Worth buying?

[Vantezzle]

I've recently been getting into roguelikes, and this one seems to have great Steam reviews, so...Is the game worth it?How much content/replayability is there?Are the DLCs necessary?

[MaxBedlam]

I couldn't get myself to like it. Even though it has lots of classes and skills most of them feel kinda meh. It seems a lot of offensive skills scale badly, so you're just going to hit enemies with your weapon anyway. Enemies mostly feel the same, they either use melee hits or magical ranged attack for the most part.

Also a lot of skills aren't given proper description of what they actually do or how or with what do they scale with, so you'll have to use wiki a lot.

This game needed few more patches, mostly in the balancing department and I would probably love it. But unfortunately the company is shut down so it's probably never going to be improved.

Some people enjoy it anyway and have put tons of hours into it though.

But I would recommend buying Tangledeep instead. It also lets you mix classes, has good amount of features to it, yet isn't complex and its quick to get used to it. It has one DLC out at the moment, with another in the making. You can read my review of it if you want to know more.

[Sigma]

Replayability is high. It's got a lot of classes, most of which are very vague in description... perfect for what a roguelike is SUPPOSED TO BE. However you can easily look up all this information if you're looking for some specific build.

This game has so many shoutouts to many other media/gaming, from tv shows, movies, as well as other games. Many of them are funny and others are great homage to them. They did a really good job with this in my opinion.

As far as roguelike goes, it's "probably" one of the easier ones. Not so easy that you can start up a random game and beat it instantly (although i guarantee you no matter how good and careful you play this game YOU WILL DIE).

I have almost 500 hours into the game, almost all achievements, and I still love the game. If you're looking for a roguelike that allows you to go to town, talk to npcs, venture out into the wilderness to look for caves or enemies, and such... this isn't it. That's not a true roguelike and will never be. This is a straight up, although at your pace, 10 to 15 floor dungeon with randomized: shops, monster zoos, events, quests, etc. which is exactly what a roguelike is and should be.

The game is very cheap, 5 bucks for so much content. DLCs are great, however there have been reports of people not being able to buy/download them so I would probably look into it first. There's nothing preventing you from getting a refund. If you truly do like roguelikes, this is a must play.

[Vantezzle]

Hmmm...Two very different replies, and I'm not sure which one would fit my own tastes more, either way, thank you both.

[MaxBedlam]

Originally posted by Sigma:

There's nothing preventing you from getting a refund. If you truly do like roguelikes, this is a must play.

You can't refund if you play the game for more than 2 hours and in this case it would definitely require more hours than that to know whether or not the game is worth playing.

Originally posted by Tezzle:

Hmmm...Two very different replies, and I'm not sure which one would fit my own tastes more, either way, thank you both.

Why don't you tell us your tastes and what you're looking for in a game then?

[Vantezzle]

Originally posted by ChibiCthulhu:

Originally posted by Sigma:

There's nothing preventing you from getting a refund. If you truly do like roguelikes, this is a must play.

You can't refund if you play the game for more than 2 hours and in this case it would definitely require more hours than that to know whether or not the game is worth playing.

Originally posted by Tezzle:

Hmmm...Two very different replies, and I'm not sure which one would fit my own tastes more, either way, thank you both.

Why don't you tell us your tastes and what you're looking for in a game then?

Well, it's quite difficult to judge as I'm still new to the genre. I've played and enjoyed: Unreal World, CDDA, Cogmind, Caves of Qud, and ToME.

I like games with a lot of content, replayability, I don't mind RNG.

[MaxBedlam]

Originally posted by Tezzle:

Originally posted by ChibiCthulhu:

You can't refund if you play the game for more than 2 hours and in this case it would definitely require more hours than that to know whether or not the game is worth playing.



Why don't you tell us your tastes and what you're looking for in a game then?

Well, it's quite difficult to judge as I'm still new to the genre. I've played and enjoyed: Unreal World, CDDA, Cogmind, Caves of Qud, and ToME.

I like games with a lot of content, replayability, I don't mind RNG.

Why not just stick to those for now if you enjoy them? If you haven't bought DLC's for ToME I'd recommend doing that. Also there's a 1.6 patch in the making for it that'll rebalance the game and change a lot of things, some in pretty major way. But nobody knows when will it be ready for release.

[Haldurson]

Dungeons of Dredmor is a 'pure' roguelike, but with the option of playing without permadeath (I don't recommend that, but if it's what will get you to play, then go for it).

There ARE NO CLASSES in Dredmor. If you play the game as if there ARE classes, then you are likely going to make a ton of mistakes. What I suggest when first starting the game is to NOT try to create a "Tank" or a "Fighter" or a "Rogue" or a "Mage", but instead, simply pick skills that appeal to you, that you think might be fun. And then when you die, try different skills. And so on. And you will die a lot. And if you follow my advice and play with permadeath, then you will simply roll a new character and try again. And hopefully, with each play, you'll learn more stuff, and get to know many of the skills and items and so on.

