Usual card deck amount and version downgrading?

[Locher]

I only win about 10% of my games on Hard and i believe i am doing something wrong.

I have about 35-40cards as I reach Seija but she hits 80dmg, can exile half of my deck and spawn multiple monsters. I am not sure what kind of approach I need as my deck only follows up to 2 themes which makes me steamroll against anything (even Elites) but I am rarely able to beat Seija because her action values far beats anything I can build against.
Should I condense my decks further to 25-30 cards? (as in: skip every second card reward) or should I abandon playthroughs more often if I am unable to get meta cards within the first two acts?

I am playing on beta (to test Koishi) and I believe I was winning every 4th Hard playthrough a few months prior. Did this game receive a massive rebalance patch that made everything harder? If there was a balance patch, is there a way/place where I can downgrade my version? I definitely had more fun when I was winning with more flexible decks instead of being forced into some deck meta)

[mbran031]

Originally posted by Locher:

Should I condense my decks further to 25-30 cards?

Nah. Hard difficulty isn't at the level where you need meta cards or condensed decks. I play on hard precisely for this reason, and almost always end up with 40+ card decks since I just take any card that isn't terrible. My advise would be to focus on stocking up on items at the shop more. They are super useful and help to overcome the wide array of problems Seija can throw at you.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3407816076

[pikminjp]

Originally posted by Locher:

I only win about 10% of my games on Hard and i believe i am doing something wrong.

I have about 35-40cards as I reach Seija but she hits 80dmg, can exile half of my deck and spawn multiple monsters. I am not sure what kind of approach I need as my deck only follows up to 2 themes which makes me steamroll against anything (even Elites) but I am rarely able to beat Seija because her action values far beats anything I can build against.
Should I condense my decks further to 25-30 cards? (as in: skip every second card reward) or should I abandon playthroughs more often if I am unable to get meta cards within the first two acts?

I am playing on beta (to test Koishi) and I believe I was winning every 4th Hard playthrough a few months prior. Did this game receive a massive rebalance patch that made everything harder? If there was a balance patch, is there a way/place where I can downgrade my version? I definitely had more fun when I was winning with more flexible decks instead of being forced into some deck meta)

My best advise I could give is that you should consider a theme of cards to fit along the good cards (Especially abilities) you get early on in the run. For example if your playing Koishi and you find yourself with a strong follow up attack card like the one that is 17 AOE. Consider hunting for the cards that trigger follow up attacks as much as you can. (also try to remove the two basic dark follow up cards as they do more harm then good in follow up decks.)

It sounds silly, but another pitfall one could have is avoiding the early game elite fights. The three early game elite fights provide rare cards you can shape your deck around throughout the game. Or even give your strong exhibits which can really patch up some weak points. If you pick the 20 Hp pill, due atleast the later two elites. However the full spell card one allows you to beat all 3 pretty effortlessly. If your deck is struggling greatly to them, chances are your whole game is going to be in a pretty rough spot unless you can quickly change things around anyhow. The game is still early at that point, so worse comes to worse. Your losing maybe under an hour of progress then 2+ hours had you gotten better cards early on.

Items like mbran said are very strong when used sparingly. The 25 retain block especially is a godsend to save you from a devastating bad draw. The vulnerable card is very helpful against most of the main bosses. Save 1 especially for Seija if you can. Flawless item is a must get for her as well if your deck struggles with damage. The canned food is great for when your trying to focus on upgrading or removing cards then wasting them on the gap. Obviously avoid misfortune cards unless your deck is specifically built for them or you have ways to remove them quickly in and out of battles.

Hard mode is relatively forgiving once you find the good synergies and builds. Lunatic on the other hand... can really feel like you got screwed over for no reason at times.

Also some character relics pair horribly or very neatly into your game plan, so really consider if you REALLY need them or not. As their cards can block actual cards you are needing causing much more inconsistency. I hope that helps.