Build lists

[holepercent]

The holepercent's guide to 4.0

UPDATE: my full guide is in the making in club element. once i have content for every section, the guide would be transferred over to the strategy forums. random and pick guides, this build list, build design and placement guides, replay HQ and other random extras. would take some or should i say a long time before i successfully complete the full guide...

For all interested:

The Element TD DRAFT!!

(mainly for inhouse 3-5 players of around equal skill)

the draft starts with the removal of the 5 duals and 7 triples from the pool

the pool consists of the 15 duals and 20 triples.

Each player removes from the pool a dual of his choice. 5 duals are removed. if less than 5 players, host picks the rest of the removals.

Each player votes 3 triples to be removed from the pool, 7 triples with most votes are removed from the pool

duals removed from the pool cannot be built, not even as intermediates to triples. triples removed from the pool cannot be build.

next, the elementals are drafted

Each player picks a element and a tier, like fire3. any tier, including higher tiers, can be picked. Other players can pick the lower tier if they also want that element at that tier. Or you could pick the lower tier at your next pick. see the example below.

If host desires, interest and pures must also be drafted, in which case, no more pures and interest will be added after the draft ends. If not, host can add interest and pures himself after the elements are picked.

each player has 2-3 picks. at the end, combine all the picks. the optimum is around 15 (12 elementals, 2 interest, 1 extra pure). all legal tiers are added into the pool. if only tier1 and 3 is picked, tier1 and 2 enters the pool. lowest tier available is added.. downgrade to lowest possible if lower tiers are not drafted.

example: 4players (12 picks total, 3 picks each)

draft order (player 1,2,3,4,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4) earth3, water1, fire2, nature1, nature 2, earth1, light2, water2, fire1, earth2, dark1, water3.

final elements in the pool: water1-3, earth1-3, fire1-2, nature1-2, dark1, light1.

Usually, 2 interests and a extra pure is added (host choice/drafted)

order is decided by the players in game but only those in the pool can be summoned.

the format provided some excitement and fun for all in trying to work around the restrictions of the towers and elements removed from the pool.

Build list for 4-element builds

DNEF

Duals: magic,disease,gunpowder,flame,blacksmith,mushroom

Triples: voodoo,flamethrower,roots,quaker

DNEL

Duals: disease,gunpowder,trickery,mushroom,life,quark

Triples: roots,oblivion,laser,enchantment

DWEF

Duals: poison,gunpowder,magic,hydro,kindle,blacksmith

Triples: muck,corrosion,flamethrower,zealot

DWEL

Duals: poison,gunpowder,trickery,hydro,ice,quark

Triples: muck,hail,laser,polar

DNEW

Duals: disease,gunpowder,poison,mushroom,well,hydro

Triples: roots,drowning,muck,flesh golem

LFNE

Duals: electricity,life,quark,flame,blacksmith,mushroom

Triples: nova,gold,enchantment,quaker

LFND

Duals: electricity,life,trickery,flame,magic,disease

Triples: nova,jinx,oblivion,voodoo

LWFE

Duals: ice,electricity,quark,kindle,hydro,blacksmith

Triples: windstorm,polar,gold,zealot

LWFD

Duals: ice,electricity,trickery,kindle,poison,magic

Triples: windstorm,hail,jinx,corrosion

LFNW

Duals: electricity,life,ice,flame,kindle,well

Triples: nova,windstorm,tidal,impulse

LDFE

Duals: trickery,electricity,quark,magic,gunpowder,blacksmith

Triples: jinx,laser,gold,flamethrower

LDWN

Duals: trickery,ice,life,poison,disease,well

Triples: hail,oblivion,tidal,drowning

LWNE

Duals: ice,life,quark,well,hydro,mushroom

Triples: tidal,polar,enchantment,flesh golem

DWFN

Duals: poison,magic,disease,kindle,well,flame

Triples: corrosion,drowning,voodoo,impulse

WFNE

Duals: kindle,well,hydro,flame,blacksmith,mushroom

Triples: impulse,zealot,flesh golem,quaker

Build list for 5-element builds

LDWFN:

Duals: trickery, ice, electricity, life, poison, magic, disease, kindle, well, flame,

Triples: hail, jinx, oblivion, windstorm, tidal, nova, corrosion, drowning, voodoo, impulse

LDWFE:

Duals: trickery, ice, electricity, quark, poison, magic, gunpowder, kindle, hydro, blacksmith

Triples: hail, jinx, laser, windstorm, polar, gold, corrosion, muck, flamethrower, zealot

LDWNE:

Duals: trickery, ice, life, quark, poison, disease, gunpowder, well, hydro, mushroom

Triples: hail, oblivion, laser, tidal, polar, enchantment, drowning, muck, roots, flesh golem

LDFNE:

Duals: trickery, electricity, life, quark, magic, disease, gunpowder, flame, blacksmith, mushroom

