Astral Lords Frequently Asked Questions Answered

These are the questions that come up over and over on the Astral Lords Discord and Reddit. I have gathered answers based on my own experience and what the community has figured out so far. The game is new so some of this might change with patches.

What kind of game is Astral Lords exactly?

It is a roguelite tower defense with bullet hell combat and light RTS elements. You play as a commander of an interstellar empire colonizing hostile alien worlds. Each run you build defenses, collect chips that modify your abilities, and survive waves of xeno creatures. Between runs you spend recycled resources on permanent upgrades through the Headquarters system.

The two tactical routes define how you play. Turtle route focuses on turret arrays, resource facilities, and layered defenses. Aggro route focuses on clone barracks, assembly factories, and pushing units forward to destroy enemy spawn points.

Is it pay-to-win?

Not really. There are cosmetic purchases and you can buy some convenience items, but all commanders and gameplay content can be unlocked through normal progression. The only thing money buys you is time, you can speed up Headquarters upgrades with purchased resources, but nothing is locked behind a paywall as far as I can tell.

That said, the grind to unlock all commanders is real. Expect 30-40 hours to unlock the full roster through gameplay alone.

Which commander should I start with?

Someone with a resource generation passive. The early game is resource-starved and anything that gives you more building currency per run makes things smoother. After a few runs you will have unlocked additional commanders through Headquarters, and you can experiment.

Do not pick a commander based on their lore description. Pick based on their passive bonuses and starting chip loadout. Those determine how your first 10 waves feel.

How do building combos work?

Buildings placed next to each other get combo bonuses. The specific bonus depends on which buildings are adjacent. A turret next to a power relay fires faster. A clone barracks next to an assembly factory produces shielded units. A resource extractor next to a turret boosts the turret is damage.

These bonuses are not explained well in-game. You have to experiment or read guides. The combo system replaces traditional RTS micro-management, you do not control individual units, you set up building synergies and let them work.

What is the difference between turtle and aggro routes?

Turtle is defensive. You build turret clusters at chokepoints with support buildings, let enemies come to you, and win through attrition. Slower but more consistent.

Aggro is offensive. You build clone barracks and assembly factories, produce units, and push them forward to destroy enemy spawn points before waves activate. Faster but higher risk.

You should commit to one route by wave 3. Hybrid builds only work after significant Headquarters upgrades.

How does Headquarters progression work?

After each run, win or lose, you earn recycled resources based on how much you collected during the run. Spend these in the Headquarters menu on permanent upgrades: tech tree nodes, new commanders, additional chip slots, starting resource bonuses, building cost reductions, etc.

These upgrades persist across all runs and all maps. They are the primary progression system. A player at HQ level 15 has significant advantages over a fresh account.

What are chips and how do they work?

Chips are roguelite relics. You find them during runs and slot them into your commander. Each chip provides a bonus, more turret damage, faster unit production, elemental effects, etc. You start with one chip slot and can unlock more through Headquarters.

The key mechanic is synergy. Chips with related effects (fire damage, burn duration, burning spread) multiply each other is value when combined. A random assortment of good chips is usually worse than a focused set of synergistic chips even if the individual chips are weaker.

How long is a typical run?

A run that goes well: 20-30 minutes to clear a map. A run that ends in failure: could be 5 minutes, could be 25. The first map is shorter than the second which is shorter than the third. Boss waves add time.

Can I play on Steam Deck?

Yes, the game is marked as Steam Deck Playable. It runs fine. The bullet hell dodging works well with the Deck is controls. Performance is solid. I have done about half my runs on Deck and half on desktop.

What happens when I die mid-run?

You get a results screen showing what you earned during the run. Those earnings are converted into recycled resources for Headquarters upgrades. Your chips, commander levels, and buildings from that run are gone. You start fresh next run with your permanent upgrades intact.

It is a roguelite. Dying is part of progression.

Are there multiplayer or co-op modes?

Not at launch. The game is single-player. There has been some discussion on the Discord about potential co-op in the future but nothing confirmed.

Do I need to play the first map before the second?

The maps unlock sequentially. You need to clear the first map at least once to unlock the second. After that you can replay any unlocked map.

How many commanders are there?

I have unlocked 8 so far. The full roster is unclear since some might require higher HQ levels or specific map clears. The community is still mapping this out.

What is the Great Colonization Protocol?

That is the story setup. You are an agent of the Imperial Starfleet executing a plan to colonize hostile alien worlds. The narrative frames you as the "Fourth Calamity", a force of conquest that abandons moral constraints in favor of overwhelming firepower or iron-fisted rule. The story is mostly flavor text between missions but it sets the tone well.

Controls and Settings Tips

Can I rebind keys? Yes, full key rebinding is available in the settings menu. The default bindings are fine but I moved dash to a mouse button which improved my reaction time noticeably.

Is there a windowed mode? Yes. Alt+Enter toggles fullscreen. The game remembers your preference between sessions.

How do I adjust graphics settings? The options menu has presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) plus individual toggles for shadows, particle effects, and anti-aliasing. The bullet hell projectiles can get visually dense on higher difficulties, turning down particle effects helps with readability without affecting gameplay.

Does the game support ultrawide monitors? Yes, it works at 21:9 and 32:9 natively. The extra horizontal space is actually a small advantage for turtle route since you can see more of the battlefield at once.

Is there a quit-to-desktop button? Yes, in the escape menu. Alternatively, Alt+F4 works if you are rage-quitting after a boss death. I have done this more times than I would like to admit.

Developer Communication

Dark Dimension (the developer, published by QUANTUM ARTS) has been reasonably active on the Steam forums and Discord since launch. They have acknowledged some balance concerns about map 3 difficulty and hinted at a patch. No timeline yet. This is a small team so updates will probably be slower than AAA games but the communication so far suggests they are paying attention to feedback.

If you have bugs to report or balance feedback, the Discord is the best place. The developers read it and sometimes respond directly.