Does anybody actually use Recruit?

[LoveAlotBear]

Been wondering this..

Does anybody actually spend the $$$ to recruit other team-members each round? I can't really see the benefit of it, as any recruit dilutes the deck.

Any winning builds that involve increasing ranks?

[Caofres]

I don't know for sure, because I didn't try it, but i guess that builds that relly on spamming a lot of cards would benefit from you having many team members, but I really think that it's not worth it in the time being. You can easilly beat the game with one character with a really bigger build variety.
Having many team members just mean having to be more careful with how you use the cards. They are prob going to balance that, I guess.

[123 Casual Player]

lv 3 characters you can buy on floor one is not bad. It adds 1 junk talent and 1 weapon for a bigger stamina pool. I wouldn't recommend buying anyone else.

[Wrenny]

Try to buy mostly recruits instead of experienced soldiers.
But there are moments where your going to need more bodies on the field.

[Fennrir42]

Originally posted by 123 Casual Player:

lv 3 characters you can buy on floor one is not bad. It adds 1 junk talent and 1 weapon for a bigger stamina pool. I wouldn't recommend buying anyone else.

See, this is what puts the lie to people who started claiming on day 1 that only one archetype can work. I have absolutely crushed the game with 6 heroes and a 70+ card deck.

[Meeky]

There are multiple ways to win, yeah. The main issue is that card draw is kind of the big thing you want no matter what.

I can see several build types working. I've generally done just fine with 2 heroes and don't see a huge need to get more when I play, but you get enough gear to outfit everyone pretty easily, and most new characters have some decent starting gear.

[Fennrir42]

Originally posted by Meeky:

There are multiple ways to win, yeah. The main issue is that card draw is kind of the big thing you want no matter what.

This is true for every game I've played in this category, tabletop included. I don't see a way around it aside from a tiny deck strategy where every card is super stronk.

[Meeky]

Originally posted by Fennrir42:

Originally posted by Meeky:

There are multiple ways to win, yeah. The main issue is that card draw is kind of the big thing you want no matter what.

This is true for every game I've played in this category, tabletop included. I don't see a way around it aside from a tiny deck strategy where every card is super stronk.

Unfortunately, yeah. It's just the way card games seem to work.

[123 Casual Player]

Originally posted by Fennrir42:

Originally posted by 123 Casual Player:

lv 3 characters you can buy on floor one is not bad. It adds 1 junk talent and 1 weapon for a bigger stamina pool. I wouldn't recommend buying anyone else.

See, this is what puts the lie to people who started claiming on day 1 that only one archetype can work. I have absolutely crushed the game with 6 heroes and a 70+ card deck.

You are really going to argue that hiring high levels with random talents/perks is better than a lv 3 you can customize?

I doubt you actually won with a 70+ deck. Because you will never see your "card draw" with 70+ cards. Maybe with multiple "patience" perk you can get away with it.

[Fennrir42]

Originally posted by 123 Casual Player:

Originally posted by Fennrir42:

See, this is what puts the lie to people who started claiming on day 1 that only one archetype can work. I have absolutely crushed the game with 6 heroes and a 70+ card deck.

You are really going to argue that hiring high levels with random talents/perks is better than a lv 3 you can customize?

I never made that argument.

Originally posted by 123 Casual Player:

I doubt you actually won with a 70+ deck. Because you will never see your "card draw" with 70+ cards. Maybe with multiple "patience" perk you can get away with it.

Man, I wish I had a screenshot to prove it. Oh wait, I do.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2186704086

Maybe think next time before you call someone a liar? I've actually given you props for knowing what you're talking about re: tiny deck strategy, but it's not the only way to win.

FWIW, after the changes in this update that pushed today, I don't think a 70 card deck will be viable. You can't use multiple Quick Draws to "get ahead" in one turn anymore. I tend to build giant Engine decks in Dominion, which is what I modeled this one after. But the changes make turning that kind of engine over much harder now.

[123 Casual Player]

Originally posted by Fennrir42:

Maybe think next time before you call someone a liar? I've actually given you props for knowing what you're talking about re: tiny deck strategy, but it's not the only way to win.

Right, you got the instant win Titan perk, nevermind.

A normal size deck with Titan perk and Halberd would kill everything in turn 1.

[Meeky]

On the high level character late-game recruitment thing:

Let's say you get far enough in the game. You have a solid deck so far, your gear is pretty top notch, and your party is not wounded. You can...

A) try to get better gear or cards
B) try to add a hero or two to the party
C) do nothing because you're not injured

In such a situation, I'd argue that picking 'B' can be valuable. For one, you might see a decent hero in the inn with good gear and talents that line up alright, but more importantly... A late game hero is yet another body on the field. You can mitigate the harm caused by one of your two starting heroes going down during the last fight, potentially.

There are exceptions to this. If you have 'Lone Wolf' or 'Bastion' you might want to limit your hero count. My first win had two heroes with 'Bastion,' and they did remarkably well without anyone else in the group. But in my current game I actually have 4 characters: 3 in the back row, 1 in the first, and the one in first has Bastion and I'm using Reserves as part of my deck to take advantage of the rear row. Card draw + vigor from Reserves + high armor on my rearguard = quite a different but interesting experience.

There are multiple ways to win, and you are not pigeonholed into using 1-2 PCs.

[holy-death]

Each round? Unlikely. The first time I always go for new recruits. Or almost always. Because having 3-4 character is more optimal than having just the starting 2 in my opinion and having more than 4 is up to a debate (Bastion becomes a dead perk, you are open to lane attacks, etc.).

I may hire recruits later on, if somebody dies during the run too.

Other than that I either buy cards or heal, depending on my health/money situation at the end of the run.

[Fennrir42]

Originally posted by 123 Casual Player:

Right, you got the instant win Titan perk, nevermind.

I only had Titan on one bear. The real card draw came from Born Leader and Reserves and a ♥♥♥♥ ton of Quick Hands (I think 6 copies, I used Mentor to duplicate it a bunch of times).

But still, you were wrong. There are mechanics in the game that you didn't think of that allowed me to succeed. And you really didn't need to call me a liar. Let me demonstrate:

Originally posted by 123 Casual Player:

A normal size deck with Titan perk and Halberd would kill everything in turn 1.

Prove it. I am a scientist, I will believe anything that is supported by evidence, and you've just made an interesting hypothesis. Experiment until you know the answer.

[LoveAlotBear]

What I always loved about magic were the guys swinging their decks around, each claiming it was better than the other deck. :P

-- unsubscribe. :(

[Fennrir42]

Originally posted by LoveAlotBear:

What I always loved about magic were the guys swinging their decks around, each claiming it was better than the other deck. :P

-- unsubscribe. :(

I feel you, man. I was always the kid with the crazy combo deck that would lose >95% of the time, but the one time I would beat a Top 8 deck was all the vindication I was looking for. I believe the term back then was a "Timmy."

I'm actually not trying to make this a deck-measuring contest. My main point is that lots of different things can work. And unlike Magic, this is not a PvP game where competition will weed out everything that isn't highly optimized. For me, part of the fun is how much creativity people can express in the deckbuilding process.

TL:DR - I don't care about having the best deck, I just want to be able to win in many different ways.

To answer your original question:

Yes, I do use the Recruit function often and it's because of the style of deck I enjoy playing. I also enjoy finishing the game, so the answer to your second question is yes. There are builds that work with 6 heroes.