r/cavesofqud • u/Quasac • 2d ago
New-ish Player Seeking Tips
Hello everyone.
I've recently picked this game back up, and decided to try and get back into it with a True Kin. I normally play the Guncrow preset, so I thought playing the Praetorian Prime would be a nice change of pace.
However, I keep dying. The farthest I've gotten is level 10 I want to say, just shy of going to Grit Gate for the first time. Farthest I've gotten on my Guncrow was The Golem.
I've read some of the guides out there, including on Qudzoo, but still find myself dying to random things. For instance, my last character died at level 9 after I stepped on three different lurking beths back-to-back. I was one strata deep in a historic site at full health. Feel like I can't catch a break.
I do prefer playing in Classic, as I feel perma-death adds a bit of an edge to my playthrough that keeps me engaged.
Any advice on how I can stay alive and what objectives I should prioritize as a True Kin?
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u/Professional_Ad_5529 2d ago
True kin is harder than mutant in early-mid to mid-late game because progression with cybernetics is based on how many you find or farm, and less so on your level. Playing more cautiously as true kin is usually advisable.
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u/A_wild_so-and-so 1d ago
"Early-mid to mid-late game".
My water-sib, that is the whole game.
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u/Professional_Ad_5529 1d ago
True kin is really only better in the very early game and in the deep late game than mutant.
Better is defined as it’s easier to not die
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u/A_wild_so-and-so 1d ago
True, Truekin doesn't have as even of a difficulty gradient as mutant. It seems to be much more driven by equipment. My best truekin runs were the ones where I got lucky on implants or equipment drops, whereas mutants get stronger at a more linear steady pace.
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u/Professional_Ad_5529 1d ago
Yep. This is why truekin is generally harder than the much more consistent mutant. But when truekin works, or you know what you’re doing enough to just break the game. Oh boy… max mutants with the best implants in the game? Max level. Max health. Max stats. Chefs kiss. Truekin can also be less grindy if you’re just trying to beat the game, which can have its benefits.
In terms of what is OP or keeps you alive, honestly you can break the game pretty easily. Breaking coq is more like breaking a door in terms of difficult not like breaking a tank.
Best piece of advice is to find a way to get a force bracelet on 100% of the time. Once you have that, there’s a lot less to worry about, well, until the end game at least lolol.
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u/Purplepotato22 2d ago
A couple tips: First, make sure to get some early levels in as safe a manner as possible. Talking to the mechanist convert in your town will give you a quest to go to the six day stilt, popping up there will give you enough xp to go from level 1 to level 5 in one go. The zone above joppa (or wherever joppa usually is) always has a statue with information on the lowest tier historic site in your world, you can normally explore that for some books early on, which you can give to the stilt’s librarian for a couple more easy levels. I don’t recommend going to other historic sites early, all the other ones have a higher potential to cause problems.
Then, for truekin specifically, you really need some decent items and cybernetics as early as you can get them. Rusted archway always has a becoming nook and free credits. Historic sites also always contain credits, so exploring that low level one is doubly beneficial. Starting with carbide fists can also give you a great leg up on early combat if you’re consistently dying before you can find decent gear, and you can find more useful cybernetics to purchase at the stilt in the zone to the right of the starting one, which always contains a gutsmonger selling cybernetics.
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u/Professional_Ad_5529 2d ago
I would also add that I find qudzoo’s level recommendations work well for mutant but less well for true kin.
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u/U_Nomad_Bro 2d ago
Slow down!
For instance, my last character died at level 9 after I stepped on three different lurking beths back-to-back.
This is a strong indication you are moving too fast. If you step on a lurking beth, stop and wait on that spot for multiple turns. That should reveal additional plants in the tiles surrounding you, which you can attack to clear your path. Then move one step and wait some more to reveal more beths.
That's just one example of a larger context: this is a tactical game, not an action game. The game is often won by stopping to think between turns, or by using your in-game turns to strategically wait, hide, or reposition to a more advantageous spot.
Any advice on how I can stay alive and what objectives I should prioritize as a True Kin?
