The night is the test
Every day in Dome Keeper is preparation for a night. Resources you did not carry home are upgrades you do not have when the wave lands. Plan the day backwards from the wave, not forwards from the dome.
How the gap between waves is set
The time between waves is a base value of 60, grown by a progression term that scales with how much of the map you have cleared, and then shortened by difficulty — each difficulty level cuts the interval by roughly 10%. So two things push nights closer together: clearing more of the map, and playing on higher difficulty. That is why a “safe” deep dig can suddenly bring the night early.
Escalation
Waves get bigger and mix threat types. A pure gun answer struggles once flyers and shielded enemies arrive together. Build a defence with at least one answer to each:
- Gun damage — the dome weapon plus combat gadgets (Auto Cannon, Buzz Saw, Missile Launcher, Shockwave Hammer, Stun Laser).
- Crowd control — Stun Laser slows approaching monsters; the Sword Dome’s shield pad blocks projectiles.
- Delay — the Furnace delays the next wave by 10 seconds (and 6 more per iron fed) and the Repellent buys a shorter reprieve. Delay is underrated: it lets you finish a dig instead of abandoning it.
The defense guide breaks these axes down, and the gadgets guide shows the slot conflicts behind each pick.
Plan backwards
Work out what tonight needs, then mine exactly that. Targeted days beat greedy ones every time, because a wave you cannot survive makes the rest of the run irrelevant.
Related guides
- Defense Guide — damage versus delay, and which gadgets to install.
- Difficulty Guide — why the night comes sooner as you climb.
- Gadgets Guide — the slot economy behind your defence.