Orcs Must Die! Unchained – FAQ/Walkthrough

General FAQ

This is a brief FAQ section of a couple of things I managed to think of that other people may be curious about.

I originally wrote these questions specifically with the platinum trophy in mind, as trophy hunters are probably more curious about what it is like earning the platinum.

Do I need to pay to enjoy this game (or earn the platinum)?

The short is answer is no but it does need some explanation:

As with most free-to-play games (that I've played at least), a lot of the draw to spend money is to speed up the process of completing the game. However, in OMD!U, I would argue that the developers wanted the player to spend money to unlock characters rather than give a particular edge to the player.

So how does buying a new character speed up the process? Well, the most sought after currency are Skulls, which can be used to buy almost everything important (and to upgrade the traps, which is necessary to advance in difficulty). Happily, characters can be unlocked with Skulls as well which is great news, but they do cost a significant amount.

Every time you finish a map with a new character, you awarded a "chest" which contains Skulls (the amount varies depending on the difficulty). So what is possible to do, is utilize your Skulls to buy new characters, which will then facilitate earning even more Skulls (from completing the maps again with that new character) and just repeat the cycle until you have every character unlocked.

Here's some basic math:

Everyone starts out with 3 characters to play (Max, Blackpaw, and Gabriella), and start out only with Apprentice difficulty unlocked. In Apprentice, each "New Hero Victory Chest" will award you with 50 skulls. Currently, there are a total of 9 maps in Apprentice.

3 Heroes x 9 maps = 27 chests

27 chests x 50 Skulls per chest = 1350 Skulls total

This does not seem like much, but keep in mind that this is only on Apprentice, and the Skulls awarded in the New Hero Victory Chests will increase by 50 per difficulty (War Mage awards 100, Master 150, and Rift Lord 200). Also keep in mind there are also New Hero Victory Chests for completing Endless maps, and the Weekly Challenges as well.

There are also other ways to earn Skulls:

• There is a single daily quest that rewards 500 Skulls (this generally consists of using a specific skill for a character, which is usually easy to complete).
• Skulls can be awarded from the Daily Login Bonus.
• Skulls are awarded at the completion of every match in every mode, even for a loss (only if you officially "lose", you can't abort the game and earn Skulls).
• Skulls are awarded for Stars on each map, but can only be earned once for that specific map. Stars are awarded depending on how well you do (you will be awarded 5 if you manage to complete the map within the Par Time and lose no Rift Points).
• 200 Skulls are awarded for each Account Level earned - you will start out at Account Level 1, and the maximum Account Level is 100.
• Each new "tier" completed in a Chaos Trial awards an increasing amount of Skulls, depending on difficulty.
• Once you upgrade a trap to Tier 7, it can still be a potential reward in chests, but it will convert to a different type of a currency called "Gibs". Gibs are used to buy thing in the Premium Shoppe section of the Store. In the Premium Shoppe, it is possible to buy a Trap Chest and/or a Part Chest, each of which contain 1000 Skulls.
• If there is a Community Event going on, it's possible one of the chests for completing the goal will contain Skulls (they have given out up to 2500 Skulls for meeting a single goal).

Ultimately, it all adds up over time. So the question is - How fast do you want to unlock characters, which will ultimately provide you with the Skull acquisition to afford everything else?

Actually, if you're seriously interested in earning the platinum, that may have already answered it for you - you are in for a very long grind if you want to earn the platinum.

How long does it take to earn the platinum?

Roughly 250 hours at a minimum. However, expect to realistically spend 300-500 hours to earn the platinum.

There is a single trophy, Empty Pockets, which expects you to spend 200,000,000 Coin. The "Coin" it is referring to is the Coin generated during any match, which is spent to place traps. Unfortunately, the average amount of Coin you'll spend on maps can range anywhere from 30,000 to maybe 150,000. This can be increased further with specific Traits, Consumables, Traps, and using the character Dobbin, but unfortunately it's not very practical while going through Survival for the first time (as the harder maps can be difficult if you go in with a loadout that isn't optimal).

