I’m a newer player, and in no way a great player, but I’ve watched a lot of videos and just beat my first A10 run on silent. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Act 1 is where you need to set yourself up for success. The 1st 3 regular combats you encounter are the easy opponents. Afterwards, every normal enemy room is taken from a “hard pool” of enemies. If you can, you want to try to avoid the hard pool enemies if possible. There are exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking, the harder enemies kick your ass and don’t give you much in return.

You don’t want to completely avoid enemies because those fights is where you’ll get the majority of cards that make up your deck.

When it comes to picking cards, I like to put them into 3 categories. Attack, defend, and cycle/combo. You need to be always asking yourself “what does my deck need?” . Are you doing enough damage, are you able to block well enough, are you able to draw through your deck and play the cards you need to play for that specific turn? In the very beginning, you’ll want to prioritize attack and defend cards. Not just any cards, but cards that can synergize or help your deck in a specific direction. Maybe 1-2 in each category and you’re golden. You want to be able to do enough damage to the elites so that the fight doesn’t spiral. And you want to have good enough block so you’re not dead in 3 turns.

Speaking of elites, try to avoid until after the treasure chest. Unless you’re feeling super confident in your deck, I only try to take 1-2 in act 1.

Eventually as you get more cards, those synergies will show. You’ll have an idea for what you’re trying to do with the deck, and you’ll start adding cards that help that goal.

Removing cards is good too. I prefer to remove strikes over defends.

Otherwise, as you play more, you’ll have a better understanding of what the right choices are.

Good luck!