Introduction
So you want to know how to get the most out of your Nightmare so it stops dying and instead just shreds all the waves and sends into you?
Well, this comprehensive guide is for you! With this, I have no doubt in YOUR ability to play like a 2400+ player!
Go smurf on those opponents when you have a Nightmare in your roll.
So... What Even Is This Unit?
So really before we delve into this further let's actually talk about the unit this guide is based on "Nightmare" and much more importantly it's upgraded form the "Doppelganger".
They're the tier 5 unit of the Forsaken legion and they're designed to be a DPS/carry unit for your roll. Costing 185g (340g to upgrade) paired with Pierce damage, and Swift defence they boast one of the best typings in Legion!
While Nightmare lacks any abilities, once upgraded to its much nastier form, the Doppelganger, it gains the ability Fatality, increasing its damage the more it attacks.
The Besties
Rightio, we have Nightmare in the roll and what else do we need to go with it to make it really pop off? Well I am glad you asked that question!
There are so many units that pair well a Nightmare but what is crucial to remember is we need to either protect the Nightmare so it lives and ramps up, or increase it's damage so it can wipe the wave with it's scythe like it's attempting a speedrun.
Buffs and Auras:Just a quick note: auras with different names can stack, while auras with the same name do not, with the exception of Leviathan, which can stack twice. So you can have a Doppelganger being buffed by a Butcher, Head Chef, and even the Vampirism Legion spell!
Firstly, one of Nightmare's brothers from the Forsaken Legion is the Butcher and its upgrade, the Head Chef. I will also include the Legion spell 'Vampire' here as it also provides lifesteal! Complementing the Nightmare perfectly in the early to mid-game with its Impact damage and Natural defense, the Butcher boosts Nightmare further by giving it lifesteal, making it tankier and less likely to die. This becomes particularly important for waves such as 5, 6, and 9, where the Nightmare is sufficiently weaker.
Now let's talk about the APS/MPS. While it's not recommended to place it early (at least have some good value down before placing it, or ideally, already have a Doppelganger), an APS/MPS making a Doppelganger ramp up faster is truly a thing of beauty to behold.
Next, let's talk about the damage reduction auras provided by the Ocean Templar, Whitemane, and Hero. Both Whitemane and Ocean Templar offer much-needed tank value for our damage-dealing Doppelganger while helping it sustain with their abilities. Ocean Templar provides health regeneration and mitigation against magic damage, while Whitemane's Council boosts its general damage mitigation. Hero not only offers damage reduction but also increases the buffed unit's damage output.
Hero or Protector as well as Titan fulfil the same job as a Whitemane, keeping the Nightmare or Doppelganger alive longer,
Especially notable are the Legion Spells Pulverizer, unlocking a fearful potential with increased attack speed and a very frequent stun of the attacked enemy and Villian, increasing the damage dealt by the already deadly strikes.
Nightmare is also a very good target for the Champion mastermind legion spell! Boosting both it's attack and damage reduction, it can certainly help a lot early for wave 3 and 5.
Our penultimate buffis the Dark Mage and it's sinister spell Mind Warp. This when applied to a Doppelganger further increases it's attack during the wave! The value of the magic increases when it is buffing a better unit, like when you have the Doppelganger present.
And finally, the last being the Tree of Life. Providing the Doppelganger with HP regen ensuring it lives longer but I'd probably only recommend if you have Titan to beef up that HP pool of the Doppel otherwise a Tree of Knowledge would be better suited.
Tanks!:So we certainly need to be protecting our Nightmare/Doppelganger, and to do that we need tanks. From the section above you've already seen a couple such as: Grarl/Ocean Templar, Butcher/Head Chef, Antler/Whitemane and Treant so we'll skip over those.
Let's start with some really good Fortified units since that is the polar opposite to the Nightmare's swift defense. There are certainly three standouts here, and that is the Oathbreaker, Eternal Wanderer and Mudman. Not only do they shore up the Nightmare defense, they also provide impact damage to help power through on some of it's weaker waves such as 6, and 9. With the Eternal Wanderer, you also have to be weary that when the Wanderer is respawning the whole wave won't go on your Nightmare and overwhelm it, so it's best to have it in a split, with a unit (ideally a cheap ranged unit like Pollywog or Masked Spirit) pulling the wave onto it after it dies. Allowing the respawned Wanderer to take the aggro again.
Next up is Arcane, to deal with magic waves such as 7, 8, 14, and 15 and thankfully there are quite a few. Veteran, Gargoyle, Slime Larva, and Nekomata being cheap to help you immensely early on in the game. Steed if you have other units that require mana (such as a Hades). Whileshroom in particular loves some of the same auras that a Doppel enjoys and provides additional impact damage to. Then lastly there is the vanilla Sand Badger being the peak of Arcane tanks boasting about it's humongous HP pool.
