Elona shooter discussion and strategy

I’m hooked on this game, though it needs more balance imo. But I have some questions and observations about this game. Hopefully what I’ve discovered can help other people, and likewise, I hope to gain some tips from others as well.

tower upgrades:
sandbags seem awfully expensive for how little protection they provide, anybody find otherwise?

What do looters do exactly? increase the chance of the random items you get after battle? That’s my best guess. do they increase gold via kill bonus, end of level reward and such? I don’t think so but if anybody does please correct me.

chicken: These seem to be the only reliable source of income in the game for me. Anybody know if eggs expire after each day though? I mean in case you haven’t picked them one day, are you able to the next?

sister: I find I like buying one of these every 4 days or so, probably less if I’m using a bowgun. Bowguns are really bad with these.

Villa: Anybody know what the bonus is? and how much ap cost? I don’t get enough ap every day as it is, I really can’t afford the gold for this building only to spend all my ap for a 1 time bonus, ick.

sp trainer: Very expensive, but I think it’s worth it after you get about 3 or 4 ordinary trainers. It costs 4 ap to use the trainer unfortunately, and you can only learn 1 sill (for each character) from each sp trainer in case you don’t know, edit: I used to think it always chose your main dude first because it did for awhile. Alas, it doesn’t.

House: Pretty obvious what this does, however it’s not obvious that you can only get this upgrade twice. So make sure you’re extra picky about that 3rd NPC.

weapons:

Here are my own personal observations for each weapon. so far I’ve only played a rogue up to level 30ish, a hunter to level 20ish, and a sheriff to 15ish. Unfortunately I have terrible luck getting weapons for each character. So my experience is pretty limited to all but the rogue (even with bad luck you get to play with quite a selection by stage 30ish)

Handguns: These are fairly decent, they make a good all-round weapon, you probably want to use one for picking off weak targets

laser pistol: Very high dps, however unlike what you’d assume for lasers..its accuracy and recoil totally suck. Do NOT use this weapon for anything but targets with large hitboxes.

sniper revolver: Seems to be pretty crappy actually. The damage isn’t much greater than that of a handgun, nor is the accuracy MUCH better, yet the ridiculously slow fire rate makes its dps absolutely terrible. Its reload time is pretty bad too.

machine pistol: Probably the best handgun I’ve used. Unlike what you’d expect, it’s actually very accurate, just don’t hold the fire button down or the recoil will make your aim suck. Probably the best dragonfly shooter in the game, if you shoot one bullet at each dragonfly, you WILL hit them every time because it’s so accurate.

longbow: Pretty terrible at everything but shooting flying targets imo…Which it really owns at (though not dragonflies), however do NOT give this to one of your npcs in hopes of having them own flying targets, they will suck. That’s basically what killed my hunter character. I foolishly sold my machine pistol for my little girl npc, and gave her a longbow to help with flying things, only to find out she can’t hit the broad side of a barn with it even when it’s right in front of her. ICK

Rifles:
Bowgun:
Great weapon, Does good damage, no reload time, refire rate is not bad for the damage it does, and it pierces thru enemies. Unfortunately shooting dragonflies with this is nearly impossible. In addition, it makes sister bombs almost useless since it’s bound to hit them on the way (or after) your actual targets. I also notice that it seems to not be very good at killing those hammer-wielding dudes who occasionally enrage and start charging at you. For some reason my arrows frequently fail to damage them as it flies past. Very annoying. I often get wiped out by masses of those guys because of this. Never aim for their head with this weapon, try the neck if you absolutely need headshots.

hunting rifle: Got this on my first day playing the game, seemed to work good at the time, but I had lost that save file since and haven’t been able to use it since.

Machine gun: It’s like the machine pistol with a bigger supply of ammo, but without the accuracy…The accuracy really sucks actually. I haven’t found a good use for this weapon to be honest. Even catapults are hard to hit with this thing after the first 6 or so bullets, it’s THAT bad. Oh yeah, and you don’t want to reload it, takes forever.

sniper rifle: Not a very good weapon for mass useage. It has terrible firing speed, and ammunition. The reload time isn’t that bad except it’s just not good enough to offset its bad ammo size. I find it’s excellent at picking off headshots against straggler hammer dudes between bowgun shots though. Also good for shooting the feet of those big monster dudes..with uhh.. weak feet. If you want to get a crit on the guys with a sword and shield, don’t aim for the torso like their weak spot suggests. I have better luck aiming for the mid part of their cape actually.

