So I got a gift card for my birthday and bought this game on GOG.
It's really quite fun. I've only lost one character so far (putting the torch in the red orb thing was a pretty dumb idea but I was curious).
I expect as the difficulty ramps up I will become more frustrated with it. I've gotten every location up to level 2 dungeons, and several of my heroes are at resolve level 3, which means they won't go and fight any of the bosses waiting for me there.
I understand why this mechanic exists. They don't want you to grind your overpowered heroes on boring missions to stomp easy enemies and grab loot, essentially, for free.
I guess I'm looking at the future, if my experienced heroes begin dying, and I'm only able to send out resolve level 0 heroes to the only dungeons that exist (at level 3+) aren't they going to be completely demolished? Do you, at that point, simply have to hope you get a bunch of lucky rolls that allow your characters to get some experience?
And if that's the case, why can't they just have a persistent training dungeon for low-level characters that provides absolutely shit loot (as in, no heirlooms and maybe only enough gold to cover the quest expenses, if that) so you can train characters to at least have a fighting chance when they go out for real? You wouldn't need to let them level up to whatever everything else is at, just give them a bit of experience so that giving them real missions aren't of the suicide variety.
But, as I said, I haven't hit that wall yet; I just looked around and some people have. So maybe some people are just bad at the game and it'll never be a problem as long as I manage things appropriately.
I think a whole lot of people are cheesed off at the 'Never Again' affliction (or whatever it's called) that limits heroes to 1 successful run of the darkest dungeon. Which means you're forced into lvling 4-5X more chars to clear the game.
Personally, I think it's entirely within the tone of the game, which practically hits you over the head with the idea not to rely too much on any single party/team of chars again and again.
In any case, the devs have been extremely proactive in adjusting the game so that it fulfills their vision (if not always the fans'). If anything about the current experience is grossly out of whack with their design, I'm sure it will be remedied. Of course, there's no guarantee it will be remedied in the direction of 'easier' or less 'grinding' either. The very design of the game makes me think that 'grinding' is kinda the whole point.
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
I think a whole lot of people are cheesed off at the 'Never Again' affliction (or whatever it's called) that limits heroes to 1 successful run of the darkest dungeon. Which means you're forced into lvling 4-5X more chars to clear the game.
Personally, I think it's entirely within the tone of the game, which practically hits you over the head with the idea not to rely too much on any single party/team of chars again and again.
In any case, the devs have been extremely proactive in adjusting the game so that it fulfills their vision (if not always the fans'). If anything about the current experience is grossly out of whack with their design, I'm sure it will be remedied. Of course, there's no guarantee it will be remedied in the direction of 'easier' or less 'grinding' either. The very design of the game makes me think that 'grinding' is kinda the whole point.
For some games I would agree that grinding can be detrimental, but for this game, dungeon running is the game. Now, there's something to be said for an appropriate reward scheme, but overall sometimes you just gotta play the game.
I think a whole lot of people are cheesed off at the 'Never Again' affliction (or whatever it's called) that limits heroes to 1 successful run of the darkest dungeon. Which means you're forced into lvling 4-5X more chars to clear the game.
Personally, I think it's entirely within the tone of the game, which practically hits you over the head with the idea not to rely too much on any single party/team of chars again and again.
In any case, the devs have been extremely proactive in adjusting the game so that it fulfills their vision (if not always the fans'). If anything about the current experience is grossly out of whack with their design, I'm sure it will be remedied. Of course, there's no guarantee it will be remedied in the direction of 'easier' or less 'grinding' either. The very design of the game makes me think that 'grinding' is kinda the whole point.
I'm far, far more concerned about getting party wiped in the darkest dungeon than I am about the surviving squad being locked out.
Two more champion bosses down, and another party member in the grave.
The Undulating flesh was no joke. That thing was easily able to pump out 60+ damage in a single round, so the fight became a true DPS race. One I was sort of winning, until I got completely fucked by a single unlucky roll. My Vestal was taken down from 70% life to 0 by one unlucky crit, afflicted by blight, and then somehow started before my plague doctor despite having about 4 points less in speed (though admittedly I really don't understand how initiative works).
