"Orcs Must Die!" Catch-All

Nice work. I still have the Squeeze and the Finale to finish.

Hit #9 worldwide on The Stairs of Doom.

Sinkwater wrote:

Tip for the Squeeze. You unlock the Grinder on this map. Barricade to the wall + Grinder on both sides = win. Add some arrow guardians and you're set. If I remember correctly, the flying imps only go out of one exit, so you don't really have to worry about the other exit too much.

Holy sh*t balls yes! Thank you.

I really didn't think I could swing the cash to do it, and had kind of tried it in the past with failure, but grinders are definitely the key to victory here.

Little barricade mazes with grinders at the corners is doable and works wonders.

Again -- thanks for making me revisit that strategy.

Nomad wrote:

Hit #9 worldwide on The Stairs of Doom. :hump:

#9? Hells yeah! Congrats!

Slowly but surely, I am working my way through the missions on Warmage. Just finished The Tower. I tried it with my usual technique start building up arrow traps and brimstone, and found that it was doing good for getting rid of all of the mobs, but I was consistently getting 4 skulls due to time. So I shifted my strategy a little bit so that I started out laying down some launcher traps at the bottom launching ORCs into the lava. Then, as I got more gold, I started laying down archers on the thing int he middle, and brimstone and fire traps on the paths. That did the trick. It got a bit hairy at times with ogres getting to the top and me having to back right up to the rift and spam lightning bolts, but it did work.

Malor wrote:

A trick I hit on before I got the upgrades on the swinging mace and tar is to use tar + barricades, this way:

++| --- |++

with the swinging mace along the middle path. This forces orcs to walk through three full squares of tar, and before it's been upgraded, that's enough to get about 95% of them. You can further upgrade that with a grinder on the far side to catch stragglers, but that's pretty expensive.

This is pretty much the exact same setup I use most the time if I can arrange it. I tried to describe it earlier but didn't think to use ASCII character diagrams! I also liberally spread wall-blade traps in the barricade choke points, you can have up to six in there that are unavoidable if you have the wall room.

Like Malor said, it pretty much stops everything short of ogres, kobolds and gnolls. Very effective! But as stated earlier it's almost too effective, it doesn't generate many combos.

Just started playing and the game is very fun. I started on Warmage so a bit behind on getting 5 skulls everytime. I'm on the mission where there are 3 doors in the same alcove. Getting blasted on the flying stage. I'll work it out though

LilCodger wrote:
Sinkwater wrote:

Tip for the Squeeze. You unlock the Grinder on this map. Barricade to the wall + Grinder on both sides = win. Add some arrow guardians and you're set. If I remember correctly, the flying imps only go out of one exit, so you don't really have to worry about the other exit too much.

Holy sh*t balls yes! Thank you.

I really didn't think I could swing the cash to do it, and had kind of tried it in the past with failure, but grinders are definitely the key to victory here.

Little barricade mazes with grinders at the corners is doable and works wonders.

Again -- thanks for making me revisit that strategy.

It worked... but they destroyed my barricacdes a ton of times. The fliers and the ogres.

Still, got my 5 skulls, and beat Sinkwater by 1k points.

karmajay wrote:

Just started playing and the game is very fun. I started on Warmage so a bit behind on getting 5 skulls everytime. I'm on the mission where there are 3 doors in the same alcove. Getting blasted on the flying stage. I'll work it out though :)

I started out on Warmage difficulty too, as I figured it was the "normal" difficulty level. Also, I don't care about 5-skulling the maps at this point. Maybe after I've beaten them all, I might go back and try to improve any 3- or 4-skull scores.

I just played that map the other day. It was quite easy for me using lots of upgraded spike traps, lots of archers on the balcony (they shoot fliers), and lots of crossbow shots to the face.

Yeah you probably can't 5-skull a couple of the maps without having the right upgraded traps. Cheaper barricades or cheaper guardians are really helpful, as are the faster moving mace trap, and the upgraded tar. You might not be able to set up a 5-skull-capable defense on maps with multiple doors until you have enough upgrades.

MeatMan wrote:
karmajay wrote:

Just started playing and the game is very fun. I started on Warmage so a bit behind on getting 5 skulls everytime. I'm on the mission where there are 3 doors in the same alcove. Getting blasted on the flying stage. I'll work it out though :)

I started out on Warmage difficulty too, as I figured it was the "normal" difficulty level. Also, I don't care about 5-skulling the maps at this point. Maybe after I've beaten them all, I might go back and try to improve any 3- or 4-skull scores.

I just played that map the other day. It was quite easy for me using lots of upgraded spike traps, lots of archers on the balcony (they shoot fliers), and lots of crossbow shots to the face.

Yeah made it past. I usually set up a nice path along the walls with spikes and tar pits and stuff on the walls with a bunch of archers. Then I run back and forth from different areas and use the wind belt to push groups back into all my traps.

At the Finale now and just took a break before attempting it. It's tough when you don't know which door will pop first!

Stele wrote:
LilCodger wrote:
Sinkwater wrote:

Tip for the Squeeze. You unlock the Grinder on this map. Barricade to the wall + Grinder on both sides = win. Add some arrow guardians and you're set. If I remember correctly, the flying imps only go out of one exit, so you don't really have to worry about the other exit too much.

Holy sh*t balls yes! Thank you.

