Endless Mode (Drill Pod) Survival Guide [DotE v1.1.5 + DLC]

How to get to Level 24 (And Beyond!) using the Drill Pod!

Also Includes: Achievements that can be unlocked while playing the Drill Pod Campaign.

This is NOT an in-depth guide to the game!

Guide Overview + Unlocking the Drill Pod

Dungeon of the Endless Drill Pod Guide

By Miles Traysandor

Current Guide Version: 1.12.2 (Final)
Compatible For: Dungeon of the Endless v1.1.5 (Including DLC+Secret Characters)
Completion Update: December 18, 2016

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Overview

This guide was created to help players survive in the Endless Mode, also known as the Drill Pod, and unlock as many achievements as possible in the process!

Important: If you are having trouble in Dungeon of the Endless with completing the game or are looking for an in-depth analysis of all the heroes/enemies/modules/weapons/etc... please refer to one of the other Guides posted here.

This Guide will assume you have completed the game's Pod modes at least few times and know more or less what to expect from the game in general.

GUIDE UPDATE NOTICE: December 18, 2016

Dungeon of the Endless Version 1.1.5 has been out for the better part of a year now. I am now going to consider this Guide to be finished until a new update is released.

Guide Strategy has been tested and verified to work as of the most recent update.

- Miles Traysandor

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Guide Version History

Version 0.1 - Work In Progress (Section Creation and Editing) December 2014
Version 1.0 - Guide Work Finished and Released to the Public - 12/21/14
Version 1.0.1 - Fixed spelling and grammar errors, minor editing -12/22/14
Version 1.01 - Additional Editing, Added new survival tips for Floors 17-23 - 1/14/15
Version 1.02 - Started to add screenshots to the Guide - 1/19/15
Version 1.03 - Dungeon of the Endless 1.0.40 Patch Released. Doesn't seem to affect Guide's Strategy, but had to temporarily suspend posting screenshots. - Early PM 1/20/15
Version 1.04 - Finished posting Screenshots for all floors - Early PM 1/21/15
Version 1.04.1 - Deleted/Fixed a few duplicate screenshots I noticed. Minor editing. - Early PM 1/21/15
Version 1.05 - DotE Patch 1.0.43 Out. No effect on Guide. Edited Floor 17-23 Strategy for more details. Had to give 17-23 screenshots its own section due to editing constraints. - Early AM 1/25/14
Version 1.06 - DotE Patch 1.0.63 is now released. It doesn't appear to affect the Guide's strategy. The damage decrease by Tear Gas isn't noticable really.- Late AM 4/22/15
Version 1.07 - DotE Patch 1.0.71 is now released with new classes! The Team Fortress 2 team is here and ready to kick some butt! - 7/16/15
Version 1.07.1 - Minor Editing and wording changes.- 7/25/15
Version 1.07.2 Strategy objectives added. Strategy update at the top. Additional minor editing, adding a few small things. - 8/10/15
]Version 1.07.2.1 - Cleaned up Version History, condensed older updates and re-numbered Versions - 8/28/15.
Version 1.08 - DotE Patch 1.0.88 Released. Aside from the new special shop, I don't think anything major has changed about the game and the overall guide strategy other than that. - 10/28/15
Version 1.09 - DotE Patch 1.1.0 Released. No major effect on Guide. - 11/24/15
Version 1.10 - Strategy update related to Version 1.1; Some editing, mostly in the form of moving a few things around, but also adding a few small things here and there - 12/21/15
Version 1.11 - DotE Version 1.1.03 Released. Purchased Rescue Team DLC and updated Team Options section. - 02/29/16
Version 1.12 - DotE Version 1.1.5 released. No impact on guide, just a few minor bug fixes. - 4/26/16
Version 1.12.1 - Completed another Drill Pod Campaign. Updated a few screenshots. Some minor editing. - 6/12/16

Version 1.12.2 - Minor Editing. Until another update to this game is released, this Guide is now Complete. - 12/18/16

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Unlocking the Drill Pod

You have to win a game with the Armory Pod in order to unlock the Drill Pod. This shouldn't be too hard to be honest, as Armory Pod makes your characters strong and bullky.

