Nice game~
I for one liked the difficulty being more then the brain dead easy standard and requires at least some practice, got alright and could finish hard on all stages though some requires some luck, finish being Wave 20+, though usually 30+ and beyond.
some tips (for Ver 1.04, apparently 1.05 made cave easier, gave the 2k sniper rifle penetration) :
TLDR : 2.7k SSL Defend / 2.5k & 2.6k Tenelli shotgun all gud endgame loadout choices. SMG/Auto in general excellent choice for ramping, ignore weight 2 SMG/Auto except uzi. Ignore semi-automatic rifles. LMG not as good as you think though there's spot you want to have it with triple drug upgrade. USE fast weapon swap! (default Q)
Weapons
- the high end pistols (wpn category 1) are pretty eh. I don't use it though outside of ramping up in Shack or Spaceship and sometimes jungle (pistol inside glass box). Again weight 2 weapons are generally scaled weaker then weight 3+ weapons (except uzi, amazing for it's 950$ price tag)
- semi-auto rifles are undertuned. No pierce, eh damage. Get the glass box semi rifle in cave when ramping if you want a death wish example.
- for smg/automatic (wpn category 2), the whole line is generally solid although stick with the 3 weight ones over 2 weight (except uzi) as the higher weight is balanced to be better value wise which make sense, this is your go to ramping weapon class. Of particularly good value is uzi 950$ for ramping early-mid, SSL defender (2.7k) is a tier above all the other smg/automatic and a go to for endgame loadout, in fact it's better then the 3k LMG LK. If I have to choose the best loadout without considering which stage, it would be SSL + the two Tenelli shotguns.
- for shotgun, there's only 2 good shotgun and 1 sorta useable ramp, you should ignore the rest which are trash. the 1350$ shotgun is iffy but useable for ramp in FERR (though the Uzi should last you til an endgame weapon in FER) and much better in jungle, ignore it everywhere else. The 2.5k and 2.6k Tenelli shotguns are the real shotguns. the 2.5k Tenelli shotgun has low range (halfway to edge of the screen), high spread, 12 round magazine reload, this is the go to for wiping horde of chonky boys such as a pile of Musca, FER swarms, Jungle swarms, it'll clear up swarm buildup like no other weapon can when you get overwhelmed by a clump, when you're trapped in the middle of a pile-on this is the weapon you want. the 2.6k Tenelli has long range (full screen), very tight spread and 8 round pump reload, the proper way to use it is to use it like a piercing sniper rifle and you'll do good with it, the thing with pump reload is that you can fire mid reload which is huge and more then makes up for the slower round by round reload, it is very good for spots where a fixed reloading clock can be dangerous (Abby, Litigant...etc), you need to get in the habit of reloading anytime you can with this one since you can fire immediately anyway, you can stay topped up fairly easily other then the worst swarm rush (that's where the 2.5k sweeper comes in), the 2.5k & 2.6k tenelli shotgun in fact compliments each other very well.
- There's only 2 LMG in game, both for 3k, the LK and MG32. LK should be ignored, use SSL instead for real, SSL is cheaper and better, hell the 2.2k smg is probably better then LK. LMG class has some big downsides, The downsides of LMG is weight 5 and long barrel, the long reload issue is alright given the 250 round mag (again ignoring LK). Weight 5 means that you can only have a loadout of 2 main weapon with a 3rd being weight 2 if you insist on it, which by endgame is much weaker then an endgame weight 3 weapon. When you get an ammo pickup your ammo count for your entire loadout is increased, so having 3 main weapon is very good ammo economy vs 2 main weapon, particularly in very very late waves where 2 main weapon max ammo won't last the entire wave, or in FERR where you sometimes have to go a wave without access to weapon/ammo shop. Finally the long barrel make enemies that stick close to you impossible to hit, such as Flies, litigant, maggots ...etc, since they try to sit right on top of you you have to roll out far enough for your bullet to hit them. In general LMG are unwieldy and doesn't offer enough advantage... other then one specific case: MG32 has the distinction of a 250 round magazine, but it bascially requires the 2k precision drug to use especially with the long barrel problem, and you will want to get the 3k dmg boost drug before you get the precision normally, which makes MG32 a very late game weapon in general, and even then it's not strictly better then SSL / Tenellis other then the giant magazine, it's damage output over time also isn't as good as one might think. However, MG is the weapon the fire rate booster drug is designed for, with all 3 booster drug the MG32 has excellent firepower over extended amount of time, and there is one spot that needs this: Space ship in the very late waves where you need to chew thru litigant and get to the floaties before they go fire squad on you.
- For special weapon, you can ignore flamer in Spaceship, it has terrible ammo economy and minimal range. Shocker in FERR is better, it's at most comparable to endgame weapons for that level, feel free have it fill a spot in your 3 main weapon choices, just remember it's very expensive to buy ammo for so it's better to fill it with ammo pickup, this is more a preference thing, I sometimes just go with the usual SSL 2x Tenelli loadout anyway and it doesn't make too much of a difference.
