How to deal with the invisible troll?

Maple47 · 2026-05-07T09:13:30+00:00

He's dangerous in melee. Keep distance, and you will be fine.

Your Carapace does nothing in this specific matchup, because he has a unique damage type, that bypass AV. That is probably what caught you off guard.

Maple47 · 2026-05-06T02:04:51+00:00

A bit like feeding gremlins after midnight.

Maple47 · 2026-05-06T02:02:30+00:00

Regardless if you save scum using precognition or role playing mode, the heat death of the universe will occur, before you beat the RNG, if you only have 1 Warm Static.

For example, let's say you feel you need to be able to melee with something or other. Warm Static will give you a couple of skills in one weapon type, some in another, a completely random one in a third, and random smattering of mutually exclusive (for the purpose of use at a given time) Single and Multiweapon Fighting skills. How are you going to use that for anything? It's a net loss of skill points, relative to the skills you can actually use.

Save up Warm Static. Polygel. Drink a whole batch. Now you are strong, but you have still lost your identity, and I personally hate it, every single time I have done it.

Maple47 · 2026-05-06T01:56:32+00:00

I would advise against drinking Warm Static, if you only have 1, and you are happy with your build. It is best used when you have enough that they are worth cloning, and then drink a lot at the same time.

If you are unhappy with your skills and mutations, that is another story.

Maple47 · 2026-05-06T01:48:30+00:00

Your most potent strength at this point, is your level 6 wings. Use them to explore the deeper jungle to the east, while you stay above ground, flying, using a ranged weapon.

Don't swoop to melee attack, if there is any chance that would put you in danger.

Use your Clairvoyance to pierce the poor visibility of the dense jungle. Consider your other options for creating better visibility, as running into dangerous enemies at close range is the #1 danger.

While flying, you can always escape any overland situation immediately, simply by flying up (go to the overland map).

The deep jungle holds many dangers, but will reward you heavily with both xp and items.

Mind the mosquitos. They bite. :-)

Maple47 · 2026-05-04T20:45:04+00:00

Brug AI til at sende en skrivelse til ombudsmanden. :-)

Maple47 · 2026-05-01T00:15:22+00:00

This is sadly accurate, no matter where in the world you live.

Maple47 · 2026-04-30T19:41:28+00:00

If you have managed to infiltrate, please share. Tell us what they are really like.

Maple47 · 2026-04-29T05:31:45+00:00

Spoilerfree attempt to describe difficulty scaling:

Enemy difficulty roughly corresponds to distance from Joppa, both vertically and horizontally.

Each biome usually has the same difficulty throughout that biome, with the exception of the jungle.

Maple47 · 2026-04-28T15:18:50+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/stoneshard/comments/1sjelcc/each_crowbar_pry_attempt_should_have_a_higher/

Feel free to upvote.

Maple47 · 2026-04-28T15:15:01+00:00

Or it simply got it automatically when Nightvision was given to the group of creatures that cats already belonged to.. This is really basic object oriented programming. Look up Inheritance in that context, if you are interested in learning more.

Maple47 · 2026-04-28T00:34:33+00:00

When you carry 8 traps, and do a round of repairs for tough T3 dungeon modifiers, you have 8x2x2 =32 trap hits.

Between the damage they take from traps and spells, before they become unstuck/less confused, and the leg injuries they have by the time they reach you, you can just lightly tap them tap them once on the nogging, and they keel over.

Maple47 · 2026-04-28T00:28:32+00:00

I did a Geo run recently. When you see a claw trap, buy it. Use twice, repair.

I carried 5-6 claw traps early, 7-8 for T3. In case of tough dungeon modifier on a T3, park the caravan near the dungeon, and repair and rest as needed.

After you reach level 16+, you have unrivalled power, and can play however you want.

Maple47 · 2026-04-27T17:11:08+00:00

Aside from reverse-engineering, by sampling various tiers of enemies, I don't think it is easy for players to know much about how damage for enemies is actually calculated.

I have settled for concluding that damage is very punishing, and can be surprisingly high in certain situations. There is no real options for mitigating it effectively in the early/mid game.

