Advanced Tips and Blogs – Orcs Must Die 2 Guide

Fire & Water Booster Pack – 5 Ways This May Impact the Game

Jeremiah — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 03:42:38 +0000

Orcs Must Die! 2 recently announced the upcoming release of their first DLC (downloadable content) Fire & Water. Within this booster pack are several interesting additions to this tower defense PC game. Three new levels will be available for both single-player and co-op. Traffic Jammed, Double Decker, and The West Wing wait to be explored and orcs wait to die within. The Library level joins up with Double Decker and The West Wing to offer players new tests in Endless Mode as well. Along with several level and endless mode additions, the Fire and Water Booster Pack brings two new enemies to the battlefield. Both Fire and Water Elementals will present new challenges. Fortunately players are not stuck battling these new enemies with old traps alone. This booster also brings three new traps into the mix. The Web Spinner, Ceiling Darts, and the Floor Portal will bring new strategies, gameplay styles, and trap combinations. And as an added bonus, those who are willing to take on the challenge of completing levels without traps will be awarded a bonus skull.

For those looking for new and different challenges in Orcs Must Die 2, the Fire & Water Booster may be just what you have been waiting for. For those wandering how this DLC will impact the game, Orcs Must Die 2 Guide brings:

Five ways Fire & Water may impact OMD2

1. New Trap Combinations? New Combo Possibilities?

With the addition of three new traps to the player spellbook, a whole new variety of powerful trap combinations becomes possible. The potential addition of affliction upgrades for these traps may confuse things even more. New traps with afflictions may completely restructure the “ideal” killbox for maximizing combos. No specific changes can be guessed until the DLC is released and players start wrapping their minds around the new changes, but the potential for combo and leaderboard shakeups is there.

2. Elementals become even more hated.

Making the strong stronger…Elementals are near the top of the list for least liked OMD2 enemies. Elementals wreak havoc with their crumbling ability to clog killboxes and escape to the rift. These new elementals with specific resistances and weaknesses may end up throwing a wrench into many strategists’ plans. The Fire Elementals may prove to be particularly difficult as fire traps tend to be a dominate trap type.

3. High Combo-ing with the Floor Portal

While pure speculation at this point, the possibility of teleporting enemies creates an opportunity for building and using highly effective killboxes. This, of course, depends on how the Floor Portal actually works. If the Floor Portal prioritizes heavy enemies like Ogres and Trolls and teleports them to specific locations consistently, then building high combo killboxes at that location may result new methods of consistent combo-ing. If Floor Portals simply teleport enemies back to their rift, teleporting heavy enemies will allow traps to reset resulting in high combos more consistently as well.

4. The Sorceress gets her “Tar”- The Web Spinner

Tar ranks highly on the list of useful traps. Unfortunately for Sorceress players, Tar is unique to the War Mage and has provided a significant advantage to War Mage players in many cases. There have been complaints throughout the community about the need for a Sorceress version of Tar. The Web Spinner may provide the mass slow that Sorceress players have been looking for. Depending on how the Web Spinner works, the differences between the War Mage and Sorceress may be minimized.

5. Leaderboard complication and confusion

How will Robot Entertainment handle the leaderboard with the addition of new traps and enemies to Orcs Must Die 2? Will these traps and enemies be exclusive to the new levels? Depending on how this is handled, there is the potential for score discrepancies between those who have the booster pack and those who don’t.

Five potential changes to the game. These may be good, they may end up bad, or they may not change things a bit. Regardless of how the first OMD2 booster pack effects the game, Fire and Water is here to stay and must be adapted to in order to be successful.

What do you think about the new DLC? What are you looking forward to? What are you concerned about? Please comment below with your thoughts!

3 Reasons Why Tar is the Best Trap

Jeremiah — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 17:31:41 +0000

Tar is a unique trap for the War Mage in Orcs Must Die 2. Its sole function is to slow enemies that enter its area. Many traps in OMD2 are fun, exciting, have lots of actions, can add affliction bonuses for combos, and have awesome animation. Unfortunately, Tar isn’t one of these. Although Tar isn’t the flashiest trap, don’t let its simplicity deceive you! The influence that Tar has within a level is second to none. Tar is the best trap in Orcs Must Die 2 because it guarantees victory when used correctly.

