Asking for Help
Hello, I am in love with the game BUT I am kind of harstuck on A9 so I thought why not ask for some advise :) So here is the rundown of how I got here and I guess I'll try to describe what I am doing and where I am failing :)
So I made it to A4/5 on intuition alone (I havr like 200hrs in STS1) and then I got the advice to take more fights and less questionmarks and that kind of catapulted me to where I am now. I try to take 1-3 questionmarks per act and get a good mix of elite and Campfires in, totally dependong on what needa more. Around one shop per act dependeand on the path, usually late. Generally going into a run I'll try to grab the first actuall good damage card and then a good block card and see if I can build a synergy from there.
Now starting A9 I mostly get killed im the first 5 hallway fighta and I have no clue why. :/ Does anyone see a glaring problem with my gameplan so far? Am I maybe misjudging the power of somr cards amd thus taking the wrong cards?
And advice welcome thanks for taking the time!
Do you mean help for STS1 or STS2? I think it differs b/t the two.
Some general rules of thumb I've picked up from Baalor...
Neow bonus should help you get past the first elite. e.g. if there's no merchant before the first elite, don't take the 150 gold (as an example).
For STS2: Underdocks, prioritize defense, Overgrowth prioritize damage.
For STS1: Take card rewards that help you beat the first elite. Namely, prioritize damage over skils for G-Nob. Also AoE, in general, for lower level floors to help get past sentries and other normal fights that have multiple enemies. And "big" block cards in lower level floors, like Equilibrium.
Try to avoid taking multiple high-cost cards in the early floors, unless you happened to have taken a Neow bonus that gives you extra energy.
Thank you, I was indeed thinking about STS2 haha :D
And thanks for the tips, I appreciate it. Good spot woth the Underdocks/Overgrowth nudge, would have missed it otherwiese but I totally see how it is relevant to figure out these things quickly and fast ^^
It really depends on what you're dying to. Even top level players will die to Gremlin Nob and Lagavulin in STS1 if they don't get enough damage early on and Skulking Colony or Effigy in STS2 if they don't get enough block consistency. And the higher you climb, the more RNG will start to affect your early game.
It sounds like you have a good general plan already. In general, in Act 1 you want to prioritize getting a damage plan in place, especially for Ironclad and Watcher in STS1 and Ironclad and Regent in STS2. If you can kill enemies on turn one or two, you don't have to worry about block as much. Combats are more valuable if you can end them quickly because you get to see three cards, get some money, and possibly get a potion. If you see one or two good block cards, grab them for act 2.
Act 2 is generally a mixture of AOE fights, damage checks, and block checks. Slavers and Gremlin Leader in STS1, Decimillipede and Entomancer in STS2. Try to look for solutions to these in your card rewards. Draw is almost always valuable and can mitigate card draw RNG.
Act 3 is usually a scaling check. Can your deck scale fast enough to kill the boss before it kills you? In STS1, you usually want to aim for a 20-25 card deck that has consistency, in STS2, it's not unusual to end with a 30-35 card deck that's more versatile. These are just suggestions, not hard rules, if you can make a consistent fifty card deck or a versatile five card deck, go for it.
On the turn to turn level, always take a moment to check your draw pile before doing anything else. Turn off fast mode if you're playing too fast. Check for lethal before you play cards (I lost a Regent run recently because I could have killed but missed it). Check your relics for slow plays before you end combat (like setting up Pen Nib or Nunchaku). After that it's just making choices. Do you want to get weak or vuln in place or do a bunch of damage? Do you want to play a strike over a defend to trade health or try to greed out a few HP?
Baalorlord, FrostPrime, and jorbs are my go-to YouTube channels. I've heard good things about Xecnar and Japanese Exports as well.
Thank you so so kuch for this detailed explanation <3 For clarification I am struggling with STS2 and never git that deep into ascensions in the first part ^^
To your quastion what I am dying to: Idk, a mixtute but most of the time I feel like I can't consistently block enough, or kill fast enough so that enemies ramp up too fast. Although in my last couple of runs this has been getting a bit better ^^
Reading your explanation I think the thing that did call me out the most was the paragraph on the turn to turn decisions. I tend to fall into a rush quiet quiet easy, so checking my deck more and playing carda slower is probably whats can hrlp the best. On fights I feel like there is a 50/50 chance I notice a missplay right after I played my cards om how I could have saved hp or kissed lethal or sometjing like that. Like I only recently started to use potions becausr I always played so fast amd forgot about them ^^
Also thanks on thr deck size mention, I still had the number from STS1 in my head so I sometimes held myself back with picking up new cards because of decksize ^^