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Lucille is no longer a current, drop-in Hardcore strategy. In Roblox Tower Defense Simulator, Lucille was the community name for a coordinated three-player strategy built mainly for the old Crossroads Hardcore map and its pre–June 5, 2026 wave system. The archived guide is now explicitly labeled outdated.
This guide explains what Lucille meant, how the legacy trio strategy worked, what its old milestones and failure points were, and why current players need a map- and patch-specific strategy instead.
What was the Lucille Hardcore strategy?
Lucille was not a tower, official mode, or map name. It was a community strategy label for a specific three-player Hardcore plan, principally associated with the old Crossroads map. Its identity came from coordinated farming, exact tower placements, wave skips, Commander ability timing, and a division of responsibilities between three players.
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The plan was designed for the legacy 50-wave version of Hardcore. It was commonly described as an NST strategy, meaning it aimed to avoid requiring Hardcore-exclusive towers. That description needs qualification: the guide allowed substitutions and optional stronger towers, and different versions of the strategy circulated in the community. The archived material is preserved in the Lucille strategy document.
The name itself is a community label. No authoritative developer explanation for why the strategy was called Lucille was found, so claims about a specific origin should be treated as speculation. Community strategy indexes and speedrun references use the name for the old Crossroads plan, but that does not make Lucille an official TDS term.
Was Lucille solo, duo, or trio?
The recognized legacy Lucille guide was a three-player strategy. Its economy and defense plan were split among Player 1, Player 2, and Player 3. It was not designed to be copied by one player, and removing Player 3 from the formation does not produce a working duo version automatically.
A solo or duo Hardcore strategy may use some of the same towers, but it should be called a solo or duo strategy rather than solo Lucille. The old plan depended on three players contributing farms, early defense, support abilities, and late-game damage at specific times.
Legacy requirements: what the old version assumed
The following requirements apply to the historical, pre-rework strategy—not to current Hardcore matchmaking:
- Three players who could follow placement and upgrade timings.
- The old Hardcore map and wave structure, principally Crossroads. The plan was placement-specific and was not a generic tower composition for every map.
- Access to the required towers for the assigned role.
- Coordinated wave skips. The team needed to communicate rather than skip independently.
- The Paradoxum Games Roblox group bonus. The archived guide specified joining the group for an additional $100 starting cash in the legacy system.
- Reliable execution. The strategy was more accessible than many stratless Hardcore attempts, but it still required exact early placements, targeting changes, boss preparation, and ability timing.
Current Hardcore is listed as Level 50 content, but its current economy and map pool no longer match those assumptions. Check the current Hardcore reference for live requirements rather than applying the old prerequisite list to a present-day run.
What did NST mean in Lucille?
NST generally meant that the strategy did not require Hardcore-exclusive towers as part of its core loadout. It did not necessarily mean that every player had to own no special, Golden, or stronger replacement tower.
The archived setup used ordinary or broadly accessible towers, but it included exceptions and substitutions:
- Player 2’s Turret could be replaced with another damage tower, such as Accelerator or Pursuit.
- Player 3 did not require Golden Pyromancer.
- The guide stated that using Golden Minigunner required Golden Pyromancer.
For that reason, “no Hardcore towers whatsoever” is too absolute. NST described the intended accessibility of the legacy plan, while optional substitutions varied by version and by the team running it.
Legacy Lucille loadouts
The following table records the old three-player composition. Every role below is historical and should be read in the context of the old Crossroads map, tower balance, and 50-wave Hardcore mode.
| Player | Legacy loadout | Primary responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Player 1 | Farm, Warden, Ranger, Medic, Turret | Early defense, cliff and turret damage, and late-wave stun recovery |
| Player 2 | Farm, Ace Pilot, Ranger, Commander, Turret or replacement DPS | Early anti-leak coverage, farming, Commander chaining, and late damage |
| Player 3 | Farm, Pyromancer, Ranger, DJ Booth, Minigunner | Early area damage, support coverage, and the mass Minigunner endgame |
The composition overlapped deliberately. Multiple players eventually built Rangers and high-DPS towers, while only selected players handled key support jobs.
