=================================== Paladog - Survival Mode Guide =================================== version 1.1 =================================== Hi everyone. This is the first guide I've ever written. English is not my primary language so please bear with me :) Please email suggestions to direwolf (at) gotfansite.com Feel free to distribute this guide but please keep the content as is :) Version Histoey =============== 1.1 - Fix apostrophes that were not converting correctly. (Thanks Tim for poiting it out.) ============================= ===== Table of Contents ===== ============================= 01. Paladog 02. Why play survival mode? 03. What is this guide about? 04. Noticeable change in the Line version 05. Saving your gameplay 06. Notes before you start 07. Building up your character 08. Starting out 09. Preparing for the real challenge 10. The Real Waves 11. Summon Recharge Trick 12. End ======================= ===== 01. Paladog ===== ======================= Paladog was developed by Jin Hyuk Kim of Fazecat. The game first appeared in Korean App store and became an immediate hit. It remained the best game for 2 months. Along with it was a "Paladog Free" which lets you play the first 20 campaign stages. I'll refer to the original iOS/Android version as the "Original" version. The game was then made available for free as "Line Paladog" on December 2012. You gain full game to Paladog's campaign and survival. But you have to pay 100 Yen ($1.2 USD) to unlock Darkdog. I'll refer to this version as the "Line" version. There is also a free flash version. Only campaign mode is available http://www.kongregate.com/games/fazecat/paladog ======================================= ===== 02. Why play survival mode? ===== ======================================= I started playing survival mode out of curiosity. If you have seen a movie on youtube where some Korean player showed his(her?) lv 999 Paladog fighting wave 800+, you'd probably understand how I felt. I wanted to know so bad how it was even possible. Survival mode gives you opportunity to earn tremendous amount of diamonds. Bosses drop more and more as you go. At first they drop 1 diamond each. Then 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on. The diamonds you earn will be available in every mode including Darkdog's. Building your character up to the point you can farm was fairly quick on Original version. But it takes a LOT longer in the Line version. Why? in Line version, Fazecat decided to double the price for upgrading your equipments. It really has a huge impact. ========================================= ===== 03. What is this guide about? ===== ========================================= In this guide I want to share my strategy on how to develope your Paladog to the point you can farm diamonds and really benefit from this mode without stressing yourself out. ===================================================== ===== 04. noticeable change in the Line version ===== ===================================================== - Magic Stone removed. - When you die, you can directly spend diamonds to revive. - Your mace glows when it reaches certain level. - New accessories; helms, armors and horses. All purchasable with diamonds. In addition to buff, these equipments will also change your character's appearance in game. - Showing Line friends' score instead of Facebook friends. Thought I'd mention because finally I have other people on my scoreboard xD I was always alone when the game pulled scores from Facebook. - You pay 100 Yen ($1.2 USD) to unlock Darkdog instead of defeating him in survival mode. - Darkdog will always appear at wave 4. I don't know if unlocking Darkdog removes him from this wave or not. I don't want to risk it because he drops diamond.... - Stages got new background arts. They look more powerful, but not as cute anymore. - "Yes" and "No (Cancel)" confirmation buttons switch sides. ==================================== ===== 05. Saving your gameplay ===== ==================================== The game saves automatically when you complete a wave. So if your phone crashes, no worry. Start up the game and it will prompt you to resume. Choose "Yes" and you'll be back at the beginning of that wave. You can also save mid-wave by pressing the "Back" (or Return) button of your phone. In this case the game will load right into where you left off. I try not to use pause button on the top right. That button gives you "Resume" and "Give up". If you choose "Give up", you're simply done with no way to get back to your current wave. Your phone's "back" button is much safer because you'll either save and quit, or return to your game. ====================================== ===== 06. Notes