Asylum of the Daleks: Intensive Care

My mate

Previous Episode: Asylum of the Daleks: Corridor 5L

Next Episode: Dalek Paradox

Game version played: 2.3

Intensive Care, filled with the most damaged of Daleks, those who survived the Doctor. This should be fun.

This level is labelled as a TV story, with Red and Black Time Fragments exactly like the previous two Asylum levels. However there is something else. A small Green portrait labelled '100% drop'. Beat this level and you get another team member, your first Green ally. By golly that picture is of Rory Williams, one of my favourite companions.

There are a few reasons why I like Rory so much. Firstly, he’s the companion I identify with the most. Like most Whovians I daydream of flying off in the TARDIS. However I know that my first encounter with the Doctor would involve running and death, plus a lot of feeling confused, stupid and terrified. The last thing I’d want afterwards is a repeat on an alien planet. The only thing that would get me inside the blue box was if the girl I loved was already in it.

Rory starts life as a dork who follows Amy Pond around like a lost puppy. However he ends up as The Boy Who Waited, the Last Centurion, Companion of the Doctor and Father of River Song. Why didn’t that go on his tombstone? Also I’m a bit of a romantic, and his devotion to Amy, who responds by giving up everything, even the Doctor for him, is just lovely.

His finest moment is the opening of ‘A Good Man Goes to War’, where Amy tells infant Melody of the hero that is coming to save them. Her tale, intercut with shots of the sonic opening doors, telling of a man who looks young but is hundreds of years old, who is not known by his name but a title, was masterful sleight of hand. When Amy says “This man is your father” I thought ‘What?!’ but it was okay, it was Rory all along. Dull Mr Male Nurse walks into the flag ship of the 12th Cyber Legion, stands on the bridge and coolly delivers the Doctor's message and a question from himself. He must have ice in his veins.

Arthur Darvill, photo pinched from Wikipedia

I also liked his relationship with the Doctor. Although he comes to admire and have affection for the Time Lord, he is never blinded by hero worship. He’s quite happy telling the Doctor off when he deserves it and he usually hits home with his barbs. I also prefer it if the Companions don’t have the hots for the Doctor.

One more reason for liking Rory is that he was played by Arthur Darvill. This chap is a good actor and a Brummie to boot (though he is a Villa fan). I suspect he’s rarely going to be out of work, even if he doesn't quite conquer the world like Karen Gillan seems about to. He suits a beard too, which is a mark of a good man.

So, that’s why I have to beat this level of DWL, to recruit Rory for my TARDIS.

Wave 1 breaks you in gently with one Red Drone Dalek. He’s a pushover and we’re into Wave 2 without breaking step.

Cool Cobweb Red Dalek is back with the ability to remove gems, plus a Black stun-equipped Puppet. Well those abilities only work if you live long enough to use them. My opponents didn’t. Next.

2 Cool Cobweb Daleks with a newcomer between them. It’s another New Paradigm jobby, but this one’s got an orange casing with a Green gem colour. It’s a Scientist Dalek. Let’s see if he fights better than he colour-coordinates. By this time the Doctor was ready to use his Cunnning ability and so he let fly. The Cobweb twins vanished in a puff of vapour, but Scientist survived. The professor is apparently made of sterner stuff, plus Blue is handicapped against Green. With a brief “Tsk!” I did my own dirty work, moved a few gems and saw him off. A Time Fragment fell as I confidently awaited Wave number 4.

Another new Dalek, Blue in both Gem and casing. It’s a Strategist, flanked by two Puppets. He’s a little tougher than the Scientist, but not enough for either him or his body guard to get a shot off.

Wave 5 is Boss wave, but it’s a team effort. The Scientist and the Strategist are back, but they’ve brought the Supreme with them. This scrap might be worth my time. The Strategist fell in the first exchange, but the Supreme then Distorted all my Yellow gems into Green, temporarily disarming Vastra. The Supreme then started to ready a new power called Rebuild. This is a power that summons another enemy to the battle. It only works if there’s an empty space to fill, but it can prolong fights and cause you problems if you’re not careful. If you see an enemy ready Rebuild or any other summoning power, it would be wise to target and hit them hard. Luckily in this level it takes 3 rounds to ready Rebuild so I wasn’t worried yet.

These senior Daleks are slow on the draw so I still hadn’t taken any damage, allowing me to casually vape the Scientist next. The Supreme’s Rebuild counted down, but I did for him before he could call for help. Victory was declared and a grey portrait fell. Rory was mine.

My booty for the level was 1 Red Fragment and 1 Black, a Time Crystal and Rory. Vastra achieved Lv.4 so I upped her attack. This team is toughening up. I was also awarded the ‘No More Black’ achievement for defeating 10 Black enemies. 7/56 achievements done and I’m still just warming up.

With Rory on the team you now have all colours covered, so from here on expect the gem boards to be harder to combo. You’re about to play with the big boys and girls.

