Those two issues actually are things you adjust to after playing the game for a while. You learn to dodge and not get hit by the glooples, or to at least plot your escape while waiting to recover. I'll say it's quite rare at this point that I get killed from being stunned. The swing arc I will say is a little odd at times. I'm not really sure exactly how it works, but if you pause in the middle of a swing you can see the actual affected area. It's also something you just get used to though. Eventually you can tell if a gloople will be hit or not without any thought whatsoever. This game does require quite a lot of practice and skill despite its apparent simplicity.
Razor queen is most easily found at the end of a nest just like the red queen, but she can also turn up in bounty runs as well. It's pretty rare though. I've played a substantial number of bounty runs, and gotten pretty high scores, and I believe I've only seen her turn up once in that mode. The easiest way to get her is to play a small nest until there are 5-10 glooples left and dodge until she shows up. Having at least 5 will allow you a little wiggle room in case an amalgam shows up so you won't have to start all over. To answer sonphan's question, yes, I have fought razor queen quite a number of times, and beat her. There actually are a large number of people that have. If you want to see it done, you can search for it on youtube and there are loads of videos to show you how to do it. I found that quite useful because hearing the technique isn't quite the same as seeing it.
Umm....yes, I knew that actually. That was one of the ones darkrai had already mentioned. Gloople is the generic term for all of the enemies in the game, so I was not actually excluding the biters even though it did sort of sound that way.
Hardcore mode turns off the delay of the different enemies. So, all the different types of enemies you have encountered will appear from the very beginning of the nest. It does not however make any new enemies appear any sooner than they would normally, so it's not going to help you fill out your beastiary. Using it does make the game a bit harder, but it also makes it a little more fun because you don't have to kill a whole bunch of greens before the action really starts. It is unlocked when you get 25 awards, and you toggle it on and off with the sword button on the left side of the menu.
If you want to know what the rewards are before you pick them then go look at bubblemasta's guide. He has a page that tells about each one, so you can make an informed decision.
The spawn count being set at 20 is not necessarily a guaranty that there will never be more than 20 enemies on the screen. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I have definitely been told that. If you really want proof then set it on 8 and count them up every now and then. You'll definitely find more than 8 pretty regularly. Also keep in mind that clutters can split into as many as three when you hit them, which would increase the enemy count as well.
You kill a grey by hitting it while the blade is extending three times. To kill a grinder (the rock one) it first must be made vulnerable by another gloople, which can happen by either the acid of a meltie or bumping into another grinder. It will then turn orange along the cracks, and then you have to hit it five times. Once you have Razor Glaive, hitting it once will weaken it (and stun you for a second) and then two more hits will finish it off.
Hardcore mode does not increase the chances of finding either queen. The queens can also be found in small nests. It's a random chance, and the size of the nest does not matter. I never had any trouble getting them to appear there by killing all but a few glooples (usually leaving at least 5 in case an amalgam shows up) and waiting patiently for them to show. The smaller nest increases the odds that you will still have armor by the time she shows up.
Yes, there are people who use other rewards. I have one friend I know for sure who uses sprint more than just about anything, but pretty much everyone I know switches it up and plays around with different combinations of things.
That's actually a very common misconception. Most people assume that would be true, myself included. I only know different because the creator and games testers have been friends of mine for years, and set me straight on that. Figured I'd share though.
Actually turning on hardcore does not make new glooples turn up any faster. It only causes the ones you have already seen to come out as soon as you start instead of delayed. Any new glooples will still come out at the same point they would without hardcore on. Basically turning on hardcore just makes it more difficult to get to the new ones.
Like most games it takes practice to be able to overcome the enemies. If it were easy, then the game would be crap because you would beat it in ten seconds.
You get to use 2 rewards when you have earned half of the awards, and three when you get them all.
As far as the best reward is concerned, from what I have heard most people tend to stick with the armors, and ultimately razor glaive. They're useful and don't require a great deal of skill or practice to use effectively. I have however heard just about ever reward there is listed as a favorite by someone....short of the wall, though there are people who use it.
Impossible definitely suits it. Caleb never actually intended for people to actually get all the awards. He said that he made a few of them what he considered to be pretty unrealistic. It obviously can be done, but it takes a lot of work and practice. I'm still only at 100 and I've had a lot of help from people who have finished it, Caleb included.
There is no real secret to finding a razor queen. Your bestiary has to be full, but other than that the technique is the same as finding the regular queen. It's totally random. It either happens or it doesn't. Just keep playing small nests down to a few glooples, then stand in the middle and wait. She'll turn up eventually.
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