Stages:
Shack - You almost cannot mess it up once you get used to the movement and spawn mechanic. on hard I like to ramp with the 650$ pistol in the glass box, then save $ to open access to weapon shop and wait for a decent 2nd ramp (Uzi or better), depending on my 2nd ramp weapon I either save for dmg boost or 1 of the endgame weapon (SSL, 2 Tenelli ...etc), from there on the upgrade path is pretty clear cut. My general end state is SSL + 2 Tenelli with Precision and dmg boost, I also drop spare drugs and gun on ground just in case when I reach the point of too much $, such as a MG32 and a spare set of drug stat boost along with other meds (mind break removes your drug stat boost), this is the general practice I do for all level after reaching the point of too much $.
Cave - The bosses of the game can be found here: Maggots! The starting ramp on this map is rough, but once you get your 1st good smg/auto you'll be home free assuming you've gotten a handle on your movement mechanic. On normal after surviving round 1, grab the light and run all the way to the right to the glowing ball tunnel with 2 levels, drop the light in a good spot. Use the 2 level of narrow tunnel and make a good routine to handle the wave (practice and experiment a bit to find a routine to your liking). Ramp for the 650$ pistol then followed by unlocking shop access then get a smg/auto, uzi or better but ignore weight 2 smg that's not an uzi. Depending on your ramp choice it's either dmg boost or SSL next, SSL is made for this map. Precision follows once you got your dmg boost and SSL, although this is the only map where I might consider precision before dmg and/or endgame weapon depending one your 2nd ramp weapon. 2.5k tenelli should be your 2nd or 3rd of the 3 endgame weapon you buy, you'll eventually reach that point where a Musca + fly swarm is such a thicc boi you'll thank god you got the the sweeper shotgun. Oh and you'll love maggots on this level, seriously. PS. Don't get greedy for ammo drop in bad spots, stick to your routine unless it's safe to reach. Also if a fly charges you, turning your back to it will block it's face grab, doing minimal damage to you.
Jungle - The shotgun map, your goal is to survive til you get either the 1350$ shotgun or either of the 2 tenelli, from there you're home free. Remember to use the 1350$ shotty just like the 2.6k Tenelli, reloading at any opportunity since it has pump reload that can be stopped any moment. You'll want to hole up on the multi level tree house, I ramp with the usual 650$ glass box pistol (or 250$ pistol at shop really early if you get lucky) and work toward a 1350$ shotgun, although given bad rng I'll grab the usual uzi or another ramp smg and wait for one of the Tenelli. Once you have a useable shotgun, the spot you want is the choke point next to the weapon shop where enemies can only climb up from 1 direction, shotgun to the head as the swarm climb up is easy street once you get comfortable. For Orcs, if for some reason you're not killing them while they're climbing, if they're in blocking mode you can get close and blast them in the face as they wind up to strike you. PS. Don't get greedy for ammo drop in bad spots, stick to your routine unless it's safe to reach. Also if you have to fall off from the top level to the ground try to switch to your pistol and blast the ground you will land on to remove traps, you can also do a fancy mid air roll leftward after you drop off the top platform on the right side to latch back onto the platform underneath you tucked away to the left (not always easy to do mid combat).
Spaceship - A map that favors early smg/auto. I ramp with the 250$ pistol in the glass box, work your way toward unlocking weapon shop and grab the usual ramping smg/auto uzi or better. Work toward SSL + dmg boost then finish with Precision, then fill out endgame loadout. You'll eventually unlock the last door and hole up all the way to the right (there are other spots ofc, right is just my go to). Note that floaties spawn from vent at the very top right, I start each wave picking off the floaties above and then crawl left preparing for the swarm coming from the left. This is the map where you'll eventually want MG32 with all 3 drug booster online, you need that fire power in later waves to chew thru the initial swarm with charging waves of litigant shielding groups of floaties, you'll need to kill the floaties before they fire their blast, since floaties in a group and firing in sequence is deadly hard to dodge, and rolling forward (to dodge blast you roll toward it) into groups of litigant is bad news, you need the extended killing power of MG32 to hold onto the later waves (like 30+ wave on hard about)
FER - Another shotgun love map, although smg/auto is perfectly good here too. You'll want to find a good spot and 1st ramp with the uzi in the glass box, you'll get 950$ early in the 3rd wave I believe, so get ready to hop up and grab it the moment you got the $. From there you'll unlock you way to the left until you drop down to find the weapon shop and release Abby, there's also a 1350$ shotgun in a glass box here although I usually ignore it unless my weapon shop rng is terrible. Uzi will last you all the way til you can get an endgame weapon (Usual SSL or a Tenelli), with 1 endgame main and uzi backup, build up to about 3k and go back to where you start and make your way to med shop and grab dmg upgrade. Remember it takes more then 30 seconds to make your way from shop to shop so your ammo needs to last 2 waves if you'll going for the med shop. You can consider never flipping the power switch and opening the right most door as that release Jacky (maybe do it on normal to grab Jacky achievement). PS. Don't get greedy for ammo drop in bad spots, stick to your routine unless it's safe to reach. Jacky can cancel your invincible roll frame, pile-ons with a couple Jacky can death trap you so hold your good position carefully and keep enough ammo loaded, 2.6k tenelli is very solid for controlling your position while watching for abby + Jacky ambush while maintaining ammo loaded state with pump reload mechanic.
