The melee engineer

[Svankensen]

Ok, so i was playing an engi in hard. Initial luck had been pretty good, netting me a Maab and a Pounder by floor 12 or so (incidentally, both have pretty steep stat requirements, but i eventually got there). By floor 15, thanks to a lucky 4-d copier i managed to craft chitin plate. I wondered if i should have waited for the 2 other chitins to drop naturally, but time would show it was the right choice (the next chitin wouldnt drop for 10 more floors). At floor 16 i had adamantium claws too. Seemed like a won run. Except i didnt know the well had run dry. Out of every weapon crate i either got a crappy melee weapon (firebrand being the best), a biomod, a trap or one of 3 (!) freaking Thumpers. And a stun ray. So if i wanted to shoot something i eihter had the pounder, whose ammo is very rare, or the pistol... Basically it was melee all around, plus the ocasional grenade (normal grenades where saved to convert into explosive rounds). By floor 25 i finally managed to craft an aykay and a trebuchet, but at that point they were pretty underwhelming. Besides i'd meleed almost everything in the game. Maab, maab, paralyzed, adamantium claws, adamantium claws, rinse and repeat. I had to repair my armor and claws 3 times each. Food was at a premium because of the ammount of resting required. And i had to save energy drinks. Because i needed those and the accelerator boots to outrun espers or whatever the energy beings are called, hoping to leave them so far behind theyd forget about me. No way to harm them, even with the firebrand (note to self, craft firebombs next time). I had at that point a stockpile of 4 impactors, and no weapon to put them on. When my patience was finally running dry, at floor 29 i finally got a red weapon locker. I had pumped lockpicking up so much hoping not to fail, i had a 95% chance even without using improvised lockpicks. So, i was willing to put those impactors on a laser carbine, hell, maybe even a heavy sniper rifle. Im sure my computer was rooting for me, because he knew hed be thrown trough the window if i didnt get an acceptable ranged weapon. I open the locker, and TADAA: Adjudicator! With 4 impactors hes my beloved go to weapon, dealing upwards of 50 damage per shot. I hadnt had any energy weapon before that, so i had around 80 energy cells. Soon afterwards, at foor 29 too, i got an auto shotgun. So now this engi is ready to win. I'll get to floor 31 and use the 3 wormhole traps i have. Never lose faith brothers. If an engi can punch his way through 29 floors, you can do anything!

[SandboxHead]

I'll get to floor 31 and use the 3 wormhole traps i have. Never lose faith brothers. If an engi can punch his way through 29 floors, you can do anything!

Would you be under-leveled if you skip the last 10 floors like that?

[skugge]

If you have the ammo, armor and food its better to just go for it. Im pretty bad at it though. Im usually too scared to use the wormhole traps and end up going through each floor

[Svankensen]

I'll get to floor 31 and use the 3 wormhole traps i have. Never lose faith brothers. If an engi can punch his way through 29 floors, you can do anything!

Would you be under-leveled if you skip the last 10 floors like that?

Nah, theres no such thing as underleveled (except perhaps for psi skills), improvements per level are pretty marginal in this game. They add up, but missing 6 levels of skill points when you already have 30 is a small loss. If you have the right weapons and armor and a decent ammount of ammo, go for it. The last 10 floors are a wasteland: filled with very strong enemies, you spend a lot more than what you gain from doing them. So unless you are missing an esential item to tackle the last floor (a high DPS weapon, some armor, maybe food), or are just on the verge of unlocking an amazing psi skill, its best to skip the floors. You should try not to wormhole directly into floor 40 tho. Teleporting into the wrong room can be deadly.

[SandboxHead]

If you have the right weapons and armor and a decent ammount of ammo, go for it. The last 10 floors are a wasteland: filled with very strong enemies, you spend a lot more than what you gain from doing them.

I had a sense of that too, and I only beat the game once (on Easy). Just needed to confirm this suspicion is true on higher difficulty levels.

In this case, I have to say that the game would ideally need a balance adjustment. A player shouldn't be punished for wanting to experience the entire game, and shouldn't need to "warp levels" in order to beat a game. Granted, I know this is a rogue-like and "death is fun". But while on paper that sounds principled, in practice it just means all your players will skip 25% of your game every time.

The only other game where I experienced lopsided balance is Broderbund's Deadly Towers on the NES. The only way to win is basically take shortcuts and grab the most powerful weapons and armor, thereby skipping most of the game where you were supposed to level up slowly with incrementally better gear like in typical RPG progression. It's a shit game.

[ZedF]

From what I've read, skipping the last several levels of the game is in no way mandatory to win. Might make it a bit easier on the resources if you do, but on most difficulty levels with most characters on most play-throughs, you should have enough regardless.

[Svankensen]

Oh yeah, its just suboptimal to do all floors, its not at all impossible. Its just a neat trick i learned from other players.