The Kickstarted indie game Skyshine’s Bedlam is a rogue-like, turn-based strategy role-playing game. It features diplomacy, strategy, randomized events and permadeath. Some gamers have had trouble with the game due to its difficult. However, there are a few tips and tricks for maximizing the efficiency of the Dozer and the crew that must battle their way through the post apocalyptic wasteland toward the utopia known as Aztec.
YouTuber LMG offered a playthrough of the game that offers a look at how some of the game’s features function and work as well as what you can expect during the play experience. One thing that should be pointed out before you get too engrossed in the game – and this is a spoiler – when you reach Aztec City the game doesn’t necessarily end. You can keep playing until you completely die and run out of resources.
You start out with 25 power cells, 1,000 pieces of food, 1,000 gallons of crude fuel and 1,000 passengers. As you travel you lose resources rapidly. For the Dozer there are a number of upgrades that can be made to make it more efficient and resourceful.
Upgrading things like Bio Research for the Dozer will reduce the amount of meat consumed each day, which means you’ll be able to travel longer and explore more areas without losing as much supplies. The barracks enables faster healing for the crew, which is essential in between battles as they level up and gain more health. Upgrading the armory allows the Dozer’s to consume fewer power cells during when firing weapons at enemies during battle. Finally, Engineering makes the Dozer more efficient and consume less fuel during travel.
For the crew that fight for you, there are various classes that will be at your disposal. Deadeyes are like snipers but they have glass jaws and die easy, Deadeyes also do massive damage from long range but they need a line of sight in order to kill enemies at a distance. Frontliners are like tanks and have plenty of health to take hits. Gunslingers are a medium class that are good for run and gun tactics. Trenchers are the assault class, they have some decent hit points and can dish out moderate damage. Trenchers can also push opposing units back if they’re up close.
During battles you can utilize things like shields and cover fire. One thing to watch out for during battle is that some objects will be booby-trapped. Keep an eye out for things like bombs or timers on crates before getting too close. You can also utilize explosive barrels during a match, which can greatly help even the odds during a fight.
Your crew can die and stay dead. Permadeath is a real thing in Skyshine’s Bedlam. According to LMG some of the crew will actually have story elements if they live long enough. The story elements are randomized so as you’re playing through you might encounter those story elements.
The Blitzometer fills up as a battle goes on and for the enemy AI if the Blitzometer will fill up they can get three moves per round instead of two moves. You can only make two moves per round for any active units in the battle.
The game has random encounters throughout the game and sometimes the multiple choice factors will work in your favor while other times it might result in combat. Sometimes the random encounters might even result in nothing.
Battling an elite can also add them to your cache of personnel. Sometimes losing a few members to get an elite on your team can help in the long run. In one case someone like Skagger Mane can do massive damage at a medium range and can seriously help during tough battles down the road. There are a number of elites to battle that offer nice risk/rewards if you can beat them to add them to your roster.
Players will also have to balance supplies while managing the passengers riding in the Dozer. One thing to keep in mind is that the more you explore the more resources you lose, so you’ll need to balance your resources while risking exploring various territories.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you have a random encounter where the AI attacks the Dozer directly, if you lose while inside the Dozer you lose the game.
One thing to keep in mind is that while you can recruit more members to join your Dozer, the more passengers you take on the more resources they drain. You have to maintain a fine balancing act between the amount of passengers you have and the amount of supplies you need to retain.