Two choices, one build
Before a run Dome Keeper asks two questions: which dome, which keeper. The dome decides your weapon and how you defend. The keeper decides your tools and how you move underground. Get both right and the run flows; get one badly wrong and you fight your own kit all game.
The dome and keeper database lists all 8 with full descriptions.
The four domes
- Laser Dome — Unlocked by default and the only dome in the demo. Simple and approachable, but it has a low health pool, expensive upgrades, and no crowd control. A clean teacher, a weak finisher.
- Artillery Dome — A military arsenal: a mortar that explodes on contact with the ground or monsters (with extra damage on a direct hit) and an anti-air gun that handles flyers with ease. The safest early answer to most waves.
- Sword Dome — A melee sword that slices close enemies for speed-scaled damage or launches to stab distant ones, plus a small shield pad that blocks projectiles. One of the hardest to use: weak ranged early and pricey upgrades, but huge skill ceiling. Its upgrades split into two trees.
- Tesla Dome — Electricity as its main weapon, redirected to any target through a circular reticle. You must fully charge before firing, the reticle moves slowly (slower still when charged), and early damage is low.
The four keepers
- Engineer — The first keeper and the only one in the demo. A simple but strong drill works one tile at a time (a tile can be hit every 0.35 seconds; tile health varies by biome and rock hardness). The friendliest economy start.
- Assessor — Launches orbs that bounce around to mine, and can also compress-mine like the Engineer (slower and less efficient). The spheres travel straight and ricochet perpendicular off tiles until their lifetime expires; it can also mine single tiles by pushing into them.
- Infiltrator (Lost Keepers DLC) — A nimble keeper who moves with a rope and skilled jumps and is affected by gravity (no free flight). Mines by throwing explosive kunai — each breaks a single block, ignores gravity, has unlimited range, and chews dense rock early, but fires slowly.
- Beastmaster (Lost Keepers DLC) — An arcane keeper with agile tentacles and catgoblin minions. She mines with two of her four tentacles slamming claws into a block; mining speed builds up the longer she works, then fades when she stops. Weak solo, strong with minions.
How to pick
Match the dome to the defence you want to pilot for twenty minutes, and the keeper to how you want to spend the day. A new player who wants the least friction: Laser Dome + Engineer for the tutorial feel, then Artillery Dome + Engineer once upgrades open up. Want a challenge that pays off? Sword Dome or the DLC Infiltrator.
Related guides
- Keeper Guide — each keeper in depth and which playstyle they suit.
- Gadgets Guide — slot economy that fills the gaps your dome leaves.
- Beginner Guide — first-run priorities.