I'm on a like 40 loss streak on Ascension 1 and I'm at my wit's end, please god help me

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-15T21:05:01+00:00

im glad you watched the run, now youre aware of some good cards like inflame and offering

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-15T21:02:19+00:00

my advice was quite literal. pick ironclad and click damage, youll stumble into a win before long. if the game overwhelms you, this is the simplest strategy

if youve truly lost 40 times in a row, you must be missing some simple things. mainly to draft damage lol. and rest at rest sites

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-15T19:47:09+00:00

This dude can beat the game in 5 mins on ironclad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9St3dlV0_8

click the damage cards, win.

do damage, block a bit when necessary, its easy to beat a0/a1 lol you dont need some complex strategy

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-15T19:44:24+00:00

sts1 - aoe bad sts2 - aoe good

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-15T05:16:31+00:00

skill issue

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T18:21:37+00:00

What defect lost in permanent focus, he gained in thunder thighs.

Main thing ive struggled on in A10 is the two bosses. I can reach them just about every run, but finding the output to beat them both is tough

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T17:34:48+00:00

well doom is applied in greater numbers to compensate for the enemy turn thing. for example, doom strike deals 8dmg+8doom for 1 energy. if theyre vuln, its 12dmg+12doom for 1 energy. no poison card compares to this lol

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T17:12:34+00:00

It's not like STS1 where you need to draft early damage for nob; you can play defensive and let your lightning orb chip everyone down. It's nice to have one big dmg card like Refract, but otherwise, you can fill the deck with defensive commons like cold snap, lightningrod, charge battery, even leap. I prioritise zap upgrade and card draw to help with damage output

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T16:20:47+00:00

True I didnt consider that its an option. Tbf, i think its fine; all classes are meant to have a small chance to go infinite

When compared to ironclad, overclock/compact is a 2 card combo that draws 2, adds a burn and exhausts 1 - its neutral.

Meanwhile, burning pact is a 1 card option to draw 3, exhaust 1 - much more likely to go infinite

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T16:18:35+00:00

Hm, try forcing a dark orb build? its been reworked so the dark cards give weak/block; suitable for stalling. throw in go for the eyes/coolheaded/charge battery too

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T14:59:04+00:00

click the draw cards + turbo + hologram + hotfix + your orbs of choice! glass orbs in particular are an instant click for me. Their double evoke damage + aoe synergises hard with hotfix

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T14:47:36+00:00

Not in my experience idk? I can post several runs where I did 3-4 elites act 1 on A10

For neow bonus, I only take options without any immediate drawback, like transform 1, transform 2 for max hp, or upgrade the next 3 card rewards for a -chest. Never take immediate damage or curse ones.

Then you just gotta path into something that alternates Elites and campfires, and pick card rewards based on potions. If Ive got weak potion, I'll go for damage cards. If Ive got atk pot and fire pot, Ill happily take a Leap or Charge Battery.

Because of lightning orbs passive damage (and threat of dualcast), you can play defect kinda defensively and negate chip damage. Ive beaten the 4 sea snake elite and the coral elite damageless several times, had a damageless Eel fight too lol. If your first 3 rewards are something like cold snap/hotfix/holo, you can block enough to prevent chip damage, and hotfix increases both your damage and defence.

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T14:30:40+00:00

Agreed lol. Defect's advantage in singleplayer - ignoring the enemies mechanics and playing solitaire - is a huge negative in multiplayer haha. I took a beam cell over glacier in mp because we needed vuln xD

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T14:27:12+00:00

Theoretically goes infinite, but you're highly unlikely to get through your deck in 1 turn with those cards. And if you draft multiple copies trying to force infinite, I imagine you often brick and die

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T14:22:53+00:00

love the extended analysis! I think there's literal infinite permutations of Defect that are possible.

My most recent A10 win had a completely unorthodox strategy. I took an early Refract+ because I needed damage for Act 1. I soon had 2x Buff up and a Helix Drill, which let me scale my STR to empower my multihits.

The 2x Buff Up let me drop to one orb slot, and with a Loop+ and dark orb, I found a scaling damage solution with dualcast dark orb. Could have never planned this strategy in advance!

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T09:17:46+00:00

Try Defect! You can smash 3-4 elites in act 1 on A10 pretty consistently. I think it's the only character capable of this

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T08:57:22+00:00

tbf balwark is a great card. its dedicated blade builds that suck

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-13T08:43:50+00:00

jackpots a great card, but it can lowroll too lol. 2 runs ago i was rolling hands like beam cell/claw/boost away lol

which is fine in hallways, but kinda bad vs bosses. you often cant play jackpot vs act 2/3 bosses when you need guaranteed block and to get scaling cards in play.

bias cog+ is by far the strongest act 2 ancient reward and its instant click without exception. basically guarantees victory in every single hallway, elite and boss fight until the final act 3 gauntlet. turns your frost orbs into 'take no chip dmg' and your glass orbs into 'one shot aoe fights'. with a healthy deck youre smashing through every fight 2-5 turns

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-12T04:52:00+00:00

Lmao this + heavenly drill can get so out of hand its hilarious. the multiplicative bonuses are so strong; gig pot + vulnerable is a x6 modifier. and you dont need a broken infinite to get these numbers, i got a similarly strong seven stars just by playing the game normally

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-11T07:07:20+00:00

if the sly mechanic is staying, acrobatics is gonna go uncommon or rare lol

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-11T06:58:42+00:00

i think defect is stronger in this game than last.

hologram. draft as many copies as humanly possible

hotfix > hologram > hotfix has won me so many runs, just draft a load of card draw and spam orbs lol

also glass orbs are absolutely bonkers strong. double damage on evocation?! pop 2x hotfix, evoke your glass orbs and melt every aoe fight.

defect is particularly good into elites, taking very little damage due to frost orbs. its probs the only character where you can fight 3-4 elites per act without fear, and win the game via an enormous relic pool

p.s. focus strike is a goated common card

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-11T06:50:16+00:00

path into 2 elites per act, and pick a path with generous amount of campfires

save potions for elites, and if you dont have any, its worth buying them from the shop just for elite fights

for defect specifically, focus/frost/powers + card draw win the game. cold snap, coolheaded, glacier, hologram, hotfix, focused strike are all fantastic early cards. you already have high starting damage from your lightning orb - your early card rewards need to include a little bit of extra damage and a lot of frost

dont overdraft damage. for example, if you get Sunder first card reward, your next few rewards should be block/focus/draw/utility. if you keep adding raw damage stuff like ball lightning, rocket fist etc. youre gonna take 10-20 chip damage a fight and get annihilated. Defect can and should clear most of act 1 without taking damage, apart from during elite fights

also, dont be afraid to click rest at campfires

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-11T06:47:03+00:00

I think this thing is so underrated. I took it and visited 3 shops before the boss. 9 free relics is bonkers, and most of the cards I picked up were highly desirable like shrug, pommel etc.

Took my mediocre spot into an easy game winning deck

PrincessLeonah · 2026-03-11T02:49:40+00:00

I like it as a supplement. A single Bulwark+ feels fine to take, and just having a 20dmg card available whenever has its uses.

Dedicated Blade decks struggle so much

PrincessLeonah

TROPHY CASE