What is the "Sweet Spot" between filling out all the ranks and progressing North?

[carllyngholm]

Hey... so common knowledge is that you don't want to try and go North too quickly because you're most likely going to lack the resources to open doors and draft rooms and then end up having to backtrack. However, I feel like I've maybe taken that advice to heart a little too dogmatically, in that I suspect that I'm trying to fully fill out the ranks as I progress maybe to my own detriment. Instead of backtracking in a general North to South direction, now I find myself backtracking from side to side. Obviously all this depends on what rooms are available to pick and what resources you get on any given run, but in general, do you have a strategy as to when to go up the ranks? Thanks.

[Silyon]

Personally, I do my best to completely fill in ranks 1-3 before pushing to higher ranks. I also tend to favor the East wing for heading deeper in, and when drafts push me back towards the west wing I use those occasions to draft Dead Ends and collect more resources from them. Try to always have at least one gem when drafting, preferably 2, because that will help you dodge inconvenient dead ends and red rooms as well as get more resources from better rooms.

Whenever you find a Drafting Strategy book (there are 5 volumes), make sure to read it thoroughly. They are essentially developer tips and are extremely helpful in learning how to control the RNG of the game.

[carllyngholm]

Originally posted by Silyon:

Personally, I do my best to completely fill in ranks 1-3 before pushing to higher ranks. I also tend to favor the East wing for heading deeper in, and when drafts push me back towards the west wing I use those occasions to draft Dead Ends and collect more resources from them. Try to always have at least one gem when drafting, preferably 2, because that will help you dodge inconvenient dead ends and red rooms as well as get more resources from better rooms.

Whenever you find a Drafting Strategy book (there are 5 volumes), make sure to read it thoroughly. They are essentially developer tips and are extremely helpful in learning how to control the RNG of the game.

If you wouldn't mind responding back, why do you prefer going up the East Wing?

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

I also tend to go up the east side as I believe west doors are more common than east doors (and more common than north doors).
I try to position myself/Simon when drafting so that a west door would not be blocked, in case it's the only other door in the room I draft.

I tend to go north until I hit an obstacle, such as reaching my first locked door or not having gems. I take that as a cue to backtrack and get more resources in the lower ranks before continuing to further ranks.

I think in general, you don't want to be in the higher ranks without having any gems or some other way to allow you to choose between at least the three floorplans that are first drawn. (If you have a way to redraw, that's even better.) It's a big disadvantage in the late ranks if you are forced to draft a room that you don't want because it's the only one of the three rooms that you can afford.

[Gorlom[Swe]]

Originally posted by Lactose Intolerant Volcano God:

I also tend to go up the east side as I believe west doors are more common than east doors (and more common than north doors).
I try to position myself/Simon when drafting so that a west door would not be blocked, in case it's the only other door in the room I draft.

Huh...
What exactly do you mean when you say west doors? The rooms can be rotated and often do based on in which direction you are drafting. Do you mean left doors? as in regardless of which compass direction you are facing the exit to simons left is more likely to appear?
Or do you mean that the game is pushing you to the west side of the mannor?

[Ninethousand]

If you have enough keys, rank doesn't matter, unless you are doing very specific things.
Might wanna reach rank 9 for dinner if you are low, though.

[Ica]

I usually try to fill at least the first three ranks. I don't mind leaving a hole somewhere though if I'm offered a room I really want. I'd rather get items or resources and leave a gap, than take a useless room or even a harmful room just to fill out everything. Also I do my best to avoid leaving myself with just a single door I can go through to continue the run.

Early on I prioritize rooms that give items or resources, and also try to get at least one room that has a terminal.

In the last maybe 20 runs, steps have rarely been an issue so I haven't worried much about backtracking.

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

Originally posted by GorlomSwe:

What exactly do you mean when you say west doors? The rooms can be rotated and often do based on in which direction you are drafting. Do you mean left doors? as in regardless of which compass direction you are facing the exit to simons left is more likely to appear?
Or do you mean that the game is pushing you to the west side of the mannor?

Ah yes, sorry I mean 'west' as in when viewing the rooms from the Room Directory, where you always draft a room from the south door facing north. So if you are drafting from any other direction, then yes, it would be better to describe it as 'left', not west.

I haven't found all floorplans yet (still missing one), but of those I have found, 52 have left doors, 30 have right doors, and 27 have doors straight ahead. The Compass seems to mess with this a bit, so I often prefer not to take it just so I have more knowledge and control of where I can place doors. But in general, you seem more likely to get a door on the left than the other two options.

[Ninethousand]

Originally posted by Lactose Intolerant Volcano God:

Originally posted by GorlomSwe:

What exactly do you mean when you say west doors? The rooms can be rotated and often do based on in which direction you are drafting. Do you mean left doors? as in regardless of which compass direction you are facing the exit to simons left is more likely to appear?
Or do you mean that the game is pushing you to the west side of the mannor?

Ah yes, sorry I mean 'west' as in when viewing the rooms from the Room Directory, where you always draft a room from the south door facing north. So if you are drafting from any other direction, then yes, it would be better to describe it as 'left', not west.

I haven't found all floorplans yet (still missing one), but of those I have found, 52 have left doors, 30 have right doors, and 27 have doors straight ahead. The Compass seems to mess with this a bit, so I often prefer not to take it just so I have more knowledge and control of where I can place doors. But in general, you seem more likely to get a door on the left than the other two options.

The game decides in "turns", not in north east south and west.
A T junction could be "A left and a right turn" "A straight and a left turn" or "A straight and a right turn".
The rooms are defined as you can see in the Directory, and i THINK the entrance you take is "random", except for influences like the compass, or other small secret things.

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

Originally posted by Ninethousand:

The rooms are defined as you can see in the Directory, and i THINK the entrance you take is "random", except for influences like the compass, or other small secret things.

I'm not confident it's entirely random. Some rooms I have only ever entered from one door.

[Ica]

Yeah I think it works like that too.

And obviously when you're on the edge, doors can't be placed so that they'd lead outside. So if you're going north on the west side, all L doors will lead to the east and vice versa.

I haven't noticed any asymmetry in room directions between east and west sides.

Originally posted by Lactose Intolerant Volcano God:

I'm not confident it's entirely random. Some rooms I have only ever entered from one door.

Care to give an example? Maybe in spoiler tags since I don't know if OP has seen all the rooms yet.

[Ninethousand]

Originally posted by Ica:

Yeah I think it works like that too.

And obviously when you're on the edge, doors can't be placed so that they'd lead outside. So if you're going north on the west side, all L doors will lead to the east and vice versa.

I haven't noticed any asymmetry in room directions between east and west sides.

Originally posted by Lactose Intolerant Volcano God:

I'm not confident it's entirely random. Some rooms I have only ever entered from one door.

Care to give an example? Maybe in spoiler tags since I don't know if OP has seen all the rooms yet.

Foyer maybe? Would make sense. I said there are "little secrets" or whatever.

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

Originally posted by Ica:

Care to give an example? Maybe in spoiler tags since I don't know if OP has seen all the rooms yet.

I don't think I have any proof. It's just a suspicion or belief I have. But it could be a self-fulfilling prophecy, in that I draft the house in a way that supports my belief.

However, I have found it useful to look at the list of rooms when drafting in the later ranks. I deduct all the rooms that I've already drafted and removed from the pool and consider how many opportunities there will be to get doorways in certain places with the remaining rooms. If the only rooms left that can have doorways where I want them are rooms that I don't want, like the Archives, I use that information to guide me to reposition and draft from another direction. It seems to serve me well. But maybe I'm just fooling myself!