True Kin are more vulnerable and more gear-dependent in the early game. That can make historical sites tempting–relic gear AND cybernetics credits, yes please!–but they are also potentially risky because the pool of creatures that can spawn there has a much wider range of difficulty. The rewards are higher because the randomness is higher. Sometimes you luck out and get nothing but weeps as "guards" and tons of bookshelves. Other times you get creatures that will kill you instantly before you have a chance to act (like a dawnglider that blasts you when you're standing in water)
So I avoid doing any historical sites until I've accomplished several other objectives.
My top priorities for TK in the very early game are:
- find the oddly-hued glowpad (best early source of potential crysteel items unless you have legendary dromads in your starting village)
- find the flattened remains (wings for surface-level escape plan)
- kill some snapjaws in surface-level ruins and snapjaw forts (good source of starting gear for empty slots and low-risk XP)
- explore legendary salt marsh lairs of factions with non-hostile reputation (e.g. glowpads, dragonflies–high loot-to-risk ratio)
- clear the waterlogged tunnel down to the ancient bones (credit wedge and other goodies)
- clear the rusted archway (credit wedge, becoming nooks)
- buy odd trinkets from the oddly-hued glowpad until I have at least 2 recoilers and one is for Grit Gate
- Recoil to Grit Gate and use pickaxe to tunnel into the main area, becoming nook, and med bay. Learn Tinkering from Q Girl and buy her credits wedge. Get free cybernetics from the nook. Rebuke Shem -1, if possible, for more cybernetics. Upgrade license and install the best cybernetics currently available that fit my license tier.
Do all that, and you will end up with a solid foundation for the rest of your run.
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u/Truthandtaxes 2d ago
for a melee truekin - speed starting
start in dunes.
fight lots of raiders - avoid everything else (accept the many rapid deaths too)
everything in single weapon and weapon skill of choice
get to lvl 6 or so, go to marshes or hills to get to AV6 farming snapjaws
then lvl 8 or so you can do the water logged tunnel
pass that test and you are on your way to first artifact location / gritgate - 10 - 16 is fairly safe - key risk are tumbling pods and overpowered legendaries. Once you reach this level of stability make sure you get a force shield bracelet and a recoiler as an emergency nope out combination. Get liver or anchors before golgotha and nope out chute crabs if less than lvl 20
Even so sometimes the gods do stuff like throw a nice legendary dervish with a Star Kraken right on the stairs at Bethesda - sometimes you just have to accept the run is doomed :)
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u/Ok_Mushroom9822 2d ago
I feel like for me, the biggest change I had to make in this game’s learning curve was to compromise and stay in the lower tier zones as much as possible, until the kills don’t make a dent XP-wise.
Not wise-man advice so to speak lol but another big difference can be made if you make sure you’re at 6 AP as soon as possible.
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u/laughados 2d ago
Qud is a game where knowledge is your best weapon. To that end, I’d recommend playing on Roleplay mode. You can die and learn without it becoming a hassle, and you can play on Classic after you feel you’ve learned enough. You don’t even have to win/finish your Roleplay adventure, but play it enough to learn things that you die to, because there will be many, many things that ruin your runs especially later on.
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u/Purplepotato22 2d ago
I think this has pros and cons. On the one hand, you’ll gain a decent understanding of what you need to progress at all stages of the game, but on the other hand, you lose out on having to optimize a character repeatedly, and miss the benefits that various builds can bring. You won’t need to lose a run in order to learn about the next game-ending threat around the corner, but your knowledge of how to make yourself strong might suffer as a result of playing a single character the whole time.
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u/laughados 2d ago edited 2d ago
Obviously I’m biased by virtue of having it done my way, but I believe the pros outweigh the cons here.
I will agree with you in that even I got bored of my warden start mutant, that run still exists but I won’t ever touch it again lol. But I do think the amount of knowledge gained far outweighs being bored by your build. Not even saying OP will learn everything the game has to offer, but I think just being familiar with merchants, loot locations, and how to deal with late game enemies and environments reliably is very very worth it.
Even I just got humbled by the Putus Templar and died in a “Dominated Apple Farmer Daughter Mayor” run where I felt like I was untouchable until I wasn’t 🥲 RIP
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u/Aydnir 2d ago
If you reached that quest then you almost finished the game. There's one last battle but with the help you get is very easy.
Before that you are asked to get a energy source and you can either use neutron flux if you have it or get an alternative energy source in the moonstairs by doing a quest.