3 Reasons why Tar is the Best Trap in Orcs Must Die! 2:

1. Cost.

Tar traps cost 300 coin when the reduced price is fully upgraded. The benefit of a cheap trap is simple: Less coin per trap equals more traps. Tar is one of the cheapest permanent traps in Orcs Must Die 2 right on par with the Steam Trap, Pushers, Spike Trap and Coin Forge. While these traps may be cheap, their overall value doesn’t compare to Tar (discussed later). With starting coin often being a limiting factor at the beginning of levels, having a cheap and effective trap can make difficult early waves manageable. Tar provides a powerful slow at a cheap price.

2. Always Active.

Tar traps slow everything that touches them all the time. That’s right! Everything! Tar traps are the only traps in OMD2 that are always active. Swinging maces are constantly on, but only swing once every few seconds. Brimstone hits many enemies at a time, even up to five, but must recharge after its limit of enemies is reached. Tar, on the other hand, hits everything that touches it, all the time, without fail. Tar will slow single enemies, groups of enemies, from Kobold Runners to Mountain Trolls and all other enemies in-between. Having a perpetual slow provides a huge advantage. For keeping orcs where you want them, Tar is the best trap out there.

3. Overpowered Slow.

In a fast-paced game like Orcs Must Die 2, slowing things down can mean the difference between winning and losing. Slowing enemies provides three major benefits. First, slowed enemies are easier to hit with weapons. This can be the difference between a head shot and a flat-out miss. Couple the Tar slow with a stun and killing orcs is like shooting fish in a barrel. Second, slowed enemies stay inside killboxes and choke points longer, resulting in greater combo potential and reduced stress. Many high damage traps require significant reset time. Slowing enemies helps keep them in place until traps are active again. Third, slowed enemies are easier to manage. This includes difficult types such as Kobolds and Gnolls. Kobolds are slowed by Tar and become unable to dodge traps. Gnolls are also slowed by tar and become much easier to handle or run away from. With an upgraded slow that is always active, Tar almost seems overpowered.

Many traps in Orcs Must Die 2 slow enemies, including Arrow Walls with chill, Acid Sprayers with poison, and Ice Vents with freeze. Tar traps, however, outclasses them all when comparing value, influence, and effect. No other trap can significantly influence every enemy within a level the way that Tar does, period. This is why Tar is the best. Its just too bad its only available for the War Mage.

How do you use Tar in Orcs Must Die 2? Leave a comment about it below and don’t forget to share this article using the handy “Share” Buttons just a bit down the page!

How OMD2 Calculates “Skull Score”

Noisy Cricket — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 06:32:39 +0000

Many people have been asking about the “Skull Score” in the Stats page after each game of Orcs Must Die 2. I decided to do some research and figure it out for myself. A full day later my desk is covered in post-it notes with scrappy hand-written thoughts and results from game after game to verify my ideas. Here is what I’ve come up with.

Story Mode

The pure and simple way to earn a skull score in Story Mode games is to finish the level with full rift points, under the given Par time that they set, AND never get hit by any enemy (not even once). If you fail at any of those requirements, then you get no Skull Score points. Sorry, no partial credit on this test. For those who are able to do all three tasks, 50000 points are yours. If you can manage a co-op game where BOTH players are untouched and the other two qualifiers are met, then as a team you earn 100000.

Things to be aware of in trying to attain these points are:

Kill-boxes early in the map can help your time quite a bit, but if it’s later in the path line, then you may not make par.
Using Barricades can help keep enemies where you need them, but you risk several things happening:
- Long mazes make things take a long time to die (be aware of the Par time).
- Sappers can easily destroy barricades if you’re not being careful.
- Gnolls are not stopped by barricades, and come directly for you to attack you (unless you have Decoys).
Taking the Rift Defender Trinket does NOT give you a buffer of rift points that could be lost without sacrificing the Skull Score. If you lose a point, you get no Skull Score.

Endless Mode

The scoring mechanic for Endless Mode is very different, in this case, from that of Story Mode. As far as I can tell, there is no direct scoring bonus from extended times of not getting hit by enemies, or for avoiding the loss of rift points. Skull Score is earned solely through the completion of levels. Every 5 levels gains 10000 point in the Skull Score category per player (20000 per 5 levels in co-op). I repeated the first 5, 10, and 15 rounds of Tunnels countless times to try every combination of getting hit and not getting hit, losing points or not, picking up skulls or leaving them, and even whether or not to let Mr. Moneybags through. Every single method left me with precisely 10k per player per 5 levels.

