Am I Playing Gabriella Wrong?

[Denny Crane]

I mostly play by myself at the difficulty of 10. Mind you, I've already fully upgraded her and and everything else. From my understanding, she doesn't appear to put out enough damage to making playing her solo viable.
Her basic attack, while it has unlimited range, isn't effective in times of close combat. Her blast of power does a nice burst of damage but with only two rounds and a very slow recharge it plays like they want you to use is sparingly.
I could be wrong on all my assessments. May I have some help understanding her better for solo playing at maximum difficulty?

[TimeMaster]

She is great at crowd control, most of the damage should come from your traps.

[stanley37861]

what I do is I control some enemies at the start of my kill box. so they act as another trap over top of the briar patch. when they start to push thou my traps I just use the teleport to send them back to the start of the map (or later have them fall into something that removes them after i have the correct threads). If used as a kill box supporter she is very strong, if you ask me. I do not think any other hero can instant kill 10 orcs and setup as many delays as she can. maybe she just fits my play style and thats why I find her so useful.

[pumkin1988]

I agree her damage isn't as good as other people but as the others have said she is a support-the-traps kind of Hero.

You don't get in close combat with people. You teleport them away so your traps can damage them again or you warp them off the edge to die.
If you are being overcrowded, like say a barrier breaks, then you Charm everyone and let them fight each other over your traps to slowly die down.

Her Blast ability is great and I often pick the "Does 1000 dmg to enemies in the blast" Thread and then just spam those here and there to whittle the enemies down so your traps can kill them faster.

Also, since her accuracy and ranged is so good I often just snipe all the beginning enemies at the beginning of the wave. I try and snipe the flyers or big guys so by the time they hit my traps they are a good portion of HP down so my traps can kill them.

I find she is more of a Support-Trap-Helper than damaging Hero even if she is the Leader.

[Denny Crane]

Originally posted by pumkin1988:

or you warp them off the edge to die.

I understand teleporting the orcs, but how do I teleport them off the edge or over a pit?

[pumkin1988]

Originally posted by Denny Crane:

Originally posted by pumkin1988:

or you warp them off the edge to die.

I understand teleporting the orcs, but how do I teleport them off the edge or over a pit?

There is a thread to place your teleport on Walls/Ceilings.
There are plenty of ceiling or walls that go over some lava or a pot or the water

[Denny Crane]

Originally posted by pumkin1988:

Originally posted by Denny Crane:

I understand teleporting the orcs, but how do I teleport them off the edge or over a pit?

There is a thread to place your teleport on Walls/Ceilings.
There are plenty of ceiling or walls that go over some lava or a pot or the water

Ah. I haven't seen that "thread" yet. Thank you.

[stanley37861]

Originally posted by Denny Crane:

Originally posted by pumkin1988:

There is a thread to place your teleport on Walls/Ceilings.
There are plenty of ceiling or walls that go over some lava or a pot or the water

Ah. I haven't seen that "thread" yet. Thank you.

Remember to get the thread that allows them to be teleported without you before you place it on the wall.

[Denny Crane]

Originally posted by stanley37861:

Originally posted by Denny Crane:

Ah. I haven't seen that "thread" yet. Thank you.

Remember to get the thread that allows them to be teleported without you before you place it on the wall.

Ha! Good point. I would have guessed to use the dash-thing to avoid death but that would be safer still. Denny Crane.

[Denny Crane]

I understand to avoid melee range at all costs, however I just feel weak. I usually play the cat and her ultimate ability feels properly calibrated. Her skeleton lasts as long as it lives, takes attention away so you can attack from behind, not to mention the cat has a card that can have your ultimate ability charge WHILE the skeleton is active. Having to rely on chance to get get stronger minions (ogres, trolls), only to have them die after each wave does not flow with having to recharge via traps. I also just feel lately that my traps' effectiveness isn't what it was before.
I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong... IF it is on me. I'm starting to suspect it isn't as much my fault as I was willing to accept before.

[Mez Koo]

Originally posted by Denny Crane:

Having to rely on chance to get get stronger minions (ogres, trolls)

Is that any different than relying on chance to upgrade Bart?

