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I can play A10 on all 3 original chars but the Watcher is absolutely the most boring to me. I accept this is my flaw but I find it to be extremely boring. I only have it fully unlocked from dailies that I forced myself to play.
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Jun 23, 2021 14:22
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Yeah looking at my higher ascension heartkills, watcher is definitely clearing levels with about 1/3 the total runs needed for the other 3 classes The key for me is that the best watcher "block" cards early on are actually more damage cards that kill enemies/elites before they can attack for too much.
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Jun 23, 2021 15:19
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I guess I'm still cycling Stances with the Watcher the same way I Cycle orbs with the Defect. But yeah, Judgement, Reach Heaven and the Smite generator are really good for the Watcher but she takes a bit of build up each combat for me. Right now I'm trying out different Act 1 builds with everyone to get more confident going into Act 2 since that's where about half my non-Defect runs fall apart. I can always reach the Act 3 boss with the Defect so I'm not practicing with them as much.
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Jun 23, 2021 15:57
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I just hit act 2 on my first robot run. This thing is really fun! The orbs are a fun extra thing to manage. I’m excited to see what the fourth character is like. The first two seemed pretty standard but man I love these orbs. What’s all this talk I see of A## runs?
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Jun 23, 2021 16:38
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Wildtortilla posted:I just hit act 2 on my first robot run. This thing is really fun! The orbs are a fun extra thing to manage. I’m excited to see what the fourth character is like. The first two seemed pretty standard but man I love these orbs.
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Jun 23, 2021 16:40
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BaalorLord is a great guy to watch as a new player. He explains his decisions more often than the other super strong players. He’s very creative too.
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Jun 23, 2021 16:41
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I've been watching a lot of life coach and he does a lot of explanation as well as actually taking chat suggestions if they make a good point.
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Jun 23, 2021 16:57
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Yeah, I was thinking that after I posted that. LC is also very thorough about explaining himself. I think he didn’t occur to me at first because his runs are so long that I think only those who have accepted that they have given their lives over to the spire will watch more than one.
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Jun 23, 2021 16:59
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Flayer posted:There are 21 Ascension levels (0-20) and you start out playing on the easiest level which is Ascension 0 (or A0). Beating A0 with a character unlocks A1 for that character and so on all the way up to A20. Each Ascension has new difficulty factor so they are harder and harder to beat. Minor correction: ascension 1 is easier than ascension 0, because more elites
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Jun 23, 2021 17:14
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Is there a handy guide for the different boss symbols at the top of the map? I'm generally lost on Act 2 because other than The Champ I'm not sure which boss I'm facing. Also is there just a guide for the bosses and their patterns in general? Again, Act 1 is no problem but Act 2 and 3 are a major hurdle, especially since I've only ever even seen Time Wizard and Awakened One in Act 3.
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Jun 23, 2021 17:43
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The wiki has a nice guide to the boss logos As for strategy Act 2 Champ is a test as to whether you have any scaling in your deck. He's not very tough until you get him below half health. Then he will spend a turn buffing his strength (and clearing any debuffs you have on him) and then hit you with a huge double attack. If you've got a massive amount of block you can tank it, but it's usually best to time your scaling so that you can get him below half heath and then kill him in the next two turns before he attacks. Bronze Automaton only attacks every other turn, it will also summon two little dudes that can attack and steal cards from your deck Starting the the highest rarities You get them back when you kill them. On the sixth turn it will hit with a hyperbeam that deals 50. Kill the little dudes first and then either kill Automaton before it scales too much or get your defense going so you can tank the hit. Sources of Intangible are very good for both Champ and Automaton. Collector will spend it's first turn summoning minions and then hit you for a bunch on turn two. It's also got a nasty debuff that gives you multiple turns of weak vulnerable and frail on turn 4. Kill the minions quickly, They start small, but the Collector can buff their strength, and if you kill them it may spend a turn summoning more rather than buffing or attacking you. Act 3. Time Eater is every Silent fan's least favourite boss. The big slug has a timer that will go up every time you play a card. When the timer reaches 12 your turn will instantly end and the Time Eater gets a strength buff. The Turn after you get them to half health, Time Eater will spend a turn cleansing all debuffs and healing to half health. With Time Eater you really want to think carefully about how many cards you play, and you always want to make sure you leave enough cards to play next turn. E.G DO NOT end your turn with the counter on 10 or 11. There's a cute trick you can play on Time Eater the turn it heals itself. If you temporarily reduce its strength on that turn, it will purge the debuff, but any extra strength above baseline stays gone. E.G. Time Eater has +4 strength, you play piercing wail reducing it's strength to -2, then it purges the negative strength, and ends up with +0 strength. Awakened one is another 2 phase boss. It starts with two cultists as minions and it will gain strength for every power you play. Kill the cultists first, and be judicious about the number of powers you play. Strong defensive powers such as Feel No Pain can still be played, but be careful about playing too many. After you kill the first form, it will purge all debuffs, and go back to having several hundred health. You can do the strength reduction trick here as well, but make sure you reduce its strength before killing the first form, as you cannot target it while it is shifting forms. Phase two honestly isn't that scary. It can put voids in your deck, and it hits pretty hard, but it can't scale any more and now you can play powers without getting punished. Donu and Deca don't have a lot going on. They're big, and they hit like trucks, but that's about it. You should focus down Donu first most times, because the round little bastard is the one that buffs their strength. Get your scaling up as soon as possible, and you should be fine. Let me know if you want more character specific advice for any of these guys such as cards that work particularly well/badly. Patrick Spens fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Jun 23, 2021 |
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Jun 23, 2021 18:00
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Walla posted:Also is there just a guide for the bosses and their patterns in general? Again, Act 1 is no problem but Act 2 and 3 are a major hurdle, especially since I've only ever even seen Time Wizard and Awakened One in Act 3. There’s a great spreadsheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZsxNXebbELpcCi8N7FVOTNGdX_K9-BRC_LMgx4TORo4/edit Also contains info about stuff like how often a question mark will be a shop or other stuff like that.
