Build Guide · Endgame
Wave 100+ Build — How Many Dudes Endgame Setup
Waves 1–100 are the tutorial. The real test is the G.O.A.T. boss on round 105 in Tier 1 — a fight the official developer guide describes as one that has "put many a Dude into the dirt." This build is built around exactly what the devs say you need to survive it: big-hit protection, Cheat Death insurance, and mobility.
What the G.O.A.T. Demands (Per the Official Guide)
The developer guide is explicit about the boss's kit: it has a lot of health, does big bursts of damage, zips around the battlefield smashing Dudes and forcing your team to chase, and brings several hundred Ram minions. To beat it you need:
- Survive big hits: Toughness, Max HP, or Temporary Health — these guarantee the next hit won't one-shot you.
- Cheat Death options: Relics or Trinkets that save a Dude from Fatal Damage (the Electrician's Circuit Breaker, the Vampire's Bat Wings, the Time Dude rewinding himself).
- Mobility: you can't slow-walk around the arena chasing the G.O.A.T. while it shocks everyone to death.
The Wave 100+ Lineup
| Slot | Dude | Role | Why (official data) |
|---|
| Front / Anchor | Knight Dude | Tank | 230 Max HP — the tankiest Dude in the game — Taunts 5 enemies every 3s |
| Front | Paladin Dude | Support / Tank | 180 HP + 24 DPS + Blesses 2 Dudes at battle start |
| Back | Vampire Dude | Healer | Bloodsucker Aura lifesteal; Bat Wings Cheat Death |
| Back | Cyborg Dude | Damage | 24 DPS, 36 Run Speed — the mobility half of the plan |
| Flex | Lich Dude | Tank / Mitigation | Stores 70% of incoming damage in Thralls |
Flex alternatives: swap Lich for Time Dude (Time Anomaly area damage + self-rewind Cheat Death) or Trooper Dude (Orbital Strike AoE to clear the Ram minions).
How to Play It
Waves 1–60: Build the Anchor
Knight Dude is the spine of this comp — the official guide says he "just wants Toughness and Max HP," so feed him exactly that. Paladin and Vampire keep everyone alive while your DPS builds up. The Knight's 3-second Taunt rotation means the G.O.A.T. threat pattern is mostly his problem, not yours.
Waves 60–100: Stack the Insurance
This is where you execute the developer guide's survivability checklist:
- Prioritize Toughness, Max HP, and Temporary Health Relics over raw damage — the guide's warning is blunt: "if you aren't thinking about them at all... you get turned into a G.O.A.T. pancake."
- Grab Cheat Death wherever it appears (Circuit Breaker, Bat Wings, or Time Dude's Rewind).
- Keep Health Potions in stock — their overheal grants Temporary Health, and with the Pumpkin Latte Relic they also give a Toughness boost (both from the official guide).
Round 105: The G.O.A.T. Fight
Let the Knight engage and Taunt; keep the team grouped so Paladin's Blessing and Vampire's aura cover everyone. Use Burner Phones to relocate Dudes out of the boss's shock radius — the official guide literally suggests using them to "move a group of Dudes across the field to safety." The Ram minions get handled by Cyborg's single-target pressure and whatever AoE your flex brings.
Why Not Just Stack Tanks?
The official guide warns against one-stat teams: all-Evasion teams "rarely end well" because the 1% of the time you fail to evade is a one-shot. This build deliberately mixes raw HP (Knight, Paladin), mitigation (Lich Thralls), healing (Vampire), and damage (Cyborg) so no single failure mode kills the run.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens after round 105 in Tier 1?
Defeating the G.O.A.T. earns Gold Stars for your Dudes, and the game opens Tier 2 and Tier 3 — each with new constraints, new enemies, and new endgame bosses that "test other aspects of your team" (official guide). You'll adapt this build's principles — survival, mobility, and boss-specific answers — to each new boss.
Is the Wave 100+ build good for speedrunning normal waves?
It's slower than pure damage comps on early waves, but the whole point is not dying at 104. If you're farming low Tiers, swap Cyborg for Samurai (25 DPS) to speed up.
Do I need a healer for the G.O.A.T.?
Not strictly — the official guide lists Toughness/Max HP/Temporary Health and Cheat Death as the survival tools, and healing as one route among several. But Vampire Dude is the safest choice because his healing comes with a Cheat Death built in.
Sources: Official How Many Dudes Guide — "Plan For the Big Bosses" & "Save Yourself!" · Official Dudex · Steam Store Page