Does anyone have advice for higher levels?

[Some_kind_of_no_name]

I just can't beat throne 8

[sax2ya]

from a solid stand point i can give you some points
1. be smart, the farther you get the more harder it gets with enemies and hp its best to take lifesaver cards 2nd in place behind that is fire power
2. know whats beyond the target, really annoying to get killed by a rook that was behind a pawn you were not even trying to shoot at
3. pressing the mouse wheel (or mid mouse/scroll wheel) shows all the tiles that are dangerous.

[mralph03]

On higher difficulties, the reduced margin of error changes how you make some choices. The biggest one I noticed was needing to focus more on "damage per turn." With more and stronger enemies, you cannot afford turns with only a move. They will out-move you and box you in. Strategies that you may not love that can reduce your wasted turns become necessary. Here are some of the build combos I've used to succeed at these levels.

1) Free Turns (ex: Bushido) - this is most obvious. If you can get past the reduction in power (ex: +1 with Holy Gunpowder) the kills WITH A FREE TURN are key. Grab the sword or Dagger to use this power more often... which equals more damage per turn through free kills. Philanthropy does this (but takes too long to get to it) and Jousting can do some of this, also.

2) Passive Damage (ex: Rats) - getting guaranteed free damage for something you're doing anyway (killing stuff) is great. This is better if you can build with cards that skew the White army toward 'many weak enemies' (ex: Pawn Zombies). That's more rats that never miss killing stuff for you. Piercing can also do this with the right builds.

3) Extra Mobility (ex: Hop or Loafers) - lost moves to check are less of a big deal if you can get free moves. The Hop has the added benefit of free damage and Loafers is good for builds with a glut of ammo. Crown is also particularly strong on high levels (with more enemies who drop souls).

4) Shoot More / Accept Risk in Shots - On open boards I play pretty conservative (don't take "probably survive" shots). On late levels, you have to kill rather than dodge out of check more often. This makes powers that reduce spread or boost range valuable, to make these shots a higher probability of the needed outcome. I can long-range a bishop with High Focus & Jousting making it something that can land. Never touch Blunderbuss or Sawed Off, no time for Scope.

Obviously ymmv, but this has worked for me. Some of these only work when you get the synergy (ex: Bushido) so you might take something trying to survive long enough for the complementary drop. In my experience, that succeeds more often than taking mediocre builds that cannot scale fast enough to reach the finish line.

[♚ Akko II]

As the ranks progress, it's more white pieces, more HP, bigger fire arc and less ammo. So I don't care about one-shotting the enemies so much. Instead I focus my attention on:

- Ammo. If you have fully reloaded shotgun, the king will regenerate ammo on jump. If you don't, he will reload. There are cards that will make ammo management easier. Ermine belt, elite gem, force feeding etc. But it's important to learn how to manage your ammo even without them. And to weigh out when to shoot and when to conserve ammo. Unjust degree could be ok to take, but I don't like it.

- My mobility. The more mobile I am, the more easily I can escape checks or kill annoying pieces. Royal loafers and Unfaithful steed are a no-brainer. Free moves are then useful to help me reload ammo. Taunting hop is a free reload + free damage. Unholy call is a free reload with potentially +2 firepower. Sacred crown is great too, especially with bushido or corteous jousting. You can get a free move from soul, free move from the kill, another free move from newly gained soul and then have a non-free move/shot.

- Enemy mobility. Slow and steady wins the race. If I can outmaneuver enemy pieces, it doesn't matter how many you throw at me. Making some pieces faster than others means they will arrive sooner than others and that you can kill them before the rest of the army arrives. Making the entire army slower gives you more time to kill them. Restricting their reach means they have to move in specific ways to check you. Courteous jousting combines well with a lot of knights. They will get in each others' way and you get free turns from killing them, giving you opportunity to kill them as they come without getting mated.
From rank 8 onwards, I saw how important pawns are to slow down white army. And when rank 14 came and I found myself facing constant ammo shortages, I suddenly began to deliberately pick Full plate armor and sometimes even Court of the king. Full plate armor gives everyone +1 HP, but also -1 speed. There are a lot of pieces after COTK, but when they have movement speed 1 per 7 turns, and pawns movement speed 1 per 8 turns, nobody's moving anywhere. Among other notable mobility slowers are: Caltrops, cannonball, Divine healing (don't have too many bishops though. 4 are manageable. I had 7 once and had to resign as I was unable to outdo their healing), Golden aging & Presbyopia. Subtle poison is fine too as Queen promotions aren't as annoying anymore. But I don't rely on it due to my play style. If you have a slow board, you can get away with red book. Bishops being able to move orthogonally is priceless when they can't ever check you. When you're on the same file, they will jump closer to you and you can shoot them from home.

Also, on later stages (when Queen comes into play) it's always good to be proactive rather than reactive with when to jump. At the beginning of later floors, when pieces are about to jump towards you, always check if you're likely to get trapped. If you don't have enough firepower to deal with it, get out of there quickly.

Last but not least, find a gun that suits you. It's universally accepted that Solomon is great. Some recommend Victoria for the final stages as it allows you to one shot knights and bishops. I've tried it, but the lack of ammo doesn't suit my style. My main is Ramesses II. Unlike many others, I actually love this gun. It suits my playstyle well. Instead of focusing on high firepower to one-shot everything, I instead focus on shooting from distance to wear down enemies. Then once they come, they're already injured and I can just finish them off. Power 3+ and range 3 are all I need. Fire arc isn't as important to me - as long as you have 90°, you will shoot all shells to the square next to you. And this playstyle can accomodate even fire arc of 120° (hello, blunderbuss). When they're injured, I don't need as much power to kill them. If I have a blade, fire arc is irrelevant. They're dying anyway. xD