Dungeon Keeper

2005-11-01 02:31:25 pm

Well, after my HDD crashed and i lost my nearly complete FoT run i decided to try another game (FoT was too much frustrating anyway :-/). Thats why i starting playing DK and noticed its high speed-run potential.

-Missions
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8: Nothing special here, just be as fast as possible and make shure, that you transfer an demon spawn (theycan turn into dragons)

9: In this mission you are able to train your demon spawn above level 10 and make him a dragon. Just let the little bugger train the whole mission and drop him to fights, when you need him.

10: You should have transfered a dragon from the last mission. Control him and just walk directly to the enemy dungeon heart. When using the fire-breath hold your lmb to kill the heart in no-time. On the way to the heart make use of the grenade to deal with the enemy imps.

11: Dragon transfered. This is a timed mission. Just hold your position and use your dragon as much as you can to kill the enemys faster.

12: Dragon Transfered. Dig to the south and attack with enemy heart directly with the dragon. Should be childs play.

13: Same as 12, besides that diging the gold away might be faster than researching a bridge.

14: Dig to the north and use your dragon to kill the hearts directly

15: This one needs luck. Dig to the south. When the knight and the samurais are attacking the blue heart try to seperate one of them from the group and kill him. If they are heading for your dungeon just lure them to the blue heart. Meanwhile dig to the east, so that you can drop your dragon near the green dungeon, witheout capturing the ghosts. When the knight and the 2 samurais as well as the blue herat are dead, use your dragon to kill the green heart.

16: this one is easy, needs some luck though: Just attack the blue keeper with all you have. If heros should arrive at the blue heart retreat and wait for them to finish the job. If the heros dont attack blue just finish the heart yourself.

17: Kill the patrols as fast as possible.

18,19,20 Cause you cant transfer a dragon into these scenarios i have not yet a fast tactic for them Roll Eyes

----Some explaining words:
Why all this hazzle about dragons?
-Dragons can raise from demon spawns if you train them above lvl 10. Because demon spawns are available early in the game you can have a single strong creature at the beginning of most levels, witheout needing it to train alot.
-When i am talking about killing an enemy dungeon heart solo it just means, that you use the symbiosis spell on the dragon and then rush to the heart.
Use the grenades to kill imps on your way to the heart (when the heart is attacked all enemy imps appear at the heart and they are quite a destraction). Use heal to heal yourself from time to time. The fireball is not really needed. Use Word of might to get some air.(Especially usefull when bile demos are around and you cant see anything becsae of all the gas)
Use the firebreath to kill. Using the breath is easy. All you have to do is take aim and HOLD your attack button. This will fry a dungeon heart in less than a minute. CPU controled dragons fire their breath only once a second, but in symbiosis you can continuesly (sp?) deal huge amounts of damge to any target.

If you have tactics for specific levels and/or suggestions including the bonus levels. (Doing a bonus level for a creature transfer which can be used as a timesaver) Fell free to share.

Last words: When playing DK my mouse stutters alot (in fact the whole game somehow lags), so dont expect me to do the run, unless someone has a fix for this.

Thread title:

Well, after my HDD crashed and i lost my nearly complete FoT run i decided to try another game (FoT was too much frustrating anyway  :-/). Thats why i starting playing DK and noticed its high speed-run potential.

-Missions 
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8: Nothing special here, just be as fast as possible and make shure, that  you transfer an demon spawn (theycan turn into dragons)

9: In this mission you are able to train your demon spawn above level 10 and make him a dragon. Just let the little bugger train the whole mission and drop him to fights, when you need him.

10: You should have transfered a dragon from the last mission. Control him and just walk directly to the enemy dungeon heart. When using the fire-breath hold your lmb to kill the heart in no-time. On the way to the heart make use of the grenade to deal with the enemy imps.

11: Dragon transfered. This is a timed mission. Just hold your position and use your dragon as much as you can to kill the enemys faster.

12: Dragon Transfered.  Dig to the south and attack with enemy heart directly with the dragon. Should be childs play.

13: Same as 12, besides that diging the gold away might be faster than researching a bridge.

