Finally, the long-awaited release of Orcs Must Die 3 on Steam has taken place, and you can stop screwing up the endless mode in the previous part… or not?

Dedicated to those who start the level again if they miss at least one orc before wave 40.

So, I want to present to you two, as it seems to me, the most reliable strategies for a single passage by a male character, which will allow you to last 40 waves for the coveted five skulls in endless mode. Since, in fact, it is impossible to win it, we will consider this a conditional “victory”. At some point, I raised the bar for myself to “don’t-lose-a-single-portal-points-until-wave-40”, and this is quite feasible at almost all levels.

Let me make a reservation right away, this is not for super-ambitions like going through 100+ waves… 500+ waves… holding out indefinitely until the game freezes or until the moment when it starts playing itself without the help of the player. No, we set a minimum goal – 40 waves, 5 skulls, maximum fun. I don’t pretend to be a genius, everything described below is based on personal experience as a nerd in Orcs Must Die 2.

The two strategies have a common essence, namely: to distract the attention of enemies who are aimed only at the player and inflict maximum damage on him. I’m, of course, talking about gnoll hunters and cyclops mages. In endless mode, these two enemies pose the greatest danger in the future, especially if you want to go through perfectly without deaths or losses until wave 40. There are two ways to distract their attention: guards and bait.

Strategy 1: Guards aka vanlove archers

The essence of the strategy is quite simple: you focus on the guards and clear out the leaked little things, and also take on large enemies. Archers are quite enough for these purposes, but, if you wish, you can also take paladins. They are quite effective at first, but their value will fall with each subsequent wave, when the power of the enemies increases, so before the 25th wave, at the last available pause, it is best to replace all paladins with archers.

Place archers in inaccessible places or behind barricades if possible, as well as directly at portals. If the level has more entrances and exits, archers will become your partner in the game, covering one of the passages while you protect the other. They won’t miss any little thing like kobolds, and if there are flying enemies on the level, I insist that archers are a must-have, and without them the level will be as uncomfortable as possible.

An alternative could be ceiling traps, but in endless mode, every slot is worth its weight in gold – and why waste it on a separate trap for flyers? That’s right – no need. Speaking of slots, of course I have to admit that, together with the guards, you will definitely have to spend one more place on the guardian amulet in order to be able to restore the defenders between waves. Therefore, sometimes it is advisable to take other guards (I prefer paladins), as if at the same time, since the amulet has already been taken.

You will have to protect the archers, especially from gnolls, and in this case sulfur would be an ideal option, since gnolls are afraid of fire. Archers at the portal can be protected by barricades (only if they are needed on the level, there is no point in taking them just for the sake of archers), floor portals and resin.

Of course, you don’t need to focus all your attention just on protecting the archers – they will die and will do it often – everything is fine as long as you have the right amulet to raise them.

You will have to deal with large enemies yourself, floor portals and mushrooms with spores will help here. Here, whoever likes it: drive orcs through the corridors of death or make them your allies.

Archers are undeniably the most versatile https://royal-fortune.uk/login/ strategy, it is winning and can be used at all levels.

Required traps/amulets: archers, wind belt, brimstone, floor portal, guardian amulet, amulet of rage, healing amulet* (*required at all levels up to Caldera, where there is no automatic health recovery from the portal)

When it will help: flying enemies, the presence of many “entrances” or “exits”, when it is impossible to build one route with barricades

Cons: one more slot for the guardian’s amulet is occupied

Strategy 2: Bait aka focus on traps

Why do we need more strategies if there is an ideal win-win strategy with archers?? Mainly for variety. It gets boring to go through each new level over and over again according to the same scheme. So, if you want to focus on traps and corridors of death – go ahead with your imagination, but a mandatory trap that is worth spending money on is bait.

