Gordian Quest. Deckbuilding roguelike meets tactics RPG. Full release!

Unlocked heroes are waiting at the Guild in town to swap out when and as you see fit.

Ah, ok, thanks. Not sold on my current comp just yet. Is party max size 3?

Yeah5

Monk feels super strong. Currently running Monk-dex, Swordsman-int and Cleric-str I think?
Plan to be back on stream after dinner. Still loving the game though. definitely a lot of changes since I played a year or so ago. It can be odd having it familiar but different

You doing the martial artist deck? It really does feel strong. Swordsman feels like the weaves character I’ve seen in my very brief play.

I really like the combat in this game, especially the addition of the grid and related movement (best of all the deckbuilders, perhaps). I’m not nearly so keen on many of the other trappings, like the explorations and campsite stuff. There’s a lot of systems here, not all of which feel like they fit together.

explorations are meh, feel like a tiny filler mechanic that they didn’t think just giving you stuff was ‘gamey’ enough. I don’t mind the camp mechanic though, found it pretty unique though I haven’t used it since retail launch so maybe it has changed. Combat feels very good though and I like the integration of equipment and the deck as well as the item use.

I don’t think camping felt “bad” at all. I remember thinking it seemed cool when I saw it in a play video ages ago. But I had totally forgotten about it, and when I got to the first instance after playing for several hours, it felt to me like I came from a different game.

I got a “rare essence” that is used to upgrade common items to rare, but I don’t understand how to do that- would someone please explain?
Also, when would you want to skip rewards?

You use it from your inventory, then it will show you a list of items that qualify to select from.

Thanks, for some reason I hadnt tried rt-click to use it. What does “chain” mean? I can’t find it in the help.

There’s mouseover text for it on cards when I’ve seen it. Attacks that chain affect multiple enemies depending on the specific requirements (e.g. adjacent)

Thanks again!

I am finally getting some play time with this. Mech Armada, which is simpler, has been getting in the way.

Something I think I am liking is how many different “systems” Gordian Quest has, and so far, they all seem to work well enough for the individual and overall experience to be rather fun.

By systems, I mean, for examples . . .

The combat
Events
Overworld node based movement
Exploration
Camping
Deck building
Character development
Crafting / enchanting / gem using
Fate points

Whilst BIG RPGs, like Witcher, Divinity etc have a similar number of systems, I am not used to seeing so many things going on in deckbuilding roguelikes or turn-based tactical RPGs. So when I compare Gordian Quest to, for examples, Trials of Fire, Urtuk the Desolation, Slay the Spire Likes, Monster Train, Wildermyth, Banners of Ruin . . . there is just so much more going on here. Maybe similar, but still more . . . . compared to Darkest Dungeon.

How are you finding the difficulty, @Lykurgos?

I’ve restarted a few times now, and this time round I’m playing on Nightmare, which sounds impressive but is in actuality the Normal difficulty, I think. There’s a reasonable amount of pushback by the game at this level which wasn’t there before, I’m having to engage with all the systems, and think about my play. All very agreeable.

It’s taken me 3-4 hours to get my guys to level 8, and next quest is opening the gate near the burial grounds to the northeast. Which is fine, but the game is telling me I should be level 16 to do this. I don’t know if it expects me to hang around the city for another three hours levelling up, or what.

I have tried a couple of battles and they are tough but doable with health potions. However I don’t get enough gold to replace those health potions, so I’m stuck for now.

I know getting better at the game will help; I assume I’m just not getting something for now, and hoping the game doesn’t get too grindy. Still looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow - it is very enjoyable.

You mean I WASN’T supposed to blaze through the first 3 combats without any enemies getting a single turn? Feh.

I find the beginning too easy, but when I last played it was like that then got really hard. I don’t want to crank up the difficulty and find that it goes from a fun challenge to impossible. If I had to choose I’d rather go from easy to a fun challenge.

There is a normal difficulty, and then 2 more above that is nightmare. Should I not have started on normal? Taking the storehouse has been very easy.

So is normal difficulty easy to start and then becomes at least somewhat challenging?

There are a LOT of battles, I went Normal so I wasn’t constantly banging my head against a wall when I had inevitably made poor choices while learning the game, and it’s also nice for the small battles to go by swiftly.

There have been, on Normal, more than a few boss battles that challenged me and caused a total party wipe - thankfully I have it set to let me come back to down and try again, or I’d have already started over many times. No thanks.

I’m towards the end of Act 3 and at 16 hours. The campaign is long, on Normal. I can’t imagine how long it would take on higher difficulties where every decision has to be the right one.

that’s how it was when I played it in early access, but possibly a lot changed since then.

I have also been playing on normal difficulty while learning the game. I wiped out once I believe it was labeled a Deadly Encounter (was purple glow as I recall on the map).

There is a lot going on in this game that I am still trying to wrap my head around. For example, I do not understand renown in the campaign? Is renown only for the roguelike play?

I am enjoying the game a lot so far.