Ok, I take everything back about having fun and being challenged in this game...
...I've poured hundreds of millions into my gear now. A ranger with +572 health which gives 30942 hit points on NMHC, and 66, 50, 45, 46 in resists... yet, I die INSTANTLY when I get hit by a trap or certain towers on Challenge: Assault.
What the flying fuck?
The assault map from the campaign or the assault map from the lost eternia shards?
If you've poured hundreds of millions into your gear, you should have 90% physical resist in NM mode.
How is that possible when NM removes 30%?
Heard the proposition that RIAA and MPAA should join forces and form "Music And Film Industry Association"?
Ok, I take everything back about having fun and being challenged in this game...
...I've poured hundreds of millions into my gear now. A ranger with +572 health which gives 30942 hit points on NMHC, and 66, 50, 45, 46 in resists... yet, I die INSTANTLY when I get hit by a trap or certain towers on Challenge: Assault.
What the flying fuck?
The assault map from the campaign or the assault map from the lost eternia shards?
If you've poured hundreds of millions into your gear, you should have 90% physical resist in NM mode.
How is that possible when NM removes 30%?
Get 30% more outside. Sure, it won't SHOW UP past 90, but it will in nightmare.
Ok, I take everything back about having fun and being challenged in this game...
...I've poured hundreds of millions into my gear now. A ranger with +572 health which gives 30942 hit points on NMHC, and 66, 50, 45, 46 in resists... yet, I die INSTANTLY when I get hit by a trap or certain towers on Challenge: Assault.
What the flying fuck?
The assault map from the campaign or the assault map from the lost eternia shards?
If you've poured hundreds of millions into your gear, you should have 90% physical resist in NM mode.
How is that possible when NM removes 30%?
Get 30% more outside. Sure, it won't SHOW UP past 90, but it will in nightmare.
You can level it through the cap and It will increase your resistance in NM mode.
Sorry, but I don't understand you. I have 90% in normal mode. 60% in NMHC... I gave you the NMHC stats earlier.
The Tavern will display up to 90%, but the number goes higher than that. WAY higher. You need 41% (I think) on every armor piece (with a Mythical Set Bonus) to get 90% resistance in Nightmare.
Ah, now I get it... unfortunately, I'm broke now. I'll leave my shop open over night and see if I can try again tomorrow...
...also, I might have screwed myself over, because above 90%, the resistance upgrade doesn't show up at every level, and I've almost maxed my armors (on DPS).
Heard the proposition that RIAA and MPAA should join forces and form "Music And Film Industry Association"?
Ah, now I get it... unfortunately, I'm broke now. I'll leave my shop open over night and see if I can try again tomorrow...
...also, I might have screwed myself over, because above 90%, the resistance upgrade doesn't show up at every level, and I've almost maxed my armors (on DPS).
Don't worry, there are always more armors. Also, it isn't really essential that you finish Challenge: Assault on Nightmare more than once (which you've already done with Fonz and I, I think). Blasticus is decent, but it's hardly the endgame awesome ranged weapon. I'd much rather have a Retribution (shoots 4 spiders in a spread, which makes it a better crowd control weapon and ogre killer, even at 7 ROF) or Soul Focuser (2 less ROF than Blasticus, but it shoots through walls and pierces through multiple enemies, which more than makes up for it), and both of those are relatively easy to get.
A Crystal Tracker (or similar weapon) with maxed out Projectile Speed works better on Assaults. The NM nerf prevents it from shooting too far, but the area effect still applies in a huge radius, allowing you to hit targets much further than the usual short distance of ranged weapons on Assault maps.
I still have a really hard time with the NMHC Assualt pack. The movement speed debuff means you have to make 0 mistakes in order to complete it on itme.
Well, I'm finally gonna get myself the achievement for completing wave 20 of survival. Doing it solo, cause this is boring as shit, and I don't want to drag anyone else into it.
Competitive Defending? That actually seems like a really cool idea. Also seems like it could potentially be used as a way to make some real cooperative defending.
Imagine a coop mode where a map is divided into four sections. Each player is randomly assigned to defend one of these sections, each one of which has mob spawn gates, its own DU allotment for that player to use, and one crystal to defend. Although the sections are physically linked by pathways, a player cannot leave their assigned section - they are blocked by a barrier like in Karathiki.
If a player's crystal is destroyed, the game doesn't end for everyone, but the mobs from the defeated player's section can now take the aforementioned pathways to put more pressure on the other players, making their job harder. The goal is to last a predetermined number of waves, similar to Mass Effect 3, after which the players are rewarded in some way (straight mana? its own unique currency? the option to choose between those or to choose to receive a random high-level item?).
Ah, now I get it... unfortunately, I'm broke now. I'll leave my shop open over night and see if I can try again tomorrow...
