Ballista Only is actually Easy Mode in Rogue Tower

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Laconic Granny Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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[@DestinTheHero]

Oogie /will/ come down the longest path, but there is one exception. If you extend the longest path, he will come from the second longest path instead. You weren't lied to, you were just not given the entire mechanics.

[@groot6830]

That was mentioned in a previous comment on another video. Maybe was missed...

[@pontonius]

@@groot6830 I was one of the people who mentioned it. He should read the beginners guide on Steam lol

[@PotatoMcWhiskey]

Aye aye, I just misunderstood

[@power2ix605]

@@PotatoMcWhiskey you mean "Aye just misunderstood"? I am sorry

[@achtsekundenfurz7876]

40:45 _LOLOLOLOL_

[@davidbodor1762]

13:57 - Not lied to, he does come down the longest path except it's Longest path that you didn't expand in the round that he comes. You should always expand another route on round 15, 25 and 35

[@MrMolova]

Oogie comes down the longest path, so long as it is not the one that you have just clicked EXPAND on. Though the patch was a while back so these must have been recorded a while back too. ❤️

[@5cake97]

I maxed out mana bolts yesterday and was able to get the win, albeit I needed almost 400 m/s. I also tried to get range maxed as early as possible, which gave my early towers a massive amount of free upgrades.

[@JG-df1qd]

Just did one to medium, needed 137/S and was frequently at 0 mana. It seemed to get drastically harder once I took the mana option.

[@Levantinyx]

@@JG-df1qd the issue with mana bolts is that the cost scales with the numbers of towers you have firing at once, if you go for a few ballistas to single target bigger enemies while AoE towers clean out the trash it can be good as you get massive base damage for your big multipliers but if you spam ballistas they heavil increase the base cost as you need mana reg per ballista and will only be able to sustain it with mana banks aka 500g/1manareg

[@GiggleMuggins]

This game is just so satisfying to watch. I really hope you keep uploading long form videos like this one. Very soothing, top tier content.

[@joshsimpson1283]

I think it also helps that this game can be played in a single session, and you almost never reach a state of "churn" (admittedly the last couple of expands this time felt like kind of a forgone conclusion)

[@KielOrtega]

Yooo Potato...thanks for also getting me "addicted" to this game. Finally made it to the final level tonight...and died. Feels like crit is essential in this ballista only build, I've never really been able to get above 25% on x3 but then again I get screwed on the cards. Your community comments have been helpful, esp on where Oogie will spawn and making maze choices re: that. Would love to see your take on shredders...I think they're my favorite tower.

[@TimeofMinecraftMods]

It's so much better to build more towers earlier than building few and leveling them high. This is because every tower that is placed gets passive XP after being placed. Effectively you get extra income when compared to only building fewer towers and having less passive XP in total.

[@Unimportant]

The counterpoint to this is if you want to specialize. The first level of any specialization is very cheap so it may be worth it to get the first few cheap levels of the specialization you want for your unit.

[@brandonzzz9924]

@@Unimportant I usually do 3-4 levels for shield and armor ballistae just so that they don't inflate the price of future upgrades by gaining health damage levels when there aren't any armor or shields. Not sure if it's the best strat, but it feels good

[@the_hate_inside1085]

If you upgrade the dot max ticks, highly upgraded specialized towers with high crit, is the only way to keep up the dots. It all scales really well together. Just add upgraded towers spaced out along a long path, and watch the dots do the work.

[@SirVeratir]

You weren't lied to by oogie, its just that he doesn't spawn at the line which you extendet, so make one long line and at 14, 24 and 34 DON'T extend the longest line :)

[@rhystaylor851]

"The greatest crowd control is death" what a metal quote

[@DellikkilleD]

Its also best way to heal. based mmo strat.

[@jordanyoung706]

Thank you for giving into peer pressure Potato.

[@hieracium3317]

"Things you don't understand should scare you." And there in 1 sentence the problems of the modern world.....

[@Skycroft1000]

13:55 The longest path _apart from the one you just expanded_ I believe.