14: Dig to the north and use your dragon to kill the hearts directly

15: This one needs luck. Dig to the south. When the knight and the samurais are attacking the blue heart try to seperate one of them from the group and kill him. If they are heading for your dungeon just lure them to the blue heart. Meanwhile dig to the east, so that you can drop your dragon near the green dungeon, witheout capturing the ghosts. When the knight and the 2 samurais as well as the blue herat are dead, use your dragon to kill the green heart.

16: this one is easy, needs some luck though: Just attack the blue keeper with all you have. If heros should arrive at the blue heart retreat and wait for them to finish the job. If the heros dont attack blue just finish the heart yourself.

17: Kill the patrols as fast as possible.

18,19,20 Cause you cant transfer a dragon into these scenarios i have not yet a fast tactic for them  ::)

----Some explaining words:
Why all this hazzle about dragons?
-Dragons can raise from demon spawns if you train them above lvl 10. Because demon spawns are available early in the game you can have a single strong creature at the beginning of most levels, witheout needing it to  train alot.
-When i am talking about killing an enemy dungeon heart solo it just means, that you use the symbiosis spell on the dragon and then rush to the heart.
Use the grenades to kill imps on your way to the heart (when the heart is attacked all enemy imps appear at the heart and they are quite a destraction). Use heal to heal yourself from time to time. The fireball is not really needed. Use Word of might to get some air.(Especially usefull when bile demos are around and you cant see anything becsae of all the gas)
Use the firebreath to kill. Using the breath is easy. All you have to do is take aim and HOLD your attack button. This will fry a dungeon heart in less than a minute. CPU controled dragons fire their breath only once a second, but in symbiosis you can continuesly (sp?) deal huge amounts of damge to any target.

If you have tactics for specific levels and/or suggestions including the bonus levels. (Doing a bonus level for a creature transfer which can be used as a timesaver) Fell free to share.

Last words: When playing DK my mouse stutters alot (in fact the whole game somehow lags), so dont expect me to do the run, unless someone has a fix for this.

Lictor

2005-11-01 03:56:20 pm

Hey, yesterday DK came to my mind, too! I remembered the way I went through most of the game, if you do the run, you might find it useful:
I captured the knight on level 1, trained him to level 10 and transferred him on every mission. The knight is probably the most powerful creature besides the avatar(especially with his massive hitpoints and healing ability), so I just used imps to make a tunnel to the enemy keeper, posessed the knight and easily destroyed the enemy heart. Worked on most levels, as far as I can remember.

Faskalia

2005-11-01 04:15:49 pm

Well, training a knight takes ages and a dragon outdamages a knight with ease, if you control him directly. A dragon can pass the big lava lake in lvl 10 witheout taking damage, as well ;P

Paused

2005-11-01 04:21:34 pm

Quote:

Hey, yesterday DK came to my mind, too! I remembered the way I went through most of the game, if you do the run, you might find it useful:
I captured the knight on level 1, trained him to level 10 and transferred him on every mission. The knight is probably the most powerful creature besides the avatar(especially with his massive hitpoints and healing ability), so I just used imps to make a tunnel to the enemy keeper, posessed the knight and easily destroyed the enemy heart. Worked on most levels, as far as I can remember.

That would be quite hard to do wouldnt it? I mean without a Prison, Torture Chamber, Training room, or Transfer creature special on level 1?

For the last 3 levels you mention Faskalia, do you think it be quicker to have unlocked one of the hidden realms earlier, so you can bring along a Horned Reaper, or one of the other creatures you can get? (which are Wich, Vampire or Hellhound if i remember correctly, which I probably dont.)

Lictor

2005-11-01 04:28:58 pm

Well, I don't know which level I took the knight. The last time I played DK was about 1998, so you must forgive my bad memory. Grin

Faskalia

2005-11-01 05:24:53 pm

Quote:

That would be quite hard to do wouldnt it? I mean without a Prison, Torture Chamber, Training room, or Transfer creature special on level 1?

For the last 3 levels you mention Faskalia, do you think it be quicker to have unlocked one of the hidden realms earlier, so you can bring along a Horned Reaper, or one of the other creatures you can get? (which are Wich, Vampire or Hellhound if i remember correctly, which I probably dont.)

