I guess level is a bit too hard for you right now because allied AI team mates aren't doing their job too well. Empire AI has the most defensive AI set which shouldn't try to kill other players for a while.

You could try building some traps and luring AI there, or use lots of embers to keep Empire AI occupied a bit longer.

There isn't much I can do since level is intended to be challenging in MP as well, where dealing with such AI is much easier thanks to coordination between players. I believe with AI patch being released, things will be more manageable, but for now my hands are tied. I can only suggest experimenting with stuff and AI team mates, from what I heard level is quite beatable even in Skirmish.

I took your advice, and built my rooms around the gold shrine and portals, and expanded north a bit to get a prison, torture chamber and spirit chamber built, and I was invaded from the east and my dungeon core was destroyed at around the 16 minute mark. I had no time to cpature the first enemy and do anything before I was overwhelmed.

Only spirit and angry spirit ( Crucible one ) can be picked. Crucible's spirit is a stand-alone unit with ability to damage enemies, it can not be used in spirit chamber. Spirits of victims in torture chamber can only scout and do no damage. Anything else can't be picked.

Thanks a lot. The spirit was wandering all over, and I couldn't figure out how to get it. Is there any way to pick up a defeated spirit like I mentioned?--The necromancer campaign level guys?

You need 3x3 spirit and torture chambers. Drop a prisoner into torture chamber and burn it alive. When it dies, a spirit will spawn. You can pick spirit from creature tab as long as it is on your territory. You can also recall it by casting recall spell on it in creature tab as well.

As for space - try to build rooms some rooms at 3x3 and other important ones as 3x5 or 5x5. This way you will have enough space for key rooms and decent army.

The other issue I find is the lack of space to build the necessary rooms.

Thanks, I just tried that. However, I've never really used the Spirit chamber much. The spirits from the Campaign level 11--the large ones, can't be picked up at all. So,I converted the one I killed to gold. I then converted an Augre from the prison to a spirit, and was going to give the experience to a Cultist, as you mentioned, but there seems to be no way to pick up a regular spirit either. How does one get spirits into the Spirit Chambe for conversion to experience?

You need to Lure enemy out to you. During first 25 minutes, Empire AI doesn't really manage it's units. This means you can capture all units that will wonder towards you. Capture as many units as you can quickly and turn them into spirits. Use those spirits to pump your units to high level.

You may try to get few lvl10 vampires this way. With them, you should be able to get to Empire and keep it away from getting to allied AI or yourself.

I managed to do that, and got wiped out at about 45 minutes, after the three AIs were defeated, and my Archon was destroyed--joverwhelmed by enemy forces, and two enemy Archons

You should use the knowledge shrine behind you. It will allow you generate sins faster.

I may try again, but I'm getting attacked while the Archon is still being summoned, and I don't have the sins, nor the space for a prison and torture chamber. I don't think I'm even getting to 10 minutes before the first attacks break through the walls.

Aim for Fast Titan, Archon if possible.

AI won't try to kill anyone the first 25 - 30 minutes. You should be able to get one and harrass Empire AI with it. You can also try capturing enemy unit, killing it in torture chamber and using it's soul on Cultists for fast level uping. A single lvl10 cultists can unlock all sins very quickly.

II've tried this one several times, and all 4 underlords get attacked pretty much at the same time. Any advice as to what personalities to use for the AIs would be appreciated. I was only able to get to the point where a prison is available on one playthrough, and there seems to be no way to generate minions fast enough to fight agains attrition. I'd like to try to help out the AIs during the attacks, but there are so many empire units attacking my dungeon, I do not even have any Beasts to sacrifice to another dungeon's battles

Minor visual improvements. Slightly increased the amount of starting units for Empire.

Re-applied inhibitor bug fix.

Reduced the amount of starter units for Empire by half. Rebalanced Extra Artifacts number and type.

Reduced Empire's Aggression by putting less aggressive AI personality. It will still try to kill players. both Human and AI, just a little bit later ( +10 minutes or more ), giving more options to prepare and counter the attack. Added Gold Shrine to all players, this should allow players build more traps with less strain on gold reserves.

Replaced 4 Manufacturing Shrines with 4 portals for Empire ( 2 outworld, 2 underworld ). This should delay the creation of circle of traps even further while also balance the number of portal ratio between players and Empire ( it's now 8 for all players and 8 for Empire ).

Expanded edges of Empire's territory and added a Shrine of Vision. Replaced AI personality by more Aggressive one. Fixed Gargoyles facing wrong direction. Removed 1 Outworld Gateway from all players and replaced it by Shrine of Knowledge. Now all players have 1 Outworld Gateway, 1 Underworld Gateway and Shrine of Knowledge.

Rebalanced rooms and added starter units.

Removed Lava Chasm behind the Core area of each player and added extra gold as well. This should give more space and gold for expansion to players.

Replaced one of Empire's foundry with Vault. Now AI has only 1 Foundry left, this should slow down the creation of circle of traps around it's base, giving player more time and option to harrass.

Added Avatar of Overseer.