Welcome Tallowmere player to this advanced guide! If you did not already read it, you might want to check out Klokinator's Ultimate Guide to Tallowmere. It covers basic stuffs and some more advanced topics. While some of the things Klokinator mentioned in his guide might be repeated here, my goal is to help adventurers who have a hard time getting consistently past room thirty. I use "Room 30" as a reference because once you reach that point, you are usually good to go for as long as you want... providing you do not make any fatal mistake!

Before starting, I wish to mention that English is not my native language so please forgive any weird turn of phrase and the plethora of grammar errors...

Simple 2D graphics, basic animations and seemingly over simplified controls... How hard can this game be? Well, do not underestimate the treachery of Lady Tallowmere dungeon. What may seems like a simple game is, actually, rather deep and well put together. When I first started playing, a "good run" was if I reached room 20. I kept trying and trying until, eventually, some sort of "gameplay system" emerged and, with it, a certain feeling of mastery...

Yes and yes. Surviving in Tallowmere depend on three things (more on the crazy part later on):

• Knowing how to position yourself.
  
• Knowing how to use your gears.
  
• Knowing your enemies.

This is as simple as that. I am not a particularly fast reacting player. I might have been when I was younger but not anymore. I am not good at fast arcade style racing game or fighting game where you have to react very quickly to what you see on screen. At first glance, one could put Tallowmere into those kind of games. I think not. Patience and planning are more important on the long run.

Heroes do jump a lot. To avoid projectiles, to get over obstacles, for fun and, to "hover"...

Wait! To hover?

Yes. In Tallowmere, to jump, being on a flat, sturdy, generally recognize as a platform surface is not mandatory. You can jump in mid air too. You can jump from anywhere! So the term "hovering" refer to this particular in-game aspect.

You can do all of the other actions a hero do while hovering: Blocking ("Shielded Hovering"), attacking, changing weapons, quaffing a potion, activating stuffs, opening chests, grabbing loot and, of course, dying.

But let's start with the basics. The "standard jump":

Pressing the jump button allows the hero to perform a complete or "standard" jump as shown in this animation.














Precision jumping is an important aspect of Tallowmere: Traps are everywhere so being able to avoid them, most of the time, is important. The delay between the moment you press the button and the moment you release it do not change the height or power of any jump you perform. Deciding when you press the button, timing, is the main factor.

Precision jumping is a question of timing... and practice. (It took more than twenty tries before the hero managed to pull this one off).










Another important aspect of jumping in Tallowmere is that, from time to time, the hero will perform a flip while executing it, seemingly at random interval. While this looks good, this is not without consequences:

While cloaked with the Emerald Dagger spell, the hero always perform a flip when jumping. Getting damaged, while cloaked, as a small chance of breaking the spell. Notice how the hero, while moving vertically through a spiked shaft, gets hurt because of the flipping.





























This can be avoided if the hero center himself properly in the shaft before executing the ascension.

































"Shielded hovering" can be performed by repeatedly jumping while blocking. Jumping height is greatly reduced when the hero's shield is up. This can be used to improve hovering precision.


Precision hovering or "shielded hovering".

Your single most important piece of hardware. I'll go as far as to say that you can survive longer with just a shield and nothing else rather than the other way around. The shield allows you to block any attacks in the direction you are facing. As long as you are blocking and you have your back against a wall, you are invincible... well almost. Your own thrown grenades, if they land right under your feet or on top of your head constitute a somewhat grey area. Blocking is not guaranteed to work in those cases.

This illustrate the maximum safe angle (well, just past the safe point actually) at which you can block attack. The same occurs for the hero lower body part. Knowing this is of the utmost importance.




















Block. Block early. Block often. When you have your shield raised, you cannot turn around. Instead, the hero walk backward. Being able to quickly change your blocking direction (left or right) is also a very important skill to master:

The hero performing quick about-face maneuvers.












We haven't detailed each enemies and traps that the hero will face in the dungeon yet but there is an important detail concerning stun bomb that you need to be aware of: Depending on the hero distance from an Ogre (that's the name of the baddies that throws said bomb), the following can occur:

Here, the hero, despite having raised his shield, still get hit (from behind the head) by the stun bomb.







Here, an advanced blocking technique dubbed the "Shielded Hop" is executed. To perform this, the player tap the jump button at the right moment while having a shield raised.






Here, the hero is standing very close to the Ogre (the closest possible). In this position, the bomb gets blocked.







The hero cannot attack while blocking, naturally. But this doesn't mean he cannot inflict damage to the bad guys! Take a look at another advanced blocking technique dubbed the "Shield Push".

The hero pushing enemies into a Buzzsaw trap! Similar results can be achieved by pushing foes into spiked walls.









While blocking, the hero cannot change weapon either. This can be problematic in certain situation:

The hero cannot attack the assaulting Leaper because the rocket would probably kill both him and the monster! But, using a well timed "cycle weapon" command, he manage to get out of this precarious situation.









Using the Shield to keep your character facing in the desired direction is something that should become an automatism. This can be used to put your back against a wall, in a safer position.

The hero using the Shield to move backward slightly after a short fall to stay on top of... spikes!












