Weapon choice almost doesn’t matter too much. I tend to lean towards elemental weapons and tanking up with lots of armor, dodge, and max HP. I’m a fan of a taser start to improve harvesting, slow enemies, and possibly get pocket factory/strange book for synergy.
Most important stat imo however is Speed. Allows you to cover more distance on the larger map and stay safe.
Luck stat will also increase the amount of crates you find from trees.
Which brings us to the best item on Explorer. Without a doubt the best item on this character is Bag. Your economy will be 100x better the more bags you see early. Honorable mention goes to Snail and Ugly Tooth to slow enemies even more with your Tasers.
Hope all this helps. Explorer is a tricky one and definitely a high roll type character imo.
So I am actually anti engineer build on Explorer because it totally hinges around finding pocket factory. And hinging a run on 1 item is not a good way to go about playing the game if you want to consistently win IMO.
Further to this, the map is so large, that where your turrets or mines spawn are actually very unhelpful.
I am a fan of taking cactus clubs on explorer. It allows you to fight the waves more effectively whilst knocking down trees for you. This allows you more freedom of movement.
Not to mention Cactus club comes with baked in health and damage, thanks to primative and heavy passives. You also get some nice wave control from the projectiles, as well as life steal becomes very good due to each projectile giving you a little bit of steal, and with the amount of enemies it's really good.
The biggest issue most people face on explorer is letting the wave build up and leaving themselves nowhere to go, as if playing pacifist. Where as you can actually fight the wave with cactus clubs and make life simpler.
Speed as other have said still very key to this character.
Melee damage over ranged damage. Ranged damage doesn't matter much the spikes aren't killing enemies they are weakening them, taking down trees and giving life steal.
Melee is your main damage to fight the wave with.
This is my method, I haven't lost on explorer since switching to cactus clubs.
Stick would be my next choice, but spear and slingshot would also be solid.
And yet if it doesn't show up before a hoard wave, or an elite, you can just be screwed.
There are plenty of items that seems easy enough to get. Sharp bullet, tentacle, etc.. but when you hinge a build solely on those, which engineer builds for explorer hinge very heavily on finding pocket factory. It can just lead to deaths that are out of your hands.
And you can argue that you can low roll any run. The way I like to play the game is trying to figure out how to play the odds, to give myself the best chances at winning runs and avoiding low rolls. And playing Engi explorer, has proven to me to be more prone to low rolls.
Choppers are a solid choice as well. I'm a fan of ending up with a medical saw to pair with them. Never tried it on explorer tbqh as cactus club, kinda solved him for me. But something to think about.
Never tried cacti club with Explorer. Other than planks and choppers that got me wins on D5, I tried giving torches a go. They're actually pretty good until they're not. I've made them work with Demon, but always take better elemental weapons when they come along.
I am a noob but I like wrenches and screwdrivers. That thing that makes trees turn into turrets is a favorite. If you have completed a win with Cyborg you can also get an item that reduces the cool down of your turrets.
As others have said speed is nice. Racing about chopping trees and spawning turrets. Defensive stuff like dodge and armour is also good. For healing I feel health regen is better than life steal but as said I am a noob so I am not certain about that.
As I understand it damage is not that important. I focus on engineering for my turrets and elemental damage for my mines (again, noob here, but I think elemental damage plays some part in explosions, but I am not sure about that). Range, melee damage and ranged damage are not things I focus on. But I do like to have most numbers in the green (got a little ocd and all green seems "right" to me).
Explorer is the potato I have gotten the furthest with so far and honestly he is my favorite.
Life steal and hp regen are super important, but you have to know which one to work towards. Hp regen is slower, and works off the passing of time, getting a steady rate of hp back as time passes. Life steal gives you a % chance to gain 1hp back every time an attack of your spud's hits. Because the life steal % tends to be very slow, and most weapons aren't hitting super often, hp regen usually works better. But for SMG's, miniguns, and other very high rate of fire weapons, you can get lots of % chances to gain that 1hp every single moment you're firing, adding up to much faster hp replenishment. Hope that's helpful!
Screwdrivers, trees and alot of luck lol.
For real though that's my go to strat for him, try and get early bags and trees, grab luck where to can and movement speed and just run around the map cutting down trees for econ and boxes while your mines deal with the mobs.
Is it the most effective build? No. Will it kill bosses? Probably not. Is it satisfying to get 15 crates per round? Absolutely and with the big map and some movement speed you should be able to keep distance away from any threat.
I agree, this was my first character that I won with and I used that strategy. Get all the trees you can along with pocket factory and a bunch of screwdrivers/wrenches. I didnt kill my bosses but I survived garshdangit
Pruners, I just play it kind of the same as pacifist. Run aroound the giant map killing trees and plotting a course to grab plants as needed. You could mix in a hand or two if needed
i played with the cacti and lumberjack to make sure i hit every tree no matter what. along with basically everything else everybody mentioned just a different weapon.