...also, I might have screwed myself over, because above 90%, the resistance upgrade doesn't show up at every level, and I've almost maxed my armors (on DPS).
Don't worry, there are always more armors. Also, it isn't really essential that you finish Challenge: Assault on Nightmare more than once (which you've already done with Fonz and I, I think). Blasticus is decent, but it's hardly the endgame awesome ranged weapon. I'd much rather have a Retribution (shoots 4 spiders in a spread, which makes it a better crowd control weapon and ogre killer, even at 7 ROF) or Soul Focuser (2 less ROF than Blasticus, but it shoots through walls and pierces through multiple enemies, which more than makes up for it), and both of those are relatively easy to get.
A Crystal Tracker (or similar weapon) with maxed out Projectile Speed works better on Assaults. The NM nerf prevents it from shooting too far, but the area effect still applies in a huge radius, allowing you to hit targets much further than the usual short distance of ranged weapons on Assault maps.
As always, thanks for the tips!
(As you might have guessed, I wanted to see if I could harvest more Blasticus basically, because it's a fun weapon to go with my Outlander skin... but those other weapons you mentioned also seem to require me to be able to handle NMHC challenges... but perhaps they're easier. I'll try the next time I have time to spare.)
Heard the proposition that RIAA and MPAA should join forces and form "Music And Film Industry Association"?
Ah, now I get it... unfortunately, I'm broke now. I'll leave my shop open over night and see if I can try again tomorrow...
...also, I might have screwed myself over, because above 90%, the resistance upgrade doesn't show up at every level, and I've almost maxed my armors (on DPS).
Don't worry, there are always more armors. Also, it isn't really essential that you finish Challenge: Assault on Nightmare more than once (which you've already done with Fonz and I, I think). Blasticus is decent, but it's hardly the endgame awesome ranged weapon. I'd much rather have a Retribution (shoots 4 spiders in a spread, which makes it a better crowd control weapon and ogre killer, even at 7 ROF) or Soul Focuser (2 less ROF than Blasticus, but it shoots through walls and pierces through multiple enemies, which more than makes up for it), and both of those are relatively easy to get.
A Crystal Tracker (or similar weapon) with maxed out Projectile Speed works better on Assaults. The NM nerf prevents it from shooting too far, but the area effect still applies in a huge radius, allowing you to hit targets much further than the usual short distance of ranged weapons on Assault maps.
As always, thanks for the tips!
(As you might have guessed, I wanted to see if I could harvest more Blasticus basically, because it's a fun weapon to go with my Outlander skin... but those other weapons you mentioned also seem to require me to be able to handle NMHC challenges... but perhaps they're easier. I'll try the next time I have time to spare.)
Mythical Retributions (level 74 req) can be earned from Medium to Nightmare difficulties on Assault Pack map 1. I've even received them from Easy (with crappy stats). It's SO difficult to get Godly Retributions (the level 60 req version) from it, except for Easy difficulty. Obviously, the higher the difficulty, the more upgrades you get, but you can get 160ish upgrades from Insane HC Assault 1, if you are willing to farm a bit.
Soul Focuser requires you to beat Alchemy Labs NM HC repeatedly. If you have a build to solo this, then it's not too bad, since the waves are short and the Demon Lord is the easiest boss.
* Jetpack Bounty Hunter model will be the reward for Transcendent Survivalist (or whatever that ridiculous cheevo is).
Man, fuck you trendy. I gave you money for that skin, you could at least put the unlock version on something not fucking ridiculous and impossible for people with a life.
* Jetpack Bounty Hunter model will be the reward for Transcendent Survivalist (or whatever that ridiculous cheevo is).
Man, fuck you trendy. I gave you money for that skin, you could at least put the unlock version on something not fucking ridiculous and impossible for people with a life.
Isn't, either grind like you have no life, or buy it using micro transactions, pretty much the norm when it comes to shit like that these days?
I remember when gaming was fun and challenging, not another job.......
Heard the proposition that RIAA and MPAA should join forces and form "Music And Film Industry Association"?
* Jetpack Bounty Hunter model will be the reward for Transcendent Survivalist (or whatever that ridiculous cheevo is).
Man, fuck you trendy. I gave you money for that skin, you could at least put the unlock version on something not fucking ridiculous and impossible for people with a life.
The unlock for the regular Bounty Hunter model is from completing City in the Cliffs (not sure what difficulty, but I think Medium should suffice). You don't even have to pay money for it, if you find some dude to host it for you.
The jetpack Bounty Hunter is a different model, and it is analogous to the Outlander costume, which has a similarly high-level unlock (beat all campaign levels on NM HC). It gives you a special ability (the jetpack) that no other skin has other than the Outlander, and since the previous jetpack model required a high-level cheevo, it seems fair that the other jetpack costume requires a high-level cheevo. Note that Survival is substantially easier and less time consuming (although still a huge chunk of time) now that you can save your wave. If they allow Pure Strategy to count for this achievement, then it's easier than it looks, albeit still fairly time consuming.
