Slay the Spire

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LordMortis
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by LordMortis »

When I entered the Beta all my progress was lost. I had to create a new profile and now I'ma start from scratch.

Well, I guess I need to relearn the game anyway.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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LordMortis wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 10:45 pm When I entered the Beta all my progress was lost. I had to create a new profile and now I'ma start from scratch.

Well, I guess I need to relearn the game anyway.
No, it's a separate profile. See the post here for instructions--basically open our local files folder for StS, copy your preferences folder and rename the copy betaPreferences. Then you'll pick up where you left off.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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A few notes on the 4th character, The Watcher, now that I've played her a bit.

-The game seems far tougher with this character, but I'm not sure yet whether that's intentional, or cause it's an unbalanced beta, or because I'm so used to the other three that I forgot what sucking feels like.
-Her gimmicks are:
-- 'stances,' which are achieved either via cards that take you into/out of them, or by earning Mantra to get them. They increase your damage given and/or taken, add energy, etc. It's an interesting new dynamic, because unlike the other characters where you largely build up your character's powers (strength, poison, orbs), you instead have to focus on hitting the right stance at the right time, and ensuring that you leave it at the right time, too.
--Retaining cards. Several of her cards stick to your hand until they're used, including Miracle, one of her starting relic's cards--a Miracle costs 0, gives you an energy, and is Retained until it's used. So functionally it's a 'one more energy free, at any time' card.
-It's easy to mistime exiting Wraith stance, for example, and then get creamed by doubled damage as you end your turn.

I'm enjoying it so far, but I imagine this character has a lot of balancing left to do (many cards don't even yet have art), so only join up if you're really itching for a new StS experience.
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LordMortis
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Re: Slay the Spire

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I made it to the second level of ascension on my first two tries and I'm like "this new character is way too easy."

I have been stymied ever since my first two runs and I've been sitting there trying to think what I did so right by intuiting that I am now doing so wrong by conscious strategy.

I'm way better at playing stances and understanding how to strategize retaining cards but it is not uncommon for me to not even make it to the first boss on a run... I end up thinking I'm just too aggressive in going after elites because I did so well on the first two runs... but nope, avoiding elites will help me get to and maybe even beat the first boss and then I'm woefully underpowered on the second run. I don't know if was just crazy lucky on the first two runs or if there is a magical balance line that is crossed on 2nd ascension level and I'm just not smart enough to adjust.

Naturally, this has me just short of obsessed at the moment, trying to find better avenues to enhance my luck. I've mainly been focusing 0 cost, retention, and draw combos but inevitably there will be a key moment when I'm block heavy when I need to attack and attack heavy when I need to block and my retention doesn't fall right even as I anticipate the need... So then I try to go power happy to subsidize my needs and then I am too slow to react out the gate.

I've tried going heavy on the stance changes, which seems to be the key to strategizing energy bursts and coordinating them with retained cards, but when you go too heavy stance cards, you have to rely on draw luck even more, even with cards retained.

I think my next line of attack is stop upgrading cards and use camping for healing more often, and accept that she gets hit hard the first few rounds of combat to set up her game. That will be hard for me, as camping upgrades and care elimination was core to my game in all three of the previous avatars and I believe I took them all up ascension level 7 before moving on to other things.
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Buatha
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Re: Slay the Spire

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LordMortis wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2019 11:00 am ...but inevitably there will be a key moment when I'm block heavy when I need to attack and attack heavy when I need to block and my retention doesn't fall right even as I anticipate the need...
Dude...the story of my final runs. I have yet to beat the game because of this right here. I really wish I could save the game at key points :)
"Some people say never...I just say no"
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LordMortis
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Re: Slay the Spire

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Buatha wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2019 12:41 pm I really wish I could save the game at key points :)
I feel that way sometimes too.

I'm sure I'll be back at it this weekend, masochism in full swing.
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Paingod
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Re: Slay the Spire

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I got into this after it went on sale and have managed to beat three floors with the Berserker and Robot so far. The mystic illudes me, and I can't figure out what I need to focus on to get it working. My best run so far was really heavy on Poison attacks and card draws, but was killed by the Knight when he cured his poison, resetting my 50+ damage he was taking automatically each turn and then he pulverized me.

The other successful runs included:

Berserker: Getting "Feed Upon" super-early (like as a bonus starting card) and working out each fight to gain +4 max health each time as often as I could, while heavily relying on +Strength (including Demonic Strength for +3 per turn) and fast attacks with Draw on them. By the end of the 3rd section, I had something like 140 max HP.

