Game balance on impossible difficulty

[d3d3g0]

The game is terribly unbalanced on Impossible. I beat it on mobile with only the free heroes and I only used Orbital Strike on Nexus.

The PC version has a LOT more enemies, Borealis foes take almost no damage even using Trabuco or Blue Dragon, Orbital Strike is not even able to clear the site where you drop it.

C'mon guys, there's no strategy in ridiculously increasing the amount of enemies and their health/armor.

Please make some adjustments.

[Toria]

Hello! we did not change the balance ( Or increase the enemy`s numbers), am quite surprised, Just to be sure ...did you check the difficulty level you are playing on both platforms? maybe it's set different on them.

[d3d3g0]

Originally posted by Toria:

Hello! we did not change the balance ( Or increase the enemy`s numbers), am quite surprised, Just to be sure ...did you check the difficulty level you are playing on both platforms? maybe it's set different on them.

Well, very strange. Yes I checked and on mobile it was easier.

The real problem for me is Borealis missions. No hero or unit is capable of doing enough damage to the enemies, specially when they buff or shield themselves.

Some missions like 18 (33 seconds) have a stupid amount of enemies. I found no other strategy then rushing with Blue Dragon to destroy the bones. This is not smart at all.

On mission 19 I had to rush to Raad's apparatus with Blue Dragon (again) and stay "hidden" in the corner shooting the structure for more than 5 minutes, because it takes almost no damage. I tried to drop an Orbital Strike but guess, no damage. I tried the normal way, marching with Trabuco (because of his laser) and troops but the enemies keeps spawning infinitely, at a ridiculous rate until you die.

On mission 20 you also need to rush to destroy the pylons or the enemies will spawn huge armies and you will lose. See? Always rushing as a "strategy".

On mission 21 the first phase is the only one you can fight fair. The other two you need to use a paid hero, preferably Blue Dragon, or Orbital Strike, two on phase 2 and two on phase 3. All because he shoots so many projectiles that you will end up dying.

[Rystiya]

Originally posted by D3d3g0:

Well, very strange. Yes I checked and on mobile it was easier.

The real problem for me is Borealis missions. No hero or unit is capable of doing enough damage to the enemies, specially when they buff or shield themselves.

Some missions like 18 (33 seconds) have a stupid amount of enemies. I found no other strategy then rushing with Blue Dragon to destroy the bones. This is not smart at all.

On mission 19 I had to rush to Raad's apparatus with Blue Dragon (again) and stay "hidden" in the corner shooting the structure for more than 5 minutes, because it takes almost no damage. I tried to drop an Orbital Strike but guess, no damage. I tried the normal way, marching with Trabuco (because of his laser) and troops but the enemies keeps spawning infinitely, at a ridiculous rate until you die.

On mission 20 you also need to rush to destroy the pylons or the enemies will spawn huge armies and you will lose. See? Always rushing as a "strategy".

On mission 21 the first phase is the only one you can fight fair. The other two you need to use a paid hero, preferably Blue Dragon, or Orbital Strike, two on phase 2 and two on phase 3. All because he shoots so many projectiles that you will end up dying.

On mission 18, maybe you can try machine gun turret plus snipers, with full technologies. Plus a storm walker and a flame walker to deal with air units and worves.

[Rystiya]

Originally posted by Toria:

Hello! we did not change the balance ( Or increase the enemy`s numbers), am quite surprised, Just to be sure ...did you check the difficulty level you are playing on both platforms? maybe it's set different on them.

Another problem is, in some missions enemy will spawn huge hordes of units when player get close to objective, making it easier to rush the objective than clearing the enemies. And if player fails, these enemies will overrun player’s base without any difficulties.

[d3d3g0]

Originally posted by Eric:

Originally posted by Toria:

Hello! we did not change the balance ( Or increase the enemy`s numbers), am quite surprised, Just to be sure ...did you check the difficulty level you are playing on both platforms? maybe it's set different on them.

Another problem is, in some missions enemy will spawn huge hordes of enemies when player get close to objective, making it easier to rush the objective than clearing the enemies. And if player fails, these enemies will overrun player’s base without any difficulties.

That's my major complaint, and they take almost no damage.

[d3d3g0]

Originally posted by toadragon:

And the heroes are not balanced. Playing on easy and the first three characters are very weak. I have not tried the others yet. But for now they are not tough enough and not very strong . Even at level 10 do not look very strong . I use more of their powers than the very heroes . And I felt at times is not well balanced.

The first 3 heroes are enough to beat normal difficulty, but it's all about their skills. I couldn't find anything useful in Kara, but Taggins has Uranium Ammo (high DPS) and Paragon has Energy Flux (heal).

Of the paid heroes I only liked Trabuco and Blue Dragon.

Trabuco is very tanky, can heal and his laser can do a lot of damage, even on Raads. Blue Dragon is very mobile, can heal and Ultrablast is capable of instakilling.

