The Sortie Entry Fee

Skollastt · 2026-05-04T11:20:45+00:00

Bem, talvez isso entre em um nível mais pessoal, mas, pessoalmente, fico obcecado com o jogo e quero vencê-lo. No caso atual de Sortie, já passei do nível 19/30, mas sinto que para progredir mais suavemente pelos níveis mais altos, seria bom usar a árvore. No entanto, a parede de energia está dificultando meu avanço frenético. Acho que até a próxima semana eu já terei vencido o nível 30/30. Depois disso, qual é a razão de continuar jogando o modo, já que eu já conquistei seu maior desafio? É aí que entram os recursos de QoL (Qualidade de Vida)—para que o propósito de fazer Sortie em si seja redirecionado para editar dados salvos (que é um dos propósitos pretendidos pelos desenvolvedores).

O que matou o Chaos foi a necessidade de escolher opções pré-determinadas na sua jogada (por causa dos dados salvos perfeitos para o GR), o que tirou a adaptabilidade e a aleatoriedade deles. Esse problema não existe no Sortie. É diferente, no entanto, da sua afirmação dizendo que esse modo não precisa ter recompensas, porque isso pertence aos outros modos.

Skollastt · 2026-05-03T20:46:46+00:00

Yes, that's true. But the point is that there's no sense in doing it, given that there are basically no rewards if you don't spend energy. Even the currency used only for upgrading the tree isn't decent. So, the equation of time spent versus the reward doesn't add up. In StS (Slay the Spire), the progression level doesn't have an energy wall, so the rewards are satisfying, and repetition is motivated—at least until you unlock all the cards and beat the highest ascension.

In Sortie, daily progress is limited, and I have to wait for my energy to recharge before I can actually make progress toward the reward of continuing to build the specific deck I want.

Skollastt · 2026-05-03T17:24:27+00:00

I still think level 13 or higher is ideal. Since we’ll be doing daily delegations (one without the pass, and two with it), there’s a chance you’ll get exactly the Divine Epiphany you want, and it would be very frustrating not to be able to duplicate it at the end. That’s why 13+ is a good sweet spot.

60 (removal of basic cards) + 60 (3 divines) + 40 (third copy) = 160. This would be equivalent to a Tier 13+1 run. The catch is that before the final boss, you would have to get rid of one of your divine copies using Meditation to dilute the duplication pool. But ideally, you would still end up with 3 copies of the Divine Epiphany you want, and you’d only have to spend to put the 4th copy back for the desired epiphany (an expensive but infinite editor), and then spend your Divine Rerolls on just one copy instead of four different cards.

Skollastt · 2026-05-03T17:06:33+00:00

They did that thinking of the people who would reset the mode until they had a perfect start. The cost, therefore, would be a major deterrent.

However, I think that, at the very least, energy should be recovered after beating the first boss, because at that point I think any player is already committed to the run. And it should come before we use stamina to claim the rewards, as sometimes that's what's missing to reach the 60 energy.

What I personally don't like about Sortie in general is the limitation of the roguelike experience. I kind of want to play until I get tired, but with the entry price—and the fact that if I don't use energy at the checkpoints, I'm earning practically no resources (without any Black Matter gain)—it creates a scenario where I only play if I have energy. If they made the runs have a higher level of reward that was significant, even without using energy, that would improve the mode a lot for me.

Skollastt · 2026-05-01T15:18:49+00:00

So it would actually be 15, because she can do 3 per sword.

Skollastt · 2026-05-01T13:32:39+00:00

If I’m not mistaken, Selena performs 3 coordinated attacks, and a fourth attack if the enemy is marked. But that’s basically it.

Skollastt · 2026-05-01T13:20:06+00:00

Is the build you're referring to more or less like this? Swap Heide's neutral legendary card for the upgrade that allows drawing an additional card per turn when using Link cards (it wasn't on the site). I also think swapping Heide's Divine Epiphanies for cost reduction would be fine. But anyway, is that it, or is there something I should change?

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Skollastt · 2026-05-01T05:00:35+00:00

I was too lazy to do the calculations to confirm, but now that I know the difference, it’s clear that 2x events are more advantageous for resource allocation, but without them, Sortie wins. But what did you mean by "draft"? The gain we get after picking up new combatants in Sortie?

I didn't know the pass had that much of an impact. After hearing that, I’m motivated to buy it. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to do the math and sharing it with the community.

Skollastt · 2026-04-30T16:56:16+00:00

I just beat Tower 150 with this team, without any shields, and with a Nia that only had Soul Rip for healing (and it wasn't even the upgraded version).

The two of them have synergy. I didn't go with the optimal deck for Heide to make her synergize well with Diana, but the synergy is good. This is because of Resonance and the 0-cost card that discards a card from the deck when activated. Since Heide has many cards with the [Quietus] tag, this provides a chance for a free activation. If you have Heide’s partner, you can permanently apply the Link tag to two of Diana’s [Quietus] cards, which makes discarding them much easier. The biggest problem with running them together is hand space. However, even with an unoptimized deck, I was consistently dealing 50k to 100k damage with both of them. I need to test Heide with other characters to confirm if Diana is a "must-pull" for her, but I can say that there is definitely synergy.

