Favorite Towers & Favorite Heroes

[Coach's Coach]

I love the fact that you can choose five towers and change your loadout in this game. It allows for many more varied strategies and extra replay value for those of us who want to attempt different challenges on stages with altering which towers we use, in combination with all the heroes to choose from.

What are your favorite individual towers and heroes, and why? What full loadout do you go into battle with for a killer combination?

Personally I think swamp thing and the melting furnace make a sick combination, especially with dark knights to tank. Swamp thing stunning enemies (or coming out to guard the path) along with knights force the enemies into the furnace for a long time. If you fully power up the furnace and allow it to strengthen swamp thing and adjacent furnaces, everything dies so quickly. It's costly, that's the only problem.

[kekkuli]

Bone flingers+blazing gems and maybe some orc shamans or furnaces if i need additional damage.

[ultimatesuperman20]

Originally posted by dK:

All heroes are decent imo,but my favorites ones are definitely Jack and Tramin,Jack is tanky boi with his zombies and his horse stampede which is really strong,and most important to me he is really fast.Tramin is also really fast,i like his bomb thingies from his main power,his rockets are really cool as well,and pretty big damage with his main attack...

I have 4 really liked towers:Melting Furnace,Orc Shaman,Goblin rocket riders and Deep Devil's reef.
Melting Furnace has huge aoe damage which i like really much.Orc Shaman is just cool,but his damage is really good as well.Goblin rocket riders are fun and they have really solid damage.Probably mine favorite is Deep Devil's reef because it's a barrack and mage in the same time which is really effective,you have two decent warriors and really good damage on mage side
so you can stack up two towers and have 2 mage tower damage and 4 warriors etc.

All heroes are decent? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This isn't really news to anyone who's played Kingdom Rush before but the dragon champs are broken af and are almost ALWAYS the best pick in any stage. Even excluding dragons there's clearly weak heroes compared to others. I feel like they should put more time into giving each Hero a thing that'll make them useful regardless of how far along you are.

I forget his name but there was some assassin guy who's ability could one shot any enemy regardless of hp and it was REALLY useful in any stage that had a lot of big bad guys. Stuff like that is what I'm talking about.

[Planterror]

Originally posted by Shyguymask:

Zeppelin is kinda underrated from what I saw. It's just Battle Mecha from Frontiers without the missiles, the splash damage DPS is great with barracks and reinforcements in the same spot. Can also move it around so it can target and kill a specific enemy, like Ice Witches.

You're also forgetting that the zeppelin tower can't be disabled since the actual damage is on the subtower part, similar to a barracks but doesn't even need to respawn.

[𝓝𝓲𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓪𝓼]

Lots of good suggestions here. Can someone make a guide to make all of this information more accessible? You are missing out on easy Steam Awards cuz no one did this yet.

[Allexium]

