It Takes Two to Tango

BEFORE ANYTHING- this was literally made as a joke taken too far because we always sang ‘You Should Be Dancing’ by the Bee Gees whenever we were stalling Screamers.
We should start by saying that this guide is not for weapon or perk choice/recommendations, it is about enemy movements and how to strafe and dodge their attacks. All characters can do the basic movements though some (like Skye) have advantages when compared to others. Here, we are assuming that you are using no perks like Rymdskor, Overcharge, Trickster, Desperate Measures etc. This guide is not DLC exclusive either, it is DLC inclusive however it is not a requirement.

Another thing you will need to know is that this guide is for campaign level only. Feats of Strength are ignored as they would need a section of their own and we can only 100% Facility at this point in time (so we’re not the ones to listen to). We will make some suggestions at the end and leave it at that.

Also, if you find the information in this guide to be wrong or you discover a better way of doing things, please tell us so we can update this guide. We hope to update with things like pictures and videos as often as we feel like it (which is, like, once a month).

With all that aside, on to the main event.

Let’s start with who your choice in dance leader will be. If we’re being honest, it’s all up to your playstyle as to who you pick to be however, not all characters are made equal. Here we will focus less on damage output or skill, but on survival capabilities.

Has the ability to double jump. Jumps higher and has better air control. No movement benefits.
It’s a sniper, you’re not meant to be close-quarters with it. Has 50% more health (225 not 150). Moves faster.

Now, if you don’t want to try all the characters, here we’ll try to help you understand what playstyles suit what character.

Perks make the Skye.
Skye is like a blank slate. She is versatile, mobile, and can deal quite a bit of damage if used right. She isn’t bound to just one job either, Skye can be used for tower support, player support, attack alone, attack in a group etc. Her natural ability to double jump makes it easier to move in and out of the ‘battlefield’ and her primary weapon (changeable at lvl 40) is the perfect supplement to her other natural ability.
Use Skye if you want to use Automatic weapons, fight midrange to close-range and be able to escape a sticky situation without taking too many hits. Enter the hellfire.
Think of Sweet as the explosives expert. Her natural ability to set hit enemies on fire is powerful and when using fast-firing weapons, she can quickly demolish a soaker in mere seconds. Her ability makes her the best at crowd-control. Sweet is however, not beginner friendly; REX is not an easy weapon to master. On the flip side, she is the best character to perform a ‘rocket jump’; something best likened to the TF2 Soldier’s rocket jump. Sweet is best used as a support character due to her passive burning damage and should use fast firing or AOE weapons to best inflict said fire damage onto as many enemies as possible.
Use Sweet if you want to use Automatic/AOE weapons, fight midrange to close-range, watch the world burn and bounce around the battlefield. Not for the faint hearted.
SiMo is a sniper, there’s no two ways around it. It gets no natural movement benefits, it only gets better accuracy and actively deals more weakspot damage. We’re being honest here, you can use SiMo to dance, however, you would need an exceptional aim to make use of its natural benefits and constantly avoid damage. Simo is best used for sniping, in other words, taking out problematic enemies like Hoverers, Armored Heavys, Bobble Heads or Boss mobs. To use SiMo effectively you need to have good aim and know thy enemy’s weakpoints, couple this with that fact that everything (including you) is moving and you may understand why SiMo is not the best at dancing. SiMo is best used with precise weapons (sniper rifle) and at long-range to midrange.
Use SiMo if you want one hell of a challenge or are using perks to give it mobility. CQC master.
We’re going to be a bit bias here, we love Haigen. He deals 35% more damage when within 2 blocks of the enemy (dance range) and he has 50% more health than the other Core Guardians meaning he can take more hits (in other words, dance longer). The flip side of all this bonus is that he doesn’t grunt in pain like the other characters so sometimes you don’t even realise you’re being attacked until it’s too late, and he gets no mobility bonus unlike the others (minus SiMo). Haigen is best used as a distraction, stalling Lumes and taking one for the team so that towers (and maybe teammates) can work their magic.
Use Haigen if you want to use any weapon, fight close-range, learn to dance and dance often. Don’t fall off the map.
TSYGAN is part of the DLC Road To Elysion. Her natural abilities allow her to move faster than the other characters and her last shot deals significantly more damage. This lets TSYGAN move in and out of combat quickly and be a decent powerhouse when need be, the downside to using TSYGAN is that she’s got glitches and players need to pick their enemies properly and be able to aim well if they want to make use of her damage ability. Her primary weapon (Ballista) allows her to be both effective in crowd-control and pick off problem targets like bosses. TSYGAN’s movement ability make a difference to how you move, and in maps like Roadworks it really beats into you the importance of spacial awareness.
Use TSYGAN if you want to use any weapon, fight midrange to close-range, and move quicker.

Lumes (we’d think that’s pretty obvious at this point). The fungal creatures that range from absolutely adorable to downright terrifying. Some Lumes know how to dance and dance well, while others have no clue what a foot even is. This section is going to cover the dance partner stats and is arranged in order of health, with the DLC at the end.