Playing the Armory Pod is however a bit different, since you will be very limited in Industry, and you won't have any offensive Modules to choose from. In return, you will have a number of free Weapons at the start of the game. Throw them on your characters!

Keys to Victory With Armory Pod: Food, Science, Neurostun, Tear Gas

Before You Start FAQ (Mod, Team, Difficulty, Tips, & Achievements)

Gameplay FAQ - What Playing With the Drill Pod Means:

- You do not start with any Modules at all except the Prisoner Prod. As such, Level 1 of Industry, Food, and Science must be manually researched before you can build them!

- All modules are available and can be researched up to Level 4.

- The game itself plays out like any of the other gameplay types. You will encounter Heroes, and normal items will spawn. The main difference here, is as stated in the description, the game does not have an end to it. You play until everyone dies or the Crystal is destroyed. However, you can consider the game to be "Over" after completing Floor 23, as the final achievement is unlocked upon entering Floor 24. You can keep playing if you wish after, but there are no further ingame achievements related to it.

Team Options: Who should I start a Drill Pod Campaign With?

You will probably want your starting heroes to be two Operator Heroes:

The only character to have Operate at Level 1: Wes Davoun
These heroes get Operate at level 3: Josh 'Ntello, Opbot DV8, Rakya Pulmoni
These heroes get Operate at level 4: Warden Mormish, Kreyang, Max O'Kane, Hikensha, Nurse Deena Ratchet, Golgy Phurtiver, and Elise Ness, Dell Bradford
The only hero to get Operate at Level 5: Zugma Walker

All other Heroes do not get Operate (Without an "All Operators" stele or an item that enables the Operate ability)

Here's a comprehensive list of all recruitable heroes, what they're best at, and how useful they are in the campaign

[Start] - Recommended to start a campaign with.
[Early] - Best in Floors 2-8
[Mid] - Best in Floors 9-15
[Late] - Best in Floors 16-23

Max - Jack of All Trades - [Start:] [Early] [Mid] [Late]

Sara - Fast / Door + Crystal Runner - [Not Recommended at any point]

Gork - Tanky DPS - [Early] [Mid] [Late]

Deena - Pseudo Jack /Team support - [Mid] [Late]

Opbot - Repair / High Wit / L3 Op - [Start] [Early] [Mid]

Hikensha - Pseudo Jack / Door Runner / Good in Dark - [Start] [Early] [Mid] [Late]

Troe - Strong Start / AoE - [Early] [Mid]

Golgy - Fast, Op/Repair - [Early] [Mid]

Skroig - Great Attack / AoE - [Early] [Mid] [Late]

Rakya - L3 Op / High Wit / Module Support - [Start] [Early] [Mid]

Ken - High DPS / Loner - [Early] [Mid]

Joleri - Good Defense/HP/Atk - [Early] [Mid] [Late]

Warden - Back Row Op - [Early] [Mid]

Elise - Tank / Frontline Op - [Early] [Mid] [Late]

Nanor - Good HP + Def / Support / AoE - [Mid] [Late]

Josh - L3 Op / Best Wit / Support - [Start] [Early] [Mid]

Mizi - Best Loner - AoE - [Mid] [Late]

Keyrang - Research Ops - [Early] [Mid]

Dell - Module Hero [Early] [Mid]

Pat - Fire and Flames [Late]

Misha - OMNOMNOMSANDVICH - [Early] [Mid] [Late]

Kaspar - Team Support - [Mid] [Late]

Rosetta - AoE King - [Mid] [Late]

Zugma - Tanky Frontline Op / Dust Smuggler [Early] [Mid]

Wes - Only L1 Op / Luck Shenanigans / Pseudo Jack / Crystal Haste [Early] [Mid] [Late]

Sasha - Monster Catcher (Bonus "Hero Monster" in a pinch) [Mid] [Late]

Ayairi - Door Runner / Back Row Op / Pseudo Jack [Early]

Esseb - AoE / Dust King / Resources [Start] [Early] [Mid]

Easy vs. Too Easy?

Manually change the difficulty to Too Easy before you start. It provides a fair challenge, though it does get pretty hectic once you get to Floor 20+.

