Sanctum 2

Sanctum 2

1,008 ratings
Ciara's Sanctum 2 Guide - Ultimate Edition
By アンジェル
A guide which covers most aspects of the game. Characters, towers, strategy, mazes and much more. Happy Lumen-busting!
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Introduction
Thank you for using my guide for Sanctum 2.

This version is called Ultimate Edition, since it is based on my old one which I published a while ago on Steam. After multiple patches and the release of the first DLC, I got really fast the idea that the way I created my first guide would make me some real pain to keep it updated.

As you can see - this improved guide comes now with a new, fresher layout - made to make regular updates easy and it also has much more content than the origin guide. Created for all players who are new to Sanctum 2, did not have enough of Sanctum 2 yet, or just wants to see the game from an different point of view.

And this time I proudly present you my co-author Thomas. An Sanctum 2 acquintance who is also one of the best origin Sanctum players in the world. He is in charge of some weapons, towers and advanced gameplay section - to share with you the best knowledge we can offer about Sanctum 2 gameplay. You want to know more about us? Check our notes at the end of this guide. Some frequently asked questions are answered there.

Update: I have to tell you with considerable regret that Thomas quitted playing Sanctum 2 for a while now (about half a year). That is currently the major reason why I have troubles to keep it updated, with consideration to keep also the good quality of this guide. Due the circumstances I removed Thomas from the Steam credits, and make it more noticeable which is from him, and where starts my work after his. I apologize for the inconvenience of the situation and I hope you will still enjoy this guide of ours. Thank you very much for your understanding! - Ciara 01/2014

Now enjoy, and if you like this guide
do not forget to give this guide a good rating to keep me motivated! ^.^

And sorry for my bad English. It is not my native language, though.

Special thanks to Coffee Stain Studios[coffeestainstudios.com] - the independent developer studio which brought the genre mixture of TD/FPS into life. Your game is awesome! Thanks!
Spoiler Warning!
This guide contains major game spoilers.

If you are new to the game, you might want to play and discover things by your own first. A lot of information mentioned here can spoil your personal fun - especially regarding perks and maze layouts. I suggest, if you have not seen every map yet - come back again later and I assure you, you can make better of these given information than now. It is up to you how you like to play the game - enjoy and have fun!
List of Contents
1. Characters / Classes

2. Weapons

3. Towers

4. Perks

5. Enemy Types

6. Gameplay Tips

7. Game in a Games

8. Advanced Gameplay Tips - with Maze Layouts!

9. FAQ

10. About Us

11. Link Tips
Is this guide still up to date?
You will know for sure if the date I tell you here for Sanctum 2 latest patch note is the same, like given on the official forums[forum.coffeestainstudios.com].

You can also check your client's version ingame on the "Settings" page - the info is to find in the left bottom corner.

This guide is based on the game version 1.1.25536

This Guide is no longer up to date! Thank you all for your support - for now I have stopped playing Sanctum 2. Nevertheless I am really happy that so many people enjoyed this - thanks for the great time together!
Characters
Let us start with the five main characters from the game. Each character comes with unique passive abilities and an favourite primary weapon which cannot be changed.

With the release of DLC4 - The Last Stand - the developers decided to answer a popular demand of the Sanctum 2 community for the ability to change the primary weapon. Since that, every player can customize their layout even more to match their personal playstyle. Yet it is worthwhile to say, that the favourite primary weapons are still the best for matching the characters passive abilities. No longer necessary to play Skye with Assault Rifle - yet still a worthy choice.

The choice of character depends on your playstyle and the position you want to take on the battlefield. If it is the point man or the marksman - select whomever suits your playstyle!

Yet it would not hurt to change to another character, in case you feel you are getting stuck at certain points in the game. Maybe the force to use another playstyle might give you not only the ability to experience certain maps as easier, but also offers new insight. And you may enjoy a new playstyle even more...

Keep experimenting and have fun! Now let us introduce to you the five heros of LOEK III!

Skye Autumn
Weapon
Assault Rifle

Abilities
Deals more damage for each hit on the enemy. Can double jump.


A more badass and elder look - that was the idea for Skye, the heroine of the origin Sanctum, and she got it. She is still the same Skye though - means an universal good all-around-soldier character with an reliable primary weapon and additional mobility on the battlefield thanks to her double jump.

Skye might be your best choice, if you are unsure what you are up to. In late game she becomes really strong by using tactics like the use of EKT-Tesla-Prototype, which benefits from her passive damage bonus (max. 100% since version 1.1.25437), or the use of Plumber Shoes. She is very flexible and can almost play every role on the battlefield. However - her best position would be on the center of the field.

For more details about the character Syke Autumn - visit the official Sanctum wiki which provides also background information for all characters.[sanctum.gamepedia.com]
Sweet Autumn
Weapon
REX

Abilities
Shots set targets on fire. Great air control.


Do not judge her only by her adorable and sweet look. Sweet Autumn is currently perhaps the most valuable class on the battlefield. She is not only great against flying enemies due to her primary weapon, she is also best in rocket jumping and applying debuffs on enemies. Her burn damage, which applies every second for six seconds, prolongs the effect of her initial hit by six additional seconds. That means perks which are applied on hit on enemies have a longer and more potent effect. Her great air control ensures also that she is very mobile on the battlefield. A skilled player can outrun even those who uses Rymdskor.

With the patch of 30th July 2013, Coffee Stain Studios decided to make her even more viable against the feat of strength Hydra-Hunter. Now her burn slows down enemy's regeneration by 50%, additionally to the damage she already apply.

Sweet is played best with the perk Long Range Specialization - for obvious reasons. Regardless if singleplayer or multiplayer - mastering Sweet gives you an advantage for any game.

Note: I do not really understand, why Coffee Stain Studios decided to make her even stronger. Even before the patch 1.1.21077 she was already the strongest regarding multiplayer. Almost every good survival team would want to have at least one Sweet in their team. Not sure from which point of view the decision was made, after REX's knockback has been already reduced by 20% in another patch[forum.coffeestainstudios.com] before.

For more details about the character Sweet Autumn - visit the official Sanctum wiki which provides also background information for all characters.[sanctum.gamepedia.com]
SiMo UNIT 025-58
Weapon
Sniper Rifle

Abilities
Deals more weakspot damage for each weakspot hit depending on damage done. Has better accuracy.


SiMo is great as a marksman. Its passive weakspot damage bonus, combined with his Sniper Rifle weakspot damage bonus, a natural long range support character - with a powerful damage output against weakspots. considering all functionalities its character can offer. Its accuracy bonus also improves the use of wide spread weapons like the Aussault Rifle. Without any penalties, its function as side support is unmatched when it comes to take down single and strong enemies.

About the stackable damage bonus you can gain through his passive, a comment from Oscar Jilsén[forum.coffeestainstudios.com], developer at Coffee Stain Studios:

Originally posted by "Oscar Jilsén":
The percentage of weakspot damage added is 1.1% of damage dealt. This means a weakspot hit of 3000 damage will add 33% more weakspot damage for 10 seconds. Stacks up to 220% extra weakspot damage (250% with SiMos native 30% bonus).

Trivia: SiMo is named after a Finnish sniper who fought in the Winter War of 1939-1940, Simo Häyhä[en.wikipedia.org].

For more details about the character SiMo - visit the official Sanctum wiki which provides also background information for all characters.[sanctum.gamepedia.com]
Haigen Hawkins
Weapon
Shotgun

Abilities
Deals more damage when close to the enemies. Has more health.


Haigen is played best on the front line. With his permanent health bonus and damage bonus - which applies as long as he is two length units towards the target - he is just perfect for close combat. Also is his damage output is second best, due to his and the Shotguns passive boni towards nearby enemies. An almost indispensable class when you go for late survival games where a character, who acts like a tank, can make the difference between victory and defeat - especially when it comes to kiting enemies while the rest of the team recover or take care of other tasks. He is also an ideal choice for the perk Slowing Presence.

Trivia: The name Haigen Hawkins is made up from two beta testers, Haigen Miller and Thomas "Hawkins" Richards. The very same TigerHawkins who contributes on this guide. Developers had trouble coming up with the name but settled on the idea of giving it to the biggest Sanctum fan[www.facebook.com] and record holder for origin Sanctum maps[coffeestainstudios.com]. Both are also mentioned in the game's credits.

For more details about the character Haigen Hawkins - visit the official Sanctum wiki which provides also background information for all characters.[sanctum.gamepedia.com]
Charlotte Wray
Weapon
Ballista

Abilities
The last shot in a mag deals massive damage. Moves faster.


Charlotte is a character who was introduced with the first DLC. Before that she was presented ingame only as a mystery with her codename TSYGAN. Most players were unaware about her story and the meaning of the term unless you knew her Twitter feed which announced upcoming game updates and hints towards the background story.

On the battlefield she is a strong, yet a difficult to handle character. It needs some training to master his primary weapon - the Ballista. But overall, considering her abilities, she is extremely powerful. Equip her with an Shotgun as secondary and make a full charge. The fully charged shot will be count as her last shot in her mag and it will be the most powerful gun shot damage output you can have in the game.

Trivia: in the international version of the game you will find her known only as TSYGAN in character selection. However - the origin localization mentioned her as Charlotte "Chay" Wray[enmi.deviantart.com], a character of Emmy "enmi" Wahlbäck[enmi.deviantart.com], concept artist with Coffee Stain Studios. Since the community translators worked with the origin material there is a little confusion when talking about Tsygan. However - I prefer Charlotte. Until today there is sadly no official statement, why Coffee Stain Studios decided to change her name in character selection, without giving note to the translators. I lead their attention several times on that topic without getting any answers.

Fun fact: when Sanctum 2 was released there was a special TSYGAN twitter account, which announced additional contents in a cryptic way. Once the devs role played, making their twitter accounts looked like being hacked by TSYGAN/Charlotte Wray. However... one day the TSYGAN twitter account got hacked... this time for real, publishing links to phishing sites...


For more details about the character Charlotte Wray - visit the official Sanctum wiki which provides also background information for all characters.[sanctum.gamepedia.com]
Weapons
This section will give you a quick overview about all weapons of the game to provide you with more than just obvious basic information - which can be found on the game's wiki[sanctum.gamepedia.com]. My co-author Tom aka TigerHawkins in charge for the first part of this section, including the first DLC weapons. I hope our tips will help you to get an even better grasp of the weapons which are used by the Core Guardian Squad. Enjoy!
Assault Rifle
The primary weapon of Skye Autumn, and a terrific all-around weapon. Rapid fire with a large clip, and a minimal spread for an automatic weapon. It is an extremely effective weapon for any of the guardians to use.


Primary Fire
Full automatic rapid fire.

Secondary Fire
Grenade that explodes on impact.


-----------------------------------------
Attributes
Primary Fire
Secondary Fire
Speed
10 shots/sec
1 shot/sec
Range
Medium
Long
Base Damage
175
1250
-----------------------------------------

The Assault Rifle makes its return from the original Sanctum. It now has a magazine size instead of a percentage charge like it did in Sanctum. Of the automatic weapons this game has, the Assault Rifle boasts the highest damage per individual shot. In general, I recommend emptying most of the clip, get it a close to one as humanly possible, then fire a grenade. If you fire the grenade without removing your finger from the primary fire, you can swap the weapon immediately, rather than waiting for the grenade animation to finish before being allowed to swap weapons while the other reloads.

In the hands of SiMo, it gets - like any other automatic weapons with spread - even better for mid-range, due to his passive bonus on accurracy.
REX Launcher
The primary weapon of Sweet Autumn, ideal at crowd control damage, and is arguably the best weapon for fighting flying enemies. It is a versatile weapon in which the primary fire is terrific at fighting weaker, more compact enemies, while the secondary fights bulkier, single targets more appropriately. The primary shot moves relatively slow, so try to adjust your targeting to make sure you hit your targets even on long range.
[/b][/u]

Primary Fire
Shoots a highly explosive rocket.

Secondary Fire
Hold for target lock-on.


-----------------------------------------
Attributes
Primary Fire
Secondary Fire
Speed
1 shot/sec
1 shot/sec
Range
Long
Long
Base Damage
1200
6 x 300
-----------------------------------------

It may have the smallest clip, but it outclasses every weapon for spreading debuffs and putting distance between the player and the enemies for quick getaways.

We have another returning weapon. The Rex has received numerous nerfs from its Sanctum predecessor, but still remains an exceptional weapon all the same. Personally, I recommend using this weapon on Sweet and Sweet alone. The biggest niche the Rex has is its wide area of effect damage, which allows for debuffs to be applied to numerous targets instantly, and having the effects prolonged with the incendiary rounds. Beyond that, there are probably other weapons that are more adapted to standard combat. If you are a supporter, then this weapon is for you.

I personally would like to say, it suits other characters as well. Well, you will not get the burning effect, but that weapon can do hell of damage in the hands of Charlotte, for example. Try different combinations to find what suits you best!
Sniper Rifle
SiMo's primary weapon. The epitome of precision burst damage. In a nutshell, this weapon is a lot of enemies worst nightmares that are generally difficult to damage, such as Hoverers, Heavies, Bobble Heads, and last but not least the Fiskeplaske. It's a difficult weapon to use on smaller and faster enemies, but is overall a terrific weapon to have mastered.


Primary Fire
Single shot, high critical damage.

Secondary Fire
Single shot that explodes in a cone on hit.


