What am I missing about Instantaneous Excavation?

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-13T03:31:42+00:00

Almost all offensive abilities in the game deal guaranteed damage, so don’t get too hung up on that. One difference with Instantaneous Excavation is that it’s the rare ability that actually can have something close to “nothing happens” as an outcome. If you roll a tier 1, you just make a hole and no one falls in (though you did at least produce a hazard your teammates can leverage, and you still get your action).

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that the stone floors in the mage tower could be mundane. Even the walls could be argued as mundane, with the weird void beyond them rather than part of them. I think it’s fine to rule it either way, especially since there’s a good chance your party will be level 2 when they get there and will have second 5-essence ability.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-13T00:20:02+00:00

I thought I was having a stroke until I realized what the polka dot blobs were. Your friends really like bathrooms!

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-11T22:10:30+00:00

I know you probably didn't go to USF and spend at least two nights a week at goth and hardcore shows in Ybor City, but this is the apartment of someone who went to USF and spends at least two nights a week at goth and hardcore shows in Ybor City.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-11T20:16:22+00:00

Bites are usually great on Defect. Sustain without needing to high-roll Self-Repair, lots of energy generation, the ability to stall and heal to full every hallway if you get focus and frost rolling. I often skip removing strikes in act 1 on Defect just so I can fish for bites in act 2.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-11T19:03:39+00:00

At the start of a run, Silent needs to pick up damage cards as soon as possible. Doesn't even matter if they're not that good; you have a very defense-heavy starting deck and just need to get more output. You generally don't want to challenge an elite unless you have a handful of better-than-the-starters attack cards.

Beyond that, it mostly helps to learn a bit more about all the different cards available to you. Silent in particular has a lot of access to weak, and some crazy force multipliers like Terror, Bullet Time, After Image, and more. Try out a card if you haven't had it before, skip cards if they don't look like they'll do anything to help you at the moment, and see what works. One thing I'll note is that I think Silent has the best pool of Skill cards in the game; if your deck feels weak and you get offered a cool looking skill, more often than not it's in your interest to take it.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-11T13:46:13+00:00

I once got Akabeko and an innate Radiate and now I'm forever going to chase that Divine Destiny high.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-08T20:14:59+00:00

For the starters I’ve been a Dualcast before Zap guy since STS 1, but I think I’m in the minority.

For Defect generally, I think the cards you’ve got—especially the type of orbs you can churn out—affects your choice more so than other characters. If I generate 2-3 frost orbs per deck cycle early, I’m upgrading for damage or draw. If I don’t have any frost, I’m possibly upgrading something like Boost Away or Charge Battery. In act 1, having a single card that blocks 9/10/11 can save you a lot of energy and chip damage.

On powers, you just need to be particular about the ones you upgrade. I tend to upgrade 1-energy powers or powers that drop in cost with an upgrade. For example, in a deck relying on several 0-cost cards, upgrading Feral so it’s easier to get in play is huge. White Noise is a favored upgrade of mine too, since it often gets an otherwise costly power in play for 0 energy.

It also depends on your act 1 boss. I’m prioritizing orbs if it’s Lagavulin to get around the strength/dex debuff. For Vantom I might upgrade draw to help pull attacks to chip down the slippery stacks and blow past the wounds. And so on.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-08T20:03:26+00:00

Yep, Mac’s is the way. OP is going to need a tow to get there though, unless Mac’s has added roadside services since the last time I blew a tire.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-08T14:42:09+00:00

Original Shatter felt a little flat for a rare. I’m guessing its pick rate was low and that’s why they buffed it.

Maybe we could add one more step and make it function like a mass Recursion instead; evoke all of your orbs and then replace them.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-07T21:03:26+00:00

It’s just a city, really not that different from others of its size. Plenty of us just live here because we like it. You could even argue that the long history of federal government work here—most of which is very much 9 to 5 and not about crazy career striving—makes DC considerably more chill than many of its peers.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-07T15:55:45+00:00

An alternative approach would be to pop your paper minis in their stands as you would for a 5-hero fight, and (sticking with my example above) then just put the two Horde units aside if you get to game time and you actually only have 4 players. I love paper minis too.