[@simonwest80]

Came to say this

[@hermannkokos6795]

Every comment I saw under other comments included that phrase, yet potato still misses it…

[@hermannkokos6795]

*videos, not comments

[@dracish123456789]

I believe potato will get it eventually.

[@Xelakrats]

This is correct. He also comes on waves 15, 25, 35, and 45, so you need to make sure you are not extending your longest path after waves 14, 24, 34, and 44

[@the_hate_inside1085]

Specialization on towers is key to get good scaling IMO. Massive hits in one of armor/shields/health, means you get massive crits, which in turn results in massive dot numbers on the mobs. When you upgrade the dot ticks per second, you need big hits or the dots will not be kept up. Slow also scales on the size of the hit. This is most important far out in the maze, closest to your keep, maybe it is ok to level two damage types on some towers, three is heresy dough! Seeing big chunky crit numbers flying, is also very satisfying.

[@davidbodor1762]

59:51 - Range can be very dangerous though in that it causes a lot of overkill damage to happen. It's an issue with ballistas and especially with Radio towers that the increased range makes it so that your towers aim for the same unit, rather than spread out the damage across multiple units. This happens even if you set your priorities to be different, since often the most shield also has the most hp and also is the slowest and may also have the most armor. Having multiple priorities set up in order can mitigate this to some extend, but with ballista only runs I've encountered this issue quite a lot. Small mobs like the rockets and eyeballs can mess my towers up big time, making them hit the same targets and waste a lot of damage.

[@brandonzzz9924]

I've found that overkill doesn't matter into groups nearly as much as I thought it would. It seems like ballista bolts keep flying if the enemy dies before they get there, and I know for a fact that ballistae can hit the wrong enemy because their target is body blocked by another enemy. I do agree that it gets very tedious to set up prios to minimize inefficiency. Maybe more specific targeting patterns that allow for increased efficiency would solve that problem. Also, the planes are definitely way too hard to optimize targeting. I doubt that a radar only run is even possible.

[@davidbodor1762]

@@brandonzzz9924 To some extent, yes, but the projectiles don't fly much farther than their original target. The mobs have to be very close. I did radar+ballista and there are ways to use planes effectively, I recommend putting the Slowest as the first condition and then putting Most Armor Most health or Most shield most health, basically just two most's to make sure they're firing at something with a decent chunk of HP, so there isn't a large amount of overkill damage - In the sense that one plane volley would deal far more damage than some targets have hit points. I also avoided range upgrades past I think the first one, and spread out my radar towers on all of the corners of the map, on high ground ideally, even the towers that spawn near the end of the game. The extra base damage is really useful.

[@achtsekundenfurz7876]

I didn't find "slowest" of much use except maybe target spread. Usually, you want "most X" on towers with many levels in X damage, "fastest" to slow dangerous foes, "least Y" for stuff your tower is weak against (say shields if it's an anti-armor tower) but only if it's the outer layer. If it's the inner layer, don't. "Near death" can be OK, but it's a % affair. "Least health" is usually far better for early kills (to reduce the # of targets) or as a last resort near your castle. "Cull the weak" setings: LH/LA + Prog, Fast, or LS Anti-armor: MA/LS + Prog, MH, or Fast Anti-health: MH/LA/LS or MH/LA/Fast New target priorities would be nice: burning/not burning, same with bleed/poison, then maybe least progress, split-on-death, and summon.

[@davidbodor1762]

@@achtsekundenfurz7876 Slowest is very good at the end of the game when the portal minions start appearing. You want to kill them quick before they spawn stuff and they're almost always the slowest minion around.

[@brandonzzz9924]

@@davidbodor1762 I’ll have to try that. Radar seems like a good tower to only have a few of, but it’s so satisfying on long maps

[@wolframstahl1263]

I present to you the CONTINUUM CHALLENGE: You can only build towers on spots directly adjacent to your main tower or to towers you've already built. Every tower must have an unbroken connection of towers to the main structure at all times.

[@brandonzzz9924]

You take your vile quips elsewhere. Henceforth I am obliged to waste hours away in excessive pursuit of an unattainable goal

[@brandonzzz9924]

or hope that the path loops back a lot i guess?

