Level 3.2 Insane Difficulty Strategies

Good afternoon everybody;

I've joked around on the forums about this level not needing any balancing but I've looked on youtube and checked other threads on the forum and I haven't seen any other videos/messages of this being completed so I'm assuming we're all still struggling to get this level down and I wanted to create a new thread specifically for level 3.2 on insane difficulty. It's been a while since we looked at 3.X insane strategies and I feel like 3.2 is definitely much harder then any other level EotU has to offer. I wanted to see how everyone who was giving this a crack was doing on it. Have you passed the level yet? Are you improving/making headway to pass the level? What are some things that you are still struggling with? Has anyone survived the army ants swarming the right side of the map since the update? I passed this prior to the fixes/updates, took a small break from it and have come back to pass it again but it's still as insane as ever and I can replicate the win but it is difficult and requires some RNG and just no mistakes. I've not found a way to modify my original strategy of utilising the centre of the map without blowing my chances of winning out of the water. I can't see a large noticeable difference between using stun or taunt majors. It might just be the break I took or a tonne of tough games but it seems like more adult mantis' are pathing where my ants run through the middle of the map then before. I have noticed sometimes by luck some of the raised areas are contestable later in the game (simply wasn't possibly prior to 10% reduction in insect spawn) because enough big insects take each other out so you don't have to fight as many which can take a bit of pressure off resource gathering (but only when the bugs take each other out otherwise it doesn't seem like a huge difference). Early game the only attempts that get close have me pushing the army ants back to the left lane every single day including day 1. When I don't I just don't get close. In terms of late game strategy; you need a comfortable force to continually hit and suppress the army ants on the left side of the map to whittle that bar down. If you're unlucky/not careful your forces can get cut off by mantis', you don't get reinforcements and if the army ants kill your force holding them back you kind of need to wait another day to win the game. Are there any other strategies that can offer insight into designing a more consistent strategy and win rate on this level?
 
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Rayalot72

Maximum difficulty
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I personally haven't had much time or willpower to do attempts lately, and I haven't touched 3.2 all too much, so there's little I can comment on for that level in particular. I will say the bar seems like it should be more responsive to ant deaths (a very tiny fraction, though), as it still requires a lot of focus to bring down at even the middle and eastern lanes.

Most of trouble I remember having is with high damage AoE. A rove beetles are a pain, but manageable, while bush crickets are absurdly dangerous, M being weak but capable of incurring significant costs, and L being one of the toughest foes in the game rn, especially with their stun immunity. I haven't personally found L mantises to be nearly as threatening after their nerfs (I've been able to take them on 5 at a time before, albeit late in the game when they were quite damaged, and with a fairly substantial hatching charge), they're only problematic when they avoid the full army.

A potential change that might shake up the balance without adjusting anything currently added would be for there to be some form of underground food. This is the first level where there's been where there are no resources underground that can be used as a crutch for hard segments or backup for errors. Paired with the fact that combat is so much more costly for the Atta than other species, it's no wonder these levels are so punishing. On the other hand, many enemies underground are strong enough that there would need to be a somewhat substantial quantity added per chamber.

No idea where Balanite went, and Snootz I think hasn't had much luck in his livestreams.
 
I'm glad I posted something; I want to drum up a bit more interest in the level again so that other people can get it done and also to stop peopl getting burned out/re-light interest for those who are a bit burned out.

It may require a tune to the army ant bar but SlugDisco would definitely need to be very careful how they fine tune it or else it would get significantly easier using my strategy for example. I thought there wasn't enough army ants spawning on the west side of the map to win but my last win shows there is. But it requires you to constantly push against the army ants each day. When you say it takes great focus to get the bar down when they reach the eastern lanes - that is a problem all in itself. One suggestion if you re-attempt the level is to attack them prior to the ants reaching the eastern lane. The mechanic is that waves of army ants flood towards your colony if they get that far - it cuts off your ability to farm resources and puts you in deaths reach - so the mechanics tell me you aren't supposed to let them get that far. But I completely understand where you're coming from - the only times I've passed the level are the attempts that I've pushed the army ants to the western side of the map every day.