-----------------------------------------
Attributes
Primary Fire
Secondary Fire
Speed
1 shot/sec
1 shot/sec
Range
Long
Long
Base Damage
1200
1200
-----------------------------------------

The Sniper Rifle has a weakspot multiplier of 2.3, rather than the default 1.2 multiplier. It's secondary fire also defies the laws of physics by penetrating multiple targets without losing momentum or force with each target it penetrates, while the path radius increases with distance.

The Sniper Rifle returns as well, with a bunch new aspects that make it terrific at mowing down Lumes. It has a secondary fire unlike in Sanctum, allowing it to penetrate multiple targets. It retains the best consistent damage output to a single target, and is essentially the best weapon for killing bosses. Like most weapons, the secondary fire consumes more than one ammo unit. Therefore, what you generally want to do is always make the final shot a secondary shot, there is no downside, and you can hit multiple targets. Another good strategy is to use the Sniper as a swap weapon. Either fire a primary shot, followed by two secondaries, or fire a secondary, followed by a primary, to quickly eat through the clip and change backover to your other weapon. Works great with Fast Hands.
Shotgun
Haigen Hawkin's primary weapon.The shotgun has the biggest damage variation. The closer you are to the target, the greater the damage, likewise, the further you are the damage lessens and so does the accuracy. The Shotgun fires eight pellets in its shots.


Primary Fire
8-pellet shot, deals more damage the closer you are.

Secondary Fire
Charge up for increased damage.


-----------------------------------------
Attributes
Primary Fire
Secondary Fire
Speed
1.33 shot/sec
Single Shot
Range
Short
Short
Base Damage
330
Varies
-----------------------------------------

The secondary fire ignores penetratable armor, and in the Hands of Haigen Hawkins, is capable downing every single enemy in a single shot barring heavies and bosses. Use it to decimate the bulky enemies.

This gun has not changed much, nor does it differ from what you would expect. It is extremely powerful at close range, and as the range lengthens, its pellets spread further apart, decreasing accuracy and the pellets also lose damage with distance. The biggest advantage this weapon has its charging aspect, which becomes powerful enough to down most normal enemies in a single blow in single player. The only things it is incapable of downing without serious damage perks invested are heavies and bosses.
Ballista
Charlotte's primary weapon, and a versatile one at that. Both primary and secondary shots are capable of being charged for short periods of time to deal more damage. As the shots are charged, they also become more accurate over long distances.

Primary Fire
Chargeable laser bolt.

Secondary Fire
Charged bolt that sticks and deals damage over time to all targets in an area.


-----------------------------------------
Attributes
Primary Fire
Secondary Fire
Speed
1 shot/sec
1 shot/sec
Range
Long
Long
Base Damage
850-2550
238-428
-----------------------------------------

Utilizing the secondary fire allows for spreads debuffs allows for hitting multiple sets of enemy if you stick the bold into the ground or base, rather than an enemy.
Voltaic Hand Cannon
The default Secondary weapon. it's primary shot fires faster than the secondary, and can penetrate multiple targets. The secondary fies slower rounds, deals more damage, is tougher to deal penetrating damage, and homes in on designated targets. This will be the main secondary weapon used for a while, and serves balanced utility.


Primary Fire
Electrical orbs that penetrate enemies.

Secondary Fire
Target-seeking energy orb.


-----------------------------------------
Attributes
Primary Fire
Secondary Fire
Speed
2 shots/sec
1.33 shots/sec
Range
Long
Long
Base Damage
750
1000
-----------------------------------------

Although this weapon is fairly basic, it is the best penetrating weapon in the game, simply because it is unlocked from level one, does not mean it is truly inferior to everything else.
Battle Rifle
The explosive battle rifle generates area of effect damage at a respectable rate of fire. It is a solid tactics weapon that is great at distributing crippling shot effects to a wide array of enemies, while also firing shots at high speed, ensuring direct hits.


Primary Fire
High-velocity explosive round.

Secondary Fire
Timed bomb.


-----------------------------------------
Attributes
Primary Fire
Secondary Fire
Speed
1.66 shots/sec
1 shot/sec
Range
Long
Short
Base Damage
900
2000
-----------------------------------------

The secondary shot can be detonated early if a projectile hits it. It is easiest if an explosion does it. Picture a weaker, but more rapid REX launcher, and that is essentially what it is in terms of utility.
ETK-Tesla Prototype
The ETK-Tesla Prototype is the first automatic secondary weapon to be unlocked. It fires a stream of lightning at the enemies, fully penetrating for full damage on every target in its wake (armor weakens damage), has a large clip, great rate of fire, respectable damage per shot, and is great for taking out swarms of weak enemies. The biggest counter to the ETK-Tesla Prototype is armored enemies, preventing it from becoming overpowered.


Primary Fire
High-powered electricity stream that hits an area.

Secondary Fire
Strong current that bounces between targets.


-----------------------------------------
Attributes
Primary Fire
Secondary Fire
Speed
10 shots/sec
1 shot/sec
Range
Short
Short
Base Damage
125
700
-----------------------------------------

Because Skye's damage modifier is calculated by number of damage instances rather than shots, using this with Skye on a line of enemy enemies will quickly escalate to well over what any weapon can accomplish.
SMG (Sub Mini-Gun)
The Sub Mini-Gun (SMG) has the highest rate of fire of any weapon in the game, and the widest projectile spread of any weapon. The SMG is best known for it's poison damage which prolongs crippling effects by perks, while it's poison damage completely ignores armor, dealing consistent damage over time. Overall, a very powerful weapon with enough versaility to be effective on any Core Guardian.


Primary Fire
Full automatic rapid fire.

Secondary Fire
3-shot burst of poison darts.


-----------------------------------------
Attributes
Primary Fire
Secondary Fire
Speed
20 shots/sec
2 shots/sec
Range
Short
Long
Base Damage
110
45 (1400 damage over 13 seconds)
-----------------------------------------

The SMG is a unique weapon. It boasts the capability to prolong crippling effects such as synergy, exposure rounds, and slowing rounds for an additional 13 seconds courtesy of the secondary fire. It is a terrific boss weapon for those reasons, and since the target can have as many poison instances as it can, it almost makes the primary fire obsolete by comparison.
Gatling Laser
The secondary weapon introduced in the Road to Elysion One patch. The primary fire is rapid oriented, that has a damage over time effect, making is exceptional at fighting soakers, and the secondary is great area of effect damage that is very similar to the ACP with the added ability of damaging flying enemies.

Primary Fire
Rapid fire laser that deals extra damage over time.

Secondary Fire
Charge up to deal damage in an area around yourself.


-----------------------------------------
Attributes
Primary Fire
Secondary Fire
Speed
8 shots/sec
.5 shots/sec
Range
Long
Short
Base Damage
200
1750
-----------------------------------------

Because the weapon has a damage over time quality, and counts as additional damage instances with the primary fire, it is one of the best weapons for fighting soakers for a character that is not Sweet.
Circle Saw
Sorry. This guide is no longer up to date.
Please check the game's wiki for more information about this weapon.
Nailgun
Sorry. This guide is no longer up to date.
Please check the game's wiki for more information about this weapon.
Towers
This franchise is a Tower Defense/First Person Shooter hybrid.
The towers cover the Tower Defense aspect.

In the standard game, only a maximum of 15 towers are able to be on the map at one time. The towers have four different stages in construction. Level One, Level Two, Level Three, and Overcharge. When leveling from 1-2 or 2-3, the towers will have multiple aspects altered. Such as fire rate, range, and damage. In the overcharge phase, most towers will only improve their damage aspects. Some towers are expensive to assemble and upgrade, while others are significantly cheaper.

It is up to the player to decide which towers in the diverse tower pool suit them best, and where they should go. The following articles are here to help you decide which towers should be used in which situations. In the end, the decision is yours. Feel free to experiment!

On a side note: the tower cap at release was ten. It has been increased by 50% due to community's feedback. Yet it is interesting to know, that the origin game, when it was still beta and before, did not come up with an tower cap at all. What was implemented later as a good and challengeful feature, was in fact to prevent performance issues caused by too many towers. Especially considering the console versions.

Once again: Thomas handled the first part including DLC1 towers. Rest is by me.
Cannon
The Cannon is the default tower you begin with at rank one. It is the only tower that loses speed in its rate of fire as it levels. But gains a massive damage boost to compensate. The tower is relatively inexpensive to max compared to other offensive towers. Its range is very respectable, and makes an exceptionally versatile tower that can be used against a variety of enemies.

The Cannon is an really good all-around tower. An all-time-favourite of mine. It ignores the armor of heavies, has a pretty long range, it is strong and flexible. Depending on your situation sometimes the level one tower outbids level two, because of its faster fire rate. Try positioning level two or three Cannons in general - level one Cannons are a great addition for fast an weak enemies.

I always prefer the Cannon over the Violator if I do need something strong with a long range.
Compared to the Violator the Cannon is much cheaper, and in my opinion stronger with its higher fire rate. If you are not sure what awaits you in upcoming waves, the Cannon is always a good choice.
Gatling
The Gatling has the highest speed of any tower, narrowly doubles a maxed scatter laser. The main advantage it has over the Scatter Laser is that it focus fires far better. Instead of touching random enemies in a group, it will focus on one until it either dies or leaves its range.

Good against weak enemies and Soakers.
Lightning
The Lightning tower is ideally placed in the middle of a row rather than the end of the row unlike just about everything else. Its atrocious rate of fire makes it so you simply want the enemy to pass, get shocked, then have it pass that point again later after it has recharged.

A very good beginner tower. The shots bounces when the tower is upgraded. One bounce at level two, two bounces at level three. Take advantage of that to take down larger groups in seconds! The tower has one of the strongest single hit damage output in the game.
AR-Mine Dispenser
The mine gets a single deployment per wave. With every level, it gains an additional mine. Because the mines have no limitations as to where they can be put, placement is preferred near an AMP Spire, but in the worst possible spot because so long as it's buffed, it doesn't matter where the tower is placed.

Make sure to get all the mines before a wave ends. Sometimes I forgot to take them, since I hardly use mines. If that happens - well - you will not get additional mines for the next wave, since there is no additional deployment, when the mines were not taken from the dispenser before. When it is overcharged, it only increase in damage but not in number of the mines you can get. A buff from an Range Spire will increase the explosion radius of the mines. (^.^)

Trivia: This tower is named after a pun using the name of one of the developers. Armin Ibrisagic[plus.google.com]. AR-Mine, Armin...
ACP
The Automatic Crowd Pummeler (ACP) is actually the only tower that cannot attack flying enemies. It is best compared to the Rocket Tower because both deal damage in an area of effect fashion. The ACP offers a much larger impact range, and deals consistent damage throughtout its range. The Rocket on the other hand has a colossal range that is only outdone by the Violator, and damage lessens from where the rockets explode. The final benefit that this tower has over the Rocket is double the rate of fire. In the end, it all comes down to preference.

Good against heavy enemies.
Kairos
A tactics tower. Unlike in origin Sanctum, this tower can target ground enemies now. It applies a slowing sphere for a duration of time, which slows down enemies within it. The Kairos is best compared to the Slow Field Dispenser, since they both slow enemies. The main differences are the Slow Fields max at a higher slow rate, and have no designated range. The Kairos on the other hand sets up temporary fields in a smaller area. The biggest benefit of the Kairos over the Slow Fields is that the Kairos field does not slow you.

I prefer Slow Fields due to the fact that I always can relocate them if needed. It happens often, that I relocate Slow Fields ingame - for example, to slow down enemy attacks on the core after they passed fields they would not pass again. Simple but effective for Core protection. Also I feel like that Slow Fields are more reliable to slow all enemies within the designated area. It is always frustating when certain enemies pass a Kairos area without getting hit, because the tower prioritized other enemies first.
Drone
The Drone towers are very unique among attack towers. First off, they are the only towers that are capable of damaging Bobble Heads. Second, the tower's damage is deceiving. The Drone also hits its target 100 times with armor penetrating damage. Making it terrific in singling out bulky targets. It has a terrible range, so placing it in the middle of a row rather than the end of a row is ideal. In a long term survival game, these towers are practically mandatory in the later levels.
Violator
There are so many superlatives on this tower. Most expensive, widest range by a very long shot, and the slowest rate of fire. Now that the Targeting System is no longer a perk, this tower becomes much more useful.

The Violator only fires a shot once every ten seconds, and with such an incredibly high damage output to attempt to balance its rate of fire, you always want this tower attacking the strongest thing it can attack. Exceptions are Bobble Heads, since they will not be damaged, and Hoverers (from the front). Beyond that, this tower will do an incredible amount of damage to almost anything, and its colossal range almost ensures it will be firing almost every chance it gets. Expect it to weaken bosses, but do not expect it to kill them by themselves.
Rocket
The Rocket towers are arguably the most versatile tower in the game. They boast the second highest range, only outdone by the Violator, they deal tremendous damage once they are maxed, deal area of effect damage, which synergizes very well with the long range firing, and approach targets from directly above, allowing the missiles to hit behind most walls and tower bases. They are also relatively cheap to assemble, and are terrific at shooting down moderate mob enemies like Walkers and Screamers.

The tower does have a downside though. First off, like every tower not named the drone, it cannot damage a Bobble Head (although the impact hits it directly on its head), but more importantly it cannot damage a Hoverer or a Hoverer Queen, not even with splash damage. The ability to effectively combat everything else makes it one of the best towers.
AMP Spire
This is the most important tower for Survival, and this tower is the metagame. It applies a percentage buff to damage output to every tower in its small, yet effective range. At levels one and two, the tower powers up the eight squares that are touching it, and at level three, it encompasses a total of 20 blocks (5x5 square with the corners cut off). Under most circumstances, you generally want to build a single AMP Spire, then place every single attack tower inside its range.