Once you feel comfortable with the game (which has no set time frame), then start thinking in terms, again not of classes, but of synergies -- which skills work best with which other skills. For example, skills that increase your health regen have a strong synergy with vampirism.

Also, think about skills that fulfill a need in a build, based on your preferred play-style. You might be concerned about getting through the first 2 or three levels of the dungeon which is when (especially with certain kinds of builds) you are most vulnerable. So you might make up for that with a skill that gives you an early pet, or some cool starting items, or whatever.

And, you also might think about taking a utility skill or two.

When you feel really competent, you may try to play a random build, or trying one of the challenges listed here:
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/dodcr

[androidg502]

As for the DLCs, you can rest assured getting all of them isn't necessary.

If you enjoy crafting and/or are a compulsive hoarder, then I suggest buying just the Conquest of the Wizardlands DLC from the get-go.

That one grants you a room where you can store all your stuff.

Originally posted by Tezzle:

Are the DLCs necessary?

[Vidokas]

I would say yes. if not last boss.
it's just retardet game design.
all game is cakewalk. go to last boss with max gear.
he stunlocks you or destroys in 2 hits.
f*** this sh*t :)

[Haldurson]

Originally posted by Vidokas:

I would say yes. if not last boss.
it's just retardet game design.
all game is cakewalk. go to last boss with max gear.
he stunlocks you or destroys in 2 hits.
f*** this sh*t :)

First of all, unless you are using exploits and playing on the easiest level or levels, the game is not a cakewalk. If it becomes so, that's your own fault for not increasing the difficulty level or for using exploits (there are a few, and people will tell you that those are 'strategies', but they aren't. They are exploits -- if you play using exploits and the game seems too easy, well duh...). Second of all, Lord Dredmor is killable. if you play carefully. It's easier with certain builds than with others, but you have to figure the boss out. If you simply walk up to him and start mindlessly hitting him with your sword, then that's not good tactics. It can work on easier difficulty levels, or if you use exploits and/or play on the easier difficulty levels. But then that's your own fault. Some people do like making the game too easy (or too hard) and that's a legitimate way to play. But then don't complain that the game is too hard or too easy, because that's your own doing.

You have so much freedom with creating builds that you can literally make the game much harder than normal, or much easier than normal. Creating a build is all part of creating your own difficulty level. You want the game to be hard, then play on going rogue, with 'no time to grind' and a random build. You want the game to be very easy, then use the various exploits (I'm not going to risk ruining the game for you by telling you what they are and tempting you. But if you feel the need to do so anyway, those exploits are easily findable in these and the official forums).

And if dredmor was not a difficult boss, people would complain that he's too easy. But if you know his strengths and weaknesses then he's really not that difficult, so long as you aren't scumming the levels so that by the time you reach him, you really aren't prepared enough to fight him.

BTW, the No Time to Grind option will make the early game easier, but is overall a harder way to win. The reason is that it makes levels smaller without proportionally making loot better or easier to get. So you'll likely have inferior gear by the time you reach Lord Dredmor.

[Haldurson]

And as far as the DLCs are concerned, yes, none of them are required. The game is great without them. BUT most mods require all of the DLCs (because that was the decision of most of the modders. becauise all of the DLCs are dirt cheap and worth purchasing even at twice their price)

[Vidokas]

Originally posted by Haldurson:

Originally posted by Vidokas:

I would say yes. if not last boss.
it's just retardet game design.
all game is cakewalk. go to last boss with max gear.
he stunlocks you or destroys in 2 hits.
f*** this sh*t :)

First of all, unless you are using exploits and playing on the easiest level or levels, the game is not a cakewalk. If it becomes so, that's your own fault for not increasing the difficulty level or for using exploits (there are a few, and people will tell you that those are 'strategies', but they aren't. They are exploits -- if you play using exploits and the game seems too easy, well duh...). Second of all, Lord Dredmor is killable. if you play carefully. It's easier with certain builds than with others, but you have to figure the boss out. If you simply walk up to him and start mindlessly hitting him with your sword, then that's not good tactics. It can work on easier difficulty levels, or if you use exploits and/or play on the easier difficulty levels. But then that's your own fault. Some people do like making the game too easy (or too hard) and that's a legitimate way to play. But then don't complain that the game is too hard or too easy, because that's your own doing.

You have so much freedom with creating builds that you can literally make the game much harder than normal, or much easier than normal. Creating a build is all part of creating your own difficulty level. You want the game to be hard, then play on going rogue, with 'no time to grind' and a random build. You want the game to be very easy, then use the various exploits (I'm not going to risk ruining the game for you by telling you what they are and tempting you. But if you feel the need to do so anyway, those exploits are easily findable in these and the official forums).

And if dredmor was not a difficult boss, people would complain that he's too easy. But if you know his strengths and weaknesses then he's really not that difficult, so long as you aren't scumming the levels so that by the time you reach him, you really aren't prepared enough to fight him.

BTW, the No Time to Grind option will make the early game easier, but is overall a harder way to win. The reason is that it makes levels smaller without proportionally making loot better or easier to get. So you'll likely have inferior gear by the time you reach Lord Dredmor.

