|
Pikestaff posted:I feel dumb posting this because he's like the default character but is there a trick for getting the hang of Ironclad? I feel like I can only ever do well on him if I get the perfect storm of block mechanics fairly early on (Entrench, Barricade etc.) and if I don't get those I fizzle out and die way quicker than I do with the other characters. The all-star rares (Juggernaut, Barricade) are what makes your block deck great, but you can go pretty far as long as you have incremental advantage of some kind. Power Through is my favourite IC block card, it has insane efficiency and the Wounds can be fed to exhaust, and/or left in the deck for Fire Breathing which is a decent Jug replacement. Demon Form also works pretty well in a block deck, sit on your rear end spamming blocks until you finish them off with literally any attack (or just grab Inflames and wait to cycle them / use Headbutt which is my favourite IC common). Aggressive Ironclad is easier to build, it just takes a bit to learn to play it as you realize that a few ounces of blood will save you gallons of blood in the long run (but do prioritize grabbing, upgrading, casting, and duplicating Reaper aggressively if you can). Disclaimer: I'm very new to the game, but IC is my favourite char and I have plenty of past CG experience. NihilCredo fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Sep 6, 2021 |
#
¿
Sep 6, 2021 15:59
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 00:22 |
|
|
Am I correct in thinking that Asc1 is arguably easier than Asc0? More Elites = more relics and uncommons = better builds. Yeah they're hard fights but generally the worst case scenario is that I have to rest to recoup, which is kinda like trading a card upgrade for a random relic, which isn't bad at all - and that's the worst case. Though it might be because I'm currently trying to get to my first Heart kill (I got it low health 4-5 times but keep dying to the 6x12 attack), and I really want every possible chance to roll a Tungsten Rod. Kheldarn posted:I still need to let go of RPG Hoarding Syndrome when it comes to Potions, though. I tend to save them for the End Of Act Boss Fights, because, "This is really good so why should I waste it on this Elite?". The way I think about it in StS is that a healing potion will give you 15HP or so (20% health or regen potion), so if whatever potion I'm holding is likely to save me 15 or more HP I will use it and consider it well spent. Of course if I can foresee some specific uses (e.g. power or cultist potions for prolonged battles) I will hoard them for an act or so.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 6, 2021 22:27
|
|
|
John Murdoch posted:I did this AGAIN aaaaghghh You got an early Searing Blow and dumped every single upgrade into it, I guess? Is it worth it?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 7, 2021 06:40
|
|
|
Dr. Video Games 0069 posted:You have to give up upgrading every other card and go without resting, but in return it eventually becomes all the offense and scaling that you need to win. The difficulty is getting through the first half of the game, when the first couple of upgrades do very little and it's not strong enough to kill a Sentry or Slaver in one hit. Ahh, I looked it up in the wiki now, I never tried it so I didn't know it had quadratic scaling with upgrades, I thought it would be linear. That makes sense. NihilCredo fucked around with this message at 09:01 on Sep 7, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Sep 7, 2021 08:57
|
|
|
When people say e.g. "I just got an Ascension 15 win", do they usually mean with or without beating Act 4?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 10, 2021 07:46
|
|
|
No Wave posted:You had it right the first time! Making big decks is better than in most deckbuilding games (for a variety of reasons - weak starting deck, extreme difficulty of act 2 being the main ones) and 25+ card decks is how very experienced players usually play the game when trying to win. Zore posted:Successful decks are also almost never about forcing any kind of 'pure' archetype like you might do if you're building a MTG deck or whatever. You'll pick up a bunch of cards early that won't be good later and sometimes skip cards that are great late game because they're just a curse if you pick them up early in Act 1. These two were some pretty solid tips. After dying to the Heart several times with "focused" IC Block, IC Searing Blow, Silent Poison, or Defect Power decks, I finally got my first Heart kill with a "just grab a ton of good cards" Silent deck. At Ascension 2, accidentally. Pretty satisfying considering I didn't even have all the unlocks for that character (and I still don't!), and that I only decided to go for the Heart in Act 3 when I noticed I was flawlessing almost every battle. 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 10, 2021 20:52
|
|
|
I always avoided picking Frozen Eye because I get the feeling it would turn every battle into a giant stressful min-maxxing puzzle. Kinda like playing Watcher, which I never do either for the same reason. Just give me my dopamines please.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 12, 2021 12:28
|
|
|
Hmm, thinking about it I tend to favour Power-heavy decks precisely because once they get going, it's unlikely that a single bad draw will cost me the fight so I can put on "autopilot" mode to a degree. Maybe with Frozen Eye I will be able to rely on a deck with less long-term steam - then again I suspect such a deck would die horribly to the Heart, with or without Frozen Eye. On a lighter note, favourite beta art? I've only unlocked green and blue so far, but Corpse Explosion is mine. Puns are good and all but funny art keeps me smiling every time I look at it.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 12, 2021 18:49
