The best way to enjoy most any game is to jump in and have fun however I thought making a small(ish) help topic here might be useful to some.
Forward: The In-Game Help Section
First and foremost, there is an in-game help section you can access at any time while playing on the main screen. All you have to do is press "H". Wow!
Fight Monsters, Not the Controls!
A big focus on this game was to make the controls as easy-to use as possible. To that end, 90% of the time you'll be using either the Arrow Keys or Space Bar to perform various actions in the context menu. Here are the controls, and what they do:
- ARROW KEYS- Move your guy around, or move the cursor around the select things
- SPACE BAR- The 'Action' / confirm command. Press it while on or near something you'd like to interact with. For interactions that don't require Stamina to perform, the action with be handled immediately (i.e. opening a barrel). If there are several possible interactions then a small context menu will appear on the right side of the screen for you to choose an action from.
- I - Opens up the Inventory screen for you to mess with. Pressing either I or ESC again will close said screen.
- W - Wait 1 turn. Can be used to regain stamina after a few go by. Sometimes waiting a turn has tactical advantages with monsters or retractable floor spikes too. Be careful if you're poisoned as each turn that goes by will injure you a bit.
- S - Special screen. This will show your characters known combat skills as well as any current effects he or the current floor is affected by. Equipped items often have hidden properties to them and they'll be listed here too.
- H - As mentioned earlier, this will bring up the in-game help section with some nifty hints and tips.
- ESC - You can press ESC from the main screen to have the option to save and exit your game right then to continue later. Your current run's game length will also be displayed here. Pressing ESC most anywhere else in the game acts as a 'cancel' action too.
Character Creation
Though the demo only has the Warrior available, I'm going to list all 4 classes here for when this thing comes out in November.
Choosing a Class
The most important part about your character is the job he has. Classes differ from each other by stat gains, combat skills learned, gear that can be used or equipped, and other inherent passives. So pay attention to this bit for sure!
Warrior- Your mean fighting machine, all about weapons and armor. Too busy kicking ass to go to school, he isn't the brightest star in the sky.
Pros- Can use almost every weapon and armor in the game (including two handers), is the only class who can use Axes. Very high HP, Stamina, STR and CON growth.
Cons- Very weak vs. magic effects and damage, can't use magic wands. Low DEX growth and zero MAG growth at all! Has the greatest chance of failure while attempting to brew potions.
Combat Skills- Scream (level 1), Rage / Hunker (level 3), Decapitate / Inner Fire (level 6)
Thief- A sneaky criminal, luckily the monsters all around you are more evil else they'd be after you for sure.
Pros- Can use many weapons and armor, can attempt to steal from shops. Has a very high DEX growth and no real downsides, stat-wise. A thief will also have the option to Inspect a treasure chest to see if it's a monster instead.
Combat Skills- Pickpocket (level 1), Silent Slash / Poison Dart (level 3), Drops / Counter (level 6)
Wizard - A master of magic and this game's cover model. Unable to use most weapons, armor, and shields at all he'll be relying on his spells most of the time to survive. They have the highest MAG growth but very low STR and CON to go with it. Wizards can convert any unwanted items you have in your pack to XP.
Pros- Wizards are devastatingly strong in many situations, converting items to XP levels you up really quickly early on in the game.
Cons- You'll have low HP and Stamina for quite a while, Anti-Magic floors can rob you of your main source of offense
Combat Skills- Magi Slap (level 1), Blast / Barrier (level 3), Fireball / Freeze (level 6)
Cleric - A guy who's a lot tougher than your average priest, he's here to kick ass in the name of the Lord! They can use any blunt type weapon (including two-handed blunt weapons) and most armor and shields. Their specialty is destroying undead monsters.
Pros- Can use lots of armor and weapons, and have good growth in everything stat-wise. Burying bones awards more XP for clerics than the other classes, and they're immune to the fear that undead cause. His combat prayers are not affected by an Anti-Magic floor's powers.
