The Defect builds: Powers vs non-Powers

[Protectron]

So until now that I won Ascension 7 with The Defect, I have relied on Power-heavy builds. More and more, I move away from them, though. I of course always take Electrodynamics, but most of the others seem underwhelming to me as I continue to ascend.

Claw, on the other hand, seems to become increasingly important.

Here is the deck I beat The Time Eater with just now:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1477631779

The last half of the 3rd level I ended up upgrading many spells because I was at full health, so the Apotheosis became more or less redundant in the end. I did take the easiest path I could find, though.

What do you think; are Power-based builds viable in late ascensions?

[Zu]

I have a sneaking suspicion a big part in winning this run was thanks to an effectively 15-card deck housing auto shields, leap, and blind with conducive relics for good measure. :'3

Yes, btw, powers provide the most reliable scaling. The right powers of course, not inconsistent nonsense like heatsinks or storm. On the topic of time eater, you wouldn't believe how often you end up pressing end turn because slug can't break through your frost orbs anymore.

[Scathe]

my experience with the defect is very limited, so I probably have no business commenting here. I have 5 wins and 2 losses including a win on ascension 1. in my limited experience, the most important thing for me has been getting a focus boost (from either defragment or consume ) and the second most important thing has been pairing it with an orb slot gain, from either capacitor or inserter. these things may not be necessary to win, but I believe these are the best scaling effects.

[bc]

Defrag, biased cog, echo form, consume, electrodynamics, too good to pass up, other powers ussually requires some deck/relics interactions to be good.

[lordatog]

How is Storm inconsistent? Upgraded Storm is pretty much the best card a dedicated powers deck can have. Triple-digit damage for one energy!

[Zu]

Originally posted by lordatog:

How is Storm inconsistent? Upgraded Storm is pretty much the best card a dedicated powers deck can have. Triple-digit damage for one energy!

It's in this awkward spot where the frontloaded damage is random which can make or break fights where it matters, assuming you play enough powers early to get more value out of it than a simple upgraded ball lightning.

If you play it with electrodynamics, why not upgrade electrodynamics itself if you really care about shítting on the fights where it's already great unupgraded?

At the other end of the spectrum, the backloaded damage ends when you're out of powers (unless you have creative a.i. but then you barely need anything else to win), and then you gotta ask yourself if it was really worth it to deal above average damage instead of picking / upgrading a different card that's either more reliable at frontloading damage or better at scaling.

TL,DR:
It's like heavy blade. Either you lose tempo or it's pointless overkill. The happy middle ground it sometimes achieves of dealing above average damage within a reasonable span of time is something you're happy to have until act 3 throws the transient or pimp snecko at you where raw tempo or fast scaling matter.

[Eagle_of_Fire]

The one thing with powers is that they don't stack up in your deck once you use them. So I usually always favor those over many other cards for this reason. I don't consider those cards "bloating" my deck unless I really have way too many in my deck.

The best power IMHO is "Hello, World.+". Preferably one, max two. It get innate and it is basically a free draw except that you can actually draw cards you didn't have the chance to get along the way.

[Panthaz89]

pretty much just don't use too many otherwise TAO will open a can of whoopass on you if you don't have proper defense or an overwhelming attack.

[Ackranome]

Claw builds can be crazy.

[Protectron]

"Defrag, biased cog, echo form, consume, electrodynamics, too good to pass up, other powers ussually requires some deck/relics interactions to be good."

Second this, except Biased Cognition is situational and becomes worse the higher the tier. It is useless in boss battles. I have never tried Consume, but even upgraded it is worse than a non-upgraded Defragment.

I also like Capacitor, if I have 3+ ways of channeling in the deck. Loop, Machine Learning, Static Discharge and Self Repair are also decent additions if the deck already has got good attack and defense capabilities.

[Scathe]

since I'm the one that first mentioned consume, I should mention that it is a skill, not a power. I would argue that it can situationaly be better than a defragment, only if you have orb slot gain like capacitor or especialy inserter, and the fight runs long enough for you to play it multiple times. there are much more situations where defrag is better though. you will probably only want to play consume once if you have no orb slot gain, so having it become a dead card after the first play is a tough drawback.

[Zu]

Originally posted by Protectron:

I have never tried Consume, but even upgraded it is worse than a non-upgraded Defragment.

When your unupgraded capacitor becomes two upgraded defragments through an unupgraded consume, that's pretty solid already.

[Protectron]

Yea I got a Capacitor very early on, so I decided to pick up Consume when I got the chance. I struggled for a while, until I got Electrodynamics and later Inserter.

Buffer was the card I got from the whale, and when I got it upgraded it actually was useful in some of the battles (those who builds up to one big hit, and those who wait a while, like the giant blob and the Automaton). It isn't a card I would pick, though.

Ended up winning with the deck, and I must say that Consume is nice in the right build.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1481567148

And here's the final vs The Time Eater. Poor Timey Wimey!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1481577565

[Expirium]

I'm getting a lot of ♥♥♥♥ runs lately with the Deshit.

[Blurrg]

Don't focus on single archetypes, that is the biggest reason new players can't do well in ascension mode. Sometimes you do get the opportunity to do archetypes for OP decks but it isn't every game.

With that said, I almost never find myself using the "Power" archetype on the Defect utilizing cards like Storm. I find it extremely weak, as it focuses heavily on Lightning orbs which are random and provide no defense. This puts your deck in a weird area where you're relying on blowing up enemies in a couple turns before you lose too much health.

Capacitor, Defrag, and Biased+Artifact, and Echo Form are quite reliable combos on Defect that can win you runs after a couple frost orbs. Orbs are almost always essential to the Defect as even grabbing a single focus card and enough channel cards+energy can make your deck produce a massive amount of value. I've had decks where I have a single Defrag and only 3 orb slots but I'm constantly playing Cold Snap+Ball Lightning for massive damage and block per turn.

Other decks include Frost + Dark defensive decks, Claw decks, Barrage decks, and other things. But Frost orbs are so essential you can't really pass them up and all it takