QCF Design Community

Using level ups against bosses ("ding fighting?") will optimally include a bit of regen fighting. The idea is that after the combat exchange with the boss, it's rare that you're totally tapped out. If the boss is doing 40% of your health per blow, and you are at 30%, you should explore a few tiles until you're at 41% (or so) before finishing the level up. Similarly, you should avoid dinging if you are just one mana shy of casting an additional fireball. etc.

There are some exceptions to this, but almost no exceptions to the idea that you should fully exhaust yourself before level ups. Sometimes, it is best to use your leftover resources to 'prep' mid-level monsters that would otherwise would not be one shot wonders. The deciding factor here is whether is not the extra experience you would gain from this would make the difference between an additional levelup or not.

Catapulting is probably more intuitive because it requires less conservation of your resources in the boss build-up: if you're not depending on as much blackspace in your final boss fight, you're happy to exhaust exploration as, say, a level 2 character trying to take down a level 5 creature in a significant battle of attrition.

Advanced catapulters don't ignore their regen fighting: they just use it *before* the boss battle to earn their XP edge, save on popcorn and basically ensure that they can hit harder and spike more reliably than a late-game regen fighter would. Some people can (and will) pursue this tactic so aggressively that at one stage in the beta many extreme examples would explore fully half of the map before killing their first monster. Bonus XP nerfs and generation tweaks have hardly slowed this approach at all, because it really is damn effective.

Catapulting probably becomes a little more obvious to beginners, too, because conserving blackspace in the early game is a skill which requires forward planning. Catapulting is a more immediate situation than regen fighting.

It should also be noted that right now our own tutorials and puzzles have a strong catapult bias, not least because one of the core tenets of puzzles at the moment is "no darkspace allowed".

Subverting this slightly with one of the new GG puzzles being released tomorrow.

Then there's all the stuff that Sidestepper says

Hoping that the new B2P will introduce an alternative regen exploit to poison. At the very least, it'll increase the presence of "regen promo" ideas.

As an aside, I've really gotten to thinking that "fast regen" creatures should probably just have their regen set to natural instead of halting it off poison.

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Also ... eugh, can't really get into much detail right now (it's late in my part of the world and I've been awake for a while), but it may be worthwhile to note that, in general, there's a lot MORE regeneration available in beta DD when compared to alpha. The simple existence of subdungeons buffs that tactic, and considering how secret subs, smugglers and Vicious arenas can top that up even more, I wonder if it's really a matter of regen tactics being overpowered instead of us just being a little *too* generous with the darkspace we're giving to players nowadays. Will have to think on that.

Oh, and list updated for stuff people pointed out, hope I didn't miss anything. Ignore the huge text wall unless really into "player progression" and "lvl catapults vs regen fighting" and have the time, it's there so I can remember having thought it clearly.

Moar comments for the "guide" if anyone cares to bother, I'd appriciate. I'll add an index for sure.

And to the latest point I've been abusing the old BLOOTOPOWA quite handily all the time, it's great. Guess you have to be a "natural" regen fighter sort of chap for it. Although I actually got the hint from remembering stuff Darvin used to say about it.

And speaking of the fast regen trolls (in Gaan'Telet), the poisoned dagger seems to work on them, and the TT hack doesn't? They got copy protection, firewall or what? No hurry, just bringin it out there for the millionth time.