Easy difficulty is actually incredibly difficult. I have tried on numerous occasions to get a game past Floor 7 with the Drill Pod, all have failed due to the high monster count. Even when things were going well, I still got a bad wave and was steamrolled. Play Easy at your own risk.

General Gameplay Objectives, Tips, and Help - Drill Pod

General Objectives:

1. Unlock Major Modules as soon as you can, as well as your heroes' Operating potential (Even if you dismiss the Heroes or they later die)
2. Stockpile some Industry, hire heroes until team is full.
3. Research Modules and Key Upgrades. while levelling your team up somewhat.
4. Upgrade your equipment as necessary, fully research all Modules, then level your entire team up to the maximum
5. Once everything's maxed out: Stockpile resources for the last third of the game
6. Survive until Floor 24!

To have the best chance of succeeding in this Game Mode, explore each floor as much as possible up until about Floor 13-15. You will need all the resources you can get to survive in this game, If you find the exit, great! Keep that exit in mind, but continue exploring as much as you can. Although you may want to get out of there if something bad happens, such as getting your rooms EMPed, getting a bad Stele (Keep your Distance is particularly bad), having a Hero die, or if the enemies are just becoming too much to handle.

If you find an item from a chest called the Dust Box, keep it on one of your characters! In addition to having a good Defense boost (for a Tools item), having it equipped when you exit a Floor will allow you to keep 10% of any Dust you collected on the previous floor to and carry it over to the next floor (Adding to your starting total). It will help out a lot, especially in later floors in getting your defenses and Modules set up.

Which Achievements Can I Earn While Playing Drill Pod?

All Achievements can be earned regardless of difficulty, as long as the qualifying conditoins are met during gameplay.

- Endless Mining (Reach the 24th Floor using the Drill Pod)
- Maxed Out (Level Up any Hero to Level 15)
- Medpack Addict (Spend 1,000 Food Healing Heroes in any game)
- Too Much Is Not Enough (Build Any 50 Modules on a single Floor)
- Rocket Scientist (Research all Upgrades to Level 4)
- Elevator Song (Defend the Elevator Room for 60 seconds after bringing the Crystal to it)

When you're ready, click on the Start Game to get tis show on the road!

Floors 1-4

Floor 1

Now that the show's on the road, start throwing doors open, killing monsters, and lighting up rooms!!

What you want to do is find an Artifact ASAP and Research any one of the Resource Modules (Food, Science, Industry) as soon as you can afford to do so.. You may need to reset searches a few times before the desired Module pops up.



With Max in your party, you should have enough Science piled up from throwing doors open to get Level one for at least one resource module unlocked, preferably two. Getting your resource producers up and going is a top priority! (Ignore everything else for the time being)

Level up your Operator to 3/4 as soon as you have enough Food to do so and throw them on any Module as soon as it's unlocked.

Note, if by the end of Floor One you haven't researched at least one resource module (Bad Luck with refreshing modules), Abandon your game and try again. You should have at least one resource module unlocked by the end of the first floor.

Once you've thrown all the doors open, light your way to the exit, then grab the Crystal and make a break for it!











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Floor Two

On this floor, you're going to want to prioritize Industry, throw your Operators on those Modules. If you have not yet researched it, make sure you do so ASAP! Build a Science and a Food module if it's unlocked. Food will be a bit scarce at the moment, and you'll probably meet your first hero for hire on this floor. In most cases, you'll want to hire whomever you meet on the spot and let them do the exploring while you turn your original heroes' focuses on Operating.



Modules to build: 2 Inustry (Operate), 2 Science, 1 Food

You may want to start tossing Prisoner Prods in rooms that your Heroes will be Operating or camping in, they'll give some extra defense and are cheap to build at only 3 Industry

By the end of Floor Two you should have at least Level 1 of each resource module unlocked (Food, Science, Industry), though it's not the end of the workd if you're missing Industry.

If you find a Merchant, try to buy/upgrade as much equipment as you can afford.






























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Floor Three

On this floor, you're going to want to prioritize Industry until you've stockpiled about 300, then plumb as nuch Science as you can for the rest of the floor. If you've already cleared 300 Industry on Floor 2, you shuoldn't need the Industry module on this floor.