The AMP Spire is essentially mandatory for a successful survival run, and furthermore, is worth the time and money that goes into it, because overcharging that is percentage based, and turns upgrading one tower into upgrading a theoretical max of 20 towers.
Scatter Laser
This tower has a lot to offer. First, it has a tremendous range for a rapid fire turret, while having great damage for a rapid fire turret. It maxes at just under half the rate of the Gatling tower. As usual, it cannot damage Bobble Heads, but it is capable of harming everything else.

Without overcharge, or an AMP Spire, a Armored Heavy and Super Heavy cannot be damaged by the Scatter Laser.

In addition to gaining overcharge damage, every 20 resources that goes into an overcharged scatter increases its range by .01. It is not too notable in standard play, but it is there.

The Scatter Laser fires at "random" targets. This makes the Scatter Laser the only firing tower that cannot be influenced by Targeting System preferences.
Focus
The Focus replaced the Accelerator from origin Sanctum with some modifications. As it keeps the same target, its damage amplifies to max at 5x its base damage before factoring in armor statistics. It counts as a rapid fire turret, and is one of the best weapons at taking bosses down. By now only Fiskeplaske and Bobble Heads have unpenetrable armor against the Focus.

I like to setup the Focus as one of the last towers in my defense line. Making sure it targets mainly only heavy armored enemies which broke through all my other defenses. This puts the tower in the advantage to unfold its true power by focusing single heavy armored targets, instead of switching often to smaller and weaker enemies. Do not forget to use Targeting System to make the best of it!
Slow Field Dispenser
The replacement for the Slow Fields in origin Sanctum. They are very similar to the Mines. The tower is deployed, and you pick up the field generators, and place them around the map for enemies to pass over. The amount that can deployed are equal to the tower's level, so when maxed, you can place up to three. The fields slow all living things in its influence, so the player gets slowed as well, generally limiting the areas that fields can be placed.

The generator's influence area increases with a Range spire, so placing them in a maze under the influence of a Range spire, but not an AMP spire is best, and will broaden the sphere of effect.
Range Spire
The Range Spire essentially has an identical radius to the AMP Spire, although the numbers are technically different. This tower is practically made to synergize with the AMP Spire, improving the damage and range of every tower you build within its 20 block range. This affects tactical towers as well. This should also be overcharged to a certain point, because some towers need smaller ranges so they hit the targets you want them to hit. A larger range decreases the probability of hitting the target you would like them to.
Makeshift Cannon
The Makeshift Cannon looks... like a Makeshift Cannon... not very... trustworthy? Yet it is an awesome alternative compared to the Classic Cannon! What the Makeshift Cannon lacks on damage, range, and reliability is made up by its ability to stun enemies. A single Makeshift Cannon might not reveal the awesomeness of the effect, but a few combined with stronger damage dealing towers shows us quick: stunning enemies, especially with additional HP in "full fos games" can make a huge difference. On some maps you can even try to use a lot of these Makeshift Cannons at once in survival, literally stopping the enemies from advancing by keeping them stunned.

If you do not mind the possibility that this tower might deactivates itself, you might love it for advanced gameplay!
Rupture Mine Dispenser
The Rupture Mines have a very interesting concept how you use them. They work pretty much like bear traps: enemy walk over it - gets damaged - gets additional damage for several seconds, depending on the distance it walked. While you like to set up AR-Mines next to the Core, you will want to set up Rupture Mines far away - but not too far - so the enemies can be weakened before entering the killzone.

However - sadly I had only very few opportunities to make best use of them, since it takes a lot about the placing of the mines. In my opinion the concept is great - but I would hardly put these dispensers in my loadout, since there are other more reliable towers available.
Friendship Laser
Friendship is Magic! I love this little hovering towers, which reminds me a lot of the prism towers in a favourite strategy game of mine. Not due their appearance, but due the fact that Friendship Lasers support each other.

The towers are nice priced, have a reliable damage output - yet their best performance only comes with a suitable maze with a large killing zone. Without utilizing the "Friendship-effect", setting up these towers would be a waste of money, considering you can get Cannons for additional 15 resource points. But imagine: if a Friendship Laser gets out of range hitting an enemy, it transfers it full damage output towards another reachable tower. I know - hard to use - but if you have the maze right...

I tell you: the good use of this Friendship Laser towers is very difficult, yet also very rewarding. Do not underestimate them! Friendship is Magic!
Mind Control Spire
The Mind Control Spire is in my opinion one of the most interesting towers - since it does not really do damage, but turning the enemies around can apply a lot more damage on them then usual.

Best use is made of this tower by setting the tower's targeting system to go for the Lumes with most health, in my opinion at least. Combine this one with fast damage dealing towers is just awesome - without it still makes a quite good "stopper". Enemies affected by this tower either attacks other enemies or just stand still for a while - however, it influences the incoming waves highly and can give you essential additional time to take care of Lumes. Be careful when Bosses get affected by the Spire - they still attack other Lumes, but the unexpected collateral damage by doing so can be more devastating than usual. Especially the armored Super Heavy can be hard to control - instead of walking peacefully your maze, it will start to create holes wherever another Lume is in sight...

This tower is a good choice for advanced crowd control!
Anti-Air
There is really nothing much to say about the Anti-Air (AA) tower.
This tower only attacks flying enemies. But if it does, it always launches devastating homing missles, which almost bring down any kind of flying enemies. They become indispensable for the DLC4 maps, when the Spore Pods masses returns. Until then you hardly need this tower. And when you build this tower - usually only a few or even only a single one which is upgraded is more than sufficient for a map, if you keep in mind to choose a loadout with towers which attacks air and ground units likewise (like the classic Cannon).
Orbital Strike Relay
The Orbital Strike Relay is a surprising addition, which came with DLC4. It has impressive range and damage output, yet it is also the most expensive one of all towers so far. Yet definitely worth the investment, as long as you understand how to use it at its best!

First important thing about the OSR is, that the fire rate is quite slow, but it delivers an area of effect damage for a certain time. That makes it good against slow enemies - that is what the ingame description says. You agree on that? I do not.

In my opinion the OSR is best in taking down especially fast small fries like Runners, Broodmothers, etc. AND also for your last line of defense - when heavy enemies for example reached your Core and are pinpointed anyway next to it. The OSR is also awesome in dealing damage on groups you can hold in place by kiting. Ever got problems with Infected Explorers? With the Orbital Strike Relay those times are over! This tower is one of my few favourites in any game mode. Regardless of its ineffectiveness against Hoverers, Bobble Heads and flying enemies.
Perks
Thanks for taking care of the weapons and towers section, Thomas.

Now let us get to the section I am very proud of: the perks.

Like characters, weapons and towers the choice of perks is very important and influence the outcome of a battle. Perhaps perks are one of the most important parts for planning your strategy, since the choice of perks reflects your gamestyle very much.

In this section I will present you my thoughts and ideas about perks. And while we have not to agree and might have different opinions about the use and value, at least you shall see it from an different perspective, which will give you (hopefully) additional insight about using perks in your game sessions.

This part is based on my original forum post[forum.coffeestainstudios.com] which is also base for my former guide on Steam.

My old guide on Steam can be found here:



Hollowpoint Rounds
One in every 3 hits deal 100% of weapon damage as bonus damage.

There is nothing much to say about Hollowpoint Rounds. It is a great perk, giving you a 1:3 chance to deal double damage on a hit. There is hardly anything as impressive, like seeing Charlotte doing over 10k damage with an weakspot hit.

The perk's effect can be used best with the Sniper Rifle, which stacks with its passive weakspot hit bonus.

A solid perk when you get it. It will give a solid amount of power early in the game, and has no drawbacks other than occupying a perk a slot. I generally don't recommend it for survival because in later cycles, the players damage output diminishes.
Static Discharge
Adds a lighting bounce to your shot that deals 50% of weapon damage to another close enemy. 0.25 seconds cooldown.

Another good beginner perk, which could be even better for late game, used by a skilled player. Giving an additional bounce of damage which make most of your shots value 150% each, provided you are targeting the right enemies. Works very well, since most enemies walk next to each other, and even grouping at the core.

This perk tempts you to spare Soakers in order to abuse them for even higher damage output to cast on certain enemies. Try it, love it, or leave it.

I personally prefer other perks, less dependent on shooting skills.
Resilient Core
Heals the core for 10% of its max health after each wave.

Resilient Core has been nerfed in September 2013 by 20%.
In the beginning it healed the core for 12.5% of its max health.

This perk heals standard cores by 400 health points. The effect stacks and can be used in multiplayer to heal cores up to 1600 points after each survived wave. The effect cannot cause cores to gain more health than those maximum health points and the perk affects all cores on the map.

A reliable and extremely useful perk. Especially for longer game session with many waves and survival. On some maps, this perk makes sense to use. The only campaign map to not bring this is The End, since it's only a single wave. Sometimes you may have a hard encounter in early waves, which could cost you the victory later on. This perk will heal your losses and give you a better chance. While playing multiplayer it is advisable that at least one teammate equip this perk, as a second choice to Shocking Revelation.

This perk is essentially mandatory in survival in order to achieve high scores. This perk is the only way for the core to regenerate health, period, and therefore, having it is one of the best perks to bring along, especially in multiplayer.

Most levels have a certain wave in particular where the enemies will likely reach the core. By survivng it, if the level has at least an 11 wave campaign, by the time that particular wave comes up again, the core is guaranteed to be at max health if no other waves damage it.
Unstable Core
Deals 2000 damage to any enemy hitting the core.

Damage has been increased by 167% since game's released. Initially it only dealt 750 damage, which was already good. Now it is even of better use.

Some people might dislike the idea, of getting hit the core by enemies at all. Yet there are situations where it is really hard to prevent that from happening. Especially when it comes to single Runners and Broodmothers which break through your defenses.

When that happens you have to choose. Does it make sense to run all way back to the core, to get rid of a single Runner, or would it be more important to hold position and ensure that the next big enemy won't make it? Not sure yet? Try this perk.

It might be of less use in survival, where enemies gets more health after each wave.
It might be of less use while playing multiplayer, where enemies already get higher health, scaled by the number of players. Yet this perk can be a game saver while playing solo.

Unable to hold all enemies off on the same time, this perk, combined with Shocking Revelation, can do you good and help you concentrate on more dangerous incoming enemies. In the meanwhile those small single Runners, which broke through your defenses, kill themselves by hitting the core.

It really is only advisable to bring this perk into solo campaign for the most part, where the enemy have the least amount of health, and the set damage is most effective. Two people is pushing it, beyond that, do not even bother with it.
Marksman
Increases weakspot damage by 45%.

This perk provided only a 40% damage boost on weakspot hit, when the game was released. The damage boost has been increased by 12.5% - yet I do not understand why, because this perk was already really strong. Maybe to match the damage increase of Hip Fire...

This perk is an natural add-on for playing with SiMo. In fact it supports all characters very well, in the damage is done when hitting an weakspot. While it seems very strong in early games, improving your damage output to 60% and more, when hitting a weakspot, this perk becomes less valuable in late survival games where the enemies health increases drastically and weapon damage becomes less effective.. Especially due to the fact that the effect will only trigger, when you hit weakspots.

Unless you are an outstanding Sniper like Simo Häyhä[en.wikipedia.org] you might want to equip another perk.
Hip Fire
Increases weapon damage by 40%. Disables weakspot hits.

When the game was released, the bonus was only 30%. It has been increased, to make the perk more valuable, since it was hardly used in the beginning due to the fact, that Hollowpoint Rounds was stronger without having any penalties.

Hip Fire is an essential damage bonus perk. It disables your weakspot hits, yet it gives you at the same time an damage bonus, which is about 20% higher than an normal weakspot hit would do. However, targeting weakspots on enemies where they have less armor will not activate the armor reduction bonus.

Overall it makes you much stronger, regardless which part of an enemy you hit, unless you are going to use Sniper Rifle or SiMo as character. Beyond that, for rapid combat in which you don't have a long time to aim, this perk is terrific.
Marksman versus Hip Fire
Did you ever wonder how much worth Hip Fire has compared to regular weakspot hits and Marksman weakspot hits? Well, I did some testing and the results are very interesting.

Character
Normal Hit
Weakspot Hit
Marksman Hit
Hip Fire Hit
Weakspot Hits Bonus
incl. Marksman Bonus (+45%)
Hip Fire Bonus
Sweet with VHC
750
900
1237
1050
20 %
65 %
40 %
Sweet with Sniper Rifle
1200
2760
3300
1680
130 %
175 %
40 %
SiMo with VHC
750
1124
1461
1050
49,87 %
94,8 %
40 %
SiMo with Sniper Rifle
1200
3120
3660
1680
160 %
205 %
40 %

As you can see the standard weakspot hit bonus is only 20 % of your weapon base damage. Regardless which character or weapon you use, unless it is SiMo and the Sniper Rifle, which comes both with an passive extra bonus for weakspot hits.

Using Hip Fire makes a lot of sense for people, who do not rely on weakspot hits or not using Sniper Rifle and/or SiMo.

But as soon, as you use one of them, Hip Fire will negates your passive extra bonus, which is bad. Especially when it comes to SiMo's passive ability combined with Sniper Rifle, which can be stacked up to an 425 % damage bonus with the Marksman perk.

