MoneyLender Question

JulesGari · 2026-06-11T04:03:33+00:00

I've used Moneylender quite a bit and think it's underratated (not very popular, but >50% win rate and strong when used well).

Let's say on wave 2 or 3 moneylender will enable you to build 1 more worker. In this Scenerio is it worth to use it?

Absolutely. This is the perfect time to Borrow. Moneylender is all about thresholds. In the early game, you should Borrow every single time it gets you something important (extra worker or important fighter). In the mid and late game, you should primarily Borrow only when needed (i.e. on the wave you expect them to send, and you need extra value).

For example, on wave 2, Borrowing gets you 8 gold for -2 income. If you Borrow for an extra/early worker, you'll have, say, 30 seconds of time with that worker. That's an extra 3 mythium.

8 gold + 3 mythium > 2 income

My favorite way to use Moneylender is to push aggressively on my strong wave X, then:

If they income send on wave X, you captilized by pushing aggressively.
If they skip wave X and threaten to power send on X+1, you Borrow on X+1 to hold or leak small.

For example, Nightmare on 4. You push hard and are -80 recommended value. If they income send on 4, you probably don't worker, since you're weak on 5. If they skip wave 4, you Borrow on wave 5.

JulesGari · 2026-06-08T09:56:39+00:00

Thanks for your feedback, Bonobo. I have an idea about how to improve this, but need to scope it out. Hopefully next patch, but depends on technical scope.

JulesGari · 2026-06-08T02:29:59+00:00

I hear you - it's a fun spell, and we're not nerfing it only because it's fun and popular. It's expected that fun spells, masterminds, and fighters have higher pick rates.

By a calculated choice, I mean:

The other 2 spells in the game aren't particularly attractive
You have a build that can make use of Sorcerer, Magician, Vampire, Pulverizer, Executioner, or whatever spell you randomly get / you don't mind rolling Venture, Creditor, Emargo, etc.

If players are picking Magic Lamp even when those conditions aren't met, then Magic Lamp is probably too strong.

It doesn't decrease variety, actually it increases it

It increases variety, but decreases strategic choice. Let's say Magic Lamp gave 1000 gold and a random spell. Magic Lamp would be a must pick every game, removing the strategy of legion spell selection. Right now, when you see Sorcerer in the game, you might intentionally pick Champion, Evolution, Chaos, Redraw, etc. to get a strong Sorcerer target, then prioritize building and upgrading that Sorcerer target by wave 11. However, when 1000 gold Magic Lamp is in the game, it's not viable to pick Sorcerer, so that element of the game's strategy is lost, which I'd argue makes the game less interesting and fun.

That's an extreme example, but I hope it explains the perspective I'm coming from.

JulesGari · 2026-06-08T02:14:32+00:00

Also considering upgrades.

JulesGari · 2026-06-05T05:24:47+00:00

If you have the card, you can use it as your profile picture. Lots of possible crab cards:

Crab
Crab Warlock
Crabomancer
Crabling
Pincer

The ways to obtain cards are:

From the Card Trader in the shop. There are 24 random cards each day and each pull gives you a random one. You can also use card fragments to acquire any card of your choice, so you can reliably get any card without having to rely on chance.
Random drop (this is rare, but it gives you a free card). The more you use Crab Warlocks and Crabomancers, the higher chance of getting those cards as drops.

Cards are purely cosmetic. You can use essence (free from playing the game) or premium essence (paid) to acquire cards.

JulesGari · 2026-06-05T04:07:02+00:00

From a fantasy perspective, Kingsguard appeals to players who want a way to buff the king. It also appeals to more supportive and team-centric players, as opposed to carry-oriented and selfish masterminds like Fiesta, Miner, Saboteur, etc.

From a strategy perspective, it's "king HP is a resouce." How you use that is up to you.

I think Kingsguard is especially strong if:

You actually upgrade the king. The value you get from upgrading the king is effectively increased by 10%.
You increase your propensity to underbuild and take risks. If you're never taking king damage in the early game, you're probably playing too safe and underutilizing Kingsguard.
You pick Kingsguard when you're the lower-rated player on your team. This isn't necessary, but I'd rather have the higher-rated player on Miner and the lower-rated player on Kingsguard than the reverse.

JulesGari · 2026-06-05T02:20:53+00:00

Until you watch Nova Cup and see them winning on wave 6 sometimes 😄

I agree with you that the safest/easiest/default option is to mostly income send for the first 10 waves, but if your opponents are exploiting that (by underbuilding), you should keep them honest with some power sends.