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Jun 23, 2021 18:06
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Awesome stuff, thanks.
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Jun 23, 2021 19:51
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~115 hours of play and I finally beat the heart for the first time. The silent. I tried ascension 1, due to more elites but still being relatively easy. I’m on ascension 15 currently with the Silent — but couldn’t beat the heart until today. Man that felt good. Wasn’t even expecting it. I’d post my stats… but the picture is too large, apparently. Two after images (both upgraded) as well as two footworks… I credit with the win. Along with five backflips and three noxious fumes.
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Jun 24, 2021 01:16
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Congrats! I just completely clowned Donu and Deca but unfortunately with the Watcher so it doesn't get me closer to unlocking the Heart. I'm still running pretty fat decks with 33 cards. I credit my win to generating 7 Mana a turn which meant I as entering Divinity every 1.5 turns. I took out half of Donu's health in 1 turn. Also I went in with half health and they didn't even cut that in half. Felt good.
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Jun 24, 2021 02:41
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Fat decks are actually meta in high ascension. Most players go through a small deck phase though.
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Jun 24, 2021 02:43
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You are getting skilled with the Watcher pretty quickly. That’s great. I’ve played one run with the Watcher. That’s it. I’ve beaten the game on Ascension 0 with Clad and Defect, but no higher. I’ve been pretty Silent-specific for weeks now. For whatever reason I took to the style of play of the Silent first. Defect will probably be my next full 20 ascension run task.
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Jun 24, 2021 02:44
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No Wave posted:Fat decks are actually meta in high ascension. Most players go through a small deck phase though. Don't deck shame.
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Jun 24, 2021 02:56
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No Wave posted:Fat decks are actually meta in high ascension. Most players go through a small deck phase though. I feel like it follows one of those "me at X age" kind of things. Me starting out: I should take all the cards. Me after ~20 hours: Actually, I should try for a small tight deck. Me after ~200 hours: I should take all the cards.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:14
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every time i get a bunch of early card removals i think hell yeah small deck time and then i die before the first boss. wonder if its related.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:22
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I wasn't even really trying to accumulate cards, only picking what I thought I needed. Hell, I didn't even pick cards for half of Act 2 or most of Act 3 and my Act 2 boss relic was the one that limited card rewards. Act 1 had a lot of battles and I guess I grabbed more than I needed. I also had insane card draw and retention to the point I often reached my hand limit.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:23
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Picking up doubles or triples is helpful sometimes. I never bothered for a long time but it seems to help balance a deck >20 cards
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Jun 24, 2021 03:23
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Verviticus posted:every time i get a bunch of early card removals i think hell yeah small deck time and then i die before the first boss. wonder if its related. yes because then you go "i am a very smart and good player and so I know to prioritize elites" and then you get the three sentries. at least, that's how it always works for me.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:24
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i had a defect game where before i picked snecko eye in a1 i picked up a puzzle and pocketwatch so i was just taking every single card offered to me. became a no-brainer to do snecko and basically cycle 10 cards every turn
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Jun 24, 2021 03:25
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EconDad posted:You are getting skilled with the Watcher pretty quickly. That’s great. That also means that several of my combats go around 4-5 turns as I block and whittle the enemies down until I can break out with Eruption and clear the field.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:29
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just hit a17 with defect and can't get past a3 on ironclad. ive got the act 2 blues with ironclad. I'll get slowly whittled down then run into a hallway fight or slavers/the stabby book and get whittled down not so slowly.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:32
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Yeah, if you get a bunch of early card removals it's worth using some of them on defends. Strike isn't a horrible Act 1 card and you need damage more than anything else for elites.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:34
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I'd rather remove the Strikes actually. The attack cards you acquire are simply better. I only had 2 of my starting Strikes left and 1 was upgraded through an event.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:40
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Can't kill elites if you can't deal damage
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Jun 24, 2021 03:41
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I'm 20/19/20/20 with A20 heart kills on Ironclad and Defect, plus I've gotten every achievement. I'd remove a defend first in Act 1, usually. The first goal has to be to get enough damage to clear Act 1 Elites and removing strikes before you have some other damage engine means you die.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:46
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drat. I just checked and out of my 33 cards 15 were attacks, plus Judgement and Battle Hymn.
