Elf Defense Eng (by Jellyoasis Inc.) [Universal]

[AppsAsia]

Originally Posted by AurenC

K, just did it on normal. Dunno how step-by-step you need it but here's what I had at the end.

P P P I2 X X P P P P P
X I2 P X R X P I S3 X P
X SM P SM SM R P A2 X X P
X SM P P P P P R R X T
X A3 SM P HT P A2 X X X P
X I2 SM P A2 P S3 X X X P
P P P P X P P P P P P

*UGH ! I don't know if there's an easier way to do this but I give up trying to fix the way the forums are adjusting the spacing

P= pathway
I= Icer
S= Samson
HT= Hero Tree
A= Anti-air tower
R= Rock
T= your base tree or whatever it is
#= what level it was, ex. A2= level 2 anti-air tower, SM = max level samson
X= empty space

If that makes any sense, not sure how to take a picture or video on my phone. I can try to put it up in an excel file or something if that will be clearer.

Note, I do have the level 1 samson and level 1 icer upgrade but the stat ups were pitiful so I doubt it will make a huge difference. The level 1 samson upgrade was only 10 leaves if it really matters(and boosted it's attack by like.. 1 lol) and I don't upgrade my icers much. Also, I did remove the rock in the center to place my hero tree. I know you said no items but 10 shovels are only 50 leaves and you get 1-5 or so leaves from removing rocks from what I've seen so you may have to just bite that bullet.

I generally start with a lvl 2 samson at the spot above where the two paths meet, then I make an icer just to the right and under the upper path arrow, then I make the samson lvl 3, then I remove the center rock and put my hero there, then I make a second icer just to the right and up from the bottom path arrow, then I make another level 2 samson in the spot NE of the second icer, and so on.

I think I made 3 anti air towers before I upgraded any of them. The samson and the icer towards the end upper path and the samson on the bottom were a couple "oops" towers I paused and placed because I was saving money and 2 mobs from the last fast ground wave slipped through so they may not be necessary if you don't get complacent like I did. Also, I ended up maxing my hero tree.

I'm pretty sure I used 1 lvl 2 or 3 bomb tree the first time I did it but I just did it without them this time so feel free to use them if you want. I probably put it where my second samson goes. It's not that I find bomb trees bad or samsons particularly good, it's just that I usually have most of my trouble on fast air waves and they can't shoot up . If you need me to, I'll replay it later and write down step-by-step what I did if you're still having trouble.

edit- I only used the haste buff for boss waves.

Wow!!!!!! Looks like you got this down to a science!!

[Drexiel]

Just want to add something regarding the Leaf Upgrades (I Just played trough ALL OF THESE... took me about 7 hours... Including restarting stages when near last waves so that's money and time lost and time spent using my Tip 1)

ALL STAGES were cleared PERFECT With level 0 towers, only 1 merc and on Normal Mode (Unless Specified)

First Stage: No Upgrade - 50 Leaves

First Stage: Level 1 - 62 Leaves

Second Stage: No Upgrade - 60 Leaves

Second Stage: Level 1 - 75 Leaves

Third Stage: No Upgrade - 60 Leaves

Third Stage: Level 1 - 78 Leaves

Fourth Stage: No Upgrade - 60 Leaves

Fourth Stage: Level 1 - 78 leaves

Fifth Stage: Level 1 - 84 Leaves

Sixth Stage: Level 1 - 87 Leaves

Seventh Stage: Level 3 - 127 Leaves

Eight Stage: Level 4 - 120 Leaves

Ninth Stage: Level 4 - 121 Leaves (Lost 1 Life)

Tenth Stage: Level 4 - 121 Leaves

Desert First Stage: Level 4 - 99 Leaves

Desert Second Stage: Level 4 - 111 Leaves (Lost 3 Lives)


First Stage REPLAY - Level 1 - 15 Leaves

First Stage REPLAY - Level 3 - 21 Leaves

First Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 19 Leaves

Second Stage REPLAY - Level 1 - 9 Leaves

Second Stage REPLAY - Level 3 - 22 Leaves

Second Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 30 Leaves

Third Stage REPLAY - Level 1 - 21 Leaves

Third Stage REPLAY - Level 3 - 33 Leaves

Third Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 36 Leaves

Fifth Stage REPLAY - Level 1 - 22 Leaves

Fifth Stage REPLAY - Level 3 - 37 Leaves

Fifth Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 62 Leaves (Lost 1 Life)

Fifth Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 48 Leaves

Seventh Stage REPLAY - Level 3 - 52 Leaves

Seventh Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 63 Leaves

Eight Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 70 Leaves

Eight Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 81 Leaves (Lost 1 Life)

Ninth Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 70 Leaves

Ninth Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 62 Leaves (Lost 1 Life)

Tenth Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 54 Leaves

Tenth Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 74 Leaves

Desert First Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 58 Leaves

Desert First Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 51 Leaves (This gave me enough for the Bear merc)

Desert First Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 49 Leaves (Best Score out of the replays, Sold every tower at the end)