Shotgun:

The only shotgun type weapon I’ve got with my sheriff so far.. Pretty sad I know. However it’s still doing the job even now! The accuracy of it is good at about the half-way point (even against dragonflies). If you don’t have anything that close, take the opportunity to reload. I find it seems to 1shot enemy archers even at max range though. Doesn’t seem to be as good at killing catapults as one would think however…

so far I find the key to this game after day 15+ish. Is to try and have multiple weapons handy all the time. Use the ones that are strong against certain enemies. I really had this down on my rogue. I’d laser pistol big hitbox targets, longbow flying targets, machine pistol dragonflies (and mice and sheep), etc.

Also work with your npcs. Recognize what they are good at killing, and set their ai to focus on that, and make a mental note to ignore those targets yourself, and focus on what they can’t deal with.

I’m no pro myself so my advice probably wont help those who are, but hopefully it’ll get the ball rolling for some discussion on this game >=)

Some of the rewards given by acquiring said medals.

Experienced – +100 Starting gp
Survivor – +200 Starting gp
Veteran – +300 gp
Expert – +500 gp
Survivor – (Obtained by reaching wave 80) +750 gp

Chicken Lover – +5% revenue from eggs
Chicken Prince – +15%
Chicken King -(120 Chickens) +30%

Novice/Skilled/Adept Defender – +1% Castle Absorption each

Killer – +1 to luck at start
Assassin – +1 to sense at start
Unseen hand -(50 criticals) +2 to accuracy at start
Ragnarok – +1 to luck at start

There’s a very good weapon for a hunter called an auto-bowgun, it has no reload rate and has piercing power, damage is a bit small, but the piercing allows more hits. With a leech upgrade, its an excellent weapon. Good even up to lvl 50.

I’ve reach around lvl 82 with my hunter, and I can no longer win, the enemies are just too numerous and too strong to stop.

Chosen One – (Obtained by reaching wave 150) +1000 gp
Sister Master – (Obtained by reaching Sister Level 31) 30 more bomb damage
Master Defender – (Obtained by reaching getting 10 perfects) +1 Castle defense
Prayer – (Obtained by reaching praying 30 times) Random +1 AP
Provoker – (Obtained by reaching taunting 20 times) Random +1 AP
Boomer – (Obtained by reaching partying 20 times) Random +1 AP
Robber – (Obtained by reaching robbing 50 times) Robber +2 to starting?
Gun Mania – (Obtained by reaching recycling 15 times)
Hardcore – +1 to sense at start

One Small Gun you missed was the Revolver: It’s basically a handgun with low accuracy (about 50-ish) and high damage (30-something at level 1), with seven shots. And it is beyond awesome.

It’s one of the few weapons that loads single shots, making it a legal target for an Auto-Reload mod, and with its 250ms reload speed, if you pace yourself in firing (ie. don’t spam the fire button) it fully reloads in seconds. Plus, with its high damage and reasonable fire rate (only slightly slower than the handgun), you can afford to use it to pound on armoured targets in a pinch.

Originally posted by Alhazard:

Chosen One – (Obtained by reaching wave 150) +1000 gp
Sister Master – (Obtained by reaching Sister Level 31) 30 more bomb damage
Master Defender – (Obtained by reaching getting 10 perfects) +1 Castle defense
Prayer – (Obtained by reaching praying 30 times) Random +1 AP
Provoker – (Obtained by reaching taunting 20 times) Random +1 AP
Boomer – (Obtained by reaching partying 20 times) Random +1 AP
Robber – (Obtained by reaching robbing 50 times) Robber +2 to starting?
Gun Mania – (Obtained by reaching recycling 15 times)
Hardcore – +1 to sense at start

How did you get wave 150?