Asylum of the Daleks: Corridor 5L

Ooh look, a screen full of adventures

Previous Episode: Asylum of the Daleks: Graveyard

Next Episode: Asylum of the Daleks: Intensive Care

Game version played: 2.3

We’re pushing deeper into the asylum so expect things to get a little more intense. Asylum of the Daleks: Corridor 5L is marked again as a TV episode with Red and Black Time Fragments to be won. That suggests Red and Black enemies, so maybe Black Puppets and Red Daleks? Let’s see. 

Wave one is made up of 2 Red Daleks, of the Bronze variant. Identical to those you beat in the Graveyard so fear not. Still cool and cobwebbed these fellas should get their own wallpaper. I managed to bag them both with one shot and got a Red Time Fragment as reward. It’s worth noting that I’m replaying these episodes after hours of play at higher levels in my main game. I don’t remember how I did the first time, but there is a learning curve. I would have had more smaller gem combos and done less damage each turn. Genuine first time players will take a few more moves to get though each wave, but I’m sure you’ll still get this far without a loss.

Wave two is a bit more meaty, with 2 Dalek Puppets and 1 cool Dalek. These puppets are a bit different than the ones you met previously. They do twice as much damage but fire half as often, plus they only stun you for 1 turn. Personally I’d face off against these chaps if I had a choice. They still go down quickly enough so you will soon be expecting wave three.

Cool as der cucumber -
as Wulf Sternhammer would say

You don’t have to look far, they’re on you quicker than shale off a shovel. Hang on though, 2 Puppets and 2 Cool Daleks? That hardly seems fair, the odds are even for once. This is where you need to start looking for combos of 5 gems or more. Any less and you damage just one enemy at a time. Overkill does splash to the next enemy but it can still take a few turns to get through all of them. In the meantime they will have stunned and damaged you to an irritating level. Get a 5+ combo and all enemies are damaged, probably enough to see them off altogether. I managed exactly that and so got to the Boss wave.

The New Paradigm are back, but this time it’s no mere Drone, it’s the Supreme Dalek. His casing is white, but his gem colour is as Black as his mutated soul. He’s also extremely tough. I’d be impressed if you can beat him (her? It?) in one or two shots. I laid into him hard but he still managed to get a few good digs in. Not enough to put me in danger but my pride was hurt. He also managed to use his Distort power, which allows him to convert Yellow gems into Green. This is smart, as Yellow hits him hard and you’ve no Green team member. They don’t call him the Supreme Dalek for nothing.

If you do get a lot of Green gems in play then don’t panic. They still create combos despite doing no direct damage. They act as a boost to other attacks in the same round, count towards the Doctor’s cool down, and clear the gems from the board letting other non-Green gems drop in.

It took me three hits plus a charge from the Doctor to get rid of this Boss. He’s a tough nut, but not as tough as me and my team. After it was all over I had my Red Time Fragment and enough experience to promote Jenny Flint to Lv. 4 and Porridge to Lv. 3. I stuck with my strategy and boosted Porridge’s HP to 132 and Jenny’s ATK to 68.

Vastra lags behind

Just a minute though. How is that Jenny is on Lv. 4 while her wife Madame Vastra is still at Lv. 3? Vastra took part in the tutorial before Jenny was recruited, so surely she should be ahead if anything. How does that work then?

The answer is ExperienceTracks, ably explained by the wiki. Vastra progresses along Track 4, so needs 2626 experience points (XP) to reach level 4. Jenny Flint is on Track 2, so needs just 2298xp for 4th level. Why? Well I assume it’s a balancing mechanism, so that some characters can have higher starter attributes and stronger powers, but have to pay the price through slower advancement. On the other hand it could be just to mix things up. I’m not the type to trawl over powers, stats and Experience Tracks to see if it’s all fair. Enjoy the game and don’t worry too much about the mechanics.

Asylum of the Daleks: Corridor 5L is the first episode in the game where the opposition starts to get durable. Nice. 

Asylum of the Daleks was the opener for the 7th Season of New Who, Matt Smith's last, and I thought it was a solid start. Jenna-Louise Coleman’s debut as the annoyingly attractive Soufflé girl was unexpected, and I enjoyed being puzzled about how they were going to explain it all. The Ponds were good value as ever and I crushed on  Anamaria Mainca. I have a thing about noses you see.

I think that the Daleks need a season off, but here they did excel and deserve their star billing. It was like a design gallery in the Asylum with all of those different makes, shapes and colours. Like most people I was especially delighted to see the Special Weapons Dalek, now there’s a model I’d like to build. Rory’s ‘Eggs-Eggs-Eggs’ Dalek encounter was wonderful and I doubt if we’ve seen the last of the Dalek Puppets. They look quite ridiculous but are creepy at the same time. They also allow the Daleks to indulge in infiltration and other subterfuge. The atmospheric Asylum set was well used and it elevated the Daleks to their scariest since Dalek. 

Having Oswin delete all record of the Doctor from the Daleks' memory was interesting, but it seems to have been a bit of a waste of time story-arc-wise. By the time they meet next, the Daleks have re-learned all about him. It seems the only point of the exercise was to have the whole Dalek Parliament chant "Doctor Who?" at the end of the episode. Still, no harm done. 

A significant episode in the history of the show and a good set up for the departure of the Ponds and the Eleventh Doctor. Is it really nigh on 2 years since this first aired? 

