Beginner Combat Builds

[E.X.D.]

I really love playing this game though one of my consistent issues is I have trouble building an effective combat deck. It's not to hard to create a halfway decent negotiation deck with whatever I have on hand but I find my combat decks often lack focus and don't synergize well. Sometimes it's just RNG and I'll try and build a bleed deck but never collect enough to be consistent but at other times it seems I'm just bad at picking a set of cards that works well.

What are your recommendations for good cards to grab to build an effective deck, what should I look for what should I avoid.

[TheCoolestFool]

I find getting rid of the starter cards is really important. If you ever get a chance to upgrade you can actually peek at each one and see your upgrade options. Remove the bad ones that have no synergy and keep the ones that expend or destroy. Don't fill your deck with ability cards early. they kinda clog up your hand in easier fights and will cost you hp over the day. Some cards that are pretty much no risk to take are silent steel, kidney shot, boulder stance, concentrate and rummage. I wouldn't grab to many concentrates though if i have a lot of item cards that I'm just using for replenish. Don't be afraid to skip cards the extra gold is worth it too.

Avoid using to many utility cards. No need to play to many muscle memory's, slippery's, leech, wind up,spines and other similar cards. Makes your turns less versatile if you draw a full hand of them. Some of my personal favorite cards are tackle, over extension, defensive surge,freighter,reversal, hemorrhage and uppercut. Footwork,battle scars,survival reflexes and wretched strike also pretty amazing once upgraded. Basically cards that seem like they provide a good chunk of damage or defense compared to the starter cards. I like doomed too very strong card but can be a liability before day 3. I kinda grab cards based on what i want to remove next. So if i get an attack ill probable remove a stab next.

My combo strategy is to grab like 2-3 combinations with 1x of carve and gash. Blade flurry as a finisher. As many shoulder rolls as i can find and defensive surge if i don't have many shoulder rolls. Inside fighting if you can find it and once you do I like to grab Switch blade. 1 of either size up or specialty.

Discard decks are pretty straight forward. As many into the night as you can find. Adapt is amazing once upgraded so try and use it to do so. Active defense, seeker and survival reflexes great defensive options. Slippery and battle scars can be nice to. Fill out with your favorite attack cards and attacks that discard. Item cards are great in discard decks as long as they have replenish. 1 wind up is nice or kredeshi barbstorm.

I rarely go full bleed deck. barnacle only good once upgraded to cost 1 and a lot of the bleed abilities are expensive. Usually tend to have a small deck if i do with defensive surge as my main defense. 2+ hemorrhage if you can find them. The other bleed cards are weak. Burst is okay option but one is good enough. Bleed can put out so much damage so quickly that i accidentally kill people so if your negotiation deck isn't strong it can make things tougher.

Also your negotiation deck is your best friend when it comes to winning fights. If its strong you can get allies on all boss fights except on day 2. Plus weasel your way out of fights where you would take so much hp damage. Some strong combat grafts are mostly any that give an extra action besides the one where enemies don't surrender. That one will probably make the fight last longer. Plus any graft that synergizes well with you deck obviously. I like the one that provides 1 wound to a random enemy per turn. Also the one that doubles wound effectiveness if i can reliably apply wound.

Best item cards to look out for is healing vapors pretty much always grab this if its available for tough fights. Portable bunker is super solid but pricey to buy. Lumin grenade,salve,tincture,shrapnel grenade,stun gun, tripwire, vroc whistle,nano device and combat drone are nice for the replenish effect until you find the right time to use them. The cards that the alchemist sells are all pretty good. Bile grenade does solid damage while serrated dirk is borderline over powered. The vial can be good to if it turns into something handy but the other options that come with purchasing it are sometimes to good to pass up. Sometimes i will stockpile spicy noodle cards for the day 3 boss if i feel like i can get there with no issue. Mostly if i feel like my negotiation deck is very strong early and helps me skip tougher fights but feel free to use them if you need to obviously.

This is all my personal experience while playing on prestige 7 and I've had more successful runs then i can remember at this point. Glad to see your enjoying the game and good luck on your future runs.

[E.X.D.]

This is all good advice, I think I need to play around more often with the consumable cards since I by principal never buy them. I've finally been having some success with basing a combat deck around having a small number of combo cards, and yes it helps to get rid of all my starter cards. Combo decks can be weak on the defense though unless I grab a few shoulder rolls and those can really help tank a lot.

[The Real Mike]

1. Only pick cards for defense/discard/counter - but make sure you pick discard and gets use out of discard in equal measure. Don't be afraid to skip a Duster every now and then.

2. Kill everybody. Gets you loads of consumables. Use these consumables.

3. Upgrade cards to draw and 0 cost

4. Profit.