Which Jester cards do you guys never buy?

[Uncle Jon]

I really like this game a lot, but some of the Jester cards I'm not certain if I ever want to use them. Like one of the jester cards I think has an ability where it has a chance to give you one of those hand upgrade cards, but the catch is you need to stay under 4 cash I think.

[chrisbamb]

I think it depends at what stage of the game you are at and will it help you for a short burst. For example, if it's the first Joker offered after the first small blind, it's probably very useful.

[Ronald Brain]

You're combining Space Joker (1 in 4 chance to upgrade played hand) and Vagabond (Creates a Tarot card if you have $4 or less). Space Joker is indeed inconsistent but it could pay off if you play lots of same hands (To ramp up Supernova / Green Joker), while Vagabond basically gets you 2-3 Tarot cards per blind if you stay under $4. Vagabond also combo with Credit card (You can stay in debt and still able to shop between blinds).

[Lightgazer]

i honestly think the ones i never pick up are the popcorn, or mr bones or the idol.. or the matador. i can see a use for each one sure.. but like, popcorn is doomed to die, and unless it's the beginning, a 20 mult only helps so little. if i need the mr bones, that's a joker slot im now short for a get-out-of-losing-if-i-did-a-thing-once.. which only works once and now im scrambling for a replacement. the idol would work if it picked a specific card i liked, but more often than not it picks a card i couldn't care less about, like a 7 of clubs... and then scoring it is a problem, at a time when i probably need the points too (of course if it picks a card i have a lot of, then absolute yay... but how often does that happen?) and the matador gives 8 dollars when the hand i play triggers the boss blind. some bosses just don't get triggered, like the manacle or the wall, others maybe. it could give a LOT of money if done right but.. situational. i'd rather beat the boss with a better joker than get this and think "ok it's the window, i just play a pair with a diamond and free money! honestly that doesn't sound so bad, but i'd still take a decent joker, or even save my money instead of take the matador)

that being said, those first 2 rounds almost any joker would be super helpful. i just did a run where i got sock and bussin with the hiker and just smiled as those two jokers carried me to ante 5.

[matija123123]

Space joker is insane with oops! All 6s because it basically triggers every other hand. Most Jokers are good but actually suck because they work in combinations with one another but because this game is all RNG you will basically never get those synergies making a lot of them kind of ass.

I wish there was another game mode where you can just pick jokers cards and stuff you unlocked previously without hoping they show up in the shop.

[RazzberryMocha]

In my over 200 hours of playing (most of which is on gold stake) I find that the only joker I haven't found a decent use case for is pareidolia. Not to say it's bad or it doesn't serve a purpose, it's just the one I haven't been able to use ever.

[HerbertWess]

In the end buying them and trying them all at least once can lead to some unexpected fun and wins. The issue is what others are saying, some of these jokers are so niche they really don't work well or at all without another one that provides the synergy.

The one i am not sure i will ever try again is the madness joker. It earned me a win with spectral deck, and ended up with 8.0 x-mult, but my god.... if you ever want to experience rng beyond rng do try this one.

Also, burnt joker. Bought it once to unlock, but for a rare card the mechanic seemed underwhelming. How do you actually benefit from this one? having bean and burglar for a humongous hand where you could still maybe benefit from discarding high end hands? Some unknown showman joker synergy and focusing on a specific planet? idk.

[Goblin]

Originally posted by RazzberryMocha:

In my over 200 hours of playing (most of which is on gold stake) I find that the only joker I haven't found a decent use case for is pareidolia. Not to say it's bad or it doesn't serve a purpose, it's just the one I haven't been able to use ever.

Funny, a lot of people absolutely swear by pareidolia, completely convinced it's super strong. Those people are also often the ones that rage about bosses, since the likelihood of encountering a boss that counters any pareidolia build is higher than of WoF proccing.

Originally posted by HerbertWess:

Also, burnt joker. Bought it once to unlock, but for a rare card the mechanic seemed underwhelming. How do you actually benefit from this one?

What? Burnt Joker is just a better space joker in most cases. One guaranteed level increase per round, versus a few 1/4 chance rolls that usually end up being one roll because you start oneshotting the round. As for how to use it, you use your hands to discard 5 cards at once, so you can use your first discard to get the hand you want. Better with easier-to-make hands of course, unless your deck is really stacked to your advantage, but it's very much not a bad joker.

