Dungeon Keeper
Dungeon Keeper

Research & Library

Manage your Library in Dungeon Keeper to research new spells, rooms, and traps. Effective research helps expand your dungeon and defeat hero threats effectivel.

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Research & Library

The Library is the intellectual heart of your dungeon, where your Horned Reapers, Warlocks, and Bile Demons tirelessly work to uncover new spells, rooms, and traps. Effective research is crucial for expanding your dungeon's capabilities and countering increasingly powerful hero threats. A well-managed Library ensures you stay ahead of the curve, unlocking vital tools for domination.

Building Your Library

To begin researching, you first need to construct a Library. This room requires at least 3x3 tiles of excavated land. The larger the Library, the more creatures can research simultaneously, and generally, the faster your research progresses. Consider these steps:

  • Location: Place your Library in a secure area, preferably away from the front lines, to protect your valuable researchers.
  • Size: Aim for a minimum 5x5 Library as soon as resources allow. This provides ample space for multiple Warlocks, who are your primary researchers.
  • Access: Ensure easy access from your Dungeon Heart and Lair to minimize travel time for creatures.
  • Gold Veins: While not directly impacting research speed, having a gold vein nearby can help fund the initial construction and creature wages.

Creatures and Research

Not all creatures are created equal when it comes to intellectual pursuits. Focus on these key researchers:

  • Warlocks: These are your premier research units. They possess the highest research skill and will dedicate themselves almost exclusively to the Library. Recruit as many as your Lair can support.
  • Horned Reapers: While primarily combat units, Horned Reapers also contribute significantly to research. Their high intelligence makes them excellent secondary researchers. However, be mindful of their temperament; they can be destructive if unhappy.
  • Bile Demons: These lumbering beasts offer a moderate research contribution. They are less efficient than Warlocks but can supplement your research efforts, especially in larger Libraries.
  • Imps: Imps do not research. Their role is to excavate, claim territory, and transport gold and creatures. Do not assign them to the Library.

To maximize research efficiency, ensure your researchers are well-fed (via a Hatchery) and paid (via a Treasury) to keep their morale high. Unhappy creatures work slowly or may even abandon your dungeon.

Managing Research Priorities

The Research menu (accessible via the Library interface) allows you to prioritize what your creatures study. Strategic prioritization is key to adapting to different map challenges. Here's a general guide:

Early Game Priorities (Levels like Eversmile, Cosyton)

Focus on foundational spells and rooms that enhance your early expansion and defense.

  • Reinforce Wall: Essential for protecting your Dungeon Heart and critical rooms from hero incursions. Prioritize this early.
  • Call to Arms: Allows you to quickly gather all your creatures to a specific location, invaluable for defense or coordinated attacks.
  • Heal: A crucial spell for keeping your creatures alive in combat, reducing the need for new recruits.
  • Guard Post: A basic defensive structure that can hold a single creature, useful for choke points.
  • Bridge: Necessary for expanding across water or lava, which often separates valuable resources or hero entrances.

Mid Game Priorities (Levels like Waterdream Warm, Flowerhat)

As you encounter tougher heroes and larger maps, shift to more advanced spells and traps.

  • Boulder Trap: An excellent early offensive trap, capable of dealing significant damage to hero groups. Place these in narrow corridors.
  • Lightning Spell: A powerful offensive spell for targeting individual heroes or softening up groups.
  • Invisibility Spell: Useful for scouting hero positions or sneaking creatures past defenses.
  • Possess Spell: Allows you to take direct control of a creature, offering a tactical advantage in combat or for specific tasks.
  • Scavenger Room: Unlocks the ability to convert defeated hero corpses into skeletons, providing cheap, albeit weak, combat units.

Late Game Priorities (Levels like Lushmeadow-on-Down and beyond)

Focus on ultimate spells, powerful traps, and advanced rooms to secure your victory.

  • Armageddon Spell: The ultimate offensive spell, capable of devastating large areas. Research this for a decisive blow.
  • Fireball Trap: A more advanced and damaging version of the Boulder Trap, ideal for heavily trafficked hero routes.
  • Magic Door: A superior defensive door that requires heroes to destroy it, buying you valuable time.
  • Transfer Creature: Allows you to move creatures between your dungeons in multi-dungeon maps, crucial for strategic redeployments.

Research Speed Factors

Several factors influence how quickly your creatures uncover new knowledge:

  • Number of Researchers: More Warlocks, Horned Reapers, and Bile Demons in the Library mean faster research.
  • Creature Level: Higher-level creatures research more efficiently. Ensure your researchers are well-trained and happy.
  • Library Size: A larger Library allows more creatures to research simultaneously, preventing bottlenecks.
  • Creature Happiness: Content creatures work harder. Keep them paid and fed.
  • Torture Chamber (Advanced): Once researched, a Torture Chamber can be used to convert captured heroes into your creatures, some of whom may possess research capabilities or provide unique bonuses. While not directly speeding up research, it can indirectly increase your pool of potential researchers.

By carefully managing your Library, prioritizing research, and keeping your intellectual assets content, you will unlock the full destructive potential of your dungeon and ensure the heroes meet their grim fate.