That covers most of the advanced shield maneuvers. Of particular importance is the fact that while blocking, the hero jump height is reduced significantly. This can be used, however, as an advantage: Repeatedly pressing the jump button while blocking is known as "Shielded Hovering". Due to the particular properties of the jumping mechanic in Tallowmere, this can be used in a variety of situation both to protect oneself and to perform precise mid-air maneuvers.

In contrast to the hero only mean of defense, the shield, things get more complicated on the offensive side. You have 7 weapons (8, I know, read on to get my point) at your disposal:

The "Weapon Wheel" showing all 8 weapons. You are going to use this UI element a lot so learn it. It needs to become like a second nature. Quickly changing weapons on demand is essential to become a powerful hero...


On the picture above, I emphasize the importance of the primary weapon group. In the picture, those are the ones pointed by green arrows. Up, down, left and right on the directional controls. These four directions are easy to press without making mistakes unlike the secondary group, shown in red. Pressing diagonals quickly and consistently is a problem so you want to assign the four most used weapons to the primary (green) group. More on this on each weapon section.


Reorganize the weapon wheel to suit your preferences. Always using the same configuration is important so you do not hesitate when switching weapon. You can move weapon around the wheel by pressing the "activate" function when the wheel is open.









The Axe: The starting hero weapon of choice

The hero starting weapon. Not particularly effective on small or fast moving enemies. Terrible against boss. You will want to switch to something better as soon as possible. This is a secondary weapon.


The Katana: Slice and dice

A fast weapon. Unique due to it's short range teleporting ability. Use it only when there is no risk of hitting a trap when attacking, like a spiked wall near a foe. Can get you pass all Boss if you do not have anything better to use. This is a secondary weapon.


The Flamethrower: Fire and forget

Also an unique short range weapon. Ignite enemies which cause them to burn to death! Won't work for long against Boss. Has the ability to fire through walls. Can be a life saver in tight, crowded situation. The most important secondary weapon.

The hero igniting an unsuspecting enemy throught a wall. A crucial technique to learn and use.













The Emerald Dagger: Backstabbing and scouting

Grant the hero the ability to move unseen. Touching an enemy, blocking or opening a chest will reveal the hero so be careful. Also, getting damaged by traps as a small chance of breaking the spell... Stealth backstabbing on an enemy deal very high damage killing all non-elite foes in one hit. You are going to be using this weapon a lot so it must be part of your primary group.

The Emerald Dagger is also an invaluable tool for scouting into unknown territory. Here, the hero is not sure of what lies below where the red arrow is pointing.



Turning invisible and using hovering, the hero can scout danger an prepare accordingly instead of stumbling into the unknown (and possibly, death).


The Grenades: The great equalizer

A ranged weapon. Very useful to get rid of a group of enemies below you. Throwing with precision takes a lot of practice as the hero throws (sometimes with incredible force!) toward what he consider to be the closest threat. A double edged weapon as it is unpredictable particularly when there are a lot of enemies in a complex dungeon passage. Avoid throwing into Buzzsaw (more on that on the Traps section) and on certain types of foes (more on that on the Enemies section). This is a primary weapon.


The Rocket Launcher: Delivering explosive destruction since 2016

Also a ranged weapon. Auto aimed by the hero to what he perceive as the closest threat. Usually predictable. Can turn against the hero in certain cases (more on that later). Very effective on slow moving enemies on an open area. Cause massive recoil that needs to be managed for continuous firing. Very effective against most of the Boss. "Hovering Fire" is possible but takes great practice. A primary weapon.


The hero performing recoil compensation technique when continuously firing the Rocket Launcher. This is achieved by performing small and constant directional impulse in the direction of firing.


Shown here is the main problem the hero will face when attempting "hovering fire": Seemingly at random interval, the regular jump animation is replaced with a "spinning" animation causing unwanted backward firing possibly hurting the hero. The solution: stop firing for a brief moment when executing "hovering jumps".










The Ice Wand: A question of angle

A medium range, seeking weapon. Auto aimed by the hero. A jack of all trade weapon. Can get you out of almost any situation. Very effective against Boss and small, fast foes. Ice shard will seek their target even through Buzzsaw. Once hit by an ice shard, enemy will appear frozen and will have reduced movement and firing speed. Only drawback: You have to be completely immobile to fire it... Still, your main primary weapon.

Getting on the edge of a block, the hero can fire almost at a ninety degree angle (above and below). This is an important aspect of the Ice Wand usage: Learning how to "get on the edge".































The Ice Wand maximum range. The hero will point the wand toward any in range enemies. Being able to estimate if a foe is within range or not is important to use the Ice Wand effectively.



A frozen Ogre. While still capable of moving and attacking, this limit an enemy response speed.


The Spiked Club: Oh, you mean this?

I'd like to discuss briefly about this (not a) weapon... In one word: useless. There is not a single situation in Tallowmere where the Spiked Club will perform better than any of the other seven weapons. It has a tendency to hit ceiling, spikes and walls rather than the enemy in front of you. It is not stronger than the Axe. The "charging" mechanic, which prevent you from moving, is dangerous and ineffective at best. Sell it when you get the chance to make a profit...

Ah yes! Potions...

