Are elites(especialy act 2 and 3) worth fighting?

[Terrarius]

Are they worth it on higher ascensions?


I wonder because they not only tend to be a huge risk(especialy act 2 and 3 ones) but because unless you have a REALY strong deck they almost always eat into your precious health ,forcing you to sacrifice 1-2 upgrade(s) for resting

While there are amazing artifacts that can realy carry a run the vast majority seems to be garbage-especialy past the first floor where you nolonger have the flexibility to choose to build your deck around the newly obtained artifact.
Avoiding elites so that i can upgrade cards insted of resting seems to offer not only much less risky but also much more consistent powergain.

[DJDiceZ]

There isn't really an advice applicable to every situations for that one. It depends on how good your deck is, how much HP you have, if you need more power/relics or not, etc...

Assuming you got good events and fought 3 elites or so in the first act, you can probably afford to avoid them, especially if you need to upgrade important cards.

I wouldn't straight up ignore them though, especially if there's a campfire nearby. I'd say you give them a tiny bit less credit than you should. I usually go for 1-2 elites/act on the 2nd and 3rd act, if i'm really well off or have a black star i'll go for as much as i can, if i'm in a bad spot, i'll completely avoid them altogether. Make sure you know which elite you're gonna encounter and if your deck is weak against them.

Keep in mind the more elites you fight, the more likely you're to get a good relic. If you know the relic pool and you see you already have what you need, maybe don't bother unless it's free. But i wouldn't say the vast majority of relics are garbage. A lot of them are quite nice.

Bottom of the line is don't be afraid to snowball if you're already strong (Some elites are free if your deck is good enough, and you won't even lose hp on them), and even when you're not, they can help a lot putting you in that good spot. If it's too dangerous, or you really need to upgrade that catalyst/wraith form, it might be worth avoiding them, but don't be afraid to lose HP. Even if you do, it might be better to upgrade than rest. As you play and climb ascension you realize that gaining power is worth sacrificing a rest more often than you'd think.

[Zu]

Higher ascension means picking up more crappy damage in act 1, you're more inclined to buy potions so you miss out on removals, events are worse, upgraded cards show up less often, etc.

Why am I listing these? Because various things come together that generally result in relics looking more attractive than over half the upgrades in the game, but obviously outstanding exceptions exist and you gotta assess how many elites you can take to leave the act with as little hp as possible to get the most out of the resource that is your face.

The biggest reason is act 4 though. If you're not gunning for it, relics like turnip or torii past act 2 become much less exciting.

[Khor]

Good old Jorbs theorized that Elites are worth about 2(value decaying with acts) Campfires.
Raw value-wise it`s still worth sacrificing 1 campfire. (more than that you`re either being unlucky or there`s something wrong with your deck)

Up to A17: usually yes
A20: YMMW

[DJDiceZ]

Originally posted by Zu:

The biggest reason is act 4 though. If you're not gunning for it, relics like turnip or torii past act 2 become much less exciting.

It's quite nice when the game gives it to you for free though :^)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1820606081

[Khor]

Originally posted by DJDiceZ:

Originally posted by Zu:

The biggest reason is act 4 though. If you're not gunning for it, relics like turnip or torii past act 2 become much less exciting.

It's quite nice when the game gives it to you for free though :^)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1820606081

Tbf 85 gold is much more "free" than a blank curse

[DJDiceZ]

Originally posted by Khor:

Tbf 85 gold is much more "free" than a blank curse :conwayshrug:

Probably yeah, i just found it particularly funny to get a relic that counters the curse i'm given for it. Unfortunately i didn't have the money, and having a blank curse or two has never felt like that big of a deal, especially for Silent. It was much needed as my defenses were weak and i relied on block, so no regret here. Won the run without even removing it, free enough for me.