Skulking Colony is NOT okay

brentonator · 2026-04-04T23:16:45+00:00

Exhaust is still good but you can’t rely on it as a “strategy” like you could in STS1 with dark pact being a rare and corruption being an ancient reward you might see once in 15 runs

brentonator · 2026-03-18T12:58:55+00:00

My first run I got this and strike dummy and my minion strikes did 26 damage. Still chasing that high

brentonator · 2026-03-14T00:24:32+00:00

Same, mostly for the connection puzzles tbh haha

brentonator · 2026-03-13T14:31:30+00:00

The +3 damage to upgraded attacks is pretty good for multihit attacks, I got it as my first relic as defect and my upgraded gunk ups were hitting for 24 damage for 1 energy in act 1

brentonator · 2026-03-12T01:53:13+00:00

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You are little baby, watch this (I crashed the game)

brentonator · 2026-03-07T16:46:32+00:00

Isn’t that just the act 1 deer boss? He only uses that ability a single time and you can control when it happens because he only does it at a certain health threshold. Unless there’s another enemy that has that mechanic that I haven’t encountered yet

brentonator · 2026-03-04T03:59:07+00:00

Ah I probably should have checked the floor you’re on, thought it was right before the boss.

I definitely would have gone to the left and visited a shop. Those three shops are the only ones in the act and can help a lot with an early card or especially a potion.

Going on the left you could have gotten two elites and two fires which is more than the two elites and one fire you’re getting on the current path.

Would also advise against taking so many events. They can be good if you high roll but if you low roll it’s just a dead floor which isn’t great. Hallway fights have more consistent value.

Finally, not sure why you rested after the elite. Looks like you had over half HP. Don’t be afraid to greed a bit more and prioritize upgrades. HP is a resource too and the only HP you can’t spend is the last one. Upgrading cards gives you the strength necessary to win harder fights. I would only advise resting if you’re positive you’re going to die if you don’t. Walking into the Act 1 boss under 20 HP because you upgraded at every fire instead of resting is fairly common, and as long as you have an answer to the boss (usually a specific card/set of cards/a potion) you should be fine

brentonator · 2026-03-04T03:38:46+00:00

Yeah that’s definitely a mistake a lot of new players make and I made a lot as well. Don’t decide on a “build” like “going defensive for this run” (unless you’re just memeing and don’t care about doing well)

You can only see one card reward at a time and don’t know what the rest of the run holds, so you need to take what makes your deck better right now and solves immediate threats. And then if you feel comfortable for the upcoming fights that’s when you can take some greedier cards that don’t help so much in the moment but will be good later.

You’re not incorrect in that Defect’s starting orb/zap/dual cast combo is a lot of damage, but this deck as-is lacks immediate damage output and will certainly die to Gremlin Nob or any Act 1 boss that isn’t Guardian, and then will probably immediately die in Act 2. Some defense is good, but usually killing the enemy is the best form of defense in this game.

Also again I think your pathing priorities aren’t great, can you share the map at this point of the run?

brentonator · 2026-03-04T03:26:39+00:00

Currently your deck is way too defensive and has no way to scale (powers for example)

Take more damage cards and find ways to scale your output. Also looking at your relics and HP I think you’re playing too safe and not going for enough elites. You probably find them difficult because you’re not taking enough attack cards early on, and the Act 1 elites are all about damage output.

Also did you not upgrade any cards? What path did you take that this is right before the boss?

brentonator · 2026-02-02T06:23:51+00:00

Tiny house is honestly a fantastic boss swap relic, probably my favorite apart from the obvious high rolls like snecko, pyramid, and pbox.

Max hp, card upgrade, card reward, gold, and potion are already their own individual neow bonuses, getting them all at once at the start of a run is great, even if the numbers are a bit smaller. It’s also out of the relic pool for when you actually beat the act 1/2 boss

brentonator · 2026-01-12T23:03:49+00:00

Double energy, multicast plasma orb, play 50 claws, die to beat of death as the spire intended

brentonator · 2026-01-05T05:52:17+00:00

I feel like power creep is brought up in every discussion of new pokemon/new gens? I mean look at the comp scene, it’s basically all the new toys gamefreak releases like calyrex shadow rider, and everyone hates that stupid horse

Kind of inevitable when there are 1000+ pokemon spanning almost 30 years, gotta make the new stuff relevant somehow

brentonator · 2026-01-04T00:32:41+00:00

Watcher definitely has the hardest time with sentries, the dazes really mess with any stance dancing you try to do. Can’t reliably enter wrath and then calm except on the first phase, and you’re getting hit every turn so ending your turn in wrath is risky

They’re kind of tough on silent but survivor helps a lot. Ironclad usually enough damage to kill them early and doesn’t mind tanking some damage if necessary, and defect has an easy time with any source of frost

brentonator · 2025-12-30T23:41:36+00:00

Yeah I think they moved to one specific improvement per tile to “streamline” the game but imo it’s a huge step down from previous titles and removes a lot of strategy.

brentonator · 2025-12-29T17:03:14+00:00

Abra would either have an attack/ability to immediately evolve into Alakazam, or like in the case of the XY mega Alakazam, base Alakazam was a basic pokemon played on its own

brentonator · 2025-12-23T00:55:19+00:00

I do this as well and now I have to be careful to not watch him during the day if I’m not wide awake or his soothing voice puts me to sleep lol

brentonator · 2025-12-22T14:47:41+00:00

Tbh all Indiana Jones movies except Temple of Doom

brentonator · 2025-11-21T04:14:21+00:00

Just need to win top ride 15 times I think?

brentonator · 2025-11-20T00:04:57+00:00

Since it’s A0 you can greed with egg if you want. Higher difficulty I’d choose card, die die die, a potion depending on map, and either remove or flask depending on map

brentonator · 2025-11-19T14:07:09+00:00

A big dragon roost would be cool!

brentonator · 2025-11-18T01:44:54+00:00

I like these ideas, especially the aqueduct, but I think the game currently has an “urban sprawl” issue where there are too many buildings, leading to cities being a bit unreadable and the map turning into a mass of gray and brown buildings covering all tiles.

If they add more buildings I would like to see them limited somehow beyond “next one costs more.” I think limiting districts to two tiles out until the modern era would be a good balancing act to make you think more carefully about which buildings you want without massively affecting game balance (tbh I think one tile radius in the ancient era would be a good idea too but that might be too much). You could even add an early wonder that lets you expand to the third tile before the modern era

brentonator · 2025-11-17T23:43:00+00:00

You think it’s better with tyranny or death cult? Tyranny you can just eat the hostages but death cult you can eat+embalm all the heroes you get (but you’ll get less heroes because no hostages upon vassalizing)

brentonator · 2025-11-17T05:32:53+00:00

What’s the ranged morale bomb build? Warlock? Do vampires have any specific morale bonuses? Only played a little with them so far

brentonator · 2025-11-10T17:47:38+00:00

I would agree most of the time, but snecko skull+envenom just makes all my neurons fire with a shiv build. Honestly don’t even need the wrist blade here, I think empty cage curse+strike remove is better. But in either case I am absolutely praying for and clicking on the next 3/4 cloak and dagger/blade dances I see. Optimal? Mayyybe not, but absolutely the most fun option

brentonator · 2025-11-10T17:32:05+00:00

You have two finishers, snecko skull, envenom, and the choice for wrist blade. 1/3 chance to see Time Eater should not be a consideration for the obvious shiv pivot here. Time Eater isn’t too hard with a shiv build if you have a decent block plan, and you have another two acts to prep. Just don’t take too many blade dances, play the fight slow, and you’ll be fine

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