(205 % bonus incl. all mentioned boni plus up to 220% extra bonus created by weakspot hits which is SiMo's special ability)
Corpse Explosion
When you kill an enemy it explodes. The damage dealt is 25% of its base health.

This cool looking perk, which let your enemies blow into pieces is an intelligent perk for tactical use. Targeting the important enemies with a lot of health, can help you a lot with your efforts killing all the weaklings which surround it. Try to make best use of this, delaying killing of big ones, until it is worth the effort, when you see its Corpse Explosion might hit other enemies as well.

The effect is awesome, when used on a Soaker, for example. Sadly, it does not scale in survival. The applied damage is only of the Lume's base health, so, a soaker which has 150,000 base health, will only generate 37500. Even in later survival waves when the soaker may have over 500,000 health points.
Phoenix
Instant respawn. Increases damage by 25% for 15 seconds after respawning.

Normal respawn while Hardcore Feat of Strengh is active.


This perk might be the most unbalanced one in the whole game's history. While it was quite too strong, after release - giving you an 50% damage increase with instant respawn after suicide or death, even on Hardcore - the perk was altered to an less worthy choice with the July '13 patch. It still provides the damage increase, yet on Hardcore the instant respawn has been removed and replaced with an normal respawn timer. Combined with the fact that the damage increase was already decreased, it is of less use now.

However...

The Phoenix perk is your last resort when it comes to encounter the most hardest challenges in the game, with Hardcore Feat of Strengh activated. Whenever you are unsure, if you can survive the enemy attacks through sheer dexterity - equip this perk just in case. Otherwise a death will be your final game over, unless you play multiplayer and someone else is still alive to continue to defend the core. Even then, Phoenix is the only way to respawn when Hardcore is active, and can very well save your Core's life.

While playing without Hardcore Feat of Strengh activated, it is possible to use the instant respawn for instant teleport back to the core, combined with a still respectable damage increase bonus. There are some maps where the spawn location is not near the core, examples include Abandoned Lab and The End.
Rymdskor
Movement speed is increased by 25%. Gives you the ability to double jump.

Rymdskor is great for getting more flexibility on the battlefield. The speed and ability to double jump give you advantages in both offensive and defensive ways. It also gives Skye Autumn the ability to triple jump, though the third jump is not as high, nor as far as the first two.

The double jump is also great when you want to go to explore the world of Sanctum 2.
There are some hidden places you can only reach with the double jump.
Keep an eye out for those hidden secrets!

Trivia: Rymdskor is from the update title of a Swedish Sci-fi short story by John Sladek published in 1975. Gudarnas rymdskor Original title: Space Shoes of the Gods. --- Sanctum Wiki
Plumber Shoes
You deal 4000 damage to enemies you land on. Increases air control.

At release this perk dealed 5000 damage. Due to community's feedback the damage is done has been decreased by 20%.

For those of you who loved Super Mario 64, this perk might be awesome for you. It gives you the ability to deal 4000 damage to the enemy you land on. If the enemy is capable of counterattacking, they will likely attack you, and you will lose your footing, so it has selective use on other enemies outside of heavies.

Hard to master, and not adviseable for use by everyone - yet it is fun and really strong.
It is a perfect perk for those players who rely more on their FPS skills than towers. Otherwise you might want to prefer utility perks, which do not bring you into danger zones.
Such as Synergy and Slowing Rounds.
Overcharge
Electrical bolts hits enemies close to you for 600 damage once every second.

When the game was released this perk dealt only 500 damage and had a longer cooldown. Due to community's feedback the damage is done has been increased by 20%.

Overcharge is a great beginner scrapper perk. While in close combat, 600 damage is dealt to every enemy in a close proximity before factoring in armor. Yet like I said - just for beginners, since the damage is done is very small, compared to the health enemies have in late game.
Against All Odds
Your weapon damage is boosted by 10% for each close enemy. Stacks up to 5 times.

Against All Odds is awesome for scrappers. It boosts your weapon damage up to 50%. Yet this perk might be weak for late games or later waves, where your weapon damage becomes less relevant, compared to other support perks. Recommanded for campaign - best used combined with other scrappers perks like Adrenaline Rush.
Adrenaline Rush
Damaging an enemy gives you a 3% movement speed boost for 7.5 seconds.
Stacks up to 60 times.


When the game was released, this perk only provided 50% speed boost with an graduation of 2% and it had also an lesser duration (6 seconds).

A great perk, if you go for speed on the battlefield.
Works well with Rymdskor and Charlotte's passive ability.
Tactical Juxtaposition
Slow Weapons
200% Fire Rate.
200% Ammo.
60% Damage.

Fast Weapons
50% Fire Rate.
50% Ammo.
250% Damage.


Tactical Juxtaposition (TJ) has been introduced with DLC2. Originally it should have been released earlier, but due several problems it was postponed after beta until DLC2.

There is nothing much to tell about TJ, except for the fact it is an advanced perk with great use for anyone who is willing to try it out. The special about TJ is the fact, it changes the behaviour of your use of weapons completely. It could improve everything to your liking. It could be also useless for you. Try several combinations of weapons. You might be surprised how much stronger, or more useful some weapons appears under the effect of TJ.

Try for instance Circle Saw's secondary on enemies, while playing Sweet with TJ. You might get an deadly weapon against Infected Explorers. Provided you like the changed gamestyle.
Shocking Revelation
When the core is damaged it releases a shockwave that stuns enemies in a huge area for 3 seconds. 10 seconds cooldown.

Shocking Revelation is one of the most important perks in the game, especially in multiplayer. Whenever your core takes damage, the shockwave which is created by Shocking Revelation can make the essential difference for your victory. Having most enemies on the map stunned, giving you precious seconds where the Core would not take any damage, and your towers can make even more damage on enemies which are stunned by it.
Targeting System
Enables you to set the targeting priorities of the towers.

When the game was released, the Targeting System Perk almost didn't make it in time into the game. Sadly it did, in its bugged version. Whenever player used the perk, the towers behaviour could be change into one of four possible options. But at game release a bug caused that all four possible options were active at the same time - which lead to strange tower behaviour...

This perk has been changed with the 1.1.21077 patch, on 30th of July 2013, and technically it is removed as a perk and added as an additional tower feature. Now you can use the perk benefits always without the need to slot it.

Especially when it comes to fighting bosses, it is very valuable - e.g. setting up towers like Violators to target enemies with most health first, to ensure those towers would try to hit the Walker Patriarch and Armored Heavies first, and Runners and Walker Pups last.

Whenever you have time to do so in the building phases - make sure the towers are set right to get the best results!
Exposure Rounds
Your shots make enemies take 15% more damage from all sources for 5 seconds.

The picture of this perk reminds me of the conscript in the introduction who told you that he was an Core Guardian like you, before he got an arrow in his knee...

This perk is great for any supportive player. It outbids Synergy in earlier waves, enabling you, your teammates, your towers, and any other enviromental damage source dealing 15% more damage to your target. On later waves on survival, where weapon damage becomes less important, you would be better off taking Synergy to ensure that your towers deal additional damage, since they become the main source of damage in survival games.

Effect duration can be lengthen with Sweet's burn effect or poison (11 seconds / 18 seconds).
Slowing Presence
Enemies close to you are slowed by 20%.

A great scrapper perk for players, who are fighting the enemies right in front of them, while backpedaling, enemies will take longer to reach you, and allow other enemies to catch up and bunch them up. The slowing effects make escaping easier, while targeting weakspots become easier as well.

Combined with Against All Odds this perk is very powerful, especially for Haigen Hawkins.
Engineer
All towers near you gain a 25% damage increase.

Sounds good, does it not? Having all towers around you gaining an 25% damage increase. Sadly only few players keep an eye on the fact, that the range of effect is very short. To put it in numbers: it is just about two lenght units from the center of the tower base you want to improve. Beginners often makes the mistake to start "camping" next to an tower block to use this perk - sacrificing their mobility and true power of their weapons on an dynamic battlefield.

The truth is: right now, considering the maps given and the ranges of the majority of the towers, there is hardly any good use for this perk - except for a few situations - due to the fact that you have to be next to the tower you want to improve, at least until the tower recognize your boost and its shot has been fired. Have a look on my video below this line, to get a feeling for this perk.

Penetrator Rounds
Penetrates the target on weakspot hit dealing 200% damage on an enemy behind.

Penetrator Rounds is a perk for high skilled players - great for skilled marksman who know how to make a lot of tactical weakspot hits.

The true power of this perk reveals by fighting enemies in straight maze lines. Being able to shoot through an Hoverer to hit another one in front of it with double damage, makes a Sniper Rifle even more deadly. Even better effects can be achieved by abusing Soakers. Make them soak your damage output and spare them, until you get a clear shot to hit another enemy behind it with a lot of health.

Try to use this perk with Charlotte. Combined with her passive ability to create massive damage with her last hit, the result is just devastating.
Slowing Rounds
Slows the target by 20% on hit. Lasts 2.5 seconds.

A solid, late game perk - best used by support players using weapons with area of effect damage. Having enemies hit by Slowing Rounds makes them need an additional 25% more time to reach the core, for 2.5 seconds. Plus the enemies attack slower.

Combine this with the secondary of SMG or Sweet's burn effect to apply slow on enemies for up to 15.5 seconds / 8.5 seconds in total. It is a tag perk, which works similarly to slowing presence, but rather than applying slow to enemies near you, it applies to enemies you hit, without having you run as much of a risk of getting counterattacked.

For unknown reasons people question often why enemies needs additional 25% more time to reach the core, since the slow effect is only 20%. Simple math: if you slow down an car's speed from 100 km/h to 80 km/h - how much longer would need the car to reach an destination which is 100 km away?
Consuming Rage
Increase damage when closer to death.

Maximum 50% damage bonus.

This perk made more sense regarding Hardcore games, when Phoenix gave you instant respawn. Due to the change of the Phoenix perk, this perk's balance has been changed too.

Consuming Rage is tricky to use. Maybe too tricky. Making more damage for getting hit sounds like a good scrapper perk - yet if you do avoid getting hit naturally, you will hardly be able to use this perk to its fulliest. Only good for non-Hardcore games, where you could risk of getting killed in close combat. Best used by Haigen Hawkins due his passive damage bonus which stacks with this perk's bonus.
Core-Tower Synergy
Towers do 0.6% more damage per percent of core HP that was lost during the previous wave.

There is yet hardly any good use for this perk, except for some maps while playing survival, where you encouter two hard waves in a row and where you can be sure having remarkable losses on the first wave. It is questionable, if you want to sacrifice a perk slot for those rare occassions. Compared to other perks which provides you constant boni, this perk I assess as highly sophicated and most of the time too difficult to use.

For example: to get an 30% damage bonus your core has to lose 50% of its health in the previous wave. Synergy and Tinkerer would give you an similiar bonus with less expensive requirements. But this perk stacks with those both mentioned perks, which allows you at best to get an even greater tower damage bonus.

Still, hard to make the best use with it. Recommandable only for survival experts, where intentional Core damage can be done, so on the difficult waves, the towers can all be buffed, and makes handling the incoming foes more effectively.
Long Range Specialization
Explosion size is increased the longer your projectiles travel. Maximum 100% explosion size. Accuracy is increased by 50%

With version 1.1.23824 the perk's power has been reduced - the developers recognized this perk as too strong - it still grants the accuracy increase with 50%, but instead of increasing the explosion size by percentage it adds 1.5 lenght units to any explosion radius. The description within the game is confusing and needs to be fixed.

Source: Forum post by Armin Ibrisagic, developer + PR manager of CSS[forum.coffeestainstudios.com]


Nevertheless, Long Range Specialization is the best all around perk for Sweet Autumn. Having the explosion radius getting much bigger allows you to apply debuff perk effects and burn on even more enemies, while attacking them at long range.

This perk gives you a great advantage for every explosive weapon and it even improves your normal accuracy, making this one of the most powerful perks in the game.
Synergy
Towers do 30% more damage to enemies that you have recently attacked.

Synergy is one of the very few perks you can rely on that it will continue serving you well until the very late endgame. While other perks which improve weapon damage or gives you combat advantages become less and less valuable in late survival games - Synergy continues giving you the same advantage like on the beginning, rising proportional to your AMP Spire empowered towers. It is one of the few perks that increases in ability as a game progresses.

It counts definitely as a must have perk for late game, to ensure continuing high tower damage output against the Lumes.
Core Guardian
Increases damage when closer to the core. The bonus gets bigger the closer you are. Maximum 50% damage bonus.

This perk is made for the use against enemies who break through all your defenses and making it for the Core. The known range of effect is 10 length units, from Core's center. Giving you an 5% damage boost for each length unit.

Regarding this and fact, that you will never get the 50% bonus, unless you are precisely on top of Core's center, the average value of this perk's bonus is less than 40%. I am not sure, if it was meant to be this way, but compared to other perks this one is assessed as less worth.

Some people might say "wait! what about campers?!" - to answer that in short: you do not want to camp around in Sanctum 2, if you are going for dealing maximum damage most time. Get better on of those bonus damage perks, you can rely on, that they will work wherever you are on the map, without being reduced in power due to range or position.
G-2 Companion
Haigen's hobby project G-2 is a little companion that follows you faithfully and helps you fight stuff.

Currently there is an known exploit regarding the G-2 perk, which is used often in survival games. Since the G-2 does not disappear when its owner disconnects, you are able to create a massive number of G-2 companions by disconnecting and reconnecting the owner.

