This Game Progression Guide will explain the steps needed to beat the game. Whether you bought this game randomly and have no idea about how to play it, or an early access veteran, there may be something you needed to know in this guide. Don't hesitate to edit this guide at your own will.
There are 5 tiers in this game, with each tier corresponds to each Auto-Builder versions.
Tier 1
Biomes
Gears
Directions
Retrieve the Auto-Builder from crash site and place it. You will need 3 Blue Energy Gems to craft the Auto-Builder MK II. Go around the surface and kill the Blue Fireflies around the surface. You can collect 10 Scrap Metal scattered near the crash site for quick 5 Iron and search 5 Flower of Light in water areas to craft the Plasma Shotgun, which is incredibly useful for it's early high DPS, big spread for clearing lots of monsters quickly, and powerful recoil to reach higher places. Build the Auto-Builder MK II and use 2 Blue Energy Gems to upgrade the Miniaturizor (MK I) to the Miniaturizor MK II, allowing you to break Stone, Iron, and Coal. That's it for the first tier, really.
Tier 2
Biomes
Gears
Directions
You now need to collect 5 Red Fern and 15 Radioactive Blood to build the Auto-Builder MK III. Red Ferns can be found to the west past The Chasm. You will need to build a bridge to get over The Chasm. Wait for the night time to gather Radioactive Blood from night attacks.
You can make Plasma Machine Gun from 2 Blue Energy Gem, 10 Coal, and 15 Iron (although Plasma Shotgun is probably enough to defend yourself from monsters, due to its high DPS). Kill some Dweller from Surface Caverns to get 3 Dweller Shell and combine it with 5 Iron to make a Dweller Armor, which is highly recommended as you'll take less damage from monsters (and for crafting better armors).
Once you have built the Auto-Builder MK III you will now need to collect 3 Red Energy Gem from the Red Firefly and 5 Coral for upgrading the Miniaturizor MK II to the Miniaturizor MK III, enabling Aluminum, Gas Rock, and Lightweight Rock collection. Red Firefly can be found at the base of the Volcano, and Coral can be found in deep pools of water (on the lake near the volcano or in the Underground Ocean).
Tier 3
Biomes
Gears
Directions
In order to create Auto-Builder MK IV you will need to get 5 Black Piranha Regen Organ from Black Piranha in the Underground Ocean and 2 Gas Rock in Floating Islands. A weapon with high DPS is needed to kill the Black Piranha, as it regenerates quickly. A simple Wooden Platform elevator is enough to return from the Underground Ocean. You need to build towers to reach the Floating Islands. Normally, tier 3 wall (Reinforced Concrete Wall) is used to build towers, but tier 2 wall (Concrete Wall) tower and Plasma Shotgun will also do. Don't go too high, or you'll encounter a Firefly Queen boss you don't want to fight now.
During the exploration in the Stone Caverns, make sure to collect enough material to get the Black Dweller Armor and the Plasma Sniper Rifle. If you happened to find a patch of Black Dirt, explore the area to get Black Grass, necessary to craft the Rocket Launcher, and Black Mushroom, necessary for the Miniaturizor MK IV. The rocket launcher is very useful, since it has an area of effect damage to clear tightly packed monsters and high target knockback to push monsters away farther.
Mad Crab Boss
Go west (left) in the Underground Ocean.
Strategy as of v.10
Go to the far western area of the map of the Stone Caverns. Go to the lowest spot until you start hearing different music playing. Place Heavy Turret you to help deal with the bat spawns. Wooden platforms to walk on are very useful in this fight. The sniper rifle is useful for dealing decent chunks of damage, and the laser gun's rapid rate of fire and penetrating ability make it easy to wear down the boss' health while simultaneously killing off the swarms of lesser enemies.
He will drop items necessary for the Overcharged Plasma Gun and Rare Metals Detector.
Tier 4
Biomes
Gears
Directions
For Auto-Builder MK V, you'll need 30 Gas Rock and 4 Black Crystal. There won't be enough Gas Rocks in Floating Islands, you'll need to go to Skylands for more. No, It's impossible to build a tower high enough to reach Skylands, you'll need a Jetpack, with some little help from your best friend Plasma Shotgun! Below the Underground Ocean there will be Crystal Caverns, where you'll find Black Crystals. Tip: Try adding water to crystals for surprises....
In Crystal Caverns, there are several materials you will need to get here: Crystals, Light Crystals, Black Crystals, and Ant Shells. The Black Crystals will spawn rarely where the Light Crystals will normally spawn. The Armored Ant and Acid Ant will occasionally drop the Ant Shells. Use the materials to craft the Ant Armor, ZF-0, or Gatling Laser. Save 10 Light Crystals and 5 Uranium for a Miniaturizor MK V. You'll find Uranium between Underground Ocean and Crystal Caverns. Use the Rare Metals Detector.