[@Azzaciel]

It's actually easy enough now that i did the 1 path ballista only Achievement without ever changing my ballista targeting. Yes, did the full 45 waves with only progress targeting. Took some luck that the path split and then came back around to my Tower so my base Ballistas actually could get some levels while also thinning out an entire part of a wave.

[@Unimportant]

The game really ramps things up in increments of every five rounds with either having them be boss battles or the introduction of new, more powerful enemies into the mix. So whenever you're at a number that ends with 4 or 9 you want to make sure you are ready for the coming storm,

[@Arminmillionaire]

Oogie comes along the longest path, but not the path you just expanded.

[@Xelakrats]

There are two times when an enemy can spawn additional enemies: 1) when they get close to your base (I think there is just one robot enemy that does this, but I could be wrong) 2) when a health bar is depleted (this is the most common) The battering ram for example will spawn adds when it's health hits 0, while the portals will spawn adds when each of their bars (shields, armor, and health) hit 0

[@Deshiba]

There's a third option. When armor or shield gets depleted. The robots do this, but also the flying portals. The flying portals do it on both shield and armor getting depleted. There's also a fourth option on brain Oogie that just spawns mobs periodically. like every xth second

[@cthulwho9125]

Another Challenge Idea: The Snow Queen's Layer. You are allowed to use any Tower, *however* you have to have the entire Path Covered by at least one Frost Tower.

[@Eliconean]

I don't know, that seems to be too much mana intensive to be actually feasible.

[@cthulwho9125]

@@Eliconean but It's gonna Be interesting to *try* to See If it is feasible

[@Eliconean]

@@cthulwho9125 You know what! You're right. Gonna try that as soon as I clock off work - and post results here if I remembe to do that :D

[@TimSedai]

A single mana bolts is fine. Siphons, few banks, and sorcery will keep you topped up on a Ballista only run. Don't risk the 2nd upgrade unless you're over 80 mana p/s and the 3rd unless youre over 130. Even then the numbers scale as you place more AND level towers. Good luck man. Got my no Ballista and ballista only wins yesterday. Still haven't managed beating lv 45 in triple defense though

[@tyquinbainbridge4990]

Bro was talking about fears and the upgrades then all of a sudden insults my mum

[@mm0013]

Congrats for beating it. Houses are def. worth it IMO. The important part is also, that there are always houses on a map. Banditry is a card you have to choose. Sometime you get Banditry very late. Houses are always there and can get pretty much the same gold income in the end as Banditry.

[@jpgiants21]

I'm not sure how to do it right, but towers sell for the current cost not purchased cost. Ex: the econ towers were bought for 100 and sold for 1000. There might be a way to place a bunch of random towers, buy one you want to keep, then sell the rest to make money. Could be a fun spiffing style exploit video if it actually gives a decent amount of money.

[@brandonzzz9924]

It doesn't really work. You can totally use the strategy that Potato used to a greater degree, just selling towers to move them, but you can't ever make money because you are just recouping a loss. You will technically make money on individual towers, but always break even, or lose money if you spend on upgrades. Plus you can't gain any advantage even if you do make money because the next tower always costs more to place Alternatively, you definitely can cheese if you have fast fingers and buy towers at the beginning of the path then sell and replace them by the base tower on hard levels.

[@thelars1569]

Congratz! Was absurdly involved in this jouney. The real one tower challenge would be only ballistas, so no universities

[@davidbodor1762]

1:33:10 - If you want a challenge, how about "What is the least amount of towers that you can win with?" And I don't mean types of towers, I mean just towers. I reckon the shredder might be the best option for this challenge, but it'd need a lot of testing to see the exact number you need.

[@jordanyoung706]

Obelisk and tesla, one of each

[@davidbodor1762]

@@jordanyoung706 I was thinking about that, the main issue is that the obelisk has a tiny bit of a delay when switching targets, so you lose some dps there, you'd have to rely a lot on the Tesla tower to mop up small units. Which granted it does very well, but I don't know if one would be enough. I'll have to try it.