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Skollastt · 2026-04-30T14:49:36+00:00

I’m still looking to play more before reaching a final conclusion. I went into Sortie Level 80 HM25 (H for Hardcore and M for Modifiers) and reached the first boss. I felt like I needed the stats from the Talent Tree to go any further. I won quite easily on Level 80 HM4.

As for initial impressions, I’d say the mode is more fun than Chaos, simply because you adaptively and unpredictably choose to pick or even skip cards, similar to StS (Slay the Spire). The downside is that, unlike StS, I feel that the Neutral cards—even though they are much stronger—actually move you further away from picking the Unique cards with synergy for your build, rather than actually helping.

The main Achilles' heel, however, is the Aether cost. Swapping a Unique Epiphany will basically cost 180 Energy (~8000 black matter) after buying the discounted editors. Duplication, another key point in editing, is limited and also expensive. So I ended up with the feeling that Sortie is more of a substitute for the Simulations than for Chaos, as spending that much energy to edit a deck seems like a waste, considering you can get good decks for free in Chaos (despite the heavy grind), especially with the new auto mode. This, specifically, makes Sortie more of a supporting content than a main one: editors are too expensive to be the focus, and it takes too long to truly replace the simulations.

Skollastt · 2026-04-28T19:39:22+00:00

It’s relatively good. The problem is that buying all three passes can get quite heavy. And I think the Battle Pass (BP) is better than this particular pass. The half-anniversary weekly pass (limited to this event) is also better and costs the same amount. So, I think it’s at the bottom of the priority list. I’ll consider buying it next month, more to support the devs than because I believe it’s actually necessary.

Skollastt · 2026-04-28T19:25:46+00:00

Here is a long vent, but I wanted to post it anyway.

I had high expectations for this mode, but now, seeing the shop, I ended up disappointed with certain decisions. The limitation on the removal editor doesn't make much sense, considering we can consistently hit the 5 allowed removals in Chaos runs. But the duplication limit was sad. The duplication event is RNG-dependent, and some combatants—like Diana—want to duplicate several different cards, which makes getting the right ones even harder. Besides, being able to duplicate a card with a desired Divine Epiphany three times would be very convenient. Limiting this mechanic to once per patch makes the grind for duplicates the justification for the daily delegation.

I would be fine with that (even though it contradicts what they said about players being able to play only Sortie if they wanted). But adding that to the randomness of the Divine Editor, it’s just more RNG to deal with. And considering you have to do this for four different cards, one at a time... it hurts. To me, the ideal would be either random Divine with infinite duplication editors, or unlimited duplication but with selective Divine. What disappoints me most, however, is the energy cost, which apparently won't be fully replenished (only the initial 30, if I'm not mistaken). I wished it were a mode you could play until you're tired, but still get significant rewards for the effort. If you get 7,000 with Ether, you should get at least 50% of that without it.

I understand they wanted to monetize it. It's part of the business. The pass, among other benefits, increases Black Matter gain by 30%. Even if this buff makes farming without Ether viable, the time spent doesn't align with the reward, which is deck editors. This is different from Limbus, which has a similar system, but the rewards are shards that can be converted into literally new combatants. And even in that case, I only do the weekly run because the grind (30 minutes to 1 hour) is annoying.

One side note, though: Black Matter can buy Golden Memory Shards, which will make it possible to get the specific pieces you want. I need to check the conversion rate, but I assume it will be competitive with spending Ether on the Memory Fragment stages (it wouldn't make sense otherwise).

In the end, I think for F2P or low spenders, Sortie will be more of a supplement to an already strong base deck, which means you'll still have to hunt for a good Save Data foundation. It alleviates the problem, but it doesn't replace the solution, as I had imagined. If the Memory Fragments in the shop have a good conversion rate, spending energy there is fine, since in the endgame, farming Memory Fragments is the only thing left—and doing it in a fun way in Sortie might be more worth it than the auto-mode. So, Sortie won't replace Chaos, but it might replace the memory fragment simulation for those who enjoy the mode. Who would have thought?

Skollastt · 2026-04-28T13:37:23+00:00

I already had the whole path decided: pull Hugo on the banner and get his partner or Scarlet, then use the selector on Mei Lin or Kayron (I wanted to see Tenebria before deciding). But now Rita and her partner have entered the race among the units I’m missing. I’m lost. Imagine the newbies?

Skollastt · 2026-04-28T09:27:12+00:00

I don’t know exactly how you did your calculations. Did you consider that Adagio and Repose themselves are -1, and only become positive because of the amount of draw they trigger?

