Giltsteading
This is the art of farming and selling crops for gilt, which is planet Highseed's currency, and is used in the fabrication of turrets and upgrades.
Highseed's governing body mandates that all residents must achieve complete self-sufficiency, making giltsteading a crucial responsibility for every household.
Farming Drones
To enhance the ease of homesteading for the ordinary resident, farming drones have reached an advanced stage of development. Sadly, these drones have unexpectedly malfunctioned, and are now wreaking havoc by attacking local farms. It is imperative that you take action to safeguard your homestead from their destructive behavior.
Turrets
To fight back, you will need to fabricate turrets. These autonomous defense devices automatically fire when an enemy drone is within range, and come in various types and tiers.
There is one main quirk to note: The type of a turret is randomly selected when it is fabricated or upgraded. In roguelike fashion, randomness plays a key role in GILTSTEADER, so you are forced to adapt and work with your circumstances.
Tier-Boosting
When you have two matching turrets of the same type and tier, you can tier-boost them. This process increases the tier of the selected turret and randomizes its type, and consumes a random matching turret.
Vegals
Let's get back to farming, as it is the most effective means to acquire gilt.
Any edible crop grown on planet Highseed is known as a vegal. Your humble homestead grows three different types of vegals: bloobs, redroots, and sprouts.
They're all equally delicious and nutritious, and each one has a different price on the market. These prices shift each wave, allowing you to time your sales and maximize your profits.
However, to begin growing them, you must obtain seeds, which can be acquired through various means. Upon successfully defeating a wave of enemies, you'll be rewarded with two seeds. Additionally, you can acquire seeds by engaging in fishing, completing quests, and summoning and defeating test drones.
Fishing
If you possess a keen eye, you'll discover the hidden fishing spots nestled along the river near your homestead. Simply interact with these fishing spots and let fate decide what treasures await you. To go fishing you'll need fishing bait, and you earn one bait per wave.
You can earn seeds, gilt, and if you're really lucky you might even find an upgrade credit while fishing.
Upgrades
If you are unable to come across any upgrade credits during your fishing endeavors, there is no need to worry! You will be rewarded with one upgrade credit after every five waves. These valuable credits can then be utilized to acquire a range of enhancements for your homestead.
Quests
These missions primarily revolve around the turrets and vegals that are currently on your farm. For instance, upon planting 20 vegals simultaneously, you will fulfill that quest and receive a small number of seeds as a reward.
Some quests are harder to complete, such as having all tiers of a turret type fabricated at once, or having every type of a single turret tier simultaneously fabricated.
Completing multiple quests is a great way earn more seeds, plant more vegals, and stay ahead of the curve. The predicament posed by these quests is the potential need to delay upgrading specific towers, leaving you vulnerable to losing lives if your defenses are not strong enough.
Test Drones
An alternative method to acquire seeds involves summoning test drones. These mechanical beings are unsuccessful prototypes of companion drones, and they have proven to be more suitable for target practice. However, if you fail to defeat the drone before it reaches the conclusion of your homestead maze, it will take some of your lives.
Super Drones
On every tenth wave, you will encounter a super drone. These drones possess significantly more health compared to the regular farming drones, and they will genuinely challenge your defensive capabilities. Failing to defeat the final super drone on the last wave will result in the end of the game.
While there's much more to discover and master within GILTSTEADER, you're now familiar with the basics and ready to do your part in stopping the drones from destroying planet Highseed.