Dungeon of the Endless is the follow up to Amplitude Studios' first game Endless Space that extends the universe into a mix of strategy and RPG elements. Like its predecessor, Dungeon of the Endless does contain a tutorial for new players, but regrettably lacks some basic information that may not be immediately apparent to a first time player.

This guide is intended for new players (or existing players who haven't mastered the controls) who want to know the basics for making informed decisions about what their next step will be. This guide may also be of interest to someone interested in purchasing the title and wants to know more about what the game is like (I would recommend these readers focus on the first section). However, this guide will not go into detailed mechanics or intermediate strategies for playing the game, leaving this for other guides by more advanced players.

Note: This is a revision of a guide written for the Early Access version of the game and so contains outdated images. It has also since been updated with patches and DLC. The content reflects the base game and remains neutral to the DLC.

The primary goal of any given level is to take the crystal (located in the first area) to the exit. You do not know the location of the exit and so you must first progress through the dungeon to find it. A player explores the dungeon by selecting a hero and opening a door. A given room may contain anything from resources, to items, to hostile units. Opening a door also serves as the main unit of time in the game allowing for resource collection.

The player begins with two heroes and the crystal. The crystal is powered by dust, which serves as both energy, and health. If the crystal's dust falls to 0, or if all the heroes are dead, the game is over. All heroes begin at level 1 and may advance to level 15, which is accomplished by spending food. Food is also used to heal a hero in combat and hire a hero if a new one is found and the party does not already consist of four members. Heroes may participate in combat, explore rooms, or boost the production of a resource if the required improvement is built.

Finally, a given room has some capacity to have improvements built on them, ranging from resource modules (that increase food, industry, or science), to improvements dedicated to defence. These improvements are built using industry, but also require the room to be powered by the crystal, limiting the potential for expansion.

With enough exploration, a player will find the exit at which point they may decide to continue exploring (in hopes of finding a desirable item, or collecting more resources) or may wish to attempt to complete the level by transporting the crystal to the exit. One hero must go to the crystal and pick it up. This will prompt a large number of enemies to spawn and converge on the crystal. The crystal bearing hero's movement is encumbered and so the remaining heroes must either travel with the crystal to defend it, or hold off the attackers at whatever choke points may present themselves. If the hero bearing the crystal successfully lands at the exit, the player is given some statistics for that particular round, and moves to the next level of the dungeon with whatever resources remain from the previous level, with the exception of dust which is reset at each new level. The basic game is completed after finishing the 12th floor.

Players may choose two characters to start with or opt for a randomized start. Note that the game will only choose among heroes that have been unlocked.

A good starting combination for a new player is Deena Ratchet and Max O'Kane. While they may not top anyone's favourites lists, these heroes develop the capacity to operate (both, level 4) and repair modules (Max, level 7) and well rounded stats. However, hero selection should always be a matter of player preference and so this recommendation should only serve as an alternative to selecting random for a first time player.

One nice feature of the progression system is that a hero is unlocked by surviving three floors with them. This means that you will be able to select a hero after you have become familiar with their abilities and how they improve as they gain levels. Since the game starts with only three heroes unlocked, this means subsequent playthroughs will only ever have at most one hero whose abilities a player will be unfamiliar with, making progression rewarding while offering a softer introduction to brand new players. Players who like the inclusion of Max at the start may want to consider unlocking Opbot DV8 when possible, given his ability to operate modules at level 3 in addition to a high wit level (more on wit later in the guide).

It is recommended to start playing the game on Too Easy mode. While there may be a danger of underestimating the strength of enemies in Easy mode when transitioning from Too Easy, the simpler difficulty level will allow for a certain degree of experimentation as well as a higher survival rate for hired heroes. This will allow a player a greater range of options with which to tackle the challenges presented in Easy (and beyond), making for a more rewarding experience overall.

Heroes are selected using the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4, corresponding to the order (left to right) they are presented in on the hero menu, located in the top right of the screen. A hero may also be selected using the left mouse button, but most players will likely find it more convenient to select by number. Contrary to what the game's guide tells you, all heroes are selected using the ` (aka. ~) key, not Q. Multiple heroes can also be selected by holding shift and selecting the heroes you want in the group. Pressing a selection button twice will centre the screen on that hero (or, pressing tab, will centre the screen on the crystal).

The selected hero(s) will perform an action by clicking the right mouse button. What action will be performed depends on where the mouse is clicked:

• A door will open it and move the hero to the next room
  
• A room with enemies will move the hero into it and they will begin attacking (and likely be attacked)
  
• A room with a resource module will be worked by that hero, unless there is another hero with better skill operating the module
  
• A room with an item or blueprint will require the hero to wait momentarily while they collect the object. Moving the hero before the time has elapsed is permitted, but the object will need to be collected by moving a hero in and waiting again.
  