All other heroes (except Fate) must get very close to the enemy, and to heal they must leave the battle.

[d3d3g0]

Originally posted by toadragon:

I mean that for a hero they die very easily. And they are not very strong at times. And I see a very small difference in their level 1-10 . Soldiers are more durable and useful than them. Example The third hero ccan not beat strong enemies, and the Jedi defeat without a problem. I mean, the characters are not balanced if they were not the skills they would not have been useful for. And at times I feel that soldiers and towers do not do the damage they have to do. A base with turrets must sometimes have to leave soldiers keep it else will fall.
I have some questions.
1 Is there any information about the enemies anywhere, or is it seeing them for the first time only?
2 The heroes raise the leval become stronger and more durable ? The points you put in the three skills make them stronger or just collect for the middle and the end ?
3 Will there be more things or that's all ? I mean this is the whole game.

That's my point again, but I'd say some heroes are useful.

The devs said you gain more damage, or reduce the cooldowns on leveling up, but I only felt difference on reaching silver and gold levels of each skill and passive.

About the questions...

1 - For now you only get info on stage, when you encounter an enemy or a new tech. Some people, including myself, asked to bring back the encyclopedia from old Kingdom Rush games;

2 - The devs said that damage and cooldowns are improved, but nothing about health or armor. Perhaps Toria can give a better answer;

3 - The current state of the Steam version is the same as the mobile. I don't know if there's any content to add, but I hope they do. Maybe it's better they launch Kingdom Rush Vengeance on Steam first.

[Hotklou]

I usually use Trabuco, fully levelled, with his single-target firing mode on Borealis. Like this, he can kill most normal enemies in a few shots, and with his healing ability he can take on whole squads of enemies on his own. I also use 2 alien shielders, with all their upgrades, to keep my party alive. They also have an upgrade that makes them deploy these little bots. Really helpful. Finally I use the missle mechs, for their impressive range. If needed, the mechs can be repurposed to the heavy melee mech, mid-combat. I also upgrade my dropgun fully, so I can send it to bomb the enemy bases. A fully upgraded dropgun can do some real damage if you use it right. When you're on Borealis, also focus on shooting the portals ASAP.

Another tip: Using Trabuco and the dropgun, you can drop yourselves behind enemy lines to take out strategic targets. If needed, drop the dropgun first and let it run around, you can then drop your general even further. As long as you have vision of an area, you can drop the dropgun and your general there. This way, you can drop over huge gaps or over obstacles such as a mountain or a wall. You just need vision of the spot you want to drop to.

[Hotklou]

You guys were talking about the first three heroes being unbalanced and weak, well let me give you my opinion of each:

TAGGINS -- He's much like the standard marine. Higher health than most heroes, but his damage is low. He attacks fast, though. He can be upgraded to have a much lower respawn timer than most heroes. He can also be upgraded to have a chance to ignore enemy attacks, causing the attack to do no damage. His first ability, "Personal Shield", is an impenetrable shield. It can help a lot if he's busy dying or if your strike team needs a tank. His other ability, "Uranium Ammo", can be useful to take out hoardes of small enemies, for he one-shots the small guys (especially in the beginning). But it can also help to take out big enemies, for it not only deals a lot of damage, but also stuns the enemy.

KARA -- You know Starcraft? Well she's a siege-tank/thor hybrid. She can be upgraded to have an extremely long range, and a much shortened respawn time. Her first ability, "Gyro Barrage", can be useful to take out hoardes of small enemies if you're being overrun. It doesn't do much against the bigger enemies, but that's what her other ability is for. "Jury-Rigged Missles" increases her attack speed and damage immensely. It can be upgraded to do more damage against structures, and to be able to shoot over obstacles, like the missle mech. She can bombard enemy bases to pieces like no other hero can.

PARAGON -- His normal attacks to cleaving damage, which can be useful for dealing with many small enemies. He is also an excellent tank. He can be upgraded to have a higher passive health regeneration, and to also sometimes take no damage from attacks (like Taggins). His first ability, "Spirit Wrath", causes wraiths to attack enemies near him for a set amount of time. These wraiths are especially good against heavier enemies, as they do a lot of damage and also stun their target. If Paragon attacks the target of the wraiths he can, with an upgrade, do triple damage to the enemy. His second ability, "Energy Flux", he heals from taking damage. It can be upgraded to increase his normal attack damage and to also affect nearby allies. So he's not only a great tank, but he can also do great damage and heal his allies.

That's it for now. I might expand on this in a discussion or guide of my own. I just wanted to focus on these three.

[Hotklou]

Originally posted by D3d3g0:

Originally posted by Eric:

Another problem is, in some missions enemy will spawn huge hordes of enemies when player get close to objective, making it easier to rush the objective than clearing the enemies. And if player fails, these enemies will overrun player’s base without any difficulties.

