SXRPG 6.4.1 (or higher) SPEEDRUN REPLAYS

[Mabuse]

As a Project i want to show Replay of all other Maps in Solo Mode.

As Solo-Play is now Fun with 6.1.1

SXRPG Isle Of Dread, Ghoul, Warrior, Solo, Grandmaster, Turns 62

SXRPG Isle Of Dread, Ghoul, Warrior, Solo, Grandmaster, Turns 62.gz

(444.37 KiB) Downloaded 43 times

Isle Of Dread is a kinda cramped Map with Tons of Bosses and fast Flyers at more or less tight Space. Can be nasty at Times.
Not the Strongest Bosses in the Endgame, but also not all Armor Items.

Again i chose Warrior for the Fun. This Time its the amazing Ghoul, with free Fearless, a magical default Weapon (poison gets adapted in SXRPG to magical).
Fire as main Weapon. Rage works well for the Warrior.

Since it was Grandmaster the Priority was to gather all Map-Resources, and i also played the Map in a Way that i never played before, but glad it finally makes Sense.

Again take it with a grain of Salt, there was some reloading involved, but thats not nessesarily a bad Thing. Just a show-case of a possible Route.
I found two Bombs which helped to take down the last Boss.

[Mabuse]

Next Solo Map,

Sanctum of Shadows, SXRPG 6.1.1
not exactly a SpeedRun with 81 Turns, but was as fast as i can get this time.
maybe warrior would be faster.

the map itself works and was fun, but is maybe a bit too linear

Inferno-Drake-Mage for the Convenient Play, ended up with 9 Potion Slots, 9 move after kill, 900+ max mana (on the last turn, was never full though)
and luckily i found a BOW.

SXRPG Sanctum of Shadows Inferno-Drake, Mage, Grandmaster, Solo, Turns 81.gz

(513.99 KiB) Downloaded 41 times

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The Silver Order has sent a punitive expedition against the uprising chaotic activities in the northern Borderregions.

Led by a GrandWizard of the Holy Order, supported by 2 Inferno-Mages and 2 Marshalls of the Realm

Sanctum Of Shadows, 5 Players, Grandmaster, 80 Turns.

SXRPG Sanctum of Shadows, 5 Players, Grandmaster, Turn 80.gz

(548.38 KiB) Downloaded 46 times

So ofc Group-Games have to be played different, with regen-ability as mandatory ability and stuff, i have to say that the Teleport and Spirit Link Mechanic turned out to be very convenient, making Group Games very smooth to play, with the recent nerfs in solo play, i think a strong group may turn out better results.

i the game everything was fine except the last battle, where ifound out that i cannot harm the last boss, but a solution was found. also i woke up the dragon ... ofc a lot of realoding was invloved, this is just a study case for balance.

i encountered 2 minor /item-related) Bugs (maybe more) which will be fixed shortly.
(teleport item not grant spirit link, attack spell item is outdated descriptionwise and can be taken even if ability is already present)

[Mabuse]

Two more games

Temple of Bones Balance Test form version 6.2.2.

This one shows that even with spilling more bosses and stronger Bosses as well as the in 6.1.1 invented -3 gold from kill for solo player,
you can still get through in good time, ofc i also get more expierienced, but this run was a breeze, (realoading as usual involed), showing the strengh of warrior.

SXRPG 6.2.2 Temple of Bones, Ghoul Warrior, Solo. Grandmaster, 62 Turns
(Level 0 start (standard setting))

SXRPG 6.2.2 Temple of Bones, Ghoul Warrior, Solo. Grandmaster, 62 Turns.gz

(499.51 KiB) Downloaded 35 times

Temple of Bones Balance Test form version 6.2.2.

as a second test to test "end game" a bit more and the stronger boss progression i had to set up a "Level4" game, which is accessible in advanved game option,

"level 4 start" emulates a turn 40 start, so it skips the basic hero development (by giving gold), but also adds strengh to the enemies, i really rushed through the early game, since the stats of the early bosses/enemies were boosted, but the "type" were still on the weaker side, but "the wall" hit harder as i entered the mid/end game area.

in the end-game (at least for warrior) armor-values become more important so these had to be developed in order to keep up, still the game was well playable and showed that the game can be won also against "oversized" bosses. the random boss strengh progression was noticeable and fit well into the game. game was done in turn 56 (equals turn 96 in creep/boss strengh).

this insight how smooth battles against 1600 HP bosses will be like, and what happens if ai spams 980 hp bosses, made me quite confident that even longer runs (bigger maps) will be playable (and fun).

