The first thing you need to understand if you're going to play Lurdu, is that nearly everything wants to kill you. The birds in the sky, the Velo's on the ground, the aquatics in the ocean, even other herbivores at times, will wish to kill you. You will receive no mercy. You will receive no respite, save for that which you gain by yourself through your own cunning and skill.

You're playing a Lurdusaurs now, welcome to Hard Mode.

Yes, the coloration of your Lurdu does matter in the long run. It matters for most dinosaurs, save for perhaps the largest. A skin that allows you to blend into your environment won't make you invisible, but it will make you harder to notice and keep track of, it is the difference between....



And this.....



However, if you're being nested in you'll often have less control over what colors you end up with. But you can make up for that by changing your colors manually to be darker at the very least. If, like me you have color-related issues, get a friend to help you with the process.

Talent distribution is essential to any up-and-coming Lurdu player! But there is no one way that will serve all Lurdu players, talent points must be placed depending on how you personally will be playing your Lurdu; for although it is every players dream to have points into everything, you gotta survive until that point in the first place.

As a general rule, the more likely you are to be with a herd of Lurdu from the start, the more points you want to put into combat. Why? Because you will both be expected to take part in combat to defend the herd; and you'll want to survive the experience. If you're more likely to play solo most of the time, leaning more heavily towards speed may prove to be to your benefit. Below, I will go over some of the talents and what I think of them.

Persistence

An essential talent for Lurdu no matter the build, ability power is used to both power darts and attacks.

Strong Lungs

Always take at least one point in this, the difference it will make is considerable. Also consider maxing it out for combat against Mosa, who will often prioritize trying to drown you.

Weather Resistance

Useful to avoid lightning killing you- but to be honest, after playing the game for along, long time, I have so far failed to get hit by lightning on any dinosaur I have played. I know it happens, I've seen it happen to people. But personally, it's just never happened to me. Put points into it if you fear luck won't favor you, but always remember that Lurdu can dive underwater during large storms.

Sneaky

Useful for solo Lurdu players, sneaky makes everything you do travel less far audio-wise; with the top levels of it making you all but soundless. This is useful because darting around in the water is -extremely- loud and one of the main ways aquatic carnivores in particular will locate you. Less useful however if you're in a herd and not everyone has sneaky (which will generally be the case).

Slippery

This is your I-don't-want-to-be-eaten-by-Mosa talent. Essential for Lurdu players, the more of it you have, the less threat Mosa are to you. 5/3 allows you to escape from all but the largest Mosa's jaws back onto land- or kill them at your leisure, there is very little they can do to stop you.

Turn while stomping

Essential for combat on land. This is what you will use to defeat Velos, Megs and Itchy's. This allows you to either turn- or dart forward while using your most powerful attack.

Aqua Affinity

Absolutely essential, this effects your speed in water; and to an extent the speed of your dart. No matter what your build is, I suggest getting this. It is also one of the best talents to get inherits in.

Good Parent

Lurdu suffer from Good Parent being abit off-the-beaten-path from more vital skills that Lurdu need to survive. But it is something that can greatly enhance your growth speed and improve the inherits of your children (although not by as much as people tend to think it does). You'll generally want points into this at some point in your Lurdu's life, but when that is depends on your personal playstyle and the server you play in.

Nimble Footed

Often underestimated, but it greatly enhances the turn speed of Turn While Stomping and makes it easier to tail-ride during some circumstances.

Botanist

Get this if you're a broken man that has died on Lurdu a dozen times and just wants to stay on land eating bushes and hiding underneath of Apas.

Thick Skull

The shiny new toy in the Lurdu arsenal. It's directly on the way to talents that you'll want to get anyway and is a must-have skill in general if you intend to be fighting in the water. It's a flat boast to dart damage, the more points you have, the more your dart hurts.

Listed below will be helpful information on how to play Lurdusaurus.


Where should I be on average?

The first thing you need to understand is that you are a semi-aquatic. You exist best within that comfortable spot between land and the water. You want to always be close enough to water that you can escape from either land-born or air-born threats; and always close enough to land that you can dart away from aquatic ones.

Unless you've given up on life and have gone into Botanist, or just want to try surviving off of fat plants, you will need to go into water eventually to get food. Luckily enough, most maps have an abundance of seaweed, allowing you to find your food with ease and fill up quickly. But each time you enter into the water to get that food, you are in danger. Always keep an eye out for aquatic predators and always keep moving. Get in, eat, get out, never linger.

Oh gee, those underwater caves look cool!

Yes, but their also your death. Because the ocean is both a hellscape- and often boring, Mosa and Krono camp these caves looking for victims. If you get attacked by one, your chances aren't good; and although Strong Lungs will increase your oxygen by alot, it won't last forever.