before you start ===== ====================================== - This guide is not going to cover the basic game play. - You will always need some luck to get far. If the game keeps giving you crappy skills when you level up, or your Turn Undead mace doesn't want to proc, most likely you'll die. - It is OK to let enemies go through you. They'll simply reappear on the right side. This will give you time to recover food/mana. - Drops in survival mode will never be higher than level 5. - You CAN SCROLL your map by sliding your finger horizontally. Moving your Paladog will reset the screen back to yourself. Very useful, let you look ahead to see what enemies appear without running to them. - You can also speed up your game in survival mode. This is not available in campaign. ========================================== ===== 07. Building up your character ===== ========================================== The idea is very simple... pick your primary attack mace and upgrade ONLY that mace. Take it all the way to about level 20 before you even spend diamonds on other things. I took my Fist of Fury all the way to level 35 without upgrading anything else. Believe me, having a decent level mace will speed up your farming a lot. You can just shoot your way through bunch of early bosses at 4x speed. Makes farming a lot easier and simpler. You can even survive for 100+ waves with a high level primary mace alone if you plan your skill right (and if the game gives you those skills when you level up) My favourite is the Fist of Fury mace for its range and penetration. I've seen people use Ice and Thunder too. First of Fury starts out hitting only 3 enemies. At level 20, it hits 4. At level 40, it hits 5. Makes tearing through early waves a joke. You won't even have to move your character. Mace Mastery skill counts towards the penetration. So if your Fist of Fury is level 19, put 1 point in Mace Mastery and it will hit 4. (I'll refer to my main attack mace as the Fist. But feel free to use (any mace of your choice) Enemies can drop level 5 stuff since the first wave. So while you're still building up your Fist, you can rely on drops for other equipment slots. Level 5 is good enough for a long while - the skills you get when you level up have more impact on your survivability. Level 5 is the highest drop you'll ever get from this mode. ============================ ===== 08. Starting out ===== ============================ We start equipped with a level 1 Fist of Fury. First, buy yourself a Fire mace. It can be any AoE mace actually, but Fire mace cost the least mana so it's a nice starting choice. Also grab a mana regen ring. Soon the Turn Undead mace will become very important.. I'll call it "TU" from now on. Your very first goal is to try defeat the first 2 bosses - Zombie King in wave 3 and Darkdog in wave 4. Consider repeating the first few waves a couple times for better gears if you can't defeat them. If you're lucky you may receive a level 5 Fist, that will save you quite a lot of diamonds. ============ = wave 1-4 = ============ Starting out, you'll play exactly the same way as you would play campaign. You level up extremely fast which will heal you to full HP. Take advantage of that by standing in front of your mice to keep them alive. Before wave 3 you want to unlock at least a Bear. Even better if you can unlock Kangaroo, or even Turtle. Grab Magic Mastery if it shows up, it will help you cast Fire mace with less mana. Wave 3, the Zombie King. You want to keep summoning Kangaroo (or Bear) and assist them with Fire mace. A Turtle can help prevent enemies pushing you backwards, making it a bit easier. Wave 4, Darkdog. Keep summoning Kangaroo (or Bear) and throw in your own attack to speed up the kill. If you happen to pick up a level 5 Poison mace, equip it. It can help you kill the Zombie King without needing Kangaroos. Start wave 3 by immediately shooting 2-3 Fist to kill that lone zombie, follow by poison. Slowly shoot Fist and renew Poison without letting your mana gets low. When the boss gets closer, spam Fist with all mana you've got. If you do it right, it will die before summoning anything. As your Fist gets higher, you'll rely more on it and less on your units. =========================== = wave 6: Soccer Skeleton = =========================== If you can reach this wave, replace mana regen ring with an Agility ring (increase run speed) This will be the first boss you have to let it through. The speed you get from Agility ring and Riding skill will make it easier. Start the wave anyway you like. Once the boss appears, shoot it while retreating to the left side. Then call a mouse and follow behind it. When the Soccer Skeleton prepares to kick your