I remember when gaming was fun and challenging, not another job.......
Gaming as a whole still is fun and challenging. No one is pointing a gun to your head and forcing you to take on the highest difficulty levels of all games (although some malicious folks may donate to charity auctions to force a PA moderator to play through all of a certain Hitman game...). If you stop having fun with a game, then you should stop playing. I realize this is the day and age where people maintain WoW subscriptions even though they stopped having fun ages ago. And people are shelling out real cash for Angry Birds bling on the iStore. But still, no one says you have to do everything in all games. Hell, you can see all that is worth seeing in Dungeon Defenders by just running all of the campaigns and challenges at Medium. And this is a wholly acceptable (and fun!) way to play the game.
If you want more, though, there are quite a few of us who will be more than happy to help you on your journey to Companion Cubes, Outlander costumes, etc.
I remember when gaming was fun and challenging, not another job.......
Gaming as a whole still is fun and challenging. No one is pointing a gun to your head and forcing you to take on the highest difficulty levels of all games (although some malicious folks may donate to charity auctions to force a PA moderator to play through all of a certain Hitman game...). If you stop having fun with a game, then you should stop playing. I realize this is the day and age where people maintain WoW subscriptions even though they stopped having fun ages ago. And people are shelling out real cash for Angry Birds bling on the iStore. But still, no one says you have to do everything in all games. Hell, you can see all that is worth seeing in Dungeon Defenders by just running all of the campaigns and challenges at Medium. And this is a wholly acceptable (and fun!) way to play the game.
If you want more, though, there are quite a few of us who will be more than happy to help you on your journey to Companion Cubes, Outlander costumes, etc.
Sure, and I appreciate that. But either I'm missing something (which may very well be the case), or, despite me getting a lot of help from you (and a huge boost from eggs), it seems that I have a wall in front of me which I need to grind down with a toothpick in order to succeed with that content, while at the same time, the rest of the content is a walk in the park.
EDIT: Oh, and please do note my complete reversal in opinions from a few pages ago, where the Nightmare mode of Endless Spires initially stumped me, but I saw a glimpse of light, and slowly I was able to tweak my build, and get stronger at the same time, so in a dozen or so tries, I actually managed to beat it! That wasn't a wall to me, that was just uphill and I could see the goal every step of the way.
EDIT 2: I guess... a suggestion would be for Trendy to put one of these "thumbs" icons on levels... showing which you could easily handle, which you might find challening, and which are out of your league... but then again, that icon doesn't work as a very good indicator on items as it is now...
eobet on
Heard the proposition that RIAA and MPAA should join forces and form "Music And Film Industry Association"?
A lot of you are at that really weird hump in the game, well the second one really. "Okay I can kinda do nightmare now where the hell do I get gear?!"
Uber Monster Fest is a good start, as is the halloween event if you have that. You probably won't beat them, in fact don't expect to, but you'll get gear good enough. UMF and its ilk are really easier than they look on NMHC you just need a build for them. They also give lots of money so player shops are another good bet for gear.
NMHC survival works too but it's more of a pain in the ass and takes a long time, but if you can run NMHC Misty that's something to try since mobs don't jump up that much in number. It's a slow, slow crawl out of the breaking 1000 to 1500+ (I'm not even really there yet) but it's doable and easier than you'd think.
* Jetpack Bounty Hunter model will be the reward for Transcendent Survivalist (or whatever that ridiculous cheevo is).
Man, fuck you trendy. I gave you money for that skin, you could at least put the unlock version on something not fucking ridiculous and impossible for people with a life.
The unlock for the regular Bounty Hunter model is from completing City in the Cliffs (not sure what difficulty, but I think Medium should suffice). You don't even have to pay money for it, if you find some dude to host it for you.
The jetpack Bounty Hunter is a different model, and it is analogous to the Outlander costume, which has a similarly high-level unlock (beat all campaign levels on NM HC). It gives you a special ability (the jetpack) that no other skin has other than the Outlander, and since the previous jetpack model required a high-level cheevo, it seems fair that the other jetpack costume requires a high-level cheevo. Note that Survival is substantially easier and less time consuming (although still a huge chunk of time) now that you can save your wave. If they allow Pure Strategy to count for this achievement, then it's easier than it looks, albeit still fairly time consuming.
I remember when gaming was fun and challenging, not another job.......