Robot: Extremely heavy on "Summon Lightning" orbs with +Focus, which lead to summoning them for just about everything I did, making a ridiculous chain of constant damage each turn. Having two "Self Repair (+7 health at end of fight) helped keep me in good shape, too.

So it seems like it's mostly luck of the draw. I can play a perfect game, but without the right card drops to choose from and the right card draws during battles, you're simply doomed. I haven't found a really lucky combo for the mystic. I might have come close, too, with one focused heavily on Weakness and cards that play off that - but it didn't survive the second big boss.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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Heh, I saw there were updates and I almost picked it up this weekend to bang my head against the wall with the new character again. I saw Zax had done so. :ninja:

I don't remember which character is which, but it seemed that once upon a time the first three weren't as much about luck as they were about figuring out the groove you needed to get in to and then letting luck choose the specifics. I want to say I made up to the level nine run with each of the four characters. Of course, I may be overstating it. My memory for such things is poor and I inherit my poor memory and overstating from my father. :oops: If I go look it up nine might turn out to be like four. :oops:

The fourth character, well, if there is a groove, I never figured it out. Luck/odds always caught up with me. I never figured out a way factor them out of a typical run.

I dunno how much the sale was for, but it's one of the best card shuffler, solo computer games I've played. I've probably put more time in it than any other. I might have put more time in to card hunters back when. Maybe. (Card Hunters was also fantastic. Now I wonder what it's like all this time later. My account must long since be gone, but I saw it is on Steam now. Email says I played in 2013. Holy crap time flies)
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Re: Slay the Spire

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@Paingod, I think there's certainly an element of getting 'good' cards over 'bad,' but only really once you get up past, say, Ascension level 5 or 6. At the base game level, there are a bunch of strategies that can be successful with each character, and IMO the game's more about being flexible and adopting a strategy that works with the cards you've drawn early on.
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LordMortis
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Re: Slay the Spire

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Zaxxon wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:31 am @Paingod, I think there's certainly an element of getting 'good' cards over 'bad,' but only really once you get up past, say, Ascension level 5 or 6. At the base game level, there are a bunch of strategies that can be successful with each character, and IMO the game's more about being flexible and adopting a strategy that works with the cards you've drawn early on.
Even for The Watcher(?)? Hawp, pwease.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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LordMortis wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:43 am
Zaxxon wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:31 am @Paingod, I think there's certainly an element of getting 'good' cards over 'bad,' but only really once you get up past, say, Ascension level 5 or 6. At the base game level, there are a bunch of strategies that can be successful with each character, and IMO the game's more about being flexible and adopting a strategy that works with the cards you've drawn early on.
Even for The Watcher(?)? Hawp, pwease.
Ironically, I've done the best at the Watcher--I'm up to Ascension 10. A few thoughts:

-One of the biggest keys that took me awhile to realize with Watcher is that it's just as important to be able to quickly leave a stance as it is to achieve the stance. The 'Empty' cards (eg Empty Body, Empty Fist, Empty Mind) are typically pretty big in my deck. For the same reason, it's also important not to let your deck get too big. I find myself declining to add a card far more often with the Watcher than with the other characters. I need those stance-altering cards to rotate through frequently. No room for chaff. You don't want to be stuck in Wrath one turn too long. Specifically, building your deck to allow you to rotate from Calm at the start of a turn into Wrath (and therefore generating extra Energy to use that turn on attacks) is important.

-A deck stacked with Pressure Points can be devastating. You can't really plan to do this one, just take advantage when it falls in your lap. If you can work three upgraded Pressure Points, you can be a damage-dealing machine because of the way it stacks across enemies.

-Retaining cards is also important: Deceive Reality (generates Safeties, retained Block cards) and Carve Reality (generates Smites, retained Attack cards) both can be useful. If you can stock up on Smites, then switch to Wrath and apply them, you're taking someone out. The cards that not only retain but improve themselves each turn retained are awesome (Perseverance, Sands of Time, Windmill Strike). If you also find yourself with Establishment (which does stack with the cost-reduction of Sands of Time, making SoT free after 2 turns retained), long battles will bend your way.

-I don't typically start out worrying about Mantra, but if you fall into cards that generate it each turn (Devotion) or in big chunks (Worship), it can be powerful. Especially if you can also get your hands on Brilliance (high damage, gets ludicrous if you're also high on Mantra).