I am really, really bad at deathblow rolls. Once again I failed the first one I rolled for the mission (and likely the first of her career), and just like that one of my most dedicated warriors was gone. Still brought the fucker down though, so I suppose I am progressing.
my biggest problem with jester is they can do great damage to anything in the 2-3 slot, but outside that? forget it. slice off should at least hit the first slot.
my biggest problem with jester is they can do great damage to anything in the 2-3 slot, but outside that? forget it. slice off should at least hit the first slot.
my biggest problem with jester is they can do great damage to anything in the 2-3 slot, but outside that? forget it. slice off should at least hit the first slot.
I don't even take any attacks except finale.
I've got Stab instead of the debuff, because sometimes there's too much value in finishing off an opponent before their round to pass up. Even so, I play him almost purely as a support character.
SO! There! Finally done with the veteran fuckers... Haven't really lost a dude above resolve 2 either so 2/3 of my rooster is 5+. Gotta grind all my dudes to top level so I got every composition in top shape for the champion bosses now.
SO! There! Finally done with the veteran fuckers... Haven't really lost a dude above resolve 2 either so 2/3 of my rooster is 5+. Gotta grind all my dudes to top level so I got every composition in top shape for the champion bosses now.
I hope you enjoyed the smooth sailing of veteran, 'cause things are about to get real.
I'm about halfway through the Veteran bosses and really feeling the gold pinch trying to upgrade characters. Lucked into a run with some newbies in the Cove last night that uncovered a secret room, so there's some relief. I'm not entirely sure which boss to go after next, thinking the 12-pounder (that, both Cove bosses and the Flesh remain on Veteran).
SO! There! Finally done with the veteran fuckers... Haven't really lost a dude above resolve 2 either so 2/3 of my rooster is 5+. Gotta grind all my dudes to top level so I got every composition in top shape for the champion bosses now.
I hope you enjoyed the smooth sailing of veteran, 'cause things are about to get real.
Champion is tougher, but that's mostly concerning the added crit chances or the odds of 4/4 monsters going before you and then deciding to all rail the same target. I run pretty stunheavy groups so shutting down half the opposition and kill the the other half isn't much different on champion than it is on vet.
ACC being so much more important on those quest is an easily overlooked, and very real, issue though.
I'm about halfway through the Veteran bosses and really feeling the gold pinch trying to upgrade characters. Lucked into a run with some newbies in the Cove last night that uncovered a secret room, so there's some relief. I'm not entirely sure which boss to go after next, thinking the 12-pounder (that, both Cove bosses and the Flesh remain on Veteran).
Flesh (and I guess Siren? very much another setup for that tho) is def. the easiest out of those, composition-wise. Two PDs+2 randoms, preferrably something that can reach all positions(GR/Hellion)... or simply HM and you basically can't fail. The Warrens also have really sweet map layouts that should make you able to reach the boss in 4 steps, and any damage taken on the way there should be easily recoupable with a camp.
I was in the very same situation as you, only Flesh replaced with Prophet, but neither Cove bosses nor the Pounder were that much of a challenge when your whole crew comes waltzing in decked out in orange/red trinkets.
SO! There! Finally done with the veteran fuckers... Haven't really lost a dude above resolve 2 either so 2/3 of my rooster is 5+. Gotta grind all my dudes to top level so I got every composition in top shape for the champion bosses now.
I hope you enjoyed the smooth sailing of veteran, 'cause things are about to get real.
Champion is tougher, but that's mostly concerning the added crit chances or the odds of 4/4 monsters going before you and then deciding to all rail the same target. I run pretty stunheavy groups so shutting down half the opposition and kill the the other half isn't much different on champion than it is on vet.
ACC being so much more important on those quest is an easily overlooked, and very real, issue though.
I'm about halfway through the Veteran bosses and really feeling the gold pinch trying to upgrade characters. Lucked into a run with some newbies in the Cove last night that uncovered a secret room, so there's some relief. I'm not entirely sure which boss to go after next, thinking the 12-pounder (that, both Cove bosses and the Flesh remain on Veteran).