Desert Second Stage REPLAY - Level 4 - 51 Leaves (Sold every tower at the end)


These "tests" were done side by side while playing in an Ipad and an Ipod. One used IAP to upgrade without playing, The other was with normal gameplay and no IAP/No upgrades. (After the first few stages i just gave up on the iPod and kept on playing on the iPad)

The "No Upgrade" ones are on ipod.... on my ipad i bought 1000 leaves... upgraded Leaf Gain and Money... After all those cleared stages and wasting about 300 leaves I earned, on shovels... I just got 1020 Leaves... So count all of those stages(except the No Upgrade ones), and you have what it would take to gather 1300 leaves and buy the Bear/Dragon/T Rex merc... (Having used IAP to upgrade the Holy Leaf and to upgrade once the starting money)

Hopefully this will provide some insight and might help you decide if it's worth it or not to upgrade

Replay's seem to be inconsistent... Probably due to the fact that most of those leaves come from Monsters(if not, all of those leaves).


In My Opinion though.... it's very useful to upgrade the Holy Leaves.... At least to level 3 if your still on the Forest...


SIDE NOTE: Tips!...


Tip 1: Exploit the Auto-Save. Whenever you make a mistake and you noticed it right away, just pause the game, kill it from the task bar and restart it again... You'll start at the beginning of the same wave you were in. Useful for changing tactics in case a monster decides to invade your base and steals a life

Tip 2: Last 2 Waves are ALWAYS same type... If wave 21 is Ground, then 22 Will ALSO be Ground... SELL THOSE AIR ONLY TOWERS! But if Wave 21 is Air, 22 will also be Air... SELL THOSE GROUND ONLY TOWERS!!

Tip 3: To further increase your score on a stage, money is important... once you kill that last monster(Usually the boss), IMMEDIATELY Pause the game and sell ALL your towers... Holy Leaf gain ISN'T tied to score. I Haven't beaten Normal yet, but in game Tips suggest that on CRAZY MODE, You gain more leaves the better score you have, so this will be even more useful If you plan on playing Crazy.

[AurenC]

Wow. Thanks for the tips. I don't suppose you noticed any difference in how many leaves you get from digging up rocks with the holy leaf upgrade? I don't imagine it would affect it but you never know.

How are you liking the bear? He has a nice attack radius but I find his skill to be rather useless.. granted, I've only used him once on the first arctic level. I got the fire dragon for my first merc and he's been pretty awesome, good damage, aoe, and a nice attack radius. Been trying to decide on my second merc. Stun is a much nicer skill than Slow but the T.Rex has a pretty meh attack radius and only hits ground.

Also, I just got one of the hidden achievements earlier. 200 leaf reward for "Use the skills of the mercenary towers more than 200 times."

[Drexiel]

Originally Posted by AurenC

Wow. Thanks for the tips. I don't suppose you noticed any difference in how many leaves you get from digging up rocks with the holy leaf upgrade? I don't imagine it would affect it but you never know.

How are you liking the bear? He has a nice attack radius but I find his skill to be rather useless.. granted, I've only used him once on the first arctic level. I got the fire dragon for my first merc and he's been pretty awesome, good damage, aoe, and a nice attack radius. Been trying to decide on my second merc. Stun is a much nicer skill than Slow but the T.Rex has a pretty meh attack radius and only hits ground.

Also, I just got one of the hidden achievements earlier. 200 leaf reward for "Use the skills of the mercenary towers more than 200 times."

as far as I've noticed, it's random... I've gotten 1 leaf having Level 4, and I've gotten 9 leaves having level 2...

as for the Bear... he has VERY high damage.... I've replayed a few stages and noticed that I've used less Sharpshooters since he has an immense range and high damage with a pretty nice attack speed... PLUS he has a chance to stun which is very damn useful against bosses. (That is, if like me, you refuse to use skills UNLESS completely needed). His damage coupled with the stun chance has decreased the times I use merc skills at least for now on the desert....

I wanted to get the Dragon since i prefer dragons over anything else anywhere... but he was ground only so i decided against that...

as for the bear's skill... it has it's uses... specially when the FAST AIR waves approach and some just got away from you Icer towers...

that Blizzard coupled with the Fast Shot skill is VERY good when overwhelmed


Also... to me it seems that Crazy Mode is where you actually make Leaves since the in game tips always mention gaining Leaf Interest based on score/money at the end of a stage....

SO!! I'd suggest clearing everything on Normal Mode(even if you can't 3 star a certain stage) and move onto Crazy Mode to make some money, upgrade towers and go back to replay.... I've managed to 3 Star(Sun actually) every stage up until Desert 4, pretty easily. (And without using items... well ive used some, but since i depleted them, Ive replayed all the stages and 3 Sun them without using anything but the shovel in some cases)

[AurenC]

K, good I was leaning towards getting him just because the air waves are often my downfall.

And maybe I'll try shooting for the crazy levels. I've been trying to complete random achievements for the leaf rewards out of amusement but it's not the fastest method, haha.

