Overview
This quick guide will hopefully provide some hints as to how to better approach trial stages, as they are arguably a challenging part of the game.
Intro
As I saw nothing up yet, I threw this together to help players who are struggling with the trial modes in the game. The aim is to provide tools for the player to use, rather than just telling players what to do. If it seems necessary, I can add specific strategies for specific fields in spoilers. Please feel free to share anything I may have missed in the comments, I will add it to the guide and credit you.
Any contribution for L5 or X3 would be appreciated.
What can you try differently?
Start waves early. From what I’ve seen, spawns seem to be randomized (sometimes they come in clumps, sometimes spread out). If you know when there may be a gap with few monsters, spawn the next wave for some extra mana.
Combine/move gems around. Some may want to keep a gem in the back to clean up stragglers, but in reality this is wasted dps when there is nothing for it to shoot at. Move gems around to where they will have targets, and if towers are scarce, combine gems into a bigger gem and move that around, based on the spacing between clumps of monsters.
Look at your gems. They don’t all share the same base stats. Does heavily relying on effects help get you further? Does combining those with the most damage output give you a gem than can hold out against the waves? (If you can’t create more gems, ‘D’uplicate existing ones – MihaP)
Look at the monsters’ stats. Are they too much because of numbers (swarmlings), armor, or raw health? Do your two gems take 2.5 shots on average to kill each one? Does combining them make it take 1.1 shots on average instead(don’t forget higher grades also shoot faster).
Look at the environment. Are there better terrain features you can take advantage of, that gives your gems more coverage(and thus time) to shoot? Are there beacons that are buffing the enemy, or shrines you could use at a better time? Is there some structure that the devs might have forced you to take advantage of for this map?
Don’t be afraid to restart the level early. Sometimes 4 get through the third wave, and sometimes you get to the 8th wave with no problem. The biggest threat of monsters getting through, is actually slowing your progress and holding you back for the harder waves. Restart right away if it’s clear you’re going to be significantly set back in this try.
Finally, keep experimenting. I honestly doubt there is a strategy that works 100% of the time on every single map. Keep experimenting, and look at what approaches get you further, more often – and keep trying to refine them.
Spoilers
I will separate spoilers, so you will only see the next step, but not the entire solution.
E4 – [link] — Thanks Salytmacska and Ctdsx for putting a lot of info in comments as well, just going to have the video as this one sounds extremely tricky.
J2 – You don’t need to put any T1 gems in lanterns. Use gem bombs to get the red gem. Keep a blue gem to spare(blue gem bombs do slightly higher damage). Spawn in lots of waves early until you can duplicate the blue T1 gem enough to get the locked blue gem as well. I put the red gem watching the corner leading to the orb, and the blue gem just left of it. Then, I used enhancements, spells, and the shrine to coast the rest of the way. When one giant is left at the end, gem bomb the Wizard Stash.
J4 – You don’t need the mana pools and can save the wizard stash for the end. I put two strong gems watching the corner near the bottom right mana pool, and had a small gem near the wizard tower using beam to slowly break down the shield(When my main gems didn’t need to use it). At the end I left one giant and moved up my main gems to break the tower.
L5 – Pylon shots penetrate shields. Spf towers prioritize firing at structures (pylons). However building pylons next to the spf towers stops them from firing at monsters. Build only one pylon one tile left from the second spf tower from the right, so the right three spf towers charge the pylon while the left three can aim at the monsters. Block off the bottom-left section and right path of the orb, so monsters go through the path above the three spf towers. Build a tower to kill any spawns that may fall through. -hwang5
P3 – I put two dual gems, one in the upper top left tower, and one right of it. As the waves came, I used bolts to try to contain the monsters, while placing more/upgrading the gems I had.
T4 – Skip 6 waves, then use the mana to build a tower. Put the tower in a good spot leading to the orb, and pray the reavers spawn evenly. At the end, leave one normal monster(not frozen) alive to run around, while you build a second tower to destroy the Wizard Stash. If you leave a giant, it is slow and gives you time, and can be killed using a gem bomb after the stash is opened. Credit: Kava
U3 – Put 2 towers and 3 amps near the southern mana pool. Leave one enemy alive to open the Wizard Stash. Credit: Dumbo
X3 – Lanterns are bad at killing fast-moving enemies. Tower works better. After the first wave starts, immediately build two walls to block the path below the tree. When the monsters have circled around, build a tower to the right of the lantern and block the path. Insert the g3 gem there. Also build one wall to the left of the orb to block the path. Now the monsters are walking an S-shaped path around the tower and the first few waves should not be a problem. Don’t panic if swarmings occasionally run through, the mana regeneration is fast enough to cover that. -hwang5
X4 – X4 – Destroy the trap furthest to the right so you can build a diagonal wall there to make the best path possible for the monsters. Also destroy the lowest Pylon as it’s not as effective as the upper Pylon but would be auto-targeted first. To maximize pylon damage output, as specials are useless, go with a Dual-Gem of Armour Tearing and Poison, which you should place in the tower with “Structure” as the target, then use a couple Grade 1 Armour Tearing gems for the amplifiers just to get the firing rate up on the tower. Use the two Lanterns to park solid Armour Tearing and Poison gems until you’re ready to combo them up and throw them onto your main tower gem to get the grade up. For the two waves of Swarmlings you’ll want to temporarily stop powering up the pylon and set the attack mode to random to take out a bunch of them, then go back to structure targeting once the giants are almost ready to evade your setup. -Gemini
Y1 – The gem controlled by the Spirit Forge will start spawning in swarmlings if you take too long. The Spirit Forge gem won’t spawn swarmlings after the last wave stone has passed. -Belzeberto I was able to beat it using 3 poison traps staggered throughout the path, and calling waves as fast as I could without losing.
Z4 – The bolt spell makes lantern damage ignore armor. I just made one strong dual gem, put it in the lantern closest to the orb, and kept using freeze/bolt to kill as many as possible. (A few got through but I could make up the mana). At the end with one giant left, I put it in the tower to open up the Wizard Stash.