Cannot beat Covenant 1 [edit: I did it! Thanks everyone!]

[Ryan Dorkoski]

22+ hours in. I can do the base level quite easily now.

Questions!

1. Should I be doing every trial? Is it possible to win without doing any? I do some, but not all.

2. Is it best to settle on one combination of primary/secondary and just grind until you figure out the strategy to win? I feel like jumping all around between wins sounds like a bad idea.

Thanks in advance for any strategy!

[Kitsunin]

1. I have never attempted zero trials, and sometimes I do all of them. Some is right: You should tend towards doing trials but avoid them if the current round is liable to counter your deck (e.g. multistrike units when you're reliant on low HP meatshields, spellshield when you're all about spell damage). I most often skip the first couple trials, because sometimes my deck just starts out quite bad (this is absolutely recoverable in most cases). Also, the second-last fight can be a lot nastier than Seraph themself is if your deck is built well for handling bosses (think something like a Frostbite deck). I think you could definitely win while taking zero, but I also doubt you'll have a game where every combination of enemies and trial effects looks nasty enough to make you say no.

2. Meh. I've beaten up through Covenant 7 now, basically maximizing variety. Getting used to factions will help since you'll have an idea what drafts might come up in the future to support the options you have now, but being adaptable is very necessary in this game and I don't think there is a "strategy to win" to find. Seems like (almost?) every card's gonna be good sometimes.

[Atomsk]

RNG is a huge factor, getting the right artifacts and draft cards will determine how easy it is to win.

Easiest way I found to win, is to floor stack which can be done with any clan. Use duplicate on cards that have already been upgraded, it's usually not worth duplicating un-upgraded cards besides that 50/50 horned demon.

[Ryan Dorkoski]

Originally posted by Atomsk:

RNG is a huge factor, getting the right artifacts and draft cards will determine how easy it is to win.

Easiest way I found to win, is to floor stack which can be done with any clan. Use duplicate on cards that have already been upgraded, it's usually not worth duplicating un-upgraded cards besides that 50/50 horned demon.

Yes, I have found this to be true as well. Thank you!

[Ryan Dorkoski]

Originally posted by Kitsunin:

1. I have never attempted zero trials, and sometimes I do all of them. Some is right: You should tend towards doing trials but avoid them if the current round is liable to counter your deck (e.g. multistrike units when you're reliant on low HP meatshields, spellshield when you're all about spell damage). I most often skip the first couple trials, because sometimes my deck just starts out quite bad (this is absolutely recoverable in most cases). Also, the second-last fight can be a lot nastier than Seraph themself is if your deck is built well for handling bosses (think something like a Frostbite deck). I think you could definitely win while taking zero, but I also doubt you'll have a game where every combination of enemies and trial effects looks nasty enough to make you say no.

2. Meh. I've beaten up through Covenant 7 now, basically maximizing variety. Getting used to factions will help since you'll have an idea what drafts might come up in the future to support the options you have now, but being adaptable is very necessary in this game and I don't think there is a "strategy to win" to find. Seems like (almost?) every card's gonna be good sometimes.

Makes sense. Thank you for the detailed answer!

[Yojo0o]

1. In my experience, trials are best approached on a case-by-case basis. If you can most likely handle the parameters, and value the reward, go for it! If the parameters are insurmountable (Say, you've got the Stygian hero with Sweep + Spell Weakness and the trial is going to add Spikes to every enemy), then skip it. No shame there.

2. Hard to say. Every clan has great internal synergy, but synergy between clans is something that's often much less obvious, or even nonexistent in some cases. In your case, I'd say you should probably stick to one specific combination until your game skill and knowledge "levels up" a bit.

For what it's worth, my first few victories were Awoken/Hellhorned. Got a big, tanky, Spiked-up Awoken champion, put it on the ground floor, filled that row with high-damage Hellhorned units, and put massive units like Demon Fiends in the floors above them to mop up. Nothing too intricate, just powerful units with basic positioning.

