Right now (haven't played very much) I consistently can't get past level 6 on Easy, and can't get past level 11 on Too Easy.



What is a normal experience with these two difficulty levels? And how lucky do you have to be, if at all, to win?

Easy? almost every time. Normal? never.

Speus I can tell you that once you learn enough tricks and strats you can reliably beat Easy. However, for the average player it is very difficult to beat the game on easy. Post floor 6 (when elite mobs spawn) runs begin to fail.

I can get to 11 on Easy consistently. Too Easy I can pretty much beat everytime.

I'll be honest Speusippus part of the issue may be your strategy. Based on the guides I've read and what I picked up there are numerous techniques that can help guarantee a victory on Too Easy, and nearly Easy.

Things like choosing carefully who you level, prioritizing (I>S>F) on lv 1-6(possibly to 8 or 9), and (F>I>S) on 7-12. In addition you may want to consider who you are choosing for play, and what play style you want to pursue.

Do you want to kite enemies back and forth between turrets? Do you want to lead them back to a room you can slaughter them with someone who has Operate?

If you can manage a choke point or two (ideally you want to have one right outside the first doors branching off your room). Every so often you should make one further along. This will allow you to slow enemy progression, and if you can station an Operator at a choke point even better.



Are you using characters who have nothing else to do to stand in dark rooms and keep enemies from spawning there?

Are you taking risks with Dust Generators? (if you have the industry to spare, take the chance)

All of these things are good to consider.



Honestly my first serious run's survival chances doubled once I realized what Operators were and that Wes was even more useful than I expected.

That also can bring us to another idea:

Are you thinking ahead with your first 2 characters, how you want to level them and what gaps you are opening on the party?

LoverIan wrote:
I'll be honest Speusippus part of the issue may be your strategy. Based on the guides I've read and what I picked up there are numerous techniques that can help guarantee a victory on Too Easy, and nearly Easy.

Things like choosing carefully who you level, prioritizing (I>S>F) on lv 1-6(possibly to 8 or 9), and (F>I>S) on 7-12. In addition you may want to consider who you are choosing for play, and what play style you want to pursue.

Do you want to kite enemies back and forth between turrets? Do you want to lead them back to a room you can slaughter them with someone who has Operate?

If you can manage a choke point or two (ideally you want to have one right outside the first doors branching off your room). Every so often you should make one further along. This will allow you to slow enemy progression, and if you can station an Operator at a choke point even better.



Are you using characters who have nothing else to do to stand in dark rooms and keep enemies from spawning there?

Are you taking risks with Dust Generators? (if you have the industry to spare, take the chance)

All of these things are good to consider.



Honestly my first serious run's survival chances doubled once I realized what Operators were and that Wes was even more useful than I expected.

That also can bring us to another idea:

Are you thinking ahead with your first 2 characters, how you want to level them and what gaps you are opening on the party?

A couple of other helpful tips that people don't know in the beginning (that #LoverIan didn't mention)



1. Use the order of operations to your advantage:

After opening a door there is a distinct order of operations. First you get your resources. Then the game decides whether monsters will spawn in rooms. So after you get your resources you can pause the game and redistribute which rooms are lit to optimize where monsters will spawn and maximizing resource generation. The best part is your operators will not lose operate for this.



2. Positioning is key:

Look at how your heroes/modules are positioned (if you have a kill room). Some of your modules will naturally have more hp (ex: seablasters have more hp than neurostuns) and can take a larger amount of damage before exploding. Give yourself the max amount of time. Also if you have a hero with a taunt item. Position them in the back of the room away from as many modules as you can (if its a large room its possible that they can get far enough away from modules that your modules will not take damage from aoe). By the time monsters reach your taunting person if you have a setup with 2x neurostuns they should be significantly weaker if not dead.



3. If times are dire "JUST DANCE"!

Get a slow character and learn the art of room jumping. Some people don't like this strat as they say you are using the game mechanics against it's true intent, but if times are really dire and you need an Ace in the hole this can provide a much needed safety boost. Room jumping will save you from:

a.)low food situations and unable to heal

b.)silic zoners killing all your modules (they will prioritize people over modules)

c.)needing to delay monsters until more heroes arrive

d.)etc.

Link to show what Room Jumping is: http://www.twitch.tv/devv13/v/11926674



4. Identify your favorite strats for the different character layouts:

You can choose your first 2 characters, but its RNG on the remaining. Make sure you always read the characters passives and actives so you know what type of hero they are (Opener/Carrier, Operator, DPS, Support, Tank). If the game gives you 2xOperators switch to a strat that heavily favors tower defense. Have a plan/strat on how to win this way. Prioritize modules that help this strat (offensive modules). If the next 2 character are heavy tanking or dps related character have a strat for this. Do you change your minor module research to more defensive turrets? It's trial and error, but come up with strats that work for you and execute based upon that.



5. Don't pick Deena

I'm just kidding with this one. Its a large inside joke with people that know me. But in all seriousness some characters just don't mesh with your playstyle. If you find these character maybe pick them up to get your party up to 4 people, but don't level them (don't waste the food). Simply use them as a placeholder to prevent monster spawns or if they have operate level them to the minimum level and then look to replace them later.



6. OP items

If you see Aftershave pick it up. It directly counters Chimer Keepers (guys that grow bigger and bigger and do aoe but never leave the room) and Rhino's. If you see a taunting item (for the reasons above) look to pick it up.



7. Dust vendors are Life Saving

Use your shop to protect dust vendors if you can. Then when running the crystal to the exit buy out all the expensive items from this vendor (remember you can only carry 4). Why the most expensive? You can sell these items on the next floor if you find a dust vendor to light up 1,2,3,4,5 or more free rooms. After selling them you can re-buy them when running the crystal (rinse repeat). Don't sell critical items for example if you have a speed item your keeping in you inventory only for when you are running the crystal. There is always a chance that the merchant will die (unless really well protected).



I'm up to 9 wins in a row on Easy. Before that I got up to I think 17 while picking random chars.

Nasarog wrote:
Easy? almost every time. Normal? never.

What is normal mode? Just have easy and too easy.



BTW I almost always beat the game on easy, never level my heros beyond lvl 15 (not on purpose), and beat infirmary (Golgy, Elisse, Roseta, and Hikensha, the first 3 can use 2 device and its really good for infirmary) and armory pod (with the TF2 team) at first.

looks like after 200 hours of learning I can frequently beat easy .. not sure about exact % .. beating very easy about 100% of the attempts ..