SNKRX: General Tips (How to Win)

This guide will explain some of the basics that will carry through your games and help you get more NG+ that I’ve learned through my journey.

Even starting out can be difficult if you’re feeling frustrated. Always remember these few tips if you feel like you can’t make any headway:⠀

• Don’t worry too much about making synergies immediately, start by getting generally good units, then building up from what you find (see Initial Strategies).
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• Initially, getting a merchant is very important in the long run. Money is the basis of everything in this game and more of it = more good.
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• Once you have interest available to you, try to remain in your current bracket for it. For example, if you have 40 money, don’t drop below 40 money in order to gain the max amount of interest for that stage.
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• Only upgrade items past lvl 2 once you have a significant amount of money. Remember – it costs 15 to level to 3 and that will push you into the previous interest bracket.

In addition to general decision making, movement is a large part of staying alive. Take these things into consideration once you’re actually in game.⠀

• PLAY WITH MOUSE MOVEMENT – I know it may seem awkward at first, but mouse movement allows for much more control of your snake than keyboard control can. It is just objectively better.
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• Use the Walls to Your Advantage – By placing your cursor ahead of you and outside the wall, you can essentially ride the edge of the arena, allowing you to more easily maneuver yourself around packs of enemies. Additionally, try to come in at a smooth angle to allow for a more clean ride.
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• Rotatin’ – Keeping your mouse stationary will cause your snake to rotate in place. Keep in mind that you don’t always have to be moving, standing still can help you better kite larger packs and allow you to skirt around them without charging aside too early.
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• Watch Your Tail – Remember that the longer your snake is, the more vulnerable your back end will be. Keep in mind that once you turn away from a pack, your tail will move away from them much slower than your head, and may allow them to catch up to you if you turn too late. Occasionally wiggling side to side can help get enemies off your tail but be cautious with this strategy.
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• Ranged Enemy Specific Strats – Blue ranged explosions will always have the same amount of projectiles and move at the same speed, but will have randomized (possibly?) rotation. Try to keep your distance so you can react to how they are placed and don’t bunch up too tightly when one is about to go off. On the other hand, white enemies always fire directly towards you, and spreading yourself too thin will allow them to catch your back end as you try to dodge out of the way. For these, try to arc away from the enemy as you skirt to the side of the shot, beginning by bunching up if possible. You can also try and ride the wall to avoid them in a pinch but this isn’t consistent for longer snakes, especially NG+ length snakes.

When starting your run, there are a few units that you should be looking for that are essential to any winning build:⠀

• Merchant – The most reliable interest slave. Always, always, always get a merchant when it appears.
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• Any psycher – Psychers have a very high base hp and make for a great head to your snake. The orb is also a nice utility if things go south.
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• Scout – Scout’s chaining ability is incredible for early game because of its high base damage for a tier 1 and its chaining ability allows you to clear out trash waves with ease.
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• Most healers – Any sort of healer is useful for sustain, especially once youre in NG+. I say most healers because personally I think that Cleric sucks.

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• Chaining Abilities – Chaining items work well with any build, allowing you to get more value for just doing what you would be doing anyway. This includes items such as Ceremonial Dagger or Lightning Strike.
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• Enemy Weakening – Items that weaken enemies such as Culling Strike, Vulnerability, or even items that function as just flat damage buffs such as Critical Strike, and situationally Assassinate if you’re going for a Rogue build, or Ballista if you’re going for a projectile based build. Occasionally items such as Silencing Strike and Stunning Strike can fit into this category if you feel you’re lacking board control and need to keep enemies at bay.
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• Synergy Effective – While you’re still in the early game, synergy items are much more risky, since you don’t know if you’re going to be lucky enough to get the build you’re looking for entering the mid game. However, if you’ve been lucky enough to get a build started and are able to pick something up that can significantly sway the effectiveness of your attacks it isn’t a bad idea. Items that fall into this category include things like Echo Barrage, or Psycholeak.

Upon moving into midgame, we can start evolving our build to fit a more specific archetype. Still keeping our general ideas in mind, here are a few ways you can advance from this point:⠀

• Further Your Essentials Collection – Now that you’re getting further in, your shop will now start to offer higher tier units more often. From this point there are a few units you should be looking for, essentially just improvements to your initial pillars. These include things like: Upgrading your Psyker to either a Psykino or Psykeeper. These two are the standout examples of Psykers and will make the best head of a snake in any build. Next, upgrading your healer to either a Fairy (my personal pick) or a Priest (the objective best in the game).
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• Gain New Essentials – In addition to improving your already existing essentials, there are a few completely new units you should be looking for in your shop. These include: Squire, and Flagellant – Two wonderful buffers for your entire party. These are much like flat buffing items that just make any build better and should be picked up if you have the option.
  Infestor – If you have a build that can pop groups very quickly, infestor is a great addition as it will allow you to build up a sizable army of critters without losing too many immediately after gaining them. This can also open up more avenues for item synergies such as Hive, Infesting Strike, or the objective king of critters – Meat Shield.
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• Interest Part Two – Congratulations! You now have a sizable hoard of gold. It’s important at this point to remember that interest only stacks up to an additional 10 money per stage, or in other words, caps out at 100 money in the bank. This means that once you are over 100 money, you can spend that excess to your heart’s content without losing out on any additional money you could be gaining.

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• Change Your Spending Mentality – Approaching the final boss, you may want to change the way you think about your purchases. Remember, there is no benefit to finishing with extra money left over. Spend what you need to get what you need.
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• Max Out Your Units – Of course this requires some RNG, but try to get as many of your units up to max level as you can. Those level 3 buffs can be absolute game changers and turn your final stages from hell into afk’ing. Remember that if you have a lower tier unit that you need to upgrade still, you can right click on the shop tier to lower it back to your desired tier. This will give a blow to your funds if you intend to return to your original shop tier after getting what you need, so be cautious about using this strategy if you still have higher tier units to level up.
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• Max Out Your Items – At this point, the price of leveling your items up is much more negligible. Make sure that your items are all up to their highest level so you’re getting the most out of those slots.
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• Don’t Get Ahead of Yourself – It can be tempting to smash your face into a pack of enemies if you’re feeling powerful, but remember that your head may be strong, but it isn’t strong enough to warrant the risk you are taking. Take things slow and you will have a much easier and less stressful time.

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And most importantly…
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I cannot stress this enough, don’t give up just because you’re having a rough round. I cannot even count the number of times that I have survived a round with just one or two segments left and went on to complete the run. Just because things are going bad, having a smaller snake does have its advantages. You are smaller and more maneuverable, making it easier for you to dodge incoming attacks and slip around packs easier. Additionally, keep in mind that ranged enemies can friendly fire, and if you absolutely need to you can bop your head into enemies to finish them off.