That's my major complaint, and they take almost no damage.

Usually, the enemies have to spawn from somewhere. There's usually an enemy base nearby that you can take out to reduce the amount of enemies that attack you. It's true that sometimes they spawn from the edge of the map, and there's no stopping that, but usually you can do something to make it easier for you.

Also, sometimes it's easier to rush the enemy spawners first, before you take out the defenses and the defenders. Having long-range weaponry can help a lot. But either way, I'd recommend you use at least 2 or more of those alien shielder women. Using more mechs and fewer infantry is also usually better.

[Rystiya]

Originally posted by D3d3g0:

Originally posted by toadragon:

And the heroes are not balanced. Playing on easy and the first three characters are very weak. I have not tried the others yet. But for now they are not tough enough and not very strong . Even at level 10 do not look very strong . I use more of their powers than the very heroes . And I felt at times is not well balanced.

The first 3 heroes are enough to beat normal difficulty, but it's all about their skills. I couldn't find anything useful in Kara, but Taggins has Uranium Ammo (high DPS) and Paragon has Energy Flux (heal).

Of the paid heroes I only liked Trabuco and Blue Dragon.

Trabuco is very tanky, can heal and his laser can do a lot of damage, even on Raads. Blue Dragon is very mobile, can heal and Ultrablast is capable of instakilling.

All other heroes (except Fate) must get very close to the enemy, and to heal they must leave the battle.

Kara can do a lot of damage to structures and air units. Her skill can do a lot of damage to closely packed enemies. However her health is low and she is ineffective against heavily armored enemies.

[Rystiya]

Originally posted by Hawkeye:

I usually use Trabuco, fully levelled, with his single-target firing mode on Borealis. Like this, he can kill most normal enemies in a few shots, and with his healing ability he can take on whole squads of enemies on his own. I also use 2 alien shielders, with all their upgrades, to keep my party alive. They also have an upgrade that makes them deploy these little bots. Really helpful. Finally I use the missle mechs, for their impressive range. If needed, the mechs can be repurposed to the heavy melee mech, mid-combat. I also upgrade my dropgun fully, so I can send it to bomb the enemy bases. A fully upgraded dropgun can do some real damage if you use it right. When you're on Borealis, also focus on shooting the portals ASAP.

Another tip: Using Trabuco and the dropgun, you can drop yourselves behind enemy lines to take out strategic targets. If needed, drop the dropgun first and let it run around, you can then drop your general even further. As long as you have vision of an area, you can drop the dropgun and your general there. This way, you can drop over huge gaps or over obstacles such as a mountain or a wall. You just need vision of the spot you want to drop to.

Trabuco is the strongest hero expect the tank and the fighter. His plasma gun have very long range and very high damage, which is better than shot gun in most cases from my perspective. It's probably super useful against those blue plasma man on the third planet

[Hotklou]

The blue plasma guys are quite tough, as they can heal themselves. They don't do as much damage as the inferno guys, but they come in larger groups.
The inferno guys do more damage, but have less armour and no healing. They have long range and can shoot over obstacles. Luckily there are very few of them.
The dark blue rocky guys start out weak, but when they get damaged too much they transform into heavy melee golems. In this state they have much more armour and do much more damage. Kill them fast.
The purple ones shoot bouncing projectiles and teleport around. If you kill them, they open up a portal where they died. Be prepared for these portals, and be careful you don't open too many portals at once.

The flying pods's stats also vary accordingly to which kind of enemy pilots it. If the plasma guys enter a carrier, it is much tougher and charges up a beam attack. This attack can be interrupted by attacking them and they have long range. The plasma carriers are like snipers.
If an inferno guy enters a carrier, the carrier has MUCH lower health and armour. This type attacks by flying close to your units and bombarding them with fire, setting the ground and your units on fire. Luckily their range is much smaller. They're like the flame mechs.
If a dark blue rocky guy gets in a carrier, they now shoot area-of-effect (AoE) attacks. It doesn't do much damage against heavily armoured units (like your mechs), but it just slaughters your infantry. This AoE effect also lasts for quite a while.
If a purple guy enters a carrier, they become REAL killers. These are the ones you should be worrying about. They shoot these huge purple energy balls that travel in a straight line, demolishing anything in it's path. Even your mechs will die in seconds if you're not careful.

[d3d3g0]

Originally posted by Hawkeye:

You guys were talking about the first three heroes being unbalanced and weak, well let me give you my opinion of each:

TAGGINS -- He's much like the standard marine. Higher health than most heroes, but his damage is low. He attacks fast, though. He can be upgraded to have a much lower respawn timer than most heroes. He can also be upgraded to have a chance to ignore enemy attacks, causing the attack to do no damage. His first ability, "Personal Shield", is an impenetrable shield. It can help a lot if he's busy dying or if your strike team needs a tank. His other ability, "Uranium Ammo", can be useful to take out hoardes of small enemies, for he one-shots the small guys (especially in the beginning). But it can also help to take out big enemies, for it not only deals a lot of damage, but also stuns the enemy.

