[Orcs must Die!] Are you killing orcs? You should be killing orcs.

Wyvern

The Dude With Herpes wrote:

Hmmm..how would you say grinders compare to a slow trapped swinging hammer? Granted, half the maps don't have hallways that the hammer is viable, but a row of three hammers, followed by a row of brimstone, at least on War Mage, will kill literally everything.

Swinging mace traps are still the be-all end-all of total trap devastation, but you need close to a 5,000 point investment (for two of them plus tar) before you get anything at all resembling consistent damage out of them. You often don't have that, especially when you're trying to cover multiple entrances. With grinder/pusher combos as your base, you can start fairly cheap and scale it up gradually as you get the cash, adding more layers of grinders and maybe a few pounders here and there (I know I was talking smack about pounders earlier in the thread, but it turns out that they actually work great as a low-cost supplement to wall traps). I feel like you also get a lot more 4 and 5 point combos out of grinders than you do with maces, which is a big plus if you're going for score rather than security.

Free Giraffe Rides!!!

Pounders are cool for a last line of defense - the mace might not connect on a straggler running through, but the pounder certainly will.

bamjo

I am a big fan of barricades, even at their current price. Once you have a decent layout (think the rope line at Six Flags), you can lay down alternating floor traps, plant archers at the end, and have 3-4x combos all day, or 4-5x with fire arrows. The trick is to get different trap types down fast to get the combos rolling asap. This is for point farming on War Mage btw. On nightmare I've found I rely more on spells than traps anyway, as there isn't the time or the starting cash to get fancy with the trap layout.

Tallweirdo

The Dude With Herpes wrote:

I never found a single use for barrels.

I haven't really experimented with them much but you can place barrels on top of other floor traps like a coinforge or in the middle of a bunch of tar traps. I don't know if it is enough to make them worthwhile but they could be used as an addition to one of your existing choke points. Just be careful because stray arrows from your archers (and maybe the arrow traps and autoballista) will set them off.

Wyvern

Enemy archers can blow them up too, which is often a problem. In theory, 200 points for the amount of damage they do can easily be worthwhile in an emergency, but you rarely have the time, space, or positioning to set up a perfect explosion when under that kind of pressure. You can come relatively close with the wind belt, I guess, since it gives you two different ways to throw it, but it's still anything but easy. And using that mana on a fireball or lightning bolt is probably going to be more practical anyway.

joshgotro

joshgotro wrote:

Having difficulty with Lunchbreak on War Mage.

Edit: Feel worthless. I'll get it eventually.

Well. I went back to Tar Trap/Guardian Archers. Added in Lightning Cloud because holyshit is that broken.

I have a feeling the rest of War Mage, excluding the endgame, is going to be easy now.

joshgotro

Yeah. Lightning Cloud is fucking broken.

The Dude With Herpes

Yeah I'm not entirely sure how I didn't figure that out till Finale.

joshgotro

The Dude With Herpes wrote:

Yeah I'm not entirely sure how I didn't figure that out till Finale.

Just played The Stream. Nothing made it out of the middle doorway and nothing got past the first corner from the initial entrance.

joshgotro

Mushroom Trap. It turns one enemy to your side. Is this until there are no enemies left or is it time based?

Edit: nevermind. The turned enemy just defends where it was turned. I guess watching a Fire Ogre kill another Fire Ogre would be fun.

Morblitz

I completed the finale in an amusing way in war Mage mode. I had forgotten to get tar or something, but since I was fairly rolling in money near the end (despite a few orcs getting into the rift) so I decided to put spore tiles all over the god damned rift room. Then when it came to the final wave, all the ogres got mind controlled and the level ended. It was weird doing the victory dance surrounded by ogre puppets that were just trying to kill me moments before.

The Dude With Herpes

Yeah there's only 4 big ogres in the very last wave on Finale. If you have that many credits just drop the spores on them. The armored Ogre/Orc is the toughest of the bunches to deal with anyway. One can take on 4 paladins no problem, even on war mage.

