This game really isn't that hard, don't understand the complaints

[Beefbayonet]

45 hrs in, including a bunch afk and I've completed curse level 10. Mind, I've won all of my runs with different combinations of House Agica as my main.

But I see so many complaints on here and the reviews, and now with what seems a new nerf in the patch notes and I'm genuinely struggling to understand why.

The only thing that sticks out for me regarding difficulty in this game is that this game will punish you hard for not being meticulous. You must read what all your opponents are doing and do the math, remove crappy starter cards almost every chance you get, get high defence cards because enemies hit hard af later and you need to soak up damage, energy and card generation must also be a focus, try not to waste a reward on healing when you can because you will get it all back on the next floor.

This is just to name a few things, but all these things can be picked up just playing and learning the mechanics. Rarely did I feel the game was unfair, yes sometimes RNG does not smile on you, you get a bad run of cards, you get tough enemy compositions that you aren't quite equipped for yet.

BUT, the game gives you everything you need to progress you just have to approach every step meticulously because every run really doesn't differ a great deal from the last. There are no massive upgrades in this game, it is mostly a slow build up of power and deck refinement. Once you learn what you need to win, mistakes should become rarer and rarer the more you play.

I've played harder and easier deck-builders than this, I feel like it doesn't deserve a lot of the criticism it gets regarding difficulty. If anything, being forced to pick cards after every battle actually makes the game simpler and easier than some others because the whole game has to be balanced around this mechanic. There is no skipping, just pick the best one you can and remove bad ones pretty much every chance you get.

Anyway that's just my 2 cents on what I think is actually a pretty decent deck-builder.

[VeggieWombat]

Game doesn't seem super hard indeed (35h playtime with kids interupting, curse 8 atm). But it's pretty rough in the specifics.
- UI isn't super clear with icons, indicators, as well as many missing pop-ups and keywords or explanations ( "Mine mine"doesn't display the block you'll get for example, expeditions are a mystery, etc)
- Lack of combat quit (for real, I have a real life, I paid you money, leave me alone, if someone tries to script a fight, that's on them FFS)
- Seeing healing option on the first few nodes of floor1
- Autopass when no enemies (please, I want to play the Defends for more Retribution, I want to play that Delayed sentence for next turn, etc)
- Many cards just lack personality or definite functions with many cards being variations of the same, with a few numbers changed.
- Same with Antqorum. Energy and card draw is absolute priority, but many I just pick to least bad one, be able to dump it next time.
- About 20% of cards/items are actively unplayable or need reworks.

Basically, to me it's a beta version. I'm likely to come back and push for the achivement and try the various combinations, but it's never getting recommended to someone as an exemplar of the genre.

[Bartosaure]

Thank you for the feedback VeggieWombat!
It's harsh, but it seems quite honest. ^^

As for the cards and antiqorum: We're discussing cards and upgrades on the Discord. And I really listen to the community when it comes to Balance updates. So, if you wish to join, we can discuss cards or antiqorums you feel could be reworked / balanced.

[MisterFister]

I just won a run with Nereide and Doltar and it was my first time playing with Nereide ever. i Think I did 4 other runs before her with the blue lady and gun lady. (forgot their names). Nereide seems significantly easier because you actively get rewarded for playing the proper defense and damage cards with counter attacks and Fury while other characters are not so cut and dry.

This game really isn't that hard and I think that most people are just very s*** at the genre. You can see from achievements that most people that do try to complete the game are also mostly successful with Nereide. I'm pretty fond of the game so far I give props to the devs.

Also side note, but Wombat you're just a bit harsh with. I was very easily able to see what most things with the UI were doing apart from a couple things. Something a in game glossary wouldn't hurt to have. I've seen some games with one and they help.

Also yeah energy is an absolute priority but I mean... anyone who played StS or Monster Train knows that's the case with those games as well. You generally improve your attack/defense/choices by 33 percent just by choosing energy first.

[Original Cast Recording]

I wasn't aware of any complaints on the game. Just got it with Humble. Enjoying it well enough so far.

Some games will let you skate by without fully grasping what's going on, some don't. I could see it being annoying or tedious for someone who plays with controller to move the cursor around the various icons on the screen to see all the active effects and what-not, but that's definitely not unique to this game.

My first win was also with Nereide. (Gun girl thief companion.) Maybe she's just OP.

