GasBandit
Staff member
Pit People is a turn-based tactical strategy game/RPG from The Behemoth, the same dev/publisher that made BattleBlock Theater and Castle Crashers.
The premise is the game follows a motley cast of characters as they try to variously rescue and/or seek revenge for lost love ones, and generally kill things for tropish reasons. You can play in regular or permadeath mode, in the latter of which it is possible to lose story-critical characters and no longer be able to progress the story.
Combat takes the form of turn based combat, in which each side issues orders to their party, which are then carried out simultaneously. The abilities of party members depends on their race and equipment, and although you can give movement orders, what targets are attacked is completely random if multiple targets are in attack range, so if you want a guy to attack a certain target, you have to move him in such a way that the target is his only possible choice. This can also work to your advantage if you understand this, because it is often easier to protect a vulnerable ally simply by putting stronger units on either side of him rather than trying to put him "behind" your tanks, as enemies will often be able to run right around and attack from the rear.
To increase the characters in your roster or gear in your inventory, you can either buy randomized mercenaries and equipment from the Marquette, or take them as spoils of battle on the overworld map - which is randomized every time you start a new game, and your home city is periodically moved at random around the map (but always after you have returned to it, not while you are away). Additionally, you will get money and items from completing objectives, quests, and fighting in the Arena - though Arena fights are unfair and difficult, and unless you have a very overpowered team, you're likely to lose people in the arena. In permadeath mode, they are gone forever. To add an enemy character to your roster, they must be the last enemy alive, and you must capture them with a net when you have an empty cage in your party's inventory (which can be bought cheaply at the city gates).
Your party gets six slots. The abilities and strengths of your units is largely determined first and foremost by their race:
Humans - Humans are average at everything, take 1 party slot, and have no particular strengths or weaknesses. They can be customized with any gear in the game (except cyclops mallets), and thus can fill most damage-based roles in the game - Tanks, Melee DPS, Ranged DPS, or hybrid (but not healers, only cupcakes can be healers). "Demi-clops" are just humans with one eye and are functionally identical.
Cupcakes - Cupcakes have no offensive potential at all, but are the only race that can heal other units - they throw little bits of their delicious frosting (twice per round) up to 2 hexes away. However, each toss costs them 1hp. When a cupcake gets low on hp, he will start regenerating HP at 2 per round - thus, a cupcake cannot "heal" himself to death, but he will stay low HP until he levels up/rests at a campfire/the party returns to the city, as cupcakes cannot heal other cupcakes. They take 1 party slot. They have only race-specific cosmetic gear options. Their heal can miss the target if it is distant or moving.
Cyclops - Cyclops are oversized brutes that specialize in heavy damage, both taking and receiving (they have 70 base HP compared to humans 50). They take up 2 slots in your party (and your roster), and move slower than average. However, they are the only units in the game that can use the heavy mallets, and they can't use bows or mortars (though they can use offhanded thrown weapons and nets). Any target they attack has a chance to be knocked several tiles away, and be snared for one round as a result.
Kobolds - Kobolds are small, quick, light units that favor flanking the enemy party to attack their ranged and support characters in the back lines, against whom they get attack bonuses, and they are resistant to fire and projectiles. Since they're small, you get two kobolds for one party slot, and each kobold has 30hp. Going toe to toe with regular troops is not a good plan with Kobolds, as without their attack bonus vs archers their damage is comparatively low and they won't live long. Additionally, their gear options are extremely limited and largely cosmetic.
Zombies - Zombies also come two to a party slot, have 30 hp, and limited gear options. They also move slowly, are resistant to poison and vulnerable to rainbows and ice. They're not great fighters, really, but they have a 50/50 chance to resurrect themselves after dying. Further deaths in the same battle halve the chance again. They also have a chance to snare with their attacks.
Mushrooms - Mushrooms are situational fighters - they do poison damage to all units in every hex adjacent to them when they attack - including yours. This attack also has a good chance to apply the "poisoned" status effect. Naturally they are also resistant to poison. They're kinda slow, and have only cosmetic race-specific gear options.
Hair Trolls - These are strong high-damage melee fighters who self-heal at the beginning of every turn (if they're not stunned). They have 70 base HP, take 2 party spaces, are resistant to light swords and ice damage, and have a chance to flip their target over their head to land several tiles behind them, which can wreck an enemy team's formation. However, Hair Trolls are weak against fire and other hair trolls (including Hair Troll Mothers and Hair Troll babies). They have only cosmetic gear options.
Vampires - Vampires can fly over hazards like spikes or fire, and have a chance to heal themselves when doing damage, and do bonus damage against bleeding targets. However, they are weak against arrows and bullets (pointy ranged attacks) and do less damage to electrobots and can't heal by attacking them, since Electrobots don't have blood. They have only cosmetic gear options.