Modules: 1 Industry, 2 Science, 2 Food.
Operate Industry (To 300 only), Science

Research: Make sure Level 1 of Food, Science, and Industry are researched. If you see Resource module upgrades, grab those first. Industry can wait if you're short on Science.
To Consider: Neurostun, Tear Gas, Kip Cannon, Prisoner Prod.

Find a Merchant? Milk him for all you can.







































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Floor Four

By now, your Industry should be under control and stabilize around 300 if you build smart and use your Heroes and kill rooms effectively. On this floor and the next few, you're going to want to go full researcher.

Modules: 3 Science (Operate), 2 Food.
If Industry falls below 120, build an Industry module and Operate it until you get back to about 300.

Research: Resource Upgrades, Neurostun, Tear Gas, Kip Cannon, Tesla Cannon, Prisoner Prod, everything else.

Kill Rooms: Prisoner Prods will do for now. (With Tear Gas or Neurostun if it's unlocked)

By the end of Floor Four you should have a team of four levelled to at least 5.

Barter with the merchant for whatever upgrades he has, or sell off your unused junk for extra resources. You will need it.

Floors 5-8 + Elevator Song

Floor 5

On Floor 5 you will want to prioritize Science, like the previous floors . Set your Operators to milk as much as they can out of the modules!

Modules: 3 Science (Operate), 2 Food. (Mechanical Pal if it's unlocked, but low priority)
If Industry falls below 100, build an Industry module and Operate it until you get back to about 300.

Research: Resource Upgrades, Neurostun, Tear Gas, Kip Cannon, Mechanical Pal, Tesla Cannon, Prisoner Prods, everything else. Keep in mind researching something will also reset the modules you can research. So it may be more viable to research the cheapest module and wait a few turns.

You should probably start to build kill rooms wherever your Heroes will be camping right around now. Fill them with Neurostun and Tear Gas if you have them unlocked. Kip Cannons won't be too useful until later on, but you'll probably want that upgraded sooner rather than later. Toss in Prisoner Prods for now.

Find a Merchant or a good Hero to hire? You know what to do.































Achievement - Elevator Song - Defend the Elevator Room for 60 Seconds After Bringing the Crystal to It[/b]

Requires: A Lot of Dust for a Fully Lit Exit Path, Neurostun Modules.
Preferred: Monsters go theough at least one Kill Room on the exit path, Tear Gas and Prisoner Prods/Kip Cannons in exit room if necessary

This can be done on any floor, best to find one where the exit path is mostly straight with not many side rooms. Light up as many rooms between you and the exit as possible. Then, throw up a bunch of Neurostun modules, one for every room between the Crystal and the Exit. Between Neurostun and having a kill room set up, you shouldn't have too many monsters to fight while you wait out the required 60 seconds. Once the achievement pops up, you can pop the Crystal in and be out of there!

If a bunch of monsters make it into the Exit Room before the 60 seconds is up, burn your Hero Abilities to kill stuff. They will refresh instantly and your Heroes will be fully healed when you start the next floor!












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Floor 6

Again, like the last floor, you want to focus on Science and use your Artifacts to research as much as you can. On this floor, try to get your primary attack and kill room modules to Level 4., but if that's not possible, just research as much stuff as you can.

Modules: 3 Science (Operate), 2 Food (Mechanical Pal)

Research: Level 4 Resources, Neurostun, Tear Gas, Kip Cannon, Tesla Cannon, Mechanical Pal, Everything Else.
































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Floor 7

Much like Floor 6, you're going to be going full Science again. This time though, we want to focus on getting the most expensive Science projects still left on the Research charts.

Modules: 3 Science (Operate), 2 Food (Mechanical Pal)

Research: Level 4 Resources, Tear Gas, Neurostun, Kip Cannon, Seblaster Tesla Cannon.
Then go full major modules such as Emergency Generator, LAN, Shop, etc. Research the most expensive things you have the Science for.




















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Floor 8

By now, the bulk of your Science plumbing shold be just about done. As usual, you'll want to research anything you have left over the next few floors, and stockpile enough Science to make your Kip Cannons good (Kip Cannons max out at about 150 Science, assuming Level 4). You'll want to start to shift your attention over to plumbing Food so that you can level your Heroes up to max.