|
|
|
Tenkaris posted:Yeah, and it's not a great learning tool because he goes so fast you can't even parse the cards he's grabbing without slowing the playback, and if you try to replicate this you will have a hard time because your chance of getting the exact cards needed to pull this off is not that great. You can play the video at 0.25x, but it's not a great learning tool also because he's cheating. At the end of Act 1 he exploits a glitch with Pandora's Box to remove all Strikes/Defends and get a 4-card deck. (And later he uses the same glitch to dodge a curse.) According to the comments he specifically used an older version of the game where those cheats weren't patched. I stopped watching because once you have the perfect hand every turn, Dazes aside, of course it was pretty much autopilot.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 13, 2021 05:32
|
|
|
What do you guys usually pick for the starter boon? (When trying hard) With Ironclad, the starter relic is too good, so I tend to pick the transform 2 cards options. IC archetypes are somewhat distinct so if I pick up e.g. a Feel No Pain and Second Wind right from the start, I have a good idea of what to look out for. With Silent, I think the starter relic is poo poo so I always trade it for a boss relic. Ditto Defect, although the starter relic is not nearly as bad: losing it hurts a bit in Act 1 which can be tough for Defect, but later on a single lightning orb is pretty worthless. Plus both characters can roll awesome boss relics like Wrist Blade or Inserter. Of course, sometimes I'll roll Busted Crown or Ectoplasm and the run is basically over before it began, but at least it's quick! Watcher, I haven't played enough to have a clue, but the Miracle relic also seems so-so to me.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 13, 2021 22:35
|
|
|
Why is everybody saying the Silent starter relic is great? T1 I'm almost always constrained by energy, not cards. While there's a couple relic like Lantern which give you extra T1 energy to spend, there are far more options to boost the quality of your opening hand (Innates, Bottled X, Secret X). A somewhat higher chance of drawing e.g. Noxious Fumes on T1 is OK I guess, but it's far from a big deal if I draw it a turn later.military cervix posted:My worst watcher loss was setting myself up to gain 5 mantra every turn against the nemesis, ensuring that I was always in divinity stance when he (she?) was intangible. Felt bad. The one time I tried the Searing Blow deck I of course drew it three times in a row while he was intangible. But TBF it was a pretty weak run because I had zero Headbutts. NihilCredo fucked around with this message at 08:41 on Sep 14, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Sep 14, 2021 08:38
|
|
|
I haven't run the number, but I got the impression that there are more enemies who cast buffs/debuffs on turn 1 and then attack on turn 2, than there are who immediately make powerful attacks on turn 1. Nob, Lagavulin, Head, cultists, birds, Snecko, Heart of course... Which is why the Cleats relic (the one that gives you 14 block on T2) is one of my favourites, and why I'm not convinced of Silent's starter being so good. I suspect that those who do immediately attack tend to be 'holy poo poo' moments (eg slavers) so they stick around. Although now that I think about it, maybe it's an Ascension thing? I'm only at Asc3 so far (I want to get a heart kill on every char before climbing), so maybe at higher ascension levels some enemies change strategies?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 14, 2021 17:05
|
|
|
droll posted:Whats better than shrug? Block and card draw seems p cool? What block cards are you going for here besides the rare 30 exhaust one? I would pick Power Through over Shrug, and Iron Wave if it counts, but yeah that's about it.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 15, 2021 01:51
|
|
|
I dislike Snecko Eye and very rarely pick it, in large part because I highly value efficiency - you get at least 5 cards every turn, but only 3-5 energy to play them at best. And over half the time, 1-2 of that energy will be "booked" for blocks. For me to pick a 2-cost card, it needs to either be fine if it's the only card I play that turn (Power Through, Dash), or to pay off well and quickly (Rainbow, Reaper). And a 3-cost card needs to basically win me the game when I play it, like the X Form powers, to make up for the times they're curses. Am I correct in not picking Snecko Eye if my deck has less than ~5 cards costing 2+, which is the vast majority of the time? And should I pick expensive cards more aggressively?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 17, 2021 19:17
|
|
|
Ok I got a chance now to really try out Snecko Eye with the right deck and I see what you guys meant. At the end of Act 2 I had three 3-cost cards and a LOT of 2s, and Act 1 I had picked Black Blood (over Runic Dome and Tiny House), so I was very energy-starved and of course I got offered Snecko Eye. Well the deck was already pretty drat strong (double Jug with the plated armour relic? Hell yeah), I had gone through Act 2 without much trouble, but between Snecko and more good relics Act 3 was a total joke. I perfected all hallway fights including elites and took a total of 6 damage from the Awakened One and 16 from Spear and Shield, meaning I started the Heart fight at max health - 2, and easily got my first IC heart kill. Corruption actually was a late pick and I only used it once, sadly. Then again I had zero Exhaust synergy.  Nevermind, I looked it up, Perfect is for bosses, Champion for elites. 
