This is the worst adventure, it's unfair, it's impossible (et cetera)

I've only tripped up on a couple of the campaign adventures, one because I am an all dwarf party, and just not geared for lots of rapid movement to get to the duke in the back corner hiding behind his dogs. That was a very tough one to get past.

The other one is the puddings/skeletons final battle. The skeletons almost always seem to have the card that stops all damage from slicing weapons, and then the puddings have armor that always nullfies crushing damage...two of your three players are melee weapons and it's rather difficult to get the cards when needed. Also, the generally open layout of the map guarantees that pretty much you were getting nailed by all 5 monsters every round. The group move cards ensured that even though they were slow monsters, they would be on your party within 2 turns. I ended up having to hide in the entry corner, to limit their access as much as I could, throw the 4 points of fire damage to everyone card twice, and try to stack the deck for armor melting/memory loss cards to get rid of one or both armors. Exceptionally challenging final battle. If I didn't get exactly the right draw, there was just no fending off the damage/dealing enough before their health boosting and armor rendered my damage output ineffective. I did get past it, but it was certainly more of a grind than a challenge.

 

I think this and Pools of Slime should have their levels switched; slimes + skeletons is far harder than stronger slimes + zombies. Not only are you unable to specialize in one damage type, but Only Bones also trumps Penetration.

 

I cannot progress any further than the last boss of Lair Of The Yellow Dragon, it's just utterly stupid and frustrating. I am now in a position of having to log in daily and check the shops to get the cards people have suggested...is this what the game is meant to be like?

 

No, you can now replay all the other adventures (or MP )for better equipment and practice.

 

Thanks but no thanks, the game ceased to be fun after about level 6 or 7 and became more and more frustrating....time to move onto something else. I might come back for a look in a few months to see if anything has changed as the concept is pretty cool and a unique. Note to developers - frustration leads to boredom which doesn't equate to $$ in your pocket, I realise this is beta and thing's may change come release but seriously, tone down the higher levels...retrying again and again with the same result is a waste of time.

 

The very definition of madness.

The scales fell from my eyes when I realised that not only should I be changing my gear, but also my party. I stuck with the "traditional" Dwarf Warrior, Elf Wizard, Human Cleric and battered myself against several walls. Walls made of Trog Spears, mainly, but that story's been told. Once I had a more flexible approach, some things that once were 'impossible' became possible.

Sometimes you need to think outside the box. Depending on what the battle is, you could change up your party to take advantage without having to grind for specific items, I think.

I'm sorry to hear that the game has turned you off so much and I hope you come back soon with some fresh faith!

 

Going from Monkeys to a Yellow Dragon is like going from out of the cooking pot into the fire...I shudder to think what lies beyond these dungeons. I do think I gave the game a good bash, did come here for advise when struggling/failing and changed strategy to suit as best I could with what I have available but the game, for me, at higher levels just isn't enjoyable. I might start a new party of Elves now that I know what the game is about, at least if I make it to the Yellow Dragon of utter Frustration again I'll have more than a Dwarf and 2 Humans to play with.

Edit: I am picking a paying player would have a much easier time with all the good gear they get from the pizza dungeons....perhaps that's the developers intentions?

 

Relax, you are at the (beta)endboss already. That guy is supposed to be hard.

 

All the gear from the pizza dungeon can be obtained in game, they are just guaranteed when you beat that dungeon. All of them are fairly fun and easy compared to monkeys or dragon. (So maybe that's why non-playing customer get more frustration).

About beating the dragon, first make sure you have a build that can reliably reach him. (Easily beat the first 3 map without retry). Then build a deck specifically for the dragon. Stun (Anvil Strike) is very useful for your warrior. If not, load him up with as many All Out Attack as you can, the rest of tokens goes to weapon to maximize dmg output. armour and block card are useless in this fight. (Except Parry for your warrior). If you have Toughness on dwarf, use it. The rest of 0-token items goes to items with the most trait, effectively trim your deck, ensure that you reliably draw attack card.

On Priest, if you have the Impenetrable Nimbus, stack it. Otherwise, stack up the best attack card. Don't bother healing unless it's a Greater Heal. Get 1 or 2 Mass Frenzy and Unholy Wellspring. Martyr Blessing for your tank. For wizard, stack up Mighty Spark and Obliterating Spark with the +2 spark trait. The rest of arcane item goes to discard spell. Short Perplexing Ray is the best one in that slot. Don't bother with terrain attachment or low dmg force bolt. Big Zap + Arcane Aura for more dps. Take Leadership on all your humans to filter out any non-attack card (trading default movement for another attack card.

During play, position each character so that they can unload all of their card in their turn. Bait out attacks to parry/toughness/nimbus whenever possible. If you couldnt get the dragon down by the beginning of round 3, he will out-dps you. By the end of round 2, if a char has unloaded all of his attack, feed him to the dragon.