Octoclops - annoying flying octopus guys whose ranged ink attacks can confuse their target, or paint it as an enemy (making it unable to move for 1 turn and be attacked by its own side). By far one of the most disruptive utility units in the game. Cosmetic gear options only.
Electrobots - Electrobots can stun in melee, and when attacking from range (2 tiles), the attack will then chain to other units that are 2 tiles away (up to a random number between 1 and 5, and can hit allies, but never the same unit twice). This ranged attack can also stun, but the melee attack has a higher chance of happening. Electrobots cannot be healed by cupcakes, though they can be repaired by gnomes. They also teleport instead of moving conventionally, which means they can bypass things that would block them such as walls or enemies, and they count as flying for purposes of ground hazards. They are immune to poison and bleeding, resistant to fire, but vulnerable to acid (gorgons) and wrench (gnome) damage. Electrical attacks also do more damage to units that are standing in water. They do more damage to Pixies but less to Wraiths and Gnomes.
Pixies - Pixies are weak flying ranged attackers that cause fiery explosions at 2 hexes. The explosions will damage all adjacent units (friend and foe) to their target as well, and has a chance to set a tile on fire, which will cause damage to any unit that stands or walks through that tile. They resist fire damage, themselves. They can really bring the pain, but die quickly when attacked - and they take extra damage from electricity. They can wear helmets, which can help protect them at the cost of mobility and dodge.
Wraiths - Flying long-range attack units who also debuff their targets. They resist electricity, acid and snare effects, but are vulnerable to rainbows. Their attack may chain to a second target adjacent to their first target, and they prioritize the farthest target from themselves instead of the closest. Vampires can't heal from them, though cupcakes can heal Wraiths. Mascot buffs to not work on Wraiths, nor do the debuffs of other Wraiths. Cosmetic gear options only.
Mascots - Cute little bouncing critters that make all allies around them better in every way. They are a little weak, though, and their damage output is kinda weak and random - they can attack for 2 damage up to 4 times, each attack on a random target. When a mascot dies, it self-destructs for massive damage (40-60 points!) which can often one-shot most anything nearby - friend or foe. They get cosmetic options to change their appearance and musical instrument.
Rainbow Horses - "Not to be confused with Unicorns, which do not exist." Rainbow Horses are rear-line artillery that can deal massive, albeit unreliable damage to groups of enemies. They fire their horns in a ballistic arc through the sky, and land on/nearby their target. The horn can either explode immediately or be delayed up to 3 turns - but every turn of delay increases the damage the explosion does. The explosion does Rainbow damage, not fire, however, which does bonus damage to wraiths and vampires. It cannot target anything 6 tiles or closer, however, so it needs to stay far back. It gets cosmetic gear options only.
Gnomes - small lazy creatures that ride around on flying chairs. You get two gnomes for 1 party slot. They are resistant to electricity but take extra damage from poison and acid. They can heal friendly Electrobots or do extra damage to enemy Electrobots. They can throw friendly units to a specified tile and still attack the same round, though they can't throw large units (Cyclops, Gorgon, Spidaur, Trolls, etc). They get cosmetic chair options.
Spidaurs - Eight legged ladies that can carry another unit on their back and wrap their enemies in nets. They can also create walls by automatically filling an empty adjacent hex with a web barrier so long as there's something on the other side to attach to (a wall or another Spidaur). Cupcakes, Humans, and Mascots may ride a Spidaur, which slows her movement by one tile, but renders the rider immune to melee attack (though AE damage will still hit the rider). Archers riding a spidaur will always get their bonus shots even if the Spidaur moves. Spidaurs are also pretty tanky, and though their damage output is a little on the low side, they can attack twice (and not necessarily the same target both times) and each attack gets a chance to immobilize their target. They also can be used to capture units the same way a net throw would, for recruitment purposes. They can wear helmets like humans can, but not wield any weapons. They get cosmetic stocking choices. They resist poison but are vulnerable to ice.
Gorgons - Snakey ladies that spit acid at a distance and can use swords when they get up close and personal. They take 2 party slots. They deal decent damage, are pretty tanky despite not being able to wear helmets, and when struck have a chance to spawn a snake minion (up to 3) that operates independently to attack the enemy. They're good ranged attackers as the acid ignores armor (helmets) and has a range of 2 to 3 tiles. They resist electrical damage. The acid attack gets bonuses vs Electrobots and Gnomes. They can wield swords of any size (and get an extra movement tile if using a light sword), and get cosmetic snake-hair options.