NihilCredo fucked around with this message at 12:24 on Sep 19, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2021 12:20
|
|
|
I will absolutely always pick Demon Form unless I'm doing some gimmick like a thin Searing Blow deck. It singlehandedly wins you the fight against any boss and some elites like Head. If I'm going for the Heart it's especially a no-brainer. I will think long and hard before picking up a second one, however, unless I have Snecko Eye or a shitton of strength-scaling cards.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2021 12:20
|
|
|
Jedit posted:Not every run is technically winnable. It's possible, if unlikely, for the game to give a layout where Silent cannot avoid fighting Lagavulin on floor 6 and is not offered any damage improvements on the first five floors. Again, when people are talking about "winnable" games, do they normally mean with or without Act 4?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 22, 2021 22:45
|
|
|
No Wave posted:Both. It's almost impossible for a game to not be winnable when you include perfect knowledge of the future and unlimited attempts. Are the in-battle random events also determined by the seed, I assume? Eg whether slimes will attack or debuff on turn 1, what kind of minions the goblin lord will summon, etc.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 23, 2021 07:42
|
|
|
I've always liked Rage, as I said I like 0-cost cards in general and that one actually scales a bit with your deck. Only problem is it becomes awful if you go for a block deck, and I'm convinced those are the strongest IC decks so I try to build them if possible. Havoc is very situational. Sometimes you have a bunch of powers or Headbutts and it's crazy, but if you have an Exhaust-heavy deck it's super dangerous. Nothing worse than Havoc'ing a Second Wind or wasting a Reaper/Feed/Limit Break.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 23, 2021 23:02
|
|
|
drrockso20 posted:Nah it was a Silent run, I just mentioned the Ironclad runs as being my previous encounter with the Vampire event(which thinking it over really would make more sense as an early Act 1 event as there's probably no real benefit to it by the point in Act 2 you usually encounter it, while it could have been useful if you were to get it at the very beginning of a run instead) I rarely take the Vampire event but a few days ago I had a fun Silent A4 run where I got Coffe Dripper from Neo, struggled a bit in Act 1, then in Act 2 I took both the Apparition event to stop the bleeding and the Vampire event to gradually heal back up (I'd prolong fights just so I could cast more Bites). Fun and different from the usual, unfortunately the Heart managed to attack me on a no-Apparition turn and well, I didn't have enough block to keep any of my whopping 24 HP 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2021 08:31
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 00:22 |
|
|
Goddamn it, the most broken Snecko swap run I've had so far and I still died like a chump to turn 3 Heart because I had no way out of Wrath and I could only block up to a total of ~110 effective HP and I needed to tank 120. Still, from Act 2 it was super fun and from Act 3 it was utterly hilarious. Plenty of turn 1 kills including Spear, thanks to Necronomicon and like four different gold attacks, Ragnarok being the champ. Eruption/Indignation plus a 2cc Ragnarok+ = 144 damage right there, before vulns and other attacks. Then Meditate+ to repeat the exact same combo next round if necessary. 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2021 22:46
|
|