Modules: 3 Food (Operate), 2 Science (Mechanical Pal)
Research: Seblaster, Most Expensive Stuff Left.

Floors 9-12 + Maxed Out/Rocket Scientist

Floor 9

Note: As an interesting fun fact, Floor 9 is the earliest I've completely maxed all Module Research in a Drill Pod game.

You'll now want to turn your full focus on Food, because for the extended play, you're going to want all of your Heroes at max level. Level them up as soon as you have the food to do so. If you see a hero out there you must have, or if one dies by accident, consider hiring them, even if you have to chuck out a current party member. Just make sure you unequip any Hero you plan on dismissing, as you permanently lose any equipment they have on if you let them go. (Keep your Operators around though)

Modules: Food x3 (Operate), Science or Industry (Only if below 150, Operate it)

Kill Room Contents: Neurostun, Tear Gas, then Kip Cannons (As many as you can cram in)
- If only 3 Minor Module Spots: Tear Gas, Kip Cannon x2
- If the enemy has a lot of minor module attack enemies, you may want to throw in a Tesla Cannon or two in a buffer room to soak up the damage if a hero isn;t nearby.

Research: Seblaster, Most Expensive Stuff Left



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Floor 10

Much like the previous floor, our heroes are super hungry and we need to cram their bellies full of food to make them good and strong!

Modules: Food x3, maybe x4 (Operate), Science or Industry (Operate if below 150)

Research: Most Expensive Stuff left




















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Floor 11

The strategy here is much like the same as it is for Flor 9 and 10. Go Full Food. You should be pretty close to maxing all research now (Most likely, all that's left is mostly useless stuff). and your Heroes should be level 13-14, with 15 not too far off.

Modules: Food x3 maybe x4 (Operate them), Science or Industry (If low)

Research: Whatever's Left

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Achievement - Maxed Out - Level Any Hero up to Level 15

As soon as you level a Hero to 15, this one will be yours. You'll get this between now and Floor 13. You may have gotten this one in a previous playthrough, but playing Drill Pod will assure you of it if you go all the way.



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Floor 12

You will be pretty close or at max level for all your Heroes by the end of this Floor. Also note that from here on out your team will pretty much be fixed, as you won't run into many Heroes after this floor.

Modules: Food x3 (Until everyone's Lv. 15), Industry x2 (Operate after),

Research: Whatever's Left, if anything.

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Achievement - Rocket Scientist: Research all Upgrades to Level 4

If you've plumbed a lot of Science and got a little luck with the Artifacts, this should be very doable by the time you're done with Floor 12. If not, don't despair, you should be able to get this in the next floor or two. As long as the important stuff is researched, you can knock out whatever's left in the next few floors. Personally, my record is Floor 9, but it's not critical to get it done that early.

Floors 13-16 + Too Much Is Not Enough

Floor 13

We're at the halfway point, congratulatoins! Your Heroes should all be at Level 15 by the time you're done with this floor (If they weren't maxed already). You should also have all your Research wrapped up by now. If not, get that finished up as soon as you can too.

On this floor and the next few, we are shifing our strategy around. We want to milk as many Resources as we can out of our Modules. 300 won't cut it anymore after Floor 12. You want to send all of your resources to at the very least 1,000.

Specifically, Industry will become our most important resource, as we'll need it to build the support modules and defenses necessary to keep our Heroes alive. You can never have emough Industry once you get to the second half of the game!

Modules: Industry x3 (Operate), Food x2, (Operate food If Heroes are not maxed yet)

Research: Whatever's Left. You should be maxed out on everything by the time this floor's done, or very close to it.




















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Floor 14

Much like the previous floor, we're again going to be going full resources, with a primary focus on Industry. Even more so than the previous floor. Our kill rooms will start to run out of steam soon, and you need to prepare to modify your tactics appropriately.

Modules: Industry x3 (Operate), Food x1, Science x1

Research: You should be done by now, but if there's anything left, knock it out now, so that you can ignore artifacts for the rest of the game. This will also unlock Rocket Scientist if you haven't already done so.