I can't wait to play the game with other herbies! My friend has a massive Apa!

The sad fact of the matter is, Lurdu are the herbivores that benefit the least from having a herd of other herbivore species with them. Most herds will generally stay in places that just aren't conductive towards Lurdu lifestyle; and in many cases, they won't be able to effectively defend you from a large land carnivore. Herd up when you can, but most of the time other Lurdu will be your only company.

I want to splash around in the lakes!

Also a bad idea in general, for two reasons. The first is that these lakes are connected to the caves mentioned above; placing you at an incredibly high risk of being attacked; and the second reason is that the amount of food you'll find there is incredibly low compared to what can be found in the oceans. Often not being enough to feed one good-sized lone Lurdu, let alone multiple.

Aquatics keep finding me and eating me.

When traveling through water, it is best to dart through and leap-frog from one beach to another, limiting an aquatic carnivores ability to notice and attack you. Beyond that, try and travel and eat in shallower waters; few skilled aquatic carnivore players want to risk darting and beaching themselves on land, use that to your advantage.

Where do I want to stay on a map?

You never want to stay anywhere for too long, it makes it too easy to be camped. Once it is known that a Lurdu herd is in the area, carnivores will inevitably come to try to attack. However, Lurdu have the advantage that they can stay in places not normally used by other herbivores. So as long as you migrate around, you'll get attacked much less then your average herbivore herd otherwise might.

I want to eat -all- the delicious seaweed

Try and avoid getting fat if you can, although it will increase your HP while you remain overfed, it's not worth the loss in speed; speed you need on both land and in the water.

Velociraptor

Small but dangerous. Luckily enough Velo's are only dangerous in the hands of rare and skilled players, but when they are they can be the death of you. You can kill a Velo in one hit- but they can make getting that hit in hard. Escape to the sea if the pack looks well organized enough to be a threat to you.

Ichthyovenator

The other semi-aquatic in the game. You'll want to fight Itchy's on land, where their main strength, their mobility, is lessened and your superior damage and defense can carry the day. But never underestimate them, they can be deadly in numbers.

Megalosaurus

If all things are equal, skill/growth and the Lurdu has turn-while-stomping, there is very little reason a Lurdu can't kill a Megalosaurus. One stomp is enough cripple them; making finishing them off easy. However, they can be a serious threat if they outnumber you or are considerably larger.

Acrocanthosaurus
Avoid. While it's possible to kill a smaller Acro, it is rarely worth the risk involved, unless they make the rare mistake of chasing you into water.

Tyrannosaurus rex

The Apex of land Carno's. Avoid, avoid, avoid. There is little hope of a Lurdusaurus winning a fight against even the most unskilled Rex player, even one smaller then they are. Luckily enough, if you play smart, you'll never be in a position where you'll have to deal with a Rex. Save for the extremely rare aqua-built Rex, whom you can still easily out swim or outright kill.

Pteranodon

Mechanically speaking, there's not alot that a Lurdu, or other similar-sized herbivores can do to fight against a combat Pteranodon. Luckily enough, the Developers have recently taken notice of this issue and have already issued a few serious nerfs towards them, with (as of writing this) another on the way. If attacked, head into the water where they can't follow you without being easily killed.

Tropeognathus

While once being similarly broken as it's fellow bird above, it has since been nerfed. Still, a flock of Tropeognathus can still be a serious threat to a lone Lurdu. Kill them if you can, retreat to the water if seriously outnumbered.

Elasmosaurus

The Velo's of the Sea. You're average Elasmo is a fish-eating wimp. But in the hands of a skilled player, they can be a force to be reckoned with; and in the hands of a group of skills players, can scour the sea's clean of life. Figure out which kind you're dealing with; and react accordingly.

Mosasaurus

A common enemy to Lurdu; and the main reason you want Slippery. Provided that the Mosa isn't too much larger then you and your Slippery is high enough, you can use your dart to escape from them onto land OR- allow them to quickly waste all their ability power on you and then kill them with ease.

Kronosaurus

The Apex of the Oceans. The invisible Terror. If a decent sized Krono gets a charge off on you, you will suffer so much injury damage that you can't move anymore. Death will quickly follow. However, they have to hit you with that charge in the first place. It is possible to hear a Krono warming up their charge and dart out of the way in time. A Krono that has missed it's charge is vulnerable and slower then most things in the water are.

Other Herbivores

In some servers, you will possibly be put into a position where you need to fight other Herbivores. Most of the larger ones, such as Sai and Apa, you have no real chance of fighting and defeating. But, most nesting grounds that other herbivore species would want are useless to you, best to retreat and leave them to their own fate.