[Ryan Dorkoski]

Originally posted by Yojo0o:

1. In my experience, trials are best approached on a case-by-case basis. If you can most likely handle the parameters, and value the reward, go for it! If the parameters are insurmountable (Say, you've got the Stygian hero with Sweep + Spell Weakness and the trial is going to add Spikes to every enemy), then skip it. No shame there.

2. Hard to say. Every clan has great internal synergy, but synergy between clans is something that's often much less obvious, or even nonexistent in some cases. In your case, I'd say you should probably stick to one specific combination until your game skill and knowledge "levels up" a bit.

For what it's worth, my first few victories were Awoken/Hellhorned. Got a big, tanky, Spiked-up Awoken champion, put it on the ground floor, filled that row with high-damage Hellhorned units, and put massive units like Demon Fiends in the floors above them to mop up. Nothing too intricate, just powerful units with basic positioning.

Yeah that was my first win, but for whatever reason I cannot get that strat to work for Cov 1. Might be RNG. Hmmm. Thank you!

[Yojo0o]

Originally posted by Ryan Dorkoski:

Originally posted by Yojo0o:

1. In my experience, trials are best approached on a case-by-case basis. If you can most likely handle the parameters, and value the reward, go for it! If the parameters are insurmountable (Say, you've got the Stygian hero with Sweep + Spell Weakness and the trial is going to add Spikes to every enemy), then skip it. No shame there.

2. Hard to say. Every clan has great internal synergy, but synergy between clans is something that's often much less obvious, or even nonexistent in some cases. In your case, I'd say you should probably stick to one specific combination until your game skill and knowledge "levels up" a bit.

For what it's worth, my first few victories were Awoken/Hellhorned. Got a big, tanky, Spiked-up Awoken champion, put it on the ground floor, filled that row with high-damage Hellhorned units, and put massive units like Demon Fiends in the floors above them to mop up. Nothing too intricate, just powerful units with basic positioning.

Yeah that was my first win, but for whatever reason I cannot get that strat to work for Cov 1. Might be RNG. Hmmm. Thank you!

Well, the biggest change between Cov 0 and 1 are the five random cards added to your deck. This is absolutely an RNG influence, but if it's utterly stonewalling you, that makes me suspect that you're not placing enough value in removing cards from your deck. No matter what combination of clans I'm playing, I always place HEAVY value on finding early means to thin the deck out. Getting rid of those insanely weak Train Steward cards, as well as weak spells like Hellhorned's Torch, is critical to building a consistent deck. Otherwise, the potential to draw pointless crap is just too high.

[Ryan Dorkoski]

Originally posted by Yojo0o:

Originally posted by Ryan Dorkoski:

Yeah that was my first win, but for whatever reason I cannot get that strat to work for Cov 1. Might be RNG. Hmmm. Thank you!

Well, the biggest change between Cov 0 and 1 are the five random cards added to your deck. This is absolutely an RNG influence, but if it's utterly stonewalling you, that makes me suspect that you're not placing enough value in removing cards from your deck. No matter what combination of clans I'm playing, I always place HEAVY value on finding early means to thin the deck out. Getting rid of those insanely weak Train Steward cards, as well as weak spells like Hellhorned's Torch, is critical to building a consistent deck. Otherwise, the potential to draw pointless crap is just too high.

Yep. So to be transparent, I do do this, but I probably just haven't done enough runs on Cov 1 with the strategy you described. This is good advice, and I'm going to give it another go!

Thanks so much for taking the time.

[Rockdog237]

I'm in a similar boat, 26 hrs played & 7ish hrs watching runs ...I constantly get to ring 5 or more on Covenant 1 but I run into a boss or big enemy (eg Fel or the sweep lifesteal dude) who stonewalls every combo I think of. In the last 2 days I've had multiple runs that absolutely obliterate then for some reason fail on later fights & it's VERY FRUSTRATING ...love the game but getting bodied by a slightly too hp bloated *IMO* boss detracts from an awesome game

I'm also aware I might be bad at games (i have something like 600 hrs in Slay the Spire only managed to get ascension 4 with all 4 classes but c'mon Covenant 1 should be not this hard imo)

