GemCraft by ArmorGames - walkthrough, hints, tips and tricks

Gemcraft by GameInABottle (published by ArmorGames) is a remake of classic Desktop Tower Defense game. But unlike other DTD clones, the original idea found a second life in this masterpiece.

General tips

• Every game try to get as much amulets as you can. For every amulet you get extra experience points. If you build towers - build either 3, 6 or 9 of them. If you throw gem bombs - try to throw at least 15 or 30, so you get the extra amulet. Extra amulets = extra exp, and if you get the full blue frame after completed level you can get a bonus level as well.


• Always unleash the next wave as fast as you can. First thing I do at the beginning of the game - I just release the first wave, and then put in my gems. If you see you can handle it - unleash the next wave as soon as possible right after the current. This grants you a bigger bonus to both exp and mana.


• For the first few levels create smallest gems. This way costs the most mana, but you receive amulets for big amounts of gems created and big amount of gems combined.


• Alternative method for the first few levels is gem bombing. Create a few, unleash the first wave and start throwing gems into the monster cave. Cast mana pool if you have enough mana, Ctrl+click on gem creation screen to create as much gems as you can, rinse and repeat. While this method can be quite tiring, it can give you glowing frame score even on first few levels, so you don't have to replay them. (Remember you can use '1' keyboard button to throw gems).


• At the end of every level use the rest of your mana to create as much gems as you can. Press '3' to open gem creation screen, then Ctrl+Click on the lowest level gem - it should fill your inventory with gems. Press '6' to open combine gem menu and Ctrl+Click on a gem to combine as much as you can. Rinse and repeat. This way you will get the most from your extra mana in amulet experience. Out of mana? Throw these gems on enemies and get an extra amulet for gem bombing.


• For levels 20 and higher, create expensive gems at the beginning. You will save some mana this way. On the last 2-3 waves, stick to producing small gems and combining them, so you get some extra amulets


• Build towers as close as possible. Even if you see a 'sweet spot' to build your defenses - towers close to entrance will kill monsters faster, thus raising your exp and mana, and you will be able to release the next wave of monsters faster as well, raising your exp and mana even more.


• If this epic boss has made it through your defenses with a small amount of hit points and is going to enter your tower - remember you still have gem explosions. While low level gem explosions are pretty useless, level 7 gem explosion is really devastating. Especially if you have 'powerful gem bombs' skill.


• Don't bother replaying any levels before you have Number Of High Grade Starter Gems skill maxed. With this skill you will easily get max score on every level you replay (revealing you secret levels as well).

Skills

• More initial and maximum mana - this is the first skill you put your hands on. Very useful in epic fights when you think you will need to give an epic boss a 'second lap'. Useful because you can create higher level gems in the very start, or cast Mana Pool more times. Before 'number of medium grade starter gems' you should have it maxed.
  
  


• More mana gain per kill - very useful. You kill enormous amount of monsters - and even a small amount of extra mana from every kill really helps.
  
  


• Armor - used only in first epic fight, when you surely need to let the boss go through your tower. Absolutely useless otherwise. You do know that you can respec, resetting your skill points, right? So take some for the first epic fight, and respec back to 0 in Armor afterwards.
  
  


• More mana replenish per second - good when it's your top skill. Not as good when you are at higher levels because there are plenty of great skills then. Most of your mana still comes from kills and unleashing the next waves before time - but if you have extra points - this is a good place to invest.
  
  


• Number of basic starter gems - since basic gems are cheap, it is not that good. Other skills from this category (medium and high grade) are tremendously more useful.
  
  


• Lower mana cost for gem creating and combining - that's great. You create plenty of gems and combine a lot as well. Even if you create only a couple, but immensely powerful gems - cost decrease for them will be very noticeable.
  
  


• Powerful gem bombs - fun to experiment with, useless otherwise.
  
  


• Dual gem mastery - this is two-side skill. From one point, you want to concentrate on pure gems in GemCraft. From the other point you are often in situations when you are just forced to mix gems in order to get this 7 or 8 level gem. Invest just a few, and if you don't have Pure Gem Mastery yet.
  
  


• Lower initial and incremental cost for buildings - very useful. Allows you to build Water Trenches like there is no tomorrow.
  
  


• Number Of Medium Grate Starter Gems - once you have it, invest everything you can into this skill. Later it will be superseeded by Number of High Grade Starter Gems skill, but meanwhile the initial boost from this skill cannot be underestimated.
  