Whatever you do and whatever schemes you build for the most bloodthirsty and cunning reprisal of the orcs, in endless mode you need to think ahead. And there will come a moment when the influx of gnolls will be maximum (wave 19 ฅ(ﾐ>ᆽ◕`ﾐ)∫), or when so many cyclops will come out that it will be impossible to dodge their projectiles and at the same time monitor the flow of orcs. In this case, bait is everything. And again, don’t forget about sulfur – surround the baits with sulfur and fry the gnolls. The corridors of death will cope quite successfully with the cyclops, and at the exit floor portals or mushrooms with spores should be waiting for them. It is advisable not to engage in personal combat with cyclops, especially at later levels. While they are distracted by bait, you can clear out the main stream of orcs, and then hide and destroy them one by one.

I won’t teach inventive citizens how to build corridors of death, but I want to note that in endless mode it is better to focus on traps that push/throw into the abyss, again based on the fact that the power of enemies grows over time and the time to kill, so to speak, “manually” will increase, so anything that gets rid of enemies instantly, and does not cause certain damage, is an ideal option. For the same reason, the wind belt is a must-have. If there are no abysses, then of course you will have to get out, it is better to have weapons and traps of all elements fire + cold + lightning for the full range of enemies.

Required traps/amulets: bait, wind belt, brimstone, floor portal, amulet of rage, healing amulet* (*required at all levels up to Caldera, where there is no automatic health recovery from the portal)

When it will help: in corridors with many walls/floors/ceilings to place traps, if there are chasms/lava at the level

Cons: not suitable in the presence of flying enemies, it will doubtfully help if there are many “entrances” or “exits” and if it is impossible to build one route with barricades

BONUS

Strategy 3: I can handle it myself aka hemorrhoids

Too many traps and too few slots for them. As they say, there are those gnolls and cyclops – you’ll have to spend a couple of levels trying to hide, but you can roam around and collect a bunch of amulets and experiment with different variations of mega-corridors of death. And in general, there are other more dangerous enemies: trolls regenerate, and earth elementals take too long to kill without explosives… there can be many reasons, but if you decide that you can handle it yourself without distracting attention from guards and bait, here are a couple of schemes to help:

— stone staff + lightning ring + wind belt + amulet of rage + floor portal

This scheme is added by any basic cold and fire traps. The mana reserve is large due to the amulet of rage, so it should be enough for a lightning ring and a wind belt. The lightning ring is great for destroying a group of small enemies, flying creatures and trolls. The junk dealer’s amulet is always helpful if there are slots left.

— crossbow with additional upgrade.mana + ice amulet + ragman’s amulet + mushrooms with spores

This scheme is added by any basic slow and fire traps. The ice amulet is perfect against groups of enemies and almost all large ones, it is convenient to freeze from afar. Mana for the amulet will be obtained by headshots from a crossbow, and the ragpicker’s amulet will allow you to save up coins for mushrooms with spores. Carefully: not for handymen who don’t know how to take a headshot

And a couple of separate combinations:

— Trap wall + wind belt – oh, how I underestimated this wall at one time. Firstly, instant removal of enemies, secondly, you can pump up so that large coins fall out. In endless mode it works perfectly, you only need large walls for installation and a free slot

— Resin + floor portal — no discoveries, everything ingenious is simple. Even the most improved portal needs time to recharge, so in combination with resin it’s just the thing. In a good way, resin improves any trap

— Wall arrows + elemental amulet – don’t forget that the walls can be set to both fire and cooling, then the arsenal can be supplemented with an amulet of the opposite element

— Piston/spring trap + abyss – as mentioned above, an ideal scheme for instantly removing orcs

I would also like to note that over time, the most annoying enemies become mountain trolls, who regenerate at incredible speed and even with a ring of lightning, it takes a lot of time to kill them, so mushrooms with spores become the priority of floor portals. However, you can also deal with them using an ice amulet or stunning (then they will not regenerate for a while), and also drive them across floors with sulfur, since they are afraid of fire.

And finally – if all the skulls have already been collected and all levels have been completed and you still want to raise the bar to completing 60+ waves, or maybe 100+ waves, Dungeons and Tight Cliffs are considered the most successful maps for this, so go for it.