One of the best and most innovative roguelike survival games of 2022, Dome Keeper challenges players with tricky decision-making and time management dilemmas. To make things easier, players can choose powerful upgrades that help stave off the alien onslaught. However, choose wisely, as upgrades can mean the difference between success and failure.
To succeed players must start strong and keep on top of the alien hordes that attack the player's dome. Choosing key upgrades is vital to survival. These upgrades can be spread around or maxed out, but only a few guarantee a good star in Dome Keeper.
8 Drill - Who Needs A Pickaxe
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Dome Keeper's gameplay is split into two halves, defending the dome and mining, and both are equally important. Dome Keeper forces players to manage their time correctly or suffer the consequences. Improving the drill means that players can shave seconds off mining, meaning there is more time to search for resources.
Like all great mining games, there are different types of resources hiding among the dirt.
The hardest tile strength takes nine hits to break with a basic drill. At the start of the game, there is a lot of mining to complete. If nothing else, upgrading the drill saves time in the long run.
7 Inventory - Count Out The Loot
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A way that Dome Keeper makes a simple concept more exciting is that players start with limited information. In most games, players start with a heads-up display that presents information. Not in Dome Keeper, players must purchase the display elements or risk not knowing exactly what's being stored.
The resources available in Dome Keeper are Iron, water, and cobalt. Iron is the most numerous and is used as currency to buy further upgrades, so finding iron in the early game is key. Players can use water to upgrade gadgets that players may discover under the ground. Finally, cobalt, the rarest material to find in the game, is used to repair the dome, and it will definitely need repairing. Pick up this upgrade early to keep track of these important resources!
6 Health Bar - Know Exactly When To Heal
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After defending the dome, players will need to assess the damage. The health bar upgrade displays the dome's structural integrity. This lets players manage their cobalt reserves, only using them when absolutely necessary. In the early stages of the game, the enemies do not do much damage, but this soon changes. Once the alien hordes become more dangerous, players will be happy to have the health bar.
Some players will consider this a waste of resources, but sometimes it is better to spend rather than horde resources. This upgrade is cheap, costing just one iron, but it pays for itself as it gives players peace of mind.
5 Hostile Proximity Meter - Who Goes There
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Most players will forgo this upgrade in the early game in order to prioritize other valuable options however, it can be invaluable. In the beginning, players will be close to the surface and ready to react to any swarms but this soon changes. Players are limited to a small amount of safe mining time in Dome Keeper, so it is crucial to know when that time is coming to an end.
By upgrading the hostile proximity meter, players will know when the next alien attack is incoming. This upgrade may not be fancy, but it reduces the player’s chance of being caught short when the aliens invade.
4 Carry Capacity - Just One More Won't Hurt
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Like most survival games, Dome Keeper limits how much a player can carry, but there is an upgrade to ease the burden. Choosing this upgrade earlier or later will depend on the artifacts players encounter. Some artifacts, such as the lift, can negate the need for carrying capacity upgrades in the very early stages.
Mining for materials is the name of the game in Dome Keeper, as players will need a lot of resources in order to upgrade their dome and survive in its alien world. Carrying weight is a noticeable limiting factor in the early game as players greedily try to haul more resources home. Therefore, upgrading the carrying capacity makes a big difference as players can bank more resources from each run. There is one caveat, though. Lucky players that find the lift relic early enough may opt for other upgrades.
3 Movement Speed - The Need For Speed
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As in most rogue-like games, movement speed is crucial. In Dome Keeper, players will regularly rush back to the surface to fight off alien hordes. This upgrade really comes in handy as the player's mineshaft becomes deeper. Shuttling around at great speed will give players a little breathing room. Each second is precious, and this upgrade shaves seconds off every trip. With some seconds to spare, players can take some time to appreciate the interesting lore that lurks beneath the dome.
Combining the carrying capacity upgrade with the movement speed upgrade is a sure way of making life in Dome Keeper easier.
2 Weapon Upgrade - That's A Lot Of Damage
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As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. If players are going to succeed in defending their dome from the aliens, a robust weapon is a must. Much like other wave-based games, the enemies start weak but soon become more powerful. In the very early game, players should focus on mining and gathering resources as the basic laser is enough to get through the first few waves.
However, once the enemies increase in number and strength, purchasing a weapon upgrade makes the most sense. In Dome Keeper players can choose between a laser dome or a sword dome, but the laser is recommended for new players.
1 Dome Strength - You Shall Not Pass
If the alien hordes are getting too much to handle, increasing the strength of the dome makes sense. Players can choose to upgrade the starting health of the dome, making it capable of sustaining more punishment. By following the upgrade path of the health bar HUD, players can increase the health of the dome by around health points 300 points. And in the same upgrade block, there are options for increasing the domes' toughness, at the highest upgrade the melee damage reduction is reduced by 40%. Maxing out these upgrades means players will spend less precious cobalt on repairs.
These defensive upgrades may not be as vital in the early game but when the monster hordes attack from every angle, players will be thankful for the extra defense.
Dome Keeper is currently available on PC.