Cogmind's First Super Gauntlet Run

[Kyzrati]

So as of Beta there are a bunch of new challenge modes, and not all of them have even been attempted yet (really because everyone's still getting into the new regular content!). After winning my first 1.1 run last week, I decided it was time for something a little different: I wanted to see just how hard the hardest challenge mode really is

The challenge modes thread covers all the types (with some sample images), but in short, Super Gauntlet requires that you pass through garrisons to ascend each depth, and blocks off all but one garrison, meaning you have to actually find the (randomly determined) one you can ascend through! Not an easy task

Fortunately the gauntlet only starts once a map can actually contain a garrison, so you have a bit of an opportunity to get prepared in lower Materials, where there aren't any. I got lucky in -8, where there might be one garrison, but in my case there wasn't so I could escape all of Materials normally.

Of course, Materials isn't as tough in that regard because it's relatively small. Factory floors, on the other hand, are massive and you end up trekking forever to hit all the garrisons which are spread across the entire map. Get lucky and the first garrison you find will let you in; unlucky and you have to explore a hundred rooms and corridors before you find the right one! (It's also kinda funny that in this mode you're actually trying to hit the things that in a normal run you might want to steer clear of )

Strategy

I played the run a lot differently from my normal runs, partially influenced by what other players have been doing lately, wanting to try out some new tactics, and partially because this challenge is definitely in a league of its own in terms of difficulty.

First and foremost, as pretty much guaranteed long travel times are going to make the attrition extra unforgiving, I decided that tons of inventory space would be essential. You'll see I was running for 4 Lrg. Storage for much of the game (even in Materials!), something I wouldn't normally do. In terms of slots I made up for that by sticking with only two weapons, later three. (Note: To be honest a heavy flight/hacker bot could've had an easier time finding the right garrisons overall, significantly cutting down on attrition, but then it's hard to fight through garrison interior itself like that so that would be a different kind of challenge... Anyway, something for others to try.)

Despite being a combat bot I also dedicated utility slots to infowar, sometimes two or three, in fact, for things like sensors, terrain scanning, and sometimes hacking. This was also to cut down on attrition and locate garrisons more quickly. I installed botnets on every floor and indexed garrison access as a top priority.

In terms of weapons my aim was to use launchers as much as possible. I got lucky in this regard, finding an early stockpile of Grenade Launchers, and later when those were running low a huge stockpile of Lrn. Missile Launchers <3. To make sure I wouldn't too easily run into matter problems I carried lots of pods, sometimes having up to 600-700 in reserve.

Shock absorbers helped a number of times where I'd just point-blank launcher squads that had gotten too close, though I actually spent about half of my fights using three conventional guns, sometimes cannons, where it seemed more tactically appropriate.

The Run

Here's where I thought I was about to head into my first garrison, on -7/Factory, only to realize that this one's locked--that's what the darker central G implies... (yes, I'm new at this )


A couple thousand turns later I found the right one.


The interior wasn't too hard. Having tons of matter and opening up with launchers is quite effective in garrisons, especially since there aren't any other bots to aggro or reinforcements to be called in... This is where the reinforcements come from, haha, so just blast everything.

I didn't take any images on -6, which was a lot like -7. You know, just thousands of turns trying to find the right garrison and blowing everything up along the way!

-5/Factory is where things got really hairy. There are four garrisons access points on a Factory floor, and I had to visit every single one before finding the unlocked one.

I started out in fairly good shape.


And was growing pretty confident with all those missiles


The ARCs were getting pretty persistent after a while, though!

(Note: That Chainsword helped me out for thousands of turns as I did a lot of shortcutting through walls and sneak attacking Recyclers and Operators.)

Quite a few times things were looking pretty bad.

There was as good chance I was going to lose, or at least not be able to recover, from that battle, being completely surrounded, but I went all out with launchers--starting with the east (which caused a chain reaction and took out the southern Swarmer, too), then gunned down the north and west bots. I did, however aggro that (locked) garrison to the west and had to deal with a couple more Sentries, which I totally wasn't equipped to deal with by that point... so I retreated east, towards the last garrison on the floor (I'd indexed them earlier and was visiting them one by one).

The sentries followed, picking up another couple friends along the way, and I thought this was going to be the end (184 core!).