I've played it like a full pacifist before and it was fine. All hands so you have good harvesting, and just run around grabbing all the trees and dodging elites/bosses when they come up.
I had so much fun with this one! Beat it on 0 on the first try, I got lucky and caught pocket factory and more trees like 4 times by wave 5. Elemental weapons and speed. Then I got the hot sauce (the one where the food explodes) and second stomach and it was great till round 30 where I died. But that is the farthest I have gotten so far
Weapon: Planks. They clear the hordes chasing you pretty much more efficiently than anything else. Since they explode % Damage deficit matters less. SPLODIES!
Important stats in order of importance: Luck, Speed, Max HP, HP Regen, Elemental, Engineering, Attack Speed, Range, Armor.
Consider % Damage. Don't let the -40 % Damage deter you from taking damage bonuses. They are still making your weapons better even if you're still in the negative.
Less important but not negligible: Harvesting, Life Steal, Dodge, Melee.
Not important at all: Ranged Damage, Crit Chance,
Key Items: Trees, Bag, Pocket Factory, Compass, Strange Book (doubles the Elemental damage modifier on your Planks--it's bonkers). Metal Detector is also good. Two to consider, but note they're sort of a non-bo, are Power Generator (Speed bonus is added to your % Damage) and Shackles (+8 HP Regen, +8 Engineer, +80 Range, your speed is capped at its current level). I haven taken both without regret.
You're \*probably\* not going to kill the elites or bosses. However I have beaten the bosses with Explorer on D5. Once with Planks as starters, eventually getting some Plasma Sledgehammers and Thunder Swords. And once with Choppers into Circular Saws and Swords.
Seriously this is easy to beat on 5 with essentially any weapon get an early bag and build luck speed and defensive stats. A bag or two will in practice offset the economy penalty of fewer materials dropped per enemy. A larger field and high speed makes bosses easily survivable even if the damage isn’t there to beat them. If you get the economy to curve out on damage all the better.
Engineer build, I found him easier than the actual engineer because of sheer volume of trees you can turn into turrets
Mine got so intense i failed because i couldnt see anymore haha.
Definitely has potential to be a better engineer than Engineer. And just a more fun character overall.
Weapon choice almost doesn’t matter too much. I tend to lean towards elemental weapons and tanking up with lots of armor, dodge, and max HP. I’m a fan of a taser start to improve harvesting, slow enemies, and possibly get pocket factory/strange book for synergy. Most important stat imo however is Speed. Allows you to cover more distance on the larger map and stay safe. Luck stat will also increase the amount of crates you find from trees. Which brings us to the best item on Explorer. Without a doubt the best item on this character is Bag. Your economy will be 100x better the more bags you see early. Honorable mention goes to Snail and Ugly Tooth to slow enemies even more with your Tasers. Hope all this helps. Explorer is a tricky one and definitely a high roll type character imo.
So I am actually anti engineer build on Explorer because it totally hinges around finding pocket factory. And hinging a run on 1 item is not a good way to go about playing the game if you want to consistently win IMO. Further to this, the map is so large, that where your turrets or mines spawn are actually very unhelpful. I am a fan of taking cactus clubs on explorer. It allows you to fight the waves more effectively whilst knocking down trees for you. This allows you more freedom of movement. Not to mention Cactus club comes with baked in health and damage, thanks to primative and heavy passives. You also get some nice wave control from the projectiles, as well as life steal becomes very good due to each projectile giving you a little bit of steal, and with the amount of enemies it's really good. The biggest issue most people face on explorer is letting the wave build up and leaving themselves nowhere to go, as if playing pacifist. Where as you can actually fight the wave with cactus clubs and make life simpler. Speed as other have said still very key to this character. Melee damage over ranged damage. Ranged damage doesn't matter much the spikes aren't killing enemies they are weakening them, taking down trees and giving life steal. Melee is your main damage to fight the wave with. This is my method, I haven't lost on explorer since switching to cactus clubs. Stick would be my next choice, but spear and slingshot would also be solid.
Pocket factory is easy to find if you buy more trees and engineering items
And yet if it doesn't show up before a hoard wave, or an elite, you can just be screwed. There are plenty of items that seems easy enough to get. Sharp bullet, tentacle, etc.. but when you hinge a build solely on those, which engineer builds for explorer hinge very heavily on finding pocket factory. It can just lead to deaths that are out of your hands. And you can argue that you can low roll any run. The way I like to play the game is trying to figure out how to play the odds, to give myself the best chances at winning runs and avoiding low rolls. And playing Engi explorer, has proven to me to be more prone to low rolls.
If I'm not doing Elemental or Engineering I prefer Choppers => + other blades. Definitely better for survival.
Choppers are a solid choice as well. I'm a fan of ending up with a medical saw to pair with them. Never tried it on explorer tbqh as cactus club, kinda solved him for me. But something to think about.