[@jordanyoung706]

@@davidbodor1762 After your comment, I did a challenge run. Ballista only allowed next to Houses and on top of Fortifications. Only one of each other type of tower. It was actually my best run of the day.

[@Marksmaan]

I always dump extra money in houses since it doesnt make any sense to hold some money. If I need it, I'll demolish a ballista or 2 and then when money comes back, I'll put it back.

[@r2dezki]

Here's a Civ6 analogy: Mana bolts are like if you tried to get more science in civ 6 by just getting more people in your empire.

[@generictimestamperstupendi9021]

skimmed 44:00 have them ATLEAST one open space.... reasonable roll the dice 1:00:36 found smooth cam 1:30:14 "i learn a game so well i can play the bad strategy" thars a motto 1:31:38 can troll and get manabolts

[@ToUnderstandAFool]

All our sustainable power tech boils water. That's how we do it. We boil water.

[@mortuos557]

oogie comes down the longest path that hasn't been expanded last turn. afaik, held true until now for me.

[@tehbing8753]

Love your content on rogue tower! Would like to see more videos on it, keep up the great work :D

[@JMD501]

I think you need some towers targeting lowest health earlier on the long paths it should thin out the big groups. Good call.

[@saskatcree1]

I don't know if anyone yet did the math or if you did it yet but I did it a while ago and basically if you surround every house with max spawns on 1 lane start. They will pay for themselves by round 18. After that they just pump out money after that and heavily outweigh the +10/lista cost for future rounds.

[@colinkeller]

Really enjoying these Rogue Tower runs!

[@vincentbrussee9568]

It's definitely possible to go mana bolts + ballista only. I've not maxed it out to lvl 4 yet, but won twice now with mana bolts up to level 3. Crux is to slightly over-invest in mana buildings/cards, since the moment you run out is the moment you die - it's easy to be caught off guard by some of the major level spikes and then suddenly what was barely stable mana turns out failing you.

[@PotatoMcWhiskey]

Its only 3 now I think

[@wagrimm]

I actually bought this game after watching you play, best advertisement. Have you played around with the Air Raids? They destroy all the Oogies almost instantly

[@pietsnot1566]

lol whole comment section about where oggie spawns

[@JamesMichaelDoyle]

i have done a few ballista only runs successfully now, but i did a successful ballista only run with mana bolts, it was added in at the end, after i had sorcery and banks unlocked and upgraded. i also ignored haunted houses, and university. my most successful strategy is to ignore haunted houses for sure, but race the armor damage upgrades asap. if you get 1,2, and 3 that is +6 total damage to armour, you dont even need fire damage early because of this. but the important thing that gets unlocked and buffed chance to draw it, is +2 range. getting all 3 range upgrades is insane. +6 range is a game changer and lets you set up batteries that can fire into 3 different lanes. EDIT: also another benefit to racing to the +6 range, the towers gain exp when they are in firing range.

[@LTDextel]

Gratz on the victory!

[@Vanta_Blue]

Your talk about having fear about things you don't understand is the basis for a lot of homophobia and similar. The problem is a lot of people let themselves be ruled by this kind of fear, and force it on others. Being sensible about one's fears, and understanding them, is important.

[@FHL-Devils]

I've made it to L40 3 times on Ballista Only. I keep screwing up and upgrading Shields, and running out of Mana - I have the income, I just forget about the difficulty spike at L40. ADD: Just won the Ballista-Only, one spite-level of Mana Bolts, just because.

[@edevans5991]

I wonder if the eco towers make more sense when you aren't building so many ballistas.

[@Mythriak_]

@PotatoMcWhiskey have you thought on playing XCOM2 or Age of Wonders: Planetfall?

[@RundliiGaming]

Was sort of bored and came across you playing this instead of Civ so pretty much got it and its been great so far :D. Thanks

[@milna64]

From 42 to 43 your universities gave you 6 upgrades!

[@Neo0311]

Get mana bolt after mana mine and mana banks unlocked. It's for late game and its great. All 3 upgrades at +4 is a total of +12.