• A merchant or hero will allow you to open the shop or hire them (respectively).
  
• An empty room will simply move the hero to that location.

Clicking the left mouse button and dragging will allow the player to navigate around the map. The left mouse button is also used for construction. The player must first select the improvement they wish to build from the menu in the bottom left hand corner, and then left click on the location they want to place it. Note, not all improvements can be built in a given area. A resource module will require the presence of a square platform to be built, while a minor modules will require a small grey circle on the floor to be unoccupied. Selecting a module to be built should prompt white triangles to appear over areas where it can be placed.

Power can be allocated to a room by control + left clicking or using the 'third' (middle) mouse button. The game is generally intelligent about where to allocate power based on building decisions so you may not find a need to perform this manually.

As a convention: Right clicking will make the selected hero perform the relevant action. Left clicking is used for building or for navigation.

A visual companion to this section to the guide is linked above.


The symbols may not mean much to a starting player, but each individual improvement has a clear description.

The hero menu in the top right hand corner will allow you to select the hero but, more importantly (and not entirely clear in the tutorial) will have a small downward arrow in the bottom right hand corner of the selected hero's profile. Selecting this arrow will bring down stats for the hero as well as the option to level them up. This menu may also be accessed by right clicking the hero portrait. This is the only way to level up your hero, so make sure you know how to find it. It's indicated by the red arrow in the following picture:


(This image is from a version of the guide when the game was in Early Access. The guide will be updated to include a current picture at a later date.)

When the player has generated enough food to level up a hero, the number representing their level on the portrait will turn green. When holding the mouse over the level up button, the window will display what stats will improve and by what values. Also, a hero will gain active and passive skills when increasing their level (the game will only inform the player a skill is learned, meaning that either memory or a guide is required to know if the skill is helpful or not). Holding the mouse over the skill will indicate what it does, and a button will now appear below the hero allowing you to use your active skill when you see fit.

The inventory is found in the top left, beside the control panel.



Note that this is an inventory that all heroes can access but contains items that are not currently equipped. To equip an item, select the relevant hero, then double click the item. It should then appear in their character menu.



Note that the icon in the bottom left hand corner of the item (and slot on the character menu) is relevant. Not all characters can equip all items.

There are four resources in the game:

• Dust
  
• Industry
  
• Food
  
• Science

Each of these resources may be used at a merchant (decided at random). The relative merits of each resource as a currency will be discussed in that resource's section below.

Dust can only be obtained by exploring rooms, defeating monsters, and special encounters (such as activating a dust factory). A small amount of industry and food is generated each turn (a new turn commencing with the opening of a door) and more may be generated through improvements. We will discuss these in turn.

Dust is health and energy all at once. The number of rooms that can be powered is indicated by the number of bright yellow blocks beside the amount of dust (found in the upper left hand corner). One room can be powered for every 10 dust you have. A room's improvements will only operate if they have power, and it is possible to voluntarily 'power down' rooms to prioritize others.

When attacked the game will inform you of exactly how much dust was subtracted from the total. When the total reaches 0, the crystal is destroyed and the game is lost. This means that if you allow your crystal to be attacked for too long, you will lose power to rooms and likely be in a worse position to defend it next time around. Likewise, spending every last unit of dust on an item may not be the wisest decision, though it is worth noting that the full amount of dust is not transferred to the next level, and so it is not in a player's best interests to be too miserly. If a player is confident in their ability to defend a merchant, it can be wise to hold off purchasing items using dust until they are ready to leave the level. Keep in mind, however, that too little dust will leave many darkened rooms from which enemies can spawn, and so it is prudent to keep some surplus to ensure an easier escape route.

Industry is the currency used to build improvements and is frequently used in random encounters like the stasis pod or dust factory. Industry will be generated each turn even without improvements, but a resource module can be built to increase production. Furthermore, if a hero is left in the same location as a resource module for more than one turn, they will boost the input. Heroes will boost the module by different amounts depending on their wit, but the game will automatically select the best worker (indicated by the gears on their portrait). Only one hero can work one resource module at a time. Note that a hero must stay one turn at the location of the module to begin working it and that any movement away will require another turn to 'set up'.

The full amount of industry is carried over between dungeon levels, and it may also be discovered at random upon entering a room, so it is possible that a player will generate a significant surplus depending on what strategy is employed.

Provided a player has enough industry to take care of their immediate needs, this is a good currency to use at merchants. Items used by heroes will provide benefits over multiple floors, while modules that do not generate resources will lose their utility upon leaving the level.

Food is used to hire and maintain heroes. During combat a given hero's health can be boosted by spending food (this option is directly below the hero's portrait in the top right of the screen). Note that if the hero survives combat, they will automatically regenerate to full health, and so spending food in this way confers no benefit outside that individual instance of combat. For this reason, it is preferable to move a hero out of danger, spending food only to avoid certain death.