Try flooding majors against the rove beetles - they're bulky but don't seem to do as much damage as other insects so they really just waste your time. Unless you're using a lot of medea ants - then rove beetles are very painful. Crickets are just horrid. My strategy is to avoid them at all costs. One way that SlugDisco could nerf them without making them too much weaker is put a cap on the number of ants that can be hit by their aoe. Even if the large cricket only hits up to 8 ants they'd still be challenging but beatable. I've had an entire army wiped out by 2 M and 1 L cricket's aoe - 550 resources is not a nice loss. So I guess if you reduced their aoe number of targets they become painful but not completely OP. But it might require extensive testing to make sure they aren't made too easy - the real problem is the sheer number of insects you have to face on top of them.

Agreed with the Mantis'. And thanks to the fix where leaves drop when ants are snatched I've been recuperating dropped leaves and my ants haven't been getting stuck which was half the battle so that's a huge help. I think Mantis' are where they need to be; sometimes some bad RNG can put them exactly where you don't want them but they are definitely manageable.

There is safety food it just isn't in the base. The 615 food plant in the bottom right corner of the map is unguarded at night - occasionally there's 1 or 2 adolescent mantis' but nothing more then that if that at all. So we have free food as a crutch during the night when we aren't fighting the army ants and I definitely use it like a crutch - but not at the start. Maybe a few more leaves near the colony entrance could give you a helping hand at the start as opposed to creating an underground area. It just doesn't seem to fit with leafcutters. But that would require an adjust to everyone's strategies to get aggressive against the army ants earlier.

I'm currently working on a theory and will key you in if I find it successful. I'm working out if the medium whipspiders grow in number because the nights progress or because they aren't killed the night before. If only 1 spawns each night and you kill it; that takes some pressure off traveling through the centre of the map at night. But I need to test this - I have no idea if it's true I just noticed a night had less then normal in a game where I killed them recently.

Well hopefully Balanite resurfaces and gets it done and same for Snootz. Though livestreaming and doing it is much trickier. I had enough trouble trying to just record talking while playing let alone interacting with viewers. And hopefully when you pick it back up you get it done too.
 
Hello, i tried the strategy to push them every day including day 1 and i almost won it was really close but this strategy is incredibly hard to execute and need luck to work...
So i tried to not fight them day 1 and optimize my farm to get a huge army for day 2 and shred that army ant
night 1 day 1 i got all the farm top right before the night so i can leave the 3 big plant before night insect come
night 2 i got the plant bottom left near the nest and a big part of the 2 elevated plants bottom left of the map

in this video this player fight every day including day 1 to maintain that bar low
by choosing to not fight day 1 i wanted to get more harvesting power early and more soldier for day 2
so i built 16 workers then 35 media to be able to farm super fast and then i exclusively focused on major
i had around 15 major and 1000 food for day 2

day 2 i ran through the middle column of the army ant and when a goup of ants is stuck at their middle spawn i've gone to the left lane to push both lane at the same time and catch up, when the army ant slow down the spawn i gather quickly some food from the left before night come, then while waiting for the big spider to come near the nest i farmed the bottom small leaves

night 3 you have kill the big spider 1st, you can bait him with a small pack of workers to get him close to the nest and eliminate him efficiently
then you have enough time for collecting leaves 3 time, and by 3 time i mean 3 grouped ride with combat disabled
2 ride allowed me to collect nearly all the leaves from the big spider nest and with the last ride i got some leaves from the north

i built 19 major in total and then i started to upgrade them when food is over 1000, BTW taunt major are the way to go imo because they get a heal when they taunt, vs small packs of army ants they will 1 shot the ants and still get the heal so you can save a lot of food with more durable majors

day 3 i still had to push 2 lanes but at this point, after day 3 i'm at the same army ant bar health than in the video but with a much greater force: 5 more media more majors and upgraded majors. you can farm left plant after you push the army ant back and before night creatures come out

night 4 i farmed a bit top leaves and then i finished the plant bottom right and all small leaves remaining from safe area (= top right)
all food above 1300 is invested into major upgrade

day 4 i pushed the ant bar super low but not enough to win, after that i was out of food because of many mantis so i quickly gather more food from the left and wait out the night

day 5 the bar was low enough to actually win
i won 2 time in a row by doing this and i think it's easier than fighting day 1 because even tho you spend day 2 and 3 to catch up you have a larger army, more food all game long and it allows less scenario where you army gets destroyed when you need to push further that result in a loss, also by allowing yourself to stack a big army to left lane every day you can gather a lot of food from left side
 

Rayalot72

Maximum difficulty
Beta Tester
Extremely Helpful Person
Very cool to see new people having a go at insane. This sounds like it should make clears more consistent, possibly to the level that 2.1 is at.
 
