Dwarf Eats Mountain 100% Completion Route: Endgame Systems and One Billion Gold

Completion and speedrunning are different problems. This route favors a stable scaling engine, complete artifact access, and low failure risk. Exact counts are starting points from the observed run; adapt them to your version and artifacts.

1. Know what the final run must accomplish

The completion run has four parallel jobs:

1. survive and clear the scheduled boss gates;
2. collect the unique items required for endgame access;
3. build damage that continues scaling after ordinary upgrades flatten;
4. create enough resource throughput for the post-100 gold target.

A build that clears Mountain 100 but cannot accelerate gold production is incomplete. So is an economy build that arrives without the required artifacts.

2. Establish the early income engine

The tested route used Lasers and Scientists as both damage and gem production. The sequence was:

• establish Runner throughput and housing;
• add a small Laser core;
• reach the Scientist breakpoint for gem-related upgrades;
• turn repeated Laser hits into a steady income stream;
• unlock support buildings only when their first upgrade has an immediate purpose.

This engine funds the later Ballista, Faith, underground, and forging systems. If another artifact gives you a stronger early engine, use it—but preserve the goal of damage that also improves income.

3. Unlock scaling before farming its resource

Several endgame bonuses are not retroactive. If a Ballista upgrade gains power from future Den kills, every Den destroyed before unlocking it is a missed stack. The same principle applies to Mapping conversions and repeated Faith rituals.

Before settling into a long farming phase, confirm that the run has already unlocked the upgrade that converts that activity into permanent or cumulative power.

4. Layer three complementary engines

Ballistas: primary progression damage

Use Ballistas for Den coverage and the Den-destruction bonuses available in the route. They provide the reliable damage needed to keep pace with mountain HP.

Lasers: income frequency

Continue raising hit frequency, gem procs, and Scientist support. In the completion build, Lasers are valuable even after another unit leads the DPS chart because they accelerate the gold loop.

Faith and Underground Mapping: long-run multipliers

Priests and related support turn population into repeatable Faith spending. Spelunker returns raise Mapping and feed upgrades that convert exploration into damage. Protect expedition units before relying on this engine.

5. Treat artifact collection as a gate, not a side quest

Track each unique artifact by source: boss, forge, expedition, research, or special event. Reserve resources for the forge only after checking which guaranteed rewards still lie ahead. Forging too early can consume the same Mithril or Souls needed to reach the next guaranteed source.

Use the artifact acquisition guide to open each source early and diagnose a missing Spire item by route.

Before each major checkpoint, verify:

• which unique reward is expected;
• which collection pieces remain missing;
• whether a retention or protection upgrade is needed before Prestige;
• whether the current run can safely delay progression for another expedition return.

6. Transition from progression to the gold loop

Around the final mountains, the priority changes. Mountain damage is no longer the only target; gold per real minute becomes the completion metric.

The observed loop combined:

• frequent Laser hits and gem generation;
• enough Ballista damage to keep high-HP targets moving;
• repeated Faith spending for critical multipliers;
• Mapping returns for another scaling axis;
• Mithril spent on the upgrades with the largest multiplicative effect.

Small percentage upgrades remain valuable late because they multiply an already large base. Choose multipliers that affect the whole loop over flat bonuses that only improve one event.

7. Phase roadmap

Phase	Main objective	Leave the phase when…
Opening	Stable logistics and income-producing damage	Ore flows and the first research breakpoints are funded
Foundation	Unlock Faith, underground, Forge, and Den scaling	Each long-run activity now feeds a multiplier
Collection	Secure boss rewards and missing unique items	The endgame gate checklist is complete
Lock-in	Deepen one DPS engine and its support systems	Mountain clears remain comfortably ahead of gates
Completion loop	Maximize gold per real minute	The one-billion target is reached

8. Failure points

• Destroying Dens before unlocking a non-retroactive Den bonus.
• Spending Mithril on small upgrades while a core Forge or boss requirement is pending.
• Dropping Laser investment after it falls behind in DPS, even though it drives income.
• Expanding Spelunkers before protecting them from permanent loss.
• Entering a boss on fast-forward without checking real 1× performance.
• Reaching endgame with an incomplete artifact ledger.