About the elevators, try not to make them skyscrapers, divide them into bits of 10 blocks at most really, or else they'll have to wait for one to go 50 floors down, they really have a "time bomb" system here. They can ride up one floor and wait for another 40 seconds or something :D
Getting to the totem in survival easier than you think. Here's the strategy that always works:
1. Build enough energy sources, have a farming area, do not use relays to transfer packets, instead use reactors and collectors, as they have the same ability. ALWAYS have twice as much collection as consumption, as consumption will spike when mass building.
2. Build some blasters on the front lines
3. Build some mortars behind them
4. Keep expanding the collector network with blaster cover
5. Move blasters and mortars up, but always make sure that they have collector (relay) coverage, or else they'll run out of ammo and break
6. Keep pushing, repeat steps 4&5
 "Proke"){kind=icon}
 "This is the Only Level 3"){kind=icon}
 "Sieger"){kind=icon}
 "Theme Hotel"){kind=icon}
 "Creeper World: Evermore"){kind=icon}
 "Earn to Die"){kind=icon}
 "Pingy the Ping Idle RPG"){kind=icon}
 "DDTank"){kind=icon}
 "Rebuild 2"){kind=icon}
 "Shop Empire"){kind=icon}
 "Mud and Blood 2"){kind=icon}
 "Achievement Unlocked 2"){kind=icon}
If you look at them side by side they're really different. You can see a comparison here: http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/9437/finalur.png