Currently my setup are 1. Bone Flingers 2. Orc Warriors Den 3. Melting Furnace 4. Deep Devil's Reef 5. Infernal Mage
Bone Flingers are amazing physical damage dealer, resulting in it being more useful in many situations than Goblirangs and even Shadow Archers. Though first levels are so-so, level 4 is something. If you get Got Milk upgrade, Flingers become 'overpowered'. The most important that they're targeting random enemies instead of one furthest to exit. Thus, they are great against those who usually accompany other enemies, such as Tinbeard Gunman, Sulfur Alchemists, Devoted Priestess, Arcane Magus etc. This tower also shines in theSubaquatic Menace mini-campaign. There are Anurian Erudits, Channelers and Infusers, all of which have magic resistance. Plus, lattter two always accompany other Anurians (mostly Wardens and Crystak Demolishers), thus, Bone Flingers can kill them faster than any Archer. But that;s not all. They got two stalling abilities, both are good. The Walking Dead allows you to stall alone, isolated enemies. They also work great against ranged enemies and enemies with area attack. The Bonem is semi-tough ranged unit, which work mostly as support, and cannot hold a line on his own. He's useful at damaging flying enemies for other towers to finish them off. This tower is great.
Orc Warriors Den are great as stallers, which I need the most. Though they are weak at low levels, they come in three, allowing to hold enemies for a longer time. At level 4, Orcs become real stall power. Every ability improves their survivability, and makes them even better. Regerenation allowes them to hold ground for a longer, damage booster is great when defending against medium tough enemies, such as Northern Wildling, Footmen, Anurian Chaser etc.(though they are still very vulnerable to latter). Captain Promotion gives you better equiped soldier, which also benefit from other abilites, and can survive longer against more dangerous eneimes such as Stonebeard Geomancer (though it's not advised to block them), Northern Berserker, Troop Captain, Paladin, Anurian Warden etc. They true fear is the area attacks, which can decimate them quickly, such as MechaDwarf.MK9 (special attack), Northern Berserker, Arcane Magus, High Scorcerer etc. Nice barracks.
Melting Furnace is one of my favourite (if not the) towers in game. He works actually the same as DWAARP from KR: Frontiers. Even if it's weaker than former, it's still pretty amazing. The most noticable thing is the stun on every attack. Not only it hold off enemies for longer, but can proven be excellent amazing certain enemies. This are the Smokebeard Engineer. Not only it completely destroys machines and leaves no wreck for mechanic to repair, but also nullifies repair ability, as Smokebeard Engineer automatically stops repairing and destroys the wreck when they're stunned (or when blocked). Overall it's amazing on Dwarven Kingdom levels, as upgraded Melting Furnace can decimate hordes of Dwarf Bruisers and Warhammer Guards. The abilites makes it even stronger. The most powerful is Burning Fuel. Not only it increases Furnace's DPS and crowd control, but it also have average cooldown. Red hoat coals help tower to decimate weak foes that are out of range, and allows it to finish them off easily. The tower is also excellent at killing weaker enemies around stonger ones. Just EHAT. (Excellent Horde Annihilating Tower(sic)).
Deep Devil's Reef is also one of my favourite's tower (though I haven't played with it much, but I like it). The tower's advantage is that it's very versatile. It works as a Mage Tower, and as a Barracks Tower. The Greenfins are tougher than the non-upgraded Orc Warriors, but they come in two, which reduces their effectiveness, but that's doesn't make them bad. The tower itself is weak at low levels, much like the other, but it shines at level 4. The Bluegale can deal very good damage, almost that of Infernal Mage, but the most important note is that Greenfins become Redspines, which have ranged attack and tougher than previous levels. Thus, they can prove to be effective at harrasing flying enemies (but not killing them). The abilities improves tower's versatilty further. Chosen of the Sea makes Redspine tougher, allowing them to stall even longer. Net Throw is actually the best tower's ability, but it needs to be used properly. While it's ineffective against swarms of enemies, it becomes great against tough enemies, such as Frost Giant, High Scorcerer, Crystal Demolisher etc. Plus, they come in numbers, and two Redspines can stall them even longer. Still, greater numbers will decimate them quicky, so be careful. Perfect storm is True Damage source, but not so reliable, so they are more effective against lone, semi-durable or tough enemies. The tower mostly comes as support, thus, it's reaches it's fullest pontential at choke ponits, especially with other Barracks and physical damage towers. Nice versatility and good defense.
Infernal Mage is true magic damage source. The high damage makes it great against armored, semi-durable or tough enemies such as MechaDwarf.MK9, Nanoq Warbears, Troop Captain, Shieldbearer etc. However, tower offers little help against magic resistant enemies, especially Glacial Wolves and Apex Stalker, as they're fast and have magic resistance. The Devoted Priestess is also bane of Infernal Mage and actually every mage, as she has magic resistance and gives it to other eneimes, reducing effectiveness of tower. Often, it's more preffered to upgrade the tower to higher levels instead of building more, as Mage gets significant damage boost, allowing it to take on a small amount of tougher enemies. But as a Mage, it can be easily overrun by flood of enemies. However, tower's abilities somewhat compensates this. The Lava Fissure is actually the best ability, allowing it to kill small enemies and weaken tougher ones. As every geyser deals individual damage, it can also be useful against durable enemies. Infernal Portal is somewhat unreliable, as it effectiveness is reduced by long cooldown and teleport distance, even lower than Arcane Wizard's one. The Oloch Ultimate Spell is far more reliable because of short cooldown and far distance. Affliction is mostly works as support, because it doesn't deal any damage, but instead halves enemies' resistances. Thus, it's great against those who have either high armor or high magic resistance. As AoE is somewhat small, it's best to keep Barracks near to keep enemies inside the rune. But, where the ability really shines is final stage: The Paragon. They sport both armor and magic resistance, thus, Infernal Mage can make it far more vulnerable to damage. As The Paragon have more armor than magic resistance, the tower can deal more damage itself. A combination of Aflliction and Blazing Gem with Gem of Amplification is deadly to the Mighty Paragon. Overall, great magic damage dealer.
That's my current loadout. I think I'll switch To Swamp Thing instead of Infernal Mage or Orc Warriors, as I've heard a lot that's it is an OP. If I'll put it instead of Barracks, the Infernal or Deep Devil's Reel will be replaced by Blazing Gem.
Yeah, it's TOO MUCH text, but what I can do about it? I can't write shorter. That's not my style.

