Master the 'Bottleneck' map in Dungeon Keeper 2! Learn how to manage limited gold, train creatures to level 8, and achieve 20,000 points with this expert guide.
Alright, so you've landed on the 'Bottleneck' map, and it's a bit of a tricky one. The name's a bit misleading, honestly, it's more like an egg-timer shape. The biggest challenge here is that your usual 'Create Gold' spell is out of commission, and the gem seams aren't infinite. So, you'll need to be a bit more strategic with your gold from the get-go. We've got a couple of portals to deal with, and the main goal is to hit 20,000 points, with a couple of bonus objectives: get one creature to level 8 and group up five others while you're controlling one.
- 1Prepare Your Dungeon: Before you even think about breaking through to the first portal, focus on building out your dungeon. Excavate plenty of gold and make sure you've got a good stash in your treasuries. Build essential rooms like Lairs, Hatcheries, and a Training Room. You'll also want to get any other rooms you think you'll need ready.
- 2Claim the First Portal: Once the game starts offering you options like the Guardroom or a Wooden Bridge, it's a good signal to claim the first portal. This prevents your creatures from just milling about, waiting to be paid, while you're still waiting for the Combat Pit to become available.
- 3Expand and Secure Gold: After excavating around the southern end of the map, you can break through. Build a bridge across the hero gate to the next area. You'll find another portal and more gold seams here, so you shouldn't run out of cash if you're careful.
- 4Avoid the Casino: While you might be tempted, it's probably best to skip building a Casino. Those jackpots can seriously drain your gold reserves, and a rigged casino will just make your creatures grumpy.
- 5Group Possession Bonus: To get the bonus points for grouping creatures, you'll need to wait until your Warlocks have researched the 'Group Possession' spell. As soon as it's available, grab a creature (you'll see them highlighted in pink when they're targeted). Press the '7' key, then left-click on a creature within your line of sight. Once you have five creatures grouped up, you'll bag those bonus points!
- 6Creature Experience and Leveling: While you're waiting for the Combat Pit, you can gain experience for your creatures by triggering Hero incursions. This is a quick way to level them up, but be careful not to let your high-level creatures get killed.
- 7The Combat Pit Strategy: Once the Combat Pit is available, drop your highest-level creatures in there. You can keep healing them as they fight, which allows them to stay in the fight longer and gain experience. Keep this up until one of them reaches level 8. This will get you your bonus points and unlock the next Pet Dungeon when you decide to leave this map.
- Focus on building a strong dungeon economy before pushing into new areas, as gold is limited.
- Don't rush to break portals; build up your infrastructure first.
- Use the Combat Pit strategically to level up a creature to level 8, but protect your high-level assets during Hero incursions.
- The 'Group Possession' spell is key for a quick bonus objective – research it and use it as soon as possible.
- 20,000 points
- One creature reaches level 8
- Five creatures grouped together
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