[matija123123]

After a bit of thinking for me it is the obelisk because it's objectively the worst joker in the game and only good thing about it is that it's a rare one so I almost never see it and when I do I don't even want to look at it let alone pick it up. What a joke.

[RazzberryMocha]

Originally posted by HerbertWess:

Also, burnt joker. Bought it once to unlock, but for a rare card the mechanic seemed underwhelming. How do you actually benefit from this one?

What? Burnt Joker is just a better space joker in most cases. One guaranteed level increase per round, versus a few 1/4 chance rolls that usually end up being one roll because you start oneshotting the round. As for how to use it, you use your hands to discard 5 cards at once, so you can use your first discard to get the hand you want. Better with easier-to-make hands of course, unless your deck is really stacked to your advantage, but it's very much not a bad joker. [/quote]
I actually tend to prefer space joker over burnt joker typically, consistently taking it even when eternal. While burnt is significantly better for high cards/pairs, space joker is still good for those smaller hands while being very viable for any larger ones as well. It's a very "consistent" way to scale base mult for builds that bypass typical flat mult jokers without being limited like burnt joker is.

[A bear]

I just avoid the ones that boost straights. Superposition, The Order, Shortcut, 4 Fingers, etc. Its not that they are terrible, I just don't tend to build towards straights so they end up not being useful for me.

[ulzgoroth]

I almost never touch the hand-dependent flat +mult or +chip jokers. They combine a mediocre effect with a restrictive condition, when I usually can count on finding a joker that does the job better with negligible condition.

I hear Green Joker is good, but I never really use it because playing lots of hands and not discarding is a pretty painful demand.

[ThanksVideogames]

Obelisk or any other card/combo that would ask me to switch up my hands mid-run. splitting focus in general just hasn't been a reliable tactic for me thus far

maybe I'm still missing something. idk

[Ronald Brain]

Originally posted by RazzberryMocha:

I actually tend to prefer space joker over burnt joker typically, consistently taking it even when eternal. While burnt is significantly better for high cards/pairs, space joker is still good for those smaller hands while being very viable for any larger ones as well. It's a very "consistent" way to scale base mult for builds that bypass typical flat mult jokers without being limited like burnt joker is.

Space Joker on average can give +1 level per blind if you play 3 hands, the problem is it tends to proc when you play a throwaway hand, leveling up the hand you didn't want. Burnt Joker is guaranteed +1 level but you have to dig for your preferred hand, lowering income from leftover hand. However with Blueprint / Joker, Burnt Joker is basically +3 level per blinds while Space Joker is still chance-based on each copy.

[Xaelon]

Generally?

The jokers that destroy other jokers. Those things always seem to show up after I have jokers I'd rather keep.

I also skip Obelisk. Why? Because knowing myself I WOULD play the wrong hand at some point and throw the entire run.

I also skip the one that scales off hands played without discarding (Green Joker?). Because again, it's hard to remember to stop discarding for this particular run, when you can generally discard as much as you need otherwise.

[ulzgoroth]

Originally posted by ThanksVideogames:

Obelisk or any other card/combo that would ask me to switch up my hands mid-run. splitting focus in general just hasn't been a reliable tactic for me thus far

maybe I'm still missing something. idk

I don't have a problem playing a mix of hands, though I tend away from it as I casually pile planets on my most-used...

But it sounds like setting up Obelisk demands first driving up your most-used hand hard to create room to play in - likely before you know that you're going to have Obelisk?

Originally posted by Xaelon:

Generally?

The jokers that destroy other jokers. Those things always seem to show up after I have jokers I'd rather keep.

I think I've heard that having key jokers with Eternal status is a gamechanger there, but I too am afraid to touch Madness - a strong Madness isn't really a sufficient build all on its own, but you can't count on any other joker staying around...

Might be fun to pick up if you also have Eternal Joker Stencil? Or, like, Eternal Blueprint would be solid.

Also, I almost never use Joker Stencil, because its multiplication doesn't seem very good really. I mean, unless you manage to make a bunch of duplicates of it, in which case it can get pretty strong. But I don't understand how to do that kind of systematic, large-scale manipulation.