[Ryan Dorkoski]

Originally posted by Rockdog237:

I'm in a similar boat, 26 hrs played & 7ish hrs watching runs ...I constantly get to ring 5 or more on Covenant 1 but I run into a boss or big enemy (eg Fel or the sweep lifesteal dude) who stonewalls every combo I think of. In the last 2 days I've had multiple runs that absolutely obliterate then for some reason fail on later fights & it's VERY FRUSTRATING ...love the game but getting bodied by a slightly too hp bloated *IMO* boss detracts from an awesome game

I'm also aware I might be bad at games (i have something like 600 hrs in Slay the Spire only managed to get ascension 4 with all 4 classes but c'mon Covenant 1 should be not this hard imo)

Well I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one haha. I was in a similar boat with Slay the Spire. This makes me nervous. I want to still be able to have some fun as well as being challenged. Hmm.

[Misguided]

Try and focus on one or two things and make them as OP as possible. If you are struggling, don’t be afraid to see what your starting cards and artifact are and restart the run if you don’t like what you see.

You aren’t looking for balance. Winning strategies in this game would feel like gimmicks in other games. Think about cards you have and how you could make them absurdly powerful:

What if I could play this spell every turn (holdover)?
What if this unit returned to the top of the deck when killed (endless)?
What if I was guaranteed to have this spell when I needed it (permafrost)?

Keep your deck as lean as you can to pull the cards you need. Use consume upgrades to cheaply get rid of spells.

[Pete, King of the Detectives]

I've been having a lot of success with the candle guys, synergy with Umbra is pretty obvious but the other clans have some nice cards too. Having a 60/60 unit in the first stage is pretty nuts, and burnout can be mitigated either with reform effects or the unit that adds burnout when she gets hit.

When I started playing I was trying to spread my buff effects too thin and often ended up with a bunch of okay units instead of one really strong dude. What I've found works best is to have one guy you're buffing (with multistrike or some other way to scale better than other units), maybe on the top floor, and then have units with really strong base statlines on the lower floors to tank hits, thin out mobs, and give you time to make the guy on the top floor a monster.

You also really want to trash aggressively and make sure you have ways to deal with 1 hp trash mobs like Glimmer.

[Ryan Dorkoski]

Originally posted by Misguided:

Try and focus on one or two things and make them as OP as possible. If you are struggling, don’t be afraid to see what your starting cards and artifact are and restart the run if you don’t like what you see.

You aren’t looking for balance. Winning strategies in this game would feel like gimmicks in other games. Think about cards you have and how you could make them absurdly powerful:

What if I could play this spell every turn (holdover)?
What if this unit returned to the top of the deck when killed (endless)?
What if I was guaranteed to have this spell when I needed it (permafrost)?

Keep your deck as lean as you can to pull the cards you need. Use consume upgrades to cheaply get rid of spells.

Good advice, thank you. I'll keep these tips in mind, moving forward. Just got to the final boss in Cov 1. Died, but its progress for me.

[Ryan Dorkoski]

Originally posted by Pete, King of the Detectives:

I've been having a lot of success with the candle guys, synergy with Umbra is pretty obvious but the other clans have some nice cards too. Having a 60/60 unit in the first stage is pretty nuts, and burnout can be mitigated either with reform effects or the unit that adds burnout when she gets hit.

When I started playing I was trying to spread my buff effects too thin and often ended up with a bunch of okay units instead of one really strong dude. What I've found works best is to have one guy you're buffing (with multistrike or some other way to scale better than other units), maybe on the top floor, and then have units with really strong base statlines on the lower floors to tank hits, thin out mobs, and give you time to make the guy on the top floor a monster.

You also really want to trash aggressively and make sure you have ways to deal with 1 hp trash mobs like Glimmer.

Yeah the candle guys are what I'm using right now. Pretty cool group.

[Rin 凛]

RNG still one of the factor, second is the boss. Just beat Cov 1 with Umbra+Awoken, tank with Awoken units and just feed your Umbras with lifesteal and you should win most of the time.