Gaming as a whole still is fun and challenging. No one is pointing a gun to your head and forcing you to take on the highest difficulty levels of all games (although some malicious folks may donate to charity auctions to force a PA moderator to play through all of a certain Hitman game...). If you stop having fun with a game, then you should stop playing. I realize this is the day and age where people maintain WoW subscriptions even though they stopped having fun ages ago. And people are shelling out real cash for Angry Birds bling on the iStore. But still, no one says you have to do everything in all games. Hell, you can see all that is worth seeing in Dungeon Defenders by just running all of the campaigns and challenges at Medium. And this is a wholly acceptable (and fun!) way to play the game.
If you want more, though, there are quite a few of us who will be more than happy to help you on your journey to Companion Cubes, Outlander costumes, etc.
My main concern is the time investment. I remember insane survival taking like 5 hours to get to wave 15. How long does it take to get to 30? 35? for transcendent on nightmare?
There is no wave 30 just yet in Survival Campaign, when that patch hits hopefully the mob reduction will be in as has been rumored, would bring the levels around Misty Mires.
Huh, when'd they change it so that not having the hero who summoned defenses out debuffs their towers? That's pretty awesome.
It's been that way since patch 7.11 (November 23, 2011):
* PvE: Active (non-retired) Heroes boost boost the Damage output of towers they specifically summoned by 33% (indicated via a Hero Face Icon on the tower's floating HUD)
A lot of you are at that really weird hump in the game, well the second one really. "Okay I can kinda do nightmare now where the hell do I get gear?!"
Uber Monster Fest is a good start, as is the halloween event if you have that. You probably won't beat them, in fact don't expect to, but you'll get gear good enough. UMF and its ilk are really easier than they look on NMHC you just need a build for them. They also give lots of money so player shops are another good bet for gear.
NMHC survival works too but it's more of a pain in the ass and takes a long time, but if you can run NMHC Misty that's something to try since mobs don't jump up that much in number. It's a slow, slow crawl out of the breaking 1000 to 1500+ (I'm not even really there yet) but it's doable and easier than you'd think.
Yeah, UMF is even worse of a hump than Spires was at first. I mean, I'm an App and when three Ogres start to pound on your little walls, it's just a steamroll.
I'll try Misty, but it seems to me right now that the only viable strategy for NMHC is a Squire with a lot of tower health...
Heard the proposition that RIAA and MPAA should join forces and form "Music And Film Industry Association"?
A lot of you are at that really weird hump in the game, well the second one really. "Okay I can kinda do nightmare now where the hell do I get gear?!"
Uber Monster Fest is a good start, as is the halloween event if you have that. You probably won't beat them, in fact don't expect to, but you'll get gear good enough. UMF and its ilk are really easier than they look on NMHC you just need a build for them. They also give lots of money so player shops are another good bet for gear.
NMHC survival works too but it's more of a pain in the ass and takes a long time, but if you can run NMHC Misty that's something to try since mobs don't jump up that much in number. It's a slow, slow crawl out of the breaking 1000 to 1500+ (I'm not even really there yet) but it's doable and easier than you'd think.
Yeah, UMF is even worse of a hump than Spires was at first. I mean, I'm an App and when three Ogres start to pound on your little walls, it's just a steamroll.
I'll try Misty, but it seems to me right now that the only viable strategy for NMHC is a Squire with a lot of tower attack...
Fixed that for you. People mostly use Squires for Harpoons nowadays post-EV (although reversed Spikes are still better at containing Ogres), and you don't need much tower health to put up reversed Spike Blockades to stop Ogres. Apps are still viable, though (especially with Buff Beams). Most of my NM HC Campaign builds are App-centric, with only the Summit requiring me to switch to a Squire (and mostly because I need the health against the Boss). I like using a Squire in the Throne Room as well, mostly because I can just copy/paste my Chicken build (which I have memorized).
This particular "hump" is no different than the NM Endless Spires one. I spend quite a bit of time on each NM stage, slowly perfecting builds, frequently failing, and making adjustments based on how the build runs (don't ask me about the Warping Core). It's not grinding for gear; it's learning how to effectively place your towers and finding where the mistakes are. It's also spending time practicing your initial build runs so that you can accomplish the maximum amount of building in the shortest amount of time. It's helpful to look at other people's builds (given the limited build timer), but ultimately, you're going to be learning the maps all over again. It takes insight and knowledge (which you can thankfully steal from other people), but it also takes grit (which can only come from you).
If you are having problems with either App or Squire against Ogres in UMF, double-layer your walls (have a backup wall). Most people used to simply lay down a bunch of Monk Auras and Traps in UMF and called it a day. UMF is a chance for your Hero spec characters to shine. I'd personally recommend Oasis Monster Fest for Hero spec characters first, as there are less monsters and the loot gets better faster (monsters are tougher, though). That being said, all of my UMF builds are Squire + EV, with some help from Traps or Auras. Squire towers are uniquely suited for UMF for one simple reason: UMF funnels all monsters into two chokepoints, at most. Bowling Balls can take out multiple monsters on downhill slopes or straightaways, and Harpoons can take out lines.