Cons- His piety prevents him from opening coffins or digging up graves. Has lower than average DEX, making it tough to hit things sometimes.
Combat Skills- Pray (level 1), Firey Wrath / Heal (level 3), Status Shield / God Ray (level 6)
Select Provisions
The next step is to choose which 3 of the 5 items listed you'll want to take with you at the start of your quest. Each is valuable in its own right, but what to choose lies solely on you and your playstyle.
The possible provisions differ by class, but are always the same 5 items for those classes.
Pick a Bonus
You can choose a helpful inherent bonus, or no bonus at all. Choosing "No Bonus" means you won't have to choose a negative "Bane" effect next. The 4 possible bonuses are always the same regardless of character class:
- ATK +1 - Deal +1 more damage with your melee weapons or fists
- Sack Drops +1% - Increases the likelihood of an enemy dropping a loot sack by 1%
- XP +15% - You'll gain +15% XP from killing enemies or other tasks that award it
- Gold +25% - You'll gain +25% more gold than usual throughout the entire run
- No Bonus - Opt not to take a bonus, and therefore not choose a Bane next
Pick a Bane
If you chose a starting bonus then you must choose a starting Bane, or negative effect, as well. The 5 possible banes are always the same regardless of character class:
- Unlucky - You're a little more clumsy, a little less apt to have things go your way
- Minor Plague - Begin the game affected by a weaker version of the plague
- Max HP -3 - You'll have 3 less maximum HP. Not a hot idea if you have low HP already!
- Child Support- Before you start acquiring money you first have to pay off that $25 you owe!
- No Items - Removes the 3 provisions you chose prior
Upgrading Gear
Upgrading your equipment is a fine and useful thing I suggest everybody do if possible. As you might expect, the aptly-named UPGRADE DUST is most likely how you'll be able to do it, though there is another and much more rare way to get the most out of your gear that'll remain a secret for now.
Unlike practically every roguelike I've ever played, upgrades in this game won't simply add +1 damage to weapons or +1 defense to armor and etc. Does it happen? Sure, but those instances are few in the grand scheme of things. The game has a total of 273 base items to work with, and approximately 230 can be upgraded if you'd like.
So, things to keep in mind
- You'll need at least one Upgrade Dust
- You'll need at least one upgradable item that isn't fully maxed out (+3 is max)
- Heroic Items are already good enough and can't be upgraded ever. A Heroic Item has a flashing green name tag and is right impossible to miss
As a general rule of thumb, upgraded gear increases the strengths of a given item. Sometimes the negatives of a given item are increased as well for balancing's sake (ex. an Axe has an inherent Hit% penalty so upgrading one makes this worse while still increasing its damage). Some items will even gain a brand new mod when upgraded that they don't have in base for (ex. the regular Staff gains +Hit% upgraded while in base form it's just has Attack and Block %)
NOTE: Sometimes you'll even find pre-upgraded gear from chests, enemy loot sacks, and crates. No Upgrade Dust required!
Brewing Potions with a Chemistry Set
Though this is mentioned in the help section I saw a recent playthrough where the player didn't know how to use the set to brew potions, so here we go!
Requirements
To (attempt) to brew a potion, you will need a Chemistry Set and the necessary ingredients. The ingredients will of course vary depending on what type of potion it is you aim to create. Chemistry Sets are pretty common and almost always offered for sale at Shops found in the early game. If for some reason you miss picking one up early don't worry- they can also be found in crates, though at a lesser rate.
Any potion you want to make's first ingredient will be some sort of Bottle. Most of them require an Empty Bottle but this isn't always the case. You can find or buy two types of Brewing Lists which will tell the player what ingredients are required to make the different potions.
I wanna' brew, baby!
So you have a Chemistry Set and the necessary ingredients do you? Then simply select the Chemistry Set and choose "Brew X" from the little menu, where "X" is replaced by a little bottle icon of the color of the potion you're trying to make. All the ingredients you will consume upon brewing will also be highlighted in blue.