-I love Deva Form, and if you can get your hands on it and upgrade it so it's not Ethereal, you're in good shape.

-Other misc cards I like to grab whenever I see them: Judgment (makes short work of minions and first-chapter baddies if you can get it early), Lesson Learned (applied judiciously will upgrade a third of your deck for you by the final boss), and Wish (upgrade it and the 8 plated armor is a huge help).

If I were to boil the Watcher down to a few keys, it'd be: make sure you can alter your stance easily through a tight deck, use retained cards when your deck allows it, and utilize Scrying to further improve your ability to change stances quickly.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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Zaxxon wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:31 am @Paingod, I think there's certainly an element of getting 'good' cards over 'bad,' but only really once you get up past, say, Ascension level 5 or 6. At the base game level, there are a bunch of strategies that can be successful with each character, and IMO the game's more about being flexible and adopting a strategy that works with the cards you've drawn early on.
I have no idea what "Ascension Level 5" might be.

My extent of the game so far is beating the first three big bosses twice, seeing a plaque after the credits that looks like I need to use all three primary characters to activate it, and getting dropped back into the menu. I've been having fun and enjoying the ride. I've kind of avoided Wiki's - but maybe it's time to hit one.
LordMortis wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:26 amI don't remember which character is which...
I don't remember their names off the top of my head, but there's the Berserker (Red), Mystic (Green), and Robot (Blue) - as well as a Purple character I haven't even touched yet.
LordMortis wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:26 amthey were about figuring out the groove you needed to get in to and then letting luck choose the specifics.
I've had a few setups that felt like I could get a "Groove" out of them, but ultimately they failed
Last edited by Paingod on Mon Jan 20, 2020 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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Now, I gotta go back
Zaxxon wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:57 am -One of the biggest keys that took me awhile to realize with Watcher is that it's just as important to be able to quickly leave a stance as it is to achieve the stance.
Did that.

The 'Empty' cards (eg Empty Body, Empty Fist, Empty Mind) are typically pretty big in my deck.
Don't remember.
For the same reason, it's also important not to let your deck get too big.
Definitely did that. My vague memory, is the last thing I was trying was to have to totally mitigate luck by setting myself up to have like all 15 cards or so in hand at all times but my memory is vague. This could screwed up badly by enemies that add to your hand.

I remember stacking shields was the last thing I was working while actually de-emphasizing attacks but then getting my ass handed to me by large mobs or crazy tough fast elites (or the last last boss)
I find myself declining to add a card far more often with the Watcher than with the other characters.
That was almost a given. I was very picky about adds. Much more so than with any other class.
-A deck stacked with Pressure Points can be devastating. You can't really plan to do this one, just take advantage when it falls in your lap. If you can work three upgraded Pressure Points, you can be a damage-dealing machine because of the way it stack across enemies.
Don't even remember what that is.
-Retaining cards is also important:
I remember doing a lot of experimentation with this. I also remember ironically that luck seemed to play into it.
If I were to boil the Watcher down to a few keys, it'd be: make sure you can alter your stance easily through a tight deck, use retained cards when your deck allows it, and utilize Scrying to further improve your ability to change stances quickly.
I swear that's where I was but I was getting nowhere.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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Paingod wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 11:08 am I don't remember their names off the top of my head, but there's the Berserker (Red), Mystic (Green), and Robot (Blue) - as well as a Purple character I haven't even touched yet.
It's been a while but the mystic green was at its strongest by concentrating both on small attacks and big attacks. Shivs and then things that got stronger as more cards were played. Power cards were especially strong Green and Blue. Taking little things and making them big things while also never having to see the card up again so you could cycle little things a lot.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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Wiki for memory enhancement.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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LordMortis wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 11:13 amShivs and then things that got stronger as more cards were played. Power cards were especially strong Green and Blue. Taking little things and making them big things while also never having to see the card up again so you could cycle little things a lot.
I think my best run to date with Green involved getting a card that gave +4 damage to any "zero" cost attack (Shivs) and having another card that transformed my entire hand into shivs. On Turn 1, I could (with luck) add +4 to my attacks and turn all my other cards (like 6 or 7 of them) into 10 damage freebies.

The Robot (Blue) was a monster, but took time to warm up - summoning orbs, adding Powers. Having a Bandage (+4 or +6 HP) and Self-Repair (+7 or +10 HP at the end of the fight) was essential for him because it'd take a couple turns of being drubbed to get enough Powers activated that he became a steamroller. When I beat the Level 3 boss last time, I think I had something like 12 Focus (orbs did 12 damage) and 8 orbs out at once. Brutal.