[@darichthethird]

38:38 - W A means literally W and A buttons on your keyboard, like navigation tooltips or something

[@timr6318]

Mana bolts can work if you don’t rely too heavily on ballistas. This is the worst challenge for mana bolts

[@lordmonochrome9735]

A no ballista achievement run for the next vid would be a good title and thumbnail opportunity

[@bartvanloock9726]

I try getting my universities up to 12% on every stat and then just try to put down as many towers as you can without lvling them up. Now it is time to get the new achievement where you get ballista only on the double and tripple lane maps

[@groot6830]

Mana bolts is the exception and not the rule. Most games you SHOULD NOT take mana bolts and definitely never if you're never winning. I'm winning about one in four/three games of ballista only.

[@AwesomeNuke]

Just an FYI for 18:35 when you're breaking down the damage of your tower: The effect percentages (burn, poison, bleed) don't mean "50% of the damage dealt is X", it's +50% of damage added as X damage on top

[@1509Freeze]

Three tile challenge? Tesla tower has you covered. I really think would be awesome, one or two really high level teslas should do it. Also, is that a new thing, that no houses spawn away from the tower?!?

[@Treak0]

Ahahahaha yes I need more of this content. I too have also been super addicted to this game

[@LTDextel]

Early portals are wonderful. Then you know where the earliest waves will spawn. Then you can concentrate your firepower there

[@georgeholland5052]

Fyi it is possible to mana blot III and win. thats how i got the achivement. needs a lot of planning tho. I had to reset cards to not add to draw and had to spend a copius amount on mana banks and sorcery. mana blot I after turn 25, mana bolt 2/3 after 35. mana bolt 2 is the rough spike. other than that its all the usual amount of lucky map and draws. Poison and Bleed are HUGE if you invest in them, after i get 75% burn i never touch another card of it. ALSO towers do gain xp by aiming, take mana bolts and run out of mana and you can see it. I assume its like time to shoot aim time, so for balista itd be every 3 seconds of aim time.

[@cheeseier]

I think it would be really funny if you suddenly did a no ballista challenge

[@Gaston-Melchiori]

I did a balista only run with manabolts at level 3, i almost lost every single time i leveled it up because i run out of mana almost inmediatly, mana banks and sorcery are escencial. But it was fun as hell XD

[@ZombraxSullivan]

I wish you could have some control over what tiles are placed or how they are placed

[@garroncrashhaun5533]

Yes please keep playing this game and making content on it :)

[@poizntree]

I've heard some people say the number of chests Oogie spawns is based on how many different kinds of towers hit him, but I'd take it with a grain of salt.

[@Vanta_Blue]

Gotten one chest with two kinds of towers. Gotten four chests with one kind of tower. I'd take that with a barrel of salt. =P

[@michaelalexander6064]

Balista Only IS possible and very powerful. You just have to concentrate on getting siphons, banks and % mana increases everytime those cards get offered. You have to pick those up OVER other damage increase cards

[@michaelalexander6064]

Oops I meant Balista Only with Mana Bolts....

[@Jonnysh]

don't give up on your mana bolts dream!

[@LTDextel]

I'd pick the mana cards before I'd pick any DoT cards(the global ones). The upgrade to mana banks and mana siphons is only one card while the other opens up a whole can of worms.

[@templarzt]

1:13:35 You should have open that path earlier, might lead the way to your towers on the long path, or even better, to the short path with 3 universities. Put some towers at the middle can target 3 paths at once.

[@Ceceiliapus]

I see ballista in title again again again. I click again again again. Thank you for more videos on this game. Also, hope you're feeling better, Potato! :D

[@dracish123456789]

For oogie it is The longest path you didn't expand. Unless you only have one path.

[@karmicxkoala]

In my experience, mana bolts is good if you're going tall (few towers with heavy upgrades) and bad if you're going wide. Since mana bolts works on base damage, it gets a big multiplier on high level towers

[@JamesMichaelDoyle]

other way around, they gain value with shitloads of towers. you however have to not grab them until you have your sorcery stacked to 6% and mana banks unlocked, and preferably upgraded. with all 3 mana bolt cards you are effectively giving all towers 36 levels. 12 to each damage type. more towers is where you gain the most from mana bolts. but you have to set up before unlocking them.