I think I'll be relying on that thing a lot if/when I get around to doing the Nightmare run.

joshgotro

Barricade is definitely one of my favorite traps after running through most of Act 2 and Act 3 on War Mage. Until Stairs of Doom.

You can't force the enemies to one set of stairs.

Edit: I had at least two dreams about OMD last night.

Free Giraffe Rides!!!

Does anyone find the Elemental Weaver better than the other two?

Has anyone found a use for the Flame Bracers that lightning or ice can't do better?

joshgotro

Free Giraffe Rides!!! wrote:

Does anyone find the Elemental Weaver better than the other two?

Has anyone found a use for the Flame Bracers that lightning or ice can't do better?

I use Steel Weaver exclusively. Turns Guardians into ridiculously strong allies.

On another note. Stairs of Doom on War Mage. I stopped trying to stop the orcs before they get to the stairs. Walled up the first landing on both sides with tar traps, three swinging maces, the walls lined with arrow traps, and a guardian on the landing and six archers at the top of the stairs.

Nothing made it past the first landing. Frost and Fire Ogres getting downed in seconds.

Now on to Finale.

Free Giraffe Rides!!!

I found Steel and Knowledge both really good - Steel is better for high scores (flame archers are basically a requirement for good combos), but Knowledge gets you off to a much stronger start, and the talents are all extremely useful.

Elemental, though - that bottom-tree talent takes a ridiculous investment, and the tree is neither economical nor particularly good for score. I guess if you just want to go skull hunting with the wind belt, it might have a purpose. I think the mana cost reduction should apply to the spells' alt-fire as well.

Decoy

On WM, the most successful I've been with the elemental tree is on 2 door maps (or one with a late attacking 3rd door) where I can basically lock one door down myself without traps and build up the other door to be as self sufficient as possible. Other than that, I find the boost to guardians pretty nice.

slugabed

I don't understand the love for lightning cloud. I just tried it out and it doesn't seem to kill as fast as the flame wall.

However, the main chain lightning spell is pretty cool.

sPider817

I'm not sure if this has been posted, I found what looks like a pretty decent guide.
http://www.xblafans.com/orcs-must-die-complete-guide-27403.html
This game has been a blast so far. After the abuse I just suffered that was Space Marine, it's nice to slaughter greenskins by the thousands.

Decoy

Nice. Thanks, spider. It'd be nice to compare his methods with mine and get some tips for the many that are still eluding me.

dinoarus

Elemental weaver is great. The increased force for wind belt lets you shove them off a ledge in their spawn before they get through the door, and the last talent lets you hold off an infinite number of orcs without any traps.

The cash bonus from knowledge is decent, using fire on a coinforge gives even more.

Mugaaz

Barricades are way better than people give credit for, it's just not obvious. The best time for them are on maps with multiple nexus/doors when you can force all enemies down a single path to create a single super chokepoint.
You can also use them as trip points with a pusher where orcs will tumble over multiple on a 3 lane row with an edge. You can also save money with barricades by not using them in every slot. Once you choke a point you don't need to barricade all the way down, just at the end to force the orcs to say in a straight line (most of the time). Or you can use an L shape with pushers on 3 width platforms which will cause the orc to circle around back if he doesnt make it all the way into the lava pool.

Mugaaz

Really impressed by how many valid strategies there are for multiple levels in this.

Bolthorn

Glad I saw this thread as I was thinking about cluttering up the Steam thread with talk of the game. I haven't been able to play as much as I'd like to, but it's great for when I have short bursts of time and I can play a level or two. If anyone feels like having someone else to compare scores to, feel free to add me on steam. I would actually like to see how I'm stacking up so far. I believe I just completed the first and second map for Chapter 2.

Someone earlier mentioned multiplayer and I think some form of co-op could be a lot of fun. Either a double door map where you can protect one and your friend the other and run back and forth if someone gets overwhelmed. Or four doors.

Minor achievement name spoiler.

Spoiler:

Also, the SG-1 achievement made me giggle when I got it.