A whitch would be pretty usefull in the last level, especially because the bonus level which gets you one is pretty short.

As for the last level: My current strat is to build a dungeon, with a huge workshop (quite obvious), dig for the 4 level up specials. Train 8 Dragons to level 4, use all level ups.
Then i breach to the water and capture 5 tentacles with my lvl 8 dragons.
Convert 4 Tentacles
Transform 1 tentacle into a ghost (or get the which from the bonus level)
Conquering the empty hero dungeon is quite simple.
I capture the reaper,using 3 tentacles(3 tentacles will permanently stun him) and another reaper and convert him, making a total of 2 lvl 10 reapers. The whitch will die to some bile demons pretty quickly.
The 2 openings leading to the blue dungeon get 2 magic doors and a boulder trap each.
While the imps are trying to reach the avatars prison, i cover the 3 southern hero gates with boulder traps. The mini-dungeon needs some boulders aswell (When beeing done correctly 2 traps will cover all 3 gates.) The western part of the map, where the avatar will be resurrected is going to be covered with traps, lots of traps. (Too bad boulder traps cant kill him :()

When the imps reach the avatars prison i have to options. Either using a whirlwind to blow him into the enemy dungeon and hoping that he kills the heart or i blow him unto my soil and use 2 reapers as well as 2 tentacles to engage him in melee. Every dragon i can spare will attack from a range. Even with 10 Dragons it takes about 5 minutes for the avatar to fall Shocked

When he is dead lots of hero partys are going to attack the land. With a little bit of luck they even defeat the blue keeper.

When the main hero force appears nearly all of them die instantly, thanks to well placed boulders. The only survivers are the heros spawning on blue ground and the avatars party, because our beloved ultima hero just simply blocks boulders and usually leads the party into battle. When the avatar and his party spawn i attack them with bile demons, killing all except the avatar in a matter of seconds (horray for gas). Once the avatar is isolated 2 hornys and 2 tentacles with lots of dragons as ranged support will do the job again.

The main problem here is, that you need luck, cause sometimes the blue keeper will have about 20 lvl 10 vampires, when the heros are dropped in his are. Sometimes he even manages to kill the avatar Shocked

A method to avoid this is to use a lvl 10 vamp from one of the bonus missions and often drop gold on him, until the "lure room" is researched. Then just let him lure all enemy vampires Cheesy

Some notes: Dont capture the the avatar, cause it takes ages to convert him and he wont be resurrected until he either dies or joins your ranks.
Capturing the tentacles is vital.
Instead of creating a lvl 10 ghost you can also capture a which or bring one from a bonus mission.
Before you use the 4 increase level boni, create lots of imps.

[quote]

That would be quite hard to do wouldnt it?  I mean without a Prison, Torture Chamber, Training room, or Transfer creature special on level 1?

For the last 3 levels you mention Faskalia, do you think it be quicker to have unlocked one of the hidden realms earlier, so you can bring along a Horned Reaper, or one of the other creatures you can get? (which are Wich, Vampire or Hellhound if i remember correctly, which I probably dont.)
[/quote]

A whitch would be pretty usefull in the last level, especially because the bonus level which gets you one is pretty short.

As for the last level: My current strat is to build a dungeon, with a huge  workshop (quite obvious), dig for the 4 level up specials. Train 8 Dragons to level 4, use all level ups. 
Then i breach to the water and capture 5 tentacles with my lvl 8 dragons. 
Convert 4 Tentacles
Transform 1 tentacle into a ghost (or get the which from the bonus level)
Conquering the empty hero dungeon is quite simple.
I capture the reaper,using 3 tentacles(3 tentacles will permanently stun him) and another reaper and convert him, making a total of 2 lvl 10 reapers. The whitch will die to some bile demons pretty quickly. 
The 2 openings leading to the blue dungeon get 2 magic doors and a boulder trap each.
While the imps are trying to reach the avatars prison, i cover the 3 southern hero gates with boulder traps. The mini-dungeon needs some boulders aswell (When beeing done correctly 2 traps will  cover all 3 gates.) The western part of the map, where the avatar will be resurrected is going to be covered with traps, lots of traps. (Too bad boulder traps cant kill him :()

When the imps reach the avatars prison i have to options. Either using a whirlwind to blow him into the enemy dungeon and hoping that he kills the heart or i blow him unto my soil and use 2 reapers as well as 2 tentacles to engage him in melee. Every dragon i can spare will attack from a range. Even with 10 Dragons it takes about 5 minutes for the avatar to fall   :o 
When he is dead lots of hero partys are going to attack the land. With a little bit of luck they even defeat the blue keeper.