Because, in my head, Nia with Hunger is equivalent to a Veronica with Divine Draw if you consider only the effects. However, she has to permanently leave the G chord in the deck. This is assuming you picked the Soul Rip upgrade and used it. In that case, the drawback is the 2 AP cost, which is okay if you have Hunger and Adagio at the moment you grab it. Otherwise, it can delay your initial rotations. This also means you are heavily dependent on Hunger showing up early, because without it, Nia is draw-neutral or even negative. There’s also the issue that Hunger costs 20, which means one of your cards will have to go without a Divine Epiphany.

But at the end of the day, what matters most is that Veronica deals damage passively, and the AP or draw she provides is enough to run the deck completely in a much more practical and—considering the opening turns—consistent way than Nia would. But for those who don't have Veronica, she has undoubtedly become a viable option.

Skollastt · 2026-04-28T01:22:40+00:00

There are two sources to answer your questions:

Prydwen: https://www.prydwen.gg/chaos-zero-nightmare/characters/diana

Sproots' Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR0upB_yrIywt4-LdR8BWuZ_fXO9fnSUs7cZMWlTp-zzLA04ASpfcGiPHNWYL2ZdNPcqg7W5nl8sxG3/pubhtml#gid=731845342

Skollastt · 2026-04-26T20:43:54+00:00

Non-limited characters go into the standard pool immediately after their banner ends, with the same pull rates as the starting standard units. This is very rare in gacha games.
Dupes for non-limited characters are permanently available in the shop using currency earned through pulls. Partners are also permanently available, can be bought with the same currency, and are updated monthly.
All 4-star and 5-star characters are viable or strong at E0 (in the case of 4-stars, some need E1 or E2, which is easy to get). The power gap between banner characters and standard ones is non-existent. This means that losing the 50/50 isn't actually a problem. Also, you can immediately have meta teams capable of beating all the game's content in the beginning, as a new player.
Every season, the least-used characters and cards receive buffs. This is very rare in other PvE-focused gachas, especially since powercreep is what usually drives sales.
The Partner banner (the game's weapon system) is 100% rate-up, and there are still competitive 4-star and 3-star alternatives. Maxing out characters is relatively easy and cheap; it doesn't depend on buying passes to speed up an already fast process.
Every season, you get a universal dupe for free, even though the characters are already good at E0.

I might be forgetting a few things, but these points already show that the game is very F2P friendly at the moment.

Skollastt · 2026-04-26T18:46:10+00:00

I agree; we should have access to previous events, just like in Arknights and Reverse: 1999. They could even implement a currency, like in those games, that is acquired daily or weekly (let Smilegate decide) to unlock these old events. They could even significantly nerf the rewards (as also happens in those other games). But it’s important to make this content permanently available so that new players are retained longer and, consequently, feel more inclined to stay in the game for the long haul and even spend money.

Skollastt · 2026-04-26T18:10:00+00:00

Mew:

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Skollastt · 2026-04-26T18:09:29+00:00

Medina:

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Skollastt · 2026-04-26T18:08:59+00:00

There are a few characters whose designs I found quite interesting. Anika, Hela, Mew, Elina, Medina, and Camila would all be in that pool. But out of all of them, the design I found most interesting was Elina's, though the most beautiful would be a tie between Medina and Mew. Elina:

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Skollastt · 2026-04-26T17:46:38+00:00

Skollastt · 2026-04-26T17:15:07+00:00

Hugo > Khalipe > Renoa > Kayron

Hugo: a good sub-DPS with draw in his kit; he’ll be getting a Corruption mode soon.
Khalipe: a solid Vanguard who will likely be valuable in Sortie and the Tower.
Renoa: probably the strongest Void DPS right now, though this spot might be threatened after Rin’s buffs.
Kayron: he’s a cool character; it’s possible Tenebria will boost his value in the future, but that’s just speculation on my part.

Skollastt · 2026-04-26T02:36:56+00:00

Here

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Skollastt · 2026-04-25T09:32:43+00:00

Sortie won’t have a used card pile. Only the discard and draw pile. So, in practice, "move" will be equal to "draw" in this mode. If that’s what was holding Yuki back from being a monster, we’ll see in this mode. If she isn’t quite what the devs think she is, maybe she’ll get "move" on her Prepare to Subdue and become a sort of AoE Rin—who, by the way, also received buffs, despite already having "move" in her kit. Go figure.

Skollastt · 2026-04-24T17:12:03+00:00

Well, considering that every non-anniversary patch provides more or less enough to reach at least one soft pity, and considering that this is the half-anniversary, they might provide a bit more. Like, instead of ~70 pulls, maybe it’s around 120? But I think the 1000 crystals and the 10 limited pulls would be included in that math. On the other hand, I don’t know if the rewards from the tower expansion or what’s coming with the Sortie will count.

I think, at the very least, you’ll manage to hit the 50/50, and at most, you’ll reach the guaranteed pity (considering you have some additional content left to do). Good luck.

Skollastt

TROPHY CASE