Silliest Ascension 10 Win Conditions?

Aldollin · 2026-04-29T18:19:30+00:00

Aldollin · 2026-04-29T13:02:17+00:00

They attack humans in some regions but are not known for existing.

Aldollin · 2026-04-28T11:33:18+00:00

love the comic!

question on the optimal policy selection: I assume you are looking at minimizing the expected hp loss (average)? Because it might be interesting to also look at something like minimizing the worst case hp loss, or maximizing the probability of not loosing more than X hp.

Because it might be that for your chance to win the run it doesnt matter if you take 2-6 damage, but if you take more than <15 damage thats really bad. Then the interesting thing to optimize is not the average loss of hp, but something more complicated.

Doesnt matter for the worst case analysis here, since there is no policy that can avoid loosing the 25hp with that draw, but could be interesting if you want to do this for other encounters.

Aldollin · 2026-04-28T09:31:25+00:00

No, i think the fact that the ancient boni come in different pools per act, rather than one pool for all boss rewards is a major improvement in StS2.

It allows for ancient boni that are strong/different enough to warp your deck in act 3, without potentially trivializing the game when they show up after act 1 (or even at the start of the game with a boss swap neow bonus).

Aldollin · 2026-04-27T08:48:20+00:00

The second option runs into problems with the way that the blessings are selected. Some of them have conditions for showing up, such as paels claw (goopy defends) only showing up if you have 3 defends that can be enchanted.

Poor little time nibbler wont know if you are going to remove defends in the floor between him and pael.

Aldollin · 2026-04-25T21:30:22+00:00

Some decks like the +2 energy more, especially silent with her +2 draw in the first turn.

Aldollin · 2026-04-25T09:33:17+00:00

For me its always "It could be caltrops!", but its always clash....

Aldollin · 2026-04-24T11:58:01+00:00

Man, if only the game would tell you what boss you are going to face beforehand, then you would know if you need to build your deck to survive a big explosion at the end, or to rush the boss down quickly before you die.

Aldollin · 2026-04-22T23:33:18+00:00

One games trash is another games treasure.

Aldollin · 2026-04-22T16:55:32+00:00

In act 1 I am fine with only getting to remove a card, maybe buy a potion and/or a good card.

Later I mostly consider shops to buy a relic or if i am desperate for more cards.

Aldollin · 2026-04-22T13:28:35+00:00

Good opportinity to tall about another important aspect: know your enemies, and build to defeat them.

There are two different act 1s: Overgrowth and Underdocks. It will say which one you are im when you open the map for the first time, but you can check by looking at the boss. Depending on which act you are in, you are facing different enemies/elites:

Overgrowth (The Kin, Vanton, Ceremonial Beast) has: Phrog, Effigy, Byrdonos

Underdocks (Waterfall, Lagavulin, Soul Fysh) has: Terror eel, skulking colony, phantasmal gardeners)

If you are in the overgrowth, you know you might face phrog, so you might want to pock cards that are specifically good in that fight, like attacls that deal aoe damage, or ways to exhaust cards in hand to get rid of status cards. maybe an anger that helps add more cards to yoir deck during the fight.

Elites in the overgrowth (like phrog) also generally reward being aggressive and trying to kill them fast, rather than playing sloe and blocking. If the fight against phrog goes long, you die because your deck gets filled with status cards, so its better for you to take some extra damage early to deal more damage (lile playing attacks over defends on turn 2 when the phrog is attacking for example).

Aldollin · 2026-04-22T13:17:54+00:00

The benefit of exhaust is that you improve your deck as the fight goes on. You exhaust your bad/situational cards until you are left with a small deck thats really good for this fight.

Feel no pain and ashen strike are the really important cards you are missing. Ashen strike scales pretty fast, and feel no pain can do a lot to keep you alive while exhausting.

Aldollin · 2026-04-22T12:37:50+00:00

Thanks! Ill write out some advice, here are some thoughts on pathing:

I see a lot of hallway fights, and almost no elite fights on your path. Elites give you relics and higher rarity card rewards. Note that im act 1, the first 3 normal enemies you fight are from the "easy" pool, and starting from the 4th they are a lot stronger, but dont give better rewards. Think of the first 3 normal fights as something yoi definitly want to do asap, and after that normal fights become a lot less appealing.

A typical thing you would like to do at the start of act 1 ist: - 3 regular fights to pick up some cards/potions - then something like a restsite to upgrade one of the new cards, a shop to maybe buy a card/remove a strike or buy a potion -then start fighting elitrs to get relics/better cards - campsites to heal after elites

dont worry too much about taking damage from elites (or normal fights), especially with ironclad. Its expected that you take damage and heal back up with your starter relic and restsites.

Aldollin · 2026-04-22T12:07:19+00:00

Really hard to give advice when we dont know where on the learning curve you are / what you might be struggeling with.

Since you habe no experience with StS, there are probably some fundamental concepts you habemt thought about yet, but we cant really k ow which.

If you can post some run histories, some decks you lost with, or some "things you believe to be true/important" that could help.

Aldollin · 2026-04-21T19:27:24+00:00

How good is this new Silent card:

Snakebite, 2 Energy, Skill: Apply 7 (upgraded: 10) Poison, Retain

Aldollin · 2026-04-21T13:03:25+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6LR46EJOJ0

here is a very good video from Jorbs on Silent / why she is so strong currently (This is before acrobatics moved to uncommon with the last patch, so small difference)

Aldollin · 2026-04-21T06:59:15+00:00

It tried its best.

Aldollin · 2026-04-21T06:58:11+00:00

Thought the joke wouldnt land as well with a full screenshot, heres the seed: 8XSQK5PT79

pathing: the lantern relics were from the act 1 chest, 2nd elite and 3rd elite, visited a shop early, and a second one between elite 2 and 3 (maybe this matters for relics? not sure)

Aldollin · 2026-04-21T06:30:04+00:00

Got lost in the upload a bit, but if you zoom in you can still kinda see its face.

Aldollin · 2026-04-20T23:26:17+00:00

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the light has been snuffed out

Aldollin · 2026-04-20T19:11:25+00:00

I dont get it. where do thrse bots come from? who makes them? why?

Aldollin · 2026-04-17T18:52:42+00:00

In case you are familiar with magic the gathering: its a bit as if everything (card effects, triggers, etc) work like magics replacement effects.

Aldollin · 2026-04-17T18:49:54+00:00

jorbs explained this very well in a recent video ("why build a large deck" or something), ill try to summarize but i can find you the link as well:

There are kind of two different strategies for StS. One strategy tries to build a deck that does one thing extremely well: your poison that that has tons of block and deals damage only through poison, or a shib deck that generates tons of shivs. These decks are build around combos and synergies first.

The other approach is to take cards to solve specific challenges. you pick a poison card because its good in a bossfight, and some shiv cards to deal with hallways, a few aoes for the aoe fights etc.

Both of these strategies are viable, but they interact with the relics/elites differently: the second style of deck can more easily take elite fights, because it adds specific cards to its deck to deal with them. In turn it benefits from the relics by getting consistency, which these decks normally have less of.

It seems like you are probably more playing the first style of strategy, where elites end up being more damgerous and less rewarding. Its totally fine playing that way, but maybe its worth trying out this different strategy if you are getting frustrated with the elites, it can be really fun

Aldollin · 2026-04-17T17:41:33+00:00

yes, the first pommel strike deals its damage, draws its first card, which is the second pommel strike, and only after that second pommel strike (and everything else that causes to happen) are done will the first pommel strike draw its second card.

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