Dungeons of Dredmor - Stuff I learned along the way
(modified 02/05-24 - "Typos and a bit more content." )
There's no denying it. I am a nerd and do game a bit. I've been playing this game called Dungeons of Dredmor since like 2016. Never completed it. It's a very long game but I've played it on and off for like 8 years (I binge it like twice a year).
My main interests are in strategy, 4X, colony management and roguelike/lites (My aging brain needs thinking time before acting!). But I do play other genres as well on occasion (Assassin's Creed, for example).
Dungeon's of Dredmor (2011) is a roguelike (almost). It lacks complete procedural generation, but is extremely close. The game has unique humour and an incredible amount of variety in builds and tactics. It really separates itself from the likes of Tales of Maj'Eyal, CDDA or Caves of Qud in that it's just focused on fun. No sinister themes or world ending storyline looming over your head.
The monsters taunt you in silly ways, there are statues and posters of you labelled an "idiot" or "beware the unibrowed one" (something like that).
Anyways, here's my little list of tips I've discovered along the way:
- If it's too hard to begin with, start on an easier difficulty. I've been stubbornly playing on "Dwarfish moderation" and permadeath for 8 years. Fuck it.. I wan't to reach Dreadmor now - You can always ramp it up. Scratch permadeath out of the equation and you're a LOT less likely to ragequit.
- Experiment! Half the fun of this game is trying out wacky builds, which sometimes just.. Work!
- Remember: Losing is fun! Laugh at your mistakes, take a break and get at 'em again.'
- Know what to hoard. Inventory management in this game is a PITA
- Synergy: Look for it in your builds. For example:
- Egyptian magic + Ley lines or Blood magic. Egyptian magic requires a lot of mana, either (or both) delivers that.
- Battle geology + Fungal whatsitcalled. Hoard inky lanterns. Stun your foes (Dredmor specifically), go invisible when he/it is not stunned. Repeat.
- A new one I'm experimenting with is: Vampirism + Blood magic + Viking wizardry. There's enough healing and mana regen in there to not need to eat and so many on-hit effects. It's a lot of fun, buuuuut kinda squishy and lacks a panic button.
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KNOW YOUR ITEMS! I have these bookmarked:
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Know your stats and what they do.
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You can increase the speed of animations so a monster zoo turn isn't a 15 second snoozefest, for example (check the keybinds). Just a word of warning: You walk faster too, increasing the likelihood of you hitting a trap by a lot :/
Things I hate about this game:
- Summons/minions are dumb as rocks. So unless you have the patience of Gandhi, I'd try to avoid them. The pathfinding in this game is just broken.
An example: My summoned Wyrmling is stuck because it can't figure out how to take one step back, then attack. It's focused on the straight line to the bat: 
- If you don't have some way of detecting traps (or just tanking them), your game will be a lot harder. This makes, Burglary, Perception or Tinkering very valuable. I don't enjoy almost-necessary skill choices.
Anyways
I absolutely love this game. It's a masterpiece. I rate it among the likes of FTL, Dwarf fortress, CoQ and so many more like them.
Final rating:
8/10 - Highly recommended and thoroughly under-appreciated.
(man I need to add some buffer space to this layout)