Getting in the Castle with Rot.

[Almanac]

TLDR: Never gotten a rot victory, read all the guides and threads, great at earning high rot, just can't get my ass in the castle. Looking for advice for the second to last step!


If any of you have seen me in games online lately you'll know I've been going pretty much exclusively for rot victories. This is because despite having almost 100 hours logged in the game I've never once managed to get one. And I've read all the guides and know that theoretically one should go for their first rot victory against the computer because it's hard to begin with let alone with other (and in my case often more experienced) players, but now that I play live games going back to the AIs for this one win feels like cheating.

Theoretically I know what to do and who to play as, and I also know that it's in part luck. Hell, I sat next to my girlfriend and gave her tips and led her to her first rot victory the other day. I've gotten really good at gaining rot--last game I ended with 16, before that 11. I've tried this strategy with most of the players, and I personally seem to have my best luck here with Thane or Zosha and a grow amulet, since they're both great at suiciding against banes to get corrupted before the first quest, and then after that's done I can go on to quests with rot rewards.

Here's the problem though. Once I've gotten corrupted, I can't get in the castle. Try as I might I don't draw the right cards to burn or roll the right symbols for castle perils (even if expendables has been played) and since I spent time in the beginning getting corrupted, I never have time to get to the castle entry quest. Is this just horrible luck, or am I missing one last piece of the puzzle?

[Cellar_Cat]

Bad luck I would think. I've yet to get the rot victory but I've certainly got in while corrupted and if there was anything unusual about the process I must have done it without noticing. I think a lot of it is just chance and attrition in this game... you just have to do the right things until you're lucky. Sometimes I'm half way into the game without getting a single rot item, spell, treasure, or even finding a bane to die to.

It would be difficult against players, but you could try to keep the highest prestige also and choose to replace the perils with 1hp guards when it comes up.

[Toad]

You really should just aim for the Rot victory against AI opponents. I don't think I've ever seen a Rot victory in online multiplayer. I've seen people come close, but they never make it to the end. I've tried many times myself and I can never do it either. It's simply not doable online.

[UltimateZero]

I really love Rot Victories, maybe I can give you some help.
I don't recommend the Grow amulet, especially on Thane. If you still need to complete your first rot victory you can't get Spoil yet, but that's not a problem.

First point is to gain enough rot to get corrupted as soon as possible: when corrupted, Spirit Stone quests change into extra Rot, and that can give you a big help if you're low on rot.
That means you need to draw as many cards as possible. I recommend drawing spells if you can afford Dark Influence, as it's your best choice, or items. Use up all of your hand whenever you can, since almost every rot card gives you extra rot without having any cost.

Try to suicide the least against banes, it's really bad to lose too much time in the beginning of the game, as Rot Victories are based on how well your first days go.
If you're at 4 Rot, try to go for a kill/death on a Bane, as it will give you +1 Rot for dying and +1 Rot for killing it while corrupted.

As soon as you're corrupted, if you don't have any other option, farm Banes! Be sure to get the bonus dice and you'll kill them in a flash.

Try to complete only one or two quests before reaching corruption, because aside from the extra rot quests, you'll usually gain rot from not passing other quests too.
For example, "Wits quest, treasure: Royal Shield, failure: +1 rot"
Whatever comes out, it's a win/win situation

Don't strive to get thousands of rot, you only need around 9 to best the king. In a normal game, when the King has its lowest hp, he'll reach 9 rot (Could be a bit more if someone healed him with a decree or if someone suicided without dealing damage)

When you're sure about entering the palace, one of your best options is to find a Hot Rot Wine to gain 1 extra rot and 1 ap inside the palace, to be able to attack the king and throw all those 20 dice in his face in one turn, so that the other heroes can't stop you.

My favourite characters for Rot Victories are:

Thane - 5 fight, 5 body, piercing ability (You can just pierce one shield and go full defense when the king has 1 hp!), and Celestine ring is one of the rings I like the most. As for amulets I switch between Wits and Spoil usually, depending on what I feel like doing

Sana - Low wits if you start with Spoil, but 6 body and 5 spirit make up for this. You don't need any fight, since banes and the king are corrupted, just avoid heroes (unless your equip or current spells and such are good enough to win) and you'll be fine.
Keep drawing spells until you get Dark Influence that can easily be casted or any other Rot Spell. The high body makes up for the dawn damage, and the high spirit can help in the palace walls as well!
I don't really like bear rings, the first one seems always the best for me. Make sure to start in a forest at dawn and you'll be rolling in magic.

Zosha - Quite hard if you start with spoil, because of the low body, but high fight and wits can be useful. Ruby ring is great in fighting for the extra crit, but the evasion ring can be even better if you'd rather play it safe. Be careful when you're in the palace, as Evade can bring you out easily though. (Lionheart Breastplate + Evade = Wow I can't die and you can't make me move)

I wrote everything I could think of, I hope it can help you!
Couldn't resist the "Rot" in the topic title...

Good luck!

