Rogue Legacy #1 on Steam

[haphazard1]

As I mentioned, I suck at platformers. I think this is the first true platformer game I have played in...years. And yes, I am playing with mouse and keyboard -- I wouldn't have the first clue how to use a controller.

Sullla, your commentary and videos were very helpful and were a big part of why I purchased the game even though I do not normally play platformers. You do a great job of converying how fun the game can be. (I had also heard good things about Rogue Legacy elsewhere.) Is the Archmage stuff on your site? If so I need to check back and read through it, as I had only seen the paladin material previously.

Cyneheard, I also found that dragons were quite good against some of the bosses. I managed to kill Herodotus (the big blob boss) while only taking two hits using a dragon. The ability to remain flying and stay high up in the room keeps you out of most danger, and you periodically drop down long enough to strafe the blob(s). Then you can return to the heights until the latest graviloks (or whatever they are called, the flying warlocks who create the big ground spikes) have been dealt with. You have to be careful to avoid being hit, since this cancels your flight and drops you into the mess below. But overall it was quite effective. I don't like dragons for regular runs, though -- my reflexes are trained for jumping combos, and I keep screwing up the flight and getting hammered.

Anyway, I am slowly improving on NG+ mode. Only three more runes to find to complete that set, then fairy chests should provide boosts instead if I understand correctly. Now if I could just find a sword upgrade. I have found Dragon or Imperial gear for all the others slots since starting NG+, but am still stuck with the Sky sword.

[BRickAstley]

This is making me wanna get into some more Rogue Legacy now...

I wonder if there's any way that it could be played competitively? best I can think of is from a clean save, first to accomplish (X) in actual time wins, whether that's a simultaneous competition or just videoed to verify time. Though you'd have to go in expecting the randomness of the entire setup begging to throw you for a loop.

[Gustaran]

200 deaths to clear out the first (Normal) difficulty level? I didn't think that Rogue Legacy was quite that hard. Are you trying to use a keyboard instead of a controller (?) I would certainly suggest getting a controller if at all possible, this is not a mouse and keyboard game. There's a lot of pattern recognition to this game, and it definitely helps once you've started to see some of the room layouts repeat. With that all said, at some point I guess it does come down to reflexes and practice; with more time invested, you will definitely get better.

Keep in mind that you probably have a lot of platformer experience/skills from the NES era. While I don't think it took me 200 deaths to clear the castle for the first time (it was quite a lot though), I remember that my skilltree was all over the place. I think that's one advantage of restricting yourself to a single class: It's much easier to min/max your upgrades and equipment.
That being said I think that's the beauty of Rogue Legacy: Even someone with little experience and mouse/keyboard can finish the game eventually, while at the same time better players can beat the game much earlier as a greater challenge.

This is making me wanna get into some more Rogue Legacy now...

I wonder if there's any way that it could be played competitively? best I can think of is from a clean save, first to accomplish (X) in actual time wins, whether that's a simultaneous competition or just videoed to verify time. Though you'd have to go in expecting the randomness of the entire setup begging to throw you for a loop.

There are probably a few things you can use to start a challenge: a) lowest numbers of heirs, b) lowest character level c) single class challenge like Sullla is doing or d) restrictions in terms of items/runes.

You could start with something like: Kill castle boss Khidr at level 1 (or any number if 1 is too hard).

[Sullla]

Seriously, if you are going to play this game for any length of time, buy yourself a controller. I can't even imagine trying to do this on a keyboard. There are tons of other Steam / indie games that also play far better with a controller; if you have any interest in this type of stuff, it's more than worth it. And you can get them pretty cheap too, here's one from Newegg for $20.

[Gustaran]

I agree and would highly recommend the Xbox 360 Controller for PC. No driver hassle and it is the most supported controller on Steam hands down. I used to be a keyboard enthusiast as well, but for platformers, racing games, fighting games and even action adventures like Dark Souls a controller is just superior, IMHO.

[BRickAstley]

I also agree with the controller, I've played both with and without and with is inifnitely better. I have one of my Xbox 360 controllers hooked up as well, and I can agree that that would be the best one, but it will run you more to get one of those so if money is an issue, the cheaper one like Sullla mentioned should be sufficient.

[haphazard1]

While I don't think it took me 200 deaths to clear the castle for the first time (it was quite a lot though), I remember that my skilltree was all over the place. I think that's one advantage of restricting yourself to a single class: It's much easier to min/max your upgrades and equipment.

This has definitely been a factor. I got the achievement for "at least one point in every possible skill" pretty early. Focusing on key things early would almost certainly have been better for survival, but I did not know what was really critical and also just wanted to know what everything did. Playing whatever heir looked best regardless of class has also meant trying to learn a lot of different styles, which probably did not help my efforts. But it was fun.

That being said I think that's the beauty of Rogue Legacy: Even someone with little experience and mouse/keyboard can finish the game eventually, while at the same time better players can beat the game much earlier as a greater challenge.