- Farm converted a safe opening into enough late-game cash to fill the map with upgraded damage towers.
- Ace Pilot supplied early flying and general coverage for Player 2, making its timing important to the opening.
- Pyromancer provided early crowd control and the detection timing needed for the old invisible-enemy waves.
- Warden helped stabilize the early game and contributed control or survival support later.
- Commander enabled attack-speed ability chains, especially during major late-wave damage checks.
- DJ Booth improved range and cost efficiency for Player 3’s large Minigunner formation.
- Ranger, Turret, and Minigunner formed the principal late-game damage core.
- Medic was used to clear stuns during the old late waves, particularly Waves 45–50.
Do not transfer the tower list to a current map and assume you have transferred Lucille. The old strategy was a placement script as much as it was a loadout.
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This is a readable summary of the archived plan rather than a replacement for its old Crossroads placement diagram. The wave numbers and milestones below belong to the pre-rework 50-wave mode.
Waves 1–9: farms and the first defense line
Player 1
- Place four Level 1 Farms individually.
- Upgrade two Farms to Level 2.
- Place a Level 1 Warden.
- Continue farming toward eight Farms.
- Place two Level 2 Turrets individually.
- Upgrade the second Warden, then continue upgrading Farms toward Level 3.
A notable legacy placement instruction was to put the first Turrets near the Ace Pilot coverage rather than simply placing them beside the path. That instruction made sense for the old Crossroads layout and should not be copied onto a current map.
Player 2
- Place an Ace Pilot early.
- Add Farms and upgrade one Farm.
- Upgrade the first Ace Pilot, then place a second Ace Pilot.
- Place a Level 0 Commander.
- Build toward eight Farms and upgrade them toward Level 3.
Player 2’s opening was especially sensitive to loading and placement delays. A late Ace Pilot could produce early leaks that the original guide considered survivable in moderation, but excessive delay could end the run before the economy was established.
Player 3
- Place three Level 1 Farms and upgrade one of them.
- Place a Level 2 Pyromancer with Farthest targeting.
- Continue adding and upgrading Farms.
- Place Level 2 Minigunners around the old midgame breakpoint.
- Build toward eight Level 3 Farms.
- Place a maxed DJ Booth and a maxed Pyromancer.
- After the replacement Pyromancer was established, sell the first Pyromancer as directed by the old plan.
The early strategy deliberately spent as little as possible on defense while still reaching the detection and damage milestones needed for the next wave checks. This is why random substitutions or delayed farming could break the sequence.
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The old guide’s important checks in this section were:
- Reach the necessary Pyromancer and Warden levels for the legacy invisible-enemy sequence around Waves 10 and 13.
- On Wave 12, temporarily change Ace Pilot targeting to Strongest for the balloons, then return it to First after the balloons died.
- By Wave 17, Player 2 was expected to have two Level 2 Ace Pilots and one Level 0 Commander.
- Player 1 was expected to have two Level 1 Wardens for the Breaker check.
The targeting change was not cosmetic. It was one of the old plan’s explicit responses to the balloon wave. Likewise, the Wave 13 Pyromancer upgrade was a timing requirement for the legacy invisible enemies, not simply a recommended quality-of-life upgrade.
Waves 19–25: Mega Slow and Shadow Boss preparation
This was the first major execution gate.
- Player 1 needed a Level 2 Turret around Wave 20.
- Player 3 needed an early Minigunner and its next upgrade.
- Player 2 needed to add three Level 2 Commanders and begin chaining their abilities.
- Player 2 continued upgrading Ace Pilots, then added Turrets and Rangers as the economy allowed.
Missing the Turret or Minigunner milestones could cause a Mega Slow loss around Waves 19–21. The original plan also advised inexperienced teams not to skip Wave 24. Wave 25 was the Shadow Boss preparation check: the old sequence called for two Level 2 Turrets and three Level 2 Minigunners in the intended positions, followed by a quick Wave 25 skip so the team could upgrade.