Very cool to see new people having a go at insane. This sounds like it should make clears more consistent, possibly to the level that 2.1 is at.
Yeah it's awesome. Was 2.1 Insane challenge mode nerfed? Seemed like less tiger beetle larvae then I remember playing it the other day. But it also makes it more consistent and fun. I love a good challenge but the changes were necessary.
 
Hello, i tried the strategy to push them every day including day 1 and i almost won it was really close but this strategy is incredibly hard to execute and need luck to work...
So i tried to not fight them day 1 and optimize my farm to get a huge army for day 2 and shred that army ant
night 1 day 1 i got all the farm top right before the night so i can leave the 3 big plant before night insect come
night 2 i got the plant bottom left near the nest and a big part of the 2 elevated plants bottom left of the map

in this video this player fight every day including day 1 to maintain that bar low
by choosing to not fight day 1 i wanted to get more harvesting power early and more soldier for day 2
so i built 16 workers then 35 media to be able to farm super fast and then i exclusively focused on major
i had around 15 major and 1000 food for day 2

day 2 i ran through the middle column of the army ant and when a goup of ants is stuck at their middle spawn i've gone to the left lane to push both lane at the same time and catch up, when the army ant slow down the spawn i gather quickly some food from the left before night come, then while waiting for the big spider to come near the nest i farmed the bottom small leaves

night 3 you have kill the big spider 1st, you can bait him with a small pack of workers to get him close to the nest and eliminate him efficiently
then you have enough time for collecting leaves 3 time, and by 3 time i mean 3 grouped ride with combat disabled
2 ride allowed me to collect nearly all the leaves from the big spider nest and with the last ride i got some leaves from the north

i built 19 major in total and then i started to upgrade them when food is over 1000, BTW taunt major are the way to go imo because they get a heal when they taunt, vs small packs of army ants they will 1 shot the ants and still get the heal so you can save a lot of food with more durable majors

day 3 i still had to push 2 lanes but at this point, after day 3 i'm at the same army ant bar health than in the video but with a much greater force: 5 more media more majors and upgraded majors. you can farm left plant after you push the army ant back and before night creatures come out

night 4 i farmed a bit top leaves and then i finished the plant bottom right and all small leaves remaining from safe area (= top right)
all food above 1300 is invested into major upgrade

day 4 i pushed the ant bar super low but not enough to win, after that i was out of food because of many mantis so i quickly gather more food from the left and wait out the night

day 5 the bar was low enough to actually win
i won 2 time in a row by doing this and i think it's easier than fighting day 1 because even tho you spend day 2 and 3 to catch up you have a larger army, more food all game long and it allows less scenario where you army gets destroyed when you need to push further that result in a loss, also by allowing yourself to stack a big army to left lane every day you can gather a lot of food from left side

Haha yeah it's definitely not an easy strategy to pull off. Might just be my play style - My strategy is actually based on my win from prior to the nerfs to lvl 3.2 but I've noticed it is easier to beat the level now as there are more army ant soldiers later in the game then originally i.m.o (might just feel that way so I could be wrong) and there has been nerfs to enemy bugs. I like your strategy; it's good to see another way to do it that sounds a lot less hectic.
 