The pattern seems to be carrying into the higher levels of Endless Mode as well, though I haven’t been able to test it extensively. It’s possible there are ways of earning additional Skull Score (reaching level 400 or something I haven’t yet taken the time to do). If that turns out to be the case, I will revise this article with the updated information. For now you can at least count on an additional 10000 points each time you hit another 5 levels, and not have to worry about the occasional scratch from a Gnoll Hunter or a Kobold Runner getting through your traps when you aren’t looking.

Hopefully that clears up the mystery of the Skull Score. If you’re interested in seeing how I tested these theories, feel free to send me an e-mail and I will share it with you. If you have questions or additional information about this topic, please comment below, we’d like to hear your thoughts on the matter. This is Noisy Cricket, go bust some orc skulls.

Choosing between the War Mage and the Sorceress: A Comparison

Jeremiah — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 23:33:50 +0000

Orcs Must Die 2 features two dynamic characters, the War Mage and the Sorceress. These characters have a few key differences that distinguish them from one another and make their play style unique. Matching character attributes to gameplay style should be considered when making your choice.

Let’s start with general descriptions:

War Mage: “Enjoys killing orcs. Sturdy and stupidly brave.” The War Mage is more of a fighter than a caster with unique weapons that are most effective when up-close and personal with orcs. He features extra health which allows him to take damage in battle without substantial consequence.

Sorceress: “Enjoys being in control. At her best when fighting at long range.” The Sorceress is a caster who excels at manipulating hordes and nuking them from a distance. Featuring extra mana, she is ideal for using specialized weapons and abilities, but is more susceptible to dying when face-to-face with her enemies.

Now on to the specifics…

Starting Items:

Each character starts Orcs Must Die 2 with a unique weapon

The War Mage starts with the Blunderbuss, essentially a shotgun that can blow orcs to bits up close, but lacks effectiveness at range. Its secondary attack shoots a grenade over a short distance that damages and throws enemies. The secondary attack uses mana. The Blunderbuss is useful early game for its ability to blow up hordes where few traps are available. However, it quickly becomes out-classed by other weaponry unlocked throughout OMD2.

The Sorceress starts with the Scepter of Domination. This weapon’s primary attack has high attack speed with low damage and can be charged to become a high damage AOE nuke. The secondary attack charms an enemy, causing it to attack other enemies around it for a short time. The Scepter of Domination is a very useful weapon, primarily for its charged primary attack and utility of its charm. This weapon maintains its usefulness throughout Story Mode and Endless Mode.

Starting Traps:

Each character starts with two unique traps.

The War Mage has Tar traps and Arrows Walls available at the beginning of Story Mode.

Tar trap (Click for Trap Info):
One of the most useful traps in the entire game (Check out 3 Reasons Why Tar is the Best Trap). Tar traps are cheap, always active, effective against an unlimited number of enemies, and have a powerful slow. Tar traps are one of the main reasons why War Mage is a great character to play.

Arrow Wall (Click for Trap Info):
Arrow Wall is a damaging trap that shoots arrows at enemies. It can hit multiple targets, but only hits enemies in a line. Additionally, arrows hit only single targets and volleys may, therefore, fail to hit enemies deep in its range. Damage is moderate, but its effectiveness is limited without other traps. With upgrades for setting enemies on fire or chilling enemies, Arrow Wall can be effective for building combos. An added bonus is a special upgrade allowing it to be placed on ceiling locations. Arrow Wall is a useful trap, but becomes less valuable as the game progresses.

The Sorceress has the Ice Vent and Acid Sprayer at the beginning of Story Mode.

Ice Vent (Click for Trap Info):
Ice Vent has the same functionality as Tar, but is generally less effective. Ice Vent freezes enemies and can be upgraded to apply an additional chill. While frozen, enemies take double damage. It is effective at controlling enemies, but has two major drawbacks. First, Ice Vent does not function constantly. This allows orcs to advance freely while the trap is inactive. Second, Freeze is not great for building combo scores as it removes many other applied trap effects. Ice Vent is sometimes useful for playing the Sorceress in Solo Mode, but is largely unnecessary for Coop.