Misplaced towers, late upgrades, or incorrect cliff sequencing were common legacy reasons for failing Wave 25. The old guide’s mandatory skip rule should therefore be read as skip Wave 25 after the team is prepared, not as permission to ignore the preceding setup.
Waves 26–35: transition to mass damage
Once the Shadow Boss section was cleared, the team moved from survival spending into a large late-game damage build:
- Player 1 added Rangers and Turrets, then maxed them individually.
- Player 2 prioritized maxing Commanders, followed by Turrets and then Rangers.
- Player 3 added Rangers and a large number of Minigunners around the DJ Booth’s support coverage.
- Players sold Farms individually when necessary to stay within the tower-placement limit.
“Individually” mattered because selling a whole group of Farms at once could interfere with the intended cash and placement sequence. The old plan was built around gradually converting the farm footprint into damage towers rather than waiting until the end to liquidate everything.
Waves 36–50: final setup and stun recovery
The archived end-state called for approximately 18 maxed Rangers, 10 maxed Turrets, and 17 maxed Minigunners by Wave 50. Player 1 also built five maxed Medics for late-wave stun recovery, while Player 2 continued chaining Commander abilities.
Medic abilities were particularly important during the old Waves 45–50. A team could have enough nominal damage and still fail if stuns interrupted too much of the final attack cycle. Commander abilities likewise needed to be chained rather than activated randomly, because the late-game damage plan assumed sustained attack-speed support.
Legacy wave-skip rules
The central macro instruction in the old Lucille document was to skip Waves 1–20 and Wave 25 as soon as possible. Other skips were optional. The document associated this approach with runs of roughly 30–33 minutes.
Those numbers belonged to the old 50-wave Hardcore structure. Current Hardcore is listed as a 45-wave mode, so the old skip schedule has no direct current equivalent. A player should never press the old skip sequence in a modern run simply because a Lucille video did so.
Legacy danger-wave checklist
| Legacy wave or section | What the old team had to check |
|---|---|
| Early waves | Player 2 had to load and place Ace Pilot promptly. Some early leaks were survivable, but excessive delay was not. |
| 10 | Pyromancer and Warden timing, plus suitable detection and targeting for the old invisible sequence. |
| 12 | Temporarily set Ace Pilot to Strongest for balloons, then return it to First. |
| 13 | Upgrade Pyromancer for the legacy invisible enemies. |
| 17 | Player 2: two Level 2 Ace Pilots and a Level 0 Commander. Player 1: two Level 1 Wardens. |
| 19–21 | Player 1 needed a Level 2 Turret around Wave 20; Player 3 needed an early Minigunner and its next upgrade to avoid a Mega Slow loss. |
| 24 | Usually do not skip this wave if the team is inexperienced. |
| 25 | Prepare two Level 2 Turrets and three Level 2 Minigunners in the intended positions, then skip quickly to reach upgrades. |
| 29–50 | Sell Farms individually when necessary, chain Commander abilities, use Medic during stuns, and finish the Ranger/Turret/Minigunner build. |
These are failure points from the archived strategy, not current Hardcore advice. The complete historical notes are available in the archived Lucille document.
How fast was Lucille, and did it really earn 600 Gems per hour?
The archived guide advertised several strong claims:
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- A claimed fastest time of 29:51.
- 600 Gems per hour.
- A claimed 100% win rate.
These should be treated as claims made by a community guide, not independently verified guarantees. The source does not provide a controlled test method, sample size, failure rate, player-skill assumptions, queue time, or a version-by-version reward history. A community Reddit discussion also disputed the 600-Gems-per-hour figure and gave a lower estimate, illustrating why the number was never universal.
There are at least three different measurements a player might mean:
- Gems per successful run: the reward after a triumph.
- Gems per played hour: rewards divided by time spent inside completed matches.
