Dungelot: Math Bending

Dungelot is awesome, and of course it is also almost impossible to break or bend in any truly unique way because it is amazingly insular and without drawback to failure. It really doesn't matter what you do, you will always progress.

Go ahead, search Dungelot in google and play it for a bit, it's a free game and takes less than 5 seconds to get the hang. It is also amazingly satisfying on the most basic risk/reward level. It scratches that itch for "one more tile" syndrome I'm sure we all have.

I titled this post Math Bending not because I fancy myself any sort of math guru or genius ((I had to spell correct genius, and I'm not afraid to admit that to make a point about knowing where I stand)), but rather because the keywords I seem to be throwing around are Bending and Breaking.

Breaking of course being when an aspect of a game is completely broken through heavy emphasis or lateral thinking, and Bending therefor meaning the precursor to Breaking.

Dungelot reminded me of my go to rule of power enhancement which is "If it's not 100%, it might as well be 0%".

This is of course an extremely stupid thing to say, because obviously 99% is close enough to 100% to be functionally similar, and even 75% is a pretty good showing on it's own. Rule is probably a strong rule, but it is certainly a mindset I usually inhabit like a hermit crab.

What brought this up were two skills you can advance as the Paladin in Dungelot; "Holy Strike" and "Crusader Strike."

Holy Strike increases your damage against undead, which is a sometimes treat, and Crusaders Strike gives each attack a chance to increase the power of the next one.

Now I say gives a chance because Crusaders Strike starts at 25%, but eventually can become 100% to grant 50% bonus damage. Holy Strike eventually becomes 100% bonus damage to undead. See where I'm going with this? Crusaders Strike, despite costing marginally more, is the obvious choice. The 50% applies to everything, including undead, Holy Strike doesn't even stand a chance.

The choice is made even more obvious because the currency for purchasing the upgrades is earned literally by being dead. Whenever you die you get money in accordance with how far you got into the dungeon.

So when you are looking at the skills wondering which to save for, the answer should be clear. But this is not to say it is a failing of the game in any way, just an example of guaranteed return on investment as opposed to situational return. When in doubt, go what you know will help, not what MIGHT help.

Thank you and go play Dungelot. A lot.
That's the joke.

 I think.

Just do it.