[Drexiel]

Originally Posted by AurenC

K, good I was leaning towards getting him just because the air waves are often my downfall.

And maybe I'll try shooting for the crazy levels. I've been trying to complete random achievements for the leaf rewards out of amusement but it's not the fastest method, haha.

yeah achievements are a good source of income... but not too fast ._.


I've endured this game thinking this way...


this game isn't meant to be played on Normal or maxed at Normal... it's meant to be played on Crazy, where you'll really get money... just like playing Diablo on easy/normal and then switching it up to the harder difficulties

[AurenC]

We'll see ! I'm only on the 2nd arctic level so it'll be a while for me. I'm hoping it really is where you're supposed to make leaves and such because otherwise... I don't really want to grind out levels for 20-50 leaves at a time when I need thousands

Also, I just got the second hidden achievement. 200 leaf reward for "Stay at the Main Menu for more than 5 minutes."

[Drexiel]

Originally Posted by AurenC

We'll see ! I'm only on the 2nd arctic level so it'll be a while for me. I'm hoping it really is where you're supposed to make leaves and such because otherwise... I don't really want to grind out levels for 20-50 leaves at a time when I need thousands

Also, I just got the second hidden achievement. 200 leaf reward for "Stay at the Main Menu for more than 5 minutes."

that achievement i have... but the other one you mentioned i don't xD

so tnx for that!


imma have to actually start using those skills xD

[AppsAsia]

elf defense is freeeeeeeee for a limited time!!!

[joe1512]

My advice:

1) Note that you get Holy Leaves by using the shovel! The amount varies, but one time I got 114! Its usually around 5ish, which is the cost of the shovel itself. So DONT BE AFRAID TO use the shovel! You basically break even. Buy lots of them.

2) I'd recommend playing through on EASY first, getting to Desert 2. Thats 12 stages and it ensures that you get ALL the towers. This is super helpful as you can go back and do normal much easier.

3) Area effect stuff is really good for ground units. Put them UP FRONT, and the 1 target stuff later on. You have 4 choices:
a) Bombers - The least efficient. 50power at 20speed for 50gold
b) Fire Dragon - you get to try him for free on Forest 5 I think. He costs 3x more than bomber but hits 4x harder at twice the range and slightly more speed, AND his boost effect. WAYYY better.
c) Thorn Caster - Trickier to use but extremely cost effective. They not only can hit units in a long line but their range usually allows them to hit a second lane when theirs is inactive and sometimes can even reach back areas of the road. More slot-effective than bombers too as you can put about double the amount of gold into them as bombers.
d) Electrician - Incredibly powerful. After a few upgrades they hit multiple units at once. They even hit AIR! Very slot-effective. However they are pretty weak vs bosses, even moreso than the other AoEs.

4) Most Merc towers are really good and way more effective than their elven counterparts.
a) The free one - 15x more expensive Samson at double the range, similar speed, 12x the firepower with an AWESOME skill that doubles your firepower for a short time.
b) Fire Dragon = uber version of Bomber with awesome skill, double the range, 4x firepower.
c) Cactus - SUCKSSSS. Hits like a Samson at 15x the price! Ability does about 15% damage to all creeps.
d) Bear - Sick Beating. Like a Samson at 15x the price, but hits 17x harder at twice the range with a Stun on hit, and mapwide slow skill!
e) T Rex - dunno. Looks like another awesome bomber equivalent.

5) Use frost towers liberally. I like to put them along the very beginning of the path. You wouldnt want normal towers there, but the frost makes the enemy clump up, which makes your Area Effect stuff WAY stronger. I tend to use 6 frost towers at the very front to slow the entire wave down quite a bit. Then use 1 upgraded one around the middle where my single target towers are for anti-boss.

6) You usually want enough AoE to significantly weaken the ground units, but not enough to totally destroy them. This allows you to place enough general purpose 1 target towers to take out the ground leftovers AND make you much stronger vs air. Overkill ground AoE = weak vs air and bosses.

7) Upgrades:
a) AVOID the Extra Starting Money. +20 money is garbage when creeps give 200ish money on the very first wave! 40 is enough for 1 Samson and 1 upgrade at the very back. This 1-shots everything in the first wave.
b) AVOID elf upgrades. Its like a 2% gain! Only -1 speed, +1 range, +1 power. And cost goes WAY up!
c) SAVE for the Merc Towers!
d) Buy shovels. Use them liberally.
e) unsure about leaf upgrades. I'd get the first one at least.

8) Achievements:
a) Sit at main menu for 5 min. Get 200 holy leaves!
b) Kill 50 boss waves. This comes naturally pretty fast.
c) Use 150 Merc Buffs. (the 2nd hidden one). When playing use these! Mostly on Fast Air or Boss.
d) Use 11+ items on 1 map. Find one with lots of shovel digging since those pay for themselves and dig the whole map. Then use a few whatevers to get the 200 free leaves.
e) Finish the first 12 stages on easy to get All the towers and the achievement.