Check this awesome video made by Software2, one of the current best ranked players on Sanctum 2 leaderbords:


The G-2 Companion perk is maybe the most surprising perk which came with the first DLC. On first impression you might think of it as cute, cool, strange, annoying, stupid - hardly useful. Especially when you see yourself as a survival veteran, you would hardly want to sacrifice Synergy or any other perk you already used in exchange for it.

Yet I dare to say: do not underestimate G-2! It is not only good looking, but very useful - provided you have some good ideas to use it. Once I had my G-2 holding off a Walker Patriarch on its own, while I was killing the rest of the enemies to ensure victory. Surprisingly G-2 did awesome due to his huge health pool. Another time it hold off a train of enemies - made it easy to get them killed by towers. G-2 can carry mines (bomber mode) and slow fields (Max Payne mode) on its top and much more things, yet to discover. Maybe it is up to you to reveal G-2's greatest strength!

PS: G-2 is so brave - he would not even be afraid of stairs!
Trickster
Gives you the ability to dodge by double-tapping in the direction you want.

Increases damage done by 10%.


Trickster is very powerful when it comes to close combat. For advanced players it might be even the better choice, compared to Adrenalin Rush. It provides you with more flexibility than other perks, an it gives you an constant additional damage bonus, which comes without special requirements or restrictions.

Using Trickster while in the air gives you the illusion of an additional jump, which could allow you to make an triple/quadruple jump. The true power of Trickster reveals when it comes to fighting Hoverers. This perk counters the Hoverer's shockwave knockback and allows you to stay in close combat, instead of being pushed away. It also ignores the slow effect of Spitflies attacks.

It serves significant use in midair, because its effect will allow you to completely change direction, and put a good deal of distance between yourself and whatever you are trying to escape from. In order to reactivate the dodge effect, you must touch the ground.
Tinkerer
The last three towers you built deals 30% more damage.

This perk is an interesting and great all around support perk, for all game modes. In earlier waves with less towers and resources, it gives you the missing power to handle harder waves. In late game this perk gets interesting for setting up the three most important damage dealing towers. 30% damage bonus without the need for Synergy. Yet both perks are stackable.

The effect of Tinkerer does not applies on non damaging support towers. A great perk, which your squad should equip if possible. Ideally, you want someone who carries the support towers to equip this while they have a single offensive tower equipped. This way, order does not matter in how towers are set up. The Tinkerer can assemble three offensive towers, then contribute by building support towers. It is the equivalent of Synergy being attached to a tower, rather than an enemy.
Electrical Outburst
Deals 1000 damage in an area around the enemy when you damage it. Enemies that take damage from this will take additional damage over time.

Has a cooldown on 10 seconds.


This perk is another one, which makes me wonder what the origin idea for this was. Compared to Static Discharge, it can hit more enemies and deal even damage over time, yet it has a much longer cooldown and combined with the fact that there are hardly situations where you can make good use of it you should utilize other perks. Besides - it only does 1000 damage. Right now I can think of only one use fo it, and that is for the map Laser Bridge, where the enemies comes in large groups. On other maps you will hardly see any good effect due to the fact, that enemy groups are usually spread wider than the area of effect would apply. The fixed amount of damage, long cooldown, and the small area of effect makes this perk for late game useless.

The only real application it has is an alternative to Sweet's afterburner, for prolonging debuff effects beyond their normal durations.
Fast Hands
Switching weapons while reloading gives you a 30% damage boost for 5 seconds. 3 seconds cooldown.

This perk is powerful for those players who play this gamestyle of shooting each magazine empty and switching weapons for reloading. Assuming, that the cooldown would negate the effect for each second weapon change, it is still very powerful, giving you a remarkable damage bonus at no real penalty.

It has the highest fixed player bonus damage that has no penalty attached. Hip Fire grants a bonus 40% damage at the expense of getting weakspot damage. If your finger is always on the trigger, this bonus will almost always be in effect.

A good addition would be other damage bonus perks like Hollowpoint Rounds and Marksman.The damage bonus will apply for the whole duration on all rounds. Recommendable for campaign mode.
Spiked Armor
Deals 1500 damage to enemies that hit you.

The damage of Spike Armor has been increased by 100% since release. Before that it only dealt 750 damage and was an less useful perk, compared to others, like Overcharge. It is slightly better now.

The idea of this perk is very nice - especially for scrappers who are often hit by enemies while holding the front lines. Yet the implementation is very poor. Seriously: dealing only 1500 damage, for getting into serious danger by losing health? Insane to use on hardcore.
Explosive Exchange
Sorry. This guide is no longer up to date.
Please check the game's wiki for more information about this perk.
THOR Module
Sorry. This guide is no longer up to date.
Please check the game's wiki for more information about this perk.
Long Range Superiority
You deal more damage the further you are from an enemy.

Maximum 50% damage bonus.


This perk is pure awesomness for rangers. While Core Guardian is orientated at the core, with all its disadvantages, Long Range Superiority gives you most of the time full damage bonus, due the fact that it is much easier to reposition, orientating on an enemy, instead of the core.

Combined with Sweet Autumn's REX and Long Range Specialization you get an all around great damage dealer loadout, ready to use for advanced tactics. A good sniper would benefit as well from the perk. Of course you would prefer other perks on survival - but for campaign this perk is most times incredible strong. Maybe too strong.
Parthian Tactics
Sorry. This guide is no longer up to date.
Please check the game's wiki for more information about this perk.
Desperate Measures
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Please check the game's wiki for more information about this perk.
Bloodletter
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Please check the game's wiki for more information about this perk.
Collateral Damage
Sorry. This guide is no longer up to date.
Please check the game's wiki for more information about this perk.
About Stackings
People often wonder and ask us about and if which perks, buffs, debuffs might stacks or do not stacks. I thought about those questions for a while and finally came up with some simple rules to follow, to tell which perks, etc. stacks and which does not.

1. Status effects stacks.

2. Different buffs/debuffs on player's weapon damage, tower damage and enemies stacks, but does not stacks with the same buff/debuff.

3. Core effects stacks. Except for Shocking Revelation which is count for an triggered debuff on enemies.

Examples:

1. More Sweets, more burn can be applied.

2. Kairos and Slow Fields applies slow on enemies. That counts as only one type of debuff. The strongest of both effect counts. Multiple players who applies Exposure Rounds, only applies one time Exposure Rounds, since it is the same debuff on enemy. Same goes for Engineer on towers, and tower boosts (Spires) in general. Marksman stacks with Trickster's damage bonus and Exposure Rounds, since those are different buffs/debuffs.

3. Resilient Core is stackable to heal the core 1/2 of its maximum health. Unstable Core can be stacked to deal 4k damage on enemies which hits the core.

Simple enough, right? (^_~)
Enemies
Let us continue with a little Lume guide. By now you might be able to tell the enemies apart without a guide, and you might even know their weaknesses. Yet it would feel incomplete to me if this guide comes without a section which is dedicated to the Lumes we need to kill so much.

And I have to say: I was missing such a guide when I started to play Sanctum 2. It got me sometimes very worried, not knowing what enemy actually comes next wave, since I have never seen then before. Hell, what kind of a shock it was, when I found out for the first time, that the Walker Patriarch is able to destroy your maze!

Therefore: what the game is missing you might find here.
Walkers
A standard enemy. While they seem weak in the beginning, the Walkers develops into a serious threat in late survival waves with much more health. Do not underestimate their lack of speed or power! Try to diminish groups of them as soon possible, especially while playing survival. Walkers do have a bad habit - combined with bad luck - when they walk in groups in front of you it happens that it seems like they cover each other whenever one Walker tries to hit you. Avoid this by maintaining a distance between you and a group of Walkers while encountering them.
Walker Pups
Mini-version of classic Walkers. Hardly a serious thread, regardless of game mode or Feats of Strenghs. As long as you make sure, that your maze does not lack at least one tower with higher fire rate to counter these Walker Pups, you might hardly notice them as a real enemy. Yet they like to appear in crowds so the Rocket tower and Sweet Autumn with her anti crowd abilities are always a good choice against them.
Screamers
In my opinion Screamers are the most reliable enemies in the game. They do have a really big weakpoint on their back, and they stop walking when they see a chance to spit on you. You can practically force them to stay where they are, just by provocating them. Almost like kiting. Not a threat as long as you do not let them hit the core by accident. And if they does reach the core: their weakpoint is too big to miss. Rest: procedure as usual.
Runners
Runners are hardly a threat. The only danger comes in combination with other enemy groups within your determined killzone. They can be easily countered with Gatlings or Scatter Lasers. While playing campaign you might have good use for the Unstable Core perk. As long as you do have a good maze, best advice would be to ignore them and go for other more dangerous enemies.

Tip: in some situations you might want to let a single Runner, hitting the Core, alive. Hard to use, yet helpful when mastered, abusing the Runner to trigger Shocking Revelation in the right phase of battle.
Walker Warriors
Bigger and tougher than the usual Walker, this one is prepared to engage you in battle. Make sure to dodge their stomp attack by jumping in the right moment. If it is needed you can lure or keep the Walker Warrior near an tower to beat it. Do never underestimate the Warrior, especially in survival runs.
Soakers
Soakers are no threat. In fact, they would only get beyond your towers, unless you have enough Gatlings or Focus. Yet if you engage them in battle, Soakers will hardly ever be a threat unless you do not own by now an secondary for SiMo, which gives him a higher fire rate, than the sniper rifle. You might be surprised how powerful Sweets burn damage can be here combined with the EKT-Tesla-Prototype.
Snorkers
As long as Snorkers does not hits your core you are almost good. You can use your body to provocate them to explode, for the fast way to kill them. Make sure you do not overdo it, or you might be killed by trying that. Since they come in crowds the usual anti-crowd towers do their job best. They only get dangerous and even more annoying, whenever you try to engage another enemy and not seeing them coming.
Armored Heavies
In the end it is not their armor, which makes them so annoying. It is their almost endless health. Good thing is, they are slow and they never attack you. It is up to you if you kill them first, or take out other threats first before you concentrate your firepower on these guys. The Armored Heavy has its weakpoint on its back, yet explosives allows you to make damage on the front too. Drone and Focus tower are the best against this threat.
Spitflies
Currently the only standard flying enemy which ignores mazes. Spitflies are slow and have their weakpoint on their front. They share the same behaviour like Screamers - trying to attack you as soon as they see a chance to do - yet their attack might be more treacherous since their spits slows you down a lot. Try to take them out as soon as possible, unless you can afford them killing later after spawn. The secondary mode of REX is perfect for this enemy type.
Hoverer
Hoverers are in fact easy to kill, as long as you keep quite a distance to them to snipe or you are fast enough to pump all bullets into their weakpoint on their back as soon as you got the chance. In fact they are no real threat, since they can be easily handled by the Focus tower or mines. Just beware of their force field, which can push you into deadly holes.
Screamer Matriarchs
Same behaviour like the Screamer. They are bigger, have more health and their attacks are more deadly. Watch out for them!
Rhino
As long as you have a good maze, this enemy will not do any harm to you. But do not let it run on straight lanes! First of all it gets pretty fast - second: it gets deadly. Avoid being hit by its stampede and take refuge on a tower base, while killing it from a fair distance. Do not try to follow a Rhino on a straight lane - you can never be sure how near the next one will be behind you.
Broodmother
Same behaviour like Runners. They are just bigger with more health. The Broodmothers are less numerous, and have more bulk than a typical runner. Allowing them to run past high fire rate/low power turrets with relative ease. A Lightning tower will stop one cold, but be careful of other enemies that will make an appearance alongside them.
Bobble Head
This enemy is treacherous. It has little health, yet it outmanouvers every tower except for Drones. Take it out, before it reach your killzone to prevent shoots of your towers going waste. Take it out, before it reachs the core - while the Bobble Head is hitting the core, it is more difficult to hit its weakpoint due to its faster movement. Sniper Rifle and Assault Rifle are the best weapons of choice against this enemy.
Healer
The Healer was the first new enemy after game release - introduced first to public in the first DLC. Apparently the Healer already appeared in the game's beta too, yet it was removed due to certain issues. In the game's localization file the Healer was mentioned together with the Mutator and the Heavy Walker Pup. Last one did not make it yet into the game.

The Healer is pretty much, like the name already tell, an support only Lume. It fly and will always chase the next damaged Lume to heal it to full health with an heal beam. Its weakspot can be found on its back. Healers do not heal other Healers or themselve. Due to its size and speed it is an very easy target. Go for Healers first, otherwise they will counter your area of effect attacks by healing all the other Lumes.
Mutator
Soon after release the Mutators have been altered in their size. While on the beginning they were very hard targets due to their tiny sizes, they... ate mushrooms, like a programer of Coffee Stain Studios said. A part of the community complained that Mutators were too hard to kill, while small, so they have been made huge. Now they are pretty easy targets. Yet they are not harmless.

Mutators are the next support Lume familiy members which were introduced with the first DLC. They might be big, slow, easy targets now - but they can bring hell upon you by making other Lumes stronger in health. Do always try to bring them down first, unless you can afford to kill enemies which have substantial more health than your regular damage output might be able to handle.
Jumper
The Jumpers is one of two new enemy types, which came with DLC2 - Ruins of Brightholme.

They are able to jump over empty single tower bases and skipping most of your maze, going straightforward for your core. A popular strategy is to counter their ability with building additional tower bases. Yet this strategy I will not recommend.