Troll Moms - The rarest but most overpowered unit you can have, the Troll Mom takes up 3 slots in your party and roster. She also occupies 3 hex tiles on the battlefield. She's big and slow with moderate damage output and 80 health, but what's really OP about her is that every round she has a 50% chance to spawn a troll baby unit, up to 6 max. The baby hair trolls act independently, as with the Gorgon's snakes, but do more damage and have more HP. Both Mom and the Babies also have the same properties of the regular Hair Trolls, in that they take extra damage from fire and other hair troll type units, and regenerate health at the start of each turn. Moms can also get hit multiple times from area-of-attack damge since they occupy 3 tiles. They get ridiculously huge hat cosmetic options.
Some units (especially humans) can configure their role based on their gear:
Primary Weapons:
Swords can be used by Humans, Cyclopses, and Gorgons.
Light Swords: Light swords do less damage, but increase a unit's mobility and dodge rating. They can also usually attack twice, though still not doing as much total damage as a regular sword. They also lower the chances your target has to dodge the attacks, so they're good against dodgy types.
Medium Swords: A balance of damage and weight, medium swords are good all rounders (except against helmets, as all swords do much less damage to an enemy wearing helmets). They confer no other innate bonuses/penalties.
Heavy Swords: They do more damage than medium swords but also weigh more, reducing your movement and dodge chances, as well as potentially limiting your offhand weapon choices.
Mallets: Mallets are generally as heavy as heavy swords, but get a bonus vs helmeted enemies instead of a penalty. Only humans and cyclopses can use mallets.
Heavy Mallets: Same as mallets, but bigger, heavier, and higher damage. Only cyclopses can use heavy mallets.
Armor options:
Helmets can be used by Humans, Cyclopses, Spidaurs, Pixies, and Zombies.
No-helm (bare head): There are many cosmetic options for not wearing a helmet. These are generally good for keeping weight down, which confers bonuses to movement and dodging.
Light Caps: Does not confer as much dodge bonus as no helm, but does raise defense while slightly lowering attack damage.
Medium Helmets: Removes dodge and lowers damage while decently boosting defense. Lowers incoming sword damage hugely but takes bonus damage vs mallets.
Heavy Helmets: Same as medium helmets but moreso. Removes dodge, lowers damage even more, but huge defense boost. Strong vs Swords, weak vs Mallets.
Ranged Weapons:
Only humans can use these. Archers that do not move get double shots that round. Accuracy decreases with range.
Short Range: Dual wielded multipurpose weapons that work both in melee and short range. While not conferring much in the way of defensive or movement bonuses, they are versatile in that they can give a melee unit the ability to also deal decent damage at a range of 2 tiles.
Light Bows: Longer range and more arrows, lower damage per hit.
Heavy Bows: Shorter range and less arrows, more damage per hit. Weighs more.
Mortars: 5 tile minimum range, very heavy, fewest shots, AE damage.
Other/offhand weapons and equipment:
Nets: No defensive or offensive bonuses. Allows a unit to throw a net at a target 2 tiles away, immobilizing them. Needed to recruit enemy units (unless you have a spidaur)
Thrown: Small objects with a range of 2 or 3 tiles. Confers no defensive bonus, but gives melee units some minor range damage.
Small Shields: Very low chance to block enemy ranged attacks, slight chance to counterattack. Not particularly useful.
Medium Shields: Small chance to counter attack, medium chance to block projectiles.
Heavy Shields: Defense bonus, moderate chance to counter attack, high chance to block projectiles.
You are based in the city. The city is where your home is, where you can customize your party's members and their gear. You also get plot quests at the quest board by the gate as well as buy cages/campfires/nitro/ressurections, fight in the arena, buy equipment and units at the Marquette, join other players for co-op, and toggle INSANE MODE here.
House: Here you modify your roster, choose gear for your units, and if so desired, sell off unwanted gear or units, or gift them to your co-op partner. You will also pick which member of your party is the "hero" here, which gives them bonuses.
Arena ("The Pit"): In the pit you can either take the Unfair Challenge, fighting 3 overpowered AI teams in a row with no rest, or go 1v1 or 2v2 with other players. Winning the Unfair Challenge gets you pit points which determines your standings in the tournament that day, which governs how much loot you get as a reward.
Marquette: Here you can buy from a randomized selection of gear (700g each) or mercenaries (7000g each). Selection changes every time you fight, either in the pit or in the overworld.
Space Phone: Lets you host or join other players.
Jukebox: Lets you change what music is playing in the city, if you have found other vinyls.
Insane Machine: toggles insane mode, which increases difficulty greatly and loot slightly. Notable that this increases pit rewards without affecting the difficulty.
Gate: Here you can purchase wagon items, store them in your locker, and pick quests (including story quests). There are also quests out in the world, but you have to find them.