The plan was to overload that Fabricator and zap them all, but that plan was ruined the very next turn when a Hunter shot right through me and took it out . So I instead used the corridors and three projectile weapons to gun them all down. The cycler and integrity analyzer did an excellent job! I killed them all with 140 integrity to spare.

And still had to make it... all the way over there to escape.

I'd just picked up a stash of thrusters, so I figured the only way to make it was to get there as fast as possible. I packed away some of the storage, which was no longer essential since I'd used up so many spares, and picked up speed to try to reach the garrison before more assaults were dispatched.

And wow I actually made it both into and through the garrison! With only 140 core! Hehe.

I destroyed every single robot in that place, in the process managing to run out of matter just as I took out the last squad. (Launchers did most of the work, though I resorted to guns and sometimes my Axe when I could as I noticed matter getting dangerously low.)

Here I am having come out the other side

No matter and Programmers on the way!

I axed them to death and took both their matter and that of the Recycler which then came by to clean up. Back in business! (Who said wheels are terrible? Okay, me, but I have no choice here )


But considering the alert was perpetually high, and I was getting assaults immediately on entry, I had zero expectations of making it out of -4 alive.

Pretty quickly found some better propulsion, at least:


I searched around a good bit and found two locked garrisons in my corner of the map, which happened to be pretty isolated so by the time I'd finally confirmed that and made my way towards the center of the map, it was really hard to avoid fights every 25 steps. At least I escaped from a Behemoth that was alerted by a passing Grunt... This main corridor got messy, and it became more difficult to handle open fights without explosives, so for example here I chopped my way back into the room at the east and took out pursuers with melee instead.


Then I did a lot of room hopping to the south and west, with engineers in tow, to try to cover ground quickly without exposing myself. Without armor I was starting to take a lot of core damage, though, and kept getting pincered by assaults.


I did find an armor cache shortly after that, but it was too little too late--by then I had squads coming from all directions and a horribly indefensible position...


And that's where I went down! It was a really great run, though, considering the odds!

Score: 36,618

Cogmind - Beta 1.2 @@@ ROGUELIKE MODE

Name: Kyzrati

---[ CORE DESTROYED ]---

Performance
-------------
Evolutions (6)             3000
Robots Destroyed (443)     2215
Value Destroyed (16802)    16802
Prototype IDs (12)         240
Alien Tech Used (0)        0
Bonus (14361)              14361
              TOTAL SCORE: 36618

Cogmind
---------
Core Integrity             0/1150
Matter                     300/300
Energy                     100/100
System Corruption          36%
Temperature                Cool (0)
Location                   -4/Factory

Parts
-------
Power (1)
  (None)
Propulsion (5)
  Flexi-carbon Leg
Utility (10)
  Advanced Heat Sink
  Advanced Coolant Injector
  Large Storage Unit
  Large Storage Unit
  Large Storage Unit
  Improved Core Analyzer
  Improved Medium Armor Plating
  Improved Medium Armor Plating
Weapon (3)
  Railgun
  Railgun
  Railgun
Inventory (22)
  Advanced Coolant Injector
  Advanced Coolant Injector
  Medium Storage Unit
  Medium Matter Pod
  High-capacity Matter Pod
  Matter Compressor
  Structural Scanner
  Electrolaser
  Heavy Plasma Cannon
  Heavy Plasma Cannon
  Heavy Neutron Cannon
  Heavy Assault Rifle
  High-powered Shotgun
  KE Penetrator
  KE Penetrator
  Railgun
  Antimatter Cannon
  Antimatter Cannon
  Lance
  Force Lance

Peak State
------------
Power
  Light Quantum Reactor
Propulsion
  Flexi-carbon Leg
  Flexi-carbon Leg
  Flexi-carbon Leg
  Myomer Leg
  Myomer Leg
Utility
  Improved Heat Sink
  Advanced Heat Sink
  Advanced Coolant Injector
  Medium Storage Unit
  Large Storage Unit
  Large Storage Unit
  Large Storage Unit
  Matter Compressor
  Experimental Melee Analysis Suite
  System Guard
Weapon
  KE Penetrator
  KE Penetrator
  Force Lance
Inventory
  Micro Fission Core
  Antimatter Reactor
  Improved Treads
  Heavy Treads
  Flexi-carbon Leg
  Advanced Heat Sink
  Advanced Coolant Injector
  Advanced Coolant Injector
  Medium Storage Unit
  Medium Storage Unit
  Large Storage Unit
  Medium Matter Pod
  High-capacity Matter Pod
  High-powered Shock Rifle
  Tesla Rifle
  Electrolaser
  HERF Cannon
  Heavy Neutron Cannon
  Heavy Assault Rifle
  KE Penetrator
  Long-range Missile Launcher
  Fusion Bomb Launcher
  Lance
[Rating: 105]