Inside the character menu there is also an option to level up the hero with its associated food cost. The improvement in level will adjust the hero's stats permanently as well as grant skills, but the presence of a level cap places a practical limit on how much food a player will need to generate in a game.

Heroes may be hired at the cost of food. The game has a maximum party size of 4, though heroes can be dismissed or die, and so a player may need to hire more than two new heroes depending on the circumstances. It can sometimes be easy to abandon and reset a game in response to a hero death, but recall that a player will learn more from situations where everything does not go according to plan, and that an empty hero slot represents an opportunity to unlock a new hero.

Food is generally undesirable as a currency as the additional levels and heroes tend to outweigh the benefits of a particular item (although selling unwanted items for food is a nice opportunity), though experience and taste will reveal exceptions to this rule. If possible I will prefer to invest in a hero's long term success over a health boost to compensate for poor planning or an item.

Science is a fairly unique resource that will represent an investment in your long term success in the dungeon. Food, Industry, and Dust can likely be spent on any given turn provided you have enough of them. Science, on the other hand, is usually spent at an Endless Artifact which must be discovered inside the dungeon.

Like the other resources, Science does have a level of autonomous production, but will require the construction of resource modules to increase beyond this level. Given that the cost of upgrades this means that the advantages from Science will be extremely slow to nonexistent without investment in the modules (though it can be done).

Once an Endless Artifact has been encountered it can be selected to reveal 4 different options for new modules, or upgrades to modules you already have. If you choose to spend Science to research the new module you will need to open 3 doors (ie. take 3 turns) for the research to be completed. Over this time the Endless Artifact acts like a new module that can be attacked and destroyed. Furthermore, the Endless Artifact cannot be repaired like other modules. As a consequence, research not only represents a choice of resource allocation, but alters the dynamics of your defence for at least 3 turns. Given the cost of research it is highly unlikely (and certainly not recommended) that you will research everything, and so it is advisable to consider your options in light of your preferred strategies and existing heroes. The options may be reset by researching something, or by spending 10 science, though I would recommend reviewing each module to ensure there is no feasible use for them throughout the game (as long as a player is not completely starved for science, even researching a cheap module can be better than spending 10 and getting nothing. This is a nice way to practice new strategies based on these 'reset' purchases).

The inclusion of the Science resource significantly increases the diversity of playthroughs and so does not readily lend itself to hard and fast rules to follow. Once the initial decisions regarding the defence of the module and the production of science have been made, the best guideline is to consider the resources it will take to construct the new blueprint. For example, while my preferred strategy has always been to heavily invest in my heroes, a lack of defensive modules will likely mean I lose them, or spend Food on healing during combat (instead of adding levels). Conversely, if I have invested so heavily in modules and Science that my Industry production is low, I am not likely to receive any benefit from the new blueprint I have researched any time soon. Experience will prove the best teacher for this trade off, but a player can't go far wrong by taking a moment to reflect on what the blueprint will mean for their overall strategy. This consideration will potentially mean the difference between an 'average' run and something that sees you through to the end.

A player has no limits as to how many explored rooms a hero may visit, or the number of improvements that can be constructed given the resources at hand. Once the heroes are in their ideal positions, the player will select a hero to open a new door (a second hero can follow quickly after and, depending on the relative speeds, may open the door first).

Opening a door will generate the amount of Food, Industry, and Science indicated by the + below the total amount of its respective resource. The event behind the door will resolve (usually hostiles, but can also be the discovery of a merchant, hero, Endless Artifact, or item). Exploring a room may also trigger waves of monsters to spawn in unoccupied, darkened areas of the map (this means heroes may be strategically placed to reduce spawns). A hero does not need to complete the task they are doing in the current room to move (ie. If you discover an item, you do not need to wait to pick it up to run to your crystal and defend it). Depending on the behaviour of the monsters they may leave the room before combat is over. A hero must be present in the same room with a monster to engage in combat, and they will not automatically follow the monster it is attacking. If other monsters remain, the hero will shift their focus to them. If the player wishes to continue attacking the original monster, the hero must be moved to the new location. A player may also wish to move their hero to take advantage of a particular skill.

If the exit has been discovered the player now has a choice. They can open a new door and repeat the cycle, or they can attempt to complete the level by moving the crystal to the exit. To move the crystal, select the hero you wish to carry it (generally not a combatant), right click the crystal, then left click the icon that appears above it (this is to confirm you actually want to make a break for it because all hell is about to break loose). Once the crystal is picked up, waves of monsters will start spawning. The hero will not automatically start moving towards the exit, so the player must either tell the hero to go to the exit directly, or at least guid them room by room if they wish to employ a more indirect route. The only requirement for completing a level is the crystal making it to the exit, then hitting the exit button (ideally with all heroes present).