DPS:Magic. If your carry is a Doppelganger, then you really need a form of magic damage to deal with waves where pierce isn't enough.
Chieftain is a personal favourite since you can also beef up one of your tanks in the front to provide a stronger tank for your Doppelganger. Hades is the peak necromancer summoning Thanatos both dealing high amounts of magic damage. Lastly shown there is Fenix, being able to split tank but can also play off auras shared by a Doppelganger with the split being able to get pulled onto it with ranged units.
More magic damage!
It can't be stated enough how you need a form of magic damage. Azeria certainly adds a bunch of magic damage for your lane. Fatalizer's ramp up ability also counts as magic damage if you are in a pinch. While Dread Knight's clones also dead magic damage!
I really can't emphasise enough how much you need a source of Magic damage with your Doppelganger. Hopefully this a big enough hint that you really do need it!
How To Build
Alright, alright, alright. here’s a quick rundown of how to build out a Nightmare roll. Let’s pretend it’s an income-heavy game, so we’re not getting starved and bullied every other wave. Ready? Let’s go!
Wave 1: Start with Nightmare on the wall, then push to 4 workers and queue up the fifth.
Wave 2: No need to build here - sit on 5 workers. If you get a send on 2 and have good units for wave 3 (Seedlings, Gargoyle, Nekomata), feel free to go up to 6 workers.
Wave 3: Time to add some tanks to protect your Nightmare. A pair of Gargoyles or an Oathbreaker in front of the Nightmare does the trick.
Wave 4: No additional towers, focus on pushing to 7 or 8 workers.
Wave 5: Add the Butcher for that sweet lifesteal synergy.
Waves 6-8: Add more tanks! Nightmare’s your carry, so protect it! Keep pushing workers as well.
Wave 9: Upgrade that Butcher into a Head Chef for even more lifesteal goodness.
Wave 10: Either upgrade to a Doppelganger or add a second Nightmare, depending on what your tank line looks like.
Waves 11-13: Fill out your board. By wave 13, aim for two Doppelgangers buffed by a Head Chef and Butcher. 1
Waves 14: Arcane tanks!
Wave 15: Time to focus on magic damage!
That’s a rough breakdown of the first 15 waves. Keep adapting, protect your Doppelganger(s), and don’t forget to keep up that worker count!
DoofusMcDooface also fairly recently played a game with Butcher + Nightmare which is uploaded to youtube and can be seen below!
Here's an interactive link of a Nightmare, APS build done by Drachir:
https://stats.drachbot.site/gameviewer/b54e8a906889866855aa6e22806c3fbd15150680317ee3bd4154047224e248bb/15
Below is another example of the first 6 waves of a Nightmare + Oathbreaker build done by Aviator
It's only the first 6 waves as games vary so much, and the longer a game is played out the more different it is. Remember this, adapt to what is going on, it's so important! So many variables!
Counters
Keep seeing Nightmares in your game and unsure how to counter them? Here’s some guidance but remember, the Nightmare's role can vary, just like yours, so adapt based on your situation.
First off, Nightmare can solo hold waves 1 and 2, so avoid feeding it Snails outside of income sends. It's also very strong on wave 4, often allowing the player to push to 7 or 8 workers by wave 5.
Early game, it can leak to a 60+ mythium send on wave 3, depending on its support units. It's also weaker on waves 5, 6 (lacks damage output), 7 (Brutes or Mimic can disrupt it), 8 (tanks may block it from reaching the wave quickly), 9 (the wave itself counters Nightmare), and 10 (if the Doppelganger doesn't ramp up fast enough).
Personally, I find scaling into the late game more effective, especially if they have a Butcher. Healing, regeneration, and lifesteal become less impactful the longer the game goes on. This is particularly true in lower elos, where players tend not to push workers as aggressively, staying on value and making it harder to break them until later waves like 15.
Best power mercs against them sorted in mythium cost are:
The key is to send against their tanks when Nightmare is weak. For example, on wave 9, the wave naturally counters Nightmare, but if they’ve already shown a Butcher, it’s likely they’ll upgrade it to a Head Chef. In this case, you should send Robos and Imps to counter the Head Chef.
If you're dealing with a lifestealing Doppelganger post-wave 11, Four-Eyes is your best counter. You want it to target the Doppelganger as early as possible to negate its lifesteal.
Makes sense, right?
The most important thing is to adapt to the specific circumstances in your game. Play to your strengths with the units you’ve chosen, even if it means relying on your teammate to carry for certain waves.
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