Flesh (and I guess Siren? very much another setup for that tho) is def. the easiest out of those, composition-wise. Two PDs+2 randoms, preferrably something that can reach all positions(GR/Hellion)... or simply HM and you basically can't fail. The Warrens also have really sweet map layouts that should make you able to reach the boss in 4 steps, and any damage taken on the way there should be easily recoupable with a camp.
I was in the very same situation as you, only Flesh replaced with Prophet, but neither Cove bosses nor the Pounder were that much of a challenge when your whole crew comes waltzing in decked out in orange/red trinkets.
Well, I wish I saw this earlier because I went after the 12-pounder. Forty. Two. Rounds. No losses but my MaA went Fearful before I went in and I didn't feel like abandoning the run, so that was a pain. That was as painful as it gets without losing anyone.
my biggest problem with jester is they can do great damage to anything in the 2-3 slot, but outside that? forget it. slice off should at least hit the first slot.
I don't even take any attacks except finale.
i took tube's advice on this one and haven't looked back. jester with crit and quick draw trinkets finales position 3, then moves to the back for de-stress and buff duty. he does have dirk stab for finishing off wounded enemies though.
behind him a hellion with iron swan, a leper and an occultist basically tear up what's left. not much makes 2 rounds and i left with basically no stress (y)
i'm fairly certain you can just fish the save file out of your steam folder, throw it on a flash drive and move it from A to B. that was my plan before i realised it cloud saved for me.
Feels like I've begun to get champion under control? I don't think I've had a single death's door in 3 long champs.
Is it just me or is champ cove one of the easier dungeons? As long as you have a PD the crabs are basically a full health/stress maintenance stop and the only real danger in there are the 4 pelagic piranha teams, what with their ridiculously high dmg output. But having Early Riser/Quickdraw on the PD and loading her with stun trinkets makes them sit right out for two-three turns straight. The crits may hurt for 30-40 but that's why there's a Junia'd Occultist on the team, sometimes he even helps out with his +eldritch damage.
Don't really have the confidence to go after the bosses yet but I suspect NecroLord or Godking Piggu shouldn't be all too difficult, bar any crazy-ass crit emergencies?
Before having this Cove eye-opener yesterday, I actually thought Warrens was the easiest: Everything is beast classified so the +25% dmg rings are GOAT trinkets without any noticeable downside, most of the monsters don't have too much hp and Swinetaurs ain't that much of a headache. The only real backside with Warrens is everyone going home with at least 2+ diseases so the maintenance cost for your crew will be a little higher, but as long as the haul is 20k+ you will hardly notice.
I was always so scared of those skeleton spess muhreens, though now that PDs are mandatory in near every group I'm running I've been having far less trouble with them so Ruins isn't that spooky anymore... Gotten pretty damn lucky with the Gargoyle pushbacks so far though...
Ok, I might have overestimated the champion bosses? Finished NecroLord at at full health/0 stress on everyone, and the Prophet went down about the same way. Just a little more stress and blight sprinkled out over the party since he spams that shit.
I've managed to clean up all the champ bosses except for the Crew. I was really worried about Hag and the Pounder, but both went really well! The hag put the Tough 1000+ hp-Abo in the pot and the rest of the crew managed to burn her down just in time for him to hit DD. The Pounder looked grim to begin with a few crits taking down my guys to 50%, but they really stabilized themselves after that, stun PD was worth her weight in goddamn gold even without doing a single point of dmg, and snortsman critting the goddamn cannon for 19 two times in three turns really helped things along.
Ofc I discover I didn't use any doggie snacks whatsoever, on both bosses, when backtracking for a few curios afterwards but that's the way things are...
Not a single hero lost to any boss in the playthrough so far. ^^
Oh shit, there was that HM squealed to death by apprentice Wilbur, aeons ago. Apparently repressed the memory of that valiant fighter, whose name will never be forgotten.