mouse, try to run through it. With enough speed it won't be able to hit you. Let it reappear on the right side. Keep attacking it and repeat until it dies. You can run through this boss on your own without a decoy if you have ... - max Riding skill - level 5 Agility ring + 2 Riding skill - level 9 Agility ring ====================== = wave 9 White Ghost = ====================== Play anyway you like but save enough food for a Bear. When the boss gets close to the left side, call a Bear and follow it. Once the boss starts licking your Bear, run through it. Alternatively you can keep sending Bear one after another while shooting your Fist. Sometimes the boss will keep teleporting around without pressing you to the corner. To run through this boss without decoy, you need Agility Ring lv 18. =============================== = wave 12 Soccer Skeleton x 2 = =============================== Same deal except you want to try line them up by calling a few mice. After that you can run through them the same way you did in wave 6. .. .. For early levels, these bosses should be your reliable source of diamonds without getting yourself stressed out. Practice until you can easily defeat them at 4x speed for easy 6 diamonds. I'm going to cover the rest of the boss as they appear for the first time. In order to reach them you may need to know a few more surviving tricks which I cover in section 09. Keep in mind that when these bosses reappear the second time you may need different strategy. This will be covered in later section. =============== = Nomnom Duck = =============== Use Fist of Fury to kill off archers in front and behind the duck. Keep spamming mouse and throw in your own attacks to help speed up the kill. ============== = Mummy King = ============== You will need at least a level 5 Agility Ring with some levels in Riding in order to run through this boss without the smaller mummies hitting you. If you want to fight it face to face, you will need the Pink Dragon but it's still going to be tough. Once the wave begins, stand your ground and shoot. When the boss gets close to you, run to it before it starts summoning. Once you get behind it, slowly follow it back to the left and shoot more Fist. Your Fist should be able to kill off the smaller mummies behind the King in case you need to run through it a second time. I have to emphasise this - run through it BEFORE it starts summoning. If you start too slow and the smaller mummies are already waiting for you, they will hit you. Hard. You need very high speed to run through them like this. ================= = Ghost Paladog = ================= Stand ground and shoot Fist. Ignore the Moai, your Fist will shoot right through it to hit the boss. Ghost Paladog has very low HP and will die pretty quick. If your primary weapon cannot penetrate (Ice, Thunder, etc) then wait for the Moai to walk further apart from Ghost Paladog. Then simply run through the Moai and begin shooting. Ranged mace is better for this boss as it won't shoot you back. ================ = White Dragon = ================ Keep sending turtles to stall it while you shoot it to death. It's almost impossible to run through it without taking at least a hit. But don't worry, it can't 1-shot you until much, much, much later. ================ = Poison Angel = ================ Try to get rid of all the floating heads. Easier if you use Fist. Once all the floating heads are dead, the Angel won't be able to kill you or your units anymore. Simply send melee units to block its kiss and pummel it to death. ============= = Dark Lord = ============= Looks more like a reaper... but whatever Similar to Poison Angel, shoot Fist to kill all the mobs. For the Dark Lord itself, you'll want to keep sending Bear or Kangaroo while you shoot it from a safe distance. Mouse dies too fast to be able to stall this boss. Don't even bother trying to give your aura to your units, just keep your distance. ============== = Frog Witch = ============== The Witch herself will not attack Paladog. She'll only turn your troops into frogs. If you can reach this wave I assume you already have a pretty high level mace. So simply shoot everything to death. So that should cover all the bosses as they appear the first time. From the second time onwards, they'll be accompanied by different mobs which may require different strategies. And you will only have 1 normal enemy wave between bosses instead of 2. ================================================ ===== 09. Preparing for the real challenge ===== ================================================ After your primary mace gains certain amount of levels it's time you prepare to face the real thing. I like to divide survival mode into 3 phases. phase 