I’m wondering about people’s choices in areas.
After checking out Volcana for a while, I’ve switched to exclusively going Jungle: I think BM + bomb box + paste + high chance of Kapala beats Vlad’s Cape. I doubt anyone chooses Temple over Tide Pool though. They really need to buff the Temple.
I like the temple - it’s dangerous due to the blocks and the challenging enemies, but getting the cane item is INCREDIBLY easy and makes the run very easy itself, though caution needs to be taken yet of course - that thing is dangerous. Also, getting into the gold city is awesome, and talk about racking up a high score, but the secret area past that is really interesting. I’ve only seen it once, it’s terrifying/awesome.
I usually go Volcana, as it’s quicker and safer. The black market is just too hard to find, even with the udjat-eye, and farming for early resources isn’t fun. I think I’ve entered the BM maybe 5 times in 500+ runs.
I haven’t gotten the Ankh yet nor achieved anything in the Temple, and only gotten the Kapala a few times.
When I have a great start I’ll chance the Jungle to see what I can get, but mostly I try to play safe and be consistent. One of the green sisters you rescue will attack you in the 5-1 yeti cave! No thanks.
OK so I would say the impression you have of the Jungle is mostly due to inexperience. Volcana is easy on average, but the standard deviation is huge: you can easily get screwed due to bad lava RNG, not to mention difficulties with obtaining the cape. The jungle is harder on average, but the standard deviation is much lower: you’re far less likely to get screwed by RNG. And the benefits are huge. I tend to leave the jungle with the Kapala, all items including paste (perhaps except the jetpack), and tens of bombs.
At 70+ hours played, it’s more fair to call me unskilled than inexperienced. Those “huge benefits” don’t much improve my odds of winning. Resources help, but attrition, luck, and defensive play are what get me through the game.
Bombs are life, since you can use bombs to bypass almost any danger. The kapala allows you to survive deadly encounters that could be instakills.
I know these things, but the worse strategy is one I can execute. I could stop trying to win for a bit and practice the harder stuff, but IDK how much longer I’m going to keep playing it.
Incidentally, the Steam forum FAQ now indicates that PC online multiplayer may arrive in a month.
You probably know this, but you can use a rope to safely climb down past spikes. This is the usual technique for rescuing pets from spike pits. If the spikes are only one block down, you can simply mantle down past them by holding down and moving sideways.
I didn’t know that either. I always figured I had to bomb those spots.
This doesn’t make me angry but it’s kind of dumb I guess. This isn’t how videogame spikes work.
I did know I could walk through them if I was on the same tile. That seemed reasonable.
I hate moles. I have got a bit better of watching where they are on the floor above now but I still lose some life to them in the dwelling pretty frequently.
You can also float down safely onto them, I believe, using a cape, parachute or turkey.
Also are you aware that tapping jump does a smaller jump with jump boots on? At least with the keyboard controls, but I assume they must have done that for the controller too. It’s sometimes a bit finicky to pull off.
Coming at spikes slow = safe.
Coming at spikes at speed = unsafe.
One other tip - if you have the cape (or a turkey) you can also float down into spikes!
No. This shouldn’t be allowed. Who approved this? There are laws, people. Spike laws.
Spike physics was already established by the original Prince of Persia. Running/speed bad, dropping down/walking fine!
I suppose you’re right about that.
You and me both. I just finally got to the Tide Pools today.
You have to be ready for this eventuality. Treat every skull as if it were a skeleton. In this case, you need to be ready to jump up on the rope again.
I think it’s time for me to shelve this for a while. I’m getting kinda sick of the game and need a break, and I feel like they haven’t learned enough from other rogue-lites.
I’ve got some wins under my belt and have been getting past Olmec and the Ankh fairly regularly now and it’s been making for long and enjoyable matches. But Valhalla has sort of pushed this to just one or two runs a day and I think for now that’s a good thing - I’ll eventually cool on it and come back to it many times over the coming years, which is why I love how dense and packed full of content it is.