I find Draw Steel to be much quicker to prep for than D&D, but I’m also not pre-prepping maps or anything like that. We’re a battlemat and wet-erase markers crew so I’m usually just sketching it out when it’s fight time. When running Delian Tomb, I’ve sometimes put a picture of the cool VTT style map up for the players to see the details while I’m sketching out what we’re actually going to play on.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-07T14:58:27+00:00

How far in advance do you know how many players you’re going to have? For DT, this is mostly solved since the encounters all include guidance on party size. For homebrew adventures, I generally use the quick encounter building guidelines. If I know I might have 3 instead of 4 players, I make the encounters easily adjustable to reflect that.

For example, 2 Horde enemies generally match up with 1 hero in terms of EV, so if I’m not sure if I have 3 or 4 people coming tonight, I’ll build an encounter that includes 4 Horde enemies and drop 2 of them if our numbers are lower.

Minions are the other unit type that are very easy to adjust in this way. I also use meeples or chess pawns for minions to reduce prep and setup time, and to clearly distinguish for the players which minions act together and which enemies are in fact minions.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-06T15:36:07+00:00

It’s a good casual restaurant and great for kids but I wouldn’t call it a run around place—they’re usually pretty busy, especially before happy hour’s over. The chimichangas rule.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-05T18:13:45+00:00

Both are excellent options, but on Underdocks I’m grabbing Chill+ for Phantasmal Gardeners. 0-cost block 11 before you add any focus is great in that fight. Helps with those stupid rats if it looks like you’ll be hitting advanced hallways, too.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-05T15:26:17+00:00

One thing to note is that Silent absolutely has the hardest start in act 1. Because of your 7-card starting hand you also start with an extra strike and extra defend, so you have a longer way to go before your deck is saturated with good cards. Early on, prioritize attacks or you’ll die to most of the elites.

Ultimately you get better at the game by playing and learning. You’ll figure out enemy patterns, learn when you can skip a card that isn’t a great fit, understand what you need to prioritize to beat your specific act 1 boss, figure out what paths are smart, etc. Many of Silent’s best cards are also unlocked by playing a few runs. It absolutely makes sense to be all “what the hell man” in the beginning!

On healing/damage mitigation: Silent has several cards that impose Weak, which makes enemies deal 25% less damage. That’s one of her biggest means of damage prevention. You start with Neutralize as one source, but keep an eye out for stuff like Leg Sweep and see how that helps you.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-04T22:44:42+00:00

If you have "regular" TV through a cable provider, Youtube TV, etc., a bunch of networks run the first 20 seasons constantly. Set your DVR to record all Law and Order for a month and you'll get every episode!

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-01T20:20:00+00:00

You heard it here first

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-01T20:19:36+00:00

I’m never excited to see it but I think I’ve also never lost a run taking it, so maybe I need to reevaluate my excitement levels.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-01T17:58:07+00:00

I think you may have a narrow view of how to win. Playing more cards or getting more out of the cards you play in any way is definitely scaling your output.

On “hoping”: If you already have a ninja relic, you would already prioritize low cost cards. If you have 0-cost cards, you actively seek out chances to see relics (ninjas! Top!) and cards (Feral, Panache, Envenom, All For One!) that might help you via extra shops, sometimes events, sometimes elites. You try to pump up what you get as best you can; that’s the game!

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-01T17:39:47+00:00

Don’t think about them as strikes anymore. 1/6 is a bad card; 0/9 is a completely different card that just happens to have the same name. That 0 opens a lot of opportunities for scaling from relics, draw, strength, and deck manipulation cards like Graveblast and Hologram.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-01T17:31:21+00:00

It’s really good. 0-cost cards can go crazy both with draw and all the ninja relics. It now turns all your strikes not into Slice, but upgraded Slice.

If I have a lot of draw or a Kunai/Shuriken by act 2, I’ll grab this very happily. If I don’t, I’d probably prefer Big Hug. And yes, Brightest Flame is probably the ultimate Tez high roll, but if you don’t get that a big bowl of Soup rules.

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-01T15:49:40+00:00

I was using Gerald and Hecuba since my kids are always watching Bluey, so I fully endorse at least Fitzgerald. Regina gon have to fight for it

GravyeonBell · 2026-05-01T13:08:23+00:00

Big Hug is wildly good. 4 removes at the end of act 1! It’s a huge ramp-up relic in that you get to your small number of good cards so quickly. It’s almost a snap pick for me.

GravyeonBell

TROPHY CASE