1 - is when you can still spam your Fist to get through waves. phase 2 - is when the enemies start getting too tough for your Fist. phase 3 - is when you finally able to spam both spells and units. During phase 1 getting Magic Mastery is your top priority along with building up your mana max/regen so you can start using TU. Your Fist level really comes into play. The lower your Fist level is, the sooner you'll hit phase 2. Phase 2 is going to be long. You'll have to use all the tricks to stay alive until you can build up both food and mana to the point you can spam everything. You'll also rely mostly on your Fist to damage bosses. Higher level Fist also helps here. After you can spam units, it's time you really build up all your buff aura skills. I don't favor the defensive aura as much, I think offensive aura are way more useful. ========== = Skills = ========== Unlike campaign, you can NOT max all skills. So I'll start with skills you should avoid. This is based purely on my own play style. ================== = Useless Skills = ================== - Treasure Hunter and Luck (item drop rate and money) You don't need a bunch of level 5 gears. Nor do you need money in survival mode. Well, Money mace is pretty fun. It costs only 1 diamond in Original version but costs 1,000 in Line. So... - March aura (increase your unit's movement speed) I like to keep my units together. Having this aura will cause your front line to walk way ahead of the rest. I don't like that. - Defensive aura and Regen aura Enemies will 1-shot your troops. - Ring Mastery (adds level to your ring) This will actually become more useful after you've unlocked more ring slots. At first however it's not very useful. ================== = Skill Priority = ================== 1. Magic Mastery ***** (reduce mana cost) The single most decisive skill in survival mode. At max level, it cuts down your mana cost by half. If the game decides not to give you this skill soon enough, you'll die. 2. Mimic (increase EXP) 3. Prayer (mana regen) 4. Riding (movement speed) Not as important if you have high level Agility ring 5. Devotion (max mana) Try to get your mana to around 400, After that you can lower its priority 6. Cultivation (food regen) If you use food mace you can concentrate more on mana regen. 7. Preservation (max food) Try to get your food to around 600. After that you can lower its priority Balance the rest of your skills and unlock/upgrade your units as you see fit. Penguins especially are a big help going through normal waves. ===================== = My Mace of choice = ===================== - Fist of Fury Turn Undead Food Why Food mace? After lots of run, I found that spamming units was the fastest way to kill many bosses. And while spamming units I wasn't really using my mana. So I thought I'd give this mace a try. It proved much more useful than I expected … with high mana regen, you pretty much have unlimited supply of food which makes spamming troops a lot easier. ==================== = Surviving tricks = ==================== Enemies get stronger really fast. Sometimes you won't be able to finish them off and they'll squish you to the corner of the map. 2 best way to prevent this 1) Try to run through them. 2) Try to stall them long enough to recharge your mana. Most time I have to mix both strategy to stay alive. 1) is mainly for heavy melee monsters (red giants, red armors, skeleton pirates for example). These monsters strike really fast that you can't just blindly run through them. But they have long delay between attacks. So what you want to do is spam mice until they sort of line up before sending in your real decoys, ideally in groups of 2-3. Once they swing at your decoys, you want to run through them immediately before they swing the second time. The faster you are, the easier this becomes. If you make a mistake, you're dead :P 2) You stall enemies by sending your units to keep them occupied. I found spamming mouse the most efficient. Because, well, even a Turtles will die in 1-2 hits. Plus you can usually produce mouse faster than the enemies' attack interval. What you do with your mana is totally situational - if the enemies are in large group you might want to use TU, if the enemies have low HP you might want to shoot your Fist, etc. ============================== ===== 10. The Real Waves ===== ============================== ====================== = Normal enemy waves = ====================== Early waves - Fist them to death Once they start to survive your Fist, you can try to stall them with mouse while you either Fist or TU them. But be aware that Mouse is not the best choice against ghosts. And definitely avoid mouse if you face flying heads. Later, Penguins & Rabbits are my favourite combo. I'll call Penguin right at the beginning follow by bunch of Rabbits. Penguin freezes while Rabbits push enemies away from your Penguin. Stay close behind them and do your thing. Alternatively you can use Ice mace to do the freezing yourself. ============== = Bomb waves = ============== We have to be clear on this - early on there will be waves where you have a bunch of bombs running ahead of other monsters. Those are NOT the Bomb waves. Bombs in this case can be pretty hard to kill due to their high HP so feel free to let them blow up if you can't finish them off. Not too far after that you'll face waves of Bombs, only Bombs and nothing else. Their HP will be lower in these waves that you should be able to Fist them to death before they blow up. Try to kill them, they give a LOT of EXP. I like to use Rhino & Penguin. Rhino is capable of knocking down Bombs with their special attack. Mouse can also do this but not as reliable. After they become too tough for Fist, keep them occupied with Rhino and Penguins while you finish them off with TU. ==================== = Zombie King x 2 = ==================== Zombie Kings now appear in pairs without other monsters. = Early Game - solo = Stand your ground and shoot Fist. Reserve some 200 mana. When the bosses get close, run through them before they summon mobs. Run all the way to the right side of the stage. Zombie mobs walk faster than the Kings and will appear on the right side first. Quickly TU them and run back to the left side of the stage. Rinse, repeat. = Later Game - Penguins & Dragons = Let the Kings walk close to the left side. Once they start summoning, call a Penguin. Spam TU to keep your Penguins alive until you have 3. Then start calling Dragons. Keep calling more Penguins and Dragons while supporting them with TU. If your phone can handle, you can add Rabbits, too. They speed up the kill considerably. Once your mana regen is high enough, you can call both Penguin and Dragon from the start. You need to spam much more TU to keep your Dragon alive with only 1 Penguin. ================== = Mummy King x 2 = ================== Appear with 2 Moai. Very similar to Zombie King, except the mobs walk slower this time. = Early Game - solo = Stand your ground and shoot Fist. You want to reserve way more mana than you did with Zombie King. When the boss get close, run through them before they summon mobs. Quickly TU the Moai to death. Then follow the boss back to the left side. Right after the bosses disappear off the left side, start shooting Fist. You want your Fist to push the mobs apart from the bosses. Then run through the boss a second time and stop in the gap you've created with your Fist. TU the mobs, follow the boss back to the left, rinse, repeat. = Later Game - Penguins & Dragons = Exactly the same way as Zombie King. Let the bosses walk close to the left side. Once they start summoning, call a Penguin. Spam TU to keep your Penguin alive until you have 3. Then start calling Dragons. Keep calling more Penguins and Dragons while supporting them with TU. If your phone can handle, you can spam Rabbits, too. They speed up the kill considerably. Once your mana regen is high enough, you can call both Penguin and Dragon from the start. You need to spam much more TU to keep your Dragon alive with only 1 Penguin. ================= = Ghost Paladog = ================= Appears with tons of Green Shields. Your troops will NOT attack Ghost Paladog, they'll simply walk through it. You must rely on your Fist alone to kill this thing. Ghost Paladog's Fist will always hit 3 units = Early Game = Run half way into the map. Wait until the Shields gather then TU them to death. Run all the way back to the left and spam Fist. = Mid Game = Same thing. Except this time you want to spam your first 4-5 units as fast as you can to stall the Paladog long enough for you to kill it. Once you start spamming units, DO NOT STOP. Without enough units around, the boss's Fist will fly all the way to you. = Late Game = You need to run through the Ghost Paladog as there's no way you can kill it in 1 round. Give yourself enough room and follow the units you've spammed. Time the Ghost Paladog's attack carefully and run through it between attacks. You'll need a fairly high speed and some practice. ============== = Frog Witch = ============== Frog Witch doesn't change from the first wave. She appears with the same Blue puking zombie. = Early+Late Game = Deal with the mobs the same way you would do normal waves. Once you get close to the Witch, call some Turtle to keep the Witch in place while TU'ing the remaining mobs. Call more Penguins to shoot her outside of her mace reach. =================== = Soccer