The Overworld Map
The world is a big semi-randomized map of hexagonal tiles you roam around in your covered wagon, encountering enemies, getting quests, and furthering the plot. Bonus coins and treasure are also lying around in places waiting to be found. Exploring a new area of the map will also give all party members 25 exp. When you return to the city, the Bear might decide it's a good time to move the city to a different part of the map. While on the map, you can hit Q to have your wagon team poop, leaving a landmark for you to use to help navigate. You can also hit F1 to check your map overview in case you get lost, and you can also use your wagon items to heal your party (campfire), resurrect killed party members (does not work in permadeath mode), and you can use nitrous if you have it to kill enemy parties by running them over instead of having to stop to fight them. You can also right click or hit spacebar to fire a rocket at your cursor, which will stun enemies on the map, allowing you to move past them instead of fighting them. This doesn't work on the glowing red elite enemies. If you are playing co-op, the first player to go to the city gate and ready up drives the wagon, and the second crews the gun.
Enemies that see you will attempt to chase you and attack. Enemies that are significantly weaker than you will "cry" and try to avoid you. Red glowing elite enemies will chase you from much farther away and cannot be stunned by rockets, though they can still be killed by running them over with nitro. Enemies killed with nitro do not give you loot, however.
When you encounter an enemy, you fight them on a battlefield whose configuration is determined by the terrain of the map tile you are on.
On this map, some tiles are special.
Water: takes more movement points to pass through unless flying. Lowers defense and fire damage, increases electrical damage.
Lava: Causes huge damage to non-flying units.
Spikes: Causes damage to non-flying units. Instantly kills snakes/troll babies.
Fire: Causes random damage to non-flying units, burns out, spreads to other tiles.
Holes: Cannot be entered by non-flying units. Units knocked into holes are instantly killed.
Walls/Obstacles: Cannot be entered even by flying units, however units can be flung/teleported to tiles on the other side of them.
General Strategy:
You want your tanks up front blocking enemy movements, your shield users closest to the enemy's ranged attackers, and your archers, mortars, and rainbow horses in the back. Your healers and short range units will need to be protected from damage, but have to be up close to the fighting. Flank with your flying units, using terrain to your advantage wherever possible. Prioritize taking down enemy cupcakes first (with pixies a close second), and protect your cupcake(s) at all costs (especially in permadeath mode!). 1hp on a cupcake can be 10hp for other units, so a cupcake taking damage is like any other unit taking 10x that amount. Try not to be standing next to a mascot when it dies, and don't forget your own mascots can be used as mediocre front line fighters in a pinch.
Remember that your party is easily flanked if out in the open, and the enemy's flankers will have a field day in your backfield if you let them. clog chokepoints with melee fighters if you can, make good use of spidaurs to project web walls, and do your best to disrupt your enemy's formation as well. A single heavy shield user in the enemy's backfield can completely neuter their archers. A pixie, wraith, or electrobot over a large bunch of pit tiles is really dangerous to a melee formation. Don't ignore rainbow horses if you can help it.
Leveling up completely heals a unit and permanently increases its attack, defense and max HP by 0.24% per level. Max level is 99, but you will still "level up" from 99 to 99 to get the health refill. Amount of exp needed to level up increases exponentially. In many fights it might actually be more useful to have low level units instead of high level, as the frequent health refills may be more useful than the tiny stat boosts. Attacking, healing, or applying status effects gets any unit some experience, and getting a killshot grants 120 bonus exp (or 60 exp for half-slotter units such as zombies or kobolds or gnomes). Experience is not gained in PvP fights, so leveling up doesn't happen there.
Other Tips and Thoughts:
A Spidaur in a heavy helmet carrying a human with a mallet is a fearsome front line fighter.
Always try to get the enemy cupcake first, if there is one.
A gorgon with a light sword also can tank damage pretty well, though to dish it out she'll need to back off and use her acid attack.
The light shields are damn near worthless. If you don't have the weight capacity to go for at least a medium shield, you may as well get a thrown offhander.
Always switch into insane mode before you do the unfair challenge - it doesn't actually make that particular thing harder, but it does boost the rewards.
Permadeath mode does mean units you lose in the arena are gone forever.
Recruiting the last enemy is usually a good move, if you have the cage to spare - even if you don't particularly want that unit, you can take his gear off him and sell him, which usually returns more than the cost of the cage anyway.
Resurrection potions, for obvious reasons, don't work in permadeath mode.
I guarantee you, you spend a little time in the city, the dumb catchy music loop is gonna get "gonna wash my haaaaaaaands of you" stuck in your head, much like MvC2's "wanna take you for a riiiiide" did.
If you are playing co-op, it might be to your advantage to use units that take up multiple party slots. The battlefields and chokepoints aren't any bigger, so having a doubly huge army can sometimes get in its own way.
So far the best pit crew I've used for the Unfair Challenge has been 1 troll mom, 1 gorgon, and 1 cupcake. Try to let the gorgon do most of the tanking, since she has to get hit to summon snake minions. Try to give her a medium sword that raises defense (such things are out there).