Well, since you asked, I am going to give you my opinion on potions: A real hero do not rely on potions.

Why? Because they represent a controllable random element or, if you prefer, an unreliable factor and, believe me, there are plenty of uncontrollable random factor in Lady Tallowmere dungeon already!

1- Using healing potions is not viable when under heavy pressure. It is not when you are almost dead and there are still a dozen enemies attacking you that bringing down your shield, switch your active weapon for an healing potion, drink it, switch back to the last weapon then bringing back up your shield is going to be a simple maneuver to perform! No, you better concentrate on timing your blocking left and right correctly instead.

2- Relying on anti-stun potion is even worst. They last for a while (5 minutes if I remember correctly) but they tend to wear off at the worst possible moment! Again here, no, you are best learning how to use proper defensive tactics against Ogres and Bloat instead. Being consistent and patient is the key on the long run...

3- Killing enemies often drop healing hearts and globes which can heal you quickly without any special intervention other than walking on it (possibly with your shield up while blocking attacks).

4- But even healing hearts and globes represent some form of randomness. The best healing method is through the passive "regain health" or the active "health on kill" buff that various pieces of equipment can grant you. The first one will activate when you have not received any damage for a short period of time and you can regain health that way even while blocking attacks! The second one heal you when you kill any foes. Now, that's a proper reward!

There is only a short period, the first 10 or so room, where healing potion could be useful. Early on, you probably don't have "healing effect" gears yet. You just managed to clear, say, Room 4, but you are left with 2 HP. Now, drinking a potion before moving on to the next room would be nice.

Don't forget that Lady Tallowmere will heal you for free, completely. Just need to use a Teleporter. Stepping back to the last room you just cleared if necessary, to use said Teleporter.

One last tip: Some weapons do have the passive "regain health" effect. Maybe that useless Spiked Club you just picked up have it! Why not switch to it and wait to be healed before continuing?



Another extra last tip: Disabling healing potion and anti-stun potion via "The Punisher" character "Punishments" is actually a good thing to do: That way, chest will never drop potions as loot! More chances to get better gears quicker!

That's a fact, dungeon do have traps. Lots of them. In Tallowmere they come in three flavours: Spikes, Acid Spiters and Buzzsaw.


Spikes

Possibly older than the very concept of traps itself, spikes, well, are spiky! Of the three traps you will encounter, this is the only one that you cannot defend against with the shield. Hitting a spikes on the ceiling, on a wall or walking on one will damage you equally whether you are blocking or not. The "Physical Resistance" attribute help in mitigating the "hurtness" factor. Enemies will get hurt if they come in contact with them.

A typical spiked block. Hitting this one on any side will cause some amount of suffering... Spikes are particularly dangerous for the new hero: Without proper gears to protect or heal oneself, they can be a show stopper.









Acid Spiters

Representing Death itself, those nasty skulls will surely complicate your dungeoneering on numerous occasion. An Acid Spiter will only trigger itself if it as a linear line of sight with the hero, no matter the distance. But there are some good news: You can use a varieties of advanced techniques to protect yourself from them. The "Acid Resistance" attribute also help reducing the damage received. Acid Spiter are not triggered by enemies and will not damage them.

An untriggered Acid Spiter waiting for the hero...








The hero receiving acid directly in his face! Not pleasant...












The same hero receiving acid through his shield. Still, somewhat unpleasant. Damages, in this particular case, are reduced by a factor of ten. Non negligible.










The hero, taking no special precaution, activate an Acid Spiter.











The hero facing an Acid Spiter while blocking. Notice that the spiter remain inactive for as long as the shield is held up.










Another advanced technique: "Too close for comfort". The hero needs to be as close as possible to the spiter before it fires to avoid being hurt.









A ceiling mounted Acid Spiter. The hero keeps moving, triggering it but avoiding damage.






The same ceiling mounter Acid Spiter but this time the hero is cloaked by the Emerald Dagger spell. Totally undetected.





The "blind spot" of a ceiling mounted Acid Spiter. This only works if you are standing on the block directly below it.













Finally, the maximum range of an Acid Spiter: Roughly three and a half blocks.


Buzzsaw

Magical spinning blades moving back and forth between two points in space. Their sizes varies and their maximum speed is dependent on their travel distance: The farther the travel distance, the faster they move. Just like Spikes, the "Physical Resistance" attribute reduce damage taken and they will damage enemies if they come in contact with them. Of particular importance is the fact that grenades and Buzzsaw do not cooperate very well. While the grenades are not going to explode after hitting a Buzzsaw, they are going to react violently and get redirected with great strength, sometimes right behind the hero!

Image showing two different sized Buzzsaw.






















The hero cut by a Buzzsaw unshielded.


























The same hero being damaged by a Buzzsaw this time with the shield raised suffering nine time less damage.

























Depending on their sizes and surrounding blocks, it is sometime possible to stand still without getting hit by the blade.


























Other times, it is just not possible to go through unharmed...



















Because it damage enemies too, a Buzzsaw can even help you in certain circumstances! Just be patient and let it do the job.

