Players are quickly taking a shine to one of the newest roguelikes on Steam, Loop Hero. With unique innovations to the roguelike and autobattler genres, Loop Hero turns simple mechanics and graphics into an addictive, well, loop.
While the basic mechanics of Loop Hero may be simple to execute, they are somewhat obtuse for new players. The tutorial doesn't explain everything to players, and the meta of the game is often understood only after much trial and error. With that in mind, here's a guide for players just starting off in Loop Hero, containing tips and tricks to help make the loop a little smoother.
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Before going over the finer points, here are the basics of Loop Hero explained. The player controls a hero (Fighter, Rogue, or Necromancer) travelling along a road set out in a loop that begins and ends with their camp. Along the way, they will encounter monsters, which they fight automatically. Winning earns equipment and cards. Cards alter the landscape to improve the player and loop for better rewards.
Some basic gameplay options include pausing the game with right click and unpausing it the same way. This allows for equipment to be changed and cards to be used. In the options menu, the game can also be set to auto-pause at certain points for ease of use.
Tiles do a bunch of things, including increasing stats and HP as well as spawning new enemies. Some of these combinations are particularly useful, such as creating a Mountain Peak. This is done by building a 3x3 grid of mountains or rocks and increases player HP by a large amount, as well as spawning Harpies as enemies.
However, not all tile combinations are so explicit. For example, spawning a swamp near a vampire mansion is not an official combo, but it will stop vampire enemies on the swamp tile from healing. Similarly, some tiles like Goblin Camps (formed by placing 10 rocks/mountains on the map) are just awful. Saving Oblivion cards, which can delete map features, for tiles like these is a good idea.
Out of all the stats the player can have, Defense is one of the most important besides HP. While Evasion works on a percentage, Defense removes a flat amount of damage from attacks, which really adds up. This is not equally important across all Loop Hero classes, but is never not useful. It's also a good idea to invest in Magic damage where possible, as it ignores defense.
Loop Hero is available now on PC.