The premise is the game follows a motley cast of characters as they try to variously rescue and/or seek revenge for lost love ones, and generally kill things for tropish reasons. You can play in regular or permadeath mode, in the latter of which it is possible to lose story-critical characters and no longer be able to progress the story.
Combat takes the form of turn based combat, in which each side issues orders to their party, which are then carried out simultaneously. The abilities of party members depends on their race and equipment, and although you can give movement orders, what targets are attacked is completely random if multiple targets are in attack range, so if you want a guy to attack a certain target, you have to move him in such a way that the target is his only possible choice. This can also work to your advantage if you understand this, because it is often easier to protect a vulnerable ally simply by putting stronger units on either side of him rather than trying to put him "behind" your tanks, as enemies will often be able to run right around and attack from the rear.
To increase the characters in your roster or gear in your inventory, you can either buy randomized mercenaries and equipment from the Marquette, or take them as spoils of battle on the overworld map - which is randomized every time you start a new game, and your home city is periodically moved at random around the map (but always after you have returned to it, not while you are away). Additionally, you will get money and items from completing objectives, quests, and fighting in the Arena - though Arena fights are unfair and difficult, and unless you have a very overpowered team, you're likely to lose people in the arena. In permadeath mode, they are gone forever. To add an enemy character to your roster, they must be the last enemy alive, and you must capture them with a net when you have an empty cage in your party's inventory (which can be bought cheaply at the city gates).
Your party gets six slots. The abilities and strengths of your units is largely determined first and foremost by their race:
Humans - Humans are average at everything, take 1 party slot, and have no particular strengths or weaknesses. They can be customized with any gear in the game (except cyclops mallets), and thus can fill most damage-based roles in the game - Tanks, Melee DPS, Ranged DPS, or hybrid (but not healers, only cupcakes can be healers). "Demi-clops" are just humans with one eye and are functionally identical.
Cupcakes - Cupcakes have no offensive potential at all, but are the only race that can heal other units - they throw little bits of their delicious frosting (twice per round) up to 2 hexes away. However, each toss costs them 1hp. When a cupcake gets low on hp, he will start regenerating HP at 2 per round - thus, a cupcake cannot "heal" himself to death, but he will stay low HP until he levels up/rests at a campfire/the party returns to the city, as cupcakes cannot heal other cupcakes. They take 1 party slot. They have only race-specific cosmetic gear options. Their heal can miss the target if it is distant or moving.
Cyclops - Cyclops are oversized brutes that specialize in heavy damage, both taking and receiving (they have 70 base HP compared to humans 50). They take up 2 slots in your party (and your roster), and move slower than average. However, they are the only units in the game that can use the heavy mallets, and they can't use bows or mortars (though they can use offhanded thrown weapons and nets). Any target they attack has a chance to be knocked several tiles away, and be snared for one round as a result.
Kobolds - Kobolds are small, quick, light units that favor flanking the enemy party to attack their ranged and support characters in the back lines, against whom they get attack bonuses, and they are resistant to fire and projectiles. Since they're small, you get two kobolds for one party slot, and each kobold has 30hp. Going toe to toe with regular troops is not a good plan with Kobolds, as without their attack bonus vs archers their damage is comparatively low and they won't live long. Additionally, their gear options are extremely limited and largely cosmetic.
Zombies - Zombies also come two to a party slot, have 30 hp, and limited gear options. They also move slowly, are resistant to poison and vulnerable to rainbows and ice. They're not great fighters, really, but they have a 50/50 chance to resurrect themselves after dying. Further deaths in the same battle halve the chance again. They also have a chance to snare with their attacks.
Mushrooms - Mushrooms are situational fighters - they do poison damage to all units in every hex adjacent to them when they attack - including yours. This attack also has a good chance to apply the "poisoned" status effect. Naturally they are also resistant to poison. They're kinda slow, and have only cosmetic race-specific gear options.
Hair Trolls - These are strong high-damage melee fighters who self-heal at the beginning of every turn (if they're not stunned). They have 70 base HP, take 2 party spaces, are resistant to light swords and ice damage, and have a chance to flip their target over their head to land several tiles behind them, which can wreck an enemy team's formation. However, Hair Trolls are weak against fire and other hair trolls (including Hair Troll Mothers and Hair Troll babies). They have only cosmetic gear options.
Vampires - Vampires can fly over hazards like spikes or fire, and have a chance to heal themselves when doing damage, and do bonus damage against bleeding targets. However, they are weak against arrows and bullets (pointy ranged attacks) and do less damage to electrobots and can't heal by attacking them, since Electrobots don't have blood. They have only cosmetic gear options.