Currently the number of Jumpers, which might appear on a map, is not high enough to be an possible danger for single player campaign with 5/5 Feats of Strenghts, while in survival games their exists several other strategies to counter a possible thread by Jumpers more effectively.

I say: do not be afraid of Jumpers. Personally I ignore them most of the time, like I would do with Broodmothers. It can come handy, if they arrive the killzone first and get killed by the towers first, while in the meanwhile you take on more dangerous enemies. It might be even helpful if Jumpers triggers Shocking Revelation without doing much damage. The threat level going from Jumpers is as high as from Broodmothers. Have faith in your maze, and you will be good.
Infected Explorer
The Infected Explorer is the second new enemy type which came with DLC2.

Regardless in which game mode you encounter them, they are dangerous due the fact, that they are able to regenerate health rapidly, if you do not kill them fast enough. While killing those infested subjects you have effectively to kill them twice. After you downed an Infected Explorer to its crawl phase you need to hurry with the killing. Otherwise it will stand up again, after a few seconds, regaining full health and going back to the first state again.

This enemy type is tricky in several aspects. For once the multiplier for multiplayer is like cursed, due the fact the Infected Explorer does already have "two lifes" before it can be killed, and the fact that the multiplier decreases the chance of killing it fast enough in its second state due an massive health boost.

Another annoying aspect is the fact, that after an tower gets an Infected Explorer to its second state, it recognize the enemy as "new". That means e.g. a Focus tower which attacks one of those enemy would react as if it lost its target, and needs to regain the DPS it had before, even if the Infected Explorer is the sole enemy in its range.

As by now an combination of Focus and ACP towers turned out to be an effective strategy against Infected Explorers. Make use of their Walker-like behaviour of chasing you, and lure them into the killzone.
The Bosses
Sanctum 2 Initially had three bosses. Inspired off the idea of having singular regular enemies in the game with buffed health and core damage, make an appearance. They are all represented by skulls on the minimap, and are usually accompanied by a special soundtrack for the entire wave. They are far bigger, bulkier, and have additional effects to their attacks. They are the highest threat level the game has to offer as inidivudals.
Walker Patriarch
The Walker Patriarch is the first boss to be seen, as well as the most frequently seen boss in the game. Of the bosses, he is in the middle for all attributes. (health points, armor, speed, and general bulk) He is capable of smashing tower bases in his path with either of his attacks, and allowing the remaining Lumes to skip portions of the maze. He does not need to be provoked in order to smash the towers.

The Walker Patriarch can have its attention taken off of attacking bases by physically touching it. It will turn to face you and either do a quick punch which will likely connect if you do not move quickly enough, and you will sent a great distance unless something stops you, or he will slam the ground around him after a pretty long delay., dealing significant damage around him (shattering any bases affected).

As for actually fighting him, long range towers are the best, since you do not want the Walker Patriarch to get close to the towers. Rockets and Violators are ideal, Rockets being the more preferable option because he usually has lesser Walkers accompanying him, and splash damage is always nice.

Generally, you want to fight the Walker Patriarch as soon as he arrives. His ability to destroy bases and towers make him one of the highest priority enemies if not the highest. Under most circumstances, he spawns with either slow or weak enemies, allowing the towers to dispatch the weak ones on their own, or allow the Patriarch to be defeated before slower enemies make it to that point. With the exception of The End, he has a tendency to spawn first in a wave, allowing attention to easily be focused on him.

The Walker Patriarch's weakspot is where all Walker weakspots are, the center of the face. The Walker Patriarch is also aggressive. If a player enters his attack range, he will attack. He will also follow the player for a short distance, before returning to making a beeline for the core or the nearest tower bases.
Super Heavy
The Super Heavy is the second boss to be introduced. He debuts in the Outpost, and makes additional appearances in Roadworks, The Abandoned Lab, The Depths, and appears twice in The End.

The Super Heavy is capable of destroying tower bases, but will only do that as a side effect of attacking players or conscripts. He also possesses the single strongest attack in the game, dealing 500 damage with his charge beam that impacts a moderate area.

Despite being the bulkiest enemy that appeared in the original release, he can be played around. The only enemy in the original relase that has more health points is a Soaker, and the Super Heavy has the highest armor rating in the game at 450. Despite these superlatives, the Super Heavy is arguably the smallest threat in the boss lineup. Its weakspots are on the inside of his legs, where most of the player damage should be dealt due to the fact they provide weakspot damage and are not armored at all.

The strongest towers for fighting him are Drone towers, since they ignore armor, and Focus towers, because the damage buff is applied before the armor reduction, making them deal a colossal amount of damage over time. Anything else that can deal enough damage reliably to break through its armor is considered a good choice.

The Super Heavy is passive aggressive. He will move towards the core, and will only attack enemies that move into its range. (Which is exceptionally large) Utilize this to slow him and down and destroy him.
Hoverer Queen
The Hoverer Queen is the third and final boss introduced in the original release. Of the bosses, it has the lowest amount of health points, a unqiue special ability, and is an all around upgrade to the Hoverer in every single way.

The Hoverer Queen, like the Hoverer, can only take damage from the back, and the area she can be damaged is also significantly smaller than a normal Hoverer.

Her attack is relatively the same as a normal Hoverer as well, just upgraded in numerous ways. She emits a shockwave, it is not only bigger and deals more damage, but doubles as an EMP. Any towers hit by the attack power down for a few seconds before rebooting. She will only do this when a player enters her attack range.

The Hoverer Queen is passive aggressive. She will only attack when a player enters her range, and will continue to the core unless stopped by a player.
Fiskeplaske
This boss was created as a "final boss" of sorts in the first DLC content to be released for Sanctum 2, "Road to Elysion One". First and foremost, it is immune to all damage that does not target its weakspots. These weakspots are only vulnerable one at a time, and are located at its front, back, and sides. Like any weakspots, they will be glowing. It is also airborne, effectively making drones usesless, as well as targeting it with the lasers of Laser Bridge. It also has a massive amount of health points stat that must be depleted almost exclusively by player damage alone because of its defenses.

Its attacks are arguably more devestating than its defenses. The Fiskeplaske fires a barrage of explosive missiles towards all characters. Each individual missile does not do a lot of damage, but the missiles come in one after another. If the Fiskeplaske is only targeting the Core, a max health Core will be depleted in a few seconds.

Because it is only vulnerable to player damage. SiMo is arguably the most effective combatant due to the innate critical damage boost, and the rising damage from successful criticals, while being able to be done from a distance so you can have time to move when the missiles get fired at you.
General Gameplay Tips
Here are some tips I like to give you, for making the best of the fun you can get from the game. They also might help you to achieve better results. Have fun!

  • If you recycle a tower you get a full refund (unless the Hardcore feat is on). Make use of it!
    If often reset my initial maze and towers after the fourth or fifth wave, whenever I got enough bases to expand the maze into the idea I had at the beginning when there were not enough bases. Take your time, replace towers, and try to make a perfect use of the ressources you got.

  • Do experiments with different towers and different weapons and different perks. Once a teammate told me how useless the SMG seems to him. After I showed him what a sniper can do with it, combined with the Marksman perk, he never ever doubted my advices again. Think differently and try a lot of things. You might be surprised.

  • Explore the whole map - I mean it. You will find hidden secrets, easter eggs, mini games, and most important: free mines. Use them. All of them!

  • You can pickup almost infinite mines. Do not be irritated by the five slot bar which is shown, after you pickup a mine - it keeps dividing, so you can carry more mines!

  • Pay attention to the time limited building phases and bosses. I remember my first time against the Walker Patriach - it was awesome and unexpected that he actually destroys my maze. It felt unfair first time I played Roadworks when he only had to destroy five bases to create a direct path to the core - but hey - it was still awesome and a lot of fun!

  • Chat a lot with your teammates in multiplayer. You can make companions (Steam friends - rarely real friends, but it is possible) and share ideas.

  • Make sure that you have different classes, weapons, towers and perks while playing multiplayer. The best core defense is always a mixed team which can adapt to every situation. Voicechat is not needed to have a good game, neither it must be people you know in real life to play with. I had a lot of fun with random people from everywhere.

  • Have trust in your maze and in your teammates. You make things worse if you run back from the frontline to the core while a support player is next to it.

  • Everyone already noticed this, but it gets more important with activated feats: try to create areas where you concentrate your fire. While playing with activated feats you usually gets only one chance to make sure the enemy gets killed and you get enough time to take on the next one.

  • Last but not least enjoy the game. Take your time to explore every detail - graphics, gameplay mechanic, story, etc. Otherwise you will miss parts of the whole fun!
Advanced Gameplay Tips
These section is made for all people, who are ready to go on for greater challenges and might need more additional information to improve their gameplay. We will tell you about several tactics we developed, special insights about aspects of the game you may have asked but never got an answer yet and - last but not least, to fullfill a common request - maze layouts!

Please keep in mind, that these information are based on our style to play the game. Each intel shall give you insight to improve your own gameplay. You should avoid spoiling your fun by being forced to copy us - yet feel free to do so. We do not care about leaderboards rankings, nor do we fear that other players might use these information to get better then we are.

In fact: we would be happy if any of these information will help you improving, and hopefully, when we play random game sessions together we could discuss each others ideas to have even more fun together!
Multiplayer
Singleplayer and multiplayer are as alike as a bat and a human. Bats and humans are both mammals, beyond that, they are different in a myriad of ways. Singleplayer and co-op multiplayer are in the same area. They are both Sanctum 2, but beyond that, they are extremely different. In singleplayer, the enemies have have significantly less health points, and things like damage increasing perks serve a great deal of value more than they do in multiplayer.

Strategies that are effective in singleplayer likely will not transition so well into multiplayer, and vice versa. The resource income increases substantcially with more players, and the enemies gain more than double their normal health points with a second person in the party. To put it simply, singleplayer and multiplayer are not the same game.

Depending on the style, in singleplayer, it is often advisable to build numerous towers before upgrading them, and in multiplayer, it is advisable to get a few towers to level three before reaching the global tower cap. That is merely a preference, but it is something to think about.

Most people will agree that co-op is more fun than singleplayer.
Advanced Tactics by Thomas
In this section I will be addressing some more advanced tactics regarding Sanctum 2 for the more competitive players, or players that desire to become more skillful and competitve, and more adept at survival.
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1) Agressive Clustering
Core Concept- Bunch enemies together so that area of effect attacks become more potent

The player(s) utilize slowing in the form of slowing presence or Slow Fields and the enemies aggression to group enemies together. What you do is if enemies are not grouped up, force them to attack you, in doing so, they will stop moving for a brief period of time, and allow the enemies behind them to catch up while they are stationary. Slowing perks are recommended, and you will likely take damage depending on what you are clustering. This tactic excels with Rockets and ACP, and to a lesser extent, player damage. It is very easy to die doing this, so practice is needed, and Phoenix is recommended.

Using explosions such as the Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle, and REX Launcher, can be used to jump into attack range of enemies, and the explosion force knocks you away from the enemy as they attack. The Shotgun does this a little bit with recoil, but it is hardly noticable.

You can also perform this to prolong enemies time in killzones or in range of towers.

On levels with trippable hazards (The Smasher, Jellyfish Cove, and Laser Bridge) this tactic can be responsible for wiping out dozens of enemies in a single fell swoop.
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2) Focus Firing
Core Concept- Wipe out either the weaker enemies first so the other enemies will be more harassed by towers, or the stronger enemies so the weaker ones will become more devastated

In hindsight, this tactic probably warrants a "duh" from the people reading it, but there are a few points to address nonetheless. There are two ways to do this, and both vary with the tower and weapon selection, and Targeting System usually provides invaluable support for this:

2a) Weak First: You target the weaker and more mobbish enemies by putting the area of effect attacks near the front, wiping them out as quickly as possible so that the towers can more easily focus on the bulkier and less numerous enemies such as heavies. I personally recommend this one over the latter.

2b) Strong First: You target the stronger enemies first, so that the towers can wipe out the mobbish enemies near the end. It is generally a tagging game for the player. It consists of having debuffing perks, and damaging the bulkier enemies so the other sources (towers mainly) deal additional damage. This generally works best with Sweet, the SMG, and the Gatling Laser because they are able to prolong the debuffing effects by dealing damage over time, and each damage instances resets the counter.
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3) Tagging
Core Concept- You damage as many enemies as humanly possible with debuff effects in order for the towers to deal additional damage or keep enemies within tower range for longer periods of time.

A lot of Late-game survival revolves around this. Player damage by itself becomes almost obsolete while the towers become the true harbingers of death for the Lumes. This strategy consists of simply damaging as many enemies as possible with debuff perks equipped so that the towers become more proficient at their jobs. Synergy is generally the best for this, since it provides a +30% tower damage boost, which is the highest buff a tower can receive, exposure rounds provide a +15% for towers (and every other damage source) and slowing for... slowing.

Utilizing weapons that can hit more than one target are the best for doing this. The exception is the SMG which adds +13 seconds to the debuffs with its secondary, and is ideal for bosses and bulky enemies. The Tesla, Assault Rifle secondary, REX Launcher, and Gatling Laser secondary are the best for doing this. The Sniper Rifle secondary can work, but is rather inconsistent and has a narrow path.
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4) Targeting System
Core Concept- This was once a perk, but in the patch adding Sandbox mode (note: he means the 1.1.21077 patch from 30th July 2013), had since been removed, and made to include as a default tower setting.

Now that Targeting System no longer takes up a perk slot, It is very usuable, and it is essential for successful runs on the higher difficulties and survival. With settings of attacking the enemy closest to the tower, attacking enemies that are the shortest angle from the tower. Enemies that have the highest health, and enemies with the lowest health.

