Alluris is a fantasy RPG with the mechanics of Tinder. As a speed game, the mechanics are fairly simple but there is skill involved in being efficient, recognizing cards quickly and making quick decisions to have a successful run. The game is very RNG heavy so quick thinking is crucial. In this guide I will attempt to explain the different parts of the game in relation to speed play and give people who are just starting out a reference.
Glossary
- Mechanics and Optimal Play
- Categories A. Any% B. Any% NoDK C. Any% Default
- Strategies A. Towns (Alluris/Bradford) B. The Road C. The Desert D.The Frozen Wastes E. The Caves F.The Mountains
1.Mechanics and Optimal Play
Text box canceling is a big part of the run. If you swipe a card that results in a text box, you can click the screen on the frame after you let go of the card to cancel the text box. It won't even pop up on the screen if you are fast enough. You can prep a text box cancel after every swipe just to be sure but if you master card recognition you don't have to prep a cancel after every swipe, saving frames for each card that doesn’t have a text box.
Due to card animations, you are only able to swipe cards once they have completely flipped over. There seems to be a couple of frames after the card has flipped over where you can’t grab it as well so you will have to practice the exact timing for when you can grab the card.
You also need to be sure to practice fully completing a swipe. It sounds silly but if you do a lot of runs in a row it is surprisingly fatiguing.
With practice, you will find yourself getting faster and recognizing cards quicker.
2.Categories
All categories of the game have the same objective. Kill Baron Dread. The general story of the game is based upon your journey as a hero and the looming threat of Baron Dread. While this game was originally intended to be more about the journey than the destination, killing the Baron is the one thing in the game besides death that ends a playthrough, defining it as “The End” of the game.
A- Any%
Any% is a pretty straight forward category. The only requirement is to use the DarkKnight background. I prefer to use the Treant race because it is the "best" one but it can be done with any race or gender.
As a DarkKnight you start as Baron Dread's child, conveniently placing you right at the end of the game. Your very first option is to either carry out Baron Dread's request to go and kill the Wizard in the tower or to tell him to piss off and go about your own business. You swipe left to deny his request and you now have to face a gauntlet of high level enemies. You will take some damage but not enough to fear death. You can fight the enemies in this section with reckless abandon.
Essentially, you swipe right until the game is over. Along the way you pick up the Soul Blade which one hit kills Baron Dread.
I am fairly confident the developers put in this whole sequence of events in as a meme. This category is kind of a meme. The limiting factor on this run is how fast you can swipe the cards and getting perfect RNG with encounters. There is otherwise no skill or quick thinking.
B- Any% NoDK
The only restriction for this category is that you cannot use the DarkKnight background.
Currently, the setup is Male/Treant/Chef. There are a few reasons for this
The Chef Background starts you at the royal “whodunnit” sequence at the beginning of the game. We need money to buy The Map of the Mountains and this is currently the best way to get it. The Treant is OP. It has a ton of health and starts with Extreme Strength which is needed to get the Soul Blade
You find yourself at a royal party preparing for a fancy dinner. Just as the festivities start, all of the lights go out and the Queen falls dead. You are tasked with finding out who the murderer was. Spoiler Alert: She ain’t ded. After investigating you discover that she instructed the housemaid to poison her with a temporary sleep poison so that she can go and explore the world. Once you find that out, you track her down to a boat and convince her to stay, partially due to her husband's interest in dried meats and cheeses. Completing this sequence awards you with a ton of gold and experience to get you started off. The main things you need to complete the scenario is to…
Go to the Salon and get the Queens Letter Get the potion from the Kitchen Go to the Larder Go to the Garden and have the Elves Examine the Potion
If you miss any steps it will fail.
The path in the whodunnit is (R= Swipe Right, L=Swipe Left, Number before is number of swipes)
2R-6L-1R-6L-1R-1L-1R-1L-9R
Once you leave the docks you are now free to explore the wide world of Alluris. Heal in town and head to the Frozen Wastes.
(**)Once in the Frozen wastes, grab the Soul Blade and head back to the road.
After that, head to the Caves and make your way down to the Sinister Hole.
Take the concealed staircase to the Undercity (If you get lucky), buy the Map to the Mountains and head back to the Underdark.
Take the Concealed Staircase again to the Dwarven Fortress (Be sure to heal) and exit to the Mountains.
Kill monsters until you find the Ominous Stone, go to Baron Dread’s Lair and take him out with the Soul Blade.