By the end of this Floor, you should have well over 1,000 of all resources in the bank.


Achievement - Too Much Is Not Enough
This is a good time to knock out this Achievement. All you need to do is build 50 Modules of any type, major or minor, in a single floor. Modules that get trashed by the enemies count towards the total too. Prisoner Prods cost the least amount of Industry to build out of all Modules, so once you've cleared the floor and are ready to exit, place a bunch of them in empty module slots until you see the achievement window pop up! Then grab that Crystal and get out of there!
























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Floor 15

This is more or less your final chance to stockpile any more resources. The big waves are coming very soon (If you haven't seen some already), and the kill rooms won't be able to handle them without help any more. This might be the first floor you start putting your Hero abilities to good use to help you deal with mass amounts of monsters.

Modules: Industry x1, Science x1, Food x1, Tactical HUD x1, LAN Module x1



====================

Floor 16

By now, your resources should be plenty, and our strategy is now going to shift to help you survive from here on out. Kill Rooms and Heroes need to get better if you're going to live to see Floor 24. Your Operators should more or less be completely done now, but if you find yourself a bit low on Industry, throw someone on that right away!

The Key to victory now lies in making use of LAN Modules, which will increase the Defense of all Modules on the floor, allowing them to tank more damage. Likewise, adding Tactical HUDs will allow your Heroes to do more damage to the enemies. This will especially be handy if you need to burn Hero Abilities in the later waves!

Modules: Industry x1, Tactical HUD x2, LAN Module x2

Kill Rooms: The usual Neurostun/Tear Gas/Kip Cannon stuff, but only in rooms your Heroes will be camping in Otherwise use Tear Gas, Neurostun, Seblasters for large hordes, Teslas for the crystal enemies, Smoking Guns if you see the rhino enemies in faraway rooms

Once we leave this floor, you're two thirds of the way there! Keep at it Soldier!

Floors 17-23 + Medpack Addict

Floors 17 through 23 (General Tips for Survival)

Note: Screenshots for this section are posted in the next section due to editing limitations

This is where the game starts getting serious about killing you.These last few floors, you want to focus on survival and getting the Crystal to the exit as soon as possible. On these last floors, there's no reason to explore the map to build up more resources. What you have is going to carry you through to the end, for better or for worse.

By now you should have long since maxed Research and Hero Levels, and be flush with resources (1000+ in everything, preferably 2000+ in Industry). Be prepared for whatever the game has to throw at you, because it's gonna get nasty! This section covers some of the most useful things to keep in mind to help keep you alive long enough to win!

The most important resource to have is Industry, and in the last 8 floors, you can never have enough of it. 1000 is the bare minimum, but I strongly reccomend you have much more!

Your Modules on these floor should consist solely of Lan Modules and Tactical HUDs. If you find yourrself burning too much Industry, build one at the start of a floor and Operate it as much as you can for that floor.

You likely won't find any more Merchants or Heroes to hire from here on out. So be sure you have the best stuff on, as you may be leaving a few things behind that you can't carry. If you do find a Merchant, make sure you unload all your stuff onto him, because the next wave of enemies that spawns will probably kill him off. The same goes with any Heroes you might meet, however unlikely. If a hero dies, you probably aren't going to find another one to replace him/her/it.

Dust will start becoming harder to find by exploring rooms, though you waill gain more Dust from killing things. Also the exit becomes harder to find, usually requiring you to explore most of the dungeon to find the exit. You will find Dust Factories on some floors, and it's always a good idea to activate them. Most of the time it will help you out a bit.

Make sure you use your Hero abilities if things look dicey. Especially as you explore the floor, the monsters will progressively get more numerous as you go deeper into each floor. You can reset your heroes' abilities instantly with all the Science you have stockpiled up by clicking on Restore on the Character Page). Keep spamming the abilities until all the monsters are dead, then reset them for the next wave of baddies. If Max is still around, his Run Away skill is useful for putting out fires (Such as the rhinos in far away rooms, the Room Camper enemy spawns, or getting away from the anti-hero snake enemies)

Modules to Build flor Floors 17-23 - 2x LAN Module, 2x Tactical HUD, Any Resource (If under 1,000)

Operating: You want to Operate either Tactical HUDs or LAN Modules to further boost your offense and defensive capabilities. If any resouirce falls below 1000, build a resource module and milk it for all you can! Don't forget your Mechanical Pals too, as they will help further boost the bonuses of Tactical HUDs and Lan Modules by a little bit.

