Dome Keeper Medium Map Mining and Defense Guide

To complete a medium map in Dome Keeper's Relic Hunt mode, upgrade flight speed and carry capacity before drill strength, dig using a two-tile lateral grid, and begin your ascent whenever the wave meter reaches the final 25 percent. Medium maps double cavern depth and transit times compared to small runs, making return timing and inventory logistics your primary failure points.

Managing Wave Timers and Transit Times

On medium maps, you cannot wait for the defensive alarm before heading back. Deeper cavern layers require a prolonged vertical climb, and ascending late leaves your dome exposed to incoming hostiles.

• Waves 1 to 5: Hostiles consist of light melee crawlers and isolated spitters. Chip damage is light, allowing you to stay subterranean slightly longer.
• Waves 6 to 9: Mixed assault waves introduce dive-bombers and heavy flyers that can quickly deplete your dome's structural integrity.
• Ascent Rule: Watch the cyclical surface wave meter at the top of your screen. Begin climbing back to the dome as soon as the meter hits the final 25 percent mark, even if you have loose resources left uncollected below.

Early Iron Allocation and Upgrade Priorities

Soft dirt transitions into hard rock roughly six to eight blocks below the dome. Because the first layer yields easily to your baseline equipment, spend your first iron cache on mobility to reduce round-trip transit times.

Pick up Movement Speed I and Carry Capacity I first to ferry full iron clusters in a single trip. Purchase Drill Strength I before digging past the initial soft layer; hitting dense stone without it quadruples block break times and stalls resource income.

Efficient Grid-Mining Layouts

Avoid digging disconnected or winding vertical drop-shafts. Instead, establish a structured grid to expose all hidden minerals without excavating unnecessary blocks:

1. Establish a Central Highway: Dig a straight, two-tile-wide vertical corridor directly underneath the center of your dome.
2. Branch Out Horizontally: Drill lateral tunnels outward from the central shaft every two vertical blocks. Because resource seams occupy multiple tiles, a two-block vertical gap guarantees you will spot every vein of iron, water, and cobalt.
3. Consolidate at Junctions: Mine out lateral seams completely and drag the resource chunks into a single pile at the central highway. If the wave timer is safe, haul the batch up. If the 25 percent warning is active, leave the resources at the junction and ascend immediately to defend.

Base Defense and Weapon Upgrades

Relying on unupgraded weaponry past wave 6 will result in base destruction. Set aside an iron and water defense fund around wave 5 to handle armored enemies and split-flank attacks.

• Laser Tracking Agility: If you use the base laser weapon, upgrade beam traversal speed before raw damage. Unupgraded lasers track too slowly to eliminate airborne dive-bombers coming from opposite edges of the dome.
• Beam Power: Add beam thickness after rotation speed to burn down armored ground units.
• Cobalt Reserve: Keep at least one cobalt stored at the dome console. Do not spend all cobalt on non-essential upgrades, as reserving one allows emergency repairs if a wave spikes past your defenses.

Extracting the Relic Core

The primary relic chamber on medium maps rests near the bedrock layer, encased in dense stone that requires Drill Strength II or III to navigate.

1. Locate and Trigger Nodes: Uncover the relic chamber and trace the connected exterior wiring to locate the secondary switch nodes in surrounding caverns.
2. Clear the Vertical Shaft: Before interacting with the activation switches, dig out any jagged walls, block corners, or debris along the straight vertical line between the relic pedestal and your dome.
3. Ascend with the Relic: Heavy relic spheres catch easily on uneven geometry. A clear central highway allows you to tow the core directly to the dome without snagging, completing the run before late-game swarms overwhelm your defenses.