Re: Deck Size, I have trouble restraining from picking up cards that even vaguely click with the theme that's working, often leaving me with several mis-matched cards early on as I just try to get some power under my belt. I think by the time I hit that last boss on Level 3, I'm usually up to ~25 cards and often drawing or using 5-7 per turn.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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There we go, that's what I did for the silent. Poison or shiv. Whichever is thrown at you early and then work it. Again both were built around heavy power and many of the power cards would enhance either route.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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LordMortis wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 11:21 am There we go, that's what I did for the silent. Poison or shiv. Whichever is thrown at you early and then work it. Again both were built around heavy power and many of the power cards would enhance either route.
That jives with my recollection of what I usually did, although I haven't played the Silent in awhile as I've been focused on the Watcher.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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OK, the Watcher it totally different than when I last played...
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Re: Slay the Spire

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LordMortis wrote:OK, the Watcher it totally different than when I last played...
It was very beta until the last couple of months.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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I still really struggle with Silent (Green). I get that the builds need to focus on either Shivs or Poison. My best runs so far end around the middle of the 3rd act. Those involved Poison - lots of it... but I kept getting whittled down battle after battle because poison takes a while to work and build up - and in Act 3 there's a lot of harder triple-foe battles.

The other two characters I got through to the end of Act 3 in one evening each pretty much. Silent had been bouncing back to start for three days now and I'm getting tired of it.

In both cases, I end up with too many ordinary cards, maybe. I feel like I need to pick up whatever I can in Act 1 just to get through it, but then halfway through Act 2 I have an unclear mess that sort of works and it's just going to come down to RNG to determine if I can make it. I don't think this is one of those games where every start has the possibility of beating the final boss. Hell, some don't even pass Act 1.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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Paingod wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 8:08 am I still really struggle with Silent (Green). I get that the builds need to focus on either Shivs or Poison. My best runs so far end around the middle of the 3rd act. Those involved Poison - lots of it... but I kept getting whittled down battle after battle because poison takes a while to work and build up - and in Act 3 there's a lot of harder triple-foe battles.

The other two characters I got through to the end of Act 3 in one evening each pretty much. Silent had been bouncing back to start for three days now and I'm getting tired of it.

In both cases, I end up with too many ordinary cards, maybe. I feel like I need to pick up whatever I can in Act 1 just to get through it, but then halfway through Act 2 I have an unclear mess that sort of works and it's just going to come down to RNG to determine if I can make it. I don't think this is one of those games where every start has the possibility of beating the final boss. Hell, some don't even pass Act 1.
Blocks, and maybe powers with blocks that don't go away. I haven't played the Silent in a long time (this might actually get me back to it, I raised an ascension level for the Watcher last night)

If you think you are ending up with too many cards, you probably are. In most games I've played with most characters, I might strive to have a maximum of 15 cards that aren't powers or exhaustible, 15 even feels like a high number to write. I often choose my paths but 1 most fire, 2 most shops, 3 most ?, or sometimes 3, most elites, depending on how good I feel about my where my deck and item are. I spend a considerable effort finding ways to pull starting cards out of my deck, rather than putting more cards in to dilute the relative weakness of starting cards.

Also if you are going to take any card that costs 3+ (and many that cost 2) you should very consciously think about how they are fitting in to your play. If you don't reliable ways to build energy, a 3 cost card will be you only play once every 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 rounds, depending on your deck size and draw ability. For a non exhaustible attack or skill, that's a huge price to pay again and again. It better be a creature killer or gimmick like life regeneration or huge future energy bank and draw card.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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I was thinking about my last game with Silent (Green) and I'm pretty sure I was around 40+ cards. Several "Attack All", a few powers, and as many 0-cost cards as I could get. I tend to avoid stuffing too many "Exhaust" cards in my deck, but maybe I shouldn't if I'm bloating it.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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Paingod wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:03 am I was thinking about my last game with Silent (Green) and I'm pretty sure I was around 40+ cards. Several "Attack All", a few powers, and as many 0-cost cards as I could get. I tend to avoid stuffing too many "Exhaust" cards in my deck, but maybe I shouldn't if I'm bloating it.
Yeah, 40 is far too many. I'm not as extreme as LM with 15, but 40 is a lot. Whenever you are presented with the option to add a new card, ask yourself why you're adding that card in particular. Is it expanding your capabilities? Does it essentially replace a weaker card (which you should then try to get rid of)? Etc. If it's not clearly better or needed for your strategy, don't take it. After Act 1, I probably only take a card half the time or less. And when I find myself with a relic that allows me to do other things (eg adding HP) instead, I do that often.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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I think, at best, I only manage to remove cards maybe 3 or 4 times before I get to the end of Act 3. After each battle, I try and weigh the options and if any cards don't fit the general theme of what I want to do, I skip them. If one does, though, I'll add it without hesitation. I think the concept of "trying to dilute the weakness of the starting cards" is more what I'm attempting to do since I can't seem to get rid of weak cards naturally.