Wren

what the heck is with the game auto-selecting traps for me when I'm not pushing the corresponding buttons? trying to shoot guys with the crossbow then all of a sudden I've got a barricade selected for building. also kind of annoying the mouse scroll wheel will only select weapons and spells and not go through traps as well

barricades are great for making enemies go through a snake shaped path full of tar traps, poisoned spikes and various wall traps. not to mention bunching them up in huge numbers for easy fireballs. not every map gives you the cash for this though

Fencingsax

Wren wrote:

what the heck is with the game auto-selecting traps for me when I'm not pushing the corresponding buttons? trying to shoot guys with the crossbow then all of a sudden I've got a barricade selected for building. also kind of annoying the mouse scroll wheel will only select weapons and spells and not go through traps as well

barricades are great for making enemies go through a snake shaped path full of tar traps, poisoned spikes and various wall traps. not to mention bunching them up in huge numbers for easy fireballs. not every map gives you the cash for this though

In the demo at least, the mouse wheel will scroll through the category of whatever you have selected. So if it's a trap, it'll cycle through the traps. If it's a weapon or spell, it'll cycle through those.

Morblitz

I encountered some kind of bug, it only happens sometimes, but when it does, it's constant and annoying. When the bug has been triggered (I don't know how), and you sprint, if you let go of the shift key but continue to hold a direction, you will switch to a random trap. If you let go of directional key first, nothing happens. This gets harder and harder to do the more frantically you are running around.

Thankfully I havn't encountered it in a while because it is incredibly frustrating. I've lost many a rift point because instead of shooting that kobold as soon as I stop sprinting, I've placed some tar behind him.

The Dude With Herpes

Do you know if it is related to the steam overlay at all? There's several games I can think of that sometimes get dicked up controls sometimes after exiting the overlay. Usually reopening it and going back to the game fixes whatever the issue was. Other times...(the witcher) I have to reload the game entirely.

Wren

sounds like the problem I have and it happens a lot, I havent used the steam overlay in the game once playing this either

sPider817

I have a problem: I'm addicted to flip traps. Orcs made it past my tar and archers? Flip them back into their spawn. What? They made it past those? Force push them and set up another row of flip traps. I had a flame ogre run into a dual wall spike trap, get flipped back onto another flip trap, back into the tar at the spawn. This game is the crack my sadistic side needed.

Decoy

sPider817 wrote:

I have a problem: I'm addicted to flip traps. Orcs made it past my tar and archers? Flip them back into their spawn. What? They made it past those? Force push them and set up another row of flip traps. I had a flame ogre run into a dual wall spike trap, get flipped back onto another flip trap, back into the tar at the spawn. This game is the crack my sadistic side needed.

Hah. I like setting them up at the top of stairs for increased hang time.

Also, I'd really appreciate being able to set traps on stairs. Like, for reals.

Edit: Even if they are "stair specific" traps. Or hell, put a 1 time use lever at the top of each longer stairwell that turns the it into a slide! I could live with that.

Edit: Also, I'd really like to be able to repurchase rolling spiked logs, chandeliers, and lava/acid pots. That'd be nice as well.

Lochiel

I have discovered the glory that is paladins stopping the hoards right in the middle of a swinging mace. 30+ kill streak in a single swing. Now every map is a hunt to find places I can replicate the same setup. I've been replaying levels with new traps and strategies. I am loving this game.

I'd like to see some continuous & low damage traps. Mostly to help build combos, but also b/c I hate it when kobolds slip through while a trap is resetting.

Bear is Driving

Lochiel wrote:

I have discovered the glory that is paladins stopping the hoards right in the middle of a swinging mace. 30+ kill streak in a single swing. Now every map is a hunt to find places I can replicate the same setup. I've been replaying levels with new traps and strategies. I am loving this game.

I just tried something like this on The Corner just to see what would happen. I put grinders on each side for giggles and now I have the 235th best score so thank you for that. I too am going to hunt for places to do silly things like this.

My friends leader board is pretty empty because I only know a few people playing this game, dudes should feel free to add me if they want a little friendly competition. My steam profile is in my sig and also here.

Vi Monks

sPider817 wrote:

Edit: Also, I'd really like to be able to repurchase rolling spiked logs, chandeliers, and lava/acid pots. That'd be nice as well.

