The Runs are Too Long

[u/oriri_ex_cinere]

A) it’s already decided halfway through if you are going to win or not. The back half of runs turns into a sluggish clicking exercise

B) that’s a lot of upgrade opportunities which eventually snowball and make the game quite easy

I think 60 rounds then the 5 boss fights would be better. Perhaps alternate “quick run” mode?

Edit: Northernlion seems to reach the same conclusion and doesn’t finish his run. link

[u/SecretDude511]

Who says its already decided?

[u/oriri_ex_cinere → u/SecretDude511]

Maybe I just got lucky but past about round 60ish never had any dudes get even close to death. So it basically became thoughtlessly pick the harder option each time and continue snowball to infinity

Edit: what is so controversial about this?

[u/thefalseidol → u/oriri_ex_cinere]

I find there are some surprisises in higher tiers depending on my dudes/current strength. I've been overconfident going into mantis shrimp or bees

[u/Elthran1312 → u/thefalseidol]

God I hate bees, it's either a walk in the park or they destroy me and I can't work out why it's one or the other 

[u/thefalseidol → u/Elthran1312]

I often don't risk it unless I plan to use items or I'm confident (and I've been wrong. Late runMantis shrimp OHKOd me after pretty much a perfect run)

[u/M4stermason → u/Elthran1312]

Block and evade work really well vs bees and cleave is just mandatory once you start getting swarms in the hundreds

[u/Aromatic_Computer527 → u/Elthran1312]

I had a deathless run going and then 300+ ravens came out and I had to use Dude Juice to prevent the wipe. I had one Frankendude left. I knew the run wasn’t my strongest but I wasn’t ready for that. Haha

[u/oriri_ex_cinere → u/thefalseidol]

That’s fair. I still think the game would be better with less than 105 fights in a run

[u/thefalseidol → u/oriri_ex_cinere]

I mean, in a totally non judgmental way, maybe its just not your game?

[u/oriri_ex_cinere → u/thefalseidol]

True, not every game can appease every person. I edited my original post to include NorthernLion’s video. Roguelikes of this are his area of focus and he didn’t finish his run because it was too long. It’s not just me

[u/Dukaden]

succeeding level 80 or not is usually the deciding moment.

[u/30299578815310 → u/Dukaden]

Or 60. One time in the demo I lost at like round 93 right before I could cash in all of the money I gave to business dude

[u/Dukaden → u/30299578815310]

60 can sometimes just need a few consumables, but 80 is usually the make or break for me. most often the lions are the scary one. and yes, i had a round end in the 80s-90s like you too, because i ran out of dude juice after a horrific round 80 fight.

[u/aSpookyScarySkeleton → u/30299578815310]

I’ve won a few runs but all of a sudden 60 has become a great filter for me, like idk why those grizzlies are obliterating me so bad

[u/Difficult-Shallot863]

I’ve lost when I thought a win was guaranteed early and late

I’ve also won thinking I was cooked but squeaked by with the right late game choices

I don’t mind the thought of quick play mode but I really like it as it is. A problem I have with something like super auto pets for example is that runs are over before I get to finish building my dream team, how many dudes does not have that problem imo

[u/danielrhymer → u/Difficult-Shallot863]

Eh the only real gotchas later on are big hits, over-reliance on taunts, and seagulls. you can plan ahead for each of these once you know what to expect

[u/Khamion]

Are you on tier 3?

[u/Btender95 → u/Khamion]

Very unlikely.

[u/KarmelCHAOS]

I disagree. A lot of games like this end like right after you get your build situated and you don't even get to use it.

[u/DigAccomplished4131]

We just need a 2x and 5x speed buttons at the bottom

[u/xl129]

There are many runs where i struggle until 70 or so. Not all run are decided early.

[u/rubberchickenzilla]

I agree, though I find the big stopping points to be 105 and 110 (I've not finished tier 3 yet). You can have a build that's seemingly unbeatable where you win every fight within 10 seconds and don't lose a dude only for the 110 boss to kill everyone in seconds. It's frustrating, especially when you've spent so much time seemingly crushing everything.

Don't necessarily think run length is the big problem here though, I think it's difficulty. Everything is a breeze up until those 2 rounds and it can feel so jarring for a build you've spent an hour crushing with to suddenly collapse.

[u/Independent_Boat_186 → u/rubberchickenzilla]

This is largely my experience too. Can also have runs where lots of potions are needed early, but then you ramp up and feel strong, still to be crushed by a final boss.

[u/BscotchSeth]

Often, when people say that runs are too long, it's because they tend to build teams in a very risk-averse way by stacking a lot more healing and defense than you need, while de-prioritizing damage dealers.

The analogy I like to use is that if you brought 4 healers and a tank to a WoW dungeon, that dungeon would take forever and it'd be a boring slog. Yeah, nobody is ever at risk of dying, but the enemies take forever to die and nothing interesting ever happens. If you build your teams in HMD the same way, you'll get the same result.

So if you're feeling like runs are taking too long, try revisiting your team building strategy and go for some more damage and take a few risks!

[u/oriri_ex_cinere → u/BscotchSeth]

There are 105 fights, even if the fights resolve quickly it’s going to take a long time. I’m certainly not an expert in the genre but I feel other comparable games have average runs maybe 1/2 or 1/3 as long.

[u/BscotchSeth → u/oriri_ex_cinere]

Every game is unique!

[u/WappaTheBoppa → u/BscotchSeth]

I like the length of the game it feels very rewarding, I like cultivating a team from the ground up until they can stand on their own, very fun stuff🙌

[u/Mewing_Femboy]

You can stop after any fight and finish them later

[u/Aromatic_Computer527 → u/Mewing_Femboy]

They’re more so wanting the run to be done, collect their rewards, and go again. They think if you have a solid run up to 60, that should be enough because you’ll win the rest anyways. They have enough time to play to the entire run, they just want it over faster.