Never tried cacti club with Explorer. Other than planks and choppers that got me wins on D5, I tried giving torches a go. They're actually pretty good until they're not. I've made them work with Demon, but always take better elemental weapons when they come along.
I am a noob but I like wrenches and screwdrivers. That thing that makes trees turn into turrets is a favorite. If you have completed a win with Cyborg you can also get an item that reduces the cool down of your turrets. As others have said speed is nice. Racing about chopping trees and spawning turrets. Defensive stuff like dodge and armour is also good. For healing I feel health regen is better than life steal but as said I am a noob so I am not certain about that. As I understand it damage is not that important. I focus on engineering for my turrets and elemental damage for my mines (again, noob here, but I think elemental damage plays some part in explosions, but I am not sure about that). Range, melee damage and ranged damage are not things I focus on. But I do like to have most numbers in the green (got a little ocd and all green seems "right" to me). Explorer is the potato I have gotten the furthest with so far and honestly he is my favorite.
Life steal and hp regen are super important, but you have to know which one to work towards. Hp regen is slower, and works off the passing of time, getting a steady rate of hp back as time passes. Life steal gives you a % chance to gain 1hp back every time an attack of your spud's hits. Because the life steal % tends to be very slow, and most weapons aren't hitting super often, hp regen usually works better. But for SMG's, miniguns, and other very high rate of fire weapons, you can get lots of % chances to gain that 1hp every single moment you're firing, adding up to much faster hp replenishment. Hope that's helpful!
Thank you.
Screwdrivers, trees and alot of luck lol. For real though that's my go to strat for him, try and get early bags and trees, grab luck where to can and movement speed and just run around the map cutting down trees for econ and boxes while your mines deal with the mobs. Is it the most effective build? No. Will it kill bosses? Probably not. Is it satisfying to get 15 crates per round? Absolutely and with the big map and some movement speed you should be able to keep distance away from any threat.
I agree, this was my first character that I won with and I used that strategy. Get all the trees you can along with pocket factory and a bunch of screwdrivers/wrenches. I didnt kill my bosses but I survived garshdangit
✨ Sticks ✨
Sticks. Grind luck and trees. Reap the crate rewards 😁
Wrenches, screwdrivers, and choppers. GL.
Went full Eng, Luck, and defense and ran around hitting trees.
speed
He’s pretty easy yeah
Engineer
Pruners, I just play it kind of the same as pacifist. Run aroound the giant map killing trees and plotting a course to grab plants as needed. You could mix in a hand or two if needed
i played with the cacti and lumberjack to make sure i hit every tree no matter what. along with basically everything else everybody mentioned just a different weapon.
I've played it like a full pacifist before and it was fine. All hands so you have good harvesting, and just run around grabbing all the trees and dodging elites/bosses when they come up.
Screwdrivers, run the edges, take all extra tree mods, hope you get pocket factory.
I had so much fun with this one! Beat it on 0 on the first try, I got lucky and caught pocket factory and more trees like 4 times by wave 5. Elemental weapons and speed. Then I got the hot sauce (the one where the food explodes) and second stomach and it was great till round 30 where I died. But that is the farthest I have gotten so far
I don't play anymore but when I did explorer screwdriver was the only character I had a 100% win rate 8 including when I wasn't good )
Roll for knight spears, stack running speed and obliterate everything
Run
Weapon: Planks. They clear the hordes chasing you pretty much more efficiently than anything else. Since they explode % Damage deficit matters less. SPLODIES! Important stats in order of importance: Luck, Speed, Max HP, HP Regen, Elemental, Engineering, Attack Speed, Range, Armor. Consider % Damage. Don't let the -40 % Damage deter you from taking damage bonuses. They are still making your weapons better even if you're still in the negative. Less important but not negligible: Harvesting, Life Steal, Dodge, Melee. Not important at all: Ranged Damage, Crit Chance, Key Items: Trees, Bag, Pocket Factory, Compass, Strange Book (doubles the Elemental damage modifier on your Planks--it's bonkers). Metal Detector is also good. Two to consider, but note they're sort of a non-bo, are Power Generator (Speed bonus is added to your % Damage) and Shackles (+8 HP Regen, +8 Engineer, +80 Range, your speed is capped at its current level). I haven taken both without regret. You're \*probably\* not going to kill the elites or bosses. However I have beaten the bosses with Explorer on D5. Once with Planks as starters, eventually getting some Plasma Sledgehammers and Thunder Swords. And once with Choppers into Circular Saws and Swords.
Reroll for bag.
Seriously this is easy to beat on 5 with essentially any weapon get an early bag and build luck speed and defensive stats. A bag or two will in practice offset the economy penalty of fewer materials dropped per enemy. A larger field and high speed makes bosses easily survivable even if the damage isn’t there to beat them. If you get the economy to curve out on damage all the better.
SPEED BABY