So, just to get a rough basic idea:

Hypothetically speaking, let's say the best Survival map allows you to generate 200,000 Coin to spend within 20 minutes. 200,000 is 1/10 of 2 million (which is 1% of the trophy progress). That means that 1% of the trophy progress will be earned every 3 hours and 20 minutes. For 100%, that is over 300 hours of playtime, playing a single map.

In practice, it doesn't work out that way though, as the only time I ever saw 200,000 Coin on a single Survival map was when I was using a specific consumable (Luck Potions). However, since Coin is earned in any match, this means that you can earn progress towards this trophy while working on everything else that is needed for the platinum. This means, that the reality is you won't ever have to play a single map for 300 hours, but you won't be anywhere near being done with Empty Pockets when every other trophy is finished.

I did find a method where I could earn 500,000 for a 35-40 minute match. This translates to at least 1 million Coin for a little over an hour of playtime. Since 1 million is 0.5% of the progress towards the trophy, that means you'll probably see about 1% progress for about 2.5 hours. This is why I pointed out the 250 hour minimum completion time. Realistically, this doesn't really work though, as to earn that much Coin per match you need to optimize things (having the best traps, maximum Account Level, etc.), which will take 50-100 hours of playing normally to get to that point.

Are the characters worth playing?

I would say yes, most are, as I believe they are probably the best aspect of this game.

Everything else felt incredibly average; the maps, the minions, the traps, didn't feel like they were bad, but they didn't really stand out either. It felt that they were just typical average game components that I've seen in so many other games.

The characters on the other hand, really grabbed my interest. I do think that for the most part, they've done a great job in balancing most characters, as there are only a few that really stand out, and only a few that don't do that well in comparison to others. The majority of the characters hit a decent blend - they do some things well, and other things not so well.

At the same time, because most of them don't outperform the others, the player can begin to notice how the characters are different. Although a lot of character abilities may be things you have seen before (i.e. stealth mechanics, a turret, pet damage), the developers managed to present it in a unique enough way (for me at least) to make them feel different.

What's the difference between "Battle Level" and "Account Level"?

"Battle Level" is level that your Hero is at during the match you are currently in. Every Hero starts the match at Battle Level 1, and the maximum Battle Level is 20. Levels work as they normally do in games with RPG mechanics - every minion you kill, whether it is by a trap or by your Hero, grants experience. After enough experience is earned (indicated by the yellow bar near your Hero's portrait in the corner of the screen), you are granted a level.

Increases in your Battle Level increases your Hero's damage in all regards, from their Primary, to their abilities, to their Gear (if it deals damage). It also increase your Hero's HP.

Battle Levels are lost upon the match finishing, whether you win or lose, they do not carry over under any circumstances. The only way to increase your Battle Level upon the start of the match, is with an appropriate Trait, or using a consumable bought in the Store.

"Account Level" is exactly that - The level of your Account. Account experience is earned by completing matches, but you don't need to win in order to earn experience. In fact, you can even quit the match and still earn experience (even though it'll be an extremely low amount).

• From my own observations, Account experience seems to be tied to how many minions are killed during the match. There could be another factor involved, such as a multiplier if the game is won, and a lower multiplier when the game is lost.

When you start the game, your Account Level is at 1. The maximum Account Level is 100 (currently, I'm not sure if the developers will ever increase it). Unlike Battle Levels, your Account Level will never decrease. You will also be rewarded with 200 Skulls every time you gain an Account Level.

Your Account Level affects how much damage your Hero deals, as well as how much base HP they have. This increased damage stacks with the increased damage gained from Battle Levels during matches.

• I've read on the official Orcs Must Die! forums that the difference in damage and HP between Account Level 1 and Account Level 100 is about a 4x damage increase, and (I think) a 2x HP increase.

Who are the best Heroes?

Everyone will have different opinions about which Heroes are the best. I will list who my favorites are, as well as my least favorite.

I will mention that Maximilian is one of my favorite Heroes. However, since he's a starter Hero, that doesn't really help anyone looking to buy a new Hero from the Store. If you wish to know more about why I selected these Heroes, or just need a general review of a Hero, refer to the Hero section of this guide.