Octoclops - annoying flying octopus guys whose ranged ink attacks can confuse their target, or paint it as an enemy (making it unable to move for 1 turn and be attacked by its own side). By far one of the most disruptive utility units in the game. Cosmetic gear options only.
Electrobots - Electrobots can stun in melee, and when attacking from range (2 tiles), the attack will then chain to other units that are 2 tiles away (up to a random number between 1 and 5, and can hit allies, but never the same unit twice). This ranged attack can also stun, but the melee attack has a higher chance of happening. Electrobots cannot be healed by cupcakes, though they can be repaired by gnomes. They also teleport instead of moving conventionally, which means they can bypass things that would block them such as walls or enemies, and they count as flying for purposes of ground hazards. They are immune to poison and bleeding, resistant to fire, but vulnerable to acid (gorgons) and wrench (gnome) damage. Electrical attacks also do more damage to units that are standing in water. They do more damage to Pixies but less to Wraiths and Gnomes.
Pixies - Pixies are weak flying ranged attackers that cause fiery explosions at 2 hexes. The explosions will damage all adjacent units (friend and foe) to their target as well, and has a chance to set a tile on fire, which will cause damage to any unit that stands or walks through that tile. They resist fire damage, themselves. They can really bring the pain, but die quickly when attacked - and they take extra damage from electricity. They can wear helmets, which can help protect them at the cost of mobility and dodge.
Wraiths - Flying long-range attack units who also debuff their targets. They resist electricity, acid and snare effects, but are vulnerable to rainbows. Their attack may chain to a second target adjacent to their first target, and they prioritize the farthest target from themselves instead of the closest. Vampires can't heal from them, though cupcakes can heal Wraiths. Mascot buffs to not work on Wraiths, nor do the debuffs of other Wraiths. Cosmetic gear options only.
Mascots - Cute little bouncing critters that make all allies around them better in every way. They are a little weak, though, and their damage output is kinda weak and random - they can attack for 2 damage up to 4 times, each attack on a random target. When a mascot dies, it self-destructs for massive damage (40-60 points!) which can often one-shot most anything nearby - friend or foe. They get cosmetic options to change their appearance and musical instrument.
Rainbow Horses - "Not to be confused with Unicorns, which do not exist." Rainbow Horses are rear-line artillery that can deal massive, albeit unreliable damage to groups of enemies. They fire their horns in a ballistic arc through the sky, and land on/nearby their target. The horn can either explode immediately or be delayed up to 3 turns - but every turn of delay increases the damage the explosion does. The explosion does Rainbow damage, not fire, however, which does bonus damage to wraiths and vampires. It cannot target anything 6 tiles or closer, however, so it needs to stay far back. It gets cosmetic gear options only.
Gnomes - small lazy creatures that ride around on flying chairs. You get two gnomes for 1 party slot. They are resistant to electricity but take extra damage from poison and acid. They can heal friendly Electrobots or do extra damage to enemy Electrobots. They can throw friendly units to a specified tile and still attack the same round, though they can't throw large units (Cyclops, Gorgon, Spidaur, Trolls, etc). They get cosmetic chair options.
Spidaurs - Eight legged ladies that can carry another unit on their back and wrap their enemies in nets. They can also create walls by automatically filling an empty adjacent hex with a web barrier so long as there's something on the other side to attach to (a wall or another Spidaur). Cupcakes, Humans, and Mascots may ride a Spidaur, which slows her movement by one tile, but renders the rider immune to melee attack (though AE damage will still hit the rider). Archers riding a spidaur will always get their bonus shots even if the Spidaur moves. Spidaurs are also pretty tanky, and though their damage output is a little on the low side, they can attack twice (and not necessarily the same target both times) and each attack gets a chance to immobilize their target. They also can be used to capture units the same way a net throw would, for recruitment purposes. They can wear helmets like humans can, but not wield any weapons. They get cosmetic stocking choices. They resist poison but are vulnerable to ice.
Gorgons - Snakey ladies that spit acid at a distance and can use swords when they get up close and personal. They take 2 party slots. They deal decent damage, are pretty tanky despite not being able to wear helmets, and when struck have a chance to spawn a snake minion (up to 3) that operates independently to attack the enemy. They're good ranged attackers as the acid ignores armor (helmets) and has a range of 2 to 3 tiles. They resist electrical damage. The acid attack gets bonuses vs Electrobots and Gnomes. They can wield swords of any size (and get an extra movement tile if using a light sword), and get cosmetic snake-hair options.