Skeleton = =================== Appears with huge mob of Red Giants and Skeleton Archers. = Early Game = Spam mouse and try to First your way through. = Late Game = Spam Penguins and Rabbits non stop. Stay behind your units and TU everything to death. Once the boss appears, let it kick your troops while you spam your Fist. Throw in some TU if the mobs start to reach your units. =============== = Nomnom Duck = =============== Appears with Frankenstains and ghosts. = Early Game = Not much involved. Spam mouse while you Fist or TU the mobs. When you reach the Duck, keep spamming even more mouse while you Fist it. = Late Game = Keep calling Penguins to help you with mobs. Once the Duck comes close, spam mouse together with your attackers (Kangaroo, Rhino, Dragons). Mouse will be in front keeping everyone else safe. ==================== = White Ghost x 7? = ==================== Appear with Bombs and Skeleton Lancers. White Ghosts appear in mass. I've never really counted, 7 was just a guess. = Early Game = Spam mouse while you Fist everything to death. As your food regen gets better, add more units into the mix. = Late Game = Spam every units you have. Throw in TU to quickly get rid of Bombs/Lancers. ================ = Poison Angel = ================ Appears with flying heads and Moai. = Early Game = Spam mouse while you Fist/TU the mobs. Call melee units to block the Angel's kiss and pummel it to death. Continue to shoot to get rid of all mobs behind the Angel. = Late Game = Call Penguins and Rabbit to deal with the mobs. Then spam all attacking units to strike the Angel. TU the monsters that come after the Angel. ============= = Dark Lord = ============= Seems to appear with only flying heads. = Early Game = Spam mouse and Fist. Once you get rid of all the flying heads, start sending Bear/Kangaroo non-stop while you Fist the boss from a safe distance. = Late Game = Call Penguins+Rabbits to deal with the mobs like normal wave. Then keep calling Kangaroo and Bear to keep the Dark Lord occupied while building up your Penguin armies. Your Paladog should stay behind the Penguins. =============================== = 3 Poison Angels & Dark Lord = =============================== There will be no other mobs in this wave. = Early Game = Keep sending Bear and Kangaroo while you Fist them. = Late Game = Keep sending Bear and Kangaroo while Penguins shoot from safe distance. Stay behind your Penguins to give them buff. As you gain more food regen, call Monkeys and Dragons too. Try to stay behind your Penguin as usually, but will be very helpful if your aura can reach the Dragons. At first, your Dragons and Monkeys are not completely safe from Dark Lord's reach. So keep in mind that they may die from time to time. Especially after the Angels are dead. ================ = White Dragon = ================ Appears with Ghost and Moai. I didn't keep track of my Agility ring level so I'm not sure what level you need to run through this boss without taking a hit. At least 40 I guess. = Early Game = Try to deal with the mobs before takling the boss. Early waves you can Fist your way through, call Penguins and Rabbit when they grow stronger. When the Dragon starts attacking your units, abandon them and retreat to the left. A few ghost will follow you faster than the Dragon, call more Penguin to deal with them and retreat again when the Dragon reaches you. Once the Dragon comes close to the left side, take a hit and run through it. After all the mobs are taken care of, spam Fist to kill the Dragon. = Late Game = Try to get rid of the mobs the same way as above. When there's only the Dragon left, let it go through you and follow it to the left edge. But before it disappears, spam all the units you've got and keep spamming non-stop. You need very high max food and food regen to do this. A Food mace will enables you to do this at a much lower level. ===================================== ===== 11. Summon Recharge Trick ===== ===================================== Something I discovered accidentally. Easier to demonstrate. First, make sure you have at least 100 food. Set the speed to 1x, call a Kangaroo. Then change the speed to 2x. Keep an eye on the Kangaroo Icon. It will turn from grey to color while the recharge graphic is still going on. Call it right away. Continue to look at the icon. After a short moment, it should become available again. Call it. And that's pretty much the trick. Really good to use to quickly summon Penguins and Dragons when you fight Zombie/Mummy Kings. =================== ===== 12. End ===== =================== Nothing much to say here. I hope some of you find this guide useful :) Thanks for reading! Again my email is : direwolf (at) gotfansite.com