My favorite Heroes, in order:

1. Midnight (with the Enjoys Pain Trait)
2. Yi-Lin
3. Deadeye

Honorable mentions (in no particular order):

• Temper
• Cygnus
• Zoey
• Oziel

My least favorite Heroes, in order:

1. Bionka
2. Hogarth/Smolder (tied for second place)
3. Brass

Realize that this list does not necessarily indicate their performance, but rather my opinion about these Heroes. In the current patch, I truly only severely dislike Bionka. Hogarth, Smolder, and Brass, are still playable, I just feel that their design has odd things to it, and they don't really make a lot of sense when put together, which affects their performance.

What are the best Traps?

This is more of a difficult question to answer, due to the random nature of receiving traps. It's difficult to say something like "Haymakers are the best trap" because I realize that it can be rare to find in chests, due to its "Epic" rarity.

Therefore, I personally find the better traps are the ones that are easier to find, thus, it's easier to get them upgraded to higher tiers.

Also keep in mind you may understand how to utilize a trap better than I do. So I think it might be better to tell you what traps I regularly use, rather than tell you what I think is best. Different traps can also be utilized in different situations, so sometimes it also depends on the map.

For the majority of the videos found in this guide, I use:

• Arrow Wall
• Tar
• Barricade/Great Wall Barricade
  • Great Wall can be found in Master, but it doesn't necessarily replace Barricade when you get it. Since Great Wall is literally 2 Barricades placed side by side, it can help with Trap Limits and save you Coin. However, it is still sometimes better to bring in a regular Barricade, depending on the map (sometimes you can place them more creatively than a Great Wall). Sometimes, it's actually ideal to bring both Barricade and Great Wall Barricade into the same map.
• Brimstone
• Floor Scorcher (found in War Mage)
• Grinder (found in War Mage)
• Swinging Mace/Ceiling Ballista
  • Ceiling Ballistas are found in Rift Lord, and I do find them helpful, but they can be difficult to place unless you know you can generate a lot of Coin. I do end up using Swinging Maces for the majority of Rift Lord regardless.

There are still a few maps where I use different things. This is a list of secondary traps that you will see me use in some of my videos:

• Floor Spikes
• Push Trap
• Haymakers
• Viscous Tar
• Dragon's Lance
• Big Game Hunting Ballista

In that list, Floor Spikes is the only one that I get to tier 6, and Viscous Tar I get to tier 5 (for a single map on Rift Lord), but the rest I get to a maximum of tier 2, if you want to try to upgrade with minimal Skull usage. However, remember that upgrading things higher than what I have will make things easier for you, if you're interested in getting 5 Stars on each map.

What are the best Traits?

Again, kind of a difficult question to answer, as getting a Trait you want may take a significantly long time due to the randomness of receiving them in chests.

Generally speaking, I would say that the lifesteal Traits (Enjoys Pain for physical damage, Practices Witchcraft for magical damage) are probably the biggest staple in my normal loadouts. Of course, you won't see me use these in my videos (with the exception of 1 map), but they are normally what I use when I'm not trying to record minimalist runs.

Anything that increases damage is obviously helpful. I would argue that the Traits that can be considered "automatic" (as in, they're not quite as conditional), are probably ideal:

• Feeling Fierce is one of the best damage Traits, particularly when paired with either a ranged character, or any character with one of the lifesteal Traits. Although it does have the condition of having to be "above 50% HP", this is usually fairly manageable for any ranged character, or if you're melee, having the Enjoys Pain Trait.
• Has Ultimate Set of Tools is also one of the better ones, as it is a flat increase to trap damage, with no conditions. Although 6% doesn't seem like much, it does add up when you have multiple traps in a single area. Since you cannot be at each individual gate dealing damage to clear the wave, having any extra damage on your traps means that it will have a better chance clearing the wave (without any minions getting through), and/or clearing the wave sooner, to help with Par Times.
• Killer Buzz isn't too bad, but it's more conditional. Since it activates on a kill, this is mostly fairly easy to manage. However, if you get a wave of large minions, it becomes less helpful, because it will take longer to get a single kill, therefore it won't be activated nearly as much. It does not activate when a trap gets a kill, so keep that in mind.
• Bear Hugs is more suited for melee characters, but some ranged characters can also benefit from it. Mid-range characters like Max and Gabriella can benefit from this as well (as you don't need to be within melee range to activate it), but chances are they won't benefit from it all of the time.
• Any of the "cost-reduction" Traits (Smashing Deals, Fire Sale, etc.) are very beneficial. This depends on the type of traps you regularly use of course, and you may need to readjust if you decide to use different traps.
  • Smashing Deals does not reduce the cost of Barricades. None of these Traits reduce Barricade cost, if you're curious.
• Wall Building PhD is extremely helpful, particularly on a few Rift Lord maps and Endless. The Trait does seem to be fairly hard to find though, so chances are you won't receive it for quite some time.

In my opinion, every other Trait is more situational. Traits are almost entirely optional (I only use a single one regularly in Rift Lord, which is Sister Eaten By An Ogre), and having a higher Account Level, with higher tier traps with Parts, can compensate for any missed damage that come from Traits.

For the specific +damage Traits (Sister Eaten By An Ogre, Cat Eaten By Gnoll, etc.), it helps to know how frequent that minion will be during the map. Obviously it is kind of useless to bring in that specific Trait, if only 1 or 2 of that minion is ever going to show up. Although, they do still give a slot bonus, so if you don't have anything else to use, you might as well put it in your loadout.

Some Traits are better utilized with different characters. For example, I would argue that Ivy gets more out of Overachiever (which lets you start the map at level 2) than most other characters. Since Ivy has such low damage, starting her at level 2 will boost her damage slightly, but you'll also have the chance to select her first upgrade (Precision) to get her Primary attack 15% more damage, helping her further.

What are the best Parts?

Ideally you'll want to use whatever you have, and most Parts are fairly easy to understand. The "Trigger" Parts are a bit of a double-edged sword though, because having them activate within certain conditions (i.e. "only light minions") can potentially help with some waves, but be detrimental during other waves.

Here's a list of the things I regularly use:

• Fire Resonators - I use Fire traps a lot, so this is the most ideal Resonator for my loadout.
• Heat Activated Trigger - Again, because of my Fire traps, this is probably the best trigger. It is probably one of the more rare ones though.
• Combo Generator - They added extra damage to the majority of the Triggers in a recent patch, including the Combo Generator. However, all of the other Triggers have an activation condition, which can be a problem. The Combo Generator on the other hand, does not, and so it will give your trap the extra 10% damage without you having to worry about the trap activating with certain conditions.
• XP Siphon - I think this is the best Siphon for Survival, because more experience means more battle levels during a match, which means higher damage output. Do realize that the battle level cap is 20 though, so you may want to think twice about bringing it into Endless. As soon as you hit battle level 20, you will see no use in this Part, so it may be better to bring Mana Siphon or Bounty Generators instead.
• Subsidized Parts/Stamped Parts - This is more dependent on which of these you have, but I think overall Subsidized Parts is a better choice, unless you have Stamped Parts on Barricade/Great Wall and know you're going to be using a lot of them. Having the extra Coin provided by Subsidized Parts can really make a big difference.

What is the best Gear to use?

Once more, this is dependent on what you have and what characters you use.

However, I would argue that Fire Wall Bracers is probably the best, as it acts like a constant fire trap, which makes it fantastic for runners like Kobolds. Its Mana usage isn't too high (I think it consumes around 15 Mana), and the best thing about it is that its cooldown Coincides with how long it lasts. This means when you use it, by the time it fades, you can use it immediately again (providing you have the Mana).

Ring of Storms is similar to Fire Wall Bracers, but I don't think it's quite as good. Instead of putting down a line of fire, which damages anything that crosses it, Ring of Storms puts a thundercloud in the area, and it will zap things periodically as it passes by. Unfortunately it does not last nearly as long as Fire Wall Bracers, but it is an alternative if you don't have the Fire Wall Bracers yet.