  


• Pure Gem Mastery - a must have for every self-respecting wizard. Makes your pure gems stronger - what else do you need? :)
  
  


• Number Of High Grade Starter Gems - immensely powerful (and expensive) skill. This skill maxed almost guarantees you a grade 7 gem in the very beginning - so you can unleash the waves of monsters one by another, and focus on Mana Pool from the start, thus boosting your mana regen and total exp. By effectiveness/skill points ratio this skill is second probably only to Pure Gem Mastery - and only because this skill is so expensive. By the time taken to complete a level with this skill it is on the first place.

Bosses

How to beat the first epic boss - The Distorted

The Distorted:

Hit Points:	10k
Armor level:	26
Speed:	0.6
Mana to banish:	4920

First epic boss is fat. He has 10000 hp and it is impossible to take him down from the first round. Luckily, he costs only 4920mana to banish - that means that if you have 4920+ mana you will survive if he enters your castle and he will have to do all his way again. Respec. Invest 2 points in Armor, maximize More Mana Points Per Kill and More Mana Points Per Second. Rest divide between More Initial and Maximum Mana and Lower Mana Cost For Gem Creating And Combining. Setup: 6 extra towers, 5 in the front, one near the last tower on the road. Strategy: Buy expensive gems. One level 4 gem from the very beginning should guarantee you safety for about 6 or 7 waves. Buy level 4 and 5 gems and cast Mana Pool until you reach at least 4700 mana - together with points in Armor skill it will guarantee an extra lap for the epic boss. Some mobs from wave 29-31 can go through your defenses and into your castle - but you will replenish that mana while killing them when they go out for a second lap. Build a couple of water trenches to maximize the impact of your towers. When epic boss passes your first line of defenses, move your most powerful gems to 2 backend towers, so he will enjoy their firepower for the second time. If he walks into your tower and you have at least 4700 mana (you can check the actual amount needed by clicking on him), you will banish him and he will have to do all the way again. Move your strong gems again to the front row - this should be enough for a poor creature to depart for greener pastures.

Second Epic Battle - The Reborn

The Reborn:

Hit Points:	16k
Armor level:	30
Speed:	0.6
Mana to banish:	6120

Strategy: You need 6120 mana to survive The Reborn entering your castle. Luckily, he comes only on 38 wave, so you have plenty of time to build your mana pool and your defenses. Buy expensive gems, invest in Mana Pool early and you should be able to greet the boss with at least 2 level 7 gems. Make sure to give him a double greeting, swapping the most powerful gems to your rear defenses. With some luck "The Reborn" might not even be able to reach your fortress even on his first lap.

Third epic battle - The Fallen

Same strategy. Build towers close. Get expensive gems. The poor boss died before I even screenshotted him. You don't need big amounts of mana for this boss - he will die on the way (Mana Pool spell is still useful, as you get boosts to your exp and mana gained from monsters).

Fourth epic battle - The Lurker

The Lurker:

Hit Points:	42k
Armor level:	65
Speed:	0.6
Mana to banish:	6840

Once you have maxed Pure Gem Mastery and Number Of High Grade Starter Gems the rest of the game is simple. The Lurker should die on his first voyage to your castle. If he doesn't - throw some lvl 7-8 gems at him.

Final battle - The Guardian and The Forgotten

The Guardian:

Hit Points:	146k
Armor level:	120
Speed:	0.6
Mana to banish:	7100

In addition to his impressive amount of hit points and armor, The Guardian seems to be quite resistant to gem bombs. Depending on your luck with purple gems, you will probably need to banish him once - so keep around 7k mana ready. The number one goal on him is to cut soften his ultra armor - make sure you put purple gems as close to the entrance as possible, and move them as The Guardian progresses through. Green gems (poison) help as well - they ignore armor entirely. After losing 100 out of his 120 armor he is easily taken by your other damage-dealing gems. Enjoy the meeting with The Forgotten :)

How to get secret levels

To get secret levels, you need to score for glowing frame for all levels except last two. First hidden level is revealed after you complete first 6 levels with the "glowing frame" score. Be warned, though - it is not that easy if you are not at least level 37.

Don't bother if you don't get the light-blue glowing frame for the first time you play the level — once you reach level 40, replaying levels to get the glowing frame will be trivial and very fast. So get the level 40 - and then go for hidden levels.

That's it. Hope you enjoy the game as much as I did :) And if you found this post useful, why not subscribe to my rss feed to receive updates about hot new games?

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