Zorbus (D&D-inspired roguelike)

[KeighnMcDeath]

Oh, any of that crunchy death really. But there's chanting, talking. Now, I only own the last of the freeware before he started selling and updating on steam. The game is probably even more juicy squishy deathness now.

 

[Spike]

Grabbed it! Been on my WL for ages. Nice 30% off too, saves you a buck. Looking forward to diving in over break.

 

[whocares]

Been playing this. Furthest I got was level 6. But I feel like I'm missing something. The only build that gets shit done is maxxing out niggas. If I go standard roguelike noob route of strong guy with big axe, I get smashed. If I try to play a cautious rogue, I get smashed. Archer just can never get line of sight on shit. But whatever I do, starting around level 4 and down, enemies become too strong. Even a party of like 10 dudes with golems and living statues just bum rush things to hit them for 0-1 damage. And eventually they all fall.

I just don't see a way to make my dudes stronger. Once a level you get some skill points that you have to put into melee, or you're just throwing. But then you barely get enough left to level spotting and disabling so eventually every trap hits you. But even putting all the points into melee doesn't seem to help much. And then once every 4 levels you get a perk (plus some perk potions). But those perks are far from game changing. Oh, you can dual wield now. Good luck dealing 0 damage...twice! You get shit ton of magical gear but it's mostly all +2 with the occasional +3. And that's not enough to reliably kill anything.

Is there an entire progression angle I'm missing, or how do you get anywhere here?

 

[Lagi]

Been playing this. Furthest I got was level 6. But I feel like I'm missing something. The only build that gets shit done is maxxing out niggas. If I go standard roguelike noob route of strong guy with big axe, I get smashed. If I try to play a cautious rogue, I get smashed. Archer just can never get line of sight on shit. But whatever I do, starting around level 4 and down, enemies become too strong. Even a party of like 10 dudes with golems and living statues just bum rush things to hit them for 0-1 damage. And eventually they all fall.

I just don't see a way to make my dudes stronger. Once a level you get some skill points that you have to put into melee, or you're just throwing. But then you barely get enough left to level spotting and disabling so eventually every trap hits you. But even putting all the points into melee doesn't seem to help much. And then once every 4 levels you get a perk (plus some perk potions). But those perks are far from game changing. Oh, you can dual wield now. Good luck dealing 0 damage...twice! You get shit ton of magical gear but it's mostly all +2 with the occasional +3. And that's not enough to reliably kill anything.

Is there an entire progression angle I'm missing, or how do you get anywhere here?

Exactly my experience - i remember, i was relaying on Spirit and having as many Elephants as possible. Still, on some level mobs just kill my whole team.
but i just sucks in games (casual), so i thought Zorbus as every other RL need meta knowledge from studying wiki overnights, and Im in peace with it.

I loved the comments' monster throw at you! They are hilarious and very specifically crafted for my character.

 

[sser]

If I go standard roguelike noob route of strong guy with big axe, I get smashed.

See below for such a character which I won with.

Early game can be tough. You have to treat stages as big playgrounds to run around in – which means learning to run away from fights to reconfigure and come back. Zorbus is rather subtly a stealth-heavy game and you have to learn to hit and run and use the environment to your favor. Not sure if they fixed this, but one neat trick was to yoink enemies into the marketplace where they'd get killed off in all the chaos. (Though, rather scarily, there are monsters who can dominate in there.) Learning to run (and how to run) from fights is the #1 tip I'd give, as most deaths result from overcommitting when MOST times you could just leave and come back in a manner that is more to your advantage.

Here's my melee heavy bro:

 

[whocares]

If I go standard roguelike noob route of strong guy with big axe, I get smashed.

See below for such a character which I won with.

Early game can be tough. You have to treat stages as big playgrounds to run around in – which means learning to run away from fights to reconfigure and come back. Zorbus is rather subtly a stealth-heavy game and you have to learn to hit and run and use the environment to your favor. Not sure if they fixed this, but one neat trick was to yoink enemies into the marketplace where they'd get killed off in all the chaos. (Though, rather scarily, there are monsters who can dominate in there.) Learning to run (and how to run) from fights is the #1 tip I'd give, as most deaths result from overcommitting when MOST times you could just leave and come back in a manner that is more to your advantage.

Here's my melee heavy bro:

View attachment 58390

Curious. I have indeed used the marketplace of doom trick. It still works. But I feel like the most dangerous moment is when you just enter the floor. You open the first door and you get 3 energy beams and a web thrown at you. You blink away with a potion, but end up in a room surrounded by evil spirits. You run from there and it's wizards again. You try catching them but now they blink away. And the dimension lock items are few and far between. I just always feel like I'm lacking the tools I need. Once I set up a maze of traps before a tough encounter. Fireballs, summons, webs. Fireballs did the customary 0 damage. The summons got chopped in one turn. And I don't think anyone even stepped in the web ones.

