Sleeping Head

[Leander.quest]

After beating the game with all three characters I am playing the Ironclad again and ascension 1. Had some trouble early on, but finally I had an awesome deck and was invincible.

2x Etherial Block, 11 and 13.
11 Block + Fire Damage when attacked
Some small blocks
Block kept between turns
Body Slam!
Energy kept between turns
Double tap
Cards that gain block and do damage

(don't remember the names, sorry...and too tired to look them up)

Anyway, I had enough block per turn and just stacked it..50 block, double tap, deal x damage for x block you have... 2x50 damage, 2x60 etc...

Everything was so easy!

Three rests remaining (wow!), 1 ?, 1 merchant, 1 elite and the final boss....easy, right?
Then I went for the elite...it was the Sleeping Head, whatever his name is.

I don't look up guides so I didn't know what he is capable of. He has a countdown...hm, looks like some damage incoming? No problem, I'll stack my block...again and again.
Then I had 50...but he kept attacking EACH turn and finally, I had no block left. He kept attacking, he kept clogging my deck up...and I could not get my block up again...I didn't know you have to kill him as fast as possible...I waited and waited, kept stacking my block cards...I even had a wizard relic which let me continue with 50% health upon death...no chance. I had 13 energy left with no cards to play because of his card mess....yeah, start from scratch.

I hate this awesome game! :(

[Zu]

Shame you couldn't headbutt entrench with this setup (or corrupt away all your skills cuz you feel no pain and then deal a trillion damage with one body slam cuz lol vulnerable + slow).

[sandman25dcsss]

There is no reason to hate game, there is a reason to learn. Every time I die I analyze why it happened: too few blocks, no AoE, too few attacks etc. In your game the character died because of insufficient front damage i.e. you had too few attacks and they require large time to be good (body slam with 10 damage is not that impressive).
Or you can analyze it in a different way like Zu did above: did I skip/ignore in shops cards which would greatly improve my deck?

[Zu]

Originally posted by sandman25dcsss:

In your game the character died because of insufficient front damage

Frontloaded damage? More like scaling. I mean, runs where you have marbles, preserved insect, necronomicon and bottled offering into whirlwind don't come together that often.

[sandman25dcsss]

Originally posted by Zu:

Frontloaded damage? More like scaling. I mean, runs where you have marbles, preserved insect, necronomicon and bottled offering into whirlwind don't come together that often.

Probably both. From OP I have impression that just blocks were played while waiting for another chance to use that single Body Slam.

[zoutzakje]

Yeah the Giant Head. His 500 hp can take a while to whittle down, and he keeps getting stronger every turn. Sorry you ripped mate. Better luck next time! I actually find The Giant Head the easiest of the act 3 Elites. That Raptomancer or whatever her name is with the daggers tends to kill me a lot more.

[Leander.quest]

I would have defeated him with a different strategy. I had some damage cards...I just kept blocking because I didn't know he never pauses during his attacks.

[Crixus]

I wish this game allowed for more viable strategies, and maybe I'm wrong though since I'm still very new but I love the idea of a block type deck, but it just never works because so many bosses/enemies shave mechanics where kill speed is key. I go for blocking and it does nothing because they get stronger each turn and end up doing stupid high damage that I can't survive, when I can go for an aggressive deck, kill them in a few turns and take even less damage than a defensive deck because of the kill speed. It seems I'm forced to pick the same cards every game, without much change or I will have a bad deck and lose.

[sandman25dcsss]

Originally posted by LeanderAT:

I would have defeated him with a different strategy. I had some damage cards...I just kept blocking because I didn't know he never pauses during his attacks.

Yes, the game requires spoilers/experience to play well. It is often the case when you have to attack instead of blocking incoming damage because otherwise you will get even more damage next turns. Gremlin noob might be an obvious example if it didn't put an explicit status. Some other monsters like Giant Head are not so kind.

[zoutzakje]

Originally posted by Marauder:

I wish this game allowed for more viable strategies, and maybe I'm wrong though since I'm still very new but I love the idea of a block type deck, but it just never works because so many bosses/enemies shave mechanics where kill speed is key. I go for blocking and it does nothing because they get stronger each turn and end up doing stupid high damage that I can't survive, when I can go for an aggressive deck, kill them in a few turns and take even less damage than a defensive deck because of the kill speed. It seems I'm forced to pick the same cards every game, without much change or I will have a bad deck and lose.

It sounds like an Ironclad Bodyslam build would be something for you, if you don't already know about it. Stack lots of block, Entrench to double current block, then the card that lets you keep block through turns, and deal loads of damage with body slam. The Pyramid relic, Corruption and Evolve cards can also help. Dual Wield can be useful too.
It can be tough getting most of this in a run, but it's certainly possible. Ironclad is the only class where a near-full block build is possible to my knowledge.

[DJDiceZ]

Originally posted by Marauder:

I wish this game allowed for more viable strategies, and maybe I'm wrong though since I'm still very new but I love the idea of a block type deck, but it just never works because so many bosses/enemies shave mechanics where kill speed is key. I go for blocking and it does nothing because they get stronger each turn and end up doing stupid high damage that I can't survive, when I can go for an aggressive deck, kill them in a few turns and take even less damage than a defensive deck because of the kill speed. It seems I'm forced to pick the same cards every game, without much change or I will have a bad deck and lose.

Ironclad: Body Block. Entrench. Barricade. Then you just stack up on high block cards like Impervious and ways to draw/gain energy/move cards around in your hand/draw pile. Bonus points for Juggernaut. Power Through, Flame barrier, Immolate, Shockwave fit right into the deck. Grit/Sentinel. Rage. Metallicize. Feel no pain, Disarm. There's so many good cards for this, where your enemy just ends up being useless.

Silent: Footwork. Footwork. Footwork. Maybe Blur spam. Get some weak, some damage (poison!), then you're a happy man.

Defect: Frost Build. Just need lots of Frost generation, Focus, Orb slots, and some good damage, then you're good to go. Some cards allow for ridiculous scaling like Amplify, Blizzard and Echoform. Fission could be fun with that.

They are all viable, strong, and fun.

[itssirtou]

Giant head is my least favorite encounter in this game... Kinda reminiscent of Lagavulin. He gives you a few turns to set up and then puts you on a timer. Unlike Vulin he has 6x your health pool and hits way harder...