Ok. So the first try on champ Crew went south so I ran around picking up some curios in the explored areas before getting the fuck out of there. Though one of my best Hellions decided to die on the way back to the hamlet, at near-full health and 110 stress, taking a few ancestor trinkets with her.
I can't find a rational explanation for it.
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21stCenturyCall me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered Userregular
I am about to beat the last apprentice-level boss.
Man, i had, like, 0 trouble with them other than the Siren which gave me my first full party wipe and the Hag which killed half my party...
i'm not gonna say i find the game easy, though...
Because the only lvl-3 quest i took so far was a disaster.
Still, i am happy i figured out the gimmick to the 8-pounder and to the Sodden Crew nigh instantly.
I have reached something of a bind. I just finished off the Veteran level bosses and basically have a full roster of Level 5's (and a handful of Level 6's). Nobody has level 5 armor, weapons or skills yet and I basically have exactly enough money to fund a Short or Medium run, but my characters are getting hammered even on short Champion runs. Am I going to have to dump a few Level 5's to start money-making low level suicide runs?
they said a march update was coming on the 8th but it's only a beta version for a few days and I'm not sure it is even open to the gog version. from what I understand the two big things are town events which I don't know anything about, and randomized heirlooms so you don't have to run weald 5000 times to max out your smith.
I didn't even think arbalists needed buffs, I use one all the time. damage crusaders are my new thing, I have one with warrior of light, slugger, and 40% damage from trinkets and that guy brings the pain in the ruins. it's so easy with that free 15% damage class trinket that has no drawback for damage crusaders.
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It's really quite fun. I've only lost one character so far (putting the torch in the red orb thing was a pretty dumb idea but I was curious).
I expect as the difficulty ramps up I will become more frustrated with it. I've gotten every location up to level 2 dungeons, and several of my heroes are at resolve level 3, which means they won't go and fight any of the bosses waiting for me there.
I understand why this mechanic exists. They don't want you to grind your overpowered heroes on boring missions to stomp easy enemies and grab loot, essentially, for free.
I guess I'm looking at the future, if my experienced heroes begin dying, and I'm only able to send out resolve level 0 heroes to the only dungeons that exist (at level 3+) aren't they going to be completely demolished? Do you, at that point, simply have to hope you get a bunch of lucky rolls that allow your characters to get some experience?
And if that's the case, why can't they just have a persistent training dungeon for low-level characters that provides absolutely shit loot (as in, no heirlooms and maybe only enough gold to cover the quest expenses, if that) so you can train characters to at least have a fighting chance when they go out for real? You wouldn't need to let them level up to whatever everything else is at, just give them a bit of experience so that giving them real missions aren't of the suicide variety.
But, as I said, I haven't hit that wall yet; I just looked around and some people have. So maybe some people are just bad at the game and it'll never be a problem as long as I manage things appropriately.
With the exception of bosses I guess, as they're inherently tied to level
So business as usual, I suppose.
Personally, I think it's entirely within the tone of the game, which practically hits you over the head with the idea not to rely too much on any single party/team of chars again and again.
In any case, the devs have been extremely proactive in adjusting the game so that it fulfills their vision (if not always the fans'). If anything about the current experience is grossly out of whack with their design, I'm sure it will be remedied. Of course, there's no guarantee it will be remedied in the direction of 'easier' or less 'grinding' either. The very design of the game makes me think that 'grinding' is kinda the whole point.
For some games I would agree that grinding can be detrimental, but for this game, dungeon running is the game. Now, there's something to be said for an appropriate reward scheme, but overall sometimes you just gotta play the game.
But I'm always like a level or two beyond where you need to be for the current boss
Like if I'm fighting the Swine King I'll have the Warrens at level 5, and then by the time I get to the Unchoate Flesh they'll be up to six
I would have said the opposite, honestly
I'm far, far more concerned about getting party wiped in the darkest dungeon than I am about the surviving squad being locked out.
Two more champion bosses down, and another party member in the grave.
