck dependant because you have to find a merchant, but once you find one it makes life sooooo much easier. It adds income equal to wit/10 round up. So if you have a 14 wit character and mechanical pal 4 (+2.5 wit each) place the shop somewhere that you can drop 3 mechanical pals with it, that will give you a +3 income in that scenario. Usually at later levels I have at least 1 character with a wit much higher and get a +4 income. I find that very important



Place heroes in dark rooms: Especially the first few doors in later floors. Limit the amount of random spawns and have a high combat character somewhere to respond. Keep in mind to keep heroes in dark rooms until the log tells you how many waves are coming, so you don't accidentally move out too early and get more spawns



Rooms closest to the crystal have a higher chance to have dust: Especially in later levels I tend to get a few rooms in each direction off the crystal room and then start to push one wing.



Emergency Generators give you dust: If you put mechanical pals in with emergency generators it adds to the % chance of loot from mobs. +0.5% per wit. So if you can afford industry to put 4 x mechanical pal 4s in a room with an emergency generator you have +5% dust chance per mob killed. add in an operator and multiple generators and this goes up.



You can't have too much industry: you may notice from some industry expensive suggestions i gave that I feel you can not have too much industry. I go overkill on industry, especially in earlier floors, this helps me a lot on later floors to have enough excess to stack industry major mods + mechanical pals in the first 4 rooms i can at later levels + an operator until I find a merchant for shop, or if I am really dust starved i operate an emergency generator.



Abuse your abilities: Some heroes have amazing abilities that have dramatic effect on waves if you have your defenses/dark rooms set up to compliment them. Elise, skroig, chef nanor, the drakkar that uses 'winter is coming' (Sorry can't rememeber his name right off even tho he is one of my favs). Abuse these abilities when you need them and restore them using science to use them again. Keep your science income going so you can do this



These are some very important things I think about at higher floors. The layout of what rooms I leave dark changes based on what modules i have unlocked, what heroes i have and how the floor is panning out. I am sure others have ideas I have not considered, which I would love to hear, and I hope this helps you out or lets you look at things a little differently.

I partially agree with the OP.



Even though the latter floors can have more devastating effects, the player is at a point where he can better control and adapt to the situation (ie Emergency Generator or LAN). Yes, some floor random effects can be devastatingly bad or extremely easy, but I think that's the point of the game. Consider that the most random aspect of the game are the floors themselves. Nothing else changes, apart from Research. I think it's an intentional game design that it IS random so that the player can make a decision based on the current floor. If you have bad luck, and the floor is extremely hard, it's up to you to react accordingly. In drill pod, I spent ~1,200 Industry on Emergency Generators because I could not get over 40 dust, in what turned out to be a 33 door floor! I ended up opening 10 doors consecutively and running the crystal. It was bad luck, and my bank account took a big hit, but it's a good part of the game that I enjoy. You simply have to factor these random events in your playstyle.



Then again, there are a few things that feel extremely unaccountable for with player skill atm, like EMP blasts and Rhinos that open the door they immediately spawn next to. Those two factors, and possibly others I can't think of OTOH, make me agree somewhat with OP.

Before combat, lower all your lights and light up the rooms they will be coming from, build traps in them and get them ready for re-lighting after combat begins. Re-light your secure area/generators, then begin combat. After the waves come, you can drop lights in your safe rooms and power up the front; you won't lose any resources, because they were already gathered, and once the enemies spawn, they won't come from your newly darkened rooms. After combat, drop those front rooms again and repower the generator rooms. Rinse, repeat for extra frontal defense.



Also, I spend the early game massing MASSIVE amounts of industry. The first two generators I build are industry. Then science, but I would even consider getting 3 industry generators off the bat. The idea is that every time you enter a lit room with a generator spot, you build a generator instantly (except when spending the 40-50+ industry won't get you a return on FIDS, because you are close to the exit (sometimes turning 50 industry into 8 or 12 food is worth it (3 turns for exit, for example))). No loss of FIDS. By the time I got to the last level, last night (on too easy), I had 1200 industry, 200 science and 1800 food. Almost everything was researched to lv IV, except for the viral injector and one other thing. Always prioritize your research for leveling up your generators (food, industry, science). It does not matter the order, if you see one, take it. Save your science up into the 60's when you start so you can research it as soon as you see it. Focus on industry and science. Think of science as a way to increase your industry production, by leveling up and using mechanical pals, but focus on industry. It lets you build unlimited traps in the later levels, and demolish and rebuild without a thought.



Also, every chance I get I will have people operating generators, until the last level or 2 (or 3). My goal from level one is to have at least 200 industry in stockpile, 120 science and 80+ food. I will fight dungeons with one guy and traps if I can, leave the other 3 operating. Late in the game, there are so few generators that you will probably only have 1 guy operating. But if all goes well, you shouldn't need any extra FIDS by then. The game very much snowballs.



And finally, in the first 3 levels I build almost no traps if I can. Save industry, especially early on, to build more generators as soon as you enter a viable room.