In Roguebook, players have to battle through some vicious monsters and wild lands in an attempt to free themselves from the storybook in which they are caught. Throughout the three Roguebook chapters, there will be plenty of mysterious locations and items for them to puzzle through, and one of these locations is the gem mines.
What are Gem Mines in Roguebook?
Gem Mines are an instance in Roguebook that allows players to nab some great treasure but with a lot of risks; they were added to Roguebook in the last big update of 2021. They only appear once in each playthrough and always in Chapter 2. Players can choose to skip them if they choose; they are not required for completing a run. And it's a good thing too because the cost of entry is pretty high.
The hero teams have to pay two brushes to get into the Gem Mines; that's a lot considering players usually only start the level with 4 to 5 brushes even in the New Run Plus version of Roguebook. While Elite battles do add more brushes to a player's hand, it can be rare to uncover Elites while exploring. So in order to get the most out of every Gem Mine, players will want to plan carefully before they decide to delve into its depths for treasure.
The Hazards of the Gem Mines
When entering a Gem Mine in the deckbuilding roguelite video game, players will find that the possible paths forward branch into two. Each entrance to the next caves are to the left or the right, and players can check out what lies ahead. Once a path is decided, players will want to click the lock icon in the direction they want to head in. Each lock icon is an encounter with a special door-type enemy, each with its own unique ways of trying to keep the players from succeeding in battle.
- The Crystal Wall gives players only three tries to deal exactly as much damage as it has health. If players try to overkill it, the door will reject the damage. It goes back to full health on every one of its turns.
- The Three Flowers are three separate enemies that stack some heavy bleed damage on players when they are killed. Each flower gives the lead hero a stack of 25 bleed. In order to kill these guys without taking a ton of damage, players will have to try and deal damage to each one then kill them all on one turn before the bleed damage has a chance to take the heroes down.
- The Turret is a machine that deals damage every time a player damages it. Players are forced to discard and redraw their whole hand when a card is played. The heroes will need plenty of block and big damage cards to get through in only three turns.
- The Brick Wall is another wall that reflects damage back to the heroes, but it takes ten non-reflected damage each time the heroes swap places.
- The Ball is yet another reflective damage dealer. Like all the other walls, it doesn't deal any damage of its own.
- The Pendulum only requires that players survive three rounds against it. It has 999 health and deals massive damage if undamaged, but it loses strength each time it is hit by the players.
If Roguebook players lose the battle to the Wall that is guarding their chosen path, they receive two Wound Cards in their decks and the chosen path is blocked off. Players will have to go down the other path instead.
Rewards in Gem Mines in Roguebook
In Richard Garfield's Roguebook, there are loads of rewards that players can get from taking on the extremely difficult wall monsters in the Gem Mines. These include:
- Relics
- Faeria Wells
- Coin Piles
- Alchemist's Homes
- Pages
- Roguebook Gems
Roguebook is currently available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. A Switch version will be available in April or May 2022.