[@SirCorrino]

Yep, you can do that, but then universities are wasted. Since they scale so much better off many towers. You could get away with Mana Bolts in something like a ballista + mortar or ballista + encampment run where you can still do tons of damage if you end up mana starved for a bit.

[@paulspunkt959]

i like this game, i enjoy it just as much as civ. but to be honest i dont watch the videos because of the game, i watch it because i like how you play and comment your playstyle. you sound like you know what you are doing ^^ keep up the good work :)

[@joeyhemlock]

I have found sorcery and it's upgrades useful if you ever do decide to try mana bolts again. They help you build your mana back up faster! Banks up the storage but don't help the rate much; the sorcery options helps you up the rate to fill up the banks.

[@power2ix605]

I have been extremely looking forward to this episode. Also enjoyed _saving your disasters_ yesterday.

[@attonthejedi]

What I've started doing on ballista only or duo's is all of my +3 ballista's are focused on taking out shields, my +2 are armor and +1 on health. And then on my shield ballista's I alternate least health and least armor and slowest and fastest because some of those low shield low health fast bois are annoying

[@AQJ_DK]

"I have enough eco" no such thing!

[@bandgeek54901]

That was so very satisfying

[@davidbodor1762]

1:31:20 - Probably yes, but you'd have to be a bit lucky and very methodic about getting the necessary mana regen.

[@markeyestone9980]

Are you addicted to the game, or are you addicted to the ballista?

[@MegaManNetworkOfCourse]

Not having a speedup button shows nothing but the developer not respecting the time of their players. I can't even watch this video in one sitting, how can I play this game? Having speedup changes literally nothing. People that want "cinematic " playing in their static tower defense game can still play that way. People with things to do can play in 30 minutes.

[@seawolfben]

16:46 You are correct in the effect of more crit and wrong about the value of more crit. Every single additional percent chance to crit (up to 100%) increases DPS by 1% of the crit multiplier. Lets do the math: 100 damage tower with 100% crit bonus damage. 1% crit chance would make the average damage of the tower 101 (99*100 + 1*200)/100 2% crit would make the average damage of the tower 102 (98*100 + 2*200)/100 50% crit would make the average damage of the tower 150 (50*100 + 50*200)/100 100% crit would make the average damage 200 (they all crit for 200 so (100*200)/100) Every single percentage point of crit from 1 to 100 is equally good on average. The only real difference is that low percentages are very inconsistent and higher percentages are very consistent - but statistically the actual dps added is the same for every point.

[@wcouture1186]

THE RETURN OF ROGUE TOWER!!

[@benmorgan7331]

I really would have liked to see the mana bolts final pick for the rage in chat

[@evanbosco2380]

I can tell you that mana bolts maxed is possible if you haven't done it already. I actually just did it last night ironically. 350mana/sec easily sustained 50+ batista. Also had everything set to most shield/amor/hp in that order until level 42. Switched a few to fastest and it solved everything. Also spent no money on upgrades and uni's save for 1 hp and 1 shield tower for levels 15/25 respectively.

[@steve7675]

You can totally win with mana bolts. You just need to invest in mana banks and get sorcery for the additional 6% of max mana generation per second. After placing about 4 dozen mana banks you can get your max mana to around 3500 and get your generation to about 360/s. Its like using universities and getting +12 to each damage type. The gold investment is probably about the same considering universities have to be placed and upgraded significantly to reach +12 to each damage type.

[@carney7606]

Hey, hope you are feeling better, loving the new Rogue Tower content.

