Cool. Although I feel like I reached up to that point not because I am good, but because I had luck and got two early relics and a card that were all strongly synergistic between them.
Just started, and I’m in the middle of Act 2 in my first run. Pretty neat!
So is it always the same 4 acts, but with different maps and bosses?
Hurrah, got through my first complete run! I think I managed it the third or fourth time.
Correct.
I also just finished it, including the secret 4th Act.
I was playing defect, and my deck was…well…broken.
I had a card, echo somthing? that basiclaly meant my first card played would be played twice.
I also had a relic that meant every time I played a power card, something would randomly cost 0 energy that turn.
Then i got bottled tornado, which meant I always started with the echo card.
Play echo card, play a power card.
I had 2 of these echo cards…so play one, wait for the next to come through, play that twice.
Plus, heal at end of combat for 7 hp, which is another power card, and I had 2 of those.
So if I had 3 echoes active…it meant the first 3 cards played were played twice…, and if those were powers, they made another random card free.
Play 3 powers twice etc…including the heat sink power card, and the machine learning powercard, which give you free cards when played…
Also, I had an increase your orb total card, which are power cards…so getting that played 2 or 3 times…
At one point, I had 10 orb slots (the maximum) full of Frost orbs, whilst running biased cognition which had triggered twice.
11 focus, multiply by ten orbs…110 defence.
Did I mention the AI learning (?) card, a power card that when played unlocks more power cards?
Rather sick.
Dang. That is indeed a bit OP.
Mummified Hand (play a power, random card costs 0) is probably the single most OP relic in the game, and any deck that gets it by act 2 has a pretty solid chance of winning the run in my experience. Get it with the Top relic and Defect power that draws 2 cards when you play a power for extra fun.
Yes mummified hand, that’s the one!
I almost threw it away, but I compulsively horde all relics, even the ones that don’t seem useful, like the wind up boot.
I just won a run, and I think I also had the mummified hand. Plus I had an artifact that gave me an extra card every round (a serpent that upgraded a snake), an artifact that gave me a card if I ended with no cards, etc. I had lots of 0-cost cards and two of the cards that give you block for playing a card, so every turn it seemed I had 40-50 block. I made it through virtually unscathed.
Honestly, it was so easy that I sorta lost interest in the game. I guess I won’t always be that lucky, and there are more unlocks to play for, so maybe I’ll return to it. The core design is great.
I had a similar run and it did basically cause me to stop playing. After several runs with carefully planned decks that went nowhere, I won with a loose mess of a deck because I got some good relics. That was deeply unsatisfying, suffice it to say. I enjoy the game, but if relic luck is that powerful of a factor then it’s a lot less compelling than it initially seemed.
Getting good at the game is rewarding, but you are allowed to claim to have solved it after playing 20 hours and hitting a lucky run if that’s enough for you guys!
LOL yeah this . :)
On the other side of the spectrum I finally made it past Ascension 19 with all 3 characters. My first run with the Ironclad at Asc 20 I got plenty of strength scaling and a heavy blade and it was easy…but the other two are rough. I keep beating the first end boss at too low health to have time to set up for the second boss. I think Ascension 20 may require nearly a mistake free run, or in any case much more technical playing than I want to think through.
If/when I eventually make it through I am planning to scale back to Asc 15 and try for the heart. Or maybe some mods.
I am on Ascension 2…:S
I am finding the Silent the most hit ot miss of the characters.
It seems the best thing for her is massed poison because otherwise, in every run, I just end up taking too much damage.
She’s a ton of fun with a 0-cost accuracy build as well. Lots of fun synergies with her.
Oh, I didn’t solve anything, which is exactly the problem.
I work to learn systems, put a lot of thought into a deck, and lose over and over again, not even appearing to improve. That’s frustrating, but OK, maybe I need to learn more. Then I get a couple of lucky relics and win despite just throwing cards together. That reads as “nothing I do matters.” Even if that’s not true (and intellectually I know it’s not), it’s certainly how it feels. I mean, you can see how that’s demotivating, surely?
What are folks finding works the most often with regards to Whale choices?
@vinraith I hear ya. Sometimes I feel like I’m really building something special and then I just die to a bad draw while the enemy is hitting as hard and often as possible. Sometimes a choice relic is all it takes to turn the tide and become unstoppable. Some of it is building to what relics you get early on instead of the cards you find yourself with, some of it is the opposite. I’m honestly not great at figuring out what works and what doesn’t, even after 230+ hours of playing. I just play because it’s fun, and because sometimes I get one of those golden runs that makes me just love this game.
Extra hitpoints.
As silent, I always get rid of the start relic.
As the rest, I go for extra hp or an extra relic.
Remove a card. I like my deck as lean as possible.