KARA -- You know Starcraft? Well she's a siege-tank/thor hybrid. She can be upgraded to have an extremely long range, and a much shortened respawn time. Her first ability, "Gyro Barrage", can be useful to take out hoardes of small enemies if you're being overrun. It doesn't do much against the bigger enemies, but that's what her other ability is for. "Jury-Rigged Missles" increases her attack speed and damage immensely. It can be upgraded to do more damage against structures, and to be able to shoot over obstacles, like the missle mech. She can bombard enemy bases to pieces like no other hero can.

PARAGON -- His normal attacks to cleaving damage, which can be useful for dealing with many small enemies. He is also an excellent tank. He can be upgraded to have a higher passive health regeneration, and to also sometimes take no damage from attacks (like Taggins). His first ability, "Spirit Wrath", causes wraiths to attack enemies near him for a set amount of time. These wraiths are especially good against heavier enemies, as they do a lot of damage and also stun their target. If Paragon attacks the target of the wraiths he can, with an upgrade, do triple damage to the enemy. His second ability, "Energy Flux", he heals from taking damage. It can be upgraded to increase his normal attack damage and to also affect nearby allies. So he's not only a great tank, but he can also do great damage and heal his allies.

That's it for now. I might expand on this in a discussion or guide of my own. I just wanted to focus on these three.

Nice analysis, it works on the vast majority of the game.

My major complaint is Borealis on impossible difficulty. Raads and Fenrir are too durable and their damage is too high.

Taggins is only useful when his skills are upgraded and available, Kara is basically great range but no damage, Paragon is only useful to use Energy Flux, specially on Rob070.

Originally posted by Hawkeye:

Usually, the enemies have to spawn from somewhere. There's usually an enemy base nearby that you can take out to reduce the amount of enemies that attack when you get close to the objective. It's true that sometimes they spawn from the edge of the map, and there's no stopping that, but usually you can do something to make it easier for you.

Also, sometimes it's easier to rush the enemy spawners first, before you take out the defenses and the defenders. Having long-range weaponry can help a lot. But either way, I'd recommend you use at least 2 or more of those alien shielder women. Using more mechs and fewer infantry is also usually better.

I understand but there's too many of them. On some stages if you don't rush to finish the objective, the situation becomes impossible to manage due to the quantity of enemies. They can melt your towers and troops with max shields and diplomats.

Originally posted by Eric:

Kara can do a lot of damage to structures and air units. Her skill can do a lot of damage to closely packed enemies. However her health is low and she is ineffective against heavily armored enemies.

Troops are the real menace and Kara is not good against them.

Originally posted by Hawkeye:

The blue plasma guys are quite tough, as they can heal themselves. They don't do as much damage as the inferno guys, but they come in larger groups. The inferno guys do more damage, but have less armour and no healing. They have long range and can shoot over obstacles. Luckily there are very few of them.

The flying pods's stats also vary accordingly to which kind of enemy pilots it. If the plasma guys enter a pod, the pod is much tougher and charge up a beam to attack with. This type can be interrupted and they have long range. If an inferno guy enters a pod, the pod has MUCH lower health and armour. This type attacks by flying close to your units and bombarding them with fire, setting the ground and your units on fire. They're a lot like the flame mech. Luckily their range is much smaller, much like the flame mech's.

As I said Raads are too overpowered, and if they keep stacking, what usually happens, you'll need to restart the stage.

Here is the thing in my opinion:

- They are too durable;
- Some of them have shields and do the blue circle on the ground, which is a troop melter;
- Blue ones can buff themselves and stun;
- Fire ones do a lot of DOT, specially to towers, and then explode doing more DOT;
- Purple ones keep teleporting, making our DPS inconsistent;
- They keep spawning through portals;
- You need a LOT of damage to take down their refinery and the thing that spawns the spaceships;
- Raad's apparatus and pylons are too tanky;

If you want to test just try dropping an Orbital Strike on them and see if they die.

The only strategy I found was using Trabuco's laser to fight their troops and Blue Dragon to rush some stages.

[Hotklou]

Ah I see. Well I've not yet seen all of the types of Raad troops, and I'm still playing on Veteran. I'm on the 3rd last stage on Borealis. But I can imagine it. They're already tough on Veteran, but on Impossible.... ouch! Didn't see you were talking about it being unbalanced in Impossible... I agree that they need to do something to even up the playfield a little.

Maybe give us more buyable stuff that work better against the Raad. But I don't want to spend weeks saving up for stuff just to do one mission, though. I don't really know what they should do...