Few roguelikes punish first-timers the way Despot's Game: The Dystopian Army Builder does. Many roguelike games are short, sure, yet this game makes sure that living for longer than two minutes on one floor is a serious accomplishment. New players might find occasional luck, but they'll likely be losing on the first three floors for the first several hours.
This can stretch into days. Trying a new tactic can cause the players to lose after one or two fights, no matter how hard they try. This brutality is fierce, but thankfully there are some experts for Despot's Game: The Dystopian Army Builder who are eager to share what they wish they had been told when they were just starting out.
10 Start With Easy Mode
Easy mode is often meant for RPG enthusiasts who like roguelike games. But the situation here is a bit different. The core experience is largely the same and new gamers will still be losing often. It simply gives players the slack to see how the core of the game works.
After getting the hang of easy mode, go ahead and turn the heat up. All the unlockable starting squads and achievements can be done on easy mode, allowing players some much-needed flexibility as they gear up for tougher challenges.
9 Unlock Starting Teams
The starting group is alright, but nothing special, meaning players who start with it aren't giving themselves the most solid starting floor. take a look at the variations of starting squads, find one that looks intriguing, and try to unlock that squad.
The first few runs are always going to be losses. Might as well lose and permanently unlock a starting squad in the meantime, making it feel like a win. The Cosplay squad comes highly recommended, try using that after unlocking it or one of the other more powerful groups.
8 Rotate Frontline
Death is often reflected in dark humor while gaming, but there is nothing funny about having a human die in Despot's Game. Even if players succeed at keeping the fallen player's weapon, the humans have invaluable experience levels that are lost upon death.
Even Tanks need a break, especially early on while the Healers are still getting set up. Give them time off of the line until they regain their health. Have units take turns absorbing this damage. Eventually, the healing and tanking will be strong enough to leave the front line as it is, but not for many, many floors.
7 Do Not Have Extra Humans
Extra humans are called newbies. They are prone to instant death on the first floor and they will die en masse on later floors. Their damage is negligible as well. Some new players will mistakenly keep them around for when they find a shop so they can equip them with a weapon.
The problem here is that the shop already offers unlimited humans for two tokens each. These humans also consume way more than two tokens of food over time. Sacrifice them to make food or equip them, but don't have any newbies in between fights.
6 Pick Out Matching Mutations
At altars and certain rooms, players will get a chance to choose a mutation. These mutations will vary in strength and it can be tempting to just choose the one that looks the strongest. But note the icons above them; not all mutations work for all classes.
For example, selecting extra armor for Mages without having any Mages is a waste of these rare mutations. A full game will likely only give players ten to twenty of these buffs, new gamers can't afford to have any less-than-optimal selections.
5 Never Go Hungry, But Don't Overbuy
There are plenty of hilarious deaths in gaming, but starvation is just a slow and sad way to lose in Despot's Game. Once players start fighting hungry, the army will get slowly weaker. It will only be a matter of time until losing after that point.
Be mathematical about it. Total food will be deducted at a rate of one per human when moving rooms. Try to have enough food to complete the next floor to stay just ahead of the curve. Don't overbuy, new weapons and mutations are a better purchase if the team is alright on food for a bit.
4 Get Three Unique Healers ASAP
Among all the best class abilities in the game, the Healers have the best and it's not particularly close. Roguelike games depend on wearing down the character(s) slowly until they finally fall apart. Healers destroy this process.
Getting three unique Healers gives every Healer an additional aptly named Heal ability. This kind of healing output is more than enough for the early and mid-game. There is a dramatic difference between a team with three and two Healers, much more than with any other class.
3 Be Careful In Role-Playing
Role-playing encounters often offer tokens, mutations, or other benefits if they risk something very bad happening. This can be the death of a high-level human or even the loss of sight for an entire class. The negatives often outweigh the positives.
For new players, take the safest path. The risks are worth it for hardcore gamers looking to climb the King of the Hill charts in PvP but that's all irrelevant unless gamers can beat the entire game in one run. Focus on PvE first.
2 Upgrade Shop Once Per Level
Upgrading the shop not only gives players more options each time, but it increases the likelihood of finding rare, epic, and legendary items. The challenge for new players is to balance wanting elite units with having a small number of tokens.
The right balance is about once per floor. Awesome units are welcome, but they aren't completely necessary until about floor five and higher. At a rate of once per level, this keeps gamers just barely ahead of the curve.
1 When In Doubt, Buy Mutations
A new unit is exciting, but even legendary weapons can't compete with the best mutations in the game. For a simple ten tokens, players can increase everyone's health by 50%. It is making smart purchases in this menu at the right times that lead to victories.
If gamers lose when they are sitting on tokens, that's a problem. There is almost always something that could have prevented needless deaths or given the team enough firepower to take out a boss before they can do too much damage.
Despot's Game: The Dystopian Army Builder is available now for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.