Your best bet for better gear is still probably NM HC Mistymire or Moraggo. You don't have to beat it. You just have to survive the first wave, which requires no higher than 400-500 in tower attack for both App and Squire. NM HC Halloween Spooktacular deserves an honorable mention, though, because there are no Djinn or Big Ogres (lots of mini-Ogres in the final wave, though), and the end reward for a lot of classes is pretty good.
I've been writing up a "How do I handle Insane/Nightmare?" document, which will hopefully be completed soon and may be helpful for some folks. There are a lot of little things (like getting a Genie, getting an App guardian, knowing the builder bonus, NM resists, etc.) that the game doesn't specifically tell you.
Here's an example of how I refine a NM HC build, with Challenge: Warping Core. When we first started doing this as a group, we were getting rocked pretty hard. The normal build that I use for Magus Quarters didn't work here. So, for some inspiration, I looked at this build: http://ddplanner.com/?l=168-169,warping-core-nightmare-solo-build
It worked alright for one or two players, but we still had problems. At three or more players, it was effectively impossible. I started to pinpoint some of the problems with it (at my particular character stats). Spiders were constantly taking out the harpoons on the lower left and lower right. The Djinn were unsummoning defenses that weren't covered by a hero. I also noticed that the Bouncers right on top of the crystal spawns on the left/right were doing very little. They killed the occasional spider and stopped arrows, but didn't do much else.
The strengths of the build include some well-placed central bouncers (which effectively eliminated all the central spider spawns) and a pair of Harpoons up front to deal with Ogres. Also, the idea that you can use a single Spike Blockade in the pits to deal with those spawns (with some Harpoon support) was a good one.
I also had a Series EV available, which could greatly increase the utility of my Harpoons. I moved the lower left/right Harpoons into the pits, to move them out of the way of the spiders while still giving them effective overwatch against Djinn. This left the pits vulnerable compared to the other spawn points (no more so than before, however), but they seemed to do okay with a single Spike and single Harpoon. I removed the side bouncers and two of the Spike Blockades. Because the Djinn from the sides are the biggest threat, I buffed those Harpoons with a buff beam. I also buffed the central two harpoons with a Buff Beam to kill the Ogres faster. I switched the central spawn bouncer on the left with a reversed Spike Blockade, since Ogres only go that route. Finally, I added some reflect beams to protect against the occasional archer.
Even after the course of tweaking this build, I had to practice it a few times to be able to build it quickly in the first round. I found that grabbing mana quickly, then building the Harpoons at each location was the best early build strategy. Also, the pits still remain the vulnerable part of this build, but spiders no longer posed a significant threat to it.
The lesson you should take away from this isn't "Oh, I need a Series EV, and it will make things better." Having a particular tool in your box is handy, but if you don't have that tool, you should work with what you have. Without buff beams, for example, you can place Gas Traps on the side and central crystals to keep the Djinn busy while they are shot with Harpoons (with the side effect of also keeping archers busy). Some of the bouncers can easily be replaced with Spike Blockades, saving you some DU and allowing you to place a couple more Harpoons (you should be able to add two more Harpoons without the buff beams, which can cover the sides). You could make a Squire-only build with something like this: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3365,challenge-warping-core-alternate
Or you can remove one of the central Harpoons and add two Gas Traps (one on each side). Or remove one of the central Harpoons and replace some of the Spike Blockades with Bouncers. You can even replace everything with App towers and Traps, using App Walls + Prox Traps to take out spiders and App towers to take out Djinn/Ogres.
Anyone trying for the contest? I am downloading the mod tools now to see if I can do what I have planned
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SmasherStarting to get dizzyRegistered Userregular
The tower debuff is really just a loss of a buff. That might sound like semantic quibbling, but it used to be there was no buff at all, and there was no reason to leave a builder in so everyone just switched to DPS characters. They added that in to make it more of a choice, which was a good move IMO.
no that's good to know, I'm still kind of new, so knowing that you still get 100% tower power is good - but you are at %130 if you stick around, I like the change.
