"QuickStart" GUIDE for Beginners..

covering all basics you need to know.. plus GEAR, BiS, Level-up .. also includes suggestions on Party-setup...

Quick Start Guide for "TLDR" -players

GAMEPLAY:
-this game uses actionpoints per turn (heroes start with 5AP at level 1)
-moving, combat skills, using items - everything costs AP
-have a party of 4 chars, by time you can change your team once bigger money comes in
-level up heroes (go to town and pay a fee, when they got enough XP)
-character slots are really very limited (only4) and used for weapon,shield,armor,skills
-menues are more mobile app -like, but work
-you clear room by room ( that said gfx specs work for low-end office pc^^)
-get used to be ganked by ambushes 50% of the time AFTER clearing a room
-ranged combat is strong, make use of it
-if some heroes go down to 0 HP during combat, they get KNOCKDOWN (flee and might get injuries)
-you can prevent KNOCKDOWN if you heal within the next turn - sadly, often impossible ;(
-Injuries last till next LEVEL-UP (so prevent it, watch your HP and heal in time)
-some enemies like fire (kill those first, or you burn for some rounds)
-sell the stuff you don´t need and gear up fast
-also make use of range and line-of-sight
-AoE weapons come in handy sometimes (drag the red square over your enemies, then click again to confirm^^)


HEALING:
-after finishing a mission your HP resets and you heal
-during fights the healing is limited and quite weak
-healing potions are also expensive
-injury only heals at level-up!! -> be careful with travel encounters


Advanced TACTICS:
- your party needs at least 1 AoE-healer (Highelf/BRK)
- otherwise you waste many precious slots on your heroes for healing items ;(
- clear rooms fast - AoE plus mobility is KING
- kill ranged enemies first or block with high ranged deflect hero
- trashmobs die fast, but they can still harm your party ..esp. low hp elves
- fire weapons/spells are powerful: fire sets ground aflame and is 4 dmg/sec
- just make sure you don´t walk through fire.. or you take 4dmg the next few turns

Good Luck.. and happy Hunting^^

OVERVIEW + General Gameplay

Warning, this game is quite CHALLENGING:
-focus on a solid team with enough HP to not die every two rooms
-AMBUSH mechanic is annoying ..and a pain at that
-Travel events are similar ..sometimes very tough
-Grind for gear ..at least your main TANK/DPS should have best in slot around lv. 10
-Resistances can kill you (eg: Giant Spiders 80% vs piercing, Trolls 100% vs slashing, etc)
-strong enemies have at least same HP as your tank or almost double - good luck^^


GFX:
-isometric 2D/2.5D (originated from mobile app)
Compared to other games, obstacles in front/around your characters don´t become transparent!! So be prepared - ..most time you will just play in 2D view to not miss enemies that might kill your heroes


GAMEPLAY:
-this game uses actionpoints per turn (heroes start with 5AP at level 1)
-moving, combat skills, using items - everything costs AP
-have a party of 4 chars, by time you can change your team once bigger money comes in
-level up heroes (go to town and pay a fee, when they got enough XP)
-character slots are really very limited (only4) and used for weapon,shield,armor,skills
-menues are more mobile app -like, but work
-you clear room by room ( that said gfx specs work for low-end office pc^^)
-get used to be ganked by ambushes 50% of the time AFTER clearing a room
-ranged combat is strong, make use of it
-if some heroes go down to 0 HP during combat, they get KNOCKDOWN (flee and might get injuries)


It´s a challenging game and a grind. Seems too much for many players ;((
Some statistics:
-45% finish act 3 (stronger Beastmen)
-40% get a warrior to lv. 5
-38% finish act 4 (some Minotaurs)
-27% finish act 6 (Nurgles, PoxRats, PoxZombies)
-only 23% bought more than 20 items (gear)
-only 17% get a warrior to lv. 10
This makes it already very clear, most players drop out during first 4 towns at lv. 6-8
Gearing up with sidequests and optimizing your team is key.. then it get´s fun ^_°

Map + Difficulty

Mission difficulty:

"Easy" - good for low-level Party without top gear

"Medium" - decent Party has no problems

"Hard" - Level 5+ recommended, also decent Gear

Classes + Party

First, the Elves.
The WoodElves-GladeGuard (WE GG) is really build around bow and piercing dmg. Additionally needs many slots to work. The biggest problem is that those tempting "headshot elves" only work situational and have medium hp. That said, they can die fast or you have to be very careful. Also no AP-regen ability! In the end, slows you down by a lot !! The AoE bow improves their usefulness, but half the enemies can´t be killed in 1 turn.. not by piercing weapons.
Mages (HE,DE) face a similar problem, they have AoE fire(HighElf) or ice (DarkElf), but it´s not enough to kill most things. So you just freeze the ground or set it on fire, with the big problem your heroes can freeze or burn, too. Highly double-edged sword ;((
Their single-target damage spells are good, but all elves lack decent HP. Usually 3 Shots from Longbow and they´re dead. WoodElf is slightly better HP-wise, but lacks magic options.
In the end, Elves are very mediocre.

While "Slayer" (SL) / "Greatsword" (GS) / "Ogre" (OG) focus on 2handed weapons and massive damage, they need time and money to gear.
Slayer (SL) is very expensive to gear up. Being the God of Slashing, gets into trouble from midgame on. He eats 6+ slots to be competitive. Even then, he is just on similar level as BRK dmg-wise and still lacks enough HP to survive hard crits in the 40+ region. If that happens, dead! ^^

Ogre (OG) is only mobile with his Charge-skill. That aside, higher level Performance is average, especially once high resistances come into play. Regarding Ogre, I think the BRK is more useful and allows a similar playstyle. At some point Greatsword can outdo Ogre.


