User blog:Verrilo/The Lost Creations Guide

Hello there! My name is Verrilo or "Swift Jumpy Racer" in LMO. Welcome to my guide to Lost Creations. I am going to focus on achievement runs for Lost Creations. This guide is based on my own experience of doing them. I am not an expert at running Lost Creations, but I do want to share what I have learned that might benefit you.

I have also created two other guides here on the LEGO Minifigures Wiki:

The Minifigure Dungeon Location Guide

The Champion Location Guide



Introduction:
What this guide will teach you: The basics and several tips to help improve your Lost Creation runs

What this guide will not teach you: Which minifigures are the best and how to play them. Practice makes perfect and you have to develop your own play style that works for you!

What is an Achievement run? This means your goal is to reach and complete level 15. Achievements are granted for defeating the gatekeepers at level 5, 10 and 15. These tips can also be used to go beyond level 15.



Some words you should know before reading this guide:


 * Striker: A minifigure who has high damage


 * Defender: A minifigure who has high defense
 * Builder: A minifigure who has high creativity
 * Smashies: Objects that can be broken with an attack
 * Buildies: An interactive object you can build (such as launch pads)
 * Elements: Elements are the different types of environment types that exist in the game. The different elements are Light (a sun symbol), Shadow (moon), Nature (leaf), Tech (a wrench) and Magic (stars). To find out what element the level you are on is, look at the small map on your screen. The element symbol will be in a circle next to it.
 * AoE: Area of Effect. AoE is damage that hits more than one enemy at once
 * Ranged: Long distance or far away combat
 * Melee: Close combat or standing right next to your target to attack it
 * Bad: Stuff that hurts you that can be avoided
 * Selfheal: To be able to heal yourself without the use of potions or hearts


 * Strafe: To move sideways


 * Keyboard Commands: By default there is a set of keyboard commands that perform actions for you without having to use the mouse to activate them. To see these commands, go to the options menu and click the Help tab. Remember, when in tight situations you can use the keyboard to move instead of the mouse.

First thing you are going to want to do before going into Lost Creations is collect minifigures, lots of them. The more you have, the easier it gets. You also want to spend time collecting stars to upgrade all your minifigures. Minifigures that have most of their upgrades done are the best to use, especially for the upgrade that adds a bonus for matching the element.

Be familiar with the role your minifigures play! Become comfortable with using them. Know what their abilities are and how to use them. Different situations call for different minifigures. For example you may want to use a lifeguard guy and scarecrow to run through smashies, (they both have specials that do AoE and allow you to keep moving while using them) and have a third minifigure that matches the element to fight if you get stuck.

What kind of minifigures should you have? I recommend at least two strikers, one defender and one builder for each element. You can get away with not having a builder, but it does make timed runs take a LOT longer than they should. You want two strikers so you have a backup in case your main striker is smashed. Also make sure you have a minifigure for each element that is ranged! You don’t always want to be in the middle of a group of monsters. It’s the easiest way to get smashed. You may also not want to use a striker and are more comfortable on a defender or a builder. In the end, the choice of who you use is up to your play style.

'''Be careful with your strikers! High damage comes at the cost of low defense.'''

Ok now that you have minifigures and upgrades done, we can talk about Lost Creations itself. :)



Basic/Beginner’s Tips:
Here are some beginner's tips to help get you started.


 * Build a team based on the element. The element type changes after every gatekeeper.


 * Build a team based on the type of level it is. For example if you are doing a timed run, taking a builder that matches the element is highly recommended. If you are doing a survival arena, defenders or any minifigure that has the ability to selfheal are good to use.
 * Potions, use them. Need more? Dino Rise is a good place to get lots of them as drops. Don’t be stingy; you will get many potions to drop during your Lost Creations run.
 * PAY ATTENTION. Never pull more than you can handle. Having to face one group of enemies at a time is much easier than trying to smash two or more at once.
 * Take a friend! Your team mate should complete where you are weak. For example, you may not have a shadow builder, but your partner does. Protect them while they build! Ask nicely in the LEGO Center and I am sure you can find at least one person willing to do a run with you.