SXRPG Temple of Bones, Solo, Warrior, Grandmaster, Level4, Turn 56 96.gz

(493.57 KiB) Downloaded 43 times

still it proved that something could be made in the final areas, to make the life of the hero's more miserable, so i think i will make better use of the resources (in form of bosses) that i already placed on the maps. so there might be a counter attack once players enters a certain area (or kill certain enemies) and/or release some "guadian ai's" from their guard mode.


the end game may need some more stuff for hero development beside buying pots, buying other weapons, damage and hp though
most important thing in end game is armor

so i think we may add a new, COSTLY ability like "plate armor" which grants +3 Armor slots, to allow for more hero development in late game
and/or more (expensive) armor-related ITEMS to be bought in ITEM shop

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Balance Test 6.3.3

Evil Dead Map this Time, map is strongly non-linear and a bit slow paced, i even missed a chest right at the beginning
Bosses like crazy and i had to run away from the early spawned Dragons, because my main weapon was a fire-sword.

69 turns though, and i had to used most map resources and without the undeadbane sword it would ave been eben longer.

Was a test on the new "machanic" works out, on this map its a bit more subtle.
(the map shows 6.2.3 bcause i didnt update version number)

SXRPG The Evil Dead, 6.3.3. Warrior Solo, Grandmaster, 69 Turns.gz

(501.94 KiB) Downloaded 42 times

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Balance Test 6.4.1

Both Games activated Deterministic Mode (noluck) on turn 2
(Is considered much easier, since you can eleminate all risk management and dont need to keep HP-Buffer)

Wizard Of War2 81 Turns
The mighty Paladin:

SXRPG Wizard Of War Solo Warrior Grandmaster NOLUCK Turn 81.gz

(540.64 KiB) Downloaded 46 times

Paladin top choice for Arcane Start. Used 3 Weapons in Endgame though.
Final Boss was softed up with 2 Bombs, but Paladin had top resistances against it anyways.

Thats Version 4.2.1, Version 6.4.2 has only minor (but important) differences. (Version 6.3.3. had an OP Silver Dragon)
Conclusion: Its ok, maybe i should restrict Cauldrons to give maxup to 2 Cyan Pots though, as it rushes early game too much.
Since you need only arcane for quite an ok'ish time you can cut through the undead.



The Evil Dead 80 Turns
Paladin again:

SXRPG The Evil Dead Solo Warrior Turn 74.gz

(967.34 KiB) Downloaded 53 times

For arcane start Paladin is top choice. The Final Boss is nasty, but i found a Bomb to soften it, else it would have been easily longer.
Also here was a minor trigger fault, so the 6.4.2 will behave in a minor but important detail differently.
(despite the title the game went 80 Turns, as i remembered the bomb too late)

[Mabuse]

btw, atm im trying again Grandmaster solo run on

sanctum of shadows, which is currently unbeaten in solo for the newest versions, since solo income was nerfed significantly

and i made great progress on how the map could be played, infact getting cornucopia asap is something to consider, which would grant +20% income for kills, which would help with the solo penalty .. and its a bit tricky, since its guarded by some strong ghost .. however, not impossible it seems
(you cant beat it early, but you can lure it away ...)

for the run i use CLERIC which is maybe the best class in the game, and while playing cleric i corrected a minor but potencially very bad bug, which tempted the user to buy critical hit for rage which isnt allowed (for cleric) and thus lead to rage being deleted and waste of money.

however, sanctum of shadows, really nice map, not to big, not to small, pretty linear, pretty hard
i hope i can win this map on solo this run as it is unbeaten in solo so far.

if you have replay with version 6.7.0 or higher in solo sanctum feel free to upload
(Grandmaster difficulty)

[Mabuse]

so heres a replay with sanctum of shadows
version6.8.0

SXRPG Chapter VSanctum of Shadows Grandmaster Cleric Solo Turn 116.gz

(592.2 KiB) Downloaded 29 times

win at turn 116, grandmaster difficulty, cleric, solo
normal combat mode (luck enabled)

beside the usual save/load (i reloaded very often, tryin new things out, etc - but never reloaded combat until it went lucky) spam
i also exploited a movement bug later ingame to prevent ai moving and thus blocking the ways

i dont think i would have had a chance otherwise, so i think the difficulty/game-economy/player-progress should be adressed in one way or another
there a re a few things that need to change in order to keep the game economy running past turn 100 correctly, especially if the movement-bugs-exploitation will be cleared out, we need a working game economy that leaves a bit room for success for the player.

maybe it will be as simple as allowing to buy more strikes


i also think for OFFICIAL claimed wins, no-luck mode should be mandatory, to prevent save/load spam to favor lucky combat.
(save/load spam itself is totally fine imo, if you can exclude combat luck)

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t15 win on Cantar with solo Sylph-mage on gm

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t15 win on Cantar with solo Sylph-mage on gm

cant wait to see it


EDIT:
I would have thought its impossible to do this at turn 15.
Now this is really fast, and i like the high Mobile, Skirmisher Style.
Most enjoyable, as i would have never played like this.