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Jun 24, 2021 03:49
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I take cards very liberally in the first half of act 1, especially damage cards. In the second half of act 1, I get more selective. You don’t get offered upgraded cards in act 1, so if you keep taking cards all throughout the act, you’re likely to end up with some painful upgrade debt. Being upgrade dense is very nice. You do get offered upgraded cards in acts 2 and 3, which I clearly favor. I do continue to take unupgraded cards in these acts, but I love being offered green cards, and my picks reflect that.
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Jun 24, 2021 05:03
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And I still have trouble even reaching the second boss with Ironclad. I keep having runs where I get nothing but attacks or skill in the first half of Act 1 so I'm lacking in defense and get wrecked in Act 2. Especially to that drat spherical guardian rear end in a top hat.
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Jun 24, 2021 06:20
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Walla posted:I'd rather remove the Strikes actually. The attack cards you acquire are simply better. I only had 2 of my starting Strikes left and 1 was upgraded through an event. The elites are all damage races. You need to kill them before their scaling mechanic gets out of control. Cutting strikes instead of defends gives you a slower deck that makes it harder to outpace them.
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Jun 24, 2021 10:37
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I almost always remove Strikes over Defends unless I'm Watcher. I definitely agree that Strike is the better card to draw early on but it becomes pretty bad in Act 2 and by the time you're in Act 3, it's essentially a curse. Defend is also quite bad but can potentially turn out to be an OK or even good card if you have Corruption/Feel no Pain as Ironclad or Dex as Silent, so it's less offensive to have later on. With Watcher things are a little different as you tend to block less often with her and you can make your Strikes potentially hit for 24 if you get Strike Dummy + Upgrades + Wrath. So the thing you have to look at with regards to removing Strikes in Act 1 (if you're not Watcher) is whether you're OK with maybe dealing a bit less damage now in return for having a better deck later on in the run. I think that this is a good deal very often since adding good damage cards into your deck is not that hard.
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Jun 24, 2021 11:34
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Is the merchant the only way to remove cards?
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Jun 24, 2021 12:22
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Wildtortilla posted:Is the merchant the only way to remove cards? No, you can also remove cards through events and relics
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Jun 24, 2021 12:23
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Walla posted:And I still have trouble even reaching the second boss with Ironclad. I keep having runs where I get nothing but attacks or skill in the first half of Act 1 so I'm lacking in defense and get wrecked in Act 2. Especially to that drat spherical guardian rear end in a top hat. As a rule of thumb for IC act 1, I try to get a card from every single fight. With rare exception, any card is better than skip because your starting deck is garbage. Even trash like true grit or double strike or warcry, they're all better than the strikes or defends constituting the totality of your deck. All that said, it is generally a good idea to value damage over block as you can power through act 1 through brute force. However, don't neglect your block in Act 1. Just because you aren't getting offered power through/second wind combos doesn't mean you shouldn't pick up firewall, ghost armor, shrug, etc. to carry you through act 2 hallways fights and will keep you healthy in 2 out of 3 act 1 elites. In short, if you don't pick up block in act 1 then you will be taking a LOT of naps in act 2.
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Jun 24, 2021 12:40
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in act 1 i always, always, always prioritise removing strikes if i get the chance and don't have curses. i find that card removal in act 1 is secondary to getting a load of good attacks though, in general. sometimes this is not the case and i probably die before realising on a given run
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Jun 24, 2021 12:56
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 19:17 |
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If I get an event in act 1 that lets me remove, I almost always remove. But at act 1 shops, I usually don't. Some of the considerations behind that: *Pandora's Box will be better if I haven't removed yet. This becomes less of a consideration after act 2. Pandora's Box gets worse as the run goes on. If you boss swap for it at Neow, it is usually incredibly good. That's where it's strongest. But it's still pretty strong at the end of act 1, as your deck is probably still searching for an identity, and you have a larger number of base cards. *the base cards aren't terribly bad in act 1, but the good relics are just as powerful, so I prefer to spend my money on those in act 1 in particular. *Slime Boss and Hexaghost put statuses in your deck, so I prefer to have a wider deck in those fights. *the Bites event is better if you haven't removed a strike yet. (This consideration isn't terribly important.) But I do still remove very consistently at the act 1 events that allow for removals because I don't want to waste those floors. I can get value out of a shop floor without removing. I'm also more likely to remove at act 1 shops if it's a Guardian act. Strikes are very bad in that fight. And finally, I'll remove at act 1 shops if the shop doesn't have a lot of other great stuff, and I've already added some high quality attacks. It's very important to consistently draw good hands, so I do always want to remove strikes and defends eventually. I just think that there are often better things to do with the money in act 1. Yoshi Wins fucked around with this message at 14:12 on Jun 24, 2021 |
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Jun 24, 2021 14:08
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