Acid and lava pots respawn on their own pretty quickly.

joshgotro

Can't beat the Finale on War Mage. Going to try that Paladin in front of the Swinging Mace strategy. Sounds delicious.

Decoy

Vi Monks wrote:

sPider817 wrote:

Edit: Also, I'd really like to be able to repurchase rolling spiked logs, chandeliers, and lava/acid pots. That'd be nice as well.

Acid and lava pots respawn on their own pretty quickly.

Well balls. Shows how much I pay attention. Thanks man.

Vi Monks

Decoy wrote:

Vi Monks wrote:

sPider817 wrote:

Edit: Also, I'd really like to be able to repurchase rolling spiked logs, chandeliers, and lava/acid pots. That'd be nice as well.

Acid and lava pots respawn on their own pretty quickly.

Well balls. Shows how much I pay attention. Thanks man.

Yeah, it makes some levels much easier.

joshgotro wrote:

Can't beat the Finale on War Mage. Going to try that Paladin in front of the Swinging Mace strategy. Sounds delicious.

Swinging mace + tar traps + archers works really well too. You can also get away with using barricades to direct the orcs in a giant loop around the whole stage, leaving only one hallway open. It means you have to handle the first few waves without traps, but it's not too difficult.

joshgotro

Vi Monks wrote:

Decoy wrote:

Vi Monks wrote:

sPider817 wrote:

Edit: Also, I'd really like to be able to repurchase rolling spiked logs, chandeliers, and lava/acid pots. That'd be nice as well.

Acid and lava pots respawn on their own pretty quickly.

Well balls. Shows how much I pay attention. Thanks man.

Yeah, it makes some levels much easier.

joshgotro wrote:

Can't beat the Finale on War Mage. Going to try that Paladin in front of the Swinging Mace strategy. Sounds delicious.

Swinging mace + tar traps + archers works really well too. You can also get away with using barricades to direct the orcs in a giant loop around the whole stage, leaving only one hallway open. It means you have to handle the first few waves without traps, but it's not too difficult.

I tried the barricade thing. Sappers go kamikaze on them. Every time.

Vi Monks

joshgotro wrote:

Vi Monks wrote:

Decoy wrote:

Vi Monks wrote:

sPider817 wrote:

Edit: Also, I'd really like to be able to repurchase rolling spiked logs, chandeliers, and lava/acid pots. That'd be nice as well.

Acid and lava pots respawn on their own pretty quickly.

Well balls. Shows how much I pay attention. Thanks man.

Yeah, it makes some levels much easier.

joshgotro wrote:

Can't beat the Finale on War Mage. Going to try that Paladin in front of the Swinging Mace strategy. Sounds delicious.

Swinging mace + tar traps + archers works really well too. You can also get away with using barricades to direct the orcs in a giant loop around the whole stage, leaving only one hallway open. It means you have to handle the first few waves without traps, but it's not too difficult.

I tried the barricade thing. Sappers go kamikaze on them. Every time.

Oh yeah, forgot about those. They made it tricky, but if you keep some money in reserve to replace the barricades as soon as they're blown up, it's manageable. Probably not the most efficient strategy, but it got me through war mage. Still haven't gotten around to 5-skulling it though, nor doing it on insanity.

Wren

Decoy wrote:

sPider817 wrote:

I have a problem: I'm addicted to flip traps. Orcs made it past my tar and archers? Flip them back into their spawn. What? They made it past those? Force push them and set up another row of flip traps. I had a flame ogre run into a dual wall spike trap, get flipped back onto another flip trap, back into the tar at the spawn. This game is the crack my sadistic side needed.

Hah. I like setting them up at the top of stairs for increased hang time.

Also, I'd really appreciate being able to set traps on stairs. Like, for reals.

Edit: Even if they are "stair specific" traps. Or hell, put a 1 time use lever at the top of each longer stairwell that turns the it into a slide! I could live with that.

Edit: Also, I'd really like to be able to repurchase rolling spiked logs, chandeliers, and lava/acid pots. That'd be nice as well.

lazy cats for stairs, causes orcs to trip over them and fall down the stairs