The Undulating flesh was no joke. That thing was easily able to pump out 60+ damage in a single round, so the fight became a true DPS race. One I was sort of winning, until I got completely fucked by a single unlucky roll. My Vestal was taken down from 70% life to 0 by one unlucky crit, afflicted by blight, and then somehow started before my plague doctor despite having about 4 points less in speed (though admittedly I really don't understand how initiative works).
I am really, really bad at deathblow rolls. Once again I failed the first one I rolled for the mission (and likely the first of her career), and just like that one of my most dedicated warriors was gone. Still brought the fucker down though, so I suppose I am progressing.
Ah, good to know, thanks! I guess I really was unlucky then (three consecutive worst-case rolls), but not astronomically so.
Edit: Actually four consecutive worst-case rolls
Is it actually a straight roll, or is each member of the fight assigned a number from 1 to 8? I've heard it both ways.
I don't even take any attacks except finale.
I've got Stab instead of the debuff, because sometimes there's too much value in finishing off an opponent before their round to pass up. Even so, I play him almost purely as a support character.
I hope you enjoyed the smooth sailing of veteran, 'cause things are about to get real.
ACC being so much more important on those quest is an easily overlooked, and very real, issue though.
Edit: Flesh (and I guess Siren? very much another setup for that tho) is def. the easiest out of those, composition-wise. Two PDs+2 randoms, preferrably something that can reach all positions(GR/Hellion)... or simply HM and you basically can't fail. The Warrens also have really sweet map layouts that should make you able to reach the boss in 4 steps, and any damage taken on the way there should be easily recoupable with a camp.
I was in the very same situation as you, only Flesh replaced with Prophet, but neither Cove bosses nor the Pounder were that much of a challenge when your whole crew comes waltzing in decked out in orange/red trinkets.
Well, I wish I saw this earlier because I went after the 12-pounder. Forty. Two. Rounds. No losses but my MaA went Fearful before I went in and I didn't feel like abandoning the run, so that was a pain. That was as painful as it gets without losing anyone.
i took tube's advice on this one and haven't looked back. jester with crit and quick draw trinkets finales position 3, then moves to the back for de-stress and buff duty. he does have dirk stab for finishing off wounded enemies though.
behind him a hellion with iron swan, a leper and an occultist basically tear up what's left. not much makes 2 rounds and i left with basically no stress (y)
I lost a couple dungeons worth somehow - my work computer didn't sync with my home computer
Is it just me or is champ cove one of the easier dungeons? As long as you have a PD the crabs are basically a full health/stress maintenance stop and the only real danger in there are the 4 pelagic piranha teams, what with their ridiculously high dmg output. But having Early Riser/Quickdraw on the PD and loading her with stun trinkets makes them sit right out for two-three turns straight. The crits may hurt for 30-40 but that's why there's a Junia'd Occultist on the team, sometimes he even helps out with his +eldritch damage.
Don't really have the confidence to go after the bosses yet but I suspect NecroLord or Godking Piggu shouldn't be all too difficult, bar any crazy-ass crit emergencies?
I was always so scared of those skeleton spess muhreens, though now that PDs are mandatory in near every group I'm running I've been having far less trouble with them so Ruins isn't that spooky anymore... Gotten pretty damn lucky with the Gargoyle pushbacks so far though...
It's basically Bookworm Adventures meets HP Lovecraft
Ofc I discover I didn't use any doggie snacks whatsoever, on both bosses, when backtracking for a few curios afterwards but that's the way things are...
Not a single hero lost to any boss in the playthrough so far. ^^
Oh shit, there was that HM squealed to death by apprentice Wilbur, aeons ago. Apparently repressed the memory of that valiant fighter, whose name will never be forgotten.
I can't find a rational explanation for it.
Man, i had, like, 0 trouble with them other than the Siren which gave me my first full party wipe and the Hag which killed half my party...
i'm not gonna say i find the game easy, though...
Because the only lvl-3 quest i took so far was a disaster.
Still, i am happy i figured out the gimmick to the 8-pounder and to the Sodden Crew nigh instantly.
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They said on their website they're holding town events back until they're sure they've got them right.