The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk - parodic fantasy tactical RPG - now with Back to the Futon DLC

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Rusty doing his best impression of the Ranger:

 

[Nortar]

There seems to be a game freezing bug.
If you manage to freeze a Golem Mobile Crane when it's about to self-desctruct, the game stops responding.
In my case it happened during the Architect fight, the Wizardess used Hectic Storm and I had to replay it 3 times.

Spoiler

First time it was surpise, second time I took this screenshot and tested if it's a pattern, third time - no freezing, no problems.
So don't stop golems from commiting sudoku, at least until it's fixed.

 

[Erebus]

Just reached the fourth chapter. The length of this DLC is really quite enjoyable (especially compared to the previous two).

The third chapter introduces battles with allies and they're pretty nice.

Spoiler

Especially the fight where the drow gals keep charming your dwarven allies.

 

[Antigoon]

Finished it, took me about 20h. It's a good ending to the game, obviously much better than DLC 1 or 2.

With the new Auras and Sleep effect, positioning and moving around the battlefield is even more important now.

The final fight was quite disappointing, I never felt I was out of control. I like that Sleep is not just another status effect, but has a bit more to it. I just feel the devs overestimated the trouble waking up your chars. Its really not a big deal, and that makes the fights with the Dlul quite easy, including the final boss fight.
By far the hardest fight was the second last one, that one I had to try for quite a few times and that was also the only fight I had to try more than twice.

In general, as with Sleep, it feels like the devs overestimated the effort it takes to setup some of the strong attack combos, like Sleep + Barb Attack, Status or Charge Attacks. Plus the new potions, bombs, auras, skills it doesn't properly feel balanced towards all the new stuff you are getting. I had more trouble beating the OC on Hard than this DLC on Nightmare.

 

[Nortar]

ERYFKRAD

 

[Antigoon]

If anyone is approaching the final boss, maybe don't bother for now. I went back, and its def. bugged. First time his shield wasn't really regenerating only twice (maybe 3 times, forgot). So it still took me 20+ rounds to beat him, second time it was bugged every single round but the first. Confirmed by the devs as an actual bug, but they plan to fix it this week.

 

[Desiderius]

Haven't tried Minstrel myself, but from what I gather, he's too high-maintenance and annoying to use well.

Minstrel's great, especially once you get his good Instrument. Have to make sure you've got the Healing the Priestess brings on Ranger/Elf but it's doable. Always felt lacking on Offense with Priestess.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

ERYFKRAD

Absolutely

 

[Parabalus]

Haven't tried Minstrel myself, but from what I gather, he's too high-maintenance and annoying to use well.

Minstrel's great, especially once you get his good Instrument. Have to make sure you've got the Healing the Priestess brings on Ranger/Elf but it's doable. Always felt lacking on Offense with Priestess.

Priestess chain lightning is pretty brutal.

 

[Erebus]

Priestess chain lightning is pretty brutal.

And the third DLC gives her another spell that can inflict a fair amount of damage to a significant number of enemies.

 

[Cadmus]

Guys is this game good? I just finished Expeditions: Rome and want some more laid back RPG TB fighting.

 

[Grunker]

Guys is this game good? I just finished Expeditions: Rome and want some more laid back RPG TB fighting.

review in sig

 

[Desiderius]

Guys is this game good? I just finished Expeditions: Rome and want some more laid back RPG TB fighting.

The story is laid back, the fighting not so much.

 

[Aarwolf]

Guys is this game good? I just finished Expeditions: Rome and want some more laid back RPG TB fighting.

Just play it. It's good.

 

[Erebus]

If anyone is approaching the final boss, maybe don't bother for now.

Just to make sure :

Spoiler

I'm done with the four hourglasses, I've come back to the present and I'm currently facing the head of the cult of Dlul, the very guy who hired me to get the statuette. He's not the final boss, is he ?

 

[Antigoon]

Just to make sure :

Spoiler

I'm done with the four hourglasses, I've come back to the present and I'm currently facing the head of the cult of Dlul, the very guy who hired me to get the statuette. He's not the final boss, is he ?

Spoiler

No, after you beat him you go straight to the real boss. So don't forget to heal yourself up.

 

[Erebus]

Just got my very first loss... during the very last battle of the DLC. It's a real test of endurance and healing is even more important than usual. Once my potions were exhausted and the priestess was out of the fight, it was all over. The boss had less than 20% of his health left, but it was more than enough to survive the few characters who were still standing.

Now that I know what to expect, the rematch should be somewhat easier.

 

[Nortar]

Just got my very first loss... during the very last battle of the DLC. It's a real test of endurance and healing is even more important than usual.

Speaking about endurance test, did you manage to stop the reinforcements in the 4th hourglass fight?
I just brute-forced through all the waves, but I'm curious if I missed a more elegant solution.

 

[Erebus]

My second attempt was successful. It's always easier when you know what to expect ! The fight still took me 18 rounds.

