Max is by far the MOST important hero in the game. His “Pilfer” skill is super OP and can be rushed as early as floor 1 when done correctly. This skill of his gets you extra dust each time you open a room with dust found in it. Starts at +2 goes up to +4 by end game, INSANE! Dust is important because it allows you to stock pile tons of Industry since you will have so many powered rooms. Powered rooms = fewer monsters spawns, which in turn allows for a weaker and more importantly, cheaper, defense. On top of this he has “Repair” for keeping your modules at 100% HP without moving an operator, he himself gets "Operate", which is great help before getting "Pilfer" during floors 1 or 2, and the “Run Away” skill to get out of any sticky situation all while constantly giving you +1 to science for his final amazing passive skill. Stack him with +Speed items and you have the most complete and well-rounded scout to lead your team.

One down side to him is that he has kind of a difficult start, being so fragile. You’re probably going to need a heavy hitter to back him up for your initial starting party. If you’re only just starting to play, I’d suggest going with “Sara Numas” and “Opbot DV8” until you unlock a couple decent high DPS heroes. “Gork ‘Butcher’ Koroser” , “Skroig” , or “Troe Pekenyo” , will probably get you by fine but the best choice to pair with max is by far “Elise Ness” because of her early operate skill.

Here's a video of Ness and Max dominating Floor 1, while still maximizing food, industry, and science stock. When done correctly, it's easy to do even while rushing Pilfer before floor 2.

The entire playthough is available on my YouTube Channel if you're interested in seeing this strategy put to the test. This is my 3rd playthrough & it works every time! Click here to see to all my DotE vids.

Finding good operators as soon as possible is very important. I never build more than 1 of each major module type (Industry, Science, Food) early game, but it is important to keep operators on whatever your current focus is for this particular floor. The best operators are “Opbot DV8” , “Rakya Pulmoni” , and “Warden Mormish” , but “Golgy Phurtiver” , “Nurse Deena Ratchet” , and “Elise Ness” also learn the operate skill. Make sure you stack your best operators with items that include a +Wit bonus.

If your lucky ( or unlucky) enough to find a "Covered in dust and Dust" device make sure you use your least important hero to activate it and by all means skip it if you can. Max gets you enough dust to survive most levels without taking a gamble on one of these devices and losing an important hero. If you need the dust feel free to take the risk, but make sure it's for a good reason and not just powering up easily defended unpowered rooms.

You’re not going to get to the more difficult levels unless you stock pile Science, Industry, & Food as early as possible.Always try to use as little industry as possible for each wave of enemies. Make sure you’re aware of how many unpowered rooms you can handle, and only add more offensive modules when you get stuck with an additional unpowered room to defend against.

If you can, attempt to save around 100 food at all times, so if you find a better hero you can buy or replace your current hero AND level them up immediately to LV 4 or 5. Take note that this game is really random, I’ve found 3 heroes on 1 floor before, so you truly never know what’s behind the next door. There is little need to upgrade your heroes past LV 5 or 6, unless you plan to keep them through the entire game (Like Max). You will be needing more offensive heroes come late game, more on that later.

Research is key to survival in this game. Always try to upgrade your offensive minor modules as early as possible (Max is IV) over getting lots of different types. Choose 3 that work for you and run with them. Pay attention to the upgrades sometimes the game will allow a module to be upgraded from I to III or II to IV. These are grand opportunities if it’s something you plan to use throughout the game. If you find an “Endless Artefact” early on a floor, be sure to focus your operators to your “Science Generator” to get as many upgrades as possible. Remember, if you open the final door of a floor, you automatically get whatever upgrade you’re researching, even if it still has a couple doors left of research time.

Click Here for a video connected to this section.

When you reach levels 8, 9 & 10 the game starts throwing curve balls at you. You will need to have at least 1 additional hero that’s mobile with decent damage output to back up Max. I began thinking about scrapping my purely operational heroes for offensive ones around floor 6 or 7. Only do this if you have enough food stock and the need for an additional offensive heros. Heroes always require a bit of luck as they must be found, but if you find a good one, make sure you grab them. The game allows you to dismiss your current heroes in their menu, just make sure you remove all their items first because they will disappear once dismissed. Best mobile offensive heroes are “Troe Pekenyo” , “Skroig” , “Hikensha” , and “Ken Massoqui” , but you can survive with , “Sara Numas” , “Nurse Deena Ratchet” , or “Lady Joleri Tulak” alongside Max, of course.

As I said before, the curve balls come as “Alerts” in certain rooms that will have an immobile (for awhile, at least) monster that has to be destroyed. The ones I’ve found all do AOE damage and can kill you real quick if you’re not careful. An item that is a MUST, is the “Autodoc Shards” that give a room +HP Regeneration. In LVs 9 and 10 specifically you’re going to want 1 room full of these shards (they do stack) to run back and replenish your HP in between “Alert” monster kills. It makes these “Alerts” a simple annoyance as opposed to some sort of health cost to damage output ratio you’d inevitably need in or to kill these monsters before the end of the turn. On top of these guys there are Rhino Rider Mobs that seem to break un-opened doors, thus sending in additional waves of mobs during your current turn. Here's a video of these guys in action. The alert goes to the door that they are targeting, so pay attention and get your mobile offense team ready for action if need be. I had an experience where one of these guys opened 3 or 4 doors, I survived, but it was hectic. Always a good idea to take them out first if your heroes are free/able to do so. They will simply go from door to door until stopped.