Pro-tip: The game is based on a random number generator. As such, you are bound to run into an impossible wave unless you prepare well in advance for one.

level 107. its impossible for me, no matter what upgrades i choose or how i spend my money im just overrun
im on casual, and level 150 seems impossible to get to even on this mode :/

Originally posted by 1337al:

level 107. its impossible for me, no matter what upgrades i choose or how i spend my money im just overrun
im on casual, and level 150 seems impossible to get to even on this mode :/

I’m stuck at 87. So, more or less, the random wave generation may help or hamper, but I really doubt anyone would be able to reach 150, seeing that by the time you reach 120+, the enemies will have enough hp to last towards getting near your base and the damage they deal will be way too much, even with damage reduction. Crows at 3rd repeat deals 9+ dmg, and that’s with 50% reduction, so imagine the amount of damage they’ll deal then.

Chicken Profit
Please note I have not thoroughly tested this yet, and will be making additions as needed. For the sake of reading convenience I will not be prefacing everything with “I am almost positive”, “I believe”, instead I will just use blanket statements.

One chicken can lay multiple eggs, a single egg or none, which makes it hard to pin down the type of profit you’d expect for your investment. Eggs do not pool over from day to day, so you need that 1AP to gain your money back.

Each egg sells for 14 gold; 15 if you have the first medal, 17 for the second, and 19 for the third. This means you make your money investment on chickens back very rapidly, but as they become more and more expensive it takes longer. Your first chicken takes about 1.5 turns to pay off, after the 58th chicken all chickens will take half a turn or less to pay off (so you can pay off the cost of two in one round), upon reaching 60 and getting the second-to-last medal chickens will soon be paid off within about 2/5ths of a round.

The trick of chickens is to know when to invest in your future and when to use that money to get through the round. If not playing hardcore, see if you can get through each round ok. If you can, then reload and buy more chickens; if you can’t, then use that money to buy upgrades.

Money in General
Since money plays such a pivotal role in this game, its obvious money will help make or break a player. Some of the better ways I’ve found to get money include:
1) Chicken investing (obviously)
2) Taunting (getting almost double your reward for 4AP, two taunts, is incredible)
3) I have yet to implement it, but there is a skill (Sister Lover) that gives you +15g every time you blow up your sister; eventually that could be more profitable then chicken herding!
4) Getting Rogues as allies, or party skills to improve drops, which are then sold

Originally posted by Ghalion:

tower upgrades: sandbags seem awfully expensive for how little protection they provide, anybody find otherwise?

Sandbags are very not much worth it at first. Considering that .05 damage resistance gives a 2HP bonus for the battle, that means that it won’t be until your wall’s hp is 100 that it will even be worth the first wall upgrade (i.e. +5 hp)

What do looters do exactly? increase the chance of the random items you get after battle?

The loot you get at the end is worth more.

sister: I find I like buying one of these every 4 days or so, probably less if I’m using a bowgun. Bowguns are really bad with these.

As are militia; when they chuck those grenades you can pretty much kiss your wall of sisters goodbye.

It is definitely best to keep all manners of weapons on hand. They all have different aiming and accuracy based on how close or far an enemy is; while I prefer the rifles or bowguns, it sucks to have an enemy sneak past them and waste 3 shots trying to stop them from damaging your wall.

Originally posted by Alhazard:

Gun Mania – (Obtained by reaching recycling 15 times)

What benefit does it provide?

hello guys…
I’ve got a question that i can’t figure out.
When we develop the partners ‘party skills’, it does the same effect as if the skill were yours, right?
however… what about the “active” skill? (to receive more AP after battle)
I’ve got all my allies with this skill, however, the max AP i get is 7 (4 + 1 from each). If i increase the skill up to 10, the max AP i get is still 10.
So… Is it considered a bug?
Anyway… what about the other party skills? have you noticed something like that?

Originally posted by Annors:

When we develop the partners ‘party skills’, it does the same effect as if the skill were yours, right?
however… what about the “active” skill? (to receive more AP after battle)
I’ve got all my allies with this skill, however, the max AP i get is 7 (4 + 1 from each). If i increase the skill up to 10, the max AP i get is still 10.
So… Is it considered a bug?
Anyway… what about the other party skills? have you noticed something like that?