Troll Moms - The rarest but most overpowered unit you can have, the Troll Mom takes up 3 slots in your party and roster. She also occupies 3 hex tiles on the battlefield. She's big and slow with moderate damage output and 80 health, but what's really OP about her is that every round she has a 50% chance to spawn a troll baby unit, up to 6 max. The baby hair trolls act independently, as with the Gorgon's snakes, but do more damage and have more HP. Both Mom and the Babies also have the same properties of the regular Hair Trolls, in that they take extra damage from fire and other hair troll type units, and regenerate health at the start of each turn. Moms can also get hit multiple times from area-of-attack damge since they occupy 3 tiles. They get ridiculously huge hat cosmetic options.
Some units (especially humans) can configure their role based on their gear:
Primary Weapons:
Swords can be used by Humans, Cyclopses, and Gorgons.
Light Swords: Light swords do less damage, but increase a unit's mobility and dodge rating. They can also usually attack twice, though still not doing as much total damage as a regular sword. They also lower the chances your target has to dodge the attacks, so they're good against dodgy types.
Medium Swords: A balance of damage and weight, medium swords are good all rounders (except against helmets, as all swords do much less damage to an enemy wearing helmets). They confer no other innate bonuses/penalties.
Heavy Swords: They do more damage than medium swords but also weigh more, reducing your movement and dodge chances, as well as potentially limiting your offhand weapon choices.
Mallets: Mallets are generally as heavy as heavy swords, but get a bonus vs helmeted enemies instead of a penalty. Only humans and cyclopses can use mallets.
Heavy Mallets: Same as mallets, but bigger, heavier, and higher damage. Only cyclopses can use heavy mallets.
Armor options:
Helmets can be used by Humans, Cyclopses, Spidaurs, Pixies, and Zombies.
No-helm (bare head): There are many cosmetic options for not wearing a helmet. These are generally good for keeping weight down, which confers bonuses to movement and dodging.
Light Caps: Does not confer as much dodge bonus as no helm, but does raise defense while slightly lowering attack damage.
Medium Helmets: Removes dodge and lowers damage while decently boosting defense. Lowers incoming sword damage hugely but takes bonus damage vs mallets.
Heavy Helmets: Same as medium helmets but moreso. Removes dodge, lowers damage even more, but huge defense boost. Strong vs Swords, weak vs Mallets.
Ranged Weapons:
Only humans can use these. Archers that do not move get double shots that round. Accuracy decreases with range.
Short Range: Dual wielded multipurpose weapons that work both in melee and short range. While not conferring much in the way of defensive or movement bonuses, they are versatile in that they can give a melee unit the ability to also deal decent damage at a range of 2 tiles.
Light Bows: Longer range and more arrows, lower damage per hit.
Heavy Bows: Shorter range and less arrows, more damage per hit. Weighs more.
Mortars: 5 tile minimum range, very heavy, fewest shots, AE damage.
Other/offhand weapons and equipment:
Nets: No defensive or offensive bonuses. Allows a unit to throw a net at a target 2 tiles away, immobilizing them. Needed to recruit enemy units (unless you have a spidaur)
Thrown: Small objects with a range of 2 or 3 tiles. Confers no defensive bonus, but gives melee units some minor range damage.
Small Shields: Very low chance to block enemy ranged attacks, slight chance to counterattack. Not particularly useful.
Medium Shields: Small chance to counter attack, medium chance to block projectiles.
Heavy Shields: Defense bonus, moderate chance to counter attack, high chance to block projectiles.
You are based in the city. The city is where your home is, where you can customize your party's members and their gear. You also get plot quests at the quest board by the gate as well as buy cages/campfires/nitro/ressurections, fight in the arena, buy equipment and units at the Marquette, join other players for co-op, and toggle INSANE MODE here.
House: Here you modify your roster, choose gear for your units, and if so desired, sell off unwanted gear or units, or gift them to your co-op partner. You will also pick which member of your party is the "hero" here, which gives them bonuses.
Arena ("The Pit"): In the pit you can either take the Unfair Challenge, fighting 3 overpowered AI teams in a row with no rest, or go 1v1 or 2v2 with other players. Winning the Unfair Challenge gets you pit points which determines your standings in the tournament that day, which governs how much loot you get as a reward.
Marquette: Here you can buy from a randomized selection of gear (700g each) or mercenaries (7000g each). Selection changes every time you fight, either in the pit or in the overworld.
Space Phone: Lets you host or join other players.
Jukebox: Lets you change what music is playing in the city, if you have found other vinyls.
Insane Machine: toggles insane mode, which increases difficulty greatly and loot slightly. Notable that this increases pit rewards without affecting the difficulty.
Gate: Here you can purchase wagon items, store them in your locker, and pick quests (including story quests). There are also quests out in the world, but you have to find them.
