At A Glance
- How to set up your dungeon, rooms, and staff to generate consistent gold
- Tactics to defend against auditors in early and mid stages
- When to prestige (“claim insurance”) and how to unlock relics
How to Set Up Your Dungeon for Maximum Early Growth
In Dungeon, Inc., your primary goal in the early game is to build a dungeon that generates enough gold (or “insurance dollars”) to support upgrades, defend from auditor raids, and eventually “claim insurance” to reset for progression. The smart choices you make early can impact your long-term efficiency.
1. Unlock and place rooms in order
Start by unlocking rooms from the bottom up. Fill levels sequentially rather than skipping gaps. This ensures that gold flows through all floors and gives the best returns per upgrade spent. Some guides recommend always “fill all the levels before moving on” to new rooms to better handle auditor challenges.
2. Prioritize upgrading lower-level rooms
Upgrading rooms at the bottom floors often gives better marginal returns for the same gold investment because they produce consistently. Later, as you unlock higher-tier rooms, you can shift your upgrade focus upward. A bottom-to-top cycle is a commonly suggested strategy.
3. Deploy staff strategically by room
Each staff (monster or “hero”) has special abilities or bonuses. For example, “Dead Letter” can boost productivity in a room, so you might want her in a room with high output. Another staff, “Trim Reaper,” gives you flat money when defeated, which makes it wise to put them in positions auditors will target.
4. Use the “wheel spin” bonus daily
You have a wheel icon that lets you watch an ad and spin for a random bonus. Make sure to take advantage of this daily: even small multipliers help push your growth forward.
5. Pace your prestige (“claim insurance”)
“Claiming insurance” resets your dungeon progression, but you keep your staff and unlock relics. It’s a form of prestige system. You should time it so that you can either unlock a new relic or significantly upgrade an existing one. Resetting too early can waste potential, while waiting too long can slow your growth.
Defending Against Auditors: Tips & Tactics
Auditor raids are one of the biggest recurring threats in Dungeon, Inc. As you expand, they become stronger and more frequent. Knowing how to prepare helps reduce setbacks.
1. Always expect auditors every few minutes
Auditors attack your dungeon at regular intervals. Even if your defenses are weak, you should try to defeat them because the rewards (keys, chests) help with growth.
2. Build a defense buffer
Leave some spare capacity (gold, staff strength, upgraded rooms) so that when auditors hit, you’re not completely wiped. Don’t spend all your gold — always keep a buffer for reaction.
3. Use staff as a defensive layer
Placing staff with defensive or support roles in rooms that auditors will pass through can slow down or weaken auditor units, giving your rooms more time to “kill” them. Staff placement matters: put strong defenders in choke points.
4. Chain auditor defeats for bonus rewards
If you can defeat multiple auditor waves in a row without letting them breach too far, you get better chests and rewards. Prioritize hitting them consistently.
5. Balance your aggression and defense
Sometimes sacrificing a weak room or staff unit is acceptable if it helps you preserve more valuable rooms. Don’t overextend by pushing growth too heavily at the expense of defense.
When & How to Use Relics & Prestige Resets
The relic and prestige systems (i.e. “claim insurance”) are what allow you to break through plateaus and push further.
1. What relics do and when to unlock
Relics grant passive bonuses that persist after resets. Because they stack multiplicatively (in many cases), unlocking relics early helps your future runs significantly. It’s advised to claim insurance as soon as you can purchase a new relic.
2. Best upgrade order for relics
Since relic upgrades get increasingly expensive, invest first in relics that yield multiplicative gains or strong scaling bonuses. Later relics become more situational.
3. Reset cycle strategy (Tree Fort / Chillsville cycle)
Some players follow a cycle: claim insurance → max out Tree Fort upgrades → go to Chillsville and upgrade there → return to Tree Fort and top up → claim again. Follow a bottom-to-top upgrade path during each run to maximize gold efficiency.
4. Don’t reset too early
If resetting before you have the gold or relic upgrades ready is premature, you lose out on momentum. Wait until you can make meaningful gains before doing the reset.
5. Plan your resets around auditor strength
If auditor waves become too difficult in your current run, that can be a signal it’s time to reset and start the next cycle stronger with relic boost.
Final Thoughts
Following a structured early build, careful staff placement, and planning for auditor defense gives you a strong foundation in Dungeon, Inc. Don’t rush your prestige resets — timing them around relic purchases ensures you gain more compounded strength. Use daily bonuses, manage buffers, and maintain flexibility in your strategy to climb efficiently.