Secrets (6)

Setup a Stronghold: You begin in a fortified dungeon. To avoid immediate hero attacks from points '3' and '6' (due to unaligned doors that trigger attacks if a path to your Heart is detected), confine your initial actions to your local area. Excavate safe gold, expand slightly, build basic rooms (like a small Training room), and carefully select creatures to attract.

Strategic Wall Breach: After researching the Guard Post & Bridge, breach the western wall, leaving the central tile directly west of your Heart intact. Build a Guard Post on this tile to block access for heroes at '3' and '6'. This central tile hides an excavated path; claim it by building a small bridge, then immediately sell it to avoid detection.

Gold Acquisition and Creature Training: With the claimed path, excavate gold near '2', avoiding the leftmost row where some heroes are hidden (though they are weak and can be fought for extra gold). Use the funds to train 4 Mistresses to at least level 6. Use remaining resources for research and manufacturing. You can attack points '1' through '6' sequentially to claim the "Heal" spell and approximately 100 gold pots (worth 25,000 gold), extending your survival time without Gems.

Exploit Path to '10': Instead of the intended difficult approach to the NE Gems and the blue Keeper, build a bridge towards point '10' and the "Increase Level" spell north of your dungeon. Ensure your dungeon is not externally accessible to prevent heroes from reaching your Heart. Dig just north of the door at '10' to the west. This reveals a corridor with 24 Barbarians (level 5). Your Mistresses (level 7+) should handle them in small groups. You can even leave some of these Barbarians alive to attack the blue Keeper later.

Bypass Hero Groups: From point '10', you can proceed south through various rooms. The source text implies that by using the Guard Post trick and exploiting paths, the daunting number of enemies and the blue Keeper can be overcome with significantly less effort than intended.