Meme's Strategy Guide: Obtaining the "Ultimate Strategist" Black Stamp

[MemeMagician]

Hi! I’m Meme, a long-time player, first-time poster on the Shogun Showdown Steam Community. I’m writing this guide fresh off a Day 1 Chain Master win in 15:02, which completes my collection of “Ultimate Strategist” Black Stamps across all characters.

I’ve noticed a few threads on here say the Kunai tile is pretty much the way to go to obtain this stamp - and while I won’t dispute the tile’s utility, I will say that you absolutely don’t have to have that tile to win - in that last run I mentioned, I didn’t even see the tile in any of the shops!

With that in mind, I’d like to post some of my tips and tricks for getting this stamp for any character. Hopefully you’ll get some use out of these!

Before the Run

• Play on Day 1. Yeah, sure, this one’s widely known in the community by now, but I’m including it here for the sake of completeness. If you wanna try this badge on a later Day, though, knock yourself out - and read on!
  
• Pick a control schema. The game can be played with a mouse, a keyboard, or a controller. Myself, I use my mouse to select tiles and my left hand to handle WASD and the Spacebar. I still lose time on mouse clicks, but trying to adapt to keyboard-only control would genuinely take more time than it’s worth for me, and if it ain’t broke, I’m not going to fix it.

During Play

• Remember that time only ticks during combat. you can spend as much time on the map or in shops as you like! Unfortunately, this does mean you might want to skip the boss dialogue. Sorry, loremasters!
  
• Get either a movement tile or ranged tile. Not being able to kill the enemy wastes time, so make sure you’re deadly anywhere you stand.
  
• Avoid ‘long’ tiles. By ‘long’, I mean tiles which take a while to resolve. You don’t have to avoid them like the plague, but be mindful not to take more if you start with some. (I’ve included a list of tiles sorted by run-optimum at the end of this guide.)
  
• Try not to think too hard. Shogun Showdown is a turn-based strategy game, but not everybody has the practice and swift thinking needed to quickly plot three entire tiles safely, much less optimally. (That sort of thinking suits Obliteration Black Badge runs much better, anyway.)
  
• Take a little damage. Assuming you’re playing on Day 1, the Edamame Brews are plentiful, so don’t be afraid to sustain a hit or two if it means killing the enemy faster. If you’re playing later in the Week, though, just remember: the only hit point that matters is the last one!
  
• Avoid ‘timewaster’ bosses. Yep, even the bosses’ gimmicks can be optimized against. Some of these dudes just take longer turns! (A list of boss ‘speeds’ is also included at the end of this guide.)
  
• Choose your tiles wisely. Long Cooldown doesn’t matter if you can always deal damage on your turn, and short Cooldown doesn’t matter if you don’t have eligible targets.

Now that that’s out of the way, here’re some opinions I have on tile utility and boss selection for this kind of run. Get ready for an even longer wall of words!

Tile Utility

• Reliable: These tiles have constant-length animations, although tiles with a ‘*’ take a little longer than others. Katana, Tetsubo*, Sai, Bo Staff, Back Strike, Swirl, Spear, Shadow Kama*, Nagiboku*, Earth Impale*, Arrow, Crossbow* (reloading), Tanegashima, Lightning*, Scar Strike*, Trap, Thorns, Smoke Bomb, Back Smoke Bomb, and any basic Free-Play tile I don’t mention later on in this list.
  
• Variable: These tiles take time proportional to how far you or a projectile have to travel to take effect. Dragon Punch, Twin Tessen, Meteor Hammer, Blazing Suisei, Shuriken, Mon, Crossbow (firing), Grappling Hook, Ki Push, Chakram, Curse, and any Dash tile.
  
• Special Cases: Blade of Patience should be in ‘Reliable’ because it has a constant animation time, but to use it in many cases - especially against bosses - requires you to essentially build your queue around it and try to plan the right tiles to include. That means thinking, and thinking takes time! This tile may work for you, but if you’re not sure, it’s best to skip it.

Boss Speeds

• Daisuke the Dasher: His namesake Tile is Variable, and he uses it often. You’ll want to match his speed!
  
• Rei the Ruthless: She can Dash and Dragon Punch, and on top of the summons this makes her extremely challenging to speed through.
  
• Baru the Barricader: With Barricades, Dragon Punch and the Yari Sniper’s signature move, this boss is a significant timewaster. Find a way around those barricades before your sand runs out!
  
