Game Impressions Trophies (Unlocks): Every once in a while during gameplay you'll now encounter trophies left behind slain specials. Tap on it to unlock a new class or a further level of your current class (these persistent meta class levels earned by the player have nothing directly to do with gaining experience levels in your current run). Just like using a skill, claiming a trophy doesn't take up a turn. All classes start at level 1 which means the player only has access to the default race, perk, flaw, and selection of 20 possible skills for that class. The more games you play of a given class, the more likely you are to level up that class which means next time you play you'll be able to customize some aspects of the class when you next play the class (from minor tweaks like changing which 20 skills the game will randomly present you on a level up to eventually havng the option to change the race used). Each class can be leveled up to the 10th level at which point the class' unique skill can be used by any of the other classes. I don't completely understand how these trophies show up. I mean I get that it has something to do with killing specials and mortal enemies (special specials), and that as far as I know you're unlikely to ever see more than one of them in a single run, but other than that it seems pretty random. If there are still classes to unlock the trophies seemed to be weighted toward unlocking new random classes (the order they're unlocked has been different on my two devices so it doesn't appear set in any way) over leveling up your current class. Since the Adventurer class has no class levels (plays identical to the game as you know it now), if you find a trophy playing as this class it will automatically unlock a new class (as long as there are still classes to be unlocked).
I am so unenthusiastic about all of this unlocking. But hopefully it will all be unlocked pretty quickly, and then the game will be great.
Enh, I have to be honest, the unlocks will take a while but can at least confidently say all previously available skills plus the 10 new monsters (not counting the 9 new race related Mortal Enemies) are available from the get go as the Adventurer class. I'm assuming it is all pretty random but I'm averaging an unlock every 3-4 games at this point (I'm switching classes and difficulties a lot so maybe, had I stuck to one class longer, it would have been easier to get the level up unlocks). While the earlier build I played with had the unlocks dropping out like pinata candy, many unlocks a game, I have to admit, that although sort of frustrating, this slower pace of unlocks really has you appreciating each unlock a lot more. Coming only once in a while, these unlocks feel more meaningful. The only thing that has me a little torn, and it hurts to say it as Mr. Random, but having these unlocks seems so random often has me second guessing myself as to how to get to the next one sooner. Nothing beats the fun, however, of being able to do stuff like play an Orcish Ranger or using the Paladin's unique skill with your Rogue (again, not that these are necessarily great combos, it's just fun to mix and match stuff). It's all in Apple's hands. Hopefully if the release was rejected or recalled by FireFlame he'd tell us.
Game Impressions Time for another one! Priest: All about the self healing. Perk: Double effect from any sort of regeneration upgrades. Flaw: -20% armor piercing. Unique Skill: Wish: Collects all tiles on the screen (the weird twist with this one, however, is it is a single use skill and will disappear from your roster once used). Default Race: Faun: Will heal up to 25% of max health if currently below 25% max health on leveling up. Mortal Enemy: Assassin: Does double damage if he reaches the bottom row, and as your mortal enemy, he will move one row down each turn all on his own.
This game is fantastic. The update sounds fantastic. Certainly one of the two best games I have come across in 2011. I gave it a five star review about 30 minutes after downloading it. I wish I could have given it six. I have two small requests to add to the one I made before: 1) How about an iPad version that had a 12x12 (or larger) grid instead of the 7x6 one on the iPhone? 2) While the game is pretty simple, buy I would like to see a reference page that contains information about what all the different stats and things do. For example, I am not sure what CON does. It doesn't really matter for the gameplay, but I would like to know.
No problem. The game has some 5 "Personal Statistics" (for lack of a better term). STR = Strength with each point giving you a +1 to base damage and +5% chance to a bonus exp when killing over 3 skulls. VIT = Vitality with each point giving you a +5 hp and a +5% chance to bonus potions when linking over 3. DEX = Dexterity with each point giving you +1 to repair and a +5% chance of a bonus shield when linking over 3. LUK = Luck with each point giving you +1 point of healing per potion and a +5% chance of a bonus coin when linking 3 or more. CHA = Charisma with each point giving you +5% chance to all bonus items when linking over 3 of them. So while they're rarely as useful as going for the straight Armor, Damage, or other direct statistics, they are the key to maximizing your chances of bonus resources on big 3+ sets.
So, you are saying that the game isn't great already? Count me as one of those who look forward to the unlocks, and giving me even more reasons to play for hours!
Thanks very much. Two questions. 1) Repair restores a point of armor/turn, correct? 2) Lets say that i have 40% percent chance of a bonus shield. Is that 40% total, or 40% per extra shield? Also, does the 40% go up if you have more then three shields? Thanks for the explanations. For anyone reading this thread who hasn't played the game, don't get me wrong. These are all small points. The game is great.
Shoot, I'm not sure if the 1 point of repair means something like armor regeneration, I always just assumed it meant that for every shield collected there would be an additional point of repair added. The way these bonus resources works confused me for the longest time, but if I understand it correctly, for every item over the first 3 there is that "bonus chance" for each item in the chain. So say you linked 10 shields in a move and your bonus shield chance is up to 40%. This would mean that each of the last 6 shields have a 40% chance of spawning 1 extra shield...so in such a case you could get 0-6 bonus shields but are likely to average about 2). Bigger groups don't increase the base chance of bonus stuff, they just give you a bigger pool of items to draw those lucky bonus ones from.
No problem, have time to kill and while I'm not even close to an expert player, I can't put the damn game down! I can't wait to hear the cool Class/Race/Perk/Skill combos other players come up with!
I actually get somewhat where DaviddesJ is coming from. While it isn't, in this case, a scam to bilk you out of real cash to buy a bunch of little IAPs, there is something kind of weird to not being able to dive right into playing all of the classes and races right off the bat because you haven't unlocked them first. "Here is this very cool present, right under the tree in front of you, but you can't open it until Christmas." (and even that analogy doesn't work entirely because at least you KNOW when Christmas is...but with these unlocks the class you're interested MIGHT unlock right off the bat or it might be the very last one to unlock after several days of constant play)
The IAP idea is pretty good! If you could price "unlock everything" at $1000, you might significantly increase your revenue even if you only found a few oddballs like me. And "+1 repair" just means that you increase by 1 the value of each shield you collect toward repairing your armor. It doesn't do anything automatically, until you collect shields. I have a question of my own. Do fractional shields count for anything? Suppose my armor is at 0/12 and I have 8 repair. I collect 3 shields. Do I use 1.5 shields to repair my armor and then get 1.5 shields toward my upgrade bar? Or do I use 2 shields to repair and then get 1 shield toward my upgrade bar?
The way that I have always thought that it works is that your UP per shield is multiplied by the number of shields you get. Defence upgrade gives you +2 to UP/shield and DEX gives +1 UP/shield. If you have 8 dex and 3 Defence, then you would have 15 UP/shield and if you collect 3 shields, then you would gain 45 UP. Now if your armor is 0/12, then it would fill up 12 and the remaining 33 UP would go towards your upgrade bar. I assume this is how it works One thing I'm wondering about this is what determines the unlocking rate? Would I unlock stuff faster by playing a single long game (say taking 1 hour) or a bunch of short games (60 1 minute games)? Personally I think player should be rewarded more for surviving longer than just playing short and fast games.