I really didn't think I could swing the cash to do it, and had kind of tried it in the past with failure, but grinders are definitely the key to victory here.

Little barricade mazes with grinders at the corners is doable and works wonders.

Again -- thanks for making me revisit that strategy.

It worked... but they destroyed my barricacdes a ton of times. The fliers and the ogres.

Still, got my 5 skulls, and beat Sinkwater by 1k points. ;)

Bah, time to reclaim my spot.

karmajay wrote:

At the Finale now and just took a break before attempting it. It's tough when you don't know which door will pop first!

Hint: They come from the door that it spawns you in facing first.

Stele wrote:

It worked... but they destroyed my barricacdes a ton of times. The fliers and the ogres. :(

I don't remember them touching the barricades in mine.

You build your setup with gaps right?

G=Grinder, B= barricade. Sprinkle brimstone and tar liberally.

GBB
G-G
BBG
G-G
GBB

For fliers, the ice spell works wonders. If you own the DLC, throw some shock traps up there to really take care of them.

The lightning ring also works wonders for fliers. The big ones it takes a couple of shots to put them down, but the fact that the ring goes to more than one means you get 3 down at once. With the small guys, one shot will take down 4 or 5 at once.

Sinkwater wrote:
Stele wrote:
LilCodger wrote:
Sinkwater wrote:

Tip for the Squeeze. You unlock the Grinder on this map. Barricade to the wall + Grinder on both sides = win. Add some arrow guardians and you're set. If I remember correctly, the flying imps only go out of one exit, so you don't really have to worry about the other exit too much.

Holy sh*t balls yes! Thank you.

I really didn't think I could swing the cash to do it, and had kind of tried it in the past with failure, but grinders are definitely the key to victory here.

Little barricade mazes with grinders at the corners is doable and works wonders.

Again -- thanks for making me revisit that strategy.

It worked... but they destroyed my barricacdes a ton of times. The fliers and the ogres.

Still, got my 5 skulls, and beat Sinkwater by 1k points. ;)

Bah, time to reclaim my spot.

And reclaimed. With 179th in the world, too.

LilCodger wrote:
Stele wrote:

It worked... but they destroyed my barricacdes a ton of times. The fliers and the ogres. :(

I don't remember them touching the barricades in mine.

You build your setup with gaps right?

G=Grinder, B= barricade. Sprinkle brimstone and tar liberally.

GBB
G-G
BBG
G-G
GBB

For fliers, the ice spell works wonders. If you own the DLC, throw some shock traps up there to really take care of them.

Yep, just like that. I also had a paladin at the final opening to kinda keep them from leaking through. So maybe it was them attacking the paladin and splash damage on the barricades?

And yeah, I use ice on those red fliers, it kills them in one shot.

Stele wrote:

Yep, just like that. I also had a paladin at the final opening to kinda keep them from leaking through. So maybe it was them attacking the paladin and splash damage on the barricades? :?

Yup. If they fight around the barricades they will take splash damage. If you plant yourself or a paladin at the end, leave a space after the barricades to avoid it.

For the most part -- set it up well, maybe add an extra layer as time goes on -- and you won't need a paladin or yourself. You can get to the point where you can ignore the south except for watching the minimap just in case.

I started playing this last night on Warmage level.

I lost on the 3rd level. Twice.

Should my traps be doing more? How much of the killing should I be doing myself? I'm trying to work out where I'm doing it wrong.

Early on your traps are kind of weak, but they're not throwing too much at you yet either. Use your crossbow liberally. Lay out as much trap punishment as you can to help yourself. Use the secondary on the blade to push orcs back onto reset traps.

Most of the stuff we're talking about it quite late in the game. In about 6-10 levels you'll be amazed at your orc destroying capabilities.

Ugh, finale is hard. Especially when wave 5 or 6 is all suicide guys

The secret to success is the alternate fire of the lightning ring. It's way overpowered at the moment.

Bruce wrote:

I started playing this last night on Warmage level.

I lost on the 3rd level. Twice.

Should my traps be doing more? How much of the killing should I be doing myself? I'm trying to work out where I'm doing it wrong.

Yeah early on when there's just one door, or just one crystal, you can always be facing the enemies and slaughter them pretty easy without much trap help.

Slows when the speed guys show up. But mostly the basic traps work wonders for the first few levels.

Nomad wrote:

The secret to success is the alternate fire of the lightning ring. It's way overpowered at the moment.

How exactly does the storm work? Does it do constant damage over a large area. Or does it randomly zap individual orcs?

I just watched a youtube video of someone 5-skulling the finale on nightmare. Holy crap. Interesting use of steam traps, though.

KilanAsh is some strange kind of awesome for suddenly gifting me this game in a sudden manner all of a sudden.

I feel very sudden about it.

I've come to love the magic mushrooms. Nothing it better than getting a Fire Ogre to fight guys for you.

Oh my, the last level is a doozy.

Hyetal wrote:

KilanAsh is some strange kind of awesome for suddenly gifting me this game in a sudden manner all of a sudden.

I feel very sudden about it.

It's today's special so its cheap. And it said you wanted the game on my list, so... happy birthday or something.

Nomad: How the hell are you pulling these insane scores? You're ranked like 52 in the world for most levels.

Edwin wrote:

Nomad: How the hell are you pulling these insane scores? You're ranked like 52 in the world for most levels.

My guess is tar traps + right click lightning ring.