[Wiszcz]

I think perception of difficulty in this game may be very based on how many hours you played slay the spire before. Game is very similar (all card games are?) in regards to building deck (but i like that upgrading basic cards is more viable here). So for people new to the genre it may be harsh - It took me long time to understand why card removal is important in StS. For now difficulty is just right for me - not to much thinking, but also not mindless grind (ok, maybe becase i play almost every game on new character, 4 completed now).
Also - I think character with parrying are easier to understand than class that heavily relies on deck manipulation so here can be additional barrier. Maybe unlock both? Or all on start? I understand gating content because you don't want to overwhelm, but maybe show people from the strart that they have different ways to play?

[TheGrandQuest]

tbf looking at the achievements most people can barely win a run let alone climb curse
even before Slay The Spire buffed alot of its cards most people could hit 60% winrate on A15
but base curse level feels really rough especially with how drastically bad some of the cards are.

[Darkmalice]

Hi, only played 4hrs here. It's not that it's difficult, imo, it's that the game does a terrible job of teaching you how it plays. Coupled with the camera swivelling around, it can be confusing to figure out exactly what is going on in a fight. I'm getting used to it now and having a blast, the game itself is great fun, but it badly needs a better tutorial and better GUI to convey information. I appreciate all the tooltips, but man there's a lot of little icons and names for things that I haven't seen listed in like, a single compendium or something.

[TheGrandQuest]

Originally posted by TheGrandQuest:

tbf looking at the achievements most people can barely win a run let alone climb curse
even before Slay The Spire buffed alot of its cards most people could hit 60% winrate on A15
but base curse level feels really rough especially with how drastically bad some of the cards are.

just checked back today did the dev update the achievements or is steam just bugging its went from listing % completion for global achievements to being all 0%

[Original Cast Recording]

Originally posted by Maximum Disambiguation:

...
My first win was also with Nereide. (Gun girl thief companion.) Maybe she's just OP.

Still haven't finished with anybody but her, haha.

[MisterFister]

Originally posted by Maximum Disambiguation:

Originally posted by Maximum Disambiguation:

...
My first win was also with Nereide. (Gun girl thief companion.) Maybe she's just OP.

Still haven't finished with anybody but her, haha.

What? This is unacceptable. NERF NEREIDE NOW!

[Original Cast Recording]

Originally posted by MisterFister:

Originally posted by Maximum Disambiguation:

Still haven't finished with anybody but her, haha.

What? This is unacceptable. NERF NEREIDE NOW!

Major oversight on the part of the devs to allow players to win the game.

[TheGrandQuest]

Originally posted by Maximum Disambiguation:

Originally posted by MisterFister:

What? This is unacceptable. NERF NEREIDE NOW!

Major oversight on the part of the devs to allow players to win the game.

according to the prior achievement statistics less then half the player base got past curse 2
most winning on nereide or jokan, and barely any won with the starting duo.

[Original Cast Recording]

Originally posted by TheGrandQuest:

Originally posted by Maximum Disambiguation:

Major oversight on the part of the devs to allow players to win the game.

according to the prior achievement statistics less then half the player base got past curse 2
most winning on nereide or jokan, and barely any won with the starting duo.

I like the virus gang the best, but haven't quite nailed the final bosses with any of them.

One bad round can ruin you, so it's not surprising people say it's hard.

Also, you unlock new stuff pretty quickly, and it's fun to try them out in new combos, but I think the way to win more consistently is probably to focus on a strategy and refine it.

[Maw]

It might be related to balance / nerf updates too, I remember playing in the way past it was brutally difficult "until" you learnt the game properly

[Psylisa]

Originally posted by Maximum Disambiguation:

I like the virus gang the best, but haven't quite nailed the final bosses with any of them.

Jokan is my guy for virus play. You don't have to mess with any cards that add Virus, just simply attack. Each Virus give him more damage, so usually by the 3rd round, it's over.

Keys -
Let It Go - in case you draw a bunch of Virus. It anchors, so just keep it In Hand. If you don't have this one, use the Injector that Redraws your hand to do the same.

Defense Override - Defense Now, plus Defense Next Turn. Yup, excellent card!

Cursed Strength - Take it! If it weren't for being Limited, you'd want to take every single one. I don't take more than 2, but they win runs.

There's a pair of 0-cost low damage attacks, that also have Draw 1. Take these, as many as you can get.

There's a few others that are "must grab" for Jokan. I enjoy pairing him with Sohoma to nab the artifacts and card rarity boost.