Many elements of the game are outside of the player's hands. For instance, there is only one door to open from the ship, and the player is forced to confront whatever is on the other side of it. The further a player progresses into the dungeon, there are more choices for doors, and the relative abundance (or scarcity) of resources will allow for some variety of decisions, but until the exit is discovered, finding out what is behind the door will always remain a given for the player.

Additional resources provide greater flexibility and more powerful heroes, and so it may be useful to consider the relative costs of improvements in light of what the player may do to exploit them. A given resource improvement will cost at least 10 industry to create, and so an unworked industry improvement must survive and remain active for several turns to pay for itself. However, there is no real benefit to exploring more than one room at once, and so it is likely that a player will have at least one hero standing idle. Thus, it is ideal to build at least one resource improvement to make the most of what is available (ideally one improvement per non-exploring hero). My personal preference is to start with food, as heroes can transfer between levels, while improvements do not, but circumstances may dictate otherwise.

The outcome of a given exploration is more or less the same as the very first door that opens in that the player simply has to deal with what the game throws at them with the resources they have available. However, a player can prepare for the worst by exercising some forethought in their exploration patterns. When confronted with multiple doors, it is most sensible to keep one long unbroken chain of rooms leading back to the crystal, rather than opening more than one door at an intersection (that is, when entering a room with 4 doors, I will open one at random and then proceed straight forward, ignoring the 2 unopened doors until I hit a dead end). The alternative is to open multiple doors, but each additional 'branch' that is opened produces a new entry point for a wave to attack from. By creating a single chain of rooms that monsters are forced to move through, a player can set up formidable defences in fewer locations, and have an easier time banding the heroes together to battle the wave. A door cannot be closed once it is opened, and so while it may be convenient to open a more direct connection to rooms, remember that there are almost always more monsters than heroes, and so the benefits of mobility are much more likely to fall in the favour of your opponents.

The one exception to the exploration strategy is when the player wishes to move the crystal. Obviously at this point the player wishes to minimize the travel distance for the encumbered hero, and so the most direct path to the exit should be opened, and some planning should be put into any defence strategy before the crystal is picked up.

As mentioned above, the positioning of heroes can be quite important. Ideally a party will consist of heroes who do not need to move from operating resource modules, and heroes who engage in combat. Given that enemies do not spawn in occupied rooms (even with the lights off), it can sometimes make sense to power down a 'close' room and occupy it with a slow moving hero like Gork, so he does not spend too much time walking to the combat.

Artifacts will automatically complete their research once the final door has been opened. Following the 'chain' exploration pattern will often give the opportunity to keep a door to an already explored room closed until the very end. Saving a door like this is an excellent research opportunity, as the desired module can be researched, the 'easy' door opened, and the research will be completed immediately. Note, that this strategy is only possible once per floor and requires some luck and foresight.

At later levels (usually around Level 4 on Easy, and Level 9 on Too Easy) even the strongest heroes will start to face waves of enemies that become too overwhelming. Intelligently placed defensive units can be an inexpensive way to keep healing costs down. However, do not forget that modules will likely need to be repaired. Equipping the tool belt on one of your combat heroes temporarily can be a very useful way of keeping your support (resource generating, high wit) heroes at their stations, while ensuring your defences are ready for the worst the dungeon can throw at you.

Finally, it is strongly recommended to pause during combat (unless attempting to unlock the ship awarded for this feat). Dungeon of the Endless will ruthlessly punish careless decisions, and many 'hopeless situations' only become so due to a lack of planning. While randomly generated games such as Dungeon of the Endless do allow players to throw bodies at the levels until a lucky run comes up, the experience is greatly enhanced by taking a moment to think about what the next step is, and turning a seemingly hopeless situation around.

Dungeon of the Endless is a fairly straightforward game to learn, but contains some elements that are not obvious to all players on the first play through. I hope to have clarified some of these issues and have provided players with enough information to have clear reasons for their actions, rather than operate on best guesses.

Please feel free to contact me or comment on the guide if there was something unclear, a topic you would like to see covered, or even if you simply found it helpful or would like to leave other feedback.

Thank you to everyone who has read, liked, favourited and/or commented on the guide. The feedback and encouragement does mean a lot and the community has been extremely generous in this regard. Finally a special thanks to Amplitude Studios for providing me yet another reason to neglect my studies and avoid human contact.

[Updates]
December 1, 2015 - Typo genocide. Touched up some sentences for clarity. Added disclaimer re: recent updates.

October 31, 2014 - Reset changelog and updated guide to reflect full release. Updated video and photo contact pending.

Players seeking more detailed coverage may find value in viewing and contributing to the wiki:

http://dungeon-of-the-endless.wikia.com/wiki/Dungeon_of_the_Endless_Wiki