Negotiation is Overrated (Prestige 1)

[LETSCHAT]

Combat Only run is super fun.  

Here's some notes:

• The deck I built (Counter/Defense/Discard+Windup) was so OP I was *healing* faster than most enemies could hurt me.  Like 40 HP per turn levels of craziness because of Seeker (maneuver card that heals).  I got three Seekers by Day 2 and just started steamrolling from there.  If I had gotten this deck at prestige 16 or higher I would have absolutely no trouble at all.  Chalk it up to lucky RNG.
• The benefits of the Counter/Defense/Discard deck is that each turn you can assess if you should spend the turn healing, dealing damage, or building counter.  You don't always have to attack/stack bleed/build counter, there's some keen strategy.  However, past Day 3 the deck becomes so OP that it's largely just playing cards in nearly any order.  It's easy to get 99 counter and 99 defense by the end of each turn.  But you don't have to max everything out, which can be exhausting/boring. 
• The only drawback is that the deck is pretty slow to set up and requires at least three turns before all the synergy cards can be activated.  The first few turns is largely just cycling through the deck and trying to find all the synergy cards (Spikes, Efficient Disposal, Boulder Stance) + Footwork to gain more actions + Adapt to find more synergy cards ---> Discarding to build Windup.
• Hardest part of the game is the mission RNG.  Sometimes you run into situations where it looks like you can only do Negotiation missions.  Thankfully, conceding out of these negotiations lets you go back on your combat spree--but you have to take the dislike/hate.
• Speaking of hate, surprisingly ended the run with very few people hating me--largely because you kill so many people that you have disagreements with.
• Hardest fight is the docks mission, which in most cases you may have to do solo. 
• I recorded my fight with Kashio:  

 

[Wumpus the 19th]

i had done a run that tried to do the opposite, only negotiation

it's a pretty neat challenge, both combat only and negotiation only, however in negotiation you need to allow at least 5 fights against the bosses, which means building up a combat deck.

until i figure out how screenshots work again, maybe you should try that? see how it works out?

[LETSCHAT]

39 minutes ago, Wumpus the 19th said:

i had done a run that tried to do the opposite, only negotiation

it's a pretty neat challenge, both combat only and negotiation only, however in negotiation you need to allow at least 5 fights against the bosses, which means building up a combat deck.

until i figure out how screenshots work again, maybe you should try that? see how it works out?

I'd actually like the option of a fully supported Negotiation only run--even with Kashio, and just make the battles ridiculously challenging.  

[RageLeague]

Too easy to go infinite in negotiation compared to combat. Or at least, deal like 300 damage a turn or something.

I have a serious question: why did you discard visionary footwork t1? I just don't get it.

Are you really able to hire a mercenary on day 5? Or is that a friend who tags along with you? Or the no bystander flag in the final fight didn't work for some reason?

[pacovf]

I presume the mutator that makes mercenaries tag along forever was in use. No idea about the bystander flag, normally you shouldn't be able to get there with any other ally than your pet, so it probably hasn't been tested properly.

[SpicyNiceCream]

(I think) the no bystander flag just means npc in the area won't join you/your enemy cause they love/hate you. The ones that are already in your team are not effected. 

[LETSCHAT]

1 hour ago, RageLeague said:

Too easy to go infinite in negotiation compared to combat. Or at least, deal like 300 damage a turn or something.

I have a serious question: why did you discard visionary footwork t1? I just don't get it.

Are you really able to hire a mercenary on day 5? Or is that a friend who tags along with you? Or the no bystander flag in the final fight didn't work for some reason?

 Visionary footwork:  (why so serious)  Just lazy card play.  Once you play Spikes, Efficient Disposal, and Boulder Stance with a deck full of Seekers, it's impossible to lose any combat engagement without trying.  I'd been coasting combat since Day 2. I wasn't taking the fight seriously until T2 of the final boss battle. 

Merc:  There's mutators that let you have allies stick with you.  I also have vendetta and other mutators in play that best synergize with a counter/defense/discard style deck. Same reason why all the card packs are off.

 

Not sure about the flags. 

46 minutes ago, pacovf said:

I presume the mutator that makes mercenaries tag along forever was in use. No idea about the bystander flag, normally you shouldn't be able to get there with any other ally than your pet, so it probably hasn't been tested properly.

Huh, I've always been able to take allies with me even with the mutator off.  Could be plays from older builds tho.  

 

A negotiation final battle is totally feasible. 

[Maniafig]

I actually tried a run like this for Rook but wound up in a situation during the second half of day 1 where I had no option but to negotiate with Arin after killing the informant I was supposed to bring to her, surprisingly enough failing the negotiation directly led to a game over instead of combat, which was quite surprising.

Does anyone know of other instances where failing to negotiate gives an instant game over? 

[SpicyNiceCream]

who need mercs when you can have the boys instead.

[LETSCHAT]

7 hours ago, Maniafig said:

I actually tried a run like this for Rook but wound up in a situation during the second half of day 1 where I had no option but to negotiate with Arin after killing the informant I was supposed to bring to her, surprisingly enough failing the negotiation directly led to a game over instead of combat, which was quite surprising.

Does anyone know of other instances where failing to negotiate gives an instant game over? 

I'm still waiting for the Rook campaign to get out of experimental before I sink my teeth into it.  Also thinking of speedrunning Sal's campaign, so I played it a number of times.  I've never seen a situation where a negotiation can run the risk of failing an entire game.  I actually don't like that.  I hope that's something that gets fixed--or is at least warned before you start the negotiation in the same way as "This is an Intimidation Attempt" :  "This negotiation is do or die!"

[RageLeague]

In rook's campaign on day 1 you can die from negotiation failure.

(Also mutators don't count for the challenge. I didn't have any mutators when I did prestige 0)

[LETSCHAT]

1 hour ago, RageLeague said:

In rook's campaign on day 1 you can die from negotiation failure.

(Also mutators don't count for the challenge. I didn't have any mutators when I did prestige 0)

>"Mutators dont count."

Cool story brony

>"Prestige 0"

Cute.

[RageLeague]

3 minutes ago, LETSCHAT said:

>"Mutators dont count."

Cool story brony

>"Prestige 0"

Cute.

Your title is literally my title with prestige 1 after it. And doing this prestige 1 doesn't really change much compared to prestige 0 since you have no friends that are willing to fight for you without forcing party members to never leave.

[pacovf]

People can play whichever way they want and is fun for them. It would be nice to know the mutators used when achieving something that is admittedly hard, and why they were used, so other people know what to expect if they try it themselves.

It’s not terribly important either way. We’re talking about a game, let’s all be chill.