[Allexium]

What about Heroes? I think, that's my favourite hero will be Asra. Her versatility is big enough to cover most situations, and the teleport is true life-saver. The Spider Bite is the excellent skill, as it an guaranteed kill, unless you weren't trying to kill the enemy or haven't blocked them. However, the disadvantage of this is that it requires Asra to be in close combat with enemy, and have a 'charge' of ~two seconds, which can put Hero at risk of being heavily damaged or even kiled. Thus, if you intend to use Spider Bite on strong enemies, always upgrade Shield of Shadows at least at tier I, as it allow Asra to survive long enough to inflict the poison and overall improves Hero's survivablity. Quiver of Sorrow, obviously, is great against armored enemies, such as High Scorcerer, MechaDwarf.MK9, Frost Giant etc. But that's not all, as all of these enemies are potential targets for the Spider Bite, as they sport big health and slow speed, giving poison enough time to finish them off. The skill also can reduce the armor of bosses, thus, Asra is great on such levels. These include Lightseeker camp and Denas's Castle. Onyx arrows are good damage source, as it deals True Damage and can switch targets. Thus, it's nice against small flood of lightly armored enemies, such as Warhammer Guards or Northern Wildlings. Possibly the best skill of Asra is the Ultimate Spell, Toxic Rain. It is a AoE spell that damages enemies and inflict poison on them. Though the poision doesn't lasts forever as the Spider Bite does, it proves to be very effective against flood of enemies. It's also good to shred weak enemies to reveal the stronger ones. Overall, Asra is pretty good and very versatile. But she requires a lot of micromanagement. That's the point.
However, that's not the Hero of my choice. Haven't decided yet is it the best hero for me. I've completed the whole game (except the Dwarven Kingdom) with this Hero. He is The Oloch. What I can say about him? There it is:
The Oloch is true magic damage source, being a mobile glass cannon. It's abilites designed for harrasing enemies and support your units and towers. Duplication and Demonic Blast are the skills that I rely on to defeat the enemies. Former creates two copies of Hero that deal magic damage. Though they cannot block, they can deal good damage and support Oloch with additional damage and offer little crowd control for a brief period. Latter shoots big fire ball that deals huge damage to a single enemy. Thus, it's strongly advised to use it only on strong and durable enemies, e.g. Stonebeard Geomancer, Nanoq Warbear, Troop Captain, Shieldbearer etc. However, it requires a good micromanagement to use it at fullest potential, as the Hero can waste it on weak enemies, reducing the effectiveness of the skill.
Hellish Infusion increase the damage of tower. Actually it is the weakest skill, thus it can be ignored tactically. Still, on a place with a lot of Strategic Points, it can prove to be very effective.
Magma Eruption offers Oloch some crowd control, able to take down some of the enemies in flood to reduce the pressure on a choke point. Still, it can be wasted as not all of the geysers can be used, limiting pontential. Try to group enemies to increase the damage. For this, the Oloch Ultimate Spell can be used.
Seal of Isolation is support skill, which teleports enemies backwards. This is a good spell, but must be used properly for the most effect. It can be life-saving, as it allows to teleport enemies far from the exit, ecpecially great when they're are durable enemies. The slow enemies are good targets for teleport, as most of them are unable to reach the point before skill recharges. As mentionedThis Ultimate Spell is also very great at grouping enemies, mostly because it allows to strike a better Soul Impact, saving a lot pressure on a choke points and quickly reduce amount of enemies on the screen. It's better to upgrade it early, as the distance on low levels is pretty low and can't offer that much as the higher levels can.
Overall strategy for Oloch is placing him behind strong Barracks tower, so they can protect him and also benefit from his abilities. Micromanagement is still required to utilize the full potential.
That's it. Yeah, too much text (especially on previous post), but I cannot write shorter.
Also, can someone comment on Hero Jack'O'Lantern? I don't know why, but I liked him even before I've unlocked him. How good is he, what can offer, where can be used for most potential, what disadvantages. I need to know. Good luck everyone!
P.S. I haven't played with other heroes at all (except Veruk, as he's the first Hero, currently leveling him up), so I think I'm gonna make a guide, possibly, if I'll have enough time.

[x-treme microcephaly gamer]

I found stacking towers with ground units is a sure way to win on most maps. Stack 4 upgraded harrasser towers together and flag them all to the same point. Even enemies with good defence against them will get melted with arrows

[Allexium]

Originally posted by paper:

Originally posted by 𝓝𝓲𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓪𝓼:

Lots of good suggestions here. Can someone make a guide to make all of this information more accessible? You are missing out on easy Steam Awards cuz no one did this yet.

This is a guide on every tower in the game that I made. It's 54 minutes of me rambling information but I also provided time stamps for each individual tower covered. I'm not an expert at the game but I'm pretty good and have done tons of impossible and several impossible challenges. I've also analyzed most of the towers in the game in detail, even sometimes writing programs to understand the numbers better for things like stuns. So I think it should be helpful. I don't give "tiers" but I think I make it clear how good or not good each tower is, and each ability. I also go over things like which ability upgrades are best and just how to use the tower in strategizing for a level, and any gameplay relevant quirks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVIfjHdyARw

Thanks for the guide! Now I'll have better look at towers and what I should brought to the game. 54 minutes...