The DoE Speedrunner's Thoughts on Reignmaker.

[sonikku2008]

Heads up, there's going to be a bit of griping about some of the mechanics. So let me start off by saying I in no way dislike the game. For a lot of the time, I found it fun with the way the combat worked. It's a small amount of micromanaging to make sure what moves you do line up with the enemy (or somehow make a match 7 for that nuke), nothing too bad. The corrupted/frozen runes got to be a pain in a couple levels which caused me to draw dead a few times, but that's expected. I still managed to push through. No level felt impossible (playing on Normal), and I had a lot of momentum going. I kept an eye on my city after every level, getting resources as each thing finished, and upgrading things, making every effort to try and get ore and lumber faster because they were dreadfully lagging behind. After a while, I started to feel as if my city was not where it should be for this point in the game, but it didn't matter. So long as I could keep winning the levels, I would just keep going, keep upgrading as I got the materials.

But then came level 25. The Elemental Lord.

I realized immediately after seeing what lane the boss was in what I was in for. He is not in a position where you can harm him with horizontal attacks, meaning I can only hit him once every time I clear something. I figured it would just be a long and drawn out battle. But then I realize just how strong this boss is. His attacks aren't the main concern; it's his accompanying mobs. They take a good few hits to go down, and spawn frequently enough that you can't just focus the boss. But because of the setup the boss has, you're forced to decide on whether to take down the mobs or try to keep clearing that middle row. Sometimes enemies spawn in the middle row as well, so you kinda don't have a choice there, and they're also harder to kill in that section.

I fail. I get up and try again. I fail again. I get up and try again. I fail again.

As of posting this, I have a record of 0-15 against the boss. I remembered getting a multiplier recipe from an earlier fight and decide to try to make it. One problem: It requires armory and blacksmith at level 3, and with the resources I had, my buildings only ever got to level 2 with the exception of the town hall and granary. So what does that mean? It means this game literally turns into an idle game. I have to spend a couple hours to get the resources needed to upgrade the buildings (keep in mind level 2 foundry and lumber mill with 20 workers -- the cap -- in each), and then it's another two hours to wait for the research on the multiplier to complete before I can then buy the things. All momentum has stopped now as I have to wait for these to complete. It's literally an idle game at this point until I can resume and hope this strategy pays off. And if it doesn't? Back to the idle game while I try to figure out another strategy that may or may not work.

Yes, this probably means I could go do something else while I wait for these items to build, like my Final Project for my Game Development degree. But what if I have nothing else to do, aside from play another game -- which on this computer means I have to close Reignmaker due to memory problems unrelated to the game itself. In my own opinion, unless I'm playing something like Time World (a game on Kongregate) or Warcraft 3 where time management with building your stuff is a part of whether you succeed or fail, you really shouldn't be forced to wait for your stuff to build. I understand why this feature is in there, but when you're in the boat I'm in where all progress is now halted until you get your resources and your stuff you need researched and built... it's kinda detrimental to your gameplay.

Please understand, I mean no harm in saying this, I'm just venting a bit of my frustrations from my experience with the game. This game really is fun. I liked the city building, I liked seeing my stuff get better as I upgraded. I want to finish this game. But I don't enjoy having to deal with the time mechanic. And I'm only complaining about a two hour item with 10 minute small resource gains. Imagine how I'll feel when I get around to the level 5 items, which if I had to guess would take anywhere from 8 hours to a day to build. Though by that point I'll probably have scholars and armsmasters hired so they won't actually take that long, I only don't have them now because I wanted resources faster.

The one thing I would say about mitigating this is to allow players to gain something other than triads when replaying levels, or even allow people to buy and sell resources. You get a lot more triads than you really know what to do with because of the waiting for resources, so why not allow them to buy lumber, ore, or food with it, or sell lumber, ore, or food for triads? If I could do just that one thing, I would be more satisfied with where I am now.

----------

One other gripe I have, though not nearly as frustrating. Why no surrender confirmation prompt? I misclicked the surrender button trying to get back in the game and wound up quitting a battle I was winning.