[@BrazenPhrasin]

Given how it seems universities clearly work, they are a bad investment. Costs so much gold to ensure a decent percentage of added damage. Its a money trap the way mana bolts is a mana trap. By my calculation you had a mere 24% chance to get a Shield bonus after the first 3 unis you built. And it cost 1,400 per uni so 4,200 gold for a 24% chance at a single +1 shield damage. Compare that to cost of levelling ballistae in strategic locations, or even all ballistae you currently own by 1-2 levels. I bet ballistae levelling costs less. But given that the game seems to roll for which stat it attempts to boost each round, its more worth it to spread the uni investment evenly if you are going to do it at all. At least then you always have the same odds to get SOMETHING for the rolls. I still think its better to forgo the uni entirely though.

[@iannay3056]

Other challenge ideas: Only one tower per expansion No manually leveling up towers Only select the first option on all cards No building towers on high ground Actually make mana bolt/only ballista work (impossible?) Some different game modes would be pretty cool to though like a non stop run where expansions happen automatically and randomly. Or a run where towers “cards” are given to you randomly each expansion example: you hit expand on round 2 and it gives you one ballista tower and one saw tower and that’s all you can place until the next expansion.

[@pontonius]

Always focus on Money -> damage by type -> Crit -> range -> Slow -> DOT -> DOT Extenders. After the 3rd tier damage type you get a 15% Crit change and a +1 to a given damage type for ALL towers, not just ballistas. That’s +8 to each damage type and 45% crit chance for 0 gold invested. Mana bolts, % crit/tower level, and Gold rush are really really unnecessary. I've been running ballistas with a few other towers to get the achievements and can consistently win in single path at least. Works on double path but you really need perfect pathing for triple path. I usually finish a single-path run with no damage to the tower so mines are worthless as are tower health bonuses. Also, I don't upgrade any tower until after level 35. They get upgrades for basically free at low levels. Save the money for an additional tower. ESPECIALLY at low levels

[@XavierTheNeonTiger]

Really, you prioritise range so low? I only have a few wins but I feel like the range makes me generate so much extra money and experience that the sooner I get it the better

[@pontonius]

@@XavierTheNeonTiger yea because the critical chance upgrades are so useful. Money is the same, no matter what though. As for XP, it just moves it to different towers by having range. Your furthest out towers get more shots on target so things die sooner and your inner towers get less XP then. But yea it’s def still useful. Guess I just prioritize other upgrades more

[@XavierTheNeonTiger]

@@pontonius you say money is the same no matter what, I thought the gold you got from a kill was based on how many towers had hit it? (And same for oogie chests)

[@pontonius]

@@XavierTheNeonTiger oh that’s possible. But I use kill zones and batteries of 4 towers so there’s no noticeable difference for me. You could have it right though

[@PotatoMcWhiskey]

They get "free" levels, but the total amount of xp is the same, spending 100 gold for like a 30-50% damage increase seems incredibly worth it to me

[@anthonydavis4957]

Excellent Run! Currently trying my hand at Triple path but usually get slaughtered on 28. I'm thinking of trying an all ballista and Lookout tower combo for it already. Can I ask how you get the elemental streaks from the arrow attacks?

[@michaelharris2178]

It was F. Scott Fitzgerald who said “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” You know you're doomed, but you fight anyway. (Yes I split your video in multiple viewings)

[@tenchiryo]