I Played on easy. with no permadeath
axes/dual wield/clockwork/mushrooms/armor/stealing/archeology

all game was cakewalk.
before boss died once. not sure from what. because I teleported to place with no monsters with 50 hp, but still someone killed me in 2 turns, with no monsters around.
other than that I never was on brink of death. all game was just go and roflstomp anyone..
with boss....
killed him after 1.5 hours of fighting.
he's dodging 4 from 5 hits from me. someones even 9 hits in a row. ( yes, I counted)
Hitting once, and then teleporting with burglary or trying to run away with invisibility, locking doors and then repeating is not good boss fight.

[Haldurson]

I've never played the game on easy so I can't speak from experience. But I will say that it's likely the same phenomenon that happens when people complain about the boss fight after save-scumming (ie. reloading from a save every time you die). What inevitably happens is that the person has managed to make it to the boss with inferior gear and thus doesn't realize how truly bad their gear is.

Spoilers below...

If you were playing on going rogue, I would say that you should
A) collect potions and wands to remove status effects
B) Potions, wands and fungi to add temporary resistances and defense
C) Items to increase magic resistance and reflection
D) If you are stronger in melee, definitely get lots of thrown items with piercing and/or Holy damage, especially those that add stackable damage over time, otherwise Bolts+a good crossbow might be better. (But Collect both, so you have enough).
E) And yeah, invisibility and teleports are good, as is running away as necessary. REmember you are not a hero in this game, you are a sneaky rogue. If you don't like that, then you are likely better off sticking to easier difficulty levels. This is called using the available terrain, and it's the kind of tactic that you use in any kind of game that requires tactics instead of perfectly timing moves to fit a formula like far too many MMOs and rpgs seem to like

Remember that Dredmor is a classless system, so Dredmor needs to be killable by any character with decent gear, regardless of their build.

[Kurasu]

My personal recommendation is that this is a great game. However, it's not a great game for everybody.

I am a fan of classic roguelikes (I started on the OG, 'Rogue', and played ADOM until my hands bled) and find that this one fits the bill extremely well. It's not got the 'incremental advancement' that many of the newer roguelikes like Rogue Legacy have (I.E. when you die, you restart/reload; there's no way to 'build up' your character for each later run) so beware of that.

Because there are so many combinations of skill trees, the replayability is *incredibly* high. Even if you do find a build that lets you kill the final boss, that doesn't mean that it will work the same way the next time around, because RNG is a bi-....g meanie. And there are so many potential combinations that you can explore trying all of them and seeing what works for you. Plus, with a 'Random' button, you can *really* go for the challenge.

The DLCs are not strictly necessary, but they do add a ton to the game and I strongly recommend picking them up at some point. The game is completely playable without them, but the added classes, items, and levels are worth it at twice the price. Plus, one of them is free, so you might as well avail yourself of that.

With three difficulty settings, you can adjust it if you're finding things too easy, but don't let yourself think it's 'too easy' just because you breeze through the first level. Power jump level per level is pretty high. If you are hoping for a 'power creep' then you might find yourself getting frustrated quickly.

The sense of humor and the style is also a plus for it. There are a lot of in-jokes and references to popular culture of its time, so you may either find some of the jokes/comments date it: that may make it better or worse, depending on your taste. I like that little punch of nostalgia, myself, so I feel it's a plus.

Are you an achievement hound? The game's got a ton of them, and they can act as in-built challenges for you. Because there's one for each skill tree, in particular, it encourages you to try out builds that you haven't before. It's amazing how much differently you play when you build around one particular skill, honestly!

Cons: it can be a bit buggy, and the hotbar/adventurer belt can be a little 'fumbly' at times. Some of the skills are underpowered while others are overpowered. There are no further patches being made on it at this point (and no sign that will change but surprises have happened in the past), so if you find a bug, you can expect the high likelihood that it will always be there unless there's a fan patch for it (of which there seems to be many).

Final verdict is yours, of course, but at the price (only $6 when *not* on sale!) I feel like the value I got out of it so far outstrips the price that it's uncountable. Can't recommend highly enough that you take the risk.

(EDITED: Originally calls the skill trees 'Classes', which isn't right. Also, added mention of achievements)

[franplants]

I see someone else recommended Tangledeep instead. I have both (Dungeons of Dredmor and Tangledeep), so just wanted to add my two cents. I like both games a lot. I have played 7-8 hours of each and though I haven't gotten very far in either one (I'm a slow, meticulous player), I would definitely recommend both, especially if you already like rogue-likes/-lites (you have played quite a few). The atmosphere of these two games is very different. Tangledeep is kind of cutesy, Dredmor is more tongue-in-cheek. I was primarily drawn to Dredmor because of the goofy sense of humor in the skill and item descriptions, and the wide range of interesting skills you can play. Both games are good, but if you're on a budget, Dredmor is cheaper. You can get the base game + all DLC for only $7! It's absolutely worth it. Even if I never finish it, it was worth it at that price for the fun I've had so far.