When starting doomlord for the first time, it is wise to start off with a plan. Some people may make poor choices which they regret early on in the game, but that is exactly the reason why this wiki is here!
There are four very general strategies which players may follow. All of them can be successful, but it is the personalized choices which are the key to domination. These playing styles include being a Skillful Spider, a Benevolent Builder, an Organised Opportunist or a Clever Combination character,.
This page will just outline a few basics of these character builds
Spiders[]
Quick Description[]
Spiders are doomlords which purposefully restrict their level porgression in order to become stronger for their level. They have earned their name by being sneaky, crawling out of the shadows to sap specific targets. The method is simple: Duel but don't hunt. Generally, winning a duel yields less experience than hunting and often gives more soul-energy. This greater soul-energy income:experience ratio means they can fairly quickly dominate their category with greater attributes, skills and equipment.
An example: At level one, you earn 2 experience per hunt. Each hunt gives about 30 soul energy, meaning that each experience point = 15 soul-energy.
When dueling, you earn 1 experience point for each win. This is variable, but it is fairly easy to pick out targets who will give 60+ soul-energy, meaning that each experience point = 60 soul-energy.
It takes 100 experience points to level up from level 1 to 2: (60*100)-(15*100)= 4500. A spider could earn 4500 more soul energy than a player who simply hunt, translating to +20 more attributes. Though it would take them much longer to level up, this gap in attributes will only increase until they become pretty much unbeatable.
Starter Guide[]
Level 1:
- Register
- Follow the tutorial
- Hunt enough to buy the skullmasher/+5 attributes
- Search for players who have poor equipment/stats and a negative SE difference
- Duel until you level, making a note of who gives more soul-energy and attacking them more often
Level 2:
- Hunt enough to complete the "Hunt down 3 tiny monsters!" and "Answer 30 quiz questions correctly!" quests.
- Search for players with poor equipment/stats. Often, the fewer losses they have, the more likely they are to be carrying a lot of soul energy.
- Duel until you level, rinse and repeat.
The more carefully you choose your victims, the more successful you will be...
Important skills[]
Skills are unlocked at level 4
- Creative Affinity (accessed at learning level 1)
- Trapping (accessed at learning level 3)
- Pet Training (accessed at learning level 4)
- Trade (accessed at learning level 12)
- Execution (accessed at learning level 15)
- Toughness (accessed at learning level 16)
- Mindboost (accessed at level 20)
Builder[]
Quick Description[]
Your main objective as a builder is to get into a clan as quickly as possible with like minded people. This strategy utilizes the fact that luck is a constant cost and specialisation never has any effect. Builders tend to just hunt and answer questions without dueling ever. When a clan reaches a point where ultraspecialisation becomes available, builders begin to train their attributes and because of the restricted growth from not using all duel points, they have the possibility of developing into duelers themselves.
If you go invisible as soon as you start, no one will attack you until level 4 or 5 so you are free to hunt all day long. However, when the bonus from invisibility becomes innefective, an alternative method must be used: After saving up a load of action points, make sure your soul-energy is 0 (build everything into the clan) then attack strong players to reduce your hp to 1. This then allows you to hunt for 3 hours 32 minutes and 40 seconds to hunt, safe in the knowledge no-one can attack you due to the hitpoint rule.
The key difference between builders and opportunists is that builders do not duel at all. They generally have just a mace equipped with hundreds of losses (and if they're good, a neutral SE difference).
Important Skills[]
- Trapping (accessed at learning level 3)
- Elementary Fusion (accessed at learning level 11)
- Spectral Manipulation (accessed at learning level 18)
- Mindboost (accessed at learning level 20)
- Building (accessed at learning level 24)
- Soul-energy Squeezing (accessed at learning level 26)
Opportunists[]
Quick Description[]
Opportunists are characters which are driven almost exclusively by skills. As soon as they hit level 4, most soul-energy goes into long term development skills. They also focus on building as luck is also a long term investment. These players are very patient as they are often beaten by most players due to their dedication to skills and neglection of attributes, however, should they eventually decide to shift their attentions to battles, their increased soul energy income could quickly catch up and the balance of power shifts. There is a very delicate art to perfecting the moment to swap to attributes and I have yet to see it happen!
Generally, opportunists make some attempt to duel, utilizing their trade skill to get a formidable weapon to make up for their disappointing stats. This allows them to stay within reach of the top 20 and the chance of top spot is never far away.
Important skills[]
Just about every skill is important to Opportunists, but they come at different stages to the previous character builds.
- Creative Affinity (accessed at learning level 1)
- Trapping (accessed at learning level 3)
- Pet Training (accessed at learning level 4)
- Elementary Fusion (accessed at learning level 11)
- Trade (accessed at learning level 12)
- Spectral Manipulation (accessed at learning level 18)
- Mindboost (accessed at learning level 20)
- Building (accessed at learning level 24)
- Soul-energy Squeezing (accessed at learning level 26)
Combination[]
My personal favourite; what's wrong with the middle afterall? It's pretty straightforward to explain, you just build a character based on the needs of the current situation. If you are losing in duels, take a break from training skills and buy a new piece of equipment. Whereas if you're winning a fair amount of duels, you can invest into some soul-energy developing skills.
Combination builds are the way 80% of the doomlord population goes. Using the questing system as a loose tutorial, they often end up in the higher levels. Any action point/duel point that is wasted means another step further away from the top. Some players are able to monopsonize the auction house and to gain leverage on other players that way.
It is virtually impossible to tell you how to lead a combination character because it relies on your judgments as to whether it is worth developing this skill before that skill or whatever. All I can advise that if you do not waste action points and duel points, you will do significantly better than 75% of the server.