[circuit]

I've only done one boss so far, and it seems like I'm going to love how challenging they are, but the waiting part might be easier to handle if the game lets you skip one boss after failing.

[sonikku2008]

That was a heck of a lot tougher than it should've been to take out. But as it turns out, a level 3 academy alone is sufficient. Inferno and Flashburn are really, really good for recharging your spells as for whatever reason, each individual piece cleared from that spell is a match. The Healing Spring spell is nice to keep yourself in a sustainable condition, but don't leave it until you're almost dead. Soon as you see it ready, pop it. This will keep your head above water. Burst is surprisingly useful for making Match 5/6/7 matches in those few areas you can set one up, and being able to pop a nuke after a Burst is amazing for clearing out the waves, plus it puts on 6 hits against the Elemental Lord. Bury is quite nice for an instant 6 hits against the boss, or even for clearing mobs out of a row that has a huge pile of them already. Lastly, because there's not much better for the slot, Whirlwind is good to refresh your board and potentially keep the matches going in the center. Just... make sure you wait until a second or two after the whirlwind animation finishes, because as long as the animation plays, any matches made, including ones you made yourself, will not fire. This setup uses no gear and no people, saving all of your resources for building your city. Now if only I could get what I dumped into Multipliers back... T_T

Record on level 26: 1-27.

[Frobozz]

Is there a way to download the game that I missed?

[sonikku2008]

Yup. Backing the game on Kickstarter or Indiegogo with a $10 minimum got you a download code for it. If you did back it with that minimum, should be a message in your inbox somewhere with the download code.

----------

So. Levels 36-39. Fire spells definitely helpful -- on three maps. 36 starts you off with 2/3 of the board frozen with more runes freezing over every few seconds, and 37 and 38 give you empowered runes, but the map RAPIDLY freezes over, usually killing me in 2-3 waves out of 7. Even with the spell that unfreezes half the runes, I don't think it's doable, especially with the board layout given to us -- it takes 100 matches to recharge the unfreeze spell. Level 39 has a lot of corruption and no freeze, but my first attempt saw me to the 7th wave -- no druids. Haven't gotten back since, tried using a druid like the help tells me to, but he wasn't very helpful.

While I'm on the subject, your troops act FAR too slowly to actually be of any use to you. Druids unfreeze maybe one rune every 30 seconds, but by then, 10 or more runes have been frozen. Elite archers really don't attack with enough frequency to make a difference. Healers act like the heal spell I have, but the only times I find them healing are when I don't need it. I would bring an arch druid to this, but... you kinda need a level 5 town hall, and mine happens to only be level 3. In fact, the only buildings I have that aren't level 3 are my farm because I find myself with an overabundance of food and haven't had a need to upgrade it to 3 yet, and the academy, which is level 4 and busy researching the level 4 earth spell because I wasn't aware at that moment I would need the unfreeze spell here.

As for the bosses I've fought since Elemental Lord? About a thousand times easier than the Elemental Lord. Since I'm stuck on 37, 38, AND 39, I can't say whether he'd be a better fit here or not since I currently can't fight the boss of level 40, but his difficulty level seems better fit for here.

Is it me, or is this starting to feel like DoE's level 44? XD

Edit: Let's add to this, shall we? Why is it that the level 4 fire spell only unfreezes half the frozen runes, while the level 4 earth spell removes 100% of blocked squares and the level 4 water spell removes 100% of corruption? Why does the fire spell get the short end of the stick?

[Aristotle]

That was a heck of a lot tougher than it should've been to take out. But as it turns out, a level 3 academy alone is sufficient. Inferno and Flashburn are really, really good for recharging your spells as for whatever reason

The Healing Spring spell is nice to keep yourself in a sustainable condition

Burst is surprisingly useful for making Match 5/6/7 matches in those few areas you can set one up, and being able to pop a nuke after a Burst is amazing for clearing out the waves, plus it puts on 6 hits against the Elemental Lord.

Bury is quite nice for an instant 6 hits against the boss, or even for clearing mobs out of a row that has a huge pile of them already

I am glad that getting some new spells made a big difference.