Let's take a closer look at the hero opposition. All enemies have strengths and, sometimes, some weaknesses. Learning how to exploit their weaknesses or at least understanding how they behave is crucial for any hero. All enemies can be dangerous. Stronger, deadlier and more resistant "Elite" version exist: Never underestimate the presence of any Elite! Try to position yourself so that any Elite present cannot attack you while you deal with ordinary foes.

Here, I am going to summarize, in a table, the behaviors of each enemies. For more detailed tips and techniques, read the corresponding section.

Small, fast and annoying these terms describe a Zaerie. Not particularly resistant, they can become a nuisance when in large numbers (read, more than five) or when attacking while you are fighting other bad guys. They sometimes kill themselves by flying into traps. They are the only enemies that do not come in "Elite" version.

What you should do: Keep them in front of you. Dispatch them with the Ice Wand or, if there is enough space and no other enemies around, with the Katana.

What you should not do: Ignore them for too long when other enemies are present. Try to kill them with explosives. Try to kill them with the Emerald Dagger.

Leapers are a special case when compared to other enemies. They won't notice you unless you are very close to them. But there is a but... Even if they are not alerted, if they take any damage, be it from a trap or indirectly from others enemies, they will enter "Fury Mode". In Fury Mode they have only one goal: Get to you and stab you to death! They move very fast and can do "hovering jumps" just like you, so you are never really safe anywhere.

What you should do: Kill them before they enter Fury Mode. The Ice Wand is very effective against them as it slow them down.

What you should not do: Attack them with explosive when they are in Fury Mode. They will likely reach your position before you can finish them off... Fighting in close quarter with explosives can be detrimental to the hero's health. Attack them with the Emerald Dagger when detected.

Elite variant: Never underestimate an Elite! An Elite Leaper can kill you with just a few hits if you are not well equipped. Avoid close combat at all cost. Use the Ice Wand.

Dealing with an Elite Leaper: Use the Ice Wand.

Bloat are like Islamic terrorists: No brain. Carrying explosives. Have no self preservation mechanisms. The hero can actually use their suicidal tendencies as a weapon. When they explode, they will paralyze and damage the unshielded hero as well as any enemies that stand too close. They will also paralyze any enemies that comes into contact with their gibs for a short time. Once they spot the hero, they act a little like a Leaper: They will use hover jumps to try and get to your position.

What you should do: Force them to self explode by touching them and then getting away or facing them with your shield up possibly shield pushing them near other foes to maximize the carnage.

What you should not do: Eliminate them in close combat.

Elite variant: Never underestimate an Elite! An Elite Bloat deals a lot more damage when they explode. Other than that, use the same tactics mentioned above.

Flail Knights attack by spinning their flail around them in a circle that expand slightly as the attack phase progress before shrinking back. When they spot you, they will jump once toward you. This strange behavior can cause problem for the surprised hero. You can block the flail but it will "go through you", dealing damage in the process if you are too close when doing so.

What you should do: Kill them from a distance using explosives or the Ice Wand.

What you should not: Attempt to fight them in close combat. The flail expansion/contraction movement is kind of hard to predict not to mention they will do the jump thing when they spot you.

Elite variant: Never underestimate an Elite, especially and Elite Flail Knight! They will kill you with a few hits if you are dumb enough to go face to face with one. Patient is the key. Use the "Flamethrower thru a wall" technique if you can and let them burn to death! If there is one in a lower position than yours and the blocks layout allow for it, spam a dozen grenades wait for the explosion then do it again.

Archer fire arrows. With a bow. Nothing special here. What is special is that you will have a hard time getting close to one as they will push you if you get too close. Doesn't seem like much but it can ruin the day... The arrow they fire will get stopped by any obstacle. Like most ranged foes, they only attack if they have a line of sight on the hero and there is no other bad guy in their firing lane.

What you should do: Teach them a lesson from a safe distance with the Ice Wand, the Rocket Launcher or, if there is no traps and no Ogres nearby, with the Katana. Stay on the move.

What you should not do: Shield push them. Let them fire at you from steep angles. Try to "insert yourself" between a spiked wall and an Archer.

Elite variant: Never underestimate an Elite! Usually, normal Archer do not deal high damage so you may be tempted to treat Elite Archer like normal Archer. Mistake. They do a lot more damage.


Staying on the move is a good tactics against Archer.

Conductors are ranged attacker. They attack using lightning so any item with the "Lightning Resistance" characteristic will help in reducing damage received. Their "zapping" deal damage instantly. No travel time so shielding timing is important. Unlike other ranged foes, they have limited range. But it can be surprising from how far they can electrocute you!

What you should do: Kill them one by one. The Ice Wand, the Emerald Dagger, the Axe and the Flamethrower are good options. Take advantage of the area of effect dealing damage to surrounding foes when you block.

What you should not do: Rush into combat with several of them at different heights. Attack them on the open with the Grenades. If they hit you while you are spamming grenades, the area of effect damage will trigger grenades that are close to you... Bad idea!

Elite variant: Never underestimate an Elite! Elite Conductors are very, very dangerous. If you neglected to properly equip yourself with "Lightning Resistance" or "All Resistance" gear, you might be surprise how fast they can turn you into history!


A Conductor maximum ligthning bolt range: Roughly 7 blocks. Note that they continue to attack even when out of range...