Favorites
-----------
Power                      Micro Fission Core
  Engine                   Improved Deuterium Engine
  Power Core               Micro Fission Core
  Reactor                  Cold Fusion Reactor
Propulsion                 Carbon-fiber Leg
  Treads                   Improved Treads
  Wheel                    Wheel
  Leg                      Carbon-fiber Leg
  Hover Unit               Antigrav System
  Flight Unit              VTOL Module
Utility                    Large Storage Unit
  Device                   Improved Weapon Cycler
  Storage                  Large Storage Unit
  Processor                Advanced Targeting Computer
  Hackware                 Hacking Suite
  Protection               Improved Light Armor Plating
Weapon                     Gauss Rifle
  Energy Gun               Gatling Laser
  Energy Cannon            Light EM Pulse Cannon
  Ballistic Gun            Gauss Rifle
  Ballistic Cannon         Assault Cannon
  Launcher                 Long-range Missile Launcher
  Slashing Weapon          Chainsword
  Piercing Weapon          Force Lance

Stats
-------
Bonus Breakdown            14361
  Super Gauntlet           11939
  High Alert Combat Kills  1822
  Entered Garrisons        600
Classes Destroyed          17
  Worker                   39
  Builder                  24
  Tunneler                 1
  Hauler                   10
  Recycler                 29
  Mechanic                 5
  Operator                 5
  Watcher                  10
  Swarmer                  83
  Saboteur                 5
  Grunt                    133
  Brawler                  10
  Duelist                  12
  Protector                2
  Sentry                   36
  Hunter                   16
  Programmer               23
Major NPCs Destroyed       0
Best Kill Streak           19
  Combat Bots Only         15
Best States                0
  Heat Dissipation         114
  Coolant Potential        100
  Energy Capacity          340
  Matter Capacity          850
  Sight Range              16
  Robot Scan Range         20
  Terrain Scan Range       24
  Terrain Scan Density     10
  Base Temperature (-)     200
  Corruption Prevention    12
  Armor Coverage (%)       35
  Resistance: EX           50
  Core Shielding           30
  Propulsion Shielding     33
  Weapon Cycling           20
  Phase Shifting           5
  Evasion (%)              48
  Targeting Accuracy       8
  Melee Accuracy           12
  Target Analysis          6
  Core Analysis            8
  Armor Integrity Analysis 50
  Recoil Reduction         3
  Offensive Hacking        20
Matter Collected           12110
  Salvage Created          17286
Parts Attached             505
  Power                    33
  Propulsion               123
  Utility                  112
  Weapon                   237
Parts Lost                 173
  Power                    11
  Propulsion               67
  Utility                  38
  Weapon                   57
Average Slot Usage (%)     94
  Naked Turns              2
Spaces Moved               6249
  Fastest Speed (%)        200
  Average Speed (%)        64
  Slowest Speed (%)        37
  Overloaded Moves         0
  Propulsion Burnouts      0
  Targets Rammed           4
  Targets Kicked           1
  Targets Crushed          0
  Cave-ins Triggered       0
Heaviest Build             106
  Greatest Support         115
  Greatest Overweight (x)  33
  Average Overweight (x)   1
Largest Inventory          28
  Average Capacity         23
  Most Carried             28
  Average Carried          21
  Final Capacity           22
  Final Carried            20
Damage Taken               83113
  Core                     3278
  Absorbed by Shields      0
Average Core Remaining (%) 59
  Depth 11 Exit            100
  Depth 10 Exit            63
  Depth 9 Exit             94
  Depth 8 Exit             84
  Depth 7 Exit             15
  Depth 6 Exit             51
  Depth 5 Exit             8
Volleys Fired              805
  Largest                  3
  Hottest                  289
Shots Fired                1580
  Gun                      945
  Cannon                   414
  Launcher                 221
  Special                  0
  Kinetic                  854
  Thermal                  227
  Explosive                196
  Electromagnetic          303
  Secondary Targets        9
Shots Hit Robots           1150
  Core Hits                980
  Critical Hits            24
  Critical Kills           10
  Critical Parts Destroyed 13
Overload Shots             0
  Energy Bleed             0
  Heat Surge               0
  Short Circuit            0
  Meltdown                 0
Melee Attacks              139
  Impact                   0
  Slashing                 94
  Piercing                 45
  Sneak Attacks            28
  Follow-up Attacks        0
Damage Inflicted           52466
  Projectiles              20867
  Explosions               26926
  Melee                    4647
  Ramming                  26
  Kinetic                  13164
  Thermal                  4725
  Explosive                23923
  Electromagnetic          5981
  Impact                   0
  Slashing                 3557
  Piercing                 1090
Overflow Damage            344
  Projectiles              0
  Explosions               240
  Melee                    104
Self-Inflicted Damage      1132
  Shots                    48
  Rammed                   3
Highest Temperature        435