Dealing with the Enemies

Don't forget about your Hero specific abilities. You will need them in order to clear out the enemies. I strongly recommend you find a Hero that has an ability to damage everything inn the room, as that could save you should a large group of enemies make into the room where your Heroes are camping out.

As you progress through the later floors, your Modules will need upkeep. The crystal spike and crystal golem monsters will come to trash your Modules, and it's important to save as much equipment as possible without risking a Hero dying off. You will need to send someone with the Repair skill to fix up stuff that's been damaged after the enemies have been dealt with. Make sure you rebuild anything that gets trashed before you deal with the next big wave of enemies.

If worse comes to worse and all hell breaks loose, let the enemies trash your modules first. You can always rebuild your stuff after you've killed everything off, and it's more important to keep your Heroes alive.

Kill Room Contents (With Heroes)
Tear Gas, Neurostun (Only in large rooms with 5+ Minor Module slots, or rooms where you're planting your Heroes), The rest of the Minor Module slots should have all Kip Cannons

Buffer Room Contents - Weapon/Enemy Specific

Tear Gas is mandatory for pretty much every room you plan to put offensive modules in. They'll allow your Modules and Heroes to do more damage or spam AoE effects to clear them all out. Neurostun is great for large rooms, working with Tear Gas and Seblasters. The buffer rooms will also distract any Crystal enemies while you deal with the nastier stuff. If you have 5 or more open Module slots, stick a Neurostun in there too.

Tesla Cannons: These will help you out should Crystal Spike enemies spawn, because the Crystal enemies will focus attack on (And sometimes destoy) your attacking Modules. At the very least, they will distract them while other monsters file through into the kill rooms.

Smoking Guns: Use these in faraway rooms if you start seeing the rhino enemies, especially if you see them heading for doors you haven't opened yet. They will chase those jerks down if your Heroes can't make it there in time to kill them off.

Seblaster: These weapons will damage everything in the room, and are great for late-wave hordes, where a lot of stuff is going to filter through a particular area all at once. Placing several of these in a room with Tear Gas will rack up a lot of damage quickly against large groups of enemies.

Late Game Strategies

Once you get to Level 20, you will probably be spamming Hero abilities a lot to help you clear out the later waves. Use your stockpiled Science up to restore your action abiliities. You WILL need them. You can use them as many times as you need, so feel free to spam them over and over until everything is dead. You need to keep your Heroes alive as long as possible!

Level 22 and 23 are particularly tough to keep heroes alive during the big waves, as your Heroes will begin to take a lot of damage from big waves, and can very easily die if you're not careful!
Try to hang in there though! I was super lucky in my second playthrough of this to get screenshots, and got god tier Level 22 and 23 exits, but don't expect the same results I got.

Backup Strategies (In case your heroes start dying off):
You'll probably need to lean more on Backup Generators and building more offense modules to make up for lost Hero(es). At this point it's probably worth building an Industry Module or two and milk it as best you can, since keeping up more modules becomes very taxing on your Industry stock. Keep your Heroes close to a central point (Ususally the Crystal room), and if big waves come, rally them to one room (Or even the Crystal Room) and spam those abilities until everything's dead. Then regroup, figure out what the enemies trashed, and prepare for the next big wave. If you find the exit, it's a REALLY good idea to grab the Crystal and get out of there before things get worse. Sticking around on the leater floors is not recommended, as casualties are extremely likely.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Achievement: Medpack Addict -[/b] Spend 1,000 Food Healing Heroes in a Single Game[/u]
You will probably burn a lot of Food keeping your Heroes alive during the big waves in Floor 20+. Don't be afraid to spam the Heal Hero button! Better to keep your Heroes alive! It'll at very least go towards the Achievement...

Floors 17-23 Screenshots

Because of the character limit in editing the previous section, I've now had to move the screenshot collectoin to its own sectoin.

