Angels Take Manhattan: The Basement

Is this a joke?

Previous episode: Angels Take Manhattan: 2012

Next episode: Angels Take Manhattan: 1938

Game version played: 2.5.1 (GP-A)

The basement, where Rory met the chuckling cherubs. That was also in Manhattan, but in 1938 not 2012. Same place, different time. Blue Time fragments are likely but no rare drop. The backdrop is a series of arches containing shadowy figures. Shield that Brightwell & Hyman match, screw your courage to the sticking place and follow me.

My team is led by the 11th Doctor at Rank 2, who is accompanied by Jenny Flint, Madame Vastra, Porridge and Rory Williams who are all at Lvl.9. I anticipate that this mission will get Jenny to Lvl.10 and hence the next rank. That's confidence for you. It's also a sure way to lose a level, thinking on the reward rather than the task. Stay focused Allsop.

Wave 1 of 4 consists of a Blue Weeping Angel as faced in the last level, plus a Blue cherub which game-wise is a less dangerous version of full grown Angels. We also have Stone gems to add to the fun. I tried for 5+ combos where I could but the Stones make it difficult. It took me 4 rounds to kill the Angel, then just one more to clear the cherub. Knowing that the cherub is less sturdy I probably should have targeted it from the start.

Wave 2 is a single Blue Weeping Angel but this one is in chains. It's the wrist-snapping Angel that Julius Grayle imprisoned in his office. This Angel attacks in 2 rounds instead of 3 and can take a lot more damage than the usual. During our fight she hit me for 160 HP twice, forcing me to use Rory's Stand Firm power. Jenny also powered up but once again using her Smoulder power would have made things worse. Vastra's power was a different story and she let rip, though her Riposte of 150 points barely scratched the chained Angel. By now Porridge was ready to lay a bomb but the Angel was down to about 30%, so I kept it in reserve. The next round she fell so it was the right decision.

The waves are getting larger and next we have a trio of cherubs. This is a multi-coloured flight, 2 Blue and 1 Green. Aha! A chance to let Jenny have at them. I used her Smoulder power and targetted the Green cherub with the resultant Reds. It was a big hit and got Greenie down to 10% or so, as well as badly damaging the other 2. That set me up well and I cleared the cherubs in 7 rounds. I took a few hits but managed to stay near full health using available Pinks. By the time I was done I had the 11th Doctor flashing at maximum, plus Vastra, Jenny and Porridge all with special powers primed and ready for the 4th wave.

The boss wave doesn't feature a boss as such but it's no walk-over. It's the chained Angel flanked by a Green and a Blue cherub. There was no point saving attacks now so I 'unleashed Hell' as Russell Crow said. The 11th Doctor concocted a Fast Plan and aimed 1,000 damage at each opponent. The Blue cherub vaporised but the Green one survived due to his resistance to Blue damage. Next I let Vastra use her Riposte on the survivors which took Greenie down to about 10%. The chained Angel was at about 60% so I planted Porridge's bomb at her feet. I next used Jenny to Smoulder the Blue gems into Red to make sure of the Green cherub, which I targetted.

My first Gem attack killed the Green cherub and got the chained Angel down to 25%. In the next few rounds we traded blows. Rory healed me once and I had the Angel down to next to nothing when the bomb went off and blew her into gravel. A nice bruising battle though I still kept my HP well above 50% all the way through.

There were no drops but after the battle Jenny Flint did indeed reach Lvl.10. The surprise was that Porridge was also promoted to Lvl.10. Both of them ready to elevate to the 2nd rank. Oh yes!

Madame Vastra should give her a rise

This is a landmark in the game, but don't forget the basics. You still get an extra point for going up a level so make sure you assign it. Jenny's attributes have grown over her career, increasing gradually with each level. However her special power, Smoulder, has stayed the same. If you want that to increase, and for her to be able to progress further, then you need to upgrade her rank. Until you do she will be stuck on Lvl. 10 however much experience she gains. Of course there is a price to be paid.

