I’ve played this quite a bit too. Beat the first boss and I’m just about to take on the second. My health isn’t great so I’m not feeling confident. I’ve liked the cards I’ve unlocked so far. I only have 1 complaint and that is when you’re traveling in the world and find an encounter, you can see what enemies are there but nothing about them. I’d like to hover over the thumbnails and see the same info as hovering over them in battle. other than that it’s been great.
I managed to beat the second boss with 18 hp left. I didn’t think I was going to do it.
Main don’t screw with the Pied Piper on level 1. I got wrecked and was having a good run just about to fight the boss.
Really? He didn’t put up much of a fight with me. You REALLY want to win that fight.
I’m really enjoying this. I find the battles intensely tactical in a way most deckbuilders aren’t, at least until you really get a build going. I’ve had turns where I thought, “what the hell am I going to do?” but found a way to make it work. Choosing the right upgrades feels even more important than other games in the genre.
Just finished tier 2 (still my first run). Finished with full hp and more candles than when I started.
Wow! I kept summoning rats faster than I could kill them and their damage increases the more rats there are. I actually went into the fight in pretty good shape. Did you attack him outright or ask him nicely? I attacked him outright.
Nice! I lost to the first boss in game 1 and then beat the first and second in my next game. I’ve gone into a slump now 3 times in a row and didn’t get out of tier 1.
Don’t think I attacked him outright. I don’t recall the fight going on that long. Maybe I’m misremembering, but I don’t think he got more than one or two out.
I should say, I’ve watched a lot of gameplay, so I have a real good feel for the systems for someone that just started playing.
One little tip for getting going with wyrdhunter: look for a gar rune for your armor slot. That attack at the end of each turn is great for building up your ultimate faster.
I’ve had that one one time so far. I boosted my drop rate so this game (just beat tier 1 boss) I’ve been able to combine some runes to level them up. I forget which ones they were. That ultimate can be a game changer when timed right.
It’s where most of my damage is. I now enter fights with 10 charge and keep half charge when I use it. With that, the gar rune, and some multi-hits or cleave, I can max it in a hurry.
Another big key is some armor reduction.
I have four completed runs now after the first, which is how you unlock “proper” runs. I am yet to cycle back to using the Wrydhunter, the starting hero type, which I find to be the most vanilla / basic but also tricky to use.
One really cool thing, for me experienced for the first time here, is that the little side-quests and evolving character conversations carry over between runs. So if there is a side-quest that requires say, 4 conversations, or another that requires feeding 20 units of meat to a certain big dude, then progress carries over between runs. So . . . meta quests? I suppose Hades did that too, but Slay the Spire, Monster Train, Monster Slayers, Griftlands etc . . . none of those have this cool thing, and it makes the world feel a lot more alive to me.
The village building is kinda cool too. Far less to do than Darkest Dungeon, but great to see the village populate and then start boosting it up. Nice additional ‘hook’ and benefit to completed runs .
How do you guys feel about the map exploration being in free motion 3D? My first reaction was frustration, it felt like unnecessary busywork relative to moving between fixed nodes. I can see how it brings the Wrydcandle thing to life though, and the visuals are pretty amazing. I have shifted to “neutral” on it. Wondering how it jives for you?
It’s fine I think. There are some decisions to be made while walking around which is great. It wraps the whole quest system into a cohesive world.
The persistent stories and quest are great. It actually succeeds for me in the story department. Something that only Hades manages to do.
I’ve been experimenting with most broken class in the game.
@robc04 I just realized I’m confused. I did not fight that npc at all.
@Lykurgos yes, I really like how the stories progress over time. Reminds me of Shiren the Wanderer or Hades in that way
As for the 3D exploration, I’m not a fan, but like you, I get why they did it.
Finished up my first run. There were some tense fights in tier 3, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Village has 4/7 residents. 3 new classes to try. Might try summoner first.
You killed all the bosses? Like, you won?
I’m about halfway through tier 3 on my current run. I’m in good shape, but things can turn really fast in one encounter. I just found a chest that hinted there was some curse, so I didn’t open it. I didn’t want to risk screwing up my run.
Yes. 4th boss went down in a few turns. I was hitting like a truck after I hit level 20.
They really can, which I like. The game gives you a lot of tools to manage threats, but you have to choose passives and cards that work together, equip runestones that compliment, use items at the right time, etc. which brings me back to your run. If you can’t find and talk to that guy you tried to fight, I’d seriously consider starting a new save slot.
You are in for a treat once you complete your first run. Unlike similar games, you don’t just “unlock” meta progression, like Slay the Spire Ascension. There is a really compelling narrative that accompanies it, that I felt gave a real sense of purpose and ambition to complete more and more runs. No spoilers! It also ends up giving you some interesting choices on subsequent runs.
And plenty of quests to do, stories of villagers to uncover, souls to save etc.
Cool! I do like how there is some narrative and more personality in this game compared to StS.
It has me rather excited for their other game (the one this was part of before it became its own thing), since that should be even more story heavy. The different elements of this setting make it feel rather unique/more than the done if it’s parts.
I just got my first victory too. I had a crazy combination of runes and passives. I like taking some of the ones you mentioned upthread (starting at 10 ultimate charges, only use half ultimate charges when using ability…). Some other things I had… I also had a passive that stunned enemies when they because vulnerable - which happens every 4th hit. Then I had 2 level 2 runes that automatically hit all enemies for 8 damage at the end of my turn, so it was really easy to get enemies stunned and vulnerable. So, things were getting stunned and going down pretty easily.