The Overworld Map
The world is a big semi-randomized map of hexagonal tiles you roam around in your covered wagon, encountering enemies, getting quests, and furthering the plot. Bonus coins and treasure are also lying around in places waiting to be found. Exploring a new area of the map will also give all party members 25 exp. When you return to the city, the Bear might decide it's a good time to move the city to a different part of the map. While on the map, you can hit Q to have your wagon team poop, leaving a landmark for you to use to help navigate. You can also hit F1 to check your map overview in case you get lost, and you can also use your wagon items to heal your party (campfire), resurrect killed party members (does not work in permadeath mode), and you can use nitrous if you have it to kill enemy parties by running them over instead of having to stop to fight them. You can also right click or hit spacebar to fire a rocket at your cursor, which will stun enemies on the map, allowing you to move past them instead of fighting them. This doesn't work on the glowing red elite enemies. If you are playing co-op, the first player to go to the city gate and ready up drives the wagon, and the second crews the gun.
Enemies that see you will attempt to chase you and attack. Enemies that are significantly weaker than you will "cry" and try to avoid you. Red glowing elite enemies will chase you from much farther away and cannot be stunned by rockets, though they can still be killed by running them over with nitro. Enemies killed with nitro do not give you loot, however.
When you encounter an enemy, you fight them on a battlefield whose configuration is determined by the terrain of the map tile you are on.
On this map, some tiles are special.
Water: takes more movement points to pass through unless flying. Lowers defense and fire damage, increases electrical damage.
Lava: Causes huge damage to non-flying units.
Spikes: Causes damage to non-flying units. Instantly kills snakes/troll babies.
Fire: Causes random damage to non-flying units, burns out, spreads to other tiles.
Holes: Cannot be entered by non-flying units. Units knocked into holes are instantly killed.
Walls/Obstacles: Cannot be entered even by flying units, however units can be flung/teleported to tiles on the other side of them.
General Strategy:
You want your tanks up front blocking enemy movements, your shield users closest to the enemy's ranged attackers, and your archers, mortars, and rainbow horses in the back. Your healers and short range units will need to be protected from damage, but have to be up close to the fighting. Flank with your flying units, using terrain to your advantage wherever possible. Prioritize taking down enemy cupcakes first (with pixies a close second), and protect your cupcake(s) at all costs (especially in permadeath mode!). 1hp on a cupcake can be 10hp for other units, so a cupcake taking damage is like any other unit taking 10x that amount. Try not to be standing next to a mascot when it dies, and don't forget your own mascots can be used as mediocre front line fighters in a pinch.
Remember that your party is easily flanked if out in the open, and the enemy's flankers will have a field day in your backfield if you let them. clog chokepoints with melee fighters if you can, make good use of spidaurs to project web walls, and do your best to disrupt your enemy's formation as well. A single heavy shield user in the enemy's backfield can completely neuter their archers. A pixie, wraith, or electrobot over a large bunch of pit tiles is really dangerous to a melee formation. Don't ignore rainbow horses if you can help it.
Leveling up completely heals a unit and permanently increases its attack, defense and max HP by 0.24% per level. Max level is 99, but you will still "level up" from 99 to 99 to get the health refill. Amount of exp needed to level up increases exponentially. In many fights it might actually be more useful to have low level units instead of high level, as the frequent health refills may be more useful than the tiny stat boosts. Attacking, healing, or applying status effects gets any unit some experience, and getting a killshot grants 120 bonus exp (or 60 exp for half-slotter units such as zombies or kobolds or gnomes). Experience is not gained in PvP fights, so leveling up doesn't happen there.
Other Tips and Thoughts:
A Spidaur in a heavy helmet carrying a human with a mallet is a fearsome front line fighter.
Always try to get the enemy cupcake first, if there is one.
A gorgon with a light sword also can tank damage pretty well, though to dish it out she'll need to back off and use her acid attack.
The light shields are damn near worthless. If you don't have the weight capacity to go for at least a medium shield, you may as well get a thrown offhander.
Always switch into insane mode before you do the unfair challenge - it doesn't actually make that particular thing harder, but it does boost the rewards.
Permadeath mode does mean units you lose in the arena are gone forever.
Recruiting the last enemy is usually a good move, if you have the cage to spare - even if you don't particularly want that unit, you can take his gear off him and sell him, which usually returns more than the cost of the cage anyway.
Resurrection potions, for obvious reasons, don't work in permadeath mode.
I guarantee you, you spend a little time in the city, the dumb catchy music loop is gonna get "gonna wash my haaaaaaaands of you" stuck in your head, much like MvC2's "wanna take you for a riiiiide" did.
If you are playing co-op, it might be to your advantage to use units that take up multiple party slots. The battlefields and chokepoints aren't any bigger, so having a doubly huge army can sometimes get in its own way.
So far the best pit crew I've used for the Unfair Challenge has been 1 troll mom, 1 gorgon, and 1 cupcake. Try to let the gorgon do most of the tanking, since she has to get hit to summon snake minions. Try to give her a medium sword that raises defense (such things are out there).
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