Stranded in a grimy, bio-punk world overrun by The Hive, every new Platyguard faces a brutal challenge. This fast-paced, 2D action roguelike from ChillyRoom demands quick reflexes, smart planning, and a willingness to learn. Don't be another casualty in the swarm. This guide will arm you with the essential strategies for survival, powerful upgrades, and building an unstoppable offense.
Contents
Getting Started: Mindset for Survival
Your first goal isn't to conquer the final boss; it's to survive long enough to learn. PlatyGuard: Swarm Slayer is a game of incremental progress. Each run teaches you enemy patterns, item effects, and how to build a synergistic loadout.
Start with the initial Platyguard and focus on mastering movement. You can dash through attacks and parry at the last second for a powerful counter. Early on, prioritize dodging over dealing damage. Staying alive longer means collecting more resources and experience per run.
First Upgrades: What to Choose
After a run, you'll earn Purple Crystals. Spend them wisely at the central hub's NPC vendors. Here’s the recommended order:
- Upgrade Your Main Platyguard: Directly increasing your character's level and core stats is the most reliable way to get stronger.
- Unlock the Prophecy System & Expand Badge Slots: Go from 1 to 2 Badge slots. Badges provide powerful, persistent bonuses.
- Get Self-Healing Gear: This is critical. Unlock equipment that provides automatic health regeneration when your HP is low, giving you a crucial buffer for mistakes.
- Further Badge Investment: Once you have a stockpile, expand your Badge capacity to 7 slots. Early favorites for all builds are Bane (increased damage to elites/bosses) and Interest (increased resource gain).
The Core Gameplay Loop: Rooms, Talismans, and Builds
Each run takes you through a series of rooms. Your choices here define your build.
Room Types & Talismans: Rooms offer different Talismans, which are temporary power-ups for that run. There are four types:
- Power: Triggers on basic attacks.
- Agility: Triggers on using skills.
- Perception: Triggers on hitting with skills.
- Constitution: Triggers when you take damage.
The Beginner's Priority Path: For new players, prioritize rooms with Power Talismans. These rooms are generally easier and boost your most reliable damage source: basic attacks. After securing a Power Talisman, aim for a Constitution room to improve survivability. This simple strategy can reliably carry you to Plane 4.
Boss Rewards & "Tree Teeth": Every boss drops a unique, powerful buff. Furthermore, completing small maps can reward Tree Teeth, a core resource used to define your entire build's foundation, such as a dodge-focused or skill-spam style.
Early Game Unlock & Character Priority
The Initial "Feather" Core Build: Upon reaching Plane 4, you'll unlock the "Feather" mechanic. A strong, beginner-friendly strategy is to build around it. Target a specific four-skill combo from Power, Constitution, Perception, and Enhancement rooms. If the right rooms don't appear, you can exit and restart the run. When assembled, this combo allows near-infinite skill use, triggering Feathers for massive damage and creating a sustainable loop for both crowds and bosses.
Your First Premium Goal: Nighthawk (The "Gunner"): As you progress, you'll need more efficiency. The premier character for this is Nightshade, a rapid-firing gunner. She is a premium character, typically unlocked via a first-purchase offer. She is worth saving for because her unique Boss-dropped Talismans—Double Projectile (fires twice) and Refraction (bullets bounce)—can trivialize screens of enemies with simple basic attacks. Pair these with an "Increased Projectiles" skill from an Enhancement room for overwhelming power.
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Essential Tips for New Guardians
Restart for Key Skills: Don't be afraid to abandon a run early if the first two rooms don't offer the core skills (like Power and Constitution) you're targeting. Restarting is faster than struggling with a weak build.
Learn Enemy Tells: Boss fights are about pattern recognition. Watch for tells, break their armor with parries or heavy attacks, and then unleash your finisher.
Experiment, But Focus: Try different Talismans to learn synergies, but during a serious run, stick to a plan. Trying to build for everything often results in a build that does nothing well.
Upgrade Over Unlock: Before spending Purple Crystals to unlock many new Platyguards, invest in upgrading your main one and key systems (like Badges). A strong foundation makes learning new characters easier.
Conclusion
Mastering PlatyGuard: Swarm Slayer is a marathon, not a sprint. Embrace each failure as a lesson. Start by building sturdy fundamentals with your first Platyguard, invest in the right permanent upgrades, and master the Feather core loop.
What's been your biggest challenge so far? Are you leaning towards a fast melee playstyle or a tactical ranged approach? Come and try it out in the game!