To upgrade Jenny to Rank 2 the cost is 2 Red and 2 Green Time Fragments. Luckily I have them. All you have to do is press the Upgrade button on the Companion's Attributes tab. I did so and was treated to the same 'Brilliant' sequence that I saw when promoting the 11th Doctor. Jenny then immediately jumped to Lvl.11, though you don't get an additional attribute point that time. Looking at her Profile tab her Special Power is now called Flame, and it converts Blue gems to Red in 6 turns instead of 7. Her power has the same effect but you will be able to call upon it more often.

It's worth comparing the advancement of Jenny's power to her wife's for a moment. At these levels Madame Vastra's Riposte is becoming less useful as opponents get stronger. However Jenny Flint's ATK attribute keeps rising with every level even if you add no points to it. So she does more damage with each Red Gem. This means that her conversion power constantly grows in effectiveness. Direct damage powers by contrast grow effectively weaker. Something to ponder.

 Jenny's upgrade got me an extra star which took me to 9 in total, 1 short of a new Perk. Good job Porridge is ready to promote as well.

Ah! There's a problem. Porridge needs 2 Yellow and 2 Black Time Fragments to be upgraded. I've got both of the Yellow but just 1 Black fragment. Foiled. However there is a work around. In these situations you will see that the Max Level button in the Profile tab now says Instant Upgrade instead. If you press it you are offered the chance to go ahead with the upgrade by using 2 Time Crystals instead of the required Fragments.

This means I have a decision to make about Porridge, with three options available.

Firstly, I could use Time Crystals to promote him here and now, and I have earned 10 of these through normal play. In my main game I have many more, some of which I bought to unlock the Fan Area and support the developers. Crystals are not short cuts or cheats, they are part of the game and a reward for putting your money where your mouth is. However here it does seem expensive to use 20% of my crystals just to compensate for 1 missing Black Fragment.

Secondly I could take my team and replay levels that offer Black Fragments as a potential drop. Working backwards the first opportunity is The Snowmen: The Great Intelligence. In my case this level still has Strax as a Rare drop. If I replayed it then I might get to fill that empty slot in my team roster while I'm looking for Black Fragments. I might also get Yellow Time Fragments which I am likely to need soon with Vastra at Lvl.9. I would also be guaranteed to collect experience for my team, and have fun replaying levels. There are other missions that offer Black Fragments but they are lower level without a Rare drop, and so less attractive.

The third option is just to play on. I might get a Black Fragment very soon and I would be earning higher amounts of experience in more advanced levels. I might also get more Rares. The drawback to this option is that Porridge will not gain any of that experience and will not get stronger. Each level will become tougher as he gets left behind. If I had other Companions in the TARDIS I could swap Porridge for one of them and let them gain the experience, though my team would be weakened significantly at first. I have beaten all levels so far reasonably comfortably, so I'm confident I could go on for a few levels yet.

Is this wise?

So my options are to pay up, circle back and build my strength, or to press on. In my main game when I first reached this sort of situation I circled back. Later on as my cache of Time Crystals grew and the number of needed Fragments increased drastically I have tended to pay up.

This time though I'm going to push on. That was the original intent when I started this series of posts, here. It'll be fun to see how far I get before I lose, and a nice challenge to play with what the game gives me for free. That's one of the secrets to enjoying a game I find, to adopt a style, character or strategy rather than just play to a  believed optimal strategy.

So on we go, with Jenny Flint at Rank 2 and Porridge stuck at Lvl.10. But not just now though.

While I've been writing these posts some promising ideas for future books and stories have blossomed and I can't ignore them any longer. There's also a couple of other opportunities that I want to explore so my journey through Season 7, or Chapter One as it is now called, will have to take a break. Getting my first Companion to Rank 2 seems like a good place to pause and I don't want to make the same mistake I did with Cryonite Cove and let things peter out. This blog will continue, though it will focus elsewhere for a time and will probably not be as frequent for a while.

Writing all of this has been fun, educational, thought provoking and a good exercise of the writing muscles. Thanks to all those who have read and commented through Twitter or elsewhere. An especial thank you to Tiny Rebel Games who have produced a wonderful game that is a worthy tie-in with my favourite ever television show, Doctor Who.

Angels Take Manhattan: 2012

Stone me!