Possible Failure
It's unlikely but entirely possible that your little chemistry experiment will fail, causing an explosion that deals 10 damage to your guy and the total destruction of your ingredients. Luckily the Chemistry Set itself is sturdily made and will survive the blast. Chance of failure is a closely guarded secret, however I CAN tell you that the dumb Warrior has the most chance of go boom while the smarty-pants Wizard has the least. Either way the chance is still relatively small for everyone.
Combat
Combat is handled in this game mostly via first person combat one-on-one style. You will have up to 6 possible battle actions, which will vary depending on your equipped weapon, offhand item, class, and character level. Different weapon types will have different combat abilities. For example a knife will give you a stronger 'stab' ability that increases damage and critical hit% whilst a sword gives you 'aim slice' which has reduced damage but much greater accuracy.
Almost all combat actions require stamina (STM) to perform. If you reach 0 STM and become tired all of your regular attacks will do a piddly 1/10th of what they usually do. Many types of shields will give you a 'defend' ability, which raises defense temporarily and lets you recover a small amount of stamina back. If you have The Warren Peace book equipped then reading it in battle will put you to sleep for that turn and give you +3 stamina back.
Some other items may even have more special properties to them. For instance a Rapier sword allows for a dodging combat ability yet will also automatically counterattack the enemy upon a successful shield block. This alone makes these weapons great to pair with a high-blocking buckler!
NOTE: Sometimes a weapon with low damage might have a useful secondary battle action to it, a great example being the Club. At +2 ATK it might not seem too great but it can 'Smash' enemies and reduce their defense by a whopping 5 points. WHOPPING!
Treasure!
I mean this is kind of the whole point, isn't it? Treasure and interesting items to find was one of my two main things to focus on in this game, so here we go!
Gear Types
There are 6 types of gear that can be worn on your character:
- Head
- Body
- Weapon
- Necklace
- Offhand
- Ring
The head slot is for helmets of course! Hats and hoods count for this too. This is also the best way to cover up your ugly mug when you get pimples.
The Body slot is for your main armor or robes. Sometimes a piece of armor will also come with its own hood or helmet (ex. Chain Mail) so that graphic will show on your guy instead of whatever helmet he currently has equipped. If you'd like to make an armor's included hood or helmet graphic hidden, simply select the equipped armor from the body slot and choose "hide". If you change your mind later do the same thing and choose "show".
Weapons can be either one or two-handed. If an equipped weapon is two-handed then any shield you may have in the offhand slot will be unusable.
Necklaces are magical jewelry and kind of on the rarer side. Don't worry if you don't find one for a while- it'll be worth it when you do!
Offhand items are mostly (but not always) going to be a shield of some sort. Other item types that can be equipped here include gloves, chicken stones, and books. If you decide to equip The Warren Peace then this is where it'll go too.
Lastly we have the Ring slot. Though your brave Xtoli adventurer has 10 fingers he can only wear a single ring for whatever reason. Rings are pretty common, and have a wide range of various powers and abilities.
Item Rarity
From the most common to the rarest:
- Common (grey text)
- Rare (blue text)
- Unique (orange text)
- Heroic (flashing green text). These can't be upgraded as they're good enough!
Additionally many items that can only drop from a defeated monster are classified as 'Enemy Drop' and have a pink text. The Warren Peace is a special item onto itself and therefore as the only Quest Item it has an aqua blue text to it.
NOTE: In the event an item can drop from an enemy or fished out of a pond (i.e. a skeleton's arm bone) it's still classified as an enemy drop.
In Closing
So there you go! New demo owners will for sure want to know this stuff. The two biggest things I noticed while watching streams were that most people either didn't know (or use) the Specials screen or realize there's an in-game Help section. The more players who know this, the better!
-Dave / Del_Duio