Mending Root is what you start off with, and it can suit your healing needs throughout the entire game.

Mage's Clover is the mana equivalent of Mending Root, and works just as well.

Mage's Picnic is more oriented to co-op play, because it restores mana in a radius, but it actually restores less mana overall (for a single character) than Mage's Clover.

What is the highest Account Level I need to level to, in order to earn 5 Stars?

For Survival - The recommended level range of the very last Survival map (Eventide Fortress) is 66-75. In my video, I was able to complete this map with 5 Stars at Account Level 72.

Completing the last Survival map at 72 is slightly unrealistic though, as I am really familiar with the map, which counts for a great deal. I think I was around Account Level 80 when I got 5 Stars on all the maps the first time, so I can say with confidence you don't need to be Account Level 100 to 5 Star all the Survival maps.

Endless...is a different story. I actually have not earned 5 Stars on all of the Endless maps, despite how I have tried at Account Level 100. Part of this is due to the fact that the PS4's current patch sets Endless matches to a limit of 40 minutes.

As a result, it's difficult to determine if the strategies I use for the harder maps (such as Highlands and Avalanche) actually work up until 26. I've managed to get to about wave 20 in Highlands before my time was up, and I think wave 16 in Avalanche.

It is important to point out, that Endless is almost entirely optional. The "5 Star all maps" trophy, as well as the Star-related in-game Achievements, are all based off of Survival.

What is Matchmaking like?

I personally don't like it.

Since the game has a strategy element to it, it doesn't really work when playing with randoms. It's not to say that you won't find any decent groups, but you can see that with any given group you may run into people just "doing their own thing" which may not be helpful in terms of trying to complete the map.

Further, there are different strategies people utilize, and just because a strategy is different from what you may be used to, that doesn't mean it won't work. There have been a number of times where I've had others spam the communication function saying "Sell traps here!" over and over and over because they can't comprehend of a different strategy working.

For this same reason, it is also understandable, because sometimes people just do stupid things. In Sabotage, I had one individual put down a Coin Forge (which takes up a huge amount of space) back to back on a single lane, on the first gate that was opening. Since it was in an area where very little ceiling and wall traps could be placed, it basically meant we had no damage output whatsoever near the gate. Sadly, this individual didn't even use the trap (they didn't bother to ever kill anything on it), and never removed it. We lost the match fairly quickly.

Ultimately, in my opinion, matchmaking in a strategy game does not work. Matchmaking in any game never has the greatest amount of cohesion or communication, which are two things that are really necessary to develop a successful strategy.

However, this doesn't mean that you won't find it enjoyable. The only real way to find out what Matchmaking is really like, is to jump in and find out.

Closing Remarks

That should give you an idea about the basic foundation of the game. For the platinum, it is an extremely long grind, one that is also incredibly repetitive.

On a positive note, if you do decide to commit to the platinum, this more-or-less allows you to unlock all of the characters (which are probably the best part of the game) without spending any money. However, if this is what you intend, I would recommend taking your time with this platinum, as you may run out of things to do while first starting out.

I will point out that if you do wish to spend money on this game, I would keep it to a minimum if you're only interested in the characters. I personally did spend some money to afford a few characters (with a mixture of Coin and Skulls), and it seemed to be more than enough. I was able to unlock the majority of the characters exclusively with Skulls, due to how many Skulls I was earning doing various things while working on Empty Pockets.

You might say to yourself - "Sweet! I don't have to spend any money on this game to buy all the characters, since I don't mind the grind." This is true, but don't be a jackass; if you enjoy the game enough to want to play it that much, give the developers some money for it. Even if it's a minimal amount, I'm sure they would appreciate it. The reality is, if you try to take advantage of the situation, it just hurts everyone.

The developers obviously want to get paid for their work, but if they have no funds, it hurts the customers as well, because they won't have the manpower or resources to continue to patch things for the people that play. This means maybe they'll just stop fixing bugs; stop releasing new characters; stop releasing new maps for free. Although I certainly understand the desire to not spend any money on a stupid video game, unfortunately it's not as simple as it seems on the surface.