Now, there are some tower types where the preferable settings are obvious. A Violator should always be set to the attack strongest. Because it has the most horrendous rate of fire, and a high burst damage, you want as little overkill as humanlly possible, so you don't want it killing too many things. Meanwhile, you want the lower amage towers with higher rates of fire generally going over the weaker enemies to reduce overkill, thin the crowd, so the remaining lumes recieve additional focus fire.

But the real balance is mixing it up, and having some towers of the same type attack weaker enemies while other target stronger ones, so that both are taken care of, and nothing will have the option to simply walk through and avoid too much damage. Once again, it falls down to preference.

The default settings for the towers are set to closest, so, you should at least change some of the towers around.
A Maze Thing!
All of the following screenshots for the A Maze Thing! section were made in sandbox mode

This section of my guide is especially adressed towards beginners. It should give you additional insights/tips about how I build my mazes, especially when you like to try rebuild them based on my layouts which can be found in the section below.

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Killzones / Finishing Zones

When you have played tower defense games before, you usually get the impression it makes most sense to have a spread placement of your towers on the map, as long as they hit everything. Well, that changes here with the feat of strengh Hydra Hunter, which gives the enemies regeneration. Beginning with the fact, that the enemies regenerates health - those with more health even more - you have no other choice but to create a high focused DPS (damage per second) output to get them down fast enough. That is the point, when Sanctum 2 players started to maze so called killzones.

A killzone comes usually as a group of towers, with an AMP Spire. Preferably near or next to the Core, making this zone your first and last line of tower defense within your maze.



For this example I upgraded the AMP Spire to level 3, while the Cannons are placeholders for any other tower.

Depending on your needs and available resources, nowadays it is quite common to enlarge your AMPed area in the killzone with Range Spires.



A killzone made with a block of towers is the most classic variant of Sanctum 2 - while some maps like Roadworks also allows killzones which are shaped by the available lanes like in this example.



No matter how you set up your killzone for a map - try to place your tower support towers (AMP Spires and Range Spires) in a way they would affect most/all of your other towers to make the best use of your available resources.

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Saving Connector Bases - a more effective use of tower bases

I guess it is based in our understanding for aestethics, that we prefer straight walls, instead of those with irregularities. For Sanctum, however, you are able to save some connector bases whenever two wall lines crosses. The bases will still connect diagonal, securing the lane even with one base less. Be assured - I thought a lot how to explain it best in English, but even in German it is damn hard to tell you what I mean. I better show it to you with two examples:


This version of a possible maze for Arc shows you how I would build walls in general - without considering the Sanctum universe - straight lines, creating straight lanes.


Now if you remove the bases, wherever two wall lines crosses, creating a T-like formation, the functionality of the lanes will stay intact. On top of that you got hand on additional resources which can be used to prolong your maze, instead having them put useless in gaps, when the lanes still works how they should. In this simple example I prolong the maze, making the ground enemies, which are spawning from the east, walk through the northern spawn.

My tip: whenever you lack resources, which is most of the time, hold on a minute and check if you can remove some connector bases, while keeping your maze intact. If you have not done it before, you will be surprised how many more bases becomes available for you!
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Lane Design Variant - for countering Rhinos

Every beginner usually starts mazing with creating straight lanes. With time and experience veterans try to use the saving connectors method to put a little more design into their lanes.


Below Arc with a straight middle lane - the most simple method to make a longest possible maze for this map.


An alternative design - the same amount of bases were used, yet this variant offers more defense against Rhinos.

In fact, it is not really necessary to redesign the middle lane in the maze above like I did. You can say, the length of the track did not change - yet it still provides you a advantage in countering Rhinos. And that point really matters, especially on levels where a lot of Rhinos are able to speed up fast towards your Core, without you being able to kite them. That is an advantage on the one hand. On the other hand you might have it harder to hit straight shots, when the enemies are constantly switching places from left of right. Consider the placement of this setting for lanes for yourself - when it would make sense for you and when it does not.

I made the concept for my maze layout for The Slums that way - precisely for the troublesome early wave with Rhinos, which came for the Core from the buttom enemy spawn.

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How I build my maze for Sokol

Now after I told you some theories in designing mazes, let us have a closer look how I build the maze I used for Sokol. This part should remind you one of my general gameplay tips: "I often reset my initial maze and towers after the fourth or fifth wave, whenever I got enough bases to expand the maze into the idea I had in the beginning when there were not enough bases. Take your time, replace towers, and try to make a perfect use of the resources you got."

The first wave is one of the hardest - I usually place up to two towers next to the core. Rest is player defense, since the resources are too low to have a working tower defense already.


In the second wave I prolong the maze on both section (upper part, bottom part) equally. Lucky me, I can already build the lower part as intended, while the upper part can be neglected little due the easier enemies.


In the third wave the upper enemy spawn is still the easier to handle threat, with only four Hoverers. The single tower I placed next to the Core on the upper part is by now upgraded enough to handle them, while I can focus on the bottom part of the maze.


With the fourth wave I got enough bases to redesign the upper part of maze - shaping it like intended in a more convenient design for my tower defense setup.


From now on it should be clear how this continues (check the complete maze layout in the guide section below!)


As you can see, the upper part of the maze differs from the fourth wave on a lot from how it was in the beginning. I could have try to build it that way right on from the start - but it is apparent that the defense would not work as good as this dynamic setup with the change during the game.

Keep the need for flexibility in mind, when you try out my maze layouts. All layouts I made available for you work how they are intended to - but do you manage to rebuild them for your games? Enjoy!
Maze Layouts
Requested by many people I am happy to present you this guide's maze section.

I am against the idea of creating here a walkthrough, or provide you with step by step guides to beat the game, since I know it cannot work that way.

But I understand you too, if you say it is sometimes very hard to come up with new ideas, or people are afraid to share ideas with you for whatever reasons (most are really afraid of losing their records on leaderboards).

That is why I decided to give you this - basic maze layouts for each map, without too much specifics, yet good enough to be used in survival and campaign, which you can improve on your own.

In fact, many of them might be optimal already for the maps, due to the fact that the map designs forces you to use certain maze layouts. However, these are only basic layouts - without tower setups. Tower setups I cannot give you, because the choice highly depends on your personal preferences and the actual amount of resources and vacant slots provided by your squad size.

Tip for mazing: Save corner bases for later. Whenever you see a corner, keep in mind, that the enemies still have to walk around your maze, since two bases on an diagonal line creates a wall. Make better use of those spare bases you can get by saving them - especially in early waves.
Zone 1 - Facility
Introduction

Nothing special. Just a layout for the first level to be sure that I got all maps covered.

01. Park

Killzone set up on the right hand of the map. Lanes are created to be longest possible before the enemies reach the killzone. Hopefully it provides enough time to weak them to make things easy in the end.

02. Bio Lab

A tricky map, and I have no good idea yet, besides for having the killzone in front of your core. Risky, but I do not see much choice for this map. Two seperates killzone on the top of the map, might work, but as soon as the enemies leave that area you are on your own with your weapons. Having the killzone in front of your core makes sure, that towers from each side can help each other killing the enemies from the other side.

I personally put several towers near both spawns. Besides the first and second waves, the enemies do not come pouring out of the spawns five at a time, so a few towers in both spawn rooms work wonders.

03. The Gate

Killzone set near core on the top of the map. In the past I had several problems, when the killzone was slightly below that. Now my only problems are, that the killzone can and will attack enemies which spawns from top first. The bottom lanes shall give you enough time to weak the rest. Good for us: on this map we can make best use of long range towers, especially Rockets.
Zone 2 - Rocky Fields
04. Construction Site

Standard maze which uses all tower bases to create the longest possible path.

Experimental maze which uses all tower bases to create a very long path which leads to a final killzone, same usability like the standard maze but with an higher use of resources you get due to the compact killbox layout.

05. Com Tower

Standard maze layout which routes the enemies to the right side of the map, instead to the top. Possible killzones are next to enemy spawn, which offers a wide compact are of effect for almost any tower, and a standard killbox on the left side, near to the core, yet on a position to hit most enemies who passes by. Watch out for the Spitflies - I could not get a certain route for them. Sometimes they went for the top spawn exit. Sometimes for the designated exit. Hard to tell where they want to spawn - but as long as you got at least one killzone which works, it should be easy to handle that very few number of flying enemies.

06. Cliff Lodge

Standard maze layout with centralization of power on the right side of the maze. The enemy spawn on this level is unbalanced, so that you will encounter much more troublesome situations by enemies who comes through the right spawn. Make sure you have a good tower setup there, and a good backup setup on the left side and you will be fine. I recommend to use Focus towers on this map, which will take care on enemies which got to close to the core, while you have to battle on the other side.

07. Outpost

Standard maze with a single killzone. Regardless how vast this map looks like - there are just too few tower bases you will get to make the most of the map. A killzone near the core covers at least the critical point between a small maze and a wide area where you cannot set any towers. Make use of long range towers and long range weapons with area of effect damage to get fast superiority on this map. You can also battle the enemies on the vast part to buy some time, while the towers constantly get rid of the sheer numbers which appear here.
Zone 3 - Giant Trees
08. Train Station

Standard base setup. For this map I prefer the killzone on the left hand of the map. Since you cannot design a maze here, you decision about setting up the towers while considering the flow is essential. Having all towers in two compact spots counters Hydra-Hunter very well, while the setup next to the core allows an Focus to protect the core against enemies who are able to break through. Try to slow down the enemies as long as you can with towers or perks. This map is pretty hard to master due to the amounts of enemies crowds.

09. Canopy

This map might offer two possible ways to route the enemies, yet you can only use one at the time. I like my maze going through the left side. Regarding the Spitflies: same like before - whenever I play you can never tell for sure, which way they want to fly. Setup a good tower lane and get them personally down - or lure them next to your towers. I like my killzones next to the enemy spawn and near at the core.

10. Roadworks

I am pretty sure this is an standard setup too. At least, when you got used to this map. While naturally you would want the enemies to take the northern path to the core, to have an advantage to shoot from higher grounds, this design is made for long term results. Killzone on the left bottom corner, right next to the enemy spawn - it considers the second boss of this map by killing him fast, due massive tower attack. An alternative would be to setup the killzone on the other side of the map and reroute. Yet that could provoke Screamer Matriarchs to attack your core from those wooden lanes, while the second boss still creates a direct path to your core. However - this setup is pretty popular among Sanctum 2 players. Some players might prefer mines to take care of the boss.

11. Abandoned Lab

First time I played this map, I could not think of a solution to get all enemies, from all three spawn areas, into one single killzone. Well, thanks to my multiplayer companions (Jamie and Thomas) that problem was solved in an very elegant way. Killzone is made next to the left bottom spawn, right next to the bottom core. With long range towers, especially Rockets, you are able to setup an effective killzone. A secondary killzone in the north is also recommended - as backup and as an additional damage output source for the top and bottom floor. First time I played with this setup I was very surprised how good it works. I hope it will serve you well. However - this map remains one of the hardest, in my humble opinion. Good luck!
Zone 4 - Swamp
12. The Depths

Standard maze. Since you cannot do a lot of mazing here, it is just about putting most of the bases where you want to have towers as well.

13. The Labyrinth

Standard maze - same issue like for The Depths. But on this map, you can at least route the Lumes a little, not to take the shortest path to one of the Cores.

I actually believe setting up a killzone (made primarily of rockets) and shortening the maze is the best way to go for here. It allows for powerful destructive towers to be in range of a single amp and range spire.

14. The Wilderness

This layout was made by me after several trys beating the survival record. The maze supports an killzone which can be used to set Focus' and long range towers. For the boss wave the flow can be changed easily by removing two blocks, to make sure, while you hold back the boss, the towers will handle the rest without letting you disturbed by standard enemies.

15. The End

Standard maze. I know, that there are a lot of possibilities to use for better maze designs. Yet I noticed, that for my personal gameplay every other maze works almost in the same way - so why making it difficult when you can make it simple? All possible mazes goes down with the Walker Patriarch, if it is not handled well. This maze is my most successful one, of all maze designs I tried.

Trivia: when the game was released, The End was the easiest map in the game. It was so easy, unworthy to be an final level, so the resources which you could have spent have been reduced by 25%, which makes this map now one of the hardest challenges in game. At least when you play it in Single Player Mode...

Here an video of the former gameplay.

Zone 5 - Coastline
16. Cluster

This layout provides three optional killzones. The biggest on the right part of the map. While the left one is for early waves, you might want to move to the killzone in the center and to the right later for greater use of AMP Spire placement. Pretty standard, given by the map design.

17. The Smasher

This layout is based on an idea of Tom. I would not have come up with the idea, to use the spawn points of the enemies as additional tiles to prolong enemies path. I modified the origin idea slightly. The functionality is being kept. The Smasher in the center will be used on its best to kill annoying enemies like Bobble Heads and Armored Heavies in an instance. Timing is on this map essential.

18. Jellyfish Cove

Another standard layout which is given by the map design. Recommendable to set the killzone near to the core on the right side of the map. I chose this layout to make maximum use of the strange plants, which applies poison, burn and freeze to the enemies. Especially that one which stuns enemies is most important and highly valueable to use.

