What to do next?

[Vallos]

My Apprentice just hit 74 a couple of days ago and I am trying to figure out the next step in his advancement.

Due to my odd hours, on call status and need to be able to drop the game at a moment's notice I tend to solo most of the time so really I am looking at content that I can handle on my own.

My character's tower stats are:

410/600/410/343

..and I have an App Guardian but not a great one atm 20^ 60 Range and 4***

I also have a level 72 monk that I can bring onto maps with my Xbox controller to add various auras to help out that way but he mostly just sits next to the crystals as I can't run both effectively at the same time.

Any advice as to which maps (and difficulties) I should focus on for mana or gear?

[phtotrope]

With those stats, I would begin attempts at Endless Spires NM Hardcore. At the least you'll make it through the first few waves as you get new gear. With a bit more stats than you have now, you should be able to beat the whole thing. Use a genie for the first few waves and the switch to your app guardian for the last 1 or 2 waves and buff up the north choke point defenses.

Here's a layout you could try out. It utilizes monk ensnares as well.

http://html5.cubicleninja.com/cubicleninja/html5/dd/index.htm?layout=7846

[Twink]

I'd say, first of all, powerlevel your monk to 74 with your App on Glitter. Your stats are enough to do it solo, once you have a good layout down with some repairing and upgrading during Waves. Your monk will be much more usefull and also, you'll start gathering mana for future upgrades and purchases.

I'm assuming App will be your main char, so focus monk on auras build if you intend to only use it to support your tower setups or dps if you intend to keep him outside during waves for dpsing, repairing and upgrades.

Once you're confortable with Glitter and both your heroes, you should focus on Endless Spires nm hc as phtotrope rightly suggested.
As he also pointed, don't feel let down if you can't manage more then 3 or 4 waves at first. Keep farming over and over and keep special attention to chests during build phases: Open ALL of them and check itens; when all chests were dealt with, look in the floor for upgrades.
You'll see that in no time you'll have upgraded all your itens.

After that, when you can reliably finish Endless Spires nm hc campaign you can do other maps like Ramparts or Summit hc nm, albeit the fact that the loot isn't better then Endless Spires, so it's more about not doing the same map over and over again then an upgrade on possible loot.

From there you should move to Misty campaign and re-start the process, keep doing the waves you can manage to down, looking for chests and then floor itens till you can deal with the complete number of waves.

Some people say Survival Endless Spires is easier then Misty campaign, but what I did was exactly what I said...I moved to Misty and even wiping on Wave 1 try after try. You gotta choose what you're more confortable with.

After that it's all about Survival Endless Spires/Mage Quarter/Ramparts/Summit, but loot is pretty much equivalent on those (with Endless being notoriously named as the better option for loot).

After that it's Spider Queen kill, wich in a normal progression path will require a group to kill. (this step can be completed before finishing other maps Survivals or progressing on Misty Survival...just listing it here in terms of difficulty)

After that it's Misty Survival time. Same deal, go till you can and keep retrying till you get better gear and keep progressing till you can finish the whole thing.

aaaaaaaaand...by that time we'll prob be at 7.16 with the new patch and new maps, new monsters, new weapons and new challenges...soooo, yeah ^_^

If you wan't help, I'm always looking for people to play with and you can just gimme a call to do any of these.
I'm also still struggling with Misty Survival starting waves alone and I'm still not locked for last waves of Survival for Endless Spires, since my main char is not my builder.

Anyway...my SteamID: Tvvink

Just hook me up

[kreyson]

Here my set up for HC NM Endless Spires, i first did it with similar stats as you. Slightly challenging at first with low gear (dps the ogres), but once you get the hang of it is is EXTREMELY EASY. Using all app, no monk. You will also find some nice upgrades from the chests.

http://html5.cubicleninja.com/cubicleninja/html5/dd/index.htm?layout=14741

Stand on the north xtal when ogres show up to maximize the DSTs.


*Edit* A complete run should take you about 16 minutes and garner 10-30 million mana, plus a chance at Uber 118^ pets from the shop. I found a 98^ app guardian (+70 stats) and 108 genie (+110 stats) this way. Once i found these two pets, life was much easier.

[Vallos]

Thanks for the advice.

I have tried NM HC Spires and managed to get to wave 8 before wiping so it is definitely workable for farming. I've picked up about a dozen mythics but only one upgrade so far so I'll be running it a few more times to see what drops and to work the bugs out of the layout (pun intended).

I may try Misty later as well but I'm going to try to see if I can manage to actually get through Spires at least once so I can unlock the MN suvival mode.

[Vallos]

Well, I just tried Kreyson's build and it got me through Wave 8 so now the map is unlocked for all NM modes.

I have to admit, I would never have though of loading the map up with Strike towers but it worked.

[kreyson]

Well, I just tried Kreyson's build and it got me through Wave 8 so now the map is unlocked for all NM modes.

I have to admit, I would never have though of loading the map up with Strike towers but it worked.

Congrats!

If under geared, main thing is to upgrade the barricades.

TIP: If you play around with the barricades, you can shape it just right, "U" shaped that the ogres will get stuck on it and have to beat it down to get past it. If you misplace the barricade and leave a tiny gap, the ogre can "Slide" past it. Be sure the concave side of the barricade is facing the ogre and no gaps between the barricade and the sidewall to anchor it.

[Vallos]

Thanks for the tip. I was wondering why they stepped right past the barricades on one attempt.

Next question:

What levels of resists and hit points should I reasonably be shooting for?

My Resists right now are:

92/51/60/58 and HPs are 3962.

[kreyson]

Should be ok, but i am not the expert, i can do HC NM, Misty, but i can not beat the spider queen. I have similar resists.

[Vallos]

And today I got three of the 10 mana pets from the Tavern.

App Guardian with 29^ (and 74 upgrade levels)

Huntress Guardian with 59^ (and 99 upgrade levels)

And a Huntress guardian with 61^ (and 106 upgrade levels)

(and I know that the ^ over 40 is meaningless)

Again.. Thanks for the strategies and advice.