• Iwao the Impaler: If you dare to get close enough to him to trigger the dreaded seconds-stealing Twirl + Earth Impale combo, you’d better have a plan to cut his life short, or you may have to cut your run short.
  
• The Twins: Thankfully, they’re the only boss in the game who won’t use summons. Just don’t let them surround you and keep to the edge of the arena and you’ll be fine.
  
• Hideyoshi the Cunning: All this guy does is hatch elaborate schemes involving three-tile attacks. Only face him if you’re confident you can outwit him!
  
• Nobunaga the Wicked: A boss invulnerable outside direct sunlight requires thinking and precious seconds to fight. Enough said.
  
• The Statue: Like Hideyoshi, its plans are long-winded, but easy to dodge if you’re paying attention (and keep the rear statue’s summons near it).
  
• Sato the Stagemaster: The longest play you’ll ever sit through in your life. Avoid at all costs… Unless you’ve acquired ‘Shortest Play’ and know what you’re doing.
  
• Ieyasu the Patient: His damage is more of a run-killer than his dashes. The weird Swapper gadget he keeps also doubles as a timewaster.
  
• The Shogun: No getting around Destiny! It’s just you, him, and the clock now. If you’ve reached this point, in-game or in the guide, the last lessons you need to learn will come from within. Gather your strength and your speed and become the Ultimate Strategist!

Closing Words

If you’ve got questions, comments, or concerns, let me know in the discussion! I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts.

[MrQun]

Personally I think that the gap between the normal stamp and gold stamp is a bit much. I mean, it went from clearing the game under 30 minutes to under 20 minutes. I think that 25 minutes for gold stamp is more reasonable.

[MemeMagician]

MrQun님이 먼저 게시:

Personally I think that the gap between the normal stamp and gold stamp is a bit much. I mean, it went from clearing the game under 30 minutes to under 20 minutes. I think that 25 minutes for gold stamp is more reasonable.

Considering it's possible to clear the game in about 15 minutes, 20 minutes isn't all that tough, is it?

[MrQun]

OK, it might be possible, but it's just not fun. This is basically speed running and not everyone finds enjoyment in rushing gameplay. Yes, I know that many do enjoy speed running, but I am just hoping for a middle ground. Which is why I suggested 25 minutes.

[MemeMagician]

MrQun님이 먼저 게시:

OK, it might be possible, but it's just not fun. This is basically speed running and not everyone finds enjoyment in rushing gameplay. Yes, I know that many do enjoy speed running, but I am just hoping for a middle ground. Which is why I suggested 25 minutes.

You know, that's reasonable. I hope whatever changes come, the game becomes more fun to play for you! And if the time cap doesn't get adjusted, I hope this guide helps you get the stamps regardless.

[MrQun]

I haven't memorised the new bosses yet, so your guide was pretty helpful. After many attempts I managed to get the gold stamp (16s) using Ronin with the Crossbow and swap. I also got lucky as I got the pistol and loads of cooldowns.

[MemeMagician]

MrQun님이 먼저 게시:

I haven't memorised the new bosses yet, so your guide was pretty helpful. After many attempts I managed to get the gold stamp (16s) using Ronin with the Crossbow and swap. I also got lucky as I got the pistol and loads of cooldowns.

Crossbow is a hell of a tile to get that stamp with! If you can manage that, I think you can manage all the other characters, too! You got this!

[gluttony]

MrQun님이 먼저 게시:

OK, it might be possible, but it's just not fun. This is basically speed running and not everyone finds enjoyment in rushing gameplay. Yes, I know that many do enjoy speed running, but I am just hoping for a middle ground. Which is why I suggested 25 minutes.

Its very mild speedrunning, you have a LOT of headroom for the occasional longer thinking.

[Mustardoish]

Just did my Chain master one in under 14 mins, got kunal late and only to tier 3. But the damage skills like monomancer and melee really help. Keeping health and refresh potions I could stand in front of bosses and generally kill them with two or three volleys and maybe tanking a hit or two. I think the bosses are the biggest time savers.

[Mustardoish]

Btw, I think you should make this into a proper guide, so it is not lost.

[MemeMagician]

Mustardoish님이 먼저 게시:

Btw, I think you should make this into a proper guide, so it is not lost.

That's a good idea. What's the procedure for making a Guide? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the Steam Community tools.

[Mustardoish]

In the guides section there is a create guide button.
There is a litle syntax to learn, as steam very annoyingly doesnt use standard markdown
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=220061282
but you can pretty much copy paste what you have there and it will be alright.