It's possible to kill the Dweller Lord before tier 4, although the Dweller Lord Shell Spike is useless until you reach tier 5. Oh, while you're in the Skylands, kill some Explosive Firefly to get Unstable Gem Residue. While you probably won't make Grenade Launcher as a weapon since it destroys blocks, you'll want to save some for the next tier.
Firefly Queen Boss
Use the Tier 4 building materials to create a platform on the highest floating island to reach the Firefly Queen.
Strategy as of v.10
Use Heavy Turrets to help with adds. Use the ZF-0 for adds and Overcharged Plasma Gun for boss. Take cover when reloading.
Dweller Lord Boss
Lives inside a volcano. Lucky it that the volcano doesn't erupt and kill it. Fires one big shot at a time.
Simply make a platform high enough to avoid the other Dwellers' shot, and shoot it with long-range weapons. Keep avoiding the shot until it dies.
Tier 5
Biomes
Gears
Directions
Congratulations. You have reached the last tier. Now it's time to build a rocket! You'll need 110 Titanium, a Diamond, a Demon's Skin, 50 Gas Rock, 50 Deadly Radioactive Blood, 3 Strange Rock Heart, and 5 Sapphire to build a complete rocket. Go dig some Titanium and Sulfur in Granite Caverns, located below Crystal Caverns. No need to find Sapphire, you'll get them from the demon. You'll need Sulfur and Unstable Gem Residue to make Explosives, which will let you to mine that precious Diamond. Kill the Demon to get... well, the Demon's Skin. Also, you'll need to kill some tier 5 monsters (Lava, Particle, Hell) so you'll be able to kill them in night and gain Deadly Radioactive Blood, which is only dropped by tier 5 monsters at night. Above the Volcano you'll see an Organic Rock. You'll find the Strange Rock Heart in the center.
Say goodbye to good ole' Plasma Shotgun, and say hello to Particle Shotgun, which has the highest DPS and slightly more recoil! Craft this one, and you probably won't want to craft the Particle Sniper Rifle and Flame Thrower. If you've killed the Dweller Lord before, you can craft the sweet sweet Defense Shield to protect you from all projectiles attack, be it from the fireflies or from the lava creatures, up to 50% of your max health (In V0.3 it only protects from energetic projectiles).
Demon Boss
Go down, dig deeper. He shoots the same 3 projectile fired from lava creatures, and a lava bomb that arcs and turns the floor into lava. It burns.
You'll want to use a high DPS weapon, such as Particle Shotgun, to slay this boss. You could use Particle Sniper Rifle to keep your distance, albeit it takes longer time to kill. Use Jetpack to jump to the other side. Turrets are not recommended, since he runs fast and able to reach your turret in seconds.
Upon death, he drops the Demon's Skin and 7 Sapphire you'll need to complete the game.
P.S. It's possible to make another rocket by getting the second Demon's Skin from demoness.
Diamond
They're found in the Volcano Conduit, where it gets submerged in lava in a peak hours (in midday it is). An Explosive is needed to obtain Diamond, but using an Explosive inside the volcano triggers a volcanic eruption. It's best to visit the Volcano Conduit in the early morning, where lava is in the lowest.
There exists many strategies on overcoming a volcanic eruption:
- Climb the way out using Wooden Platform as fast as possible;
- Using Teleporter (powered by Thorium Reactor) to get out as soon as possible, sacrificing the Teleporter (and Thorium Reactor) in lava;
- Taking a refuge in a volcano base by using Repair Turrets to constantly heal walls burning as it blocks lava;
- Same as above, but using Miniaturizor MK V and holding mouse button for 15 minutes straight; and
- Plugging the volcano with lots of Repair Turret and Thorium Reactor!
Lava does reach the surface in a volcanic eruption, dries any water it comes into contact, and pool in some places. If your base is located near the volcano, then evacuate away from it!
Escaping the planet
Build the rocket, activate the rocket, and.... we're not ready to launch yet, because it's time for the last fight!
Bring all your turrets. Everything. You won't need it anymore back on earth. Monsters start spawning during rocket launch as if it were night time. You'll have to hold on for 5 minutes (compared to a night time, which lasts 1.8 minutes) until your rocket reaches 100%. Upon 50%, you'll be asked to enter the rocket to continue. Therefore, you won't be able to do anything, and you must let the turrets do their best to defend you.
One more thing. be sure to check if the blocks above you is clear, or else you will not go to space today.
It's over now. The game is complete. Now you can continue the post-ending game, play with people, start a new game, or quit. Maybe try the other worlds mode, but you'll have to wait for the guide. See you later!