a) EXCAVATION AND BUILDING

Master Dungeon Keeper 2's excavation and building mechanics. Learn about Imps, mana, room placement, terrain types, and strategic dungeon design for a thriving underground empire.

You begin most dungeons with your dungeon heart and four Imps. Imps are your magical servants; they require no food or rest but do need Mana to function. Imps excavate rock, reinforce walls, and crucially, claim land for you. Once a tile is claimed, you can build on it, and it generates 1 mana per turn. Your Dungeon Heart is vital, acting as a treasury (max 16,000 Gold) and the end of your dungeon if destroyed. Fortify it with doors and traps.

Use the Hand of Evil to select excavation areas. Imps prioritize collecting gold or gem seams. Start by excavating small room shapes connected by tunnels. No creatures appear until you claim a Portal, often indicated by a black square shadow in the rock. You can build rooms and store gold before claiming a portal.

The first portal supports 15 creatures; each additional portal adds five, up to a maximum of 25 creatures (excluding skeletons, vampires, and captured Heroes). Hero Portals in campaign mode are used for enemy attacks.

Excavating reveals various terrains:

• Soft Rock: Easily dug by Imps.
• Bedrock: Impassable rock, useful for natural borders.
• Gold Seam: Imps collect gold and deposit it in the treasury.
• Gem Seam: Mined infinitely for cash. Imps prioritize wealth collection; deselect if they neglect other tasks.
• Water: Slows creatures; only vampires cannot cross. Build wooden bridges.
• Lava: Passable only by Salamanders and Giants. Use Stone Bridges for permanent crossings or wooden bridges for temporary ones.
• Enemy Territory: Marked in grey. Disarm nearby traps before claiming land.

Dungeon building varies by map. Keep lairs small and spread out, with plenty of hatcheries and treasuries to keep creatures happy and prevent wage issues. If the level is not timed and gold is plentiful, add a casino. Enclose rooms within rock walls with doorways, and install doors for creature security.

Avoid excavating too much territory before building rooms, as you might encounter a Hero Gate unprepared. Create more Imps early on, adding at least one more immediately and five more when you have sufficient mana. Keep them safe to level them up. If nearing the level's end and fewer Imps are needed, drop them into the dungeon heart to reclaim half their mana cost.