Just beaten the super sheep and Hand Boss. Think I'll try the bonus now.

In some levels you use lightning more than you'd want. But after boosting all 6 characters and tons of psi in reserve, you can just go trigger happy with lightning and start clicking away.

Did all the bonus challenges, except the Bonus Challenge 5. As usual, I was doing all right till the last few waves which beat the crap out of me. I might return to this one when I'm more powerful, but I won't be trying too hard, since my aim is to get the stars, not the books, and this level is annoying because as mentioned earlier in this thread, you have to sit through tons of easy waves only to get beaten just towards the end. I'll definitely skip this on G+, since I had trouble with it even with a full max level party.
Reached wave 67 on Endless 2, which is enough to get the book. Got the book from Endless 1 too (after which I cashed out).

Tomorrow I start NG+.

Keep truckin'!

Just an update: in G+ got up to the dragon, then went back and started doing all the Challenging and Extreme. First level I couldn't beat was Challenging side quest where you only get barbarian and healer. Will get back to it later. My characters are at level 52 though, so I'll pretty soon hit the cap. I've got a feeling this will be one I won't be able to beat on Extreme...

Current gold star count: 132

I haven't beat that one either. Came very very close, but the lightning spamming gets too tedious and I can't micro-manage the required psi. I'm sure it's doable - unlike some of the later challenges.

Got it. It was a lightning spam fest and micromanagement galore. Worst were those water attackers that phase out, because when they phase out, they're immune to everything (except pushback). They have to be lightninged as soon as they appear. And while doing that I almost missed a zombie who slipped by and got zapped at the last moment. The bloated monsters are not as bad as they appear. It might be a good idea though to pop them at the same time and then immediately cast "Dragon Fire" on their offspring (water monster don't burn, but get damaged by the initial damage).

Status so far: Just beaten the final side quest on Extreme. All levels so far beaten on Extreme (3 gold stars). Only missed on Extreme:
_Barbarian + knight side quest
_Dragon + ice mage side quest
_Super sheep
_First Zelemir boss encounter
Might come back to those later.

This gives me 176 golden stars. I'm going to get Hero Mode ++ (180 stars) before Hero Mode + (complete the game).

Party is all level 60. My only obsidian skull (from the final side quest boss) I've spent on the bow. I wanted to upgrade Envi (devour) and the othe sword, but bow gives 100% chance of light, and those dark creatures are a much bigger nuisance given only 1 priest.

You're gonna whup me. :) Good job!

[EDIT] Just checked, and my characters are actually level 56. Maybe I could get them up to the cap and squeeze out another start somewhere...

What's your build? Check this thread. This is what I based mine on. Apparently passive abilities are much better.
http://discourse.leveluplabs.com/t/did-you-ever-level-non-passive-abilities/110

Also did you get the secret books for Azra? I haven't yet. Keeping those as a last resort. Once I've tried everything else, I'll try with them to see if they could make me get that extra star.

I have followed no builds and have re-spec'd a number of times. Dunnot what I have now.

Just banged out an extra half a star, though! Woo-hoo! I had only done the final level on "casual" just to get it over with. But I finished it normal just now, so 182 stars.

I don't have any secret books - don't even know how to get them. I should probably look into that. Where can I find that info?

Here you go. Contains gradual hints and final spoilers.
http://defendersquest.wikia.com/wiki/Book_of_Secrets

Super sheep killed me with only 350k HP left (that's less than 1% :( ) I made some stupid mistakes, including a costly one at the end where I forgot to put the barbarian with priest range, and he got killed by thorns, plus wasting mana on lightning.

But it is doable, so will try again.

Super. Sheep. Defeated.

I'll use my second obsidian skull to upgrade Envi

179 gold stars

Hero Mode ++ done!

180 gold stars. Still to finish the game.

Done all those!

Finished all levels (including all side quests) on Extreme (3 stars), up to the level before the Hand boss!

That gives me 183 stars.

In addition to that:
Got all books from normal game
Got books from Challenge 1 and 2 in G+ (tried remaining ones but couldn't do them). Bonus challenge 5 I won't even attempt, while Endless Challenge 2 won't start (needs 201 stars).

I'm at the stage now where all my characters are level 60, and there isn't really much in terms of weapons or books improvements I could look forward to. This means that any star I can't beat, I'll just permanently skip, unless it's a very close shave.

I'm at the stage where it's slightly tedious now and I just want to get over with it. Doubt I'll try the secret books.

And... completed.

Levels with only 1 star:
_"Bad" ending - the one with archer and knight only.
_Third from last - the one where you start top left and have 3 paths from the other 3 corners. This is the only one which I think I might be able to do, but I failed a few times and don't feel like repeating it. Always lose on the last 2 waves.
_Final boss.

Levels with only 2 stars:
_Hand boss level
_The level after that (the one without archers)
_Second Zelemir boss level (second from last)

Everything else on 3 stars. Books as described in previous post. No secret books used. 4 obisdian skulls used on bow, 2 swords and 1 staff (+ to INSPIRE). Completing the game in Heroic mode gave me all the achievements. Too bad, they're not all on same PC. In my first run I got all, except the Heroic mode ones.

192 gold stars in total.

Thanks yogsloth. It was fun.