Lume health varies, the more players you have ingame, the more base health a Lume will have. Here, we will just show you the basic single-player health since that is most likely what you will be facing when practicing and playing.
This is the damage that Lume does to the Core per hit, it just makes it easier to calculate since there is no healthbar for characters unless you’re looking at another player. Assume they do the same damage to you.

Here, we’re going to separate the Lumes into two easy categories; Will Dance and Won’t Dance. From there we’ll separate them into Do Dance and Don’t Dance. We will stress that Do and Don’t are entirely our opinion; they fall under Will so at the end of the day, you can choose whomever to dance with. As a general rule of thumb, if they can dance, invite them to.



*Walker Pups can easily swarm you so if there’s one, throw a party. If there’s more than 3, gtfo and kill them from a distance.
*Don’t invite Snorkers unless there are 3 or less, those things are suicide bombers and are very quick. Only for the experienced dancers.
*There’s no real point to dancing with Hoverers (for starters they have no feet). When you get in their range, sure you stall them for a moment and that can be good when next to a Drone Tower, but when they attack you, you can’t attack back unless you have a specific perk or are playing with Sweet.
*As said in Hoverer, unless you’re desperately trying to defend your Core, there’s no point in dancing with them. Just get them from behind and get that weakpoint bonus.
*Exercise caution when dancing with Spore Keepers, they have a homing attack to combat, a shockwave dodge and are very powerful. Only for the experienced dancers.

Here’s the section you are probably most interested in. In this section, we’ll try and tell you how your dance partners will act in the moment and how to avoid their attacks. But first, let’s think about priorities.

We all want to get our groove on but sometimes we need to take a step back and wonder is this worth my time or are there more pressing matters at hand? Because if you go to waltz with a Spitfly while a Walker Patriarch is wrecking your maze, you need to get your priorities straight. A general rule of thumb for Lume priority is; the biggest things get the most attention, the smallest things get the least attention. Your maze is there for a reason and if you don’t trust it to take out the Runners while you’re busy tap-dancing in front of 4 Screamers then you need to work on your maze skills.

Now then, with that out of the way-

As you may be aware, there are many different types of dances. Tango, waltz, ch-cha, rumba, foxtrot, rumba etc. Here we’ll explain which types of dances the Lumes perform, and how to be a good leader in those dances because if you’re going to dance, you should dance well. Of course, you must remember that you can use whatever form you desire when dancing with Lumes. You may find that some Lumes dance in a mixture of styles outlined here, we’ve simply tried to categorise them into one or the other for the sake of simplicity.

Quickstep- Quickstep is a fast moving dance that includes a lot of movement on the dance floor, with many advanced patterns including hops, runs, quick steps with a lot of momentum, and rotation. The quickstep is elegant like the foxtrot and should be smooth and glamorous. The dancers should appear to be very light on their feet. It is very energetic and form-intensive.
When you're doing a quickstep with a Lume, you're gracefully leaping in and out of the danger zone, kiting around your partner in hopes of luring them into the nearby towers, and elegantly jumping every-so-often to avoid things like shockwaves and suicidal explosions.

Tango- The tango’s technique is like walking to the music while keeping feet grounded and allowing ankles and knees to brush against one another during each step taken. During a tango, the two partners hold each other closely. It is characterised by marked rhythms and postures and abrupt pauses.
When you tango with a Lume, you’re generally looking up at your partner. Strafing left and right and rotating around the Lume to avoid an oncoming attack. You may sometimes stay still, close to your partner, looking wistfully into their eye/s (or at least where you hope it is), only to suddenly break away and twirl around your partner as they stand immobilised by your moving performance.

Jive- The jive is a very upbeat dance in which the performers look to be hopping off the ground. It includes lots of twisting movements, with high leg raising and is very energetic as moves are danced on every beat. The jive is considered an uninhibited variation of the jitterbug.
When you jive with a Lume, you’re hopping away from or around them as they chase you. You can never get far however, as the Lume is hopping to you at the same pace; thus you bob and weave side-to-side while hopping in an attempt to put some distance between you and the dance partner (you don’t want to say it to its face, but its breath absolutely stinks). Or, if your partner is perfectly fine staying in place, you hop and spin around them in a circular fashion.

Let’s face it, some partners are better at a specific dance than others. Here, we’ll classify dance partners by dance type for your ease.

Now, you may argue that outlining the basic dances is not enough, and you’d be right, it isn’t. In these sections, we will go through every Lume and explain the Lume’s attack cues and how to dodge/avoid said attacks. As general rule of thumb, when a Lume attacks they are immobile for the entire attack but will swivel in place to constantly face you.

