Topic: Near miss on -1 (Read 1764 times)

Happylisk · « **on:** June 29, 2016, 05:41:12 PM »

Had my most successful Alpha 9 run to date (24k score). It was extremely close to a win but what can you do. Some spoilers follow, read at your own risk.

My plan was to skip the lower caves and enter the upper caves on -4. I was hoping to get Warlord for the backup in Research. Instead I got Zhirov, but those benefits certainly are appreciated. The reason I skipped lower caves is that I typically come out of there pretty beaten up and I rarely find the trade offs worth it. I think it's not a coincidence that I did fairly well after avoiding lower caves for once. Until now I've been going into them every game.

I also changed up my build a bit by going with 6 propulsion slots instead of my usual 2. This let me use treads as armor and it was very effective. I attribute getting through Research to this.

Admittedly, I got lucky in Research and found the stairs quickly. By the time I got to Access, I had 3 Ragnarok launchers, but none of the really good defensive items (improved powered armor, advanced force fields, etc). With the launchers (plus a matter compressor) I was able to squish all enemies and really rip through Access. The security level spiked but it didn't matter since I could 2 shot whatever came out of the ARCs.

I went left when I should've gone right and found myself at a locked branch. Sigh. Very deflating I attribute this loss to the unfinished state of the game

After a ton of backtracking attrition finally won out and I ate it. What didn't help is that I saw a B-99, thought I had found the real exit and duked it out, only to find it was just a rando behemoth guarding a hall. GG Access, you are truly a meat grinder.

The gory details:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Kyzrati · « **Reply #1 on:** June 29, 2016, 08:45:07 PM »

A fifth of the run fought at security level 5--definitely going all out! It looks like a relatively large inventory run, too, but that is the safest way to do heavy combat (and make up for a lack of better defensive gear).

There is still some content to add to the lower caves, though it's also worth considering a reduction to their size, as your observations make sense there. However I wouldn't want them to become trivial ways to circumvent the large Factory (-7/-6) maps, so the number of entrances might have to be reduced as well...

Happylisk · « **Reply #2 on:** June 30, 2016, 08:34:22 AM »

Size isn't really the problem with caves - once I was told to go left before the special branch and then right in proximity caves, I've been able to get through caves quickly. The thing is, you're still going to take a beating. Which is fine! The entire point of branches, if I recall from your blog posts, if branches are meant to be high risk/reward. Right now however lower caves don't really seem to stack up in the reward department, though that might change once that cave opens up in Zion.

Even though Upper Caves are harder, I don't mind risking it since Zhirov and Warlord's rewards are pretty sweet.

Kyzrati · « **Reply #3 on:** June 30, 2016, 09:18:38 AM »

Yeah, as mentioned before I'm somewhat limited in making -7/-6 branches great because it's rather early in the game, which is somewhat at odds with that high risk/reward intent. That said, there is another future addition planned for Zion (other than that entrance you already see) which will make it much more worthwhile. I'll attempt to design it so that it works in the current context. Not yet sure when that will be added...

Happylisk · « **Reply #4 on:** June 30, 2016, 10:39:48 AM »

If you're worried about buffing up the rewards, you can always make the branch even harder

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Author Topic: Near miss on -1 (Read 1764 times)

Happylisk

Near miss on -1

Kyzrati

Re: Near miss on -1

Happylisk

Re: Near miss on -1

Kyzrati

Re: Near miss on -1

Happylisk

Re: Near miss on -1