[Toad]

Originally posted by UltimateZero:

First point is to gain enough rot to get corrupted as soon as possible: when corrupted, Spirit Stone quests change into extra Rot, and that can give you a big help if you're low on rot.

Except it's still possible to fail those Rot quests, which makes them as unreliable as any other quest, especially if it's for a stat your character is low in.

[Almanac]

Originally posted by Zaka:

You really should just aim for the Rot victory against AI opponents. I don't think I've ever seen a Rot victory in online multiplayer. I've seen people come close, but they never make it to the end. I've tried many times myself and I can never do it either. It's simply not doable online.

I really disagree. I see people do them fairly often, and when my girlfriend got it the other day it was online and she's not even been playing for as long as I have, she just got all the right cards.

Originally posted by UltimateZero:

I really love Rot Victories, maybe I can give you some help.
I don't recommend the Grow amulet, especially on Thane. If you still need to complete your first rot victory you can't get Spoil yet, but that's not a problem.

I typically use Grow amulet just on Zosha, to compensate for her low health. This way when I lose 1 at dawn I regain it. The point of this is I haven't gotten my first rot victory so I can't use spoil like in many of your character combos, but thanks for thinking of them. Thanks for all of your other advice but I knew most of that, since I've read the guides and know how to get rot and to use hot rot wine when you're there. My problem is more getting in the castle, please see the original post.

Originally posted by Cellar_Cat:

It would be difficult against players, but you could try to keep the highest prestige also and choose to replace the perils with 1hp guards when it comes up.

That's a really good idea... probably hard when you're suiciding against banes, but I'll see next time around if I can regain it by killing them and other heroes with lesser rot after I'm corrupted. Thanks Cellar_Cat, hopefully my luck turns up. :)

[Kletian999]

When I get rot victories, I usually have 2 Rots worth of cards at minimum between my first 2 turns of draws and the results of my first quest. Relying entirely on Bane suicide is too slow and like you said, prevents quest completion. Make sure to be close to quest 2 (usually the far from home quest) before corruption so circles don't impede your movement. Arrange a Murder suicide with a Bane at 4 Rot to easily get to 6 Rot.

[Talisman]

Originally posted by Almanac:

Thanks for all of your other advice but I knew most of that, since I've read the guides and know how to get rot and to use hot rot wine when you're there. My problem is more getting in the castle, please see the original post.

Getting in the castle simply means bypassing a peril. As such, I recommend the following:

> Take the Watch amulet. Guaranteed match on the first symbol of a peril.
> Leather armor gives you a guaranteed Shield.
> One of the rabbit rings, I forget which, gives you a guaranteed Sun as long as you have 3+ gold.
> Recruit the Brilliant Fool if at all possible. +2 dice vs perils.
> Equip adventurer's kits; each one is +1 die vs perils.
> Max out Wits to give yourself the biggest, most diverse hand of cards possible, then burn as needed.

Another way is to wait for another hero to bum rush the castle and bypass the peril, which permanently deactivates it. Then either kill him, or let the guards and/or the king do it for you and go in the hole he made.

Bear in mind that entering the castle is a giant "Please Target Me" sign for all other heroes plus the royal guards. The guards can be averted by playing Reprieve on yourself immediately after entering, or having the Royal Pardon equipped (or just being enough of a badass that they can't beat you).

Good luck!

[AI Player 1]

Originally posted by LordTalisman:

> One of the rabbit rings, I forget which, gives you a guaranteed Sun as long as you have 3+ gold.

I believe it's called the Sunstone. Whatever it's called, it's the 4th ring (which you get after 10 games). Also, it activates at more than 3. Not 3 or more. You need 4 gold for it to work. I found that out the hard way.

[AI Player 1]

Nobody mentioned this yet, but it helps a lot if you remember what symbols are needed for the palace perils. It's actually really easy.

They all need 1 Wyld and 1 Rot symbol.
The Wits Perils need 1 Sword and 1 Shield.
The Spirit Perils need 1 Sun and 1 Moon.

You can tell which is which by the sybol on the flags: Cups for Wits, Firey thing or whatever it is for Spirit.

Also, if you're trying to break the peril, burn the symbol that explodes for you first (Wyld if you're not corrupted, Rot if you are). Then wait for the new die to resolve before you burn more. This has the potential to get you 2 symbols from burning 1 card.

Whenever I get an Expendables, I play it on one of the palace perils closest to my Clan Grounds. This removes the Rot sybol first. If you play more it will remove the Shield/Moon next, then Sword/Sun. A 4th Expendables (I've actually done this once), will just delete the peril entirely.

[Talisman]

Originally posted by AI Player 1:

Originally posted by LordTalisman:

> One of the rabbit rings, I forget which, gives you a guaranteed Sun as long as you have 3+ gold.

I believe it's called the Sunstone. Whatever it's called, it's the 4th ring (which you get after 10 games). Also, it activates at more than 3. Not 3 or more. You need 4 gold for it to work. I found that out the hard way.

That's it, and you're right about the gold. Derp.