Any party skills used are only the person in your party with the highest skill. So the max AP you are getting (7) is from your person with Active 3. Increasing it does not increase the probability you’ll get the extra AP, just the amount that is given.

Thank you for getting the ball rolling on a guide. I was hoping someone would.

The special trainer does not always train your main character first. Much to my annoyance.

The villa doesn’t seem very good to me. At first level I think it was +10%. Not worth the upkeep let alone the AP. Just for the medal in my opinion.

I’ve heard scuttlebutt about the statues serving a purpose. Anyone find anything out about them? I heard in chat that statues reduce the amount of spawn of that creature type if it’s in you’re inventory Viva Pinata style (so if you’re holding a sheep statue, you get less sheep each level).

I did some quick testing and didn’t notice anything different, I’ve just been selling them since.

Originally posted by WonderLlama:

Thank you for getting the ball rolling on a guide. I was hoping someone would.

The special trainer does not always train your main character first. Much to my annoyance.

The villa doesn’t seem very good to me. At first level I think it was +10%. Not worth the upkeep let alone the AP. Just for the medal in my opinion.

My Villa is at lvl 6, gives me 60% dmg bonus. Good against boss waves and heavy units.

Does anyone know what the “Elonian” medal does and how to receive it?

It costs 3 ap to throw a party. I didn’t think the villa had any upkeep, though. I didn’t really notice. It gives a 10% dmg bonus per level when you throw a party.
Anyone notice any penalties for casual? Like can you get medals? That doesn’t seem fair to me.

I’ve been using the rapid-fire bowgun. Make sure you just hold the fire button down for autofire, though. I thought it was just a faster singleshot like the other bowgun, but it’s not. Imagine how angry I was to find out I had used it for 20+ days like a singleshot gun. I think some good mods for it would be damage, fire rate, leech, impact.

You get Elonian medal at day 40 or 41. It says you’ll be able to import weapons to Elona, someday. I think it might be a tie-in to the rogue-like Noa made.

Also, does anyone else think that claiming title is a waste of 4 ap? Is it possible to skip the first rank and go directly to the second when it’s time? Right now I’ve been waiting to get extra ap from active.

I thought active could only give up to the level of ap. It says the max party skill is the only one that works, but maybe active is bugged? You should only be able to get 4ap with it in Annor’s case.

Also, repairer is really good for getting perfect games. As it says in the help, if you have full hp at the start of every wave you have a perfect game. You get 30% more gold if you get perfect. I took one damage at the end of the last wave and still got a perfect. I’m guessing that the repair works on the last wave, too. It seems like it would be really good if you also taunted those rounds, but it’s probably not worth losing the chicken income unless you get extra ap from active.

Does any one know what the definition of a ‘perfect game’ is here? I seemingly get them at random.

It’s the last tip in help: “When a battle ends and if your wall HP was full at the beginning of every wave, you get a perfect game and its bonus! Easier to score with the repair upgrade.”

I’ve been hooked on this game, too. Last two nights I’ve started playing at midnight and look up and see it’s light out and coming up on 8am.

Originally posted by Dirty_Johnny:

Does any one know what the definition of a ‘perfect game’ is here? I seemingly get them at random.

I believe is that your beginning hp is =< end hp… I can’t say, I got a bit of damage before the lvl ends and I still get it.

Hmmm… well… i’ve got a rogue (not the hero( with 10 active… but my maximum start ap is still 7… don’t know why =/

God, this game is too addictive… And these achievements are damn hard. Been playing this for whole 2 days and some of them still seem impossible to me. :/

Ultimate Hardcore – Starting Bonus Weapon: Gravity Gun
Sounds awesome, but I can’t find that gun anywhere. Any idea what is this about? Or at what day you get “RNG Award” and what it gives?

Oh, and one tip for newbies – unlock Ragnarok by using artifact when day is about to end, so the dragons won’t have enough time to shoot. :]

Someone said you can use grail right after, too.

-When a battle ends and if your wall HP was full at the beginning of every wave, you get a perfect game and its bonus! Easier to score with the repair upgrade.

At least that´s what “bottom right boulder in front of shield” thingy told me.

Do you get medals on casual mode?