The Fonz (Skutskut) and I just beat NM Moraggo Town. It was not on Hardcore, unfortunately, but I was getting pissed at the boss knocking me into pits (My exact quote when I unchecked Hardcore was "This isn't for progression. This is for vengeance."). Ironically, I didn't die during the boss fight that last time. We used this build of my own design (with helpful input by The Fonz) here: http://ddplanner.com/?l=3506,nm-hc-moraggo-desert-town-campaign-patch-729
Originally, we just had a Spike Blockade and a Gas Trap in the NE corner, but that proved to be the weakest point of the build, so I brought the blockade back and added an Ensnare. Also, I used two Spike Blockades in the central area, but these weren't effective at protecting the crystal from Kobolds, so The Fonz suggested a diagonal Physical Beam (which worked well). Although the central area is now the weak point of the build (the Physical Beam takes a lot of punishment), it held long enough for us to make repairs in between whatever it was we were doing. As long as we kept going back to repair that central wall, the build held up quite well. In practice, I usually place two Spike Blockades with my squire there for the first wave as a temporary measure, as there isn't much time to switch to a Series EV.
The real inspiration came purely by accident, when we noticed that a Gas Trap in the NW corridor near the NW crystal was stalling a huge clog of enemies. That clog ties up a lot of enemies, reducing the spawns in other areas, and thus making it easier to finish the subsequent waves.
The careful placement of the Harpoons at the SW crystal ended up being quite effective, more so than I expected. The Fonz suggested that I add a Harpoon to shoot south, taking out Djinn and Spiders, and I found a way to buff all 5 of the towers in that area with a single 5 DU buff beam.
We also found that you don't need to beat the campaign map on Hardcore to have access to Survival Hardcore mode. Woo!
A couple new changes in the upcoming patch look promising:
* Enemies within Strength Drain Auras lose their own Elemental Damage and their Elemental Invulnerability when within the Aura, Strength Drain Aura in-game description updated accordingly
* 10% Linear and 8% Exponential-Ramp Damage Buff to Apprentice Lightning Tower
Dwah. Strength Drains were already sort of useful (if underutilized due to DU concerns), but with this change, Darkness Traps will probably be phased out of most builds in favor of Strength Drain (which will remove element AND reduce damage). And a buff to an Apprentice Tower is sorely appreciated.
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How is that possible when NM removes 30%?
You can level it through the cap and It will increase your resistance in NM mode.
My earlier post on the subject:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/22787191#Comment_22787191
...also, I might have screwed myself over, because above 90%, the resistance upgrade doesn't show up at every level, and I've almost maxed my armors (on DPS).
A Crystal Tracker (or similar weapon) with maxed out Projectile Speed works better on Assaults. The NM nerf prevents it from shooting too far, but the area effect still applies in a huge radius, allowing you to hit targets much further than the usual short distance of ranged weapons on Assault maps.
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NEVER. AGAIN.
Competitive Defending? That actually seems like a really cool idea. Also seems like it could potentially be used as a way to make some real cooperative defending.
Imagine a coop mode where a map is divided into four sections. Each player is randomly assigned to defend one of these sections, each one of which has mob spawn gates, its own DU allotment for that player to use, and one crystal to defend. Although the sections are physically linked by pathways, a player cannot leave their assigned section - they are blocked by a barrier like in Karathiki.
If a player's crystal is destroyed, the game doesn't end for everyone, but the mobs from the defeated player's section can now take the aforementioned pathways to put more pressure on the other players, making their job harder. The goal is to last a predetermined number of waves, similar to Mass Effect 3, after which the players are rewarded in some way (straight mana? its own unique currency? the option to choose between those or to choose to receive a random high-level item?).
I think that that would be awesome.
PSN: ShogunGunshow
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As always, thanks for the tips!
(As you might have guessed, I wanted to see if I could harvest more Blasticus basically, because it's a fun weapon to go with my Outlander skin... but those other weapons you mentioned also seem to require me to be able to handle NMHC challenges... but perhaps they're easier. I'll try the next time I have time to spare.)
Soul Focuser requires you to beat Alchemy Labs NM HC repeatedly. If you have a build to solo this, then it's not too bad, since the waves are short and the Demon Lord is the easiest boss.
What do you think? Eh? EH?
Man, fuck you trendy. I gave you money for that skin, you could at least put the unlock version on something not fucking ridiculous and impossible for people with a life.
Isn't, either grind like you have no life, or buy it using micro transactions, pretty much the norm when it comes to shit like that these days?
I remember when gaming was fun and challenging, not another job.......
The jetpack Bounty Hunter is a different model, and it is analogous to the Outlander costume, which has a similarly high-level unlock (beat all campaign levels on NM HC). It gives you a special ability (the jetpack) that no other skin has other than the Outlander, and since the previous jetpack model required a high-level cheevo, it seems fair that the other jetpack costume requires a high-level cheevo. Note that Survival is substantially easier and less time consuming (although still a huge chunk of time) now that you can save your wave. If they allow Pure Strategy to count for this achievement, then it's easier than it looks, albeit still fairly time consuming.