C- Any% Default
This category’s restriction is that you must play is a Male/Human/Farmer. It is referred to as “Default” because this is the default configuration for starting a run. New Game was considered but it would be unreasonable to expect people to delete all of their progress. Because of the nature of the game, this is sufficient.
You start out in Alluris. Kill the ogre, bring your uncle to the inn and sell your treasures. From here your goal is to get to level 8 as quickly as possible. The Golem section in the Ancient Pyramid requires you to have 73 health. At level 7 you have 71 health...so unfortunately level 8 is necessary with current strats. While in Alluris you pick up the potion to deliver to Bradford.
Once you leave town you go straight to Bradford to deliver the potion. It is more efficient to deliver the potion before doing any exp grinding because you will have a higher health pool once you heal. Be sure to heal AFTER delivering the potion, leveling does not heal you.
Leaving Bradford, your goal is to get to The Caves, The Forest or the Mountains. Stop at the first one you get to and hit all numbered mob cards on the way. If you hit the Forest and get the option for the Mountains, go there because the encounters award more exp. Once you hit level 8 you are good to move on to the next section.
Next you want to heal and get to the Ancient Pyramid in the Dunes as quickly as possible. If you hit the Dunes before you get to a town, go ahead and go there because you can heal in the Oasis.
The reason we do the Ancient Pyramid is because it gives us Extreme Strength and a bunch of gold. There is a specific sequence to get to the top and if you mess it up you get thrown out and have to start over. Make it through the doors, Kill the Golems, Talk to the Lady and Finish the Genies Quiz. Make sure you select Extreme Strength.
The Sequence is
1L-16R-1L-1R-2L-4R
The rest of the run is exactly like the Any% NoDK run. I put (**) at the section to reference for the rest of the run.
3.Strategies
In this section I will outline specific tips about different areas pertaining to the runs.
A- Towns (Alluris/Bradford)
In Town, you will always be presented with 5 cards. These cards are random. If you skip a card, that card will not be presented again. So let’s say you miss a Tavern, you will lose 4 to 5 seconds to go through another Town cycle. The dream in Default is to get potion right after you complete the initial sequence of getting to the town and resting at the Tavern.
B- The Road
On the Road, you have about 10-15 different cards that can be presented. If you get a card to go to a location you will not be presented that card again for quite a while. So basically, if you skip the Dunes/Wastes or anything else for that matter on accident, you should probably reset.
There is an encounter with an old Gypsie woman that you can get on the Road. Always pick her up. If you leave her in the Undercity you will get a Soul Stone which can revive you.
C- The Desert
As stated in the Default route description, you can go to the Oasis to heal. In the Oasis you will want to swipe right on the Spring water to heal. This can actually be faster than healing in town but it depends on the run. In order to make the Oasis more consistent, if you are presented the option to buy a Horse you will want to pick it up. The Horse will always lead you to the Oasis and prevent you from failing the check to get there.
D- The Frozen Wastes
There are one of two ways to get the Soul Blade in the Frozen wastes. You either encounter the Yeti or go into the Ice Cave. If you get the Yeti first, attempt to run from the encounter which puts you next to the Soul Blade and into the Ice Cave. If you are presented the Ice Cave first, go there and get the sword. If you skip the Ice Cave it isn't the end of the run. You just keep going until you hit a Yeti. If you accidently kill the Yeti, reset.
E- The Caves
The Caves are the big reset point. Basically when you are in the cave you are hoping to get the Ancient Ruins and then straight into the Sinister Hole. If you have spoken with the Peaceful Wizard in Bradford and encounter the Cute Bug in the cave, you will not get the Ancient Ruins that Cycle.
Once you get down to the Sinister Hole and the Concealed Staircase you have basically a 50% chance to roll the Undercity or the Dwarven Fortress. If you get the Dwarven Fortress you have to reset.
If you manage to get the Undercity, you will want to buy the map, heal at one of the Run Down Inns if you can (not required) and go back in to the Underdark. A solid majority of the time you will be presented the Concealed Staircase again which (in my experience) will always take you to the Dwarven Fortress. From the Fortress you can heal and leave to the Mountains
F- The Mountains
In the Mountains you can only find the Ominous Stone if you have purchased the map. There is a chance that you will get the Wizard’s Tower or Hilbador but if you do, just keep swiping until you find the path to Baron Dread. Once facing Baron Dread, you will have a random number of encounters until you meet the man himself. If you have managed the Old Lady backup you will be fine but your run can still die if you don't have the Soul Stone.
Conclusion
I hope this guide has been helpful. If you have any questions or feedback just hit up Dyelawn57 on Twitter or Discord
Thank you!