 

I just did a sort-of tally. Looking at people who contributed just one or a small number of adventures at a time, and who said variations on "wow, this is/was hard," we get these votes:

Dungeon of the Lizard Priest (level 4): 1
Beneath the Frozen Earth (level 7): 1
The Compass of Xorr (level 8): 1
Lord Stafford's Treasure (level 8): 1
Melvelous the Magnificent (level 8, treasure hunt): 2
Gladiatorial Arena, Finals (level 9): 2
The Viscous Tombs (level 10): 1
Goblins in the Woods (level 11): 2
Descent to the Core (level 11, treasure hunt): 2
Tree Forts of the Goblin King (level 12): 1
The Tomb of Tvericus (level 12): 1
Temple of Scales (level 12, treasure hunt): 2
The Jewel of Alet Zhav (level 13): 1
Shrine of the Astral Guardians (level 13): 1
Return to the Astral Shrine (level 14): 1
Lord Batford's Manor (level 14, treasure hunt): 2
Secret of the Gnome Lords (level 15): 1
Attack of the War Monkeys (level 16): 6
Temple of Terror (level 16): 4
Into the Black Forest (level 16): 3
Lair of the Yellow Dragon (level 17, treasure hunt): 2

A few things to observe. First, the game clearly gets more difficult beyond a certain point. Second, there currently is a lot of displeasure with War Monkeys. Which is worth noting: just before I started this thread, it was The Compass of Xorr that got people to "inform" Blue Manchu that if they drive away customers then they won't make money. They did indeed lower difficulty toward the start of the game, then also raise it toward the end: we'll see if War Monkeys get any editing.

 

Add my vote to the War Monkeys. I've beaten everything else (Xorr and the Yellow Dragon were a bit hard but not terrible), but **** those monkeys. I've wiped too many times on the last encounter and have no desire to go back unless they re-balance. I expect Dragon to be hard because it's the last level. But monkeys? Really? Every time I try to kill one they steal my **** or dodge; and they get so many move cards you can't terrain attack them well... Not sure what the strategy is there.

 

BTWs: For the Yellow Dragon. I managed to trap him in the area nearest the entry and hit him with a few lava terrain while hiding in the narrow hallway. Not sure if that was terribly lucky or what but it might be worth trying.

 

I kill the dragon everyday for loot and this seems to be the best strat. I also try to get some encumber on him and force out move cards round 1. That way I can start using lava early and he is around 50 when he gets to me. Then I just wait it out, looking for double All Out Attack or Impenetrable Nimbus. It is tough, but not impossible, I was able to get the no deaths quest this way.

 

I got stuck on War Monkeys, started a new party and bought the expansion levels, since the levels you can play depend on your characters' levels. Geomancers are the worst. Stuck on the Descent to the Core expansion level, and there just aren't enough cards out there to defend against the second room of this one. It's ridiculously unbalanced.

 

Sounds like you don't have enough move or cleanse cards. Farm MP for a few days while checking the shops and I'm sure you get what you need.

 

Finally beat core, but not because of cleanse cards alone. I had them equipped in every spot possible, though only had one character who could use them. Still unbalanced level IMHO, but beat it by a lot of luck, casting a stone wall at the bottom of the center area, then having it expanded by the geomancers, using the rockfall areas as shelter from the lava and acid, and cleansing as much lava as possible.

 

The trick of that level is to stay on the Rock Terrain. The AI wont override it (as long as you stay on it. If you leave rock terrain, always have a back up move to get back. Use ranged and careful navigation to kill off the geomancer. Never rush melee in.

 

Ok, so i feel guilty for coming back here so soon, but OMG Wyverns! I aced the first three Wyvern levels without any difficulty, and now all of the sudden I'm just completely leveled by the Adult + 2 Juvenile + 4 Baby Wyverns. I've tried Step Warrior/Lava Wizard/Healer Cleric; Step Warrior/Smoke Bomb&Armor-Destruction Wizard/Healer Cleric; and Big Hit Warrior (7x gold attacks that deal 11+ damage)/TK-Winds&Armor Destruction Wizard (to get them up to the Warrior)/Buffer Cleric, and I'm just getting flat-out creamed. Even with Akon's Amulet and several Acid spells, I can't seem to keep that Grounding Plate down, and those damned Infected Bites are just ruinous.

Any ideas?

 

The other trick to this level is resistant hide. A few of the geomancer levels I beat with my wizard alone because he drew the hide and then it was GG.

 

I just beat this one and I completely understand what you are talking about. I managed to win the final battle by getting Resistant Hide onto my wizard and then having him only move when something came next to him (i.e. to bite). I found that sticking to the walls helped minimize the damage from Wild Spark and surprisingly this was a good level to use Counterspell (which I haven't found too useful before now).

Between Counterspelling away their attacks and perplexing away their armor, I was able to whittle them down to just one Young Wyvern vs. my wizard. Then it was a race to see if he could bite me (or I draw Jarring Block) before I could get rid of his armor and finish him off. My warrior and and cleric did a good job of reducing the opposition with buffed penetration attacks, but I probably could have played them better or adjusted the build for a more solid (less-Resistant-Hide-dependent) win.

I beat it on my first try and I actually found the pack of baby wyverns to be the most problematic with all their little bursts of damage, but maybe that was just me. I was never able to keep Grounding Armor gone for more than two rounds so it really became a battle of attrition. I was also able to get good use out of Wall of Fire since I could usually get them to use up their move cards and they never seemed to draw that many in the first place.

Hope this helps.