Previous Episode: Sontaran Disturbance: USA

Next Episode: Angels Take Manhattan: The Basement

Game version played: 2.5.1 (GP-A)

The Weeping Angels. The best original monster of New Who and perhaps one of the greatest in the show's 51 year history. Original, fascinating and scary. It looks like we're about to face them in mortal combat. Prepare yourself for Angels Take Manhattan.

Do you think there was some analogy in Steven Moffat's mind when he demonised the Statue of Liberty in this story? The USA's symbol of freedom and democracy becoming a giant Weeping Angel. Is he saying that liberty has become a force for evil, that great horrors and destruction are wrought in order to preserve an impractical ideal? Perhaps the Moff feels that certain individual rights should be sacrificed in order to improve the common good.

Is he instead saying that if you take your eye off liberty for a second then we are all doomed? That freedom must be watched constantly. Blink and it becomes corrupted.

Was it a comment about the USA itself? Is he implying that the country which styled itself as the embodiment of freedom and democracy is now a monster? A monster that sends its enemies back to the stone age, or snaps their neck and steals their voices?

I doubt it. More likely someone said "Imagine if the Statue of Liberty was a Weeping Angel. That would be brilliant that would." Mr Moffat hears that and says, 'Och! That would be fine indeed. I'm away to write that up. Cheers pal." That's how The Angels Take Manhattan was born. Well it is in my mind anyway. Enough of this prattling.



Metaphor of monster?

Blue Time Fragments are signalled for this level so the Angels are likely to be Blue. That could be a problem as Green is my weakest colour. Rory will have to earn his keep in both dealing and healing.

My team is led by the 11th Doctor in his new monkly attire at Rank 2. Jenny Flint is at Lv.9 and Porridge, Madame Vastra and Rory Williams are at Lv.8. I still have an empty slot but there will be no chance to fill it in this adventure.

This is another level with a shifting background. It changes between the roof of the Winter Quay apartment building, with some interesting Skaro inspired graffiti, and the night skyline of Manhattan. Very pretty.

As the level starts the 11th Doctor warns us to be careful. He says that a lot in this game.

We first face one Blue Weeping Angel. It's taking 3 rounds to attack so it looks as if they'll be slow. The interesting thing to note is that one of the gems looks like a grey marble. It is in fact a stone gem. These appear in Weeping Angel levels and are a pain. They have no colour so can't be used to attack or heal. The only way to get rid of them is to combine them with other stones, at which time they shatter. Shattering stones count as a combination in your damage calculation so they are not completely useless. It pays to get rid of them as they mount up steadily. Don't make it your priority but if you can do it while making a good colour combo then do so.

This first Angel was reasonably tough and it took me two rounds to get rid of her though I took no damage. The stone gems make it difficult to rack up a decent set of combinations, which effectively makes the Angels more durable.



My slightly new-look team

Wave 2 of 3 was a brace of Blue Weeping Angels. The battle lasted 7 rounds and I learned that each Angel does 150 damage, as they both hit me before I could kill one. 300 points is not insignificant when you have just 874 to start with. 6 hits without healing and I'd be done for. Happily I got through the wave just 150 points down at the end, thanks to careful use of Pink gems. Jenny Flint was primed for use but turning Blue Gems Red when you're facing Blue enemies is not wise. There seems to have been a few levels where I've had to put her special power aside.

It was decent scrap but I prevailed, with a Blue Time Fragment as booty. We stepped forward to the Boss wave. And what a big Boss it is, Lady Liberty herself.

Fighting the Statue of Liberty is hard. She's as tough as nails, hits like a hammer and steals your gems. It took a Riposte from Vastra, a bomb from Porridge, Cunning from the 11th Doctor, and 9 attack-filled rounds to beat her down. She deals 300 points per hit but they are 4 rounds apart, so with Rory's help I was able to keep ahead of  the damage.

At 18 rounds this was my longest level yet. The enemies' damage is high if infrequent, and the stone gems are an effective handicap. My advice would be to heal your wounds quickly as Pinks appear less often, and it won't take many hits to knock you over.

I gained a Blue Time fragment from this battle and another achievement, Time Lord Chancellor for making 500 gem combos. Another plaque for the TARDIS wall. Experience-wise I got Vastra, Porridge and Rory to join Jenny Flint on Lv.9. Maybe the next level will get Jenny to Rank 2. Fingers crossed.