Can't win a single ride

[Aleddra]

I stopped playing completely just as the multiple hero patch hit. I'm not doing this right, i'm at the lowest level, i didn't see a difficulty setting. I don't understand the score this game gets.

[BeastofBones]

Hi Aleddra,

If you're struggling to win a run, you should probably check out a basics guide. There are many available, but it's very likely you're not building your deck correctly. Besides guides, you can also crib answers by watching videos of people playing the game, and simply using them as a base to figure out which cards are "good". Once you have a few solutions that work, you can expand on learning how to use other cards.

I would recommend starting with the Vanilla Monster Train experience and ignoring shards and what not, as that just introduces more complexity. The simplest setup in Monster Train is a Tank, with a DPS behind it, and you scale the DPS with buffing spells (e.g. Razorsharp Edge in Awoken). To control enemy damage output, you often want to have some backline removal spells. Besides starter cards that can do this (e.g. Torch for Hellhorn), AOE solutions are popular, stuff like Vent upgraded with +magic damage, Glimmer, etc. For bosses, you need to last X rounds, and usually raw unit health won't cut it. This is where you're looking for sustain cards in your faction. This is typically armor (Hellhorn), Regen (Awoken), Armor/Sap/Stun (Stygian), Lifesteal/Damage Shield (Umbra), or Daze/Stealth (Melting Remnant)

If you'd like direct coaching and are capable of streaming/sharing your stream, try joining the Monster Train Discord. It's possible a more experienced player would be willing to give you live coaching while you play a run. Or if you have a run that you've failed, and would like to see someone play it to make it work, hit the copy deep link button in the top right of your run summary screen, then post the link here. I'm sure a friendly player would be more than happy to do a quick run, and you can see what deck choices they made. Ask questions about their choices, and you'll likely be well on your way to securing your first victory.

If you want an example of what a deeplink looks like:
monstertrain://runresult/35940c9b-fd9a-475c-b52c-197a2c31cd15

[Kaerius]

There's a learning curve, low levels are very easy once you get a hang on it. I suggest looking up some popular streamers/youtubers. Gabriot and Never Nathaniel have good video guides, Narninian is very good, and very good at explaining how he plays. Another good one is Voyix, when he's not too tired that day.

[Kaerius]

I've done some direct coaching on the Monster Train discord, and you can get others to help as well. I'm about to head to bed, but if you see Cerebrawl active you could always ask.

[Nathaniel Prime]

There are a whole lot of people who know the game better than I do, but here are a couple of tips in case you don't want to go to Youtube or enroll in a Monster Train -

I'm assuming you only have Hellhorned and Awoken. Play as The Sentient with cultivate and stick her up front. Try to get one shattered shell or husk hermit (for sweep) to put behind her, then an animus of will or that one multiattack hellhorned dude behind that. You're going to need one space upgrade (the yellow upgrade you get from bosses) for this. Buff your sweeper and your multiattacker with any of the offensive buffs you have, and spread your defensive buffs such that The Sentient can has the most health but the other two don't get instantly killed by enemies with cleave or spikes. Giving the quick enhancement to one of your big attackers will save you from taking a ton of damage. Get Call of the Wildwood if you can since it is the best healing spell in the game by far.

And then, win!

Also, toss all the cards you don't need and don't take ones you don't need in the first place. That's probably the easiest mistake in this game, it is tempting to hoard all kinds of nice cards but what that actually does is mean that you don't get the cards you need when you need them. I find decks with about 18 to 22 cards to work the best, no joke. Make sure to dump your train stewards before too long, as well as most (but not all) of the silly starting cards like torch. Or dump ALL of, say, the wimpy healing spell The Sentient starts with if you have no units that cultivate if you heal them.

There are a lot of options here, too. Instead of a sweeper and a multiattacker, you can get a unit with sweep and then give it multiattack. You can also pick up the giant 50/5 hellhorned demon. No matter what, though, you're going to want to give multiattack to whomever you want to be your main attacker(s). The Awoken unit that gains spikes when you heal him is a fun alternative to a unit with sweep, though I'd say not quite as effective. But you can substitute a lot of things in a pinch.

Just do this and you should have little trouble. If you still can't win I think it is likely you're missing a fundamental part of the game and need to find something more like a manual than a strategy guide.

[GeminiEclipse]

In general less is more. A few strong spells every turn will do better than 15 weak spells spread across 3 turns. A few strong units will do better than a whole bunch of weak ones.

Deck thinning helps with this. Make use of the removal spots and shops to get rid of weak cards. Also make use of the skip card button. If you have say a few strong healing spells, skip on future healing cards. All they'll do is just bog down your deck and keep you from getting your good stuff.

[Sekzon]

try to keep your deck below 20 as a start. this will train you to carefully select things. if you are not that experienced it is very easy to always say hell yeah to one of the offered card rewards after a fight because possibilities right? it's a trap. but it's alright. over time eventually you get to know the good combos.

you can also skim through youtube videos. I recommend skipping to the end and see how they beat seraph or so and try to get something almost similar going. it might teach you how to ignore cards that are really good but not with what you have available during the run.