[Almanac]

Originally posted by Kletian999:

When I get rot victories, I usually have 2 Rots worth of cards at minimum between my first 2 turns of draws and the results of my first quest. Relying entirely on Bane suicide is too slow and like you said, prevents quest completion. Make sure to be close to quest 2 (usually the far from home quest) before corruption so circles don't impede your movement. Arrange a Murder suicide with a Bane at 4 Rot to easily get to 6 Rot.

Yup, I've been arranging the murder suicide whenever possible--one of my favorite moves. I try not to rely entirely on banes, either. If I don't get those cards, though, do you suggest giving up on Rot that early in the game?

Originally posted by LordTalisman:

> Take the Watch amulet. Guaranteed match on the first symbol of a peril.
> Leather armor gives you a guaranteed Shield.
> One of the rabbit rings, I forget which, gives you a guaranteed Sun as long as you have 3+ gold.
> Recruit the Brilliant Fool if at all possible. +2 dice vs perils.
> Equip adventurer's kits; each one is +1 die vs perils.
> Max out Wits to give yourself the biggest, most diverse hand of cards possible, then burn as needed.

Another way is to wait for another hero to bum rush the castle and bypass the peril, which permanently deactivates it. Then either kill him, or let the guards and/or the king do it for you and go in the hole he made.

Bear in mind that entering the castle is a giant "Please Target Me" sign for all other heroes plus the royal guards. The guards can be averted by playing Reprieve on yourself immediately after entering, or having the Royal Pardon equipped (or just being enough of a badass that they can't beat you).

Good luck!

Smart about watch amulet. Do you think this is worth it to give up the bonus of another one? Also I hadn't thought to use that rabbit ring, so thank you! Perhaps I'll give a rot victory a try with amber sometime then. And yes, I love to play reprieve or royal pardon on myself in the castle... but I often find that just makes me an even greater target to other players, haha, especially if I've taken their broken peril spot (though in no rot win seeking games has anyone had the fortune of breaking one for me yet, I'm always on the lookout for those.)

Originally posted by AI Player 1:

Nobody mentioned this yet, but it helps a lot if you remember what symbols are needed for the palace perils. It's actually really easy.

Thanks for the thought, already knew this one though. Just not been having much luck with the draw pile I guess. I like the idea about trying to get four expendables, or at least using as many as possible on the one closest to me throughout the game. Also, smart to burn the exploding one first! Another thing I hadn't considered.

[Talisman]

Originally posted by Almanac:

Smart about watch amulet. Do you think this is worth it to give up the bonus of another one?

If you're having trouble getting into the palace, probably? Up to you; it depends which amulet you usually take, and how valuable you think a die of Fight/Wits/Spirit or a point of health is.

I just played a match with the Watch amulet, and it makes perils a lot easier, so that's a help during the mid-game.

[Pola]

If you want to get into the castle easily, high wits or spirit depending on the peril makes that easy. Barnaby and Sana are geared for that, Mercurio can also start with high wit.

Aside from hot rot wine, you also have a trickery card called strategist which pays 3 gold for the extra AP.

I would advise avoiding bane suicides unless you're actually low on health, it's useful when you have dungeon within walking distance from clan grounds as you can farm that too, soon as you're corrupt though quests can offer Rot as a reward instead of a stat, so you might want to follow quests instead initiially. Boosting wit to increase hand size is really useful, you'll get the rot cards far sooner, while still making you strong as barnaby/sana/mercurio can benefit nicely.

Barnaby draws items, Sana spells, Mercurio trickery(though I don't think rot support is as great here, he can amass full hands and empty them in one turn at almost or no cost.). I tend to find spells most effective at gaining rot, often you can gain a rot from the cast and target yourself to gain another rot. Once you're corrupt farming banes is great.

With the high wit/spirit you can hold on to some symbols you need before breaking in(as mentioned they're always the same for their peril type), then roll whatever else you need, if you need it. Mercurio and Barnaby can recycle their hands fairly easily, Sana provided you have the magic to burn or perils to burn cards you don't need makes getting the symbols needed easy.

As others have said you don't need high rot to win, just more than the king. If you do well early game with one of those characters you could break into the palace quite early when king is only on 3-4 rot without much trouble. Using Sana your spirit is your fight against king which could hit pretty heavy with aflame + moon scythe, along with spells like mirror image to weaken the king. Barnaby in that situation could use item cards like the one that removes a dice on opponent :)

I'm not sure if it counts as a rot victory, but late game River might work with her ability.

Also if you're lucky there are those tile events, dungeon and forrests accomodate to rot from memory, stone circle at night for the moon scythe(moons at night explode).

[Toad]

Originally posted by Pola:

I'm not sure if it counts as a rot victory, but late game River might work with her ability.

It doesn't count. You have to engage in battle with the King and get the Rot bonus for it to count.

[Khan, Binary of None]

I did mine as Mercurio, getting in was fairly easy not to mention you can get 100% access with ANY character if you do all your quests which just makes it easier entirely.