When the main hero force appears nearly all of them die instantly, thanks to well placed boulders. The only survivers are the heros spawning on blue ground and the avatars party, because our beloved ultima hero just simply blocks boulders and usually leads the party into battle. When the avatar and his party spawn i attack them with bile demons, killing all except the avatar in a matter of seconds (horray for gas). Once the avatar is isolated 2 hornys and 2 tentacles with lots of dragons as ranged support will do the job again.

The main problem here is, that you need luck, cause sometimes the blue keeper will have about 20 lvl 10 vampires, when the heros are dropped in his are. Sometimes he even manages to kill the avatar :o
A method to avoid this is to use a lvl 10 vamp from one of the bonus missions and often drop gold on him, until the "lure room" is researched. Then just let him lure all enemy vampires :D

Some notes: Dont capture the the avatar, cause it takes ages to convert him and he wont be resurrected until he either dies or joins your ranks. 
Capturing the tentacles is vital. 
Instead of creating a lvl 10 ghost you can also capture a which or bring one from a bonus mission.
Before you use the 4 increase level boni, create lots of imps.

Wahoo

2005-11-01 08:46:51 pm

dungeon keeper is my favourite game ever and i would be compelled to watch this speed run when it is complete :). My usual tactic is to abuse the posess monster spell and use that on your strongest monster, because you can fire a lot faster and move faster if you posess the monster instead of letting it move around.

Paused

2005-11-02 12:10:26 am

Remind me why you need either a ghost or a whitch for the final level. Its been a while since i played.

Also I presume the reason the tentacles are being used are for the freeze spell. If I remember correctly in the heros fortress there several flies and beetles that attack you. These, if captured, could be killed in the temple providing you with spiders. They can give you extra freezing support.

Darkmane

2005-11-02 02:45:45 am

Dance with the Reaper

What a coincidence! I have only just finished playing Dungeon Keeper & its sequel. I can only offer some knowledge on this game but not much as you have described a very similar plan of action to my own for the last dungeon. The Avatar like all other targets can only be engaged by 4 melee creatures but ranged attackers don't have this limit. I haven't tried what I'm about to suggest so feel free to shoot me down. Vampires are ranged but on this dungeon, as you have said, get scavenged very quickly. With your Dragons it might be possible to lay waste to enough of the blue DK minions to get yourself a decent force of Vamps so you get the edge over the Avatar... I can already see this might take more time than the 5 minutes you stated for defeating the Avatar but its an idea.
IMO Witches are more trouble than they are worth in a fight, especially one that involves haste, mainly because of their Gale spell, its easy to have your forces swept away & separated which can sometimes take the advantage of a bottleneck away plus (correct me if I'm wrong) if Vampires are swept onto water they are damaged.
As for the Horned Reapers they also are usually more trouble than they are worth. They get angry at the slightest thing such as being picked up and dropped and are just as likely to fight your own minions as they are the enemies unless you possess them and walk him to the fight.
Good luck for this run. I shall certainly keep track.

Wahoo

2005-11-02 04:40:17 pm

just keep hornies in the temple till they are needed is my advice for them, even if you just keep the temple 2x2. That way as soon as they get mad, just pick them up and drop them around the outside ( make sure not the middle Tongue

) of the temple.

Faskalia

2005-11-02 05:51:27 pm

Quote:

Remind me why you need either a ghost or a whitch for the final level. Its been a while since i played.

Also I presume the reason the tentacles are being used are for the freeze spell. If I remember correctly in the heros fortress there several flies and beetles that attack you. These, if captured, could be killed in the temple providing you with spiders. They can give you extra freezing support.

You need a ghost or whitch for the whirlwind spell, cause the avatars prison is seperated by lava and there are no bridges available.