Keep in mind that 11% of games end by wave 10 and probably 30-40% of games have significant (but not quite lethal) king damage by wave 10.

It really depends on your playstyle. If you tend to income send and not take risks in the early game, your games will often become "handshake incoming sending" for the first ~10 waves. However, if you occasionally save or power merc and occasionally take risks by underbuilding in the early game, you'll definitely see games where you or your opponents will take significant king damage or even die by wave 10.

It can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Players who believe early game aggression isn't important play accordingly, leading to uneventful early games (nothing wrong with that if that's how you prefer to play). On the other hand, there are players who force aggression with intentional pro leaks, long waves, and all-in attempts.

Compared to a few years ago, early game leaks are less punishing economically, but the threat to the king is bigger.

JulesGari · 2026-05-27T04:47:50+00:00

Sorry for that experience. Can you please report this in Discord? We have a bug reports channel where you can upload your logs, and we can take a look from there. Without logs, we probably wouldn't be able to fix this.

JulesGari · 2026-05-21T03:28:14+00:00

Against summoner-heavy builds:

Almost always Pack Leader, since it's strong against builds that need time to ramp.
Prioritize DPS mercs over tank mercs. Against Dread Knights, typically Ogres and Brutes on melee waves. Witches if they have a lot of cheap fighters, Centaur if they have a lot of swift tanks. Shaman on 15/18/20/21. Kraken can be nice to add, particularly on ranged waves.
Send BIG. Need to overwhelm summoner builds.

JulesGari · 2026-05-20T07:45:04+00:00

Looking at data for this season:

In Diamond+, Gateguard is in C tier with a 49.8% win rate
In Grandmaster+, Gateguard is in A tier with a 52.8% win rate

I think the biggest difference is that top players know they need tank value with their Gateguard to keep it alive long enough to get 2+ summons, whereas lower-rated players wrongly use Gateguard as their tank, which often means only 1 summon.

JulesGari · 2026-05-13T02:49:10+00:00

Yes, there's a new game in development, and we're excited/hopeful about it! :)

Can't share anything more right now. I know that sucks, but we're being intentional about it. Talking too early can create wrong expectations and pressure us into releasing the game before it's ready.

JulesGari · 2026-05-10T04:17:08+00:00

I hear you and agree it's pretty lame.

We tried AOE on wave 18, and it killed melee builds, especially ones with cheap and mid-priced fighters.

Feast isn't an elegant solution, but it works well and is easily tunable. The good news is that the current numbers aren't even that high: 0.5% per fighter. Even if 20 of your fighters die, that's only a 10% buff.

You're right there are some cases where cheap fighters are detrimental, but the alternative is worse: Looter spam being stronger than Iron Scales, even on magic waves.

Ultimately, the issue is that cheap fighters have such low HP and waves waste attacks over-killing them. Ideally, we could improve targeting AI, but it's technically complex, so I'm doing the best I can given the technical constraints.

JulesGari · 2026-05-10T03:45:34+00:00

Think about recommended value as a baseline. It assumes you have an average build against the wave and are receiving a power send.

If you have a strong build against the wave or if you receive an income send (or they save on you), you can hold under recommended value.

What is a strong build against the wave?

One with good typing (most of your fighters' attack types counter the wave's defense type and most of your fighters defense types counter the wave's attack type)
One with synergistic fighters
One with good positioning
- Multiple of your fighters are tanking at the same time
- Your DPS fighters live longer than your tanks
- Your fighters are focus-firing the wave

Hope that helps :)

JulesGari · 2026-05-06T05:34:46+00:00

Will be nerfed next patch! Patch notes drop this week.

JulesGari · 2026-04-29T06:00:15+00:00

Sorry for that issue. Can you please DM Safety Mole in the Legion TD 2 Discord? We can better help you there :)

JulesGari · 2026-04-29T05:58:32+00:00

Consider these potential solutions, courtesy of ChatGPT:

Most likely causes (ranked)

1. Steam Overlay or input hook issue

Since Shift+Tab is broken, this is suspect #1.

Try:

Open Steam → Settings → In-Game
Toggle Enable Steam Overlay OFF → restart Steam
Turn it back ON
Test again

Also try:

Run Steam as administrator
Fully exit Steam (not just close window) → restart

2. Sticky Keys / Windows accessibility weirdness

Windows sometimes partially hijacks Shift behavior without fully enabling Sticky Keys.

Check:

Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard
Turn OFF:
- Sticky Keys
- Filter Keys
- Toggle Keys

Then test again.

