Once you get later in the game, the best strategy is to stick with the enemy you 1-shot each time. Gold increase starts to be basically linear, so increasing 4% gold per enemy killed is not worth killing 5-10% less enemies (plus more gems = more kills).
Also, as this is your goal, crit upgrades are useless. Get gold and gem bonuses up high, then work on attack speed and multiply base damage. As far as I can tell, later on in the game increasing "base damage" makes an insignificant difference in weapon damage.
Couple big tips: Don't rush mines, they increase threat and threat reduces your productivity anyways. Having enough towers and garrison lets mines stay at full productivity.
First weapon is best for most of the game as it gives you additional income (120% for disable).
Quake Leap is seriously op, tons of damage to all zombies in a big radius, short cooldown.
You may actually prefer to not level up charge at all, if your strategy is to stand still and swing at approaching enemies. It dashes you right to the targeted zombie, which can put you in a more precarious position. But it's not bad skill, otherwise.
My critique would be that for the most part if you are not a clicker there are only 2 stats that matter, damage and launching power when you decide to move on. And launching power upgrades are pretty uncommon, so most of the time you are just focusing on damage. Auto-Fire's boost in DPS is way lower, for way more money than damage. Max shots you can upgrade incredibly slowly to where it is pocket change. From that, the bullet speed, which like max bullets buffs how fast you can shoot, is mostly pointless.
Yah, a few costs go whacked out and it's on me. The overall game length is what I wanted but there are those strange costs. That said, thanks for the comment and the play!
I don't like how optimal strategy requires constant switching of your tower order ( to spread out damage, since the lead tower gets hit the most).
Of course you can win without doing this much, it's sort of just a 'cheat' option to make things easier.
Was pretty easy on hard difficulty first time trying. Bosses aren't too tricky to figure out, most guys can be outran, and when they group its really easy to kill them all with the sniper rifle, largely by setting off the explosive guys.
On hard level, I don't think the upgrades are close to balanced. Take hearts whenever you can, if not, horse speed + jump, then you should be forced to take 1 medpack. Also, the free reset of stats makes it an easy decision to initially focus in + money. Bosses tend to be harder than anything else and don't always have small mobs, so focus on single target damage. Lastly, DO NOT get the rocket launcher spreadshot in combination with fireworks. You won't be able to see a goddamn thing coming at you while you fire.
A suggestion... have an optional setting to pause the game whenever someone finishes training. It's a hassle to watch closely for when the training ends, so you can start it again without wasting a day or two.
I basically just did all archers early in the game, and transitioned to all paladin (4 united). All Paladin failed a few times against pirates, so I did all archers and won those. But for most of pirates, and all of Romans, all Paladins dominated. Just make sure to upgrade the actives and use them well.
If you are crazy and want to try to beat story mode without dying, a cheap way to help is to farm xp early on (at least to fully upgrade rp cost reduction). Begin and cancel ammo collection to spawn extra zombies(no limit). Take out both arms and the head for 8 xp per zombie, instead of 4 for just going for the head.
Finally beat the game on Deity on turn 92... mostly came down to avoiding too many ice ages. Get 2-3 in fishing asap when it unlocks and fill it (220 or so people), increase your population capacity with pottery. Get worship 2 and max out the Desert (about 93), then put any spillover into the mountains. Get component tools to 2, then get barter, then get component tools to 4. Make population stagnant and start defending around turn 90 (never defend for the rest of the game) Then do the minimum research required to get Social Class when you reach 25k production. Majority of your guys should be in the mountain, as much as you can spare.
Why does it say the Swordrath are no match for your clubs when the swords pretty much pwn clubs in larger numbers, with their longer reach? Bad form imo to give false tactics, the bows work much better.
I wish there was a way to voluntarily slow yourself. I didn't get the fuel fajita early and now I go too fast on story mode, so it's nearly impossible really to get all the special gummies in one run :(
Current Challenge for me, start a new game on "Seriously Hard" difficulty, and typical size city. Get all 4 victories (you can travel to a new city with your characters) No save/reload abuse!
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Yah, a few costs go whacked out and it's on me. The overall game length is what I wanted but there are those strange costs. That said, thanks for the comment and the play!