Greatsword (GS) performs average. Good damage and ok mobility, but not much defense.
It takes Lv.8+ , 6-7 slots and enough money to gear him up. Then, one build makes him the best 1 turn-room-cleaner of this game. In fact, if you get lucky and achieve 8AP he can clear 2-3 rooms per turn - alone! ..lol


The Wardancer (WD) is very mobile with high damage, but also squishy when he takes hits.
The gear is expensive and he really needs some slots.

The undead "Graveguard" (GRA) is a solid tank, similar to BK, but less usefull offensively. Works well with fire all around him^^

The human EmpireCaptain (EC) is a solid allround hero. The only tank, that can use pistols/bows, but just the average stuff. His best skills are AoE commanding shouts (one removes all resistances for 1 turn) and AoE bombs, while still being a very good tank or support dps. Improves with more skill slots.

The Witchhunter (WH) is another human supporter with some nice skills. His best skill allows to mark an enemy for double dmg during that turn. His double pistols are nice, but can be used only once per turn ;((
Another disadvantage is his medium health. In the end, he needs many slots to work..


The really solid ones are BretonnianKnight (BRK) and vampire BloodKnight (BK). They are both very versatile and can be Tank or DPS - whatever your team needs:

BretonnianKnight (BRK) combines EC and GS.. is very tanky and good damage. Riposte allows him a chance to counter any melee attack - very strong!! Around lvl 8+ might change from riposte-tank (his signature skill) to 2handed offense á la Greatsword, which makes him a badass killing machine, once you have enough slots. His HP is also among the best of all heroes.
Additionally, he has a good AoE heal that puts out fire (on a low cd). As the perfect Backbone of any Raiding Party, he is also among top 3 regarding dmg-output!!

The Bloodknight (BK) is outright great. Good at start, quite good later. His HP is high, he makes a great tank, best ranged deflection on paar with GladeGuard. With more slots around lv. 7+ he kills most things fast. Also has the option to change to Fire Rod and become a single target fireball mage. With 2handed rod, you can´t use shields, so give him Armor of Tempelhof to give him some protection and a strenght buff^^

Gear + BiS

Most important Items:

1. Weapons that "ignore Armor"
2. Items to reduce AP-cost of Weapons/Spells
3. Items that generate Extra-AP
4. "Focus" - equip once per Hero(!) - improves STR/Hit% each Hit ..even on miss^^
5. Classes, that can´t get "ignore Armor" Weapons/Spells (eg: GS/DE), should go with "Crushing"
(-> above 50% Crushing Resistance is the most rare in this game!)

Everything else depends very much on your Party-setup and Playstyle..

Healing items: Expensive. Waste slots. Never needed it, but depends on your Playstyle.
Armor/Shield: only important for Tank (having more than 1 Tank will slow you down)
Rings: good early game. Mid/Endgame = waste of slots

Combat ..STATS ..Tactics ..how to win!

Combat:
-Resistances can kill you (eg: Giant Spiders 80% vs piercing, Trolls 100% vs slashing, etc)
-always check your enemies weaknesses(!)
-CLEAR room by room
-get used to be ganked by ambushes 50% of the time AFTER clearing a room
-ranged combat is strong, make use of it
-if some heroes go down to 0 HP during combat, they get KNOCKDOWN (flee and might get injuries)
-you can prevent KNOCKDOWN if you heal within the next turn - sadly, often impossible ;(

-Injuries last till next LEVEL-UP (so prevent it, watch your HP and heal in time)
-some enemies like torches/fire (kill those first, or you burn for some rounds)
-sell the stuff you don´t need and gear up fast
-also make use of range and line-of-sight
-AoE weapons come in handy sometimes (drag the red square over your enemies, then click again to confirm^^)

STATS:
-AP ..ActionPoints are used for Movement and Attacks
-HP ..Hitpoints (40+ needed to survive harder Melee fights)
-STR ..used for all attacks (even magic) unless you equip special Items
-DEX ..your %Chance to hit
-SPD ..can help with additional hits (+5%chance per point)
-INT ..some magic attacks/weapons use it



HEALING:
-after finishing a mission your HP resets and you heal
-during fights the healing is limited and quite weak
-healing potions are also expensive
-injury only heals at level-up!! -> be careful with travel encounters


Advanced TACTICS:
- your party needs at least 1 AoE-healer (Highelf/BRK)
- otherwise you waste many precious slots on your heroes for healing items ;(
- clear rooms fast - AoE plus mobility is KING
- kill ranged enemies first or block with high ranged deflect hero
- trashmobs die fast, but they can still harm your party ..esp. low hp elves
- fire weapons/spells are powerful: fire sets ground aflame and is 4 dmg/sec
- just make sure you don´t walk through fire.. or you take 4dmg the next few turns

!! PRO Tip !!
be careful: Minotaurs and the like can 1-hit even tanky lvl 12+ heroes (60-70HP)
-> stay out of range and finish the job in 1 turn

Gearing up with sidequests and optimizing your team is key.. then it get´s fun ^_°

[Acaios]

"With 2handed rod, you can´t use shields, so give him Armor of Tempelhof to give him some protection and a strenght buff"

I haven't tried it with the bloodknight, but with others (EC), I can unequip a two handed weapon and get on their shield, before you finish the turn.
1)equip another onehanded weapon first, then equip the shield
or
2)select two handed weapon, click unequip. then equip the shield.

thx for the tips, btw

[wespe___o=/;;;:*]

Hope new Players read this carefully and stop quitting the game before they have a great Party!! Enjoy clearing Dungeons more efficiently now.. ;D