Build Guide · Starter
Early Game Build — How Many Dudes (Waves 1–20)
The first 20 waves decide your whole run. The biggest mistake new players make isn't losing fights — it's wasting money. This build is an economy-first setup: it wins the early waves cheaply, banks cash, and hands you a fat wallet for the mid-game. All mechanics below are grounded in the official developer guide.
The Lineup
| Slot | Dude | Role | Why (official data) |
|---|
| Front ×2 | Regular Dude | Budget tank | Mob Mentality: +2% Attack Power & Max HP per extra Regular Dude |
| Back | Finance Dude | Economy | Generates $3 at the end of every battle |
| Back | Chef Dude | Healer | Burgers heal 70% of his Attack Power — sustain without spending on Dude Juice |
| Flex | Electrician Dude | Damage | 25 DPS carries the early waves single-handedly |
Why This Works
Regular Dudes Are a Scaling Bargain
Regular Dudes have no Family and no personal Relics — the official wiki notes "they have their own thing going on." What they do have is Mob Mentality: 2% Attack Power and Max HP for every additional Regular Dude on your roster. A squad of three Regulars is a 6%-boosted wall that costs almost nothing, which is exactly what you want while your economy ramps.
Finance Dude Pays for Everything
Each Finance Dude generates $3 per battle. Over 20 waves that's $60+ — enough to buy the Relics and Dudes that matter. The official site's own synergy example: "your Finance Dudes generate cash with a life insurance policy on your other Dudes."
The Business Dude Is the Real MVP
Here's the official guide's core economic lesson: "How Many Dudes might seem like it's a game about Dudes beating stuff up, but secretly, it's about compound interest." Three times per run you can invest cash with the Business Dude, and he returns double each time — $1,000 becomes $2,000 becomes $4,000 becomes $8,000. Every dollar you save early is a dollar that triples by the endgame. The early game exists to feed this machine.
How to Play the First 20 Waves
- Waves 1–5: Take two Regular Dudes and a Finance Dude. Don't buy Relics unless they're obviously run-defining — the guide warns against "forgoing Relic purchases" hurting you, but the balance tips toward saving.
- Wave 6–10: Add Chef Dude for sustain. Let unconscious Dudes recover naturally — the guide's tip: Dudes "recover on their own after a few rounds," so don't slam Dude Juice at the first sign of trouble.
- First Business Dude window: hand over your entire bank. This is the single most important economic decision of the run.
- Waves 11–20: Add Electrician Dude (or any 20+ DPS carry), keep saving, invest with the Business Dude again when he appears. By wave 20 you should be entering the mid-game with a 2–3x cash multiplier already banked.
- Transition: start replacing Regular Dudes one by one with your endgame comp (see Viking-Necro-Spartan or Wave 100+).
Money-Saving Rules (from the Official Guide)
- Hold the Juice: only buy Dude Juice when losing a Dude actually loses you the next fight. Wasted Dude Juice is Relic money.
- Don't fear higher Tiers: Gold and Silver Stars earned in Tier 2/3 "retroactively apply to lower Tiers," so you can finish your Tier 1 collection while playing Tier 2 — an efficiency the official guide explicitly recommends.
- Skew the Relic pool: the official guide explains that each Dude Type adds his 7 Relics plus his Family's 8 Relics to the pool. Early on, keep your Families limited so the Relics you actually need show up more often.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I always take Finance Dude?
Almost always in the early game — his $3 per battle is free compounding. If your plan requires a specific Relic (like Vampire's Blood Bag), the official guide's Relic-pool section suggests limiting your Families instead, and Finance's income still pays for the flyers.
How many Regular Dudes should I run?
Two to three for the first 15–20 waves. Their Mob Mentality scales linearly, but they have no Relics or Family synergies, so they fall off hard in the endgame. The official wiki is explicit that Regular Dudes "have their own thing going on" — they're a budget tool, not a strategy.
Is it better to win early with strong Dudes than to save money?
The developer guide says it's a "delicate balance" — skimp too much and you lose fights; spend too much and you have no compound interest. This build errs toward saving because the mid-game Relic dump rewards cash so heavily.
Sources: Official How Many Dudes Guide — "Hold the Juice", "Maximize Your Dudeconomy", "Don't Fear the Tier", "Understand the Relic Pool" · Official Dudex — Regular Dude / Finance Dude entries · Steam Store Page