Asylum of the Daleks: Graveyard

Okay team, look inconspicuous

Previous Episode: Nightmare in Silver: Mr Clever

Next Episode: Asylum of the Daleks: Corridor 5L

Game version played: 2.2.1

Pastures new are spread before you. Hedgewick's World of Wonders is left behind, but ahead lies a planet that even the most ruthless race in existence fears to visit. But Brave Heart, Tegan. You have the dark power of the Black Gems at your fingertips and the Emperor of the Universe at your side. It’s time to enter the Asylum of the Daleks.

Before you do anything, make sure that your team includes Porridge. It would be a shame to win him then leave him and his bombs in the TARDIS. 

The level starts in a dim, misty, cable-strewn room. A Dalek lurks caged in the shadows, while another seems to be undergoing repair, or is perhaps just getting dressed. More concerning, you are faced with an animated, desiccated corpse, dressed in polar gear with a Dalek eye-stalk protruding from its forehead. A Dalek Puppet, who is also your first Black opponent. Yes the bar at his feet looks silver or grey, but it’s Black believe me. Select him and you see that Madame Vastra, Yellow, gets a boost with no one being penalised. Your board will now almost certainly have Black gems upon it, so with five colours to juggle you’ll have to work a little harder to get those combos. The Puppet also has a new power called Terrify. Learn to recognise the symbol. Terrify is a Stun power. Another annoying attack as it stops one or more of your team joining in the fight. 

What in the Nine Hells is THAT?

If stunned, a team member gets a little icon on their portrait and they slowly flash. For example if this puppet manages to survive your first attack, which is unlikely, then it may Stun Porridge. This means that he wouldn't be able to plant a bomb if otherwise able, and also that Black combos do no damage. HP still contribute to the team total though. In this battle the stun lasts 2 turns and only one of your team is stunned. It isn’t disastrous here but best to kill them and avoid the nuisance.

Unless you really mess up then the Puppet should be toast before he hits you, which brings on wave 2, a brace of puppets. Still no problem. Grant them the True Death and prepare to face the Doctor’s most famous foe of all. The Daleks.

Your first encounter with the Daleks is with one very cool, cobwebbed, damaged bronze Dalek. When I say ‘bronze’ I am referring to the design or variant rather than its gem colour. The Bronze Dalek is the design that appeared when the series returned in 2005. This is perhaps my favourite design of Dalek. The bronze casing, the bolts, protective struts over the speaker lights etc. all make it look strong enough to shrug off an anti-tank shell. The original Dalek looked great on Black & White 1963 television, but as colour came in and picture quality improved they started to look as if they couldn’t stand up to a well placed Nerf hit.

So although this is a bronze Dalek, its gem colour is Red. Look for the Blue combos and give it what for. It’s an easy enough task to see this asylum inmate off so you’ll soon be facing the fourth and final wave.

My Sevans Dalek

The cool cobweb Dalek is back, but this time he has a Red New Dalek Paradigm mate. Oh dear. Does anyone like the New Paradigm design? I like the colour coding which gives their society more structure and complexity. I also like them being taller, on eye level with the Doctor. However they just look so plastic. Give them angles, a muted metallic sheen and they’d look much better. Still it does seem that the show has listened to feedback and will keep the bronze Daleks as foot soldiers. The red New Paradigm Dalek is classed as a Drone so should have taken their place, but perhaps now they’ll be officers.

Both of these Daleks are again Red so the 11th Doctor is in his element. We’re still early in the game and the difficulty level is low so I expect you to make swift work of Skaro’s finest. In my game I got a Red Time Fragment after Exterminating (couldn’t resist) them in one turn. I also got three Achievements. ‘Allons-y!’ for winning 5 matches, ‘Time Lord’ for making 100 gem combos and ‘No More Red’ for beating 10 Red enemies. This took me up to 6 out of 56 achievements.

Although I got through the level so quickly that Porridge didn’t get a chance to use his bomb, he still earned enough experience to reach level 2. He has an impressive 105 HP making him a Tank. His power isn’t affected by his attributes so it makes sense to build his HP and make your team more durable. This goes double for me as I chose to bulk up Vastra and Jenny Flint’s ATK ability.

My overall review of this level, still easy but a welcome change in scenery and opposition.

The Black Dalek conquers the back garden

What to say about the Daleks? Would the show have got as far as even 1965 without them? What’s the appeal? Are they actually scary? For me I prefer stories focusing on them being the embodiment of racism instead of simply another monster bent on ultimate power. Like many of the best villains their rationale for committing atrocities has a twisted logic, only when there is one species left in existence can there be a final and lasting peace.

My wife wrote a paper on Dalek design for her degree, and it’s hard to think of any monster before or since that looks anything like them. The show tried with the Mechanoids but they didn’t catch on.

Long ago I bought a Sevans model kit of a Dalek and spent weeks building it. I painted it as the Black Dalek in Remembrance of the Daleks. I still display it at home and it is one of my proudest possessions. The Sevans kit was famed for being difficult to build and although only a casual modeller I was very pleased with the end result. I wish a similar model kit was available now. What do you think?