Gaming as a whole still is fun and challenging. No one is pointing a gun to your head and forcing you to take on the highest difficulty levels of all games (although some malicious folks may donate to charity auctions to force a PA moderator to play through all of a certain Hitman game...). If you stop having fun with a game, then you should stop playing. I realize this is the day and age where people maintain WoW subscriptions even though they stopped having fun ages ago. And people are shelling out real cash for Angry Birds bling on the iStore. But still, no one says you have to do everything in all games. Hell, you can see all that is worth seeing in Dungeon Defenders by just running all of the campaigns and challenges at Medium. And this is a wholly acceptable (and fun!) way to play the game.
If you want more, though, there are quite a few of us who will be more than happy to help you on your journey to Companion Cubes, Outlander costumes, etc.
Sure, and I appreciate that. But either I'm missing something (which may very well be the case), or, despite me getting a lot of help from you (and a huge boost from eggs), it seems that I have a wall in front of me which I need to grind down with a toothpick in order to succeed with that content, while at the same time, the rest of the content is a walk in the park.
EDIT: Oh, and please do note my complete reversal in opinions from a few pages ago, where the Nightmare mode of Endless Spires initially stumped me, but I saw a glimpse of light, and slowly I was able to tweak my build, and get stronger at the same time, so in a dozen or so tries, I actually managed to beat it! That wasn't a wall to me, that was just uphill and I could see the goal every step of the way.
EDIT 2: I guess... a suggestion would be for Trendy to put one of these "thumbs" icons on levels... showing which you could easily handle, which you might find challening, and which are out of your league... but then again, that icon doesn't work as a very good indicator on items as it is now...
Uber Monster Fest is a good start, as is the halloween event if you have that. You probably won't beat them, in fact don't expect to, but you'll get gear good enough. UMF and its ilk are really easier than they look on NMHC you just need a build for them. They also give lots of money so player shops are another good bet for gear.
NMHC survival works too but it's more of a pain in the ass and takes a long time, but if you can run NMHC Misty that's something to try since mobs don't jump up that much in number. It's a slow, slow crawl out of the breaking 1000 to 1500+ (I'm not even really there yet) but it's doable and easier than you'd think.
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My main concern is the time investment. I remember insane survival taking like 5 hours to get to wave 15. How long does it take to get to 30? 35? for transcendent on nightmare?
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Like, if the person summons uber-towers for a friend then logs off (I see this happen a LOT) do the towers get debuffed too?
* PvE: Active (non-retired) Heroes boost boost the Damage output of towers they specifically summoned by 33% (indicated via a Hero Face Icon on the tower's floating HUD)
Yeah, UMF is even worse of a hump than Spires was at first. I mean, I'm an App and when three Ogres start to pound on your little walls, it's just a steamroll.
I'll try Misty, but it seems to me right now that the only viable strategy for NMHC is a Squire with a lot of tower health...
This particular "hump" is no different than the NM Endless Spires one. I spend quite a bit of time on each NM stage, slowly perfecting builds, frequently failing, and making adjustments based on how the build runs (don't ask me about the Warping Core). It's not grinding for gear; it's learning how to effectively place your towers and finding where the mistakes are. It's also spending time practicing your initial build runs so that you can accomplish the maximum amount of building in the shortest amount of time. It's helpful to look at other people's builds (given the limited build timer), but ultimately, you're going to be learning the maps all over again. It takes insight and knowledge (which you can thankfully steal from other people), but it also takes grit (which can only come from you).
If you are having problems with either App or Squire against Ogres in UMF, double-layer your walls (have a backup wall). Most people used to simply lay down a bunch of Monk Auras and Traps in UMF and called it a day. UMF is a chance for your Hero spec characters to shine. I'd personally recommend Oasis Monster Fest for Hero spec characters first, as there are less monsters and the loot gets better faster (monsters are tougher, though). That being said, all of my UMF builds are Squire + EV, with some help from Traps or Auras. Squire towers are uniquely suited for UMF for one simple reason: UMF funnels all monsters into two chokepoints, at most. Bowling Balls can take out multiple monsters on downhill slopes or straightaways, and Harpoons can take out lines.
Your best bet for better gear is still probably NM HC Mistymire or Moraggo. You don't have to beat it. You just have to survive the first wave, which requires no higher than 400-500 in tower attack for both App and Squire. NM HC Halloween Spooktacular deserves an honorable mention, though, because there are no Djinn or Big Ogres (lots of mini-Ogres in the final wave, though), and the end reward for a lot of classes is pretty good.
I've been writing up a "How do I handle Insane/Nightmare?" document, which will hopefully be completed soon and may be helpful for some folks. There are a lot of little things (like getting a Genie, getting an App guardian, knowing the builder bonus, NM resists, etc.) that the game doesn't specifically tell you.
http://ddplanner.com/?l=168-169,warping-core-nightmare-solo-build
It worked alright for one or two players, but we still had problems. At three or more players, it was effectively impossible. I started to pinpoint some of the problems with it (at my particular character stats). Spiders were constantly taking out the harpoons on the lower left and lower right. The Djinn were unsummoning defenses that weren't covered by a hero. I also noticed that the Bouncers right on top of the crystal spawns on the left/right were doing very little. They killed the occasional spider and stopped arrows, but didn't do much else.