Floor 24 And Beyond

Floor 24+

Achievement: Endless Mining - Reach Floor 24 with the Drill Pod

Now that you've reached Floor 24 with the Drill Pod, you'll unlock this achievement as soon as the floor is done loading and a new Pod to play with, if you haven't already unlocked it by other means!

You can now quit at any time you like, or you can keep on going for as long as you want until either your party gets wiped, or the Crystal gets destroyed. To be honest, if you've gotten this far, odds are you can probably keep playing the same way that got you this far until you get bored or die.

In my experience, you'll have a very difficult time staying alive in floor 24 and beyond, even if you spam Hero Abilities. Eventually you will run out of resources, or suffer bad luck and your Heroes will get steamrolled by the ever-increasing amount of enemies.

At this point, there isn't anything else that this Guide can show you that's of importance. It is very possible to keep everyone alive to this point - I have done it several times in writing and maintaining this Guide. But from here on out, it's more about using what you know about the game, and getting the Crystal off each floor as quickly as you can. Sticking around on these floors is just asking to get you murdered.













=================

End of Guide Feedback

Do you have any Questions not covered by the FAQ or in the Guide?

Any Comments?

Did I miss something?

Do you have a tweak to the strategy that I haven't thought of?

Please post it in the comments below!

June 2016, Miles Traysandor

[Rhyn0]

Thanks, found this guide very helpful.

[I'm Batman]

ohh yes

[astaldo1977]

Very well written, helped a lot.
I started with Max and Nanor and at the later floors I finally got my dream team together with Esseb and Gork joining.
Combining Nanors Cooking with gas, Essebs Dust drainer and Gork being in a killing room let the dust rain on me.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2498660615
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2498660334

[kreigerj]

Followed this guide and it totally helped! Especially breakdown of which characters to pick up along the way.

[Duvodas]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1704762162

[Duvodas]

I just reached level 24 on my first try. On very easy difficulty it came out very easy indeed. I didnt even needed the ressources i piled up and didn't use the ability refresh button more than 10 times. I ended up with around 4k industry/science/food each.
My setup was Rakya and Opbot from the beginning. At around level 16 I replaced Opbot by Mizi Kurtiz. My final team was Nanor, Mizi, Rakya and Ken. Therefore I had 3 heroes with strong ae dot abilities, Rakya as operator with 20 wis until the end, Ken as very hard hitting fast running door opener and with Nanor and Mizi two room holder with huge defense and high dmg abilities (both had "Me first!" ability from Hipster Scarf respectively Ahhrrrmani Suit, I highly recommend these items!) Very useful very also Aftershave and Third eye on Ken (have to be switched though).
Its also important to leave as many rooms unlighted as possible to fight enough monsters to farm dust in the later levels.
Thanks for your hints as well!

[Quisty]

Thanks! This guide helped me a lot. The only thing I did differently was operating shops with merchants in the late levels.

[iPoweRx]

You should add - OP item

[Tier S] = if you find them don't lost them
Dust Box = Bring 20 Dust to Next Floor
Third Eye = Only if you don't have Max O'Kane, But Every one bring him at start...

[Tier A]
Aftershave = causes the mobs to ignore the character completely, safe door opening, COMBO with Gear Check, safe for front line operator. The Best in game is DON'T die
Hipster Scarf = my kill room is 1 tanker + 5 tear gas
Ahhrrrmani Suit = same as Scarf

[Tier B]
Dove = add some speed for crystal run, Group Therapy
Executive's Armband = don't sure but I don't like it
JPad = Only if you can't effort 2-3 LAN Module
HGTTG = if you go 3 operator
Surviving Kit, Tools Belt = only if you don't have hero that can Repair
Orange Jumpsuit = add speed for crystal running
Zone Device = good for slow mob, great combo with Aftershave

[Garbage]
The Time of Sands = Don't Risk to die, just spend some industry for your life.

[iPoweRx]

Thanks for this Guide, won in second attempt with this guide.

https://imgur.com/a/01ssKWE

[EDDIE]

Thanks for taking the time to write this, i've been trying to pass floor 24 for ages now