Take advantage of the splash damage caused by their lightning bolt. They can even electrocute themselves!

The epitomized incarnation of a mage... that... control fire! Ranged attacker with a special twist: Their fireballs will travel through obstacle and other foes in a straight line. Like other ranged enemies, they must have line of sight with the hero to fire. The fireball they cast is slow moving compared to other ranged attacker and their attack pattern, the way they move hands when ready to cast, makes them predictable. Any gear with the "Fire Resistance" attribute will help when fighting them.

What you should do: Time your blocking between attack to avoid being hit by the fireball. Use the Ice Wand or, from farther away, the Rocket Launcher. Close combat is also possible.

What you should not do: Let several of them attack you from different angle. Beside forcing you almost exclusively on the defense, the size of their projectile, even more so if several are present on screen, can obstruct your view considerably.

Elite variant: Never underestimate and Elite! Elite Fire Mage should be handled like normal ones but pay extra attention to their firing animation to avoid receiving painful damage. Like Conductors with lightning, if you didn't make sure some of your gears have "Fire Resistance" or "All Resistance" you might be in for an unpleasant surprise if they hit you...


The hero quickly and efficiently backstabbing an Elite Fire Mage.

Ah! Ogre... Such a pretty little monster throwing inoffensive purple bottle, NOT!

Chances are, if you are reading this, you already know they represent perfected trouble. Ogre are ranged attacker. They need line of sight with the hero to throw their nasty Stun Potion. But, unlike others, they will throw it even if another villain is standing behind you and them.

Their throwing motion starts slowly with a lob that can cause trouble, even at this stage (see the section on the shield for more information) but the real problem is that their potion travel through anything AND has seeking ability. If you do not block, it will hit you one hundred percent of the time! They never miss! To make matter even worse, the potion accelerate continuously from the moment it is thrown. If an Ogre spot you from far away and throws a potion at you, good luck blocking it if you did not notice early!

The potion will stun and damage you, if not blocked. The duration of the stun can be reduced if you have gears with the "Stun Reduction" property. The damage can be reduced by the "Physical Resistance" property. Drinking an Anti-Stun potion will negate, for a time, the Stun effect but not the damage.

What you should do: Position yourself to minimize the number of Ogres that have line of sight on you. Block the potions thrown at you (easier said than done). Eliminate these troublemakers quickly with the Ice Wand, the Flamethrower or from a far, with the Rocket Launcher. Backstabbing is also a good idea if there is only one present.

What you should not do: Have Ogre on both sides. Stay within "lobbing" range of their potions. Attack several of them with the Katana. Attack one when there is a Feeler on the other side.

Elite variant: Never underestimate an Elite! Elite Ogre deal a lot more damage. Use the Flamethrower from a safe position when possible.

{LINK REMOVED}Check out this long GIF animation to see a good example of several techniques mentioned on this guide: "Shielded hovering", Flamethrower usage, "Shield push" and quick weapon selection are all used together to take down an Elite Ogre and a normal one quickly and efficiently... in Room 85.

Feeler are the second monster capable of flying in Tallowmere. When not alerted, they patrol corridors as well as open areas both horizontally and vertically. If they spot the hero, they stop and try to catch him with some sort of sticky appendage that they throw.

The appendage will stick to you whether you block it or not. If you block, it stays on you as long as you keep you shield up, you break line of sight with the Feeler or the appendage is hit by a Buzzsaw trap, an Archer arrow or by the blast radius of a Conductor lightning bolt.

The trouble starts when you do not block said appendage... In that case, the Feeler will reel you in, literally, to its position. Inflicting initial damage when the sticky thing hit you and, this is the important part, additional damage if you "struggle". Struggling in that case mean pressing the attack button repeatedly. A starting hero can get killed on the spot if he struggle. So don't.

When the Feeler begin to reel you in, do not press any button until it release you (quite possibly to your doom). That is where the difficulties usually begin but, if the creature is alone and/or you are still alive, you should, at that point, immediately turn to face it and draw you shield to prevent another similar action from its part.

What you should do: Keep it in front of you at all time. Kill it first if you can otherwise, attempt to distract it away from the mobs. The Ice Wand is the best weapon to use since the creature could be hanging right in the middle of a big room limiting close combat opportunities. The Katana is also a viable weapon on an isolated Feeler. Let it make the first move but be sure you block, this way, it won't surprise you with its attack.

What you should not do: Attempt to kill other enemies while it as spotted you, ignoring it for too long. Positioning yourself between a Feeler and an Ogre or, even worse, another Feeler. Attacking it with the Emerald Dagger. Attacking it with the Rocket Launcher: If it manage to reel you in while you are blasting away at it, you will likely die from your own rocket explosions!

Elite variant: Never underestimate an Elite! An Elite Feeler, aside from dealing more damage, is also much more resistant. You have little chance of killing one without it retaliating so stay in control. Don't miss that next blocking move! If you have the opportunity, use the "Flamethrower through wall" technique: Fire and forget.


Staying in control of an Elite Feeler to stay alive!

Usually, Boss are not that hard to defeat... but only if you have the right weapon. Room layout can also, in rare cases, be a problem: Some dastardly placed traps can make the combat harder.