[Denny Crane]

Originally posted by Mez Koo:

Originally posted by Denny Crane:

Having to rely on chance to get get stronger minions (ogres, trolls)

Is that any different than relying on chance to upgrade Bart?

Yes. Very different.
Gabriella needs to randomly obtain a card to fulfill a "Thread" achievement 50 times; that's not skill but pure chance. Bart didn't (past tense as I have all Bart "threads" at this point) have anything like that.
Gabriella's minions die after every wave (if they survive). Bart lasts as long as he has health.
Gabriella's minions seem to block any attack meant for an enemy on the other side. If someone didn't get a single Bart specific "thread" he'd be perfectly effective to compliment the cat's attack type.

[Mez Koo]

The "as long as he has health" was the bit I was getting at, you'd still need to get lucky with threads that increase is damage, health, give him bloodlust healing etc just like hoping to get the ogre/troll mesmerize upgrades.

[stanley37861]

You need 3 blue item drops to do a full special charge. yes the charmed orcs go away with each wave but If there are 3 blues you are ready for the next wave. I believe there is a thread that helps with that. I completely agree the special should be allowed to recharge while its being used. I really do not know why it wouldnt other then to leave something out so there can be a thread for it. The charm is powerful because in the higher levels when the orcs have higher health the orcs do as well. which I think makes it a better option then the one the cat summons. 3 100k health ogres or 1 skeleton. It most likely has alot to do with a players play style if a hero is right for you.

With all this being said when are they going to bluff max?

[Denny Crane]

Originally posted by stanley37861:

You need 3 blue item drops to do a full special charge. yes the charmed orcs go away with each wave but If there are 3 blues you are ready for the next wave. I believe there is a thread that helps with that. I completely agree the special should be allowed to recharge while its being used. I really do not know why it wouldnt other then to leave something out so there can be a thread for it. The charm is powerful because in the higher levels when the orcs have higher health the orcs do as well. which I think makes it a better option then the one the cat summons. 3 100k health ogres or 1 skeleton. It most likely has alot to do with a players play style if a hero is right for you.

With all this being said when are they going to bluff max?

I don't think it's just about play style. Would you believe that most of the time I am NOT finding "3 blue item drops" to refill the ultimate power? It also just seems like my traps are not doing as much damage as they once were.
Speaking of her ultimate power, if Gabriella is specifically a ranged character, what reason does her ultimate power force her to get into melee range to affect the orcs? That seems counter intuitive to me. In higher waves, I'm finding that I'm being knocked away by arrows which negates both teleportation AND her ultimate ability.
Another issue I'm having is the "thread" that says "Non boss orcs will no longer attack Gabriella." Then after the normal orcs are still attacking me. I'm guessing in this case, the word "orc" specifically means the green ones - ogres and trolls don't count. Then what reason do the little green archers still shoot me?

[stanley37861]

Originally posted by Denny Crane:

I don't think it's just about play style. Would you believe that most of the time I am NOT finding "3 blue item drops" to refill the ultimate power? It also just seems like my traps are not doing as much damage as they once were.
Speaking of her ultimate power, if Gabriella is specifically a ranged character, what reason does her ultimate power force her to get into melee range to affect the orcs? That seems counter intuitive to me. In higher waves, I'm finding that I'm being knocked away by arrows which negates both teleportation AND her ultimate ability.
Another issue I'm having is the "thread" that says "Non boss orcs will no longer attack Gabriella." Then after the normal orcs are still attacking me. I'm guessing in this case, the word "orc" specifically means the green ones - ogres and trolls don't count. Then what reason do the little green archers still shoot me?

non boss means anything other then the the normal orcs yes. I learned that the hard way also. if you are having problems with archers hitting you maybe you need to setup your kill box in places where you can hide around corners? her close range abilities are useful to keep the enemy at range when they get to close. along with her blink ability to get away quickly. I have had setups where I keep a wave of orcs going thou my setup for over a hour with tar and stream vents and her abilities. just every time they made it thou I would send them back. i did have the elixir that allowed me to have an extra charge to pull it off. May I ask what your trap list is? I have been going with all 3 of the organic traps (with the organic elixir), steam vents (because fliers), and ballista (because why wouldnt you). completely different setup then I normally run but its been working out for me.