Is Alpha 13 harder?

[Nat20]

I keep getting killed, is it just me?

[Corvum]

I have the same impression. The attacks are brutal.

[gooddecision]

I'm having a tough time getting a game off the ground!  I've been trying different strategies as far as what I build first, how big, what I study first… etc. No matter what I do, it's pretty much the same story:  I race as quickly as I can to gather resources and build anything resembling a dungeon, and then the Tree Spirits block all the wood… and then I'm attacked by a Cyclops… Then a tribe of Humans… Then a Dragon. 

I found Alpha 12 challenging but doable, but 13 seems much more aggressive.  Fighting end-game monsters within the first 5 minutes of game play is a little frustrating.  I think I might put this game down until the next update.

[Nat20]

So far my only Alpha 13 run with any success was when I decided to play it more like adventure mode. I took my keeper and wandered the map, killing everyone, only stopping to build a library to get Master Sorcery. But any other strat leaves me in a situation where I'm attacked, keeper is too weak, and my current crew can't handle.

[gooddecision]

Yeah, I watch your videos!  I've tried the same thing, it's kinda fun, especially if you can sneak in a cave and grab a legendary weapon right off the bat… but what attracted me to this game was the dungeon building aspect.  I've actually been save-scumming files when I actually do get a dungeon built, just to replay and mess around with different ideas but so far the only thing I can do to stay alive in alpha 13 is to take my keeper and just run.

Keep making videos! They are awesome.

[miki151]

I toned down the difficulty of dragons and cyclops and tree spirits a bit. But I see a fair number of won games, so I think it's ok.

[Ximplicity]

I keep dying due to lvl 17 human knights coming and attacking me before I've even got an army. Or even if I do have a few vampires and werewolves, they are level 10ish/12ish and get walked all over. This last one I hadn't even gotten my library fully built yet. I've won 1 time, though technically it should be 2 more, the game crashed on me at least two times as I was winning. 🙂

[gooddecision]

Seems like sometimes its just bad luck.  I had a rough streak for a while when I previously posted, but since then I've won a handful of games, and been able to conquer at least some forces in even more games before getting trampled over. 

I think if Dragons and Cyclops aren't actively hunting you at the very beginning of a game, the balance feels really good.

I will say if I see an army of humans coming for me, unless I'm fairly close to endgame power I know I'm a goner, but I'm ok with that!

[miki151]

All attacks have their reasons and are caused directly or indirectly by the player's actions. Later on I'll make sure the player is aware of them, one way or another, perhaps the attackers will announce it before killing the keeper 🙂

[gooddecision]

That would be really cool.  Interesting way to learn what to do/not do.  Great idea.

[Ximplicity]

That would be fantastic. I alter what I'm doing a little bit from game to game, trying to figure out if something I do causes it to happen, but last game literally I'd mined enough for a largish training area and got enough trees for a 4×5 library and a 5×5 beast lair. I'd started mining some more and hear that the humans are coming. I hadn't even gotten a bear or werewolf yet to defend myself, so just turned the speed on fast and watched them destroy my imps on their way to my library. I'd gotten enough mana to learn crafting. If I can get a nice defensive area to build my dungeon, and get enough time to build up a bit, I am pretty happy, even when I usually lose soon after that. But when it happens at the start of the game it gets frustrating.

One thing I think would be interesting or fun would be to have levels of well, not diplomacy perhaps, but make it so that the dragons go hunting the dwarfs or cyclops goes after the lizardmen. Or the two human tribes attack each other or gang up on the lizards instead of on me all the time. 🙂 It might be interesting to be able to forge an alliance with the dwarfs, or elfs. Or bribe the cyclops with mushrooms to attack the humans. 🙂

[Nat20]

I need to remember to look at the individual posts and not just the front page XD.

Yeah, I watch your videos!  I've tried the same thing, it's kinda fun, especially if you can sneak in a cave and grab a legendary weapon right off the bat… but what attracted me to this game was the dungeon building aspect.  I've actually been save-scumming files when I actually do get a dungeon built, just to replay and mess around with different ideas but so far the only thing I can do to stay alive in alpha 13 is to take my keeper and just run.

Keep making videos! They are awesome.

Thanks for watching my videos, i'm glad you enjoy them. The flaming sword swipe was one of my favorite moments of KeeperRL, once you get a legendary weapon on your keeper he becomes a beastly warrior. Buffs help too lol. When you make a dungeon you're happy with you should send a copy so I can check it out in adventure mode =).

All attacks have their reasons and are caused directly or indirectly by the player's actions. Later on I'll make sure the player is aware of them, one way or another, perhaps the attackers will announce it before killing the keeper 🙂

More awareness of what causes the attacks would likely lessen the difficulty of learning the game. I'm sure it's possible to make a dungeon/army that will rise to the challenges that are thrown at me, I just haven't found the effective way to build that yet. Best I've done is make a lone keeper who rises to the challenges, but he is so lonely….so lonely.:P

[Ximplicity]

yeah, it was your streams that got me hooked initially. Now I want to try the roaming keeper and see if that works at all. I tried a few times, but got clobbered by a dragon trying to steal a nice sword, then by an elven archer I didn't see until it was over. 🙂

[Nat20]

yeah, it was your streams that got me hooked initially. Now I want to try the roaming keeper and see if that works at all. I tried a few times, but got clobbered by a dragon trying to steal a nice sword, then by an elven archer I didn't see until it was over. 🙂

Stealing a nice sword from the dragon is risky but worth it (feels real good to succeed too since it is not the easiest thing to accomplish), the occasional archer may get you on your initial journeys ( I sometimes get sniped on scouting trips, but usually not with my keeper. I understand how easy it can be to let those dirty elves get the drop on you). I would recommend getting a little bit of wood, build a small library ( nothing permanent even) and research some sorcery. Keeper is much more viable with spells even w/o a super sword.

[Feniks]

I had the most success with going for big dromitory and big 16+tiles training room. I ended up getting tones of orcs and with them I was able to defend my base quite well. I even managed to repel green dragon admitably he probably got bored than me repeling him but still I survived. My biggest problem with this strategy is gold I ended up paying fortune for them to stay with me now I got few vampires and werewolfs and destroyed human raid easily.

As to early tree spirit it is easy to avoid just make sure you don't cut too many trees in one area and you are safe. have 3-4 zones to cut them and you will easily have enough.

[Author]

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