Triples: jinx, oblivion, laser, nova, gold, enchantment, voodoo, flamethrower, roots, quaker

LWFNE:

Duals: ice, electricity, life, quark, kindle, well, hydro, flame, blacksmith, mushroom

Triples: windstorm, tidal, polar, nova, gold, enchantment, impulse, zealot, flesh golem, quaker

DWFNE:

Duals: poison, magic, disease, gunpowder, kindle, well, hydro, flame, blacksmith, mushroom

Triples: corrosion, drowning, muck, voodoo, flamethrower, roots, impulse, zealot, flesh golem, quaker

Build list for 6-element builds

LDWFNE:

Duals: trickery, ice, electricity, life, quark, poison, magic, disease, gunpowder, kindle, well, hydro, flame, blacksmith, mushroom

Triples: hail, jinx, oblivion, laser, windstorm, tidal, polar, nova, gold, enchantment, corrosion, drowning, muck, voodoo, flamethrower, roots, impulse, zealot, flesh golem, quaker

[Guest inDe_eD]

This will be very helpful to refer to.

[Guest Antisun]

yep thanx!

[Guest Ubernuber]

So, here we go with my first entry for DENW. Maybe not the easiest combo, but it has 2 AoE slows (roots + muck). It's not perfect (far from it, actually), but I killed 8 Ronalds. And hey, I finished at all.

I noticed 4 element builds are fairly hard, compared to 5 or all element builds.

DENW 8 ronalds.w3g

[holepercent]

a replay just for fun.. i didn't expect to actually finish this game but it ended up that the waves came and i found myself facing ronalds... enjoy!

unfortunately played in short mode so i can't upload this for the great ronald hunt...

eletd_pbeta_074_pub_61_41ronald.w3g

[holepercent]

and here i go again. another 6-element game ending with periodics.

eletd_pbeta_099_pub_61_14ronalds.w3g

[Noddy]

holepercent , can add me in msn ? I din know u are singaporean too LOL

[email protected]

[holepercent]

Build design guide by holepercent

Contents

Introduction

The basics of element td (for newcomers)

Types of towers (damage and support)

Choosing the damage towers

Choosing the support towers

Combining the build

Tower placements and notes on individual towers

Useful links

Introduction

This would be my personal guide (as well as a collection of info typed up by other players) on nearly everything (well, i can't possibly cover everything, new things will be discovered by others) about the game, covering as much as possible the strategies to complete the game and how to maximise every tower. Some of the info is from my own playing experience, others are provided by cisz, jolin012 and the rest of the community.

Which do you want me to type up first? The pick or random guide? PM me your vote!

The basics

Most of the info is on the main site itself. but for convienence, i'll post some here.

light - 200% to darkness, 50% to earth

dark - 200% to water, 50% to light

water - 200% to fire, 50% to darkness

fire - 200% to nature, 50% to water

nature - 200% to earth, 50% to fire

earth - 200% to light, 50% to nature

fast - creeps move faster

undead- when killed, revives with 1/3 health

mechnical - becomes invulnerable when mana hits 12 for 1.5sec

healing - regains hp

Types of towers

There are basically 2 types of towers, damage towers and support towers.

The support towers are further divided into aoe slows (muck, roots, windstorm, nova), armor reducers (corrosion and enchantment), damage amplification (polar and voodoo), tower amplification (well and blacksmith) and trickery tower. These are the 3 super duals and 8 super triples.

Ice (single target slow, damage over time) and flame (single target slow, damage amplification) can be considered as support towers.

All other towers are considered damage towers.

However, this division is not entirely accurate. Some support towers can deal more damage than what is classified damage towers. Ice and flame are not always considered support towers. However, for conveience, the division will stay as it is. This is not something i can say why, it's been that way for a long time and commonly used by other players as well...

I'll start on the guide (whichever it is, pick or random) once the votes are in. Pick and random have different approaches, so the guide is slightly different

Useful links

vh replays by myself (played in vh rnd but it shows stuff like tower placement, choices and stuff)

Double no-leak by cisz and jolin012

VH ronald hunt

Cisz's replay pack

[DDRKirby(ISQ)]

IMHO ice/flame should be considered support ^^;

[holepercent]

Time to revive some old challenges (to be played in 4.0pb, vh pick single player, non-chaos, non-short, non-extreme, well i don't mind if you seriously want to do extreme) just for fun starting with this one:

The mirco/planning challenge: Survive until level 40 using only cannons and arrows. Elemental cannons, elemental arrows and interest are included. (some of you might find this familiar. i ran this challenge for 3.0)

[holepercent]

as good as it gets. all 6 elements from the start. enjoy!

eletd_pbeta_132_pub_61_41ronald.w3g

[holepercent]

Random Guide Part I : The replay analysis (early game)

wave 1-15 can be handled with the standard arrow openings. Hence, i'll start from wave 16.. anyway the games were played in short mode...

my usual opening for wave 16 is 4 amplified elemental towers. guidelines for picking the element: first choice is always 200% damage. otherwise, earth or fire unless 50% damage. Failing which, i usually use light or darkness at V. if none of the above, usually i'll pick nature over water unless undead wave in which case water over nature. Duals considered over building 4 amplified elemental towers are electricity, gunpowder unless 50% damage.