The strengths of the build include some well-placed central bouncers (which effectively eliminated all the central spider spawns) and a pair of Harpoons up front to deal with Ogres. Also, the idea that you can use a single Spike Blockade in the pits to deal with those spawns (with some Harpoon support) was a good one.
I also had a Series EV available, which could greatly increase the utility of my Harpoons. I moved the lower left/right Harpoons into the pits, to move them out of the way of the spiders while still giving them effective overwatch against Djinn. This left the pits vulnerable compared to the other spawn points (no more so than before, however), but they seemed to do okay with a single Spike and single Harpoon. I removed the side bouncers and two of the Spike Blockades. Because the Djinn from the sides are the biggest threat, I buffed those Harpoons with a buff beam. I also buffed the central two harpoons with a Buff Beam to kill the Ogres faster. I switched the central spawn bouncer on the left with a reversed Spike Blockade, since Ogres only go that route. Finally, I added some reflect beams to protect against the occasional archer.
The end result was this build, which has effectively worked for me even with 4 players:
http://ddplanner.com/?l=2445,nm-hc-warping-core-challenge-patch-726c
Even after the course of tweaking this build, I had to practice it a few times to be able to build it quickly in the first round. I found that grabbing mana quickly, then building the Harpoons at each location was the best early build strategy. Also, the pits still remain the vulnerable part of this build, but spiders no longer posed a significant threat to it.
The lesson you should take away from this isn't "Oh, I need a Series EV, and it will make things better." Having a particular tool in your box is handy, but if you don't have that tool, you should work with what you have. Without buff beams, for example, you can place Gas Traps on the side and central crystals to keep the Djinn busy while they are shot with Harpoons (with the side effect of also keeping archers busy). Some of the bouncers can easily be replaced with Spike Blockades, saving you some DU and allowing you to place a couple more Harpoons (you should be able to add two more Harpoons without the buff beams, which can cover the sides). You could make a Squire-only build with something like this:
http://ddplanner.com/?l=3365,challenge-warping-core-alternate
Or you can remove one of the central Harpoons and add two Gas Traps (one on each side). Or remove one of the central Harpoons and replace some of the Spike Blockades with Bouncers. You can even replace everything with App towers and Traps, using App Walls + Prox Traps to take out spiders and App towers to take out Djinn/Ogres.
Speaking of pets, a Transcendent steam robot showed up in my shop. 400M for foundry, and I'm some what considering picking it up.
Its true too. His NM HC Oasis build is something I can't even get right in a Duo...
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http://ddplanner.com/?l=3506,nm-hc-moraggo-desert-town-campaign-patch-729
Originally, we just had a Spike Blockade and a Gas Trap in the NE corner, but that proved to be the weakest point of the build, so I brought the blockade back and added an Ensnare. Also, I used two Spike Blockades in the central area, but these weren't effective at protecting the crystal from Kobolds, so The Fonz suggested a diagonal Physical Beam (which worked well). Although the central area is now the weak point of the build (the Physical Beam takes a lot of punishment), it held long enough for us to make repairs in between whatever it was we were doing. As long as we kept going back to repair that central wall, the build held up quite well. In practice, I usually place two Spike Blockades with my squire there for the first wave as a temporary measure, as there isn't much time to switch to a Series EV.
The real inspiration came purely by accident, when we noticed that a Gas Trap in the NW corridor near the NW crystal was stalling a huge clog of enemies. That clog ties up a lot of enemies, reducing the spawns in other areas, and thus making it easier to finish the subsequent waves.
The careful placement of the Harpoons at the SW crystal ended up being quite effective, more so than I expected. The Fonz suggested that I add a Harpoon to shoot south, taking out Djinn and Spiders, and I found a way to buff all 5 of the towers in that area with a single 5 DU buff beam.
We also found that you don't need to beat the campaign map on Hardcore to have access to Survival Hardcore mode. Woo!
* Enemies within Strength Drain Auras lose their own Elemental Damage and their Elemental Invulnerability when within the Aura, Strength Drain Aura in-game description updated accordingly
* 10% Linear and 8% Exponential-Ramp Damage Buff to Apprentice Lightning Tower
Dwah. Strength Drains were already sort of useful (if underutilized due to DU concerns), but with this change, Darkness Traps will probably be phased out of most builds in favor of Strength Drain (which will remove element AND reduce damage). And a buff to an Apprentice Tower is sorely appreciated.
big SS's
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