Dungeon Cities: My Week 1 Experience & The Tips I Wish I Had on Day 1

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burnsurface2 days agoPeakD7 min read

*** New Update as of January 17 at the bottom!

Enter the Dungeon:
A Week 1 Guide to Hive's Newest RPG

I’ve been diving into the new Hive Engine game Dungeon Cities, and after surviving my first week, I have some thoughts. I’m not here to hype it blindly; I want to share the actual mechanics, where I wasted money, and how you can avoid making the same mistakes I did.

If you enjoy grinding for loot, upgrading stats, and playing the market, this is worth a look.

Join the Crawl

If you haven't started yet, you can use the links below to get set up.

Play the Game:

Join the Community: Official Discord

⚔️ My Week 1 Experience: From Squishy to Tank

My first few hours were... rough. I jumped straight into the dungeon with no gear. I was trading hits with basic mobs, almost dying after every single fight, and burning through consumables just to keep my health up.

Phase 1: The Weapon & Shield
I scraped together enough currency to buy a basic weapon and shield. Immediately, the game changed. I could beat enemies without taking serious damage.

Phase 2: The Armor Mistake
Feeling confident, I went all-in and purchased a full set of armor from the shop. Suddenly, I was a tank. Enemies were doing 1-2 damage (if that), and I was destroying them in 3-4 hits. I was flying through the dungeon.

But here is the lesson: I shouldn't have bought that armor.
As I continued to grind, I started looting full sets of armor from the dungeon drops. I could have just equipped what I found instead of rushing to spend my earnings early on. It made the start easier, but it was inefficient.

🎒 The Inventory Struggle & The Economy

The biggest bottleneck in this game isn't health or enemies—it's Bag Space.

You start with 15 slots. They fill up incredibly fast. My early gameplay loop was painful:

Walk into dungeon.
Fight 5 things.
Bag full.
Walk back to town (wasting Stamina).
Sell items.
Repeat.

The Fix: I eventually broke down and bought the Leather Pouch.

This requires DCD (the premium currency). It bumped me up to 55 slots. Now I can actually sustain a dungeon run. If you are going to spend money on this game, buy the bag first.

Understanding the Tokens (Don't get confused)

The economy has two main parts. Don't mix them up.

Token	Function	How to Get
DCD	Premium Currency. Used to buy VIP Status and Backpacks. (1 DCD = 1 HBD)	Buy in-game using HBD.
DRUBBLE	The "Grind" Currency. Used for Market, crafting, and standard Shop items.	Looted in game or bought on Hive Engine.

A Note on VIP:
Buying DCD earns you VIP points (1 DCD = 1 Point).

Bronze VIP (20 Points): Grants 50 DRUBBLE/day, +5% HP, +5 Inventory.
Silver VIP (50 Points): Grants 100 DRUBBLE/day, +10% HP, +5% Atk, +15 Inventory.

There are higher tiers but I'm a far ways from entertaining those as viable options... so lets ignore them! (for now)...

Note: The daily VIP consumables (Stamina refills) do NOT take up inventory space. Huge plus.

💡 6 Tips to Save You Time & DRUBBLE

The game is technically simple, but the mechanics punish you for not paying attention.

1. The Marketplace Listing Trap

It costs 5 DRUBBLE to list an item on the marketplace.
I lost a lot of profit early on by listing low-value items or chests that no one bought. When I cancelled the listing or they expired, that listing fee was gone.

Don't list common Armor: Everyone finds it. Sell it to the NPC shop.
DO list Resources: Plants, rocks, monster parts. Higher-level players need these ingredients to forge items, so there is actual demand. Check the Discord's buy-sell channel to see what high-level players are desperate for.

2. The "Storage Hack"

Since inventory is tight, I found a loophole.
I loot a lot of Mana Stones. They are useless at low levels but might be needed later for skills. Instead of selling them or clogging my bag, I list them on the marketplace for a ridiculous price (e.g., 4444 DRUBBLE).

Nobody will buy them.
But they sit on the market, safe, outside my inventory.
Cost: 5 DRUBBLE per item to "store" them.

3. Chest Gambling vs. Selling

You will find locked chests. You can sell the chest or open it.
I tried selling chests on the market; they didn't move. I started opening them. While you might get junk, you often get 1-3 items inside that are worth more than the chest itself. Open them, replace any armor pieces that are better than what you currently have on, then sell the rest to the store.

4. The Leveling Bottleneck (Cores)

You will earn XP faster than you can use it. To level up (levels 1-10), you need Aldorian Dungeon Core Fragments.
You need a lot of them (up to 15 per level). This is where your DRUBBLE goes. I admit I bought cores from the market when they were under 500 DRUBBLE just to progress.

Note: Starting at level 10, you will need Brighthollow Cores.

5. Movement Costs Energy

Moving from Town -> Dungeon costs stamina. Moving Dungeon -> Town costs stamina.
If you run out of energy mid-dungeon, don't leave. Just let your character stand there. Eat a consumable if you have one, or just wait for the regen. Don't burn travel energy unless you have a full bag.

6. The "Random" Map & Keys

Right now, the map is RNG. It doesn't matter if you click Left, Straight, or Right... it's a random encounter. You are looking for the Floor Boss.

Beat the Boss -> Get the Key -> Move to the next floor immediately.
There are plans in the works for a pre-determined map layout. until then, enjoy searching!
Don't forget to check the Guild Hall in town for Daily Quests before you start. It's free rewards for killing monsters you were going to fight anyway.

💭 Final Thoughts

Dungeon Cities is a grind, but it's a satisfying one once you get your inventory managed. My advice? Get a referral link, grab a weapon and a shield, but hold off on the rest of the armor until you loot it. Save your HBD for a Backpack, or you'll be running back to town every 5 minutes.

If you want to give it a try, here is my link:

🔥🔥🔥 Thanks for reading!
See you in the dungeon.

New Update - JANUARY 17

As of January 17, I have made it to the second dungeon - floor 1. The battles were getting lengthy and a bit much to focus on during the grind. So I decided to head to the marketplace and purchase the highest level weapon I could afford with the DRUBBLE I've earned in the first 20 floors of dungeon 1.

I picked up this polearm

This has increased my attack by over 10x !

Now battles last 2-3 clicks at most, very exciting to fly through battles by chopping them to pieces!
I can even 1-hit a few monsters. Very satisfying.

This gets a HIGHLY RECOMMEND stamp from me and should be the only way to speed run a dungeon!

Who needs armor when your enemies aren't alive long enough to see it?