Guides / Dark Tower: Idle Villain TD
Dark Tower Beginner's Guide: Soul Orbs, Cards, Factory and Crystals
ONI Games · Published
Everything a new villain needs in Dark Tower: Idle Villain TD: how a battle works, what soul orbs, gold, crystals and gems are for, the Dark Cards and spells, what unlocks when, checkpoints, the idle vault and a simple plan for your first week.
Dark Tower: Idle Villain TD is an idle tower defense game where you are the villain: your dark tower fires on its own while waves of knights, demons, undead and angels march on it. In battle you spend soul orbs on attack, range, attack speed and special shots; between battles you spend gold in the Factory on permanent upgrades and crystals on your tower's evolution. Each of the five worlds has 50 waves with a boss on every tenth wave, and beating wave 50 opens the next world.
We make Dark Tower, so every number in this guide comes from the game's code.
How a battle works
Tap BATTLE and your tower starts shooting by itself. Enemies come in waves; the ones that reach your tower hit its health, and the battle ends when the health runs out or you beat wave 50. Along the way you earn four things:
| Currency | Where it comes from | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Soul orbs | Every kill | Upgrades during this battle only |
| Gold | Kills and the end-of-battle bonus | Factory upgrades, Lab research |
| Crystals | 5 after every fifth wave, 10 for every boss | Your tower's evolution |
| Gems | Daily quests, the shop's free gems, the idle vault | Relic chests, revives, Lab speed-ups |
The end-of-battle gold can be doubled with an optional video. Bosses come at waves 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50.
Soul orbs: upgrades during the battle
The board under the battlefield sells upgrades for soul orbs: attack, attack range, attack speed and health first, then the extra sets you unlock in the Factory, such as critical shots, double shots, bouncing bolts, stuns and knockback. These levels last only for the current battle. Every Factory level you own is added on top, and soul-orb prices only follow the levels you buy in battle, so the Factory makes every battle start stronger without making it more expensive.
Now and then, every one and a half to six minutes, an x4 offer appears for 10 seconds: an optional video multiplies the soul orbs you are holding by four. It pays most when you have just saved a pile of orbs.
Dark Cards: one pick every five waves
At the start of a battle and after every fifth wave, the battle slows down and three Dark Cards appear: chain lightning, meteor rain, a black hole and 17 more. You pay with Dark Energy, which you earn by killing: about 30 per wave, 15 more per boss and 3 for every new wave, plus 45 at the start. Buy a card, save the energy for a rarer one or reroll for 15. The cards last for this battle. Our Dark Cards guide has all 20 with their odds.
Spells
| Spell | Unlocks | Cooldown | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hellfire Meteor | Best wave 3 | 35 s | A meteor for 6 times your attack on the biggest crowd, then four small ones |
| Frozen Time | Best wave 15 | 50 s | Freezes every enemy for 3.5 seconds, bosses for half as long |
| Soul Harvest | World 2, or best wave 50 | 70 s | Double soul orbs for 12 seconds, and kills mend the tower |
Every battle starts with the spells half charged. The Dark Lab's Auto-Cast research lets them cast themselves.
What unlocks when
| Feature | Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Daily rewards and quests | After your first battle |
| Battle speed x2 | Best wave 10 |
| Dark Lab | Wave 10 |
| Battle speed x3 | Best wave 20 |
| Relics | Wave 20 |
| The next world | Beating wave 50 |
| The Abyss | Conquering world 1 |
The chosen battle speed carries over to your next battle.
Checkpoints: skip the waves you have beaten
Once you have reached wave 11, 21, 31 or 41 in a world, you can start a battle there. You get the soul orbs the skipped waves would have paid and 12 Dark Energy for every skipped wave, so you can afford a strong card at the first draw. Pick the start wave on the row under the world panel.
Between battles: making the tower stronger for good
- The Factory spends gold on permanent upgrade levels and unlocks new upgrade sets. Our Factory and tower evolution guide lists every one.
- The Fortress spends crystals on your tower's next form. Every level adds +8% attack, +8% health and +4% attack speed for good, in every world.
- The Dark Lab researches permanent bonuses in real time, even while the game is closed. See our Dark Lab and relics guide.
- Relics come from chests and give permanent bonuses that grow with every copy.
The idle vault and revives
While you are away, the vault at the top of the lobby fills with gold and gems for up to 4 hours. Its gold per hour is about a quarter of what one battle to your best wave pays, so a full vault is worth about one battle, and an optional video doubles it. It also holds 3 gems an hour in world 1 and one more per world after that. The Idle Vault research and the Hourglass of Ages relic make it hold longer.
If your tower falls, you can revive it: you hold up to five revives that refill over time, and each one costs 5 gems or an optional video.
A plan for your first week
- Push as far as you can each battle and spend soul orbs as you get them: attack and attack speed first.
- Spend gold in the Factory after every battle. Unlock Critical (200 gold) and Damage Resistance (300) early.
- Evolve the tower whenever you have the crystals. It is permanent and works in every world.
- Claim the daily login reward and finish the three daily quests for the 20-gem bonus.
- Start a Lab research before you close the game; it runs while you sleep.
- Use checkpoints to skip waves you have beaten and save time.
Dark Tower FAQ
Is Dark Tower: Idle Villain TD free?
Yes. Ads are optional reward videos; there are no forced ads. Gem packs, a starter pack and a monthly VIP subscription can be bought with real money.
How do I unlock the next world?
Beat wave 50 of your current world. The new world brings a new tower design and stronger enemies, and you can replay any world you have conquered.
What are crystals for?
Your tower's evolution in the Fortress: 44 forms across five worlds, each level a permanent boost.
Do I keep my progress on a new phone?
Yes, if you sign in to Google Play Games: the game saves your progress to the cloud and offers to load it on a new phone.
Become the villain in Dark Tower: Idle Villain TD, free on Google Play.
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