The importance of spells and gear cannot be understated. They are vital to success!

Record on level 26: 1-27.

Yeah, but you're on a 1-0 streak.

I think the Elemental Lord is one of the first series obstacles in the game. The fact that it comes in the middle, at level 25, seems like it might be the perfect spot.

[Aristotle]

While I'm on the subject, your troops act FAR too slowly to actually be of any use to you. Druids unfreeze maybe one rune every 30 seconds, but by then, 10 or more runes have been frozen. Elite archers really don't attack with enough frequency to make a difference. Healers act like the heal spell I have, but the only times I find them healing are when I don't need it. I would bring an arch druid to this, but... you kinda need a level 5 town hall, and mine happens to only be level 3.

The elite archer shoots every 8-12 seconds, kills in one shot, and has AI to specifically target enemies that are on your wall. That's pretty nice. You may be underestimating her utility.

Without giving anything away, I think you'll find the Arch Druid makes up for any deficiencies of the non-elite druid... That said we can look at their frequency of unfreeze and uncorrupt (note: the druid does BOTH of those things).

I find both healer troops to be amazing - especially when trying to earn gold flags.

Edit: Let's add to this, shall we? Why is it that the level 4 fire spell only unfreezes half the frozen runes, while the level 4 earth spell removes 100% of blocked squares and the level 4 water spell removes 100% of corruption? Why does the fire spell get the short end of the stick?

Cleanse is 100% because corrupt runes aren't as much of a problem. If the spell only did 50% it would be garbage.

Landslide removes 100% because it is the only spell that deals with blocked runes.

Purify does 50% because all your other rune destroying spells already unfreeze. If purify also did 100% then frozen runes would never pose a threat.

[sonikku2008]

I am glad that getting some new spells made a big difference.

The importance of spells and gear cannot be understated. They are vital to success!

I agree on spells. I disagree on gear. Every level I have played, I have beaten without the use of gear for the following reasons:

1. It takes a lot of time to get the resources necessary to make the gear, which could be better spent upgrading buildings for more practical utilities.

2. The gear doesn't help when you're drawing dead because it only affects the side of the board your tower is not on. And I find myself drawing dead as a source of defeat on regular levels more often than simply being overrun, especially at this point in the game.

3. Any time I've attempted to use gear in a level, I lost that level, meaning I feel like I just wasted the time and resources spent on it that could've gone toward getting more spells or more types of people to recruit.

Yeah, but you're on a 1-0 streak.

I think the Elemental Lord is one of the first series obstacles in the game. The fact that it comes in the middle, at level 25, seems like it might be the perfect spot.

While I agree with your reasoning, I don't truly agree with the difficulty balance. Like I said before, the difficulty spikes on him, then plummets greatly on the next two bosses. That eyeball boss didn't even feel like a threat; he felt weaker than the first ranged boss you fight.

The elite archer shoots every 8-12 seconds, kills in one shot, and has AI to specifically target enemies that are on your wall. That's pretty nice. You may be underestimating her utility.

Without giving anything away, I think you'll find the Arch Druid makes up for any deficiencies of the non-elite druid... That said we can look at their frequency of unfreeze and uncorrupt (note: the druid does BOTH of those things).

I find both healer troops to be amazing - especially when trying to earn gold flags.

Maybe. But the only time I really find myself to need such help from the elite archer is when it's too late for something like that to save me due to drawing dead, like on the maps I'm currently stuck on where I'm drawing dead before I'm halfway through the wave count. I can see why she can be useful in some levels, don't get me wrong. But the way I play, I don't find her much help.

I somewhat look forward to seeing what the exploding pets can do, but... yeah, the unfreeze/uncorrupt timing on the druid doesn't help when the freeze highly outpaces the unfreeze. And I knew from the description of the unit he did both, but corrupted runes never felt like an issue. In fact, I nearly beat map 39 first try without assistance, but drew dead on the last wave due to getting nothing to fall to where I could match on the top 2 rows. Also, my town hall, like most of my buildings, is still level 3, so it'll be a few hours of play time before I can even open up the arch druid. Are level 3 buildings where you expect players to be at this point in the game, or do you expect them to have built up more by now?