 * When running as a group, establish a visible sign that means everyone is ready before hitting the button. For me, I say “stand in front of the barrier when you are ready”.
 * Stick with your group as much as possible. In the earlier levels you can get away with being momentarily separated, but sticking together is the best strategy.
 * Don’t be afraid to run away. Sometimes you have too many monsters following you. The best way to handle that is to try and separate them and smash them one at a time. If you have a minifigure that has a special ability that leave AoE damage on the ground, you can run around in it or through it and let the AoE handle the enemies.


 * Don’t stand in the bad. If it hurts, get out of it!
 * If you can avoid it, don’t eat it! Don’t be afraid to strafe or step out of incoming damage. Many enemies have an animation they perform right before they do a special ability. This is especially true with gatekeepers. Pay attention!
 * When in a group, if you see AoE on the ground left by teammates, try to keep enemies in it. If you are being chased, try to run around inside the AoE as much as possible to keep the damage going on them.


 * Learn how to switch figures often and quickly!


 * Remember, a smashed figure does no damage.

Advanced Tips:
Here are some advanced tips that cover more than just basics and are for players that are comfortable playing LEGO Minifigures Online and Lost Creations.


 * Don’t clump up in one pile or stack on top of your team mates if you can. You want to try and stay spread out enough to see who is being targeted. This is very important on gatekeepers.
 * If you can stand behind it, do it! Most enemies only hit figures that stand in front of them. If you are not the primary target, move around behind the enemy.
 * If you are the primary target of a range attack, keep the enemy faced away from your group members. This is especially true with the red dragon gatekeeper. You can get team mates smashed on accident with the fireball the dragon does if you turn the dragon towards them.
 * You don’t always have to match the element on all three minifigures.

<p class="MsoNormal">
 * Any damage you do that’s on the screen will use the element of your active minifigure.
 * Some buffs remain active while switching minifigures. For example, the upgrade for a minifigure that grants extra damage for a short time after using a special ability will remain active even if you swap to another figure.
 * You can stack AoE to increase your damage output.
 * The” Drop and Swap”: One of my riskiest maneuvers to deliver the most damage is what I call the “Drop and Swap”. I am extremely comfortable with running with two minifigures that have specials that I can leave on the ground and only one minifigure that matches the element I am in. I start out with the figures that leave specials on the ground, and then quickly switch to my primary figure that matches the element of the level I am in. This makes the damage from the AoEs scale with the primary miniifgure even though that figure is not the one that placed it on the ground. This is extremely risky since if I get smashed on my primary figure, I do not have a backup for the rest of that run to continue being an effective fighter. I do not find that the drop and swap is necessary for achievement runs, but it does make them go by a lot faster.
 * “Kiting”: Another strategy that is good to learn when you don’t want to take damage from enemies. You use minifigures that leave specials on the ground and basically run the enemies through it. Kiting is especially handy when facing blue dragons and you don’t have a minifigure on you that can stop them from healing.
 * “Slows”: A slow is an ability that makes your enemy move slower. Slow abilities, like Bumblebee Girl’s Honey Pot special, make kiting a LOT easier!
 * “Interrupts”: Blue dragons are my primary example of needing interrupts. Interrupts means you have a minifigure whose primary or secondary attack has the ability to make the enemy stop what they are doing. For example, the skydiver’s dive throws enemies into the air and it stops them in their tracks. Some abilities have knockbacks, such as the constable’s special. You can also pick knockbacks as an upgrade with some minifigures. Be aware that knockbacks also push enemies away from you, forcing you to move as well to close the space to keep attacking them. Knockbacks can also move enemies out of AoE, which you may not want to do. Be aware some bosses are immune to being knocked up into the air, but, they are not immune to being knocked back.
 * Healing when you hit an enemy scales with the amount of enemies you hit. The more enemies hit, the more you heal.

Tips for the Different Types of Levels:
<p class="MsoNormal">There are six kinds of different levels. I am going to talk a little bit about each.