Have a look on this video - me playing an older version of the game and having a lot of fun:

19. Laser Bridge

Killzone set in the map's center. This layout is made to make best use of the lasers, which are highly needed to beat the map on late game. I usually have one or two Slow Field Dispensers to control the crowds, which seems really fast on this map, due to the map's size. If you use the lasers right, regardless if multiplayer or singleplayer, you can reach the boss wave easily with all Feat of Strenghs active without any core damage. Timing is on this map essential.
Zone 6 - Brightholme
20. Shortcut

In my opinion this map demands a lot of player skills from you, considering the fact that the best killzone would be next to the Core and the sheer masses of enemies coming for you. If you are not going for game with all feats of strenghs enabled, maybe the Rupture Mines will do you good. I recommend a mixed use of Rockets and Drones towers, plus additional Cannons which can be upgraded if needed to counter the fast and the heavy armored enemy groups. The wall north to the core is mainly setup to avoid Screamers hitting your Core outside your kill zone. The blocks which are distributed around the maze are to prolong the enemy paths. If you wonder what the blocks near the entrance on the upper levels are good for: they slow down the Rhinos so you can get your first shot safely without them coming too fast for you on the first level.

21. The Slums

The idea for the maze came to me during a session with all feats of strenghs enabled. It worked so well, it took me a second to realize how amazing this setup was. The major danger on this map are the Infected Explorer Conscripts and the Hoverer Queen during the last wave. I managed this map almost without a scratch, using several Focus towers and ACPs. The Range Spire and Slow Field Dispenser can be very helpful to increase the time the Focus towers takes focus on an enemy - overall increasing the damage a lot. Regarding the acid damage I made use of the tower bases to move around and after my second try I memorized the safe spots - the acid was not bothering me in the end.

22. Power Relay

The major challenge on this map - in my opinion - was the size of the map. Getting a lot of tower bases in the beginning does not means that your job becomes easier if you have to protect two Cores with two entrances, on such a huge map. Not to mention the deadly Infected Explorer Conscripts which might be slow, but very hard to kill. However - it is manageable. I put the main kill zone in the center, while there is an additional "finishing-zone" next to the northern core.
The double-bases-lines are for routing the Jumpers. They became due numbers an annoyance and this setup allows the Guardian Squad to force them into the main kill zone and towards the finishing zone next to the northern Core. Before this map, I never used so many ACP at once before. The good thing was: with the right maze it became really easy. Plus: my maze utilize almost every trap available on the map. It is up to you in the end to route the enemies towards the northern or the southern Core. Tip: change it mid-game if needed to distribute damage between the Cores evenly!

23. Sokol

This is definitely one of my favourite maps. The challenge in single player is almost uncompareable - especially regarding the last wave with four Patriarchs at once. The possible and optimum mazes for this map are almost apparently, yet the setup of towers and your personal skills matter to handle this map. In any case I recommend Focus towers next to the Core and Rockets. Making sure that your towers have a long range to reach each sides can be very helpful. It took myself a while to finish this one, but with the right loadout and experience it is makeable. Most important thing about this map: do not panic - keep concentrated and trust your towers. One thing which helped me a lot in the end: I managed kiting two Patriarchs on one side until they are dead, before I switched to the other two, which were already hitting the core. It was a close call, but the fact that the essential towers on one side were unharmed was my personal key to victory! However - a worthy final map for a DLC. Good luck!
Zone 7 - Outskirts
24. Dam

Standard maze, without anything special. I started with removing the default tower bases, which were placed from the beginning on the map, to design my own maze, regardless of the loss of resources due selling the default towers. Afterwards I prepared the killzone first, by building from the Core to the outside, always moving the bases, so the enemies have to take the longest path possible, before the maze got finished. For the last wave I took out the small fry first, before I took care of the bosses.

25. Field

Once again, I started building from next to the Core to the outside. I decided to create a straight lane for the final wave, to weaken the bosses before they would reach the Core. The straight lane is also useful in general to lineup your enemies for getting good sniper shots.

26. Bog

This is one of the most interesting maps in the game. It is the second, after The Wilderness, where you have to counter the enemy threats from almost every direction. This map naturally forced me to build a protection which goes around the Core. Be careful about the last wave. The boss, a Patriarch, which comes from the north goes straight to destroy your maze, creating a direct path for the enemies. In Single Player I countered him with AR-Mines.

27. Last Chance

After Bog I think this map is rather easy. At least in my opinion it was, with an apparent killzone on the lower levels. I recommend the use of towers which can hit multiple attacks and/or long range towers, which would be able to hit the area next to the Core too. My initial maze comes with several bases unused left.


This is my idea of a maze if you go for survival and you like to use every single base the map provides.
Zone 8 - Arc Islands
28. Below Arc

This map is long, but not very good for mazing. All I could do is creating a long path for the ground enemies, meeting them in a killzone next to the Core. Lucky, this one is rather an easy map which gives you a lot of fun if you like shooting Spore Pods down.

29. Arc

I am sure, the Sanctum fans among you will recognize this map from the origin game. The basic maze has not changed since then either - the only difference this time is, that you got additional firepower by using the Rolfinator - a powerful mountable default turret, which has 2x20 ammo per wave to shoot Lumes, with devastating results. As usual: best start to build is from the Core.

30. Radar

Killzone is located in the III. quadrant of the map. This way I could use towers, which covers also the area next to the Core - in case some Lumes manage to break through. Rest is business as usual. In my opinion this map was rather hard. Not because of the enemies, but more about the layout of the map in general. I lost my orientation many times... It is very important to make good use of the available disposable SiMo Units. No worries if they get destroyed - they will respawn in the next building phase.

31. The Last Stand

Special about this map is, it comes per default as a survival map. Make sure you hold out until wave 26, to achieve a victory while all five feats of strengths are activated. There is nothing much to say about my maze layout, which you should know by now, it is a pretty standard design which tries to utilize every available base and space on the map.

That was it for now! Now you know all my maze layouts which helped me to win the game. I hope it was helpful for you. Enjoy the game and good hunting!
Did you know?
Making a single map layout available for you takes at least two hours (except for the first zone which was quite simple). Sometimes double or triple the time. The layout section is indeed one of the most time consuming section in this guide - I guess that is a reason why not many guides with maze layouts are around...

First it starts with me getting accustomed again to a map - usually after a long time I finished it before - memorizing the provided resources and enemy waves.

Second is making sure the layout works and is rebuildable. That means I have to replay the maps with the layouts I created in a game with all five feats of strenghs enabled.

Of course sometimes it is easy, since I mastered the map by then - but most of the times it can become a real pain, especially regarding those maps which are hard for everyone like - Sokol in Zone 6.

Yet this way I can assure you two things about my layouts: they are tested for "full fos games" and on top of that - I always only used weapons, towers and perks combinations - considering the current availbility for a map. Means: all maps are beatable without the need for any content of following DLCs. If it is a DLC2 map, I only use what is available for any player who owns the core game, DLC1 and DLC2.

I provided these layouts to you with all my knowledge for mazing, and I hope it might help some of you getting new ideas or even helping you getting past an obstacle which seems impossible before.

If you have ideas how my layouts can be improved - feel free to share in the comments below!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Are you members of Coffee Stain Studios staff?
A: No, we are not. We are not related in any way to Coffee Stain Studios. We are just two ordinary supporters, who likes Sanctum 2 and created this guide as a part of our fun.

Q: Will this guide get updated?
A: Sure. This guide was made modular to ensure frequent updates can be made easily. At least for a timespan until the release of the 2nd DLC this guide will get updated after each patch.

Q: In what unit is the fire rate of towers measured?
A: In shots per minute.

Q: How long is a lenght unit?
A: A square on the field for a base, has an 1x1 block in lenght units.

Q: How do slowing effects stacks?
A: They do not stack. Only the strongest effect counts.

Q: I found codes ingame. What are they good for?
A: Use them on http://www.elysianarchive.com to unlock more of the Sanctum 2 universe background story.

Q: What is the best tower?
A: There is no true "best" tower that can hit everything well. For example, Bobble Heads are only affected by Drones, but the Drones really cannot touch fliers and are less good at controlling mobs. In order to achieve the best result, a healthy mix of towers is needed.

Q: What is the best tower for a particular enemy?
A: In the articles about the towers, the enemies that are weakest to the particular towers will be mentioned. The enemy articles will also have their weaknesses listed as well in their respective articles.

Q: Could you offer some loadouts tips? I really want to know what others might use.
A: No, we really cannot. We tried to, but after considering it for a long time, the final results were always the same. Loadouts we would tell you to use or try would enforce you a gameplay style, which may not fit you or any other player. Our best advice would be to make good use of the perks description and make the choices by yourself. Some loadouts are popular - but especially those which are not, can hold surprisingly powerful effects to change the tide in games in your favour, you maybe would never expected. Besides, we match our loadout every time the map we are going to play. We do not use fixed loadouts.

Q: Where does armor fall in the equation for doing damage?
A: Armor is the last thing that is factored in before the final damage is given. An example is Sweet using Rex with Hip Fire is calculated as such: (1200 x 1.4) - Armor, not (1200 - Armor) x 1.4.

Q: How come the damage from my weapons changes in the middle of the clip?
A: When a weapon is changed while being reload, a +15% damage boost is applied, after a few seconds, it is dropped.

Q: How do I get the Coffee Stained achievement?
A: By playing with an fellow player who already own that achievement. It is spread by the developers, and the lower the number which is shown on your client's "Settings" page, the nearer you got to an player who played with one of them (like patient zero). By playing random games there is a high chance to get Coffee Stained - provided you play the game session until the end!

Q: I finished all maps with all Feats of Strengh activated, yet the game does not give me 100% completion - why is that?
A: Make sure you reached maximum rank too - the 100% completion is achieveable with finishing all maps on full FoS with max. rank (currently 40).

Q: I chose campaign mode with all feats of strengths enabled - yet The Last Stand always starts as a survival game. How do I achieve the final achievement, beating Arc Islands with all feats of strengths enabled?
A: Hold out until wave 26, finishing at least one wave after all feats became active in survival. Afterwards you can open your maze for a full feat of strength victory.

Q: I have not played for a while and my rank jumped from 20+ to 40 today - can I get banned for cheating?
A: No worries - the developers edited the rank system, so it became easier to achieve max. rank. If you have collected enough experience points so far, your character will most likely leap several ranks. It is intended this way.

Q: Could you provide stats for towers, enemies, etc.?
A: We could and we did. After reconsideration we removed those stats for reasons. The need to keep those stats tables updated is very time consuming, especially when there are not so obvious changes made by developers. We would have to recheck every table after every patch. Besides - that job is already very well done by the Sanctum wiki team[sanctum.gamepedia.com]. You can consult them if you seek specific intel, which is not mentioned yet.

Q: How about environmental damage sources? Could you provided more information about them?
A: Right now we are still working on it - however, Thomas, who is in charge of that has difficulties to assess the damage output right and we are yet unsure how to present it best to you.
It is on our list for future updates on the guide.

Q: My game always crash when I do (put any description in here). Can you help me?
A: Sorry - we do not offer technical support. Please consult the official forums of Coffee Stain Studios[forum.coffeestainstudios.com] if you need help with troubleshooting etc. We only help you to bust Lumes - however - some which might hit your hardware are invincible...

About us
Name's Winter. Ciara Winter.

Of course it is just a nickname.
A nickname of an ordinary German girl who fell in love for the sequel of the first FPS/TD hybrid game ever made.

My Steam recognized playtime of Sanctum 2 surpassed 500 hours.
Most time playing multiplayer with Tsygan group members or random games.
I enjoyed the game with a lot of different people. Learning more insights and new ideas for mazes with each game - and making friends with people from all over the world. Playing multiplayer with an open mind for new ideas is surely the best.

Most people might not know, but I am also responsible for the rework of German localization of the game. I hope you enjoyed this guide, and maybe we will meet one day in a random game!


The charismatic TigerHawkins

The Tiger aspect is my initials, and the Hawkins comes from a seperate scenario. People may recognize me from Sanctum for a number of reasons. I am the one that designed Whirlpool, have an achievement named after me, and currently hold 13 world records in Sanctum by myself, and am tied for 2, missing only Invasion.

In Sanctum 2, I am a beta tester,and have over 700 hours registered hours of Sanctum 2. Haigen Hawkins's last name is named after me, and has many things in common with me, and he is my favorite character to use.

I am a perfectionist. I like what I do to be of the absolute highest caliber, and I set challenges for myself, first using others as standards. Once I surpass others, I go up against myself to further improve, and keep a steady cycle. What's enjoyment without a little challenge? --- quitted 09/2013 playing Sanctum due private reasons.
The End
Well. You reached the end of my guide. Thank you very much for reading. I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please take a second to rate my guide. A good rating will keep me motivated for future updates - and it gives me also the feeling I did something right.

If you like, feel free to leave a feedback in the comments.

Now, after you learned everything I know and what is worth telling about the game, I wish you a lot of fun - maybe we will see each other some Sanctum 2 random sessions!

Cheers
Ciara
Link Tips
Make sure to visit the official community driven wiki for Sanctum 2[sanctum.gamepedia.com] - to get even more information about the game's details. Since the wiki has been published its progress is a great success, thanks to a few devoted Sanctum 2 players.

Be part of the great community and contribute! Or take part on discussions on the official forums of Coffee Stain Studios[forum.coffeestainstudios.com].

If you want to stay tuned about updates on Sanctum 2 - I recommend to visit the facebook page[www.facebook.com] and the blog[coffeestainstudios.com] as well!

Last but not least - this guide is not the only good one on Steam regarding Sanctum 2.
Have a look on some few others too!



Stay tuned and enjoy the game!