In Tallowmere, there are 3 Boss and 5 special "event" Room. You will encounter them randomly at different interval usually early in your adventuring. In most runs, you will have seen (and cleared) all of them by the time you reach Room 30. The first Boss can be encountered as early as Room 7... This can be a big problem if you did not manage to outfit yourself with adequate gear. Don't forget that you can always get back "Home" via a Teleporter and check if the "Wandering Merchant" there as anything interesting to offer in case you are lacking adequate weaponry.


A lucky hero: After getting through 4 Room, he already have the two most versatile weapons to beat all Boss! This won't always be the case.

The Hydra



This three headed acid spiting monster is easier to beat than its appearance first suggest. Any "Acid Resistance" gear will help you in the fight. In the more complicated cases, a Buzzsaw, or two, can hinder the hero.

What you should do: Kill it with the Rocket Launcher either by putting your back against a wall or performing "Recoil compensation". Block the slow moving acid cloud that it spits when necessary, resuming attacking when the way is cleared. Use the Ice Wand as a second choice weapon or the Katana as a third choice weapon.

What you should not do: Get too close to it and fall into the acid pool. Attack it with the Axe, the Emerald Dagger or the Grenades. Ignore the acid clouds.


The Hydra getting it's proverbial butt kicked!


Jazza



Jazza, also known as the Mechanical Nightmare, attack the hero by ejecting "energy disc" at random around itself. These fast moving discs can bounce off walls a few times. Blocking them is not that hard but sometime, bouncing can surprise the hero. From time to time he also emit a "weapon disturbance" lightning ball: It moves slowly but as seeking capability and cannot be blocked. It won't hurt the hero but will cause it's active weapon to be swapped with another weapon in its possession. Annoying, yes, but rarely more than that... Any gear with the "Lightning Resistance" bonus will mitigate any damage received.

What you should do: Make sure the Room he is in is clear of other enemies before giving your complete attention to Jazza. Watch him closely to detect the "weapon disturbance" lightning ball and get ready to change back to the desired weapon after getting hit by it. Kill it with the Katana or, as a second choice, the Rocket Launcher.

What you should not do: Only focus on attacking it without paying attention to its own attacks. Attack it with the Axe, the Emerald Dagger or the Grenades. Loose track of your active weapon.


An example of a tough situation: Without any ideal weapons to fight, the hero will have a hard time defeating the Mechanical Nightmare...



(Bad) Mr. Bigguns



Mr. Bigguns, after drinking "The Laxative", turn into a ferocious spikes throwing beast. The event preceding the actual fight is unique: You start in a Room with various enemies similar to any other you might have encountered. When you reach the last section, near the exit gate, Lady Tallowmere is held captive into an hanging cage with Mr. Bigguns, still in it's normal form, waiting on one of two nearby platform. When you talk to Lady Tallowmere, she ask you to get back "Home" and talk to "Old Man Mazaar" so he can hand you a special potion, "The Laxative" to purge Mr. Bigguns and recover the cage key he mistakenly swallowed.

As soon as you are done talking with Lady Tallowmere, new monsters will spawn in the Room. It is advised that you clear them out before returning "Home" to get "The Laxative". Once you return with the special mixture and give it to Mr. Bigguns, he will turn into Bad Mr. Bigguns: It's hostile form.

What you should do: Try to stay at the same height as or above Bad Mr. Bigguns. The way he shoots seeking spikes, from the spine, they tend to get to the hero at a steep angle which make them hard to block. Attack him with the Ice Wand or, as a second choice, the Rocket Launcher. Stay on the move when spikes are coming from behind you for as long as possible before turning to block at the last moment.

What you should not do: Get too close to him. Let him out of the initial cage section of the Room: Fighting him in enclosed space is harder. Put your back against a wall for too long.

Here's what can happen when Bad Mr. Bigguns gets too close to the hero with no possibilities of moving away from him...














Event: Double Trouble

The enemies count is doubled in this Room. Patience is the key... Analyze the situation and try to take the best decision. Don't rush in!


Event: Attack of the Zaeries

A Room full of Zaeries... and Spikes trap! Use the Ice Wand if you have it and stay at the starting position to destroy as many as possible. Eventually, you will need to move further in the spiked room so you can kill unalerted Zaeries too. Let them detect you and return back to the starting position to finish them off. Eventually, one of them will drop a key. Use "Shielded Hovering" to navigate around the traps and fetch it.


Standing on the corner of a fully spiked block.


Event: Time Flux

Possibly the worst event of all, time fluctuate in this Room: It goes from fast to slow and back again. Wait for the slowing down to happen if you have to attack enemies in difficult position. Avoid fighting during the fast motion parts. Again here, patience is rewarded.


Event: Capture the Flag

You have to get to the flag, grab it and return it "Home" using a Teleporter. Clear the Room completely before attempting to return the Flag because, as soon as you grab it, new enemies will spawn... probably all around you! Also, figure out where the Teleporter is before picking the Flag up. The faster you return it to Lady Tallowmere, the more souls you will receive as reward. Note that you cannot attack while holding the Flag. If you are in trouble, blocking will cause the hero to drop the Flag. You can pick it back once the situation is under control.