I do know I've not been using stealth much. Maybe that's the key. How did you get your stats this high? You start with around 14 in primary stat with 12 in secondary ones (you need both body and motion and at least 12 in spirit or mind to get perks and skills). And the only way to permanently raise attributes are perks of +1, but you can only get +2 to each stat like that. Plus the occasional potions of +1. But in all my dozen or so runs, I've rarely seen more than 2-3 of those per run.

 

[sser]

If I go standard roguelike noob route of strong guy with big axe, I get smashed.

See below for such a character which I won with.

Early game can be tough. You have to treat stages as big playgrounds to run around in – which means learning to run away from fights to reconfigure and come back. Zorbus is rather subtly a stealth-heavy game and you have to learn to hit and run and use the environment to your favor. Not sure if they fixed this, but one neat trick was to yoink enemies into the marketplace where they'd get killed off in all the chaos. (Though, rather scarily, there are monsters who can dominate in there.) Learning to run (and how to run) from fights is the #1 tip I'd give, as most deaths result from overcommitting when MOST times you could just leave and come back in a manner that is more to your advantage.

Here's my melee heavy bro:

View attachment 58390

Curious. I have indeed used the marketplace of doom trick. It still works. But I feel like the most dangerous moment is when you just enter the floor. You open the first door and you get 3 energy beams and a web thrown at you. You blink away with a potion, but end up in a room surrounded by evil spirits. You run from there and it's wizards again. You try catching them but now they blink away. And the dimension lock items are few and far between. I just always feel like I'm lacking the tools I need. Once I set up a maze of traps before a tough encounter. Fireballs, summons, webs. Fireballs did the customary 0 damage. The summons got chopped in one turn. And I don't think anyone even stepped in the web ones.

I do know I've not been using stealth much. Maybe that's the key. How did you get your stats this high? You start with around 14 in primary stat with 12 in secondary ones (you need both body and motion and at least 12 in spirit or mind to get perks and skills). And the only way to permanently raise attributes are perks of +1, but you can only get +2 to each stat like that. Plus the occasional potions of +1. But in all my dozen or so runs, I've rarely seen more than 2-3 of those per run.

Don't really remember, but I put a lot of emphasis into search and disable so I could find secrets and break into them. (Also to better larp Conan, as he was more of a thief in the short tales and I am a colossal nerd.) Perhaps it was those areas that had such goodies. But everything you listed there should be a learning experience. The enemies don't change much in playthroughs, so once you get the concept of what a level has to threaten you with, you shouldn't be too surprised the next time around.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

And I thought I was the only one getting my ass handed to me time and again.

 

[whocares]

If I go standard roguelike noob route of strong guy with big axe, I get smashed.

See below for such a character which I won with.

Early game can be tough. You have to treat stages as big playgrounds to run around in – which means learning to run away from fights to reconfigure and come back. Zorbus is rather subtly a stealth-heavy game and you have to learn to hit and run and use the environment to your favor. Not sure if they fixed this, but one neat trick was to yoink enemies into the marketplace where they'd get killed off in all the chaos. (Though, rather scarily, there are monsters who can dominate in there.) Learning to run (and how to run) from fights is the #1 tip I'd give, as most deaths result from overcommitting when MOST times you could just leave and come back in a manner that is more to your advantage.

Here's my melee heavy bro:

View attachment 58390

Curious. I have indeed used the marketplace of doom trick. It still works. But I feel like the most dangerous moment is when you just enter the floor. You open the first door and you get 3 energy beams and a web thrown at you. You blink away with a potion, but end up in a room surrounded by evil spirits. You run from there and it's wizards again. You try catching them but now they blink away. And the dimension lock items are few and far between. I just always feel like I'm lacking the tools I need. Once I set up a maze of traps before a tough encounter. Fireballs, summons, webs. Fireballs did the customary 0 damage. The summons got chopped in one turn. And I don't think anyone even stepped in the web ones.

I do know I've not been using stealth much. Maybe that's the key. How did you get your stats this high? You start with around 14 in primary stat with 12 in secondary ones (you need both body and motion and at least 12 in spirit or mind to get perks and skills). And the only way to permanently raise attributes are perks of +1, but you can only get +2 to each stat like that. Plus the occasional potions of +1. But in all my dozen or so runs, I've rarely seen more than 2-3 of those per run.

Don't really remember, but I put a lot of emphasis into search and disable so I could find secrets and break into them. (Also to better larp Conan, as he was more of a thief in the short tales and I am a colossal nerd.) Perhaps it was those areas that had such goodies. But everything you listed there should be a learning experience. The enemies don't change much in playthroughs, so once you get the concept of what a level has to threaten you with, you shouldn't be too surprised the next time around.

Anyone who knows Conan wasn't only good for punching camels is alright in my book.

Alright then. Back to the grind for me. Maybe next run is the one.

 

[Turn_BASED]

If I go standard roguelike noob route of strong guy with big axe, I get smashed.

See below for such a character which I won with.