FIRST OFF im happy you managed to beat the game ballista only, SECOND OFF please dont blame mana bolts I disagree that mana bolts is a trap, one upgrade in mana bolts does fine for me. i did my ballista only run with mana bolts 2 so i know it works. You tried several new tactics this time but blamed your past failed runs on mana bolts. You did so many things differently, you played with longer paths to spread out the enemies, you got good choke points, you got good early cards. Now, not taking mana bolts has made you feel you did better which is ok but i dont like it when people call something bad just cause of ONE experience when they changed several factors in the test. You cant play basket ball on gravel in the cold several times failing each time and then play on pavement in the summer once and win and say the only problem was cause of the cold. There is a lot at play in this game, things to think about. Cards in your deck, i personally didnt bother getting anymore cards after getting enough cards to get all the passive bonuses i needed cause that means they dont show up as options in my hand. Random draws, you got no control over what you have for options in your draws so you have to make the right call with what you have. Random pathing, you have no control how a path will go, you have to find the best tower placements as you go, you need to know what path will to extend and which you will keep short, and when to extend a path so as to give a little more of a brake in your line. What will be on your tiles, you got no power over what is on your tiles and so you have to decide what to take for cards when you dont get what you need, i use a lot of mana syphons but i have to go without some games cause i just dont get the mana nodes, same with universities and houses. I just did a run to test some things, chose to not upgrade a single tower, and to not mess with any targeting on the ballistas, i got to wave 31 without touching any targeting or upgrading on ballistas only, WITH mana bolts 1. im sure if i actually messed with targeting and upgraded some towers to be better at some things i would have won that easily but i had to test some things. i never was at a loss for mana not once, never dropped below half, only built ONE mana bank. didnt even need it, just got side tracked of thought and built one. Mana bolts. if you get lucky with mana nodes and run mana siphon, i feel it can easily be kept in check and +4 damage is an amazing card to get especially early in the game, thats 4 extra damage from one card, PLUS your wasting your mana resource if you do nothing with it, its like having unimproved resources in civ 6, why would you do that? use it on something at least, and why not on a damage bonus.

[@kman6004]

Ok, the CLEAR successor to the ballista only challenge, is the NO ballista challenge. looking forward to it!

[@cheeseier]

I think you could win with mana bolts if you only take 1 or 2 levels because near the end of the game you need like 1-1/2 mana banks per shot which means you end up needing more than your towers and they each cost 500 gold so you need a lot of spare gold to be able to do it making banditry and other gold generation even more important. Also surrounding the houses at the beginning of the game hurts your very beginning for a better midgame so its probably not necessary to do every house but it still it very helpful for midgame and certainly doesn't hurt.

[@Gamm420]

Agreed, one or two levels is fine. I haven't tried it with 3 levels myself but i bet it's doable. Probably by going more tall (fewer ballistas but higher levels). Also University luck can pay off huge. I had a run where I got 56 upgrades in total.

[@hrishitelcontar]

For a ballista only run, mana bolts is sort of like the next level of upgrade once you're done investing in universities. Basically, past round 35, if you've invested in sorcery, lifesteal and maxed out mana banks, you can max out mana bolts at the end, where its pretty cheap to spam out a bunch of mana banks and get good returns in terms of damage, while actually generating enough mana to sustain it. But leaving it to the very end, and securing you're mana before putting in even a single point is the key. Also, the way I went about it, I didn't upgrade a single tower, and still won.

[@Mr.Marvis]

Wouldnt it be the most optimal to sell the houseprotection towers every round and place them before every expand? This way every tower is 10 gold per houseprotectiontower cheaper. It is very intense and clicky, but saves a lot of money. Or am I missing something?

[@ThePizzaDevourer]

Watching you play this has convinced me to get the game, and it's just as fun to play as it is to watch!

[@IainDoherty51]

For Ballista Only runs you really need to snag the Armour Buffs early, as those unlock the range increases that massively increase their effectiveness. The other critical ones are getting up to the +15% crit boosts that are unlocked when you complete one of the damage type +3 cards.

[@SephK13]

Since demolish refund scales, maximum capital investment early is probably fine if not outright ideal. All of those turrets have more than paid off themselves, and can be translated directly(nearly 1 to 1) into more ballistae later. they serve secondary duty as a last ditch defense, but in practice they are a loan with nutty returns, 2k initial capital investment that returns 18k in revenue with no opportunity cost is busted.

[@derendohoda3891]

For ballistas you definitely want to spread your paths because their firing rate is awful. But for something like mortars/encampments you want as much clustering as possible for splash. Cool game.

[@OmnieStar]

You can also think about +1% crit when you have 0 crit chance, as a 100% increase in crit chance. Cause you go from NO chance to crit, to A chance to crit "infinity better chance of criting". Everything after that just decreases your chance to not crit. lol

[@Sacramentoidioto]

I like your opinions on politics and beeing apprehencive! We need to question what we don't know and not just accept what others say, especially if they might have some personal interest in us not questioning anything.