 * Survival Arenas: You have an arena in the middle with a healing node that you can build. Enemies will spawn from every direction except from the entrance area. Make sure you smash enemies that attack you from a distance first. Drop AoE on the ground on top of them and let the melee enemies follow you. The AoE should smash the melee enemies for you while you focus on the ranged enemy. This also starts damage going before you close the gap on the ranged enemy. Because of this, your strikers will not be good to use unless you are confident in kiting and dodging attacks. Defenders are really good for survivals. Keep blue dragons interrupted so they can’t heal. If you can’t interrupt them, have everyone focus fire them with their strongest attacks to smash the dragon before it can heal. Depending on your group it might be easier to just pull all the enemies away from the blue dragon first, smash them while dodging fire balls from the blue dragon, then focus on the dragon afterwards. Be smart about your AoE placement. If you know your enemy is going to jump backwards (I’m looking at you satyrs), make sure you engage the enemy in a direction that when they move, they will stay inside of the AoE. In the later levels (after lvl 15), having someone play a dedicated healer comes in really handy. It’s easy to get smashed from being overwhelmed.
 * Brawls: In brawls you walk around an area and engage enemies that are in small groups. Coordinate your movements or dedicate one person to follow so you do not pull more than one group at a time. Engaging more than one group is ok in the early levels, but later on it can get you smashed very easily. You never want to pull more than two groups at once, even early on. Don’t rush and take your time. If pushing for a faster completion time, you can chain pull by moving to the next group when only one or two enemies are left to smash. If chain pulling, make sure the last enemy left is a melee one so it follows you into the AoE of the next group. AoE is super effective for brawls as very little kiting is done, if any. Going through the middle is a good strategy, but be careful as the middle group tends to be the largest group on the map and you can be smashed easily from taking an attack from the entire group at once. The ogres in brawls will throw trolls at you. The trolls have a lot of hit points, so make sure you smash the ogre before he can throw too many of them. Blue dragons also tend to be in pairs in brawls, so make sure you focus on one at a time before they heal each other back to full health.
 * Lost Champions: In lost champions, you run through a map with small groups of enemies and three champions. There are exactly three champions to defeat on each map, so make sure you don’t skip ahead on a jump pad since there is no going back if you do. Each champion is surrounded by guards, so make sure you smash them first, and then leave the champion for last. If your champion is a blue dragon, the best strategy is to pull all the guards away from the champion dragon, smash them, and then focus on the blue dragon when it is alone.
 * Smashies: Smashies are pretty straight forward. The goal is to smash objects until the progress bar is complete. There are a few groups of enemies to deal with, but with the proper minifigures it is relatively easy to bypass them. Make sure you have at least one or two characters capable of doing wide area damage so you can swap back and forth rotating specials. Wide area damage that can be done while moving is best, like the lifeguard’s special. Keep at least one minifigure that can stop and fight in case you get stuck. Better safe than sorry!
 * Mayhem: Mayhem maps are timed runs. These runs were made for builders. Make sure you have a builder for each element before you start doing Lost Creation runs. If you do not have a builder for each type, group up with someone who has builders for the elements you are missing. It isn’t necessary to have a builder on a timed run, but it makes it a lot faster if you do. The penalty for not having a builder is more severe in Lost Creations as you are on a time limit. If one person in your group does not use a builder, it is not a total loss. If more than one person does not use a dedicated builder for the jump pads, your issue will be running out of time.

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 * The Gatekeeper’s Realm: Starting at level 5 and every multiple of 5 after that you will face a Gatekeeper. The Gatekeeper is a boss with similar alibies as the regular world counterpart but with more hit points and does more damage. If you are carrying two minifigures for achievements, make sure your primary figure can handle the boss alone. A minifigure that can attack from a distance is best for gatekeepers as being on a close combat figure increases your chances of taking avoidable damage.

In Conclusion:
Thank you for reading my guide! I hope that you find it helpful. My thanks go out to the following minifigures for helping me with this guide:

Primal Cyber Fossil

<p class="MsoNormal">Super Purple Cookie

Bave Jade Ace

<p class="MsoNormal">Solo Paladin Shield