  Average Temperature      79
  Received Heat Transfer   5712
  Shutdowns                1
  Interference             1
  Short Circuit            1
Highest Corruption         36
  Average Corruption       9
  Corruption Purged        0
  Message Errors           67
  Matter Fused             70
  Heat Flow Error          37
  Energy Discharge         34
  Parts Rejected           5
  Data loss (database)     47
  Misfires                 15
  Misdirections            26
  Targeting Errors         169
  Weapon Failures          19
  Depth 9 End              2
  Depth 7 End              6
  Depth 6 End              4
  Depth 5 End              17
  Impact Corruptions       0
Haulers Intercepted        10
Robots Corrupted           14
  Parts Fried              39
  Impact Corruptions       0
Robots Melted              0
  Parts Melted             3
  Heat Transferred         6833
Parts Sabotaged            0
Parts Stolen               0
Parts Stripped             0
Parts Self-Destructed      0
  Prevented                0
Power Chain Reactions      10
Communications Jammed      0
Times Spotted              487
  Peak Tracking Total      10
  Tactical Retreats        58
Parts Field Recycled       0
  Retrieved Matter         0
Parts Merge Repaired       0
Drone Launches             8
  Drone Recoveries         0
Traps Triggered            9
  Indirectly               0
Trap Hack Attempts         0
  Triggered                0
  Disarmed                 0
  Reprogrammed             0
  Reused                   1
Traps Extracted            0
  Installed                0
  Triggered                1
Machines Disabled          45
Machines Sabotaged         0
Data Cores Recovered       2
  Used                     1
Machines Hacked            26
  Terminals                22
  Fabricators              0
  Repair Stations          0
  Recycling Units          1
  Scanalyzers              0
  Garrison Access          3
Total Hacks                41
  Successful               14
  Failed                   27
  Catastrophic             13
  Database Lockouts        0
  Manual                   29
  Unauthorized             27
  Terminals                36
  Fabricators              0
  Repair Stations          0
  Recycling Units          2
  Scanalyzers              0
  Garrison Access          3
Terminal Hacks             6
  Prototype ID Bank        1
  Garrison Index           1
  Unreport Threat          3
  Garrison Status          1
Hacking Detections         23
  Full Trace Events        1
  Feedback Events          0
  Feedback Corruption      0
  Feedback Hackware Fried  0
  Feedback Blocked         0
Trojans Installed          5
  Terminals                5
  Fabricators              0
  Repair Stations          0
  Recycling Units          0
  Scanalyzers              0
  Garrison Access          0
Fabricators Overloaded     0
Fabricator Schematic DLs   0
Garrisons Disabled         2
Garrisons Compromised      0
Fab Network Shutdowns      0
Robot Schematics Acquired  0
  Robots Built             0
  Total Robot Build Rating 0
  Robot Fabrication Matter 0
  Robot Fabrication Time   0
Part Schematics Acquired   0
  Parts Built              0
  Total Part Build Rating  0
  Part Fabrication Matter  0
  Part Fabrication Time    0
Parts Repaired             0
  Part Repair Time         0
Parts Recycled             0
  Recycled Matter          0
  Retrieved Matter         0
  Retrieved Components     0
Parts Scanalyzed           0
  Part Schematics Acquired 0
  Parts Damaged            0
Robot Analysis Total       0
Robots Rewired             0
Robots Hacked              0
  Non-combat               0
  Combat                   0
Robot Hack Failures        0
Allies Hacked              0
Hacks Repelled             0
Total Allies               6
  Largest Group            5
  Highest-Rated Group      34
  Highest-Rated Ally       7
Total Orders               1
  EXPLORE                  1
Terraforming Orders        0
  Walls Tunneled           0
Ally Attacks               0
  Total Damage             0
  Kills                    0
Allies Corrupted           0
Allies Melted              0
Peak Influence             1482
  Average Influence        532
  Final Influence          1171
Maximum Alert Level        4
  Low Security (%)         27
  Level 1                  10
  Level 2                  26
  Level 3                  24
  Level 4                  11
  Level 5                  0
Triggered High Security    0
  Turns                    0
Squads Dispatched          61
  Investigation            2
  Extermination            12
  Reinforcement            26
  Assault                  13
  Garrison                 8
  Intercept                0
Derelict Logs Recovered    0
Scrap Searched             0
Exploration Rate (%)       33
  Regions Visited          12
  Pre-discovered Areas     0
Garrisons Visited          3
  Relays Disabled          1
  Generators Disabled      0
Network Hubs Disabled      0
Actions Taken              8625
Turns Passed               13596
  Depth 11                 70
  Depth 10                 747
  Depth 9                  897
  Depth 8                  392
  Depth 7                  3654
  Depth 6                  2050
  Depth 5                  3227
  Depth 4                  2559
  Scrapyard                70
  Materials                1629
  Factory                  8863
  Mines                    407
  Garrison                 2627