Haha yeah it's definitely not an easy strategy to pull off. Might just be my play style - My strategy is actually based on my win from prior to the nerfs to lvl 3.2 but I've noticed it is easier to beat the level now as there are more army ant soldiers later in the game then originally i.m.o (might just feel that way so I could be wrong) and there has been nerfs to enemy bugs. I like your strategy; it's good to see another way to do it that sounds a lot less hectic.
Yes i've seen both video and it helped me a lot to get off a good start, idk if it was possible to win without fighting day 1 before the patch but from what i saw post patch, the amount of ants spawning is constant, however if the game goes through day 5-6-7 there are so many bugs that it become hard to farm the army ant because they stay near the spawn where they collect tons of bugs and sometime get killed by multiple mantis.
I lost a game recently because 5 big mantis were farming the spawn of the army ant, i could defeat them but i lost too much and couldn't farm the army ant enough to win...
I found another way to win that is straightforward but takes a long time, by farming both spawn day 2 i win mostly day 5 and sometime day4. I tried to not farm both spawn day 2 but to farm through the column the 2 1200 leaf area north of the whipspider, by doing that my army get strong enough to clear the way to the north during night 3 and save the whip spider leaves for night 4. then i double farm the army spawn day 3/4 and get the win day 5/6. By doing that i could get 55 media 55 majors in the end and its nearly impossible to meet a group of bugs/army ants that can defeat you. I'd say it takes 25 more mins but allow to win every time unless you make many big mistakes.
If i push to the left day 2 it takes around 13k leaves and 45-60 min, if i keep farming day 2 it takes 18k leaves and 60-75 min to win.
 
Yes i've seen both video and it helped me a lot to get off a good start, idk if it was possible to win without fighting day 1 before the patch but from what i saw post patch, the amount of ants spawning is constant, however if the game goes through day 5-6-7 there are so many bugs that it become hard to farm the army ant because they stay near the spawn where they collect tons of bugs and sometime get killed by multiple mantis.
I lost a game recently because 5 big mantis were farming the spawn of the army ant, i could defeat them but i lost too much and couldn't farm the army ant enough to win...
I found another way to win that is straightforward but takes a long time, by farming both spawn day 2 i win mostly day 5 and sometime day4. I tried to not farm both spawn day 2 but to farm through the column the 2 1200 leaf area north of the whipspider, by doing that my army get strong enough to clear the way to the north during night 3 and save the whip spider leaves for night 4. then i double farm the army spawn day 3/4 and get the win day 5/6. By doing that i could get 55 media 55 majors in the end and its nearly impossible to meet a group of bugs/army ants that can defeat you. I'd say it takes 25 more mins but allow to win every time unless you make many big mistakes.
If i push to the left day 2 it takes around 13k leaves and 45-60 min, if i keep farming day 2 it takes 18k leaves and 60-75 min to win.
Either way I think you've done a great job finding another way to complete the level because it's not easy. Leaves me with something to think about on improving my runs to make them more consistent.
 

Rayalot72

Maximum difficulty
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Yeah it's awesome. Was 2.1 Insane challenge mode nerfed? Seemed like less tiger beetle larvae then I remember playing it the other day. But it also makes it more consistent and fun. I love a good challenge but the changes were necessary.
I don't believe it was nerfed, but I may have just missed the patchnote. Most consistency increase for me has been understanding what generates lag in EotU, getting all D1 food underground, and finding the most consistent paths to fight as few TBL as possible.

Depending on your own experience, you might have just improved your own strategies without realizing it (particularly with routing the beach in the day).
 
I don't believe it was nerfed, but I may have just missed the patchnote. Most consistency increase for me has been understanding what generates lag in EotU, getting all D1 food underground, and finding the most consistent paths to fight as few TBL as possible.

Depending on your own experience, you might have just improved your own strategies without realizing it (particularly with routing the beach in the day).
Maybe; the leafcutters update was so intense I'm sure we're all a little better for it. My runs do include killing more tiger beetles for a big food gain I don't think I did that before. Avoiding the TBL is key as well as volume of ants to survive the spider waves.
 

Rayalot72

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Maybe; the leafcutters update was so intense I'm sure we're all a little better for it. My runs do include killing more tiger beetles for a big food gain I don't think I did that before. Avoiding the TBL is key as well as volume of ants to survive the spider waves.

Yah, that southern stretch only one tier down is what I always go for. Seems to be the most consistent area to get food from. Haven't used the highest tier too much, but that's probably also more efficient. I'll have to try it, now that I think about it.
 
Yah, that southern stretch only one tier down is what I always go for. Seems to be the most consistent area to get food from. Haven't used the highest tier too much, but that's probably also more efficient. I'll have to try it, now that I think about it.
I've also been going out at the end of the night after the final wave and picking off some crabs / spiders for full food. When you push it you can really get a lot of food. One run I ran into 5 crabs fleeing for the night - each crab was 120-180 food right at my base so it was a big boost. It slowed me down getting shrimp at the start of the day but worth it in my opinion as you have to deal with the TBL anyway.
 
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