- Gems per real-world hour: rewards after including failed attempts, loading, queueing, finding teammates, and map selection.
Team skill, skips, failed runs, matchmaking time, map availability, tower balance, and the active reward formula all change the final figure. The old 600-Gems-per-hour claim should not be used to plan current gem farming.
Why old Lucille guides no longer work
The decisive change was the Hardcore Mode rework released June 5, 2026. It changed far more than the map selection:
| Legacy Lucille assumption | Post-rework situation |
|---|---|
| Crossroads was the principal map. | Crossroads was removed from Hardcore after June 5, 2026. |
| The run used 50 waves. | The current Hardcore page lists 45 waves. |
| The old farming and cash-inflation system governed upgrades. | Income and economy systems were revised, including removal of the old cash-inflation and placement/upgrade cost increases. |
| Old reward assumptions supported the gem-per-hour estimate. | Reward calculations were revised. |
| Legacy tower balance and enemy checks applied. | Wave compositions, tower balance, and Hardcore content changed. |
| No modern skill, revive, Shrine, or modifier decisions existed in the script. | Skills, revives, toggleable modifiers, Shrines, tower EXP, and evolved-tower progression were added or enabled. |
The current listed Hardcore map pool contains Outskirts Commune, Unknown Garden, Wrecked Battlefield, and Wretched Front. Crossroads is documented as no longer playable in Hardcore after the rework. The old Lucille placements therefore cannot be reproduced in the live mode, even if a player owns every tower in the original loadout.
The current community-maintained Hardcore page lists a Level 50 requirement, trio starting cash of $600, or $700 with the group bonus, and a summary triumph reward of 300 Gems and 400 EXP. Its detailed reward information is maintained separately and some Hardcore data is marked as incomplete or needing improvement, so verify live rewards in-game before calculating a farming route. See the current reward reference and current wave reference for details.
Current Hardcore mechanics to account for
Shrines
In the current system, Shrines begin appearing from Wave 11 and recur every ten waves, according to the current Shrine reference. They can provide extra gem rewards on a triumph, but impose temporary penalties such as increased upgrade costs, increased enemy health, periodic base damage, increased enemy speed, or reduced tower range.
That makes a Shrine a risk-versus-reward decision. A team farming consistently should compare the extra reward with the chance of losing the run or delaying its economy. The correct choice can depend on the map, the team’s tower levels, active skills, and whether the penalty affects the next boss check.
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Current maps differ substantially in path length, turns, cliff space, sightlines, and tower placement. For example, Wretched Front is listed as a long, Easy-difficulty Hardcore/Voidcore map with multiple U-turns and central placement opportunities. That does not make its placements interchangeable with Crossroads, nor does it establish that it is the best map for every team.
A modern strategy must identify its map explicitly and explain its current hidden, lead, flying, stun, and boss checks. A Lucille video that says only “use this loadout” is missing the most important part of the old strategy: where and when each tower was placed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to use instead in current Hardcore
There is no verified post-rework Lucille 2.0 presented here, so this article does not invent one. For a live run:
- Choose a current map-specific strategy. The listed maps are Outskirts Commune, Unknown Garden, Wrecked Battlefield, and Wretched Front.
- Check the guide’s patch date. A guide should state its current wave count, economy, loadouts, tower levels, skill-tree assumptions, Shrine decisions, revive rules, and modifier settings.
- Do not substitute current towers into old Lucille placements. A stronger tower does not repair a map-specific timing or pathing mismatch.
- Use current strategy resources as starting points. The TDS strategy mapper provides current map resources, while the community strategy index separates solo, duo, and trio categories.
- Confirm the player count. The old trio economy cannot be compressed into a solo or duo run without a different strategy.
- Find teammates through current channels. The official TDS Discord is a practical place to look for party or LFG teammates, but confirm the patch, map, tower requirements, and guide version before joining.