New enemies appears out of nowhere the moment you grab the Flag!


Event: Mysterious Vials

Going through this event is actually a good thing for the hero. In the Room, three vials each containing a different potion: One red to increase your maximum hitpoints, one green to increase your attack power and one purple to give you permanent resistance or bonus attributes.

Proceed with caution and clear the Room completely before drinking any vials because doing so will summon new enemies. It is a good practice to draw up your shield before drinking just in case a villain spawn right in front of you!


The three "Mysterious Vials"

About gears attributes

Every gear you find in Lady Tallowmere dungeon as a quality rating and some corresponding attributes. The rarer the gear, the more attributes and the higher their values will be. As you might have guess, there a lot of different possibilities so, how can one choose wisely?

First of all, it is quite possible to have a gear of lower rarity but with more interesting attributes than another with a higher rarity. But what constitute "interesting attributes"? Let's go through all of them, one by one.

+x Max Health: Increase you total hitpoints by x.

+x Base Damage : Increase the amount of damage you do to foes with any weapons.

+x Melee Damage: Increase the amount of damage you do to foes with any melee weapons.

+x Explosion Damage: Increase the amount of damage you do to foes with the Grenades and the Rocket Launcher.

+x [weapon name] Damage: Increase the amount of damage you do to foes but only if using specified weapon.

+x% Movement Speed: Presumably, this increase the hero speed. From what I have seen, attack speed is not influenced by this.

+x Coin Find: Presumably this result in more coin being dropped by defeated enemies. One word: Useless.

+x% Crit Chance: Presumably, this increase your chance of delivering a critical hit to an opponent. These are not easy to detect in game however.

+x% Health Find: Presumably this increase the chance a defeated opponent will drop an health heart or an health globe.

+x Health Regen: Grant a regenerative properties to your hitpoints. For the effect to activate, the hero as to be in a period where he did not receive any damage. Moving or blocking won't negate the effect.

+x% Reduced Stun Duration: Reduce the duration of the Stun Potion effect thrown by Ogre.

+x Health on Kill: Restore your hitpoints by x whenever you kill an opponent.

+x Physical Resistance
+x Acid Resistance
+x Fire Resistance
+x Lightning Resistance
+x All Resistances : Gear with any of these attributes will render the hero more resilient to a certain type of damage. In the case of "All Resistances" this include all the other four types.

Note that it doesn't matter whether the attributes is from a weapons or a piece of armor. "Physical Resistance" for example can be granted by an Axe.



The hero traits: A result of the passive attributes and the effect granted by the currently equipped gears.


The "Growing Stronger" Race

When you kill an enemy, the hero collect one or more "soul". When you accumulate enough, you get the privilege of "Growing Stronger" by activating a "Demon Statue". Doing so, will increase permanently each of the hero's three base attributes: Hitpoints, Attack Power and one of the many possible intrinsic or passive attributes.

Red, green and purple. Just like the three "Mysterious Vials"...

The Hero activating a Demon Statue to grow stronger.
















Two of the hero's three base attributes: Hitpoints and Attack Power.

If you don't take into account the currently equipped gears, this is all that define the hero's "level":

- More Hitpoints
- Stronger Attack
- More Intrinsic Attributes (can be any of the many different attributes)

So we know that the hero, as he gets stronger through the "Demon Statue", will receive, in proportion, less points for the last of the three above mentioned categories. That last category encompass, among other things, all the different "Resistances" and hitpoints regeneration attributes.

We can summarize by saying that the hero is guaranteed to have more hitpoints and stronger attack when "leveling" but the last category is random: He may or may not receive a particular Intrinsic Attributes bonus. Because relying on a random factor is, by the very definition of it, uncertain and, based on the last section about gear attributes, we can deduct that the following attributes are the most important:

+x Physical Resistance
+x Acid Resistance
+x Fire Resistance
+x Lightning Resistance
+x All Resistances

The resistance category of attributes is the most important. The two health regeneration attributes (Regen and Health on Kill) are not too far behind.

As the hero gets stronger and better equipped, the enemies too grow stronger. You can get this message before entering a new Room: You enemies grow stronger. They will inflict more damage, they are going to be more resilient too and their numbers will increase. Not only that, but the traps are also going to inflict more damage!

So this is a race. A race between the hero's strength and the ever increasing dungeon difficulties. A race you cannot win. But by making good gear choices, you have a chance to survive longer.

Let's look at some items and decide which ones are better:

Ice Wand A

Ice Wand B

Based on what we learned, even though Ice Wand A deal more damage, Ice Wand B represent the more interesting choice because it grant more resistances attributes. Let's take a look at two others:


Gear A


Gear B


Now, choosing is not as obvious... I'll tend to prefer, again, the gear that give overall better resistance: Gear A. But Gear B is not that "less attractive"...

Gear A as an useless bonus namely "+7 Coin Find" and two weapon specific bonus: Axe and Ice Wand. That's my favorite primary weapon.

Gear B as a nice base damage of +14 and killing a foe will grant you an instant +10 hitpoints. You kill faster wearing this so you health faster too. Like Gear A it as one useless bonus, "+7% Movement Speed".