Speaking about endurance test, did you manage to stop the reinforcements in the 4th hourglass fight?

I never figured out how to do that. I thought that maybe you had to wipe out all the enemies in the combat area (something that usually puts an immediate end to the battle, even if reinforcements are about to arrive), but when I managed to do that, the fight just kept going until all the waves were exhausted.

 

[Nortar]

Just finished it on Nightmare difficulty with the final boss being finally fixed.

Some random thoughts.

The game is still the same tactical goodness as before, one of the best around.
All the encounters feel different and require different approaches.
Surprisingly the story makes sense throughout the whole game and ties up some ends nicely.
There is even a touch of C&C, - I sided with vampires back in Ruins of Limis, and now my Ranger kept sayig how the vamps were hot, and the Elf whined that sucking blood is gross.

There is a couple of new mechanics, but all in all DLC-3 is easier then DLC-1.
With increased levels in DLC-3 you get access to very powerful abilites that significanlty debuff enemy resistances (the bane of DLC-1) or provide very good buffs.
For example, the Priestess ability to heal 3 wounds is way overpowered with upgrade that gives 500 protection.
I think they should have made it impossible to use on characters without wounds, because used pro-actively it acts nearly as a round long damage-immunity.

Most memorable fights:
- The gardener girl (Petrolia?) - the first of the two battles I had to replay, as I got beaten by the timer.
- The ogre fight. The ogres kept disengaging to run off and heal up by breaking cages and devouring chicken.
- The first Dlul cultist fight which introduced Sleep mechanic. The way it works had me to adjust on the fly as I used to throw the Dwarf and jump the Barbarian behind the enemy line for solo forays.
- The 4 drows fight. There were 4 drows and waves of allied dwarves, the drows kept charming dwarves, turing the whole thing into a literal tug-of-war.
- The split-party fight in the dwarven storeroom. It was unexpected, but I think I would have managed to pull it off even with the initial composition.
- The 4th hourglass fight. If there is a way to stop the reinforcements, I did not find it, and the way the adds keep coming led to a nice "are they for real?!" moment.
- The final boss, the second battle I had to replay. It does seem overwhelming at first, but learning the flow of it makes all the difference.

A bonus picture, Lilura on leaving the Codex:

Spoiler

 

[Erebus]

It's clearly the best of the three DLCs. The length is substantial, the plot is entertaining, the fights are enjoyable and several new elements are introduced to keep things fresh.

In hindsight, the less satisfying of the three DLCs was the second one. Its fights are less creative than in DLC 1 and 3, which is kind of a problem for a DLC purely focused on fighting.

 

[Erebus]

Currently giving the DLC a try with the Paladin. Several of her active skills were kinda weak in the basic game, but her new ones are pretty decent. Her meteorites can inflict a fair bit of damage (though the fact that they require her to stand far from the other heroes means that they have zero synergy with her aura of protection).

She remains a bit boring in combat because she doesn't really add anything special to the party, but she's not bad. The Priestess remains better, but the difference is not as big as it used to be (when your tanks can have more than 800 HP and ordinary attacks can inflict 100 points of damage, healing spells that can restore 150-180 HP become less impressive than they used to be).

Speaking of HP, I spend a lot more point on increasing the Endurance of close-combat characters than before. It makes the Paladin, the Barbarian and the Ranger quite durable, and turns the Ogre and the Dwarf into damage sponges.


EDIT : Finished the DLC with the Paladin. Using Potions of Serenity at the beginning of the last fight is a huge help : they heal 50 HP per round, which makes a big difference in a fight that is likely to last for close to 20 rounds.

 

[Bara]

Just finished DLC 3, do not play the game with original cast of characters only.

At first I though it made the fights a lot more fun and difficult throughout the game on normal and would save picking up one of the other three optional characters for when I some day play the game again on hard.

Oh god did I regret that on the last fight I was so close to beating the boss multiple times but kept getting only a few hundred HP away from victory. I only one because one of the archers crit failed and shot the boss for me.

Which is a fitting and memorable way to end the game I'll admit but yeah I'm not ever doing that again. The action economy gets cruel some times.

 

[Dwarvophile]

Just finished DLC 3, do not play the game with original cast of characters only.

At first I though it made the fights a lot more fun and difficult throughout the game on normal and would save picking up one of the other three optional characters for when I some day play the game again on hard.

Oh god did I regret that on the last fight I was so close to beating the boss multiple times but kept getting only a few hundred HP away from victory. I only one because one of the archers crit failed and shot the boss for me.

Which is a fitting and memorable way to end the game I'll admit but yeah I'm not ever doing that again. The action economy gets cruel some times.

This is something I really enjoy in this game : the wins hanging on a string, fumbles changing the tide of battle, the enemy assassin failing his backstab and slipping in a pool of beer, gives me that bloodbowl vibe but less infuriating.

 

[Parabalus]

DLC1 seems short but is very good, DLC3 also promising - varied fights with different mechanics, like beginning of base game.