The routes I plot tend to favor more fights, fewer question marks, and as many campfires per Act as I can get (with the last to heal before the boss if I'm under 1/2 health). I find the "unknown" spots somewhat vexing as they seem to be 50/50 helpful or wasteful. The Elite fights I consider case-by-case based on the strength of my deck. If I'm feeling good, I aim for them. If not, I avoid them.

My technique of building big decks that weigh heavily towards a single theme, sprinkled with synergies, might simply work better or be less of a hindrance for Ironclad (Red) and Defect (Blue). I don't struggle with either of them.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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A couple thoughts on that:

-You're right that you only have a few chances to remove (though you can generally get one or two more by favoring ? sites). This is why it's important not to add too many.

-My strategy is heavy on question marks. There are *a lot* of very good ones, and just getting one fortuitous ? can change your whole run.

-You really shouldn't need to use any campfires for healing in Act I (including the final one before the boss). If you can't use them all for upgrades, your chance of making it to the end are slim (in my experience). I typically aim to hit the final Act I boss with 30+ health, and that'll generally get me through. Those early upgrades are too important to miss out on.
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Re: Slay the Spire

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Paingod wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:33 am I think, at best, I only manage to remove cards maybe 3 or 4 times before I get to the end of Act 3.
That's about right. It's not about how many you remove. It's about how many you don't add. If I am recalling anything close to reality, there are 4 basic attack and 4 basic defense you are trying to get rid of. So really the goal is 8 cards. In a great game I might get rid of six of them. This usually requires an abundance of convenient shops and the remove a card is always 50 gold relic or some lucky ? pulls that allow my to pull card from the deck.

When pulling basic cards while also not over collecting cards, you need to know if you are going to be more attack or more skill (usually block) heavy. The goal is to create your own luck. Attacks when you need skills and skills when you need attacks are mind killer.
The routes I plot tend to favor more fights, fewer question marks, and as many campfires per Act as I can get (with the last to heal before the boss if I'm under 1/2 health). I find the "unknown" spots somewhat vexing as they seem to be 50/50 helpful or wasteful. The Elite fights I consider case-by-case based on the strength of my deck. If I'm feeling good, I aim for them. If not, I avoid them.
Fights mean little to me as the odds of the great cards aren't great. Especially at the beginning. I'm looking for relics and to not lose hit points so I can upgrade key cards at camp rather than worry about staying alive. ? are a gamble but the gamble is mostly good. Every once in a while you get a "Whoops. Game over." gamble but that might be once every three or four games.

I concur on the elites. Of course, if I'm not feeling good about them, then I'm not feeling good about my chances in general.



Of all of the things you've said, I'd start experimenting with going heavy ? and call the rounds a learning waste. Get a feel for how they work and you can make them work for you.


I can't speak to the exhaust cards and your play style. I like the exhaust (the fit my vibe at the time) and power cards because they allow me to do specific things and then get a deck pared down to do what it needs to do. The danger of too many power cards a small deck is that you can screw one or two or three opening rounds. So if it looks like I'm headed to 8 or 9 power cards then having more than 15 or even 20 non burnable skill/attack cards can be on the table, especially when you luck get synergy combos.


edit: Looking at the wiki it's 8-10 cards, with 10 being the Silent, who has a larger draw/opening. So a great game is probably 7 card removals.


Also, is there anything more annoying that damned twig relic that turns exhaust cards into random (colorless?) cards?
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by Zaxxon »

I also dump the base cards less often than LM, apparently. I do generally remove some, but I'll favor trying to upgrade some of the rest, either via normal upgrades, a relic that upgrades them for me, or temporary in-battle upgrades or cost reductions. My removals tend to be about 50% curses I've picked up and 50% base cards.