In the end, the choice is yours. But avoid choosing gear with too many useless or not so good bonus like "Movement Speed", "Crit Chance", "Axe Damage", "Explosion Damage" (they can kill you too you know!), "Melee Damage", "Coin Find" and "Health Find".

"Reduced Stun Duration" and "Max Health" are neutral.

"Base Damage", "Health on Kill" and specific "Resistance" are good.

"All Resistances" and "Health Regen" are the best.

To close the subject, let's pretend you are in your best run to date. You enter a new Room with a difficult setup right from the start: Buzzsaw everywhere. Ogres and Feelers with an Elite Flail Knight and Two Elite Leaper. What would you prefer A or B?

A - Your hero hit very hard, as a strong regenerative health bonus and good stun reduction attributes but poor overall resistance.

B - Your hero as almost no damage bonus and low health regeneration bonus but strong overall resistance combined with decent health on kill.

So?

I'll go with B.



A "perfect" weapon?

I thought I saw some coins over there...

Coins are used to purchase new or better gear from the "Wandering Merchant". Early in your quest, coins are going to be important. No doubt on that. However, as you progress deeper and deeper into the dungeon, you will reach a point where you have plenty of them. Selling duplicate weapons is going to be more productive than attempting to fetch every, single, coin. So my advice on this: Once you have all the gears, don't bother too much collecting those that are not on your direct path...


Keeping an extra key, or two, or three...

In every Room, there is an enemy that will drop a key to open the gate to the next one. If there is a "Wandering Merchant" in that Room, than one will also carry a second key to open the merchant gate. Most Room after room 20 have a merchant somewhere. You can and should visit him from time to time to check if he got that special Otherworldly Spiked Club you wanted to add to you collection. You should also skip him from time to time and keep the extra key in reserve... This way, if you come across a difficulty in Room 77, you can go right to the ending gate without having to battle for it.




About clearing a Room completely

Aside from the possibility of finding better loot by opening every chests, once you have a key, is there another advantage in killing every enemies in a Room?

Yes. You gain souls which in turn allows you to grow stronger. If you frequently leave a lot of enemies behind you, you may end up being under powered compared to the ever increasing dungeon difficulty.

So it is a good practice to clear a Room. But sometimes, it is best to just move on...


Better leave this Elite Archer alone if you do not have adequate weapons.


A bad situation

Take a look at the following image:


Bad positioning example.

Perhaps because things did not turn out as expected, the hero is now in an awkward and difficult to get out position. Drop in the shaft below into unknown territories? That may be his only risky escape plan...

Whenever possible, take your time to analyze from where and with which weapon you are going to proceed next. Positioning oneself correctly can make all the difference!


Getting crazy

Tallowmere is a game where you are going to do a lot of button mashing: Mincing a Fire Mage with the Axe, dismembering an Ogre with a volley of Grenades or pulverizing the Hydra with the Rocket Launcher, you are going to press that "attack" button a lot! Not to mention the "jump" button. If, like me, you are getting sore hands because of this, you might want to try something somewhat fancy: A macroing program.

I use a button on my controller that triggers a "repeatedly press the left mouse button" macro when I hold it down. Of course, there are probably a multitude of such macroing software. I use AutoHotkey[ahkscript.org]. It support joystick button and you can do pretty amazing stuff with it.

If this is your cup of tea, give it a try. If you prefer coffee, well...


Your worst enemy: Overconfidence.

While making this guide, in room 86, I met my doom. How? Judgment mistake: There was an Elite Conductor on one side of a pitfall and an Elite Ogre on the other side. I was moving toward the Conductor with a Flamethrower ready. Quick jump, flame out, he is burning. I quickly turn to face the elite Ogre. Shield up.

Now, the best course of action would have been to wait there while the Elite Conductor burn to death. I was safe standing one block lower than him. But I got cocky... I decided to go face the Elite Ogre directly. Shield hovering toward him, I block one stun potion. The burning Elite Conductor still alive gets ready to fire on me so, I turn around in mid-air while still blocking to shield from the blast.

But the Elite Ogre was the fastest: I get stunned in mid-air, fall in the pit where... five conductors and one fire mage were waiting for me. Three on one side, three on the other. Two ogre were completing this end of the world committee. Instant (or so) game over.


The day the whole world went away...


The Last Words

After reading this guide, and possibly learning a few new tricks along the way, one may wonder if this can all actually be put in practice. I think that yes, the weapon you select for your next attack, the position you are going to do that attack from, thinking about the consequences of any Traps in the vicinity, knowing the timing between a specific foe attack, marking some enemies as priority over others, all this... can be done, theoretically!

In practice, the human brain cannot process information fast enough to play "flawlessly", at least not my brain! But I think you should still do the thinking part before doing the actual action. Things will probably not go as smooth as you anticipated: A trap you did not see will interfere, your blocking timing will be a bit too late, you won't attack fast enough, eck, you might even get entangled into the control from time to time!

But like I said in the Introduction, at some point, you will probably see it: "The System", "Your System". And with it, come a certain feeling of mastery.


Thanks for reading this guide.

Thumbs up to the creator of Tallowmere, Chris McFarland.

Peace.