Post-rework community reports suggest that trio economy can require more careful early defense, farming, and role division than players remember from legacy Hardcore. Those are player observations rather than official balance documentation, and reports disagree about the best loadouts and whether trio play is viable without extensive farming. Treat them as evidence to test, not universal rules.
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How to judge a modern Hardcore guide
Before committing to a strategy, ask whether it answers all of these questions:
- Which of the four current maps is it for?
- Which patch or date was it tested on?
- Does it assume 45 waves and the current starting cash?
- Which players farm, and when do they sell Farms?
- Which tower handles hidden, lead, flying, stun, and boss enemies?
- Are skills mandatory, optional, or map-dependent?
- Which Shrines are activated, and what penalties are accepted?
- What are the current revive rules and costs or restrictions?
- How is tower EXP allocated?
- Can the strategy tolerate random teammates, or does it require a practiced trio?
- Are its reward and gem-per-hour figures based on completed runs or total matchmaking time?
A guide that omits these details may still be useful as a general idea, but it is not a reliable replacement for a tested current walkthrough.
Common legacy Lucille failure modes
If you are studying Lucille for historical purposes, these were the main ways the old plan failed:
- Player 2 loaded late or delayed the first Ace Pilot.
- Ace Pilot targeting was not changed for the old balloon wave.
- Pyromancer was not upgraded in time for the legacy invisible waves.
- The early Turret or Minigunner milestones were missed.
- Wave 24 was skipped without enough experience to prepare for Wave 25.
- Rangers or Turrets were placed in the wrong cliff or path positions.
- Turrets were placed away from the intended Ace Pilot coverage.
- Farms were not sold individually when the tower-placement limit became relevant.
- Medic abilities were not used during the old late-wave stuns.
- Commander abilities were not chained consistently.
- The team treated the guide’s advertised 100% win-rate claim as protection against execution mistakes.
These are not current wave instructions. They explain why a team could fail even when it technically owned the listed towers and followed the broad loadout.
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Quick reference
- What Lucille was: a community-created three-player Hardcore strategy.
- Where it worked: primarily the pre-rework Crossroads map.
- What mode it assumed: the old 50-wave Hardcore system.
- Core roles: farms, Ace Pilot, Pyromancer, Warden, Commander, DJ Booth, Ranger, Turret, Medic, and Minigunner.
- Old macro: skip Waves 1–20 and 25 as soon as the team was ready, with other skips optional.
- Old advertised performance: roughly 30–33 minutes, 600 Gems per hour, and a 100% win rate—community claims, not guarantees.
- Current status: outdated for live post-rework Hardcore.
- Current listed maps: Outskirts Commune, Unknown Garden, Wrecked Battlefield, and Wretched Front.
- Best use of this article: understanding old videos, Discord references, Reddit posts, speedruns, and the original Crossroads gem-farming strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Lucille in solo or duo Hardcore?
Not as the original strategy. Lucille was built around three players sharing farming, early defense, support abilities, and late-game damage. A solo or duo plan needs its own economy and placement sequence.
Is Lucille an official TDS tower or map?
No. Lucille is a community name for a legacy three-player Hardcore strategy, principally associated with Crossroads. It is not an official tower, mode, or map.
Why can’t I find Crossroads in Hardcore anymore?
Crossroads was removed from the Hardcore rotation in the June 5, 2026 Hardcore rework. The current listed pool contains Outskirts Commune, Unknown Garden, Wrecked Battlefield, and Wretched Front.
Can I still use the old Lucille document if I own all its towers?
Only as historical documentation, or in a compatible legacy recreation if one is available. Owning the towers does not restore the old Crossroads placements, 50-wave structure, economy, or reward formula in current Hardcore.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Lucille was a precise three-player Crossroads strategy for legacy 50-wave Hardcore, not a universal TDS loadout. It remains useful for understanding old gem-farming guides and community references, but it is outdated for the post–June 5, 2026 game. For current Hardcore, use a dated, map-specific guide built for the current 45-wave system and one of the listed live maps.
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