Sal PACIFIST run.

[LETSCHAT]

I really love the state the game is in right now and only seeing it get better.  In the meanwhile, I tried a pacifist run through Sal's campaign.  Simple rules:

+Don't kill anyone (including beasts, Kashio, the 3rd Night Assassin, Bosses, etc.)

+At every opportunity, take the least violent option (paying off debts, convincing people to walk away)

+Don't indirectly cause harm through inaction (Save the yote, rescue your friends, basically try to have as many characters as possible alive by the end of the game)

The only exception was at the docks where one of the quarantine guards made the final blow on that Night's Boss (the one the spawned babies).  This boss spawns without any form of panic so there was no other way to defeat it.  Having one of the guards that wasn't a "real" part of my party land the killing blow felt more appropriate.

My combat deck naturally sucked.  My combat strategy was a defense+discard deck with a heavy reliance on "Efficient Disposal" (planned early on to get rid of Kashio's dopplegangers) and "Wind Up"  (which was my only offensive option, and involved repeatedly discarding those cards until I could attack with 20, 40, 60 etc. each progressive turn.  Everything else was healing and defense until I could quickly stop enemies in one shot.  I call it the One Punch Deck.).  My original intention was to develop some version of a Discard+Counter deck, which had been good for solo tankier runs at the highest prestige levels.  I also didn't want to run the risk of having any of my party members die.  But with the right RNG, a lot of Counter mechanics can become really over-powered and end up killing enemies unintentionally.  Plus, I knew I wasn't going to have many combat opportunities to level cards as the needed. So I instead focused on a defense-discard style what would allow me survive and chip away at health pools just enough so that I could cause folks to panic. 

My negotiation deck was god-tier.  I've been calling it an Auto Deck, which is essentially a lean deck composed of draw cards and Solid Point (a card that can deal damage and offer influence when drawn).  When upgraded, Solid Point can deal 3 damage each time it's drawn and a lot of cards can essentially reset your hand.  Planning is a great card that moves Solid Points to the top of your draw pile + draws more Solid Points.  There's other cards that attack and draw at the same time.  And graft synergies are fantastic, such as the "Attack each time you gain influence" + "Draw extra cards" + etc.  When set up especially well, you basically start Negotiations, wait a few seconds, and win in one turn (dealing up to 50 dmg at just the start, 90-110 dmg by the end of the turn).  I find Solid Point to be slightly buggy and and maybe a bit OP, but it's a hard task to really set up this deck well.  It's a process that involves finding Amnesiator (destroy select card) cards, buying drinking pals who'll give you a discount or give you a chance to haggle so you can befriend a card merchant to remove cards for you (and have the cash to do it).  There's a justifiable amount of leg work and game knowledge needed to make the deck that I think just the process of building is fun and the outcome is a suitable reward.

Playing as a pacifist really opened up my point of view of a lot of story lines I wouldn't have normally picked in Griftlands.  I ended the game with most characters loving me and chipping in on negotiations to support me.  I got offered boons and grafts I never expected to get.  At the end of it I got the standard Kashio ending but Sal's words carried a bit more weight to all.  "I did this because it *wasn't* easy."  I actually felt like less of a mercenary and more like a hero.  

 

The last battle was super rough.  It took me down to 2 HP.  A pocket counter card and some math helped me make a meaningful end to a long experimental journey.

 

My hope is that Griftlands has the support and time it needs to do a joint mission venture with Sal, Rook, and the third character.  Thanks for reading.

[RageLeague]

how do you still get 7 people to dislike you?

[LETSCHAT]

I sided with Admirality, which is just a bunch of administrative tasks like collecting taxes, issuing summons, clearing out hideouts (imc, kindly asking sais bandits to leave... or else), and corralling folks to be arrested.  You'll irk people naturally on the route.  The alt. is siding with Spree and straight up merking people.

[warlepidoptera]

That's great! I would like to try that out at some point too! But I'm stil trying to figure out Rook decks rn 

[Wumpus the 19th]

i tried a run where i'd only negotiate and fight as little as possible. once i remembered i could run away, it got easier. i ended the game with 6 battles won because i had all 5 boss fights that were mandatory and (one) accidental fight against a spree member helping Oolo on day 5 (i don't really care since it was the last day, i just used my day reset, and it changed nothing by the kashio fight).

i also played on prestige 0...also i wanted to know Oloo's boon, so i refused to take the spree card...not worth it, i must admit.

also Kashio is an arse, but i realized that going in with at least one open graft slot can mean you could get sage conversion (increases max HP, heals that amount) or blast chamber(a free damn action every turn). also the holobelt still has a bug where the first attacking holo kashio (A clone-shio, if you will) is the real kashio.

[LETSCHAT]

Quote

also the holobelt still has a bug where the first attacking holo kashio (A clone-shio, if you will) is the real kashio."

You are a saint!  I was looking for a way to figure that out.  I opted for using Efficient Disposal, which randomly shoots out damage and you shuffle through your deck.  Fake holo's don't stand a chance.  

 

I support that Rook comment.  Rook's deck is still something I'm wrapping my head around.

[TF3]

6 minutes ago, LETSCHAT said:

You are a saint!  I was looking for a way to figure that out.  I opted for using Efficient Disposal, which randomly shoots out damage and you shuffle through your deck.  Fake holo's don't stand a chance. 

This was fixed in the previous patch. Real Kashio no longer attacks first.

[Wumpus the 19th]

4 minutes ago, LETSCHAT said:

You are a saint! 

First of all thank you for stroking my ego

Secondly, I'm thinking of starting a thread for kashio and the auction items, since I only realized from my "sal: master diplomat" run that sage conversion buffs the player's max health.

 

[LETSCHAT]

29 minutes ago, TF3 said:

This was fixed in the previous patch. Real Kashio no longer attacks first.

Oh well.  Efficient Disposal still a good option.  It expends itself and typically most decks have a discard synergy component.  

 

IMO, Combat decks are:

 Defense+Counter > Bleed > Counter > Combo

36 minutes ago, Wumpus the 19th said:

First of all thank you for stroking my ego

Secondly, I'm thinking of starting a thread for kashio and the auction items, since I only realized from my "sal: master diplomat" run that sage conversion buffs the player's max health.

 

Yeah, I'd be happy to see it.