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Getting Started in Necrosmith 2

By ScotPublished Updated Sources checked

Tactical Quick Answer

Necrosmith 2 runs on a four-step loop: build minions from collected body parts, send them out to clear fog and grab loot, defend your central tower from the wave and boss timer that counts down on screen, then spend your gold in the lobby store after the run ends. In your first hour, craft your starting skeleton parts into units right away and get them collecting instead of hoarding. Put your first gold into the Decoder of Ancient Maps and the Magic Smithy, because better libraries and tower healing are what carry you into the middle of a run.

Necrosmith 2 drops you into a hostile world where you act as a necromancer, constantly balancing the defense of your home tower with exploring the map for resources. If you focus too much on defense, you run out of parts. If you explore too fast, you get overrun. Here is how to survive your first few hours.

The Core Loop​

The game operates on a persistent cycle of exploration and defense:

  1. Build Minions: You assemble undead units from various body parts collected in the field.
  2. Explore the Fog: You send these units out to clear the fog of war. They act on the orders you give them, capturing resource generators such as mines, gold mines, altars and crypts, tearing down enemy lairs, and picking up gold or new body parts.
  3. Defend the Tower: A countdown on screen tells you when the next wave and its bosses arrive. The interval shortens as the run goes on and the number of bosses per wave grows, so you need stronger units and spells to hold the line.
  4. Upgrade: Gold carries over. When the run ends you spend it in the lobby store on permanent machine upgrades to push further next time.

A run usually ends when your tower falls, but it can also end in victory. Killing the final boss on the Master Disc completes the campaign.

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The day and night cycle matters, though not in the way it is often described. Alawar's own copy has you fending off hordes during the day and exploring at night, with your undead stronger after dark. Wave and boss arrivals run on their own timer and are never triggered by daybreak, though players often describe the attacks the other way round. Watch the countdown, not the sky.

First Hour Strategy​

You begin a run with enough skeleton parts for a couple of units, not with the units themselves, so your first job is to assemble them. Do that immediately and set them to collect. Quantity beats quality for early scouting, so keep churning out whatever you can build instead of saving parts for something better.

Your minions follow the order you assign them, choosing between collecting resources, attacking enemies, attacking lairs, protecting, patrolling, and returning to the tower. Keep an eye on the countdown, and use the teleport spell from the Teleport Receiver to pull a valuable unit out of trouble.

Starting Skeletons Are Worthless on the Master Disc​

Standard skeletons carry you through the Portal Disc and become useless on the Master Disc. Players are blunt about it: they cannot kill anything on the third map and get one-shot by the first enemy or lair they meet.

Do not deploy starting skeletons for combat there. Convert them straight into mana instead. There is no separate building for this: you right-click a body part in your base inventory to burn it, or shift-click to do it in bulk. The tutorial covers it. Alternatively park the skeletons safely near the tower to gather resources out of harm's way.

Do Not Reveal More Than You Can Fight​

Lairs spawn enemies continuously, so every lair you uncover is a permanent new source of pressure. The advice that gets passed around, that standing near a lair wakes it specifically, is not documented anywhere. What experienced players actually warn about is simpler: do not let your undead wander so far that they reveal more lairs than you are ready to handle.

Send units wide to collect, because that is how the economy works, but pace how much of the map you open up against how much defense you have at home.

The Key Disc Difficulty Spike​

The transition from the Portal Disc to the Key Disc is brutal. Basic units are destroyed instantly and the story boss walks through defenses that felt adequate a moment earlier.

That boss is the Hand, also called the Hand of the Master. Alawar increased its health in update 1.0.3, so the fight is tougher now than it was in the first week of release. Players sometimes attach the names "the Pope" and "the Giant Slime" to this fight, and neither name appears in any source.

How to survive: raw health and damage stop being enough, and players who clear it lean on a Titan and not on regular units, supported by a Field Generator for the tower. Fire Elemental parts are genuinely strong for this, since the Fire Elemental Leg carries +55 Speed, though the ground-burning ability sits on the Body and Arm, not the Leg. Maxing the lightning spell from the Tesla Machine is the other widely recommended investment.

Permanent Upgrades​

Gold carries over between runs and you spend it in the lobby store, which is a list of named machines and not generic stat boosts. There is no "starting parts" or "gold gain" upgrade to buy, and extra gold comes from artifacts instead.

Players rank the machines in different orders but converge on a few names. The Decoder of Ancient Maps raises the rarity of the libraries that give you blueprints, and the Magic Smithy heals your tower, and those two do the most to keep an early run alive. After that, the Statue of Majesty raises your Titan cap, the Tesla Machine gives you the lightning spell, and the Cat Bed, Necromancer's Table, Teleport Receiver and Acid Fog Generator all earn their place before long.

Frequently Asked Questions​

What is the core gameplay loop in Necrosmith 2?

You build minions from body parts, send them out to clear fog, capture resource generators and tear down enemy lairs, defend your tower against the waves and bosses the on-screen countdown announces, then spend your gold in the lobby store once the run ends. A run ends when your tower falls, or in victory if you kill the final boss on the Master Disc.

Are the free starting skeletons worth using in Necrosmith 2?

You actually start with skeleton parts and not finished units. On the Portal Disc they carry you fine, but on the Master Disc they cannot kill anything and get one-shot. Burn them for mana instead by right-clicking the parts in your base inventory, or park them near the tower to gather safely.

Why is the jump to the Key Disc so hard?

Basic units are destroyed instantly and the story boss, the Hand, walks through defenses that felt fine a moment earlier. Update 1.0.3 increased its health, so the fight is tougher than it was at launch. Raw health and damage stop being enough at that point.

How do you beat the Hand in Necrosmith 2?

Players who clear it use a Titan and not regular units, backed by a Field Generator on the tower. Fire Elemental parts help, since the Fire Elemental Leg carries +55 Speed, though the ground-burning ability is on the Body and Arm. Maxing the lightning spell from the Tesla Machine is the other common investment.

Which permanent upgrades should you buy first in Necrosmith 2?

The store sells named machines, not generic stat boosts, so there is no starting-parts or gold-gain upgrade to buy. Start with the Decoder of Ancient Maps for better libraries and the Magic Smithy for tower healing, then work toward the Statue of Majesty, the Tesla Machine and the Cat Bed.