#74

Opening elements: FDW

Towers available: magic, kindle, poison, corrosion

Wave 16: darkness, healing

Opening defense: kindle, 2 amplified darkness

Wave 17: water

same as opening defense

Wave 18: earth

Defense: Kindle, 2 amplified fire, 1 amplified water

Wave 19: nature

Defense: as above + amplified darkness

Wave 20: earth

Defense: 2 kindle, 2 amplified fire, water upgraded to amplified water in midwave

Analysis: basic defense with mainly elemental towers and kindle. amplified dark and amplified water in wave 19 should have been amplified fire to take advantage of the 200% damage.

Elemental: water2

The defense starts with 2 kindle and 3 amplified water. The 3 amplifiled water are sold and replaced with 3 amplified darkness and one darkness tower which is sold later. Elemental is not killed before the wave starts

Wave 21: non-elemental, undead

Here is where the first major leaks occur. After the leaks, 1 kindle is sold and the other kindle upgraded to corrosion. Amplified water and water is added. Here, i also focused fire too much on the elemental when i should be more concerned with the wave. When in doubt, clear the wave before the elemental. It is better to leak the elemental than leak 10 creeps of the ave. Here is also where upgrading to corrosion should be done before the wave started i feel.

Wave 22: water, healing

the water is upgraded to amplified water

wave 23: darkness, fast

All water towers are sold and replaced with 3 amplified darkness.

wave 24: water, undead

Amplified darkness is added. One of the amplified darkness and sold and magic tower is added, along with a basic darkness tower.

wave 25: earth

2 Amplified darkness are sold, replaced with 2 amplified fire.

Analysis: Wave 21 could be improved. Armour reduction can be strong even in the early game. Corrosion can in some cases be a solo tower although it is more of a supporter after some damage is in play. 200% damage should always be the towers of choice.

Elemental: Earth

This is basically a simple catch with no difficulty.

Wave 26: Earth, fast

Defense: Corrosion, amplified, magic, 2 amplified fire, amplified water.

Amplified and magic tower is sold.

wave 27: fire

Sells everything, build and upgrades up to muck, corrosion and amplified water.

wave 28: light

Amplified water is replaced with 2 amplified earth. Kindle is added.

wave 29: nature

Amplified earth is sold. 2 amplified fire and 3 basic darkness towers are added.

wave 30: water, healing

amplified fire is sold. Basic darkness is upgraded to amplified darkness.

Analysis: AoE slows should almost always be build once they are available. Where possible, prepare for the next wave. Build the basic towers for the next wave in their positions, once the current wave is over, upgrade. Kindle isn't really the tower after wave 25 as the damage is insignificant compared to the hp of the creeps.

[holepercent]

#99

Opening elements: EWF

Wave 16: fire, mechnical

4 amplified water

wave 17: darkness

5 amplified earth

wave 18: light

4 amplified earth

1 hydro tower

wave 19: light healing

4 amplified earth

1 hydro tower

wave 20: non-elemental

4 amplified earth

1 hydro tower

4 basic water towers added midwave

Elemental: nature

The earth towers were sold and basic water towers upgraded to amplified.

wave 21: fire undead

5 amplified water

1 hydro

midwave: 1 amplified water upgraded to hydro

wave 22: water healing

4 amplified water

2 hydro towers

wave 23: earth mechnical

1 hydro tower

1 quaker

wave 24: darkness

1 hydro tower

1 quaker

midwave: 1 flame tower added

wave 25: water

1 hydro

1 quaker

1 flame

elemental: light

wave 26: light undead

1 hydro

1 quaker

1 flame

midwave: amplified light added

wave 27: water

1 quaker

1 nova

midwave: 1 electricity tower added

wave 28: earth, wave 29: non-elemental

1 quaker

1 nova

1 electricity tower

wave 30: water

1 quaker

1 nova

1 electricity

midwave: electricity upgraded to windstorm

Overall analysis: this is essentially a simple game. 200% for amplified towers. AoE slows (nova, windstorm), AoE damage (quaker), multi-target (electricity) for the defense. No tier2 elementals were summoned so the elemental catches are straightforward.

[Cheng]

nice early game guide HOLY!

keep it up !

[holepercent]

one experimental game.. opening electricity rush at VII. then a move down to IV before moving up to IV VII, before moving the defense further up until i ended up playing at / VIII VII. made some key mistakes/underbuilding that led to mass leaks on some levels. 6-element build as usual. the ronald hunt kill zone didn't work out so only 40 ronalds killed.

eletd_pbeta_163_pub_61_40ronalds.w3g