There were a couple lengthy stretches of frustration. After the initial handful of unlocks my platformer skills were so rusty they weren't much more than orangey-reddish smears and I had not learned enough of how the game worked. As upgrade costs rose I ended up with a bunch of runs where most heirs died without accumulating enough gold to buy anything at all. There was another stretch later (maybe level 50 or so) where I had gotten good enough to handle the castle and forest, but died swiftly whenever I tried the tower or dungeon. And again rising upgrade costs meant many runs ended without enough for any upgrades. But my skills continued to improve and I learned ways to deal with most enemies. Now I just need to do the same at NG+ level.

I still have not worked out solid tactics for some enemies, though. The wolf/wargen things and the horse-like things (especially the upgraded versions) tend to cause lots of damage if I am not able to use height differences to take them out more easily. Also, the huge painting mini-boss -- any advice on dealing with that thing? I hate the paintings generally, so many heirs have died from those horrible things.

I will look into a controller, but it will have to wait a while as I am in the process of relocating internationally. In fact, I ought to be putting more stuff in boxes right now....

[Dp101]

Personally, I have found sullla's single class challenges to be really entertaining, and they might make for good learning tools.

[Sullla]

I agree that running a single class challenge is easier in a lot of ways, since it lets you customize your gear and upgrades specifically for one character setup. (I really think that this should be a selectable option; it's an immensely fun way to play the game. Better than the standard game in many ways.) At the same time, you can run a general "physical attacker" setup and play Paladins, Barbarians, and Ninjas probably 80-90% of the time without too much changing. The biggest problem is knowing what to upgrade on that big castle - you can't even see what leads where, which I think is a bit of an oversight. With some practice, you'll start to learn which upgrades are useful and which are not. On my first playthrough, I bought all 5 Haggle upgrades early on, which are both expensive and almost totally useless.

The wolves can be baited into charging you, and then running into your sword attack. The timing is not easy though, and they are best taken out at a distance if you have a spell that can do so (and decent magic damage stat). The painting minboss (Sallos) is an enemy that I don't have an answer for either. I basically just avoid them unless I have spare health to burn. You can test to see if they're real or not by hitting "Up" underneath the painting; if there's a text caption, it's real, and if there's no text, it's a monster waiting to come to life. Only with the big paintings though.

The next time I'm going to play for a while, I'll go ahead and Livestream it, which will then be saved for anyone who wants to watch later.

[haphazard1]

I also agree with the controller, I've played both with and without and with is inifnitely better.

But what is your experience/skill level with a controller? Is it better because you are already good with a controller? The last time I used a controller for a game, it was hooked up to an Atari 2600. Really not the same thing as the modern ones at all.

Personally, I have found sullla's single class challenges to be really entertaining, and they might make for good learning tools.

Strongly agree. I have learned quite a bit from both the text and the videos Sullla posted -- just went through the archmage material and it was quite informative. Not to mention very entertaining, as Sullla's stuff generally is.

I agree that running a single class challenge is easier in a lot of ways, since it lets you customize your gear and upgrades specifically for one character setup. (I really think that this should be a selectable option; it's an immensely fun way to play the game. Better than the standard game in many ways.)

It would be a very cool option to have. From the link antisocialmunky provided, the devs are still adding things to the game -- maybe this could be one of them?

The biggest problem is knowing what to upgrade on that big castle - you can't even see what leads where, which I think is a bit of an oversight. With some practice, you'll start to learn which upgrades are useful and which are not. On my first playthrough, I bought all 5 Haggle upgrades early on, which are both expensive and almost totally useless.

Yes, early on I was unlocking things just to see what else would become available, rather than because they were the best choices for improving my survival. Now that I know a fair bit more about the game, I would choose to do things rather differently.

The wolves can be baited into charging you, and then running into your sword attack. The timing is not easy though, and they are best taken out at a distance if you have a spell that can do so (and decent magic damage stat).

"Not easy" is a good way to put it. And if your sword attack is not enough (not nearly enough) to kill them...ouchie.

The painting minboss (Sallos) is an enemy that I don't have an answer for either. I basically just avoid them unless I have spare health to burn. You can test to see if they're real or not by hitting "Up" underneath the painting; if there's a text caption, it's real, and if there's no text, it's a monster waiting to come to life. Only with the big paintings though.

And I learn another useful thing from Sullla. I was not aware there was any way to tell if one of those rooms was the mini-boss or just a picture. I have killed it once (wanted the "kill all mini-bosses" achievement), but generally just leave that thing the heck alone.

The next time I'm going to play for a while, I'll go ahead and Livestream it, which will then be saved for anyone who wants to watch later.

This would be excellent. Your paladin and archmage vids have been really helpful, plus a lot of fun to watch.

Just got my best run to date -- 35K gold, plus found my first two royal items. Still looking for a better sword, though.