The beetles/flys at the hero heart are neutral creatures, meaning that if you reach them first they will join your ranks.

Paused

2005-11-02 06:56:54 pm

Ah yeah of course. Ive no idea if it wold work, but would using the dragons "Word of power" move have the same effect? I remember there being a knock back effect, cant remember if it would push enemies into lava though. It just seems like a waste to transfer a whitch when you could get a third Reaper, or sacrifice a tentacle for a ghost.

The flies and beetles can still be sacrificed for spiders though right?

Although I know usualy you cant use bridges, I definetly remeber playing the last level once, and I was some how able to build them, not from the start but suddenly, about mid level-ish. Ive no idea how I managed it though. It could be useful if you found a way to do it too.

Faskalia

Edit history:

Faskalia: 2005-11-02 07:40:22 pm

2005-11-02 07:23:55 pm

You can only build bridges, if blue builds them and you conquer one. But when blue has bridges, you have to fight over the control of the middle dungeon, meaning that it would cost way too much time.

A third reaper looks like a nice option, but the reaper bonus mission just takes too long, to be worth it. But it would be extremely valid for a "All missions run", akthough i am not shure, where to build the third mini dungeon :-/

EDIT: You cant sacrifice the beetles/flys for spiders, but you would have to train them up to level 5 anyway, in order to use their freeze.

Another thing about the last mission: Only a few creatures will come through the gate: Bile demons, Dragons, Orcs, Hell-Hounds and Trolls. This is pretty bad, cause Warlocks would kill the avatar faster than the dragons.

Paused

2005-11-02 10:34:34 pm

Damn, I was sure about getting a spider for those sacrifices. Id better re research the game before I offer any more "advice."

Still, willing to help in anyway I can.

Wahoo

2005-11-03 12:19:51 am

hmm, it depends how long you plan to train your monsters to as to whether they would kill them faster or not.

All Bogs

2005-11-04 03:20:11 pm

I thought the level of the creature you gain from a sacrifice was the average of the creatures sacrificed?

Faskalia

2005-11-04 03:51:15 pm

Quote:

I thought the level of the creature you gain from a sacrifice was the average of the creatures sacrificed?

Thats correct. And because the beetles/flys are lvl 1...

RDDTDSS

2005-11-04 10:32:20 pm

I always found it easier to capture the avatar and use him to kill himself.

tagh_azog

2006-10-11 01:05:26 pm

piece of cake!

oh yeah, one year left...I didn't see this topic before, I love Dungeon keeper, one of my favorites games, why the run has been abort?

Haploid

2006-10-12 01:06:19 am

Amoebe

No one was actually running DK. This is just a discussion of how it would be done. :roll:

posix

2006-10-13 03:36:03 pm

not sure if dk could really be run.
in the end, most levels are just about training your creatures until they're strong enough to beat the level's knight and his group.

i don't think neither tentacles, nor ghosts, nor witches are of any much use.
they all take too long to train and there are other creatures who have their abilities at lower level.
samurai, dark mistress and vampire.

hornies are completely useless imho. they're just a game gimmick. they are too much trouble keeping under control than what they're worth for.

i have played dk for a very long time so i would be much interesting seeing someone try a run.

omg

2006-10-28 10:53:20 pm

very funny game, but the last level gives me the creeps...

Rebar

2006-10-30 07:39:30 pm

Lights on! Lights off!

The last mission might need a few tries, since the enemy AI is unpredictable.

I usually try a hit and run tactic on the enemy dungeon heart with the horned reaper, completely ignoring the avatar on my way.

I remember pulling off that vampire stealing stunt once, too.

Is there a DK recource page?

