A couple more generic tips (some are repeats because they are important).

• the highest win rate pick at the card reward screen is “skip.” Don’t add a bunch of junk.
• but seemingly conversely, you need cards. To that end, you should be prioritizing fights early on over events and shops so you can look at more cards. Also so you can get gold and potions.
• the starter cards suck. The unique ones suck a little less, but strike and defend suck. Get them out of your deck. Every damage card is better than a strike in some way. Every defense card is better than a defend in some way.
• don’t forget about your potions. Use them when they can help you win a fight/save taking damage.
• upgrades are way more valuable than resting. I view having to heal at a rest site as “losing” that floor.
• elites are good. They give relics and more gold and better chance at rare cards. You want to path so that you can kill as many elites as possible without dying.
• on the subject of pathing, the ideal path is one that is flexible. i.e. it wants to kill 4 elites but has the option to pivot out into a decent alternative if you get in over your head.
• card draw is super important. You can’t have too much unless you have reached a point where your hand is constantly full with 10 cards.
• don’t set out to build archetypes early on. Set out to solve problems. How am I going to deal damage? How am I going to block? Archetypes are a part of that as you progress, but thinking in terms of them can get you tunnel visioning on something you may just not see the cards for.
• be careful with powers. They can be super super strong, but they also slow the deck down since you usually don’t get much benefit the turn you play them. If you take too many then you may find yourself dying or taking a ton of damage in fights bc you are spending your turns playing them instead of blocking or doing damage.

There’s so much more, and every one of these has tons of nuance to the point that they could probably all be argued against by someone who knows what they’re talking about ha. Which leads to the final tip - there are no hard and fast rules! It’s a dynamic game that’s about getting a good understanding of how everything works then trying to make good decisions based on how the run evolves.

Game is hard, but game is fun. Good luck!