Snorkers are suicide bombers in sentient fungal-spore form. Once they lock onto your position, they move towards you with an increasing speed. They tend to not give you much warning upon detonation so timing it can be hard. Honestly, a microsecond after they begin to expand, jump backwards. We can’t say for sure that you will not be hit, but it will at least reduce the damage received. Characters (sans Haigen) only have 150 health, a direct hit from a Snorker will leave you with only 30 health. From there, a single hit from a Walker will kill you. Snorkers will charge at you when within 2-3sih blocks of you. Remember- Snorkers can still get you even when you stand on a base (though only on the edge). Warriors have two attacks, a double punch and a jump-slam. Warriors are faster than the average character when back pedalling thus walking backwards is not an option. Now, depending on how close you are a Warrior will either punch or slam. In our experience, a double punch cannot be fully avoided (however the second punch can be avoided in you are continuously backing away). A jump-slam one the other hand, can easily be avoided. Once they jump up, wait on the ground until they peak their jump; once they start falling, jump in the direction they jumped and you will avoid both the bold slam and the shockwave produced. After they do one attack, they will always, without fail, perform the other one next if they are still locked onto you. Warriors will notice you within 2-2.5 blocks. Remember- A Warrior’s jump-slam means they can jump over your maze to get to you. Warriors can also attack you while you are on a base. to be edited to be edited

Spitflys are a dancer’s nightmare. Once they lock onto you, if you move in the direction they want to go in, they will follow. They can sometimes even stray from their path if you’re near and decide you are the only thing they care about. Their projectiles are relatively easy to avoid since they’re slow however, you do not want to jump up to Spitflys unless they’ve just attacked or are timing their attacks. Spitflys usually attack every 5-7 seconds or so. We would estimate that they notice you within 3 blocks or so. Remember- If you are hit by a Spitfly, your movement is drastically reduced, making you easy prey to other dance partners (specifically Walkers and Snorkers). Walker Patriarchs only notice you within 2 blocks or so, and to hold their attention you must attack them often and be very close to them (almost touching). Patriarchs behave like Walker Warriors. Remember- If you happen to lose their attention, even if you unleash a barrage of attacks for 10 seconds, they won’t look back. Say bye-bye to your maze as that will become their top priority. Super Heavys can be daunting when you first meet them. A deadly laser coupled with small and specific weakspots makes taking down Supers hard. Unless however, you learn their patterns. When a Super begins to lock onto you (made obvious by the laser light following you) wait wherever you want them to attack. Supers show that they’re finished locking onto a position after they’ve finished moving their legs (a simple one-two-three count for the legs will suffice); once that happens, even if the light follows you, they will attack where you wanted them to. Supers will remain immobile for a while after they finish locking on, allowing you to circle around and make use of that sweet, sweet time by shooting their now easily targetable weakspots. Super Heavys attack you when you are within around 3-3.5 blocks of them. Remember- just because you avoid the laser, doesn’t mean your towers did too. Take note of your surroundings, do you want there to be a massive hole in your maze there? to be edited to be edited

Walker Pups are smol beans. They’re weaker but quicker than their older equivalent, thus backpedalling is no option unless you want to ride a wave of Pups. To avoid being hit in large numbers, you need to circle the ‘pack’ quickly in an open area (3x3 blocks) and never backpedal. If you get caught out, you can jump over Pups due to their small size. Pups only care if you are within about 1-1.5 blocks of them. Like their Pups, Walkers tend to gravitate towards you only when you are within a block or two and can lose interest in you quickly if you stray too far. Walkers (hilariously enough) are faster than the average character’s backpedal so walking backwards away from Walkers is not much of an answer since they catch up quickly. The saving grace is that they pause after they attack you. They punch only once, so make use of that second to gain some distance between you and your partner/s. Just as they pull their ‘arm’ back to punch, you can jump to make extra distance between you and the Walker. Remember- Walkers can attack you even while you’re on a base, just jumping up onto your maze will not instantly save you. Screamers like to scream, but only if someone/something is in ear-bleeding range (and that range is pretty big). Screamers are the easiest to dance with. If kept within range, they will never move and will just keep spitting projectiles at you. Screamer projectiles are quicker than Spitflys’ but they are still easy to dodge. Simply strafing left or right suffices, you can even jump over projectiles. When they have a lock on you, they will attack you within 3 blocks or so. Like their lesser counterparts, Matriarchs also like to scream at you. We have found that they lose interest in you quickly however, so sticking close to them is a must. Matriarchs will attack you within 2 blocks. Remember- Screamer Matriarchs are far more powerful than Screamers, the repercussion of failing to avoid a projectile are far worse. to be edited

When fighting with all Feats of Strength enabled, there’s a lot less dancing happening. You have only one life until the next build phase and if you die, 9 times out of 10, you’ve lost that game. Dancing becomes very dangerous to do with 5 Feats of Strength. Don’t invite anything, unless they are ranged attackers or they’re right next to the Core. Ranged attacks are easy to avoid (unless it’s a Spore Keeper) so keeping them occupied is safest.

Hopefully, dear reader, you come away with something from this guide. Be it a chuckle from the stupid premise, Lume stats for your next match or the mental image of a Core Guardian legitimately dancing with a Lume.