Co-op with my 13 and 10 year old

[SizroSpunkmire]

Played 2 rounds with my 13 and 10 year old. The good news is they had a lot of fun. The bad news is they felt entirely overwhelmed at many points in later waves and went to play something else.

Listening to them talk, I heard a lot of
"what happened?"
"how did that guy get there?"
"I'm confused"
"huh?"
"why am I stone AGAIN"
"sorry I can't res you, I'm stone again"
"bro leave me alone stop turning me to stone"
"lets make a kill box here-oh wait, I have no barricades"
"uuuuuh theres an archer just shooting at the rift from way over there"
"yeah we're not winning this"
"we suck"

Their biggest gripe was the overall lack of control they felt. Enough has been said about the barricades so I'll bring up the Stone spam. The duration is either to long, the orcs accuracy is to good or a longer cooldown is needed. Being 'stun locked' because you're getting constantly turned to stone among the chaos is frustrating.

[Zouls]

but stones are a negative modifier you willingly put unto your map no? there is nothing inherrently that can turn you to stone, worst there is is the mountain trolls who can root you.

EDIT: Havent fought them yet, so cant say, but some of the negative penalties are nasty.

[PlecixZ]

The flying enemy's that can turn you to stone are a pain if you get insta locked by them.
Good thing is that it's a modifier card so you won't get them unless you chose the card.

The trolls that can stun you are in a way easily avoidable if you jump at the right time, takes some practice.
I understand why they feel overwhelmed cause the maps are very vibrant and full of detail it's sometimes hard first see the routes and the map layout.

The difficutly scaling is steep when playing co-op so there can be alot happening at one point. Don't feel bad about losing and just do one mission at a time so you still get skulls and you can learn the maps a bit.


The mini map and sound que's are something you need to learn, the characters also have voicelines about flyers. Best way is to communicate with them, see what characters they like and make them focus a certain type of enemy.
Melee focus on the assasins and range on the flyers, also check the modifiers on the map some are really brutal.

Maybe a tip for you is that you let them hold a lane and help them out when they need it.
Don't forget to upgrade (they made the skull cost lower) The game has a learning curve but once you get the hang of the basics is a very nice game.

I do understan the barricade situation but with the new "patch" alot more maps you can do easy to do killboxes or lanes with. Also farming first missions for golden skulls so you can buy traps and just test them out.

Also see what traps you and your kids like, if they find something cool just let them test it out. Some traps do change through thread cards but thats a different story.
All i can say it don't let them feel down about losing, get some upgrades and find the characters you like and it will be a different experience.

[KenoZuki]

The flying stone spitters are far too accurate I feel like too, and im 29 years old with a variety of games under my belt lol. I felt like I had to juke them kinda like I would an actual person, which shouldnt be a thing in a PvE game honestly. Enemies shouldnt be able to trail their shots like a player would

~Also, just because it is a modifier, doesnt mean it should be OP. They developed the modifier to be in the game, not to be a card that players actively avoid because its the worst possible option available. Thats like saying "Hey we developed this enemy to be a dead card, you will never take it if you are smart, and if you are dumb well, you just screwed up. "

[Zouls]

Originally posted by KenoZuki:

The flying stone spitters are far too accurate I feel like too, and im 29 years old with a variety of games under my belt lol. I felt like I had to juke them kinda like I would an actual person, which shouldnt be a thing in a PvE game honestly. Enemies shouldnt be able to trail their shots like a player would

~Also, just because it is a modifier, doesnt mean it should be OP. They developed the modifier to be in the game, not to be a card that players actively avoid because its the worst possible option available. Thats like saying "Hey we developed this enemy to be a dead card, you will never take it if you are smart, and if you are dumb well, you just screwed up. "

or is it not more making sure to set up crossbow traps to shoot them at range before they can attack you? i assume they dont have infinite range.

[SizroSpunkmire]

Originally posted by Zouls:

but stones are a negative modifier you willingly put unto your map no? there is nothing inherrently that can turn you to stone, worst there is is the mountain trolls who can root you.

EDIT: Havent fought them yet, so cant say, but some of the negative penalties are nasty.

This highlights another problem. I’m have no idea why they spawn or how lol. They could be part of a wave, could be a modifier, could be something that isn’t explained? Not a clue. But, they spawned and it was awful.

[Zouls]

Originally posted by SizroSpunkmire:

Originally posted by Zouls:

but stones are a negative modifier you willingly put unto your map no? there is nothing inherrently that can turn you to stone, worst there is is the mountain trolls who can root you.

EDIT: Havent fought them yet, so cant say, but some of the negative penalties are nasty.

This highlights another problem. I’m have no idea why they spawn or how lol. They could be part of a wave, could be a modifier, could be something that isn’t explained? Not a clue. But, they spawned and it was awful.

I mean, it literally tells you the modifiers when you pick them im just not sure how you could design anything simpler.

a huge image of it and it says "SPAWNS X EVERY WAVE" like what else can they do.

[SizroSpunkmire]

Originally posted by Zouls:

Originally posted by SizroSpunkmire:

This highlights another problem. I’m have no idea why they spawn or how lol. They could be part of a wave, could be a modifier, could be something that isn’t explained? Not a clue. But, they spawned and it was awful.

I mean, it literally tells you the modifiers when you pick them im just not sure how you could design anything simpler.

a huge image of it and it says "SPAWNS X EVERY WAVE" like what else can they do.

Provide details that tell you how often they shoot, their chance to miss, splash damage radius and effect length. I don’t mind that they spawn, it’s the complete lack of details to prepare.