Acid Sprayer (Click for Trap Info):
Acid Sprayer is the Sorceress version of Arrow wall, using slimy green acid instead of arrows. It can be upgraded to have a poison slow, but cannot be placed on the ceiling. The big advantage of the Acid Sprayer is an in-line attack that hits everything in its path. As with the Arrow Wall, the Acid Sprayer damage output is moderate and combo contribution is good, but is only effective in conjunction with other damaging traps. Slows from traps or weapons are necessary for the Acid Sprayer to hit enemies effectively. This trap is moderately useful throughout the game particularly for its applied slow.

Other Unique Items:

The War Mage and Sorceress unlock other unique items throughout the game.

The War Mage and Sorceress each unlock a unique Well which does no damage, but provides either health or mana to the player. The War Mage unlocks a Healing Well. The Sorceress unlocks a Mana Well. Both of these traps come with a high coin cost and are generally unneeded during Story Mode. Mana Wells are sometimes used in Endless where mana potions are limited.

The War Mage and Sorceress each unlock a unique weapon as well. The War Mage unlocks Dwarven Hammer, a melee weapon effective at blowing up groups of enemies with a spinning attack. This weapon has high damage, but has little utility. The Sorceress gets Polymorph Ring, a useful weapon that randomly transforms enemies. Polymorph Ring’s secondary attack transforms the Sorceress into an ogre, with an associated increase in health and damage. Polymorph ring is a powerful weapon throughout Orcs Must Die 2 Story Mode and is especially useful for Endless Mode.

Other Differences:

Character gameplay for the War Mage and Sorceress are very similar with one major exception, jumping. The War Mage unlocks a double jump (spacebar twice) and the Sorceress unlocks a gliding jump that allows her to cover vast distances from a single jump or leap from a ledge.

Character Skins:

You are going to look good!

There are significant differences in appearance between the War Mage and Sorceress. The War Mage is a well-built square-jawed Ryan Reynolds sort of character who has to fight off hopeful lovers as often as orcs. A decent selection of skins is available to fit your mood. The Sorceress is a well-endowed heartbreaker who can charm any man as effectively as any orc. If you are looking for some feminine eye candy reminiscent of Kim Kardashian, then the Sorceress is your girl.

Final Thoughts:

We’ve compared the unique items, gameplay styles, and characteristics of the War Mage and Sorceress. Ultimately, the decision comes down to your personal preferences and a little guess-and-check. Regardless of which Orcs Must Die 2 character you choose, you are going to have a fun time slaying orcs.

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Sorceress – Charging the Sceptre of Domination

Noisy Cricket — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:17:09 +0000

The primary weapon of the Sorceress, the Sceptre of Domination, has three versions to the basic attack. Clicking will provide a single target, high-speed but low damage attack. Holding the mouse down for a little less than a second will increase the damage of the spell but retain the single-target aspect. Holding down for a little longer charges the weapon completely and releases a high-damage, area-of-effect (aoe) exploding force that can knock back smaller enemies. Here is an in-depth look at when each of those attacks is appropriate.

Fully charged attack

When facing a large wave of walking enemies, the fully charged attack is almost always the best choice. With good timing, the damage output from repeated fully charged attacks is easily comparable to that of the high-speed basic attack. The fully charged version just adds the area damage on impact. I open just about every wave with several of these shots before I start varying my approach. One enemy which seems greatly affected by the full charge is Elementals (Earth Lords, etc.). These creatures are more susceptible to the exploding damage than others.

There are times, however, when this attack will not be as effective. First of all, it’s easily blocked by teammates, decoys, guardians, and mine carts. The other two attacks take less time to cast, so if they’re blocked it’s not costing as much time, and are obviously the better choice if stationed in the rear. Secondly, if the charged attack misses, it is a full second or more of wasted time with no damage. I rarely use a charged attack on single small targets, and almost never use it for flying creatures.

Half-charged attack

With good timing, the half-charged attack can increase your single target damage against many enemies. It is important to release the attack immediately upon reaching the half-charge in order to set up the next attack, not waste time, and to maximize damage output. I use a half-charged attack against Trolls, Ogres and heavy single targets (aside from Elementals).