Getting the relic to upgrade all strikes/defends after spending half a run removing them is a downer, for sure.
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LordMortis
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by LordMortis »

I don't tend to pick up curses unless they have a great upside. I don't use campfires on upgrading basic attack/blocks. If they upgrade by chance outcome from ? or relics then they get kept for sure. I will occasionally play transform roulette, depending on options offered to me when that offer comes up.

Also I learned last night that I made it generally to Ascension level 6 and 7 for the three characters before the Watcher, so Zax has a better handle than I do, being at level 10. ;)
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by Zaxxon »

I'm only at 10 on two of them. 8 on Ironclad and 6 on Silent. I need to give up my Watcher fetish and work on Silent again.
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by LordMortis »

Dunno if this helps but this was my last win with the silent in September

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(and my win with the watch last night)

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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by LordMortis »

Tonight's run was level 3 watcher. Ended with 23 cards. One was a bad pick. Of the remaining there were 4 attacks and 7 skills that did not exhaust. So there were ultimately 11 recycling cards. That's pretty typical for me, maybe a tad light, as I get good luck on the removes. (Pulled out 8 of the 9 starting strike/blocks)
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by Zaxxon »

Made it to the final boss on Silent 6, but flamed out halfway thru. Bummer.
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by Paingod »

Finally! The last boss was the Time Slug. I had to be careful to only play 5 to 7 cards per turn so my turns didn't end prematurely, and even then I only survived by one round. I won by going heavy shielding with 20 Caltrop damage - so every time he hit me, he'd be hitting himself. That was the entire strategy. Draw hard & fast, heavy shields, retribution damage. Footwork+ (3 DEX), Backflip (Block 5/7 with Draw 2), and Caltrops+ (5 retribution dmg) was the deck, really.

The single-use cards in the 42-card deck: Adrenaline (1), Backstab (2), Caltrops+ (4), Footwork+ (2), Infinite Blades (1), Tools of the Trade (1), Well Laid Plans (1), Piercing Wail (2), Bandage Up (1). That's 15 cards used once, leaving 27 cards to cycle through with LOTS of "Draw & Discard" or "Draw". The Kite really helped with Energy, too. Since I was discarding cards each turn, each turn I got a free Energy point. I think on some turns I had up to 6 Energy to spend.

Finding a Blood Vial early on and THEN finding the Vampire ? (trade all Strikes for Bites) meant I had access to self-healing instead of Strikes, too. I survived longer than I could have maybe, through incremental self-heals by using "Bite" when I could (1 energy, 7 dmg, heal 2).

Piercing Wail (-6 or -8 STR to all enemies, Exhaust) and Neutralize (Weak 1) helped in pivotal points to cut enemy damage.

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2021-01-20: The first good night's sleep I had in 4 years.
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by Zaxxon »

Congrats!
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by Paingod »

Thanks!

I think, knowing what the deck ended up being, if I could deliberately build it, I would have included more "Weak" cards so enemies always had -25% Dmg. I admit, though, that the four "Hit all foes" cards came in handy with a number of early fights and in places with 3 enemies.
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by LordMortis »

Paingod wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 7:34 am Finally!
Yay!


LOTS of "Draw & Discard" or "Draw". The Kite really helped with Energy, too.
Rolling with the punches. That's what the game is all about. Energy + Draw is a winner. If memory serves, I think it's an easier winner for the Silent and the Defect than the Ironclad or watcher, where energy (and drawing) is harder to come by. Though I'm still new to the Watcher, energy + draw may be viable if there is a way to roll with the punches and move in to and out of calm on the cheap.
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by LordMortis »

On the Wiki to look up the name of the Defect and I see... Act IV? What?

https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/ ... i#Act%20IV
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by Zaxxon »

LordMortis wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:58 am On the Wiki to look up the name of the Defect and I see... Act IV? What?

https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/ ... i#Act%20IV
If you obtain all three crystal shards in a run, then you get to Act IV. I usually ignore it as I've been more focused on increasing ascension levels. Act IV is... hard.
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Re: Slay the Spire

Post by LordMortis »

Zaxxon wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:59 am
LordMortis wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:58 am On the Wiki to look up the name of the Defect and I see... Act IV? What?

https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/ ... i#Act%20IV
If you obtain all three crystal shards in a run, then you get to Act IV. I usually ignore it as I've been more focused on increasing ascension levels. Act IV is... hard.
Crystal shards? There is a whole part of this game I don't know anything about I guess.
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