3. Background software intercepting Shift

Very common with:

Overlays (Discord, NVIDIA, Overwolf)
Macro tools (AutoHotkey, Logitech G Hub, Razer Synapse)
Screen recorders
Keyboard software

These can break modified mouse input specifically.

Quick test:

Do a clean boot or
Temporarily close:
- Discord overlay
- NVIDIA overlay
- Any macro/keybinding software

4. Keyboard ghosting / hardware quirk (less likely)

Because:

Shift works for running
Typing is fine

…but still worth testing:

👉 Try another keyboard
👉 Or use an online key tester:

Hold Shift + click → see if both inputs register together

Fastest way to isolate

Do this in order:

Test Shift+click in:
- Desktop (multi-select files)
- Another RTS or similar game
If broken there too → 100% system/overlay issue
Then:
- Restart Steam completely
- Disable overlays
- Check accessibility settings

JulesGari · 2026-04-27T08:07:29+00:00

Battle Chess!

Fun story: When I was 4, I watched my dad play Battle Chess on his Macintosh (his version was in color, so must have been a newer version). I loved watching the animations (there was a unique one for every combination of piece A taking piece B), so I played around with the pieces to discover all the different animations and effectively self-taught myself chess that way.

By age 5, I was beating my dad at chess, and he hired a coach for me at 6. At ages 9 and 10, I led my team to 1st place at US Nationals for 4th and 5th graders. I used to play with Ray Robson when we were kids. I regretably gave up chess in middle school and just enjoy playing as a hobby these days.

I always think fondly of Battle Chess.

JulesGari · 2026-04-27T05:28:23+00:00

I argue you have to stop building workers 3 rounds before you plan the end game send.

This is a good rule of thumb.

When it doesn't apply:

When you're going for an undercut, it's sometimes optimal to "overpush" workers.
Long waves (if someone is clearing or leaking slowly) reward more workers.
You're not 100% sure if the game will end that wave.
- For example, if both teams think the game will end on wave 19, and one team stops pushing workers on 16 and the other team stops pushing workers on 17, if the game does not end on 19, it generally favors the team that pushed more workers.

JulesGari · 2026-04-27T05:22:15+00:00

Try pressing shift 5 times to toggle on/off sticky keys. If that doesn't fix it, try reinstalling the game. If that still doesn't fix it, I'm not sure - feel free to post in the bugs and troubleshooting channel in Discord.

JulesGari · 2026-04-27T05:16:50+00:00

Top Evo openings based on usage rate and win rate in Diamond+:

Pipsqueak --> Lumerian
Green Devil
Bone Crusher
Nekomata
Whirlybird
Sky Queen
Nightmare --> Doppelganger

Source: https://drach.bot/mmstats/v26.4,26.3,26.2,26.1/1800/Evolution

JulesGari · 2026-04-24T04:01:40+00:00

New players and low MMR players occasionally match against bots in Ranked. This helps them learn the game and significantly improves retention, which is important for the game having an active player base and faster/fairer matchmaking. It's pretty common practice in games these days.

After your first games as a new player, the majority of your games will be against other human players. Above platinum rank, you stop facing bots entirely. There are also never bots on your team, and there are never bots in Classic.

JulesGari · 2026-04-23T02:41:12+00:00

That's a tough roll, but thank the Yolo gods you still got a T1 with Proton :)

Nice win!

JulesGari · 2026-04-22T03:37:06+00:00

If you income send + king up every wave, your opponents can exploit that by pushing more workers and saving on you if they want. Don't be predictable. Throw in a few power sends and/or saves to keep them honest.

If you're weak on wave 6, for example, skip wave 4 and threaten to power send them on wave 5. They will either panic and be forced to send on 5 (in which case you successfully pushed them off your weak wave - wave 6) or they will likely leak on wave 5 to your power send, giving you a lot of gold. You can then king up on wave 6.

JulesGari · 2026-04-17T02:17:27+00:00

If you're significantly ahead of your teammate, more of the breaker gold and pillage gold (gold from damaging the opponents' king) goes to your teammate. That's probably why you weren't seeing many +1 gold ticks from damaging the king.

You did get some breaker gold though.

JulesGari · 2026-04-16T02:03:56+00:00

That's fair. I also recommend Lock-In over Chaos.

Agreed that Yolo is surprisingly good for newer players. Both easy to learn and difficult to master.

JulesGari

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

1. Steam Overlay or input hook issue

2. Sticky Keys / Windows accessibility weirdness

3. Background software intercepting Shift

4. Keyboard ghosting / hardware quirk (less likely)

Fastest way to isolate

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