Prototype IDs
---------------
Cold Fusion Reactor
Heavy Antimatter Reactor
Enhanced Flexi-carbon Leg
Experimental Melee Analysis Suite
Precision Energy Filter
Cooled Plasma Cannon
Improved Assault Rifle
Antimatter Cannon

Fabricated
------------
Nothing

Alien Tech Used
-----------------
None

Route
-------
-11/Scrapyard
-10/Materials
-10/Mines (discovered 2 exits: *Mat x2)
-9/Materials
-8/Materials
-7/Factory (discovered 4 exits: *Fac x2 / [*Sto] / Gar)
-7/Garrison (discovered 3 exits: *Fac x3)
-6/Factory (discovered 2 exits: [*Low] / Gar)
-6/Garrison (discovered 3 exits: *Fac x3)
-5/Factory (discovered 3 exits: *Fac x2 / Gar)
-5/Garrison (discovered 3 exits: *Fac x3)
-4/Factory (discovered 1 exit: [*Upp])

Challenges
------------
Super Gauntlet

Game
------
Seed: VisualSurveybotBoosters
  Manual?: 0
Play Time: 229 min
  Cumulative: 229 min
Sessions: 15
Easy Mode: 0
Game No.: 2
  Easier: 0
  Easiest: 0
Win Type: -
  Total: 0
  Types: 0/0/0/0/0/0/0
Lore%: 0
Gallery%: 14

Options
---------
ASCII: 1
Keyboard: 1
Movement: Numpad
Fullscreen: 0
Font: 12/Smallcaps
Map View: 76x50
FOV Handling: Fade In

[close]

Addendum

I almost had what may have been an opportunity to make it to a -4 garrison (or at least increase the chances) when I came across a huge stash of awesome flight units, but even though I stuck to non-explosives for that fight, someone else's stray shot took out a nearby reactor that trashed them all :/

And although most of my tactical decisions worked out okay, getting myself out of serious trouble again and again, one critical error lost me a lot of parts on -5: To take out a Swarmer squad I chose to hit the power conduits they were filtering through with a missile at point blank range, but I forgot to equip my own EX resistance right before doing that, so I was basically at the epicenter of like 5-6 explosions all at once xD. Yes they were all dead, but man did that hurt!

[zxc]

That was quite the chunky run. You held on for a looooooong time. Great writeup.

[Kyzrati]

Thanks. And it felt great to be doing something completely different for a change, which is what challenges are certainly good for!

I'm actually kinda interested in honing the tactics and trying that again, though I'm thinking it's also possible that run happened to have its share of beginner's luck and I'll totally get crushed next time xD