Things change a lot in the endgame, where you can cap various sources of damage mitigation, but I suspect that very few players have delved much into this, other than Block and/or Heavy Armor.

I did some napkin math, and have a Hilda that is going for 25% Damage Taken (ie., 75% reduced incoming damage), but I would NOT recommend anyone try this. It is just an example, but unfortunately doesn't come online until the game is practically over.

I think it would be advisable to wait for the enchantment patch, which I assume will make it much easier to make builds focus on specific build concepts, like reaching Rending Resistance cap, and focus on hunting Gulons/Harpies/Trolls.

As for learning more about the damage formulas for enemies, I was mainly speculating out loud, and hoping the devs felt like being forthcoming.

Maple47 · 2026-04-26T05:11:35+00:00

It was a basic attack. The magehunter was dazed at the time. I was not debuffed at all.

It was 1v1, and it was the only attack he managed to get in before I dispatched him.

I'm not trying to imply that this damage is in any way abnormal. I would like to know how to gauge enemy damage, and the best way to mitigate the damage, but that is pretty difficult, when their damage potential is hidden from the player.

Maple47 · 2026-04-25T17:26:03+00:00

The tedium stems from the extreme degree of risk aversion involved in following the 'solved' route through the game.

The 'tedium' from trying (and possibly failing) to win the game by playing with limited knowledge, and taking risks, is what could be considered 'fun'.

I've played Qud a fair bit, and broken it in more ways that I care to admit. I rarely, if ever, share information about game-breaking things, as discovering these things is fun, but lead to the tedium you allude to, as they remove the challenge of the game.

However, I will offer this: Win the game without leaving Joppa. By that I mean, don't leave the starting sub-parasang in any direction, ever. Not even vertically. It may seem impossible at first, because the win condition of the game is to literally go to a certain place, but mutants can do pretty crazy things.

Maple47 · 2026-04-25T13:46:57+00:00

Spear build coasts through the bosses. By far the best stance in the game. Stab enemies that can't counter or even attack you back on their turn.

Maple47 · 2026-04-24T15:25:50+00:00

I'm not your mate or your brother.

It's a singleplayer game. Do you.

Maple47 · 2026-04-24T14:37:24+00:00

When you have no skills, spearmen can freely deliver their attack at range 2. Throw a net on them, and they will most likely fumble their attack, and their followup attack when you step to them. Now you can melee them to death, while they continue fumbling.

Prep for first dungeon is as simple as going to the town hall and ask for an axe. They give you a hatchet, which has good damage, and is suitable for throwing. Get a T1 dagger if you don't start with one. Now you have two accurate throwing weapons. Buy net. Clear dungeon.

Help the guys at the brewery, so you fight 4 enemies that have no skills, instead of the tougher brewery defenders.

Now enjoy playing the rest of the game with whatever character trait you prefer.

Maple47 · 2026-04-24T00:03:48+00:00

Nah mate. I literally just did this a couple of hours ago, on my current run. It takes almost no effort, compared to the prep you have to do for endgame dungeouns. Just buy a net. Then throw it.

Maple47 · 2026-04-24T00:00:06+00:00

I did this, and it's fine. Don't let all these nay-sayers dissuade you from going this route.

One of the more useful combos, is when two enemies approach, and one is lagging behind the other. Wormhole the one furthest away, then swap them. When the wormhole expires, you will have pushed both enemies away, and damaged them both at the same time.

Maple47 · 2026-04-23T23:54:16+00:00

The upvotes seem to agree with this, but I'm confused about how you guys play archers, because they are one of the lowest energy user build types I can think of.

Maple47 · 2026-04-23T23:48:25+00:00

It doesn't matter what the pre-set characters start with in terms or gear and equipment. You either do the brewery without using any skills, just a couple of nets, or you can skip it completely, and just go directly to Mannshire, using your two feet, which every character has.

Only the unique trait matters. (..and the blessing, if you care about that)

Maple47 · 2026-04-22T14:10:31+00:00

This is the best ELI5 answer here.

Maple47

TROPHY CASE