12114

Edit history:

12114: 2022-04-12 09:41:23 am

12114: 2009-04-04 11:03:23 am

2007-09-28 11:25:08 am

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Done, but hopefully will be re-done in the summer.
you can find the video of level 1 here:
then just follow related links for more videos.
time breakdown:

level 1 in 3:27
level 2 in 3:00
level 3 in 6:37
level 4 in 4:06
level 5 in 2:05
level 6 in 2:03
level 7 in 16:49
level 8 in 2:27
level 9 in 7:53
level 10 in 1:43
level 11 in 15:31
level 12 in 3:32
level 13 in 3:21
level 14 in 4:58
level 15 in 4:30
level 16 in 1:20
level 17 in 26:43 (old comp cost me 2 sec)
level 18 in 3:58
level 19 in 3:57
level 20 in 18:30
bonus level for level 20 Tongue

- 47 sec

Total time should be (by my calc): 2 hours 17 minutes 15 seconds

Credits/thanks to zoonel (very helpful), zyzzyva, enigma_nova

Enigma_Nova

2007-09-28 12:21:06 pm

[u]Cosyton, 6:27[/u]
http://files.filefront.com/DK1+Enigma+Map2wmv/;8663818;/fileinfo.html

The time block here is building a training room.

0:06:
Spend most of my gold buying imps. This lets me dig out the initial gold vein faster (and get the gold back sooner, with interest).
0:30:
I could swear imps could swing faster than that. Maybe slapping them twice does have a small effect...
0:41:
The timer block is building a training room. To do that, I need a 3*3 hatch and a 3*3 lair. These are priority 2, right after getting the treasure room up. The only way to ensure it gets done in the right order (rather than waiting for tiles to be claimed) is to possess an imp and do it myself.
1:08:
I run out of slap-time and the imp moves slower. The slap's speed buff must last about 30 seconds.
1:33:
You can pick up gold your imps mine and drop it directly into your treasury. This is faster than waiting for your imps to move the gold themselves. I spam imps to get work done faster.
2:34:
Oops. No new creatures will come in if the lair is full.
3:00:
Slap them to make them gain levels faster.
3:58:
Monsters run faster diagonally.
4:10:
And THAT is why I don't wait for the imps to claim the 3 3*3 rooms at the start.
4:50:
Freeing up the max# of creatures so I get more demon spawn, instead of insects
5:54:
Imps are the only creatures you can drop on dirt. I drop one here and possess it to lead the heroes out to my claimed tiles, where I can drop demon spawns on them.
6:10:
"Why the hell did he possess an imp when he has spawns?" - To lure the Knight into the spawns.
6:25:
Knight dead, level won

[b][u]Cosyton, 6:27[/b][/u]
http://files.filefront.com/DK1+Enigma+Map2wmv/;8663818;/fileinfo.html

The time block here is building a training room.

[u]0:06:[/u]
[i]Spend most of my gold buying imps. This lets me dig out the initial gold vein faster (and get the gold back sooner, with interest).[/i]
[u]0:30:[/u]
[i]I could swear imps could swing faster than that. Maybe slapping them twice does have a small effect...[/i]
[u]0:41:[/u]
[i]The timer block is building a training room. To do that, I need a 3*3 hatch and a 3*3 lair. These are priority 2, right after getting the treasure room up. The only way to ensure it gets done in the right order (rather than waiting for tiles to be claimed) is to possess an imp and do it myself.[/i]
[u]1:08:[/u]
[i]I run out of slap-time and the imp moves slower. The slap's speed buff must last about 30 seconds.[/i]
[u]1:33:[/u]
[i]You can pick up gold your imps mine and drop it directly into your treasury. This is faster than waiting for your imps to move the gold themselves. I spam imps to get work done faster.[/i]
[u]2:34:[/u]
[i]Oops. No new creatures will come in if the lair is full.[/i]
[u]3:00:[/u]
[i]Slap them to make them gain levels faster.[/i]
[u]3:58:[/u]
[i]Monsters run faster diagonally.[/i]
[u]4:10:[/u]
[i]And THAT is why I don't wait for the imps to claim the 3 3*3 rooms at the start.[/i]
[u]4:50:[/u]
[i]Freeing up the max# of creatures so I get more demon spawn, instead of insects[/i]
[u]5:54:[/u]
[i]Imps are the only creatures you can drop on dirt. I drop one here and possess it to lead the heroes out to my claimed tiles, where I can drop demon spawns on them.[/i]
[u]6:10:[/u]
[i]"Why the hell did he possess an imp when he has spawns?" - To lure the Knight into the spawns.[/i]
[u]6:25:[/u]
[i]Knight dead, level won[/i]