For the healers... yes, they might be useful for getting gold flags. But... they just don't seem to proc when I need them to proc if I'm fighting to keep my head above water. Also, due to the level of my town hall at this point in the game, I don't have access to the elite version of the healers, so I can't say myself whether they're helpful or not. Probably might have it by now if I didn't pour a thousand ore into multipliers for a strategy that failed.

Cleanse is 100% because corrupt runes aren't as much of a problem. If the spell only did 50% it would be garbage.

Landslide removes 100% because it is the only spell that deals with blocked runes.

Purify does 50% because all your other rune destroying spells already unfreeze. If purify also did 100% then frozen runes would never pose a threat.

Okay, that's a fair assessment. I'll give you that one. Though I have to point out that's also not 100% true. You can't actually directly target a frozen (or otherwise locked down) rune with your spells, so the level 1 Wind spell won't hit it, nor will level 2 and level 3 Fire. Those can only destroy unlocked, unfrozen runes.

[Aristotle]

Sonniku: What difficulty are you playing on? Match-3 skills are definitely a big factor at normal and hard. I'm not a match-3 expert, but I have definitely gotten better lately. I never "draw dead" even on the four 4x4 board.

Gear is better than you think, but it has to be used wisely. We already have something planned in this area to help out with gear in a couple ways.

We will keep watching troops to make sure they are worth it. Keep in mind they are very cheap and aren't meant to turn the tide on their own.

Thanks for all the feedback.

I'd love to see more discussion of strategies. I have a ton of suggestions of my own but I don't want to share them yet. I want to give you all a chance to figure things out. The game is surprisingly deep as far as strategy goes.

[sonikku2008]

What difficulty are you playing on? Match-3 skills are definitely a big factor at normal and hard. I'm not a match-3 expert, but I have definitely gotten better lately. I never "draw dead" even on the four 4x4 board.

Normal difficulty. I draw dead because there are too many frozen runes. I've even had a frozen rune crop up the instant I went to make a switch -- right where I was switching the runes. I took along everything I believe would help deal with frozen runes: row clear, column clear, remove half frozen, + clear, druids, you name it, I've used it.

I've drawn dead a couple times on the early 4x4 board, but that was because my academy hadn't upgraded yet to give me the reshuffle.

Gear is better than you think, but it has to be used wisely.

I do see what scenarios items like this can be used in. But I'm the type of person that will only look to using items as a last resort. Even back in DoE, I never used my weapon in that game (except where forced in the tutorial) all the way until level 44, and only for level 44, my first runs through it.

We will keep watching troops to make sure they are worth it. Keep in mind they are very cheap and aren't meant to turn the tide on their own.

Yeah, I can understand that in a design aspect. Wanting them to help without making them the difference makers.

Thanks for all the feedback.

I'd love to see more discussion of strategies. I have a ton of suggestions of my own but I don't want to share them yet. I want to give you all a chance to figure things out. The game is surprisingly deep as far as strategy goes.

I do what I can. And yeah, if anyone else here who has the game has made it where I am, would love to hear how you attack it. Here's what I go in with as of right now:

Spells: Inferno, Purify, Flashburn, Geyser, Bury, Ignite.
Troops: Druid, Healer. (Level 3 town hall, or I'd be using their advanced variants.)
Gear: While items are placed here, I'm out of them, except for 3 dummies, a bone sword, and 3 bottles of grease. I don't think gear will help on 37 and 38 just because it has you take time away from your tower, which is freezing over faster than the northern U.S. did in The Day After Tomorrow. (Let's see who gets what I mean by that.)

Record: Wave 3/7 (37), wave 2/7 (38).

Edit: Just got my level 4 Town Hall. Decided to try out the Mega Stoner. Made it halfway through wave 4, currently my best. These guys paired with a druid are good. Now I just need another 950 wood and 250 ore to get the arch druid. I'm sitting on 177,000 triads. I would love to use them, but there's nothing I can burn 'em on that won't also burn my precious resources.

Population has reached 1k due to my overabundance of food. XD