This attack is the least effective against large waves. Even if you’re killing enemies, it is possible that you are doing more damage than necessary for a specific target, meaning one of the other options could have been much more effective. I use this attack infrequently and only for specific purposes.

Basic attack (no charge)

The basic attack has multiple roles. First, I use it against kobold sappers and runners, which are fast, small enemies, and on any flying enemies as well. Using basic attacks without charge reduces the time wasted if an attack misses. Spraying a barrage of smaller attacks at these targets ensures success as most of them die in one or two hits anyway. The second use for this attack is to provide damage when I’m busy focusing on other things. Sometimes I am making decisions of what to build, who to attack, where to be, or anything else, and I don’t want to focus on landing charged attacks, so I fast-click attack in the general direction of enemies in order to keep my damage going.

It is important to note that basic attacks are all but worthless against many of the giant enemies. Never use it against Earth Lords, Mountain Trolls, or Mr. Moneybags. Even if these creatures are nearly dead, basic attacks barely affect their health bar.

It’s likely that, by now, you’ve already developed your own attack strategy and weapon use. But for those who haven’t, or are looking for something to potentially increase their damage output, these techniques could be just what you need. This is Noisy Cricket, off to go kill some orcs.

Orcs Must Die 2 Gnolls-Kill them Now!

Jeremiah — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 01:17:21 +0000

Gnolls appear throughout War Mage and Nightmare story mode in Orcs Must Die 2. They are also a common enemy in every endless mode map. While dealing with one or two gnolls is an accomplishable chore, packs of Hunters can make a player’s life a terror. Take a look at why gnolls present a challenge for players and how to overcome those challenges.

How Gnolls are challenging:

Gnolls pose several significant challenges to the average and professional player. Their overall speed is much higher than your typical orc or troll, ranking just behind Kobold Runners in speed. They also have a high attack damage which is coupled with a poison-slow (hunters). The combination of high movement speed and on-hit slow makes escaping gnolls nearly impossible once engaged. Along with significant speed, high attack damage, and a good slow, gnolls are not influenced by barricades. Barricades provide no barriers to gnolls, as they walk over these waist-high bits of timber as though they were carpet squares. This creates a significant problem for players who focus on rerouting enemies to kill boxes utilizing barricades.

Imagine a trap setup for maximizing combos. You have planned, tested, and organized your weapons, traps, and, trinkets, and selected your map. In the middle of slaying Frost Ogres and Swamp Trolls, you are suddenly surrounded by a haze of green poison and can’t seem to move at all. You turn quickly to discover four Gnoll Hunters dropping your health bar like a toddler does to a house of cards. It doesn’t matter that your barricades were setup correctly. It doesn’t matter that your decoy barricade kept the sappers from frying your maze. Gnolls don’t follow the rules and you end up dying because of it.

Another frustrating aspect of gnolls is their taste for guardians. Archers, Dwarves, and Paladins are all targeted by gnolls. If left unprotected, groups of guardians can fall to a single hungry gnoll, costing you precious gold and the help that would have provided.

How to deal with Gnolls:

Fortunately, gnolls have one characteristic that Orcs Must Die 2 players can utilize to reduce their threat; gnolls hunt down War Mages to the point that they ignore rift portals. That’s right! Gnolls want to kill you so badly that they will not enter a rift portal even if you are running circles around it. While rift portals may not provide physical protection from gnolls, they do heal your character while in close proximity. Using a combination of rift healing and spamming attacks, gnolls, while still difficult, become manageable as long as you can afford to be away from your kill box for an extended period of time.

There are a few other strategies as well. Spore Mushrooms can convert any enemy that steps into its space, including pesky gnolls. With this trap, a problem gnoll becomes an effective ally until it dies or until you sell the trap. Placing Spore Mushrooms at key pinch-points will ensure that any gnoll becomes an ally before it becomes a threat to your health. Another alternative is dispersing Decoys around the map or within kill-boxes to distract the gnolls until they can be handled appropriately.

Gnolls may be the scariest enemies in OMD2, but, by using a few of these tips, they should no longer be a problem and may even become a powerful ally.

If you have more tips on how to deal with Gnolls, leave a comment below and help the community. Don’t forget to share this article on Facebook and Twitter using the handy share buttons!