I dont understand the dislike for the Yellow-Potions though, as they increase HP by 8 permanently.
But it seems you didnt need them.

Now i wanna see more of this fast&furious sylph

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When I didn't take them or chest then it's mainly for time (turn) reasons.
Meaning the 1-2 extra movements can cost you an extra turn.

Maybe my speedrun can be improved, is t10 possible? ^^

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t73 win on Journeys I: Isle of Dread on gm (not a speedrun)

2 players (both chaotic):

Cleric - Dwarvish Sentinel
Warrior - Drake Warden

I played my Cleric as high resi tank, not with hp, but self-healing. Partly I felt myself having infinite hp.
Abilities (bought in this order): Dauntless, Soulstealer, Scavenger, Magic Healing; Lightfoot, Skirmisher; Fireball; Tome of forbidden Knowledge
With Magic Healing and Lightfoot, I wanted to reduce the need of potions. Mostly the one I found where enough, tho I bought some to be safe and in the late game. Also, to have enough mana I used onrush (2 rounds of engagements) with blessing (1 mana regen per hit) on my weapon.

My partner matto went for rage having 3 round of engagements with slow and steadily upgrading his resi. Making it the old fashion brute force warrior.

Cleric felt a lot stronger than a high hp, regen warrior. Overall matto felt like warrior is missing something to get them on magical classes level.
I think the biggest difference are the damage spells that allow to: 1. finish low hp units that you failed to kill for only 30mana, 2. taking no retail, 3. working as a 2nd weapon of different dmg type. Also you can spend your mana even when you don't need it to soften-up a boss or in some cases for movements or the extra attack. Not to forget killing bosses with 1.2k dmg in the late game. However, I enjoy playing this type of skirmish a lot.

To spend stamina unfortunately my partner didn't buy Attack Spell, but only found Teleport and later Advanced Alchemy that helped to finish the final boss. For killing he had to rely mostly on blue potions. This I think is a bit sad when your forced to kill a low hp unit with it, to escape from bosses that would otherwise kill you.

Edit:
the difference is that you have better use of mana XD ~matto

[Mabuse]

t73 win on Journeys I: Isle of Dread on gm (not a speedrun)

2 players (both chaotic):

Cleric - Dwarvish Sentinel
Warrior - Drake Warden

I played my Cleric as high resi tank, not with hp, but self-healing. Partly I felt myself having infinite hp.
Abilities (bought in this order): Dauntless, Soulstealer, Scavenger, Magic Healing; Lightfoot, Skirmisher; Fireball; Tome of forbidden Knowledge
With Magic Healing and Lightfoot, I wanted to reduce the need of potions. Mostly the one I found where enough, tho I bought some to be safe and in the late game. Also, to have enough mana I used onrush (2 rounds of engagements) with blessing (1 mana regen per hit) on my weapon.

My partner matto went for rage having 3 round of engagements with slow and steadily upgrading his resi. Making it the old fashion brute force warrior.

Cleric felt a lot stronger than a high hp, regen warrior. Overall matto felt like warrior is missing something to get them on magical classes level.
I think the biggest difference are the damage spells that allow to: 1. finish low hp units that you failed to kill for only 30mana, 2. taking no retail, 3. working as a 2nd weapon of different dmg type. Also you can spend your mana even when you don't need it to soften-up a boss or in some cases for movements or the extra attack. Not to forget killing bosses with 1.2k dmg in the late game. However, I enjoy playing this type of skirmish a lot.

To spend stamina unfortunately my partner didn't buy Attack Spell, but only found Teleport and later Advanced Alchemy that helped to finish the final boss. For killing he had to rely mostly on blue potions. This I think is a bit sad when your forced to kill a low hp unit with it, to escape from bosses that would otherwise kill you.