Early game can be tough. You have to treat stages as big playgrounds to run around in – which means learning to run away from fights to reconfigure and come back. Zorbus is rather subtly a stealth-heavy game and you have to learn to hit and run and use the environment to your favor. Not sure if they fixed this, but one neat trick was to yoink enemies into the marketplace where they'd get killed off in all the chaos. (Though, rather scarily, there are monsters who can dominate in there.) Learning to run (and how to run) from fights is the #1 tip I'd give, as most deaths result from overcommitting when MOST times you could just leave and come back in a manner that is more to your advantage.

Here's my melee heavy bro:

View attachment 58390

Curious. I have indeed used the marketplace of doom trick. It still works. But I feel like the most dangerous moment is when you just enter the floor. You open the first door and you get 3 energy beams and a web thrown at you. You blink away with a potion, but end up in a room surrounded by evil spirits. You run from there and it's wizards again. You try catching them but now they blink away. And the dimension lock items are few and far between. I just always feel like I'm lacking the tools I need. Once I set up a maze of traps before a tough encounter. Fireballs, summons, webs. Fireballs did the customary 0 damage. The summons got chopped in one turn. And I don't think anyone even stepped in the web ones.

I do know I've not been using stealth much. Maybe that's the key. How did you get your stats this high? You start with around 14 in primary stat with 12 in secondary ones (you need both body and motion and at least 12 in spirit or mind to get perks and skills). And the only way to permanently raise attributes are perks of +1, but you can only get +2 to each stat like that. Plus the occasional potions of +1. But in all my dozen or so runs, I've rarely seen more than 2-3 of those per run.

Don't really remember, but I put a lot of emphasis into search and disable so I could find secrets and break into them. (Also to better larp Conan, as he was more of a thief in the short tales and I am a colossal nerd.) Perhaps it was those areas that had such goodies. But everything you listed there should be a learning experience. The enemies don't change much in playthroughs, so once you get the concept of what a level has to threaten you with, you shouldn't be too surprised the next time around.

Anyone who knows Conan wasn't only good for punching camels is alright in my book.

Alright then. Back to the grind for me. Maybe next run is the one.

For what it’s worth, solo melee trolls topped the leaderboards back when the game first came out. Picking the super loner talent and going high Body stat troll still seems like a good strat. Great weapons get 1.5x body mod too, meaning that you’ll steamroll the early floors with a big sword or axe.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Bought it today and played even though i dont prefer roguelikes. Went as a stealthy mage soothing hobo + one with darkness murderhobo. Got my ass handed prior to that. So far its going nicely, managed to reach lvl 3 and dungeon lvl 2 :]

 

[whocares]

Thanks to the advice itt, I broke through the wall and had that one OP run where everything seemed to go my way. Stealth was the key. Went as a Human rogue with One with Darkness and Solitude starting talents. It was a MAD start so no OP stats even with a +2 bonus across the board, but staying all sneaky helped me get some nice early gear. Lucked into two early scrolls - vampirism and returning weapon. Bought a trident +3 in the shop and started chucking. You turn off the lights (later the darkening spell is a must) and attack fools when they have question marks over them. When they notice you, retreat and restealth. When I got rolling, I ended up clearing the shop and retired after killing one of the gods. Was running low on orbs by then so didn't want to risk fighting the whole pantheon.

The little bits of lore and all the storyfag D&D references were neat. Actually kicking Dungeon Master's ass was a nice touch. Turning off the lights and hunting down the monsters John Wick style - that was a unique playstyle for a roguelike.

Dunno how people doing OP runs with Trolls - I tried a few, but the Search penalties just cuck you out of all the best early gear in secret rooms.

Some assorted tips for increasing your dong-eon size:

• High Spirit is a must for a productive run. Increase it early. Leveling Spirit increases how many perks you get. At 16 or 18 you'll be getting one every level. More than you even need. If you're a pansy mage you may be using Mind for that, but since one with darkness needs 12 Spirit at level 1, should really get the Spirited Learner or what's it called if you're going the Grey Mouser route.
• Charge is your best friend when dealing with mages. Get 1 tile away from them and start charging. The AI sees you on its ass and tries to retreat instead of casting. You keep charging and just run those fuckers down. Might want to anchor the strong ones first tho.
• Dulastrike works when dualwielding, meaning 4 attacks per click.
• If you want to get far Master Enchanter is your friend. Lost a run after destroying my op weapon while trying to enchant it at 85% success rate.
• Even on a solitude run you'll probably get some clones at some point. And without it, companions are great. But these niggas will just suicide themselves into bad engagements before they can be useful. When entering a floor just tell them to chill at the start and go explore alone. When you find a tough scrap, call in the lads and go to town.
• Secret rooms with tomb raiders are death traps. Only engage when absolutely certain. If you get one with three sorceresses early, best just leave it be.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Well, as with any game if you are failing.... you just get to savor it longer. I suck at Daphne but I am still liking it. Zorbus isn't for mobile? Pity? TB makes great phone games. I tried Golden axe again and it sucks without a gamepad. Diablo would suck imho. TBT or just TB or nothing.

I tried that Sword of Fargoal 2 for ios and it was ok until it said I had to subscribe to the game channel for $5/mo to play.

 

[The Decline]

Looks cool.

*checks steam page*
"Zorbus is already in your library"

Oh okay.