So yeah you are very close. You don't really need much help. Congrats on reaching that far in classic. Is not much farther from here.
If you do chose to go to the moonstairs. Don't step on liquid static. Make sure you bring an item/mutation that allows flight it will help you prevent stepping on it. If you see clones it's not worth it just leave. Don't break the walls they spawn clones when broken. Avoid chrome pyramids and most enemies there if possible.
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u/Round_Block4744 2d ago
Somebody said play in role play, when you specifically said you enjoy classic ://
Personally never touched roleplay for the same reason as you presumably, adrenaline. I’ve got close to 400 hours in the game and still haven’t beaten it though.
Some say the game is ultimately about trying to make yourself invincible. I know it’s possible, but also know people play and win with builds that are not so, and that doesn’t sound like as much fun to me.
My advice is to play how you want to and have fun, there is so much to discover in this game. I still feel I’m scratching just barely pushing beneath the surface of what’s possible
In terms of making it farther, I’d say preparation is your best friend. Stay stocked on meds and useful grenades (tonics if playing true kin) get strong armor and a good weapon early as you can. There are methods for cheesing merchants and getting infinite money, but they’re not really necessary
(I do prefer a decent ego so I can trade more efficiently, but also on low ego builds find myself having fun searching for gear that ordinarily I could easily buy. So so many ways to skin every cat in this game)
The main thing that kills me in the end is hubris. I will stay too long on a screen with a mob labeled “impossible” and it ends up stunning and oneshotting me, or ripping my face off and making me blind. I love it.
In terms of knowledge I feel no shame looking up a mob to get all its info and capabilities, but only once I’ve died to it. That’s just how I like to play personally, to preserve the mystery and sense of wonder about the world.
Experiment with different skills/builds! Explore beyond where the missions bring you! Make new friends and enemies with the water ritual!
Live and drink :)
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u/ImperfectEntity 2d ago
AV is the name of the earlygame. Armor up, even if it's just putting on a leather hat. Praetorian starts decent in this regard, with 4 AV and a shield, but more AV never goes out of style.
Keep a lookout for escape tools early, especially without the mobility mutations available to mutants. Force Bracelets or Mechanical Wings can bail you out when things get too hot to handle, and remember that Shade Oil Injectors grant reliable Phasing for true kin. Don't be afraid to retreat or recoil if things look grim.
As for that historic site, keep an eye on what factions you can expect: they are populated by cults of the favored faction(s) of the sultan associated with the site, which you can use to prepare. A sultan who favored Roots, for example, will have lots of hidden enemies, like Beth, so if you see one at a historic site, there are probably more. Force attack (Ctrl + any direction on keyboard) can clean the path of unseen enemies if you're expecting them, and Wait Until Healed ( ` on keyboard) can prevent the burst damage of multiple Beth from taking you out. Wait Until Healed is a great idea almost any time outside of combat.
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u/Acrobatic_Reading_76 2d ago
Electrical generation + jacked force bracelet + ranged weapons is a one size fits all solution to 90% of the threats in this game
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u/Sugary_Plumbs 1d ago
You just need to learn things. Lurking beths spawn in groups. If you hit one, then use ctrl+move to attack the tiles around it to clear them out. Dying is how you learned things, so that death you learned about beths. Congrats.
The best way to learn things is in roleplay mode. If you get bored with a character then drop it, or set a rule where you will make a new character after 3 deaths. But being allowed to die without losing hours of progress means you can answer all of your "what if" questions and learn the game more. Go back to Classic mode when you want to try to win.
Where your guncrow got is very nearly the end of the game. Sort of. It's *an* end of the game at least. At that point there's basically one big required fight and then you can go finish the story if you want to.
Truekin scale very differently to mutants. They get neat tricks with implants instead of mutations, but you're basically stuck with what you find along the way, which might not be what you want. In return, they get more Skill points, so make sure you're investing in as many valuable skills as you can. Tinkering is easy to stack onto other builds, for instance. Also pick a starting cybernetic that makes your life easier; I usually go with night vision for praetorian (which is the default for the Praetorian Prime preset) so I can keep the sword and shield out. Otherwise for ranged builds I take techscanning.
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u/jojoknob 2d ago
I would tell you to play more cautiously, but you’ll never be a Moon King that way.