Edit:
the difference is that you have better use of mana XD ~matto

(will watch the game a bit later)

ok, this is great feedback, as usual im always open to suggestions, maybe non magical-classes may have access to some kind of mundane "damage spell", in form of throwing things (spear, rock, hatchet) ... maybe using a weapon-special instead of an ability, and only working for that weapon and with restricted effectiveness,

also warrior has access to onrush+charge which quadruples damage but need strong resists and HP, not that easy to setup though
another possibility could be to make some sort of berserk-build work, although didnt try it too much

- so getting warrior (non magical classes) to work may be a bit more difficult in comparison, i will look into the matter, but (non magic)critical hit special could be combined with some sort of basic ranged attack for stamina (and special for non-magic ranged units)

- necromancy will be included in the next update to strenghen chaotic(+neutral) alignments, that will provide some sort of "disposable mercs" that cant be upgraded but far less mana cost (however this will only strenghen magic classes of chaotic (and neutral) alignment)

- "heroes-of-the-ream" will give unlimited access to mercenary contracts whch allow to simply buy mercs for gold, for whatever this maybe be useful for.

- rogue-warrior will recive +1 ability point

- some DUNE units for SXRPG era added

- redundant units get deleted (e.g. draug, bone shooter - serve no purpose as death knight is always the better choice)


there will be a few other changes regarding abilities, e.g.

- ALL abilities with heal-tag will be replaced with healing-ability (exception is healing +4)
- ALL abilities with resistance-tag will be replaced with dauntless-ability (giving dwarven sentinel dauntless at start for example)
- ALL abilities with regen-tag will be replaced with megaregen-ability
- ALL abilities with leadership-tag will be replaced with fearless-ability
- ALL abilities with teleport-tag will be replaced with teleport-ability



and other stuff, this is done for better compatibility with other eras, there whould be little effect on SXRPG era, (dwarvish sentinel is one of the exceptions)


we will see what we can come up with

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A thought I had buying weapon and upgrading them:

I tried an opening with Iceblade as main and Torch (without upgrades), to counter some units, but also to deal retaliation in defense to them.
Later turn around turn 20, when we cleared the first boss I bought a Enchanted Sword arcane-weapon. Since it already has magic, but also feels mandatory.
I liked the idea to sell of Torch for only a lose of 10g (bought for 40, sold for 30). But still investing into upgrading a 2nd weapon is never worth it. At least that's our impression, maybe others have different experience on that topic. But,...

- maybe there could be a discount system for weapon specials, checking on how much gold has invested in specials before
- a payback (maybe 75%) for selling of weapons with invested specials could be interesting. I'm thinking about having a high resi Berserk in the early game only
- I like the idea about buffing rogue-warrior, but I think it's main issue is it being to expensive to build

Bugs I found:
- Sometimes I can't use cyan potions directly that I find (with full backpack).
- Not sure if intended, but when I bought Magic Healing, I also got Divine Health for free. (only was the case for Cleric)

Anyway, I like this version a lot more than the last one I played, where non-magical classes had only movements to spend stamina on.
Keep up the great work. I'm looking forward to the next version.

[Mabuse]

A thought I had buying weapon and upgrading them:

I tried an opening with Iceblade as main and Torch (without upgrades), to counter some units, but also to deal retaliation in defense to them.
Later turn around turn 20, when we cleared the first boss I bought a Enchanted Sword arcane-weapon. Since it already has magic, but also feels mandatory.
I liked the idea to sell of Torch for only a lose of 10g (bought for 40, sold for 30). But still investing into upgrading a 2nd weapon is never worth it. At least that's our impression, maybe others have different experience on that topic. But,...

Investing around turn 20 into upgrading a new weapon is not a good idea that is right.

usually it is best to kill leader 6+7 and then invest in 2nd weapon (or not at all, but it is always good if you maybe have bought a 2nd weapon to be able to do that)

some enemies will become very resistant to arcane and/or fire and then having a 2nd FU weapon is good, especially because at game start 700 gold may be everything, but later it is +1 strike and +6 damage that wont change much if enemy has 80% resist against your weapon.

important is that it is best gold-wise best to buy that weapon you want as 2nd at game start because the default cost will increase while you upgrade strikes+damage.

this is to enourage plan-ahead game over spontaneos reaction

sometimes it may be even better to have 3 weapons, as e.g. COLD is rarely needed at early game, but can be good versus special enemies


so RECOMMENDATION (as usual, if you know what you are doing you can always ignore the RECOMMENDATION) is to have 2 weapons, one arcane/fire and a 2nd as mundane weapon (impact/blade/pierce), and upgrade the 2nd once leader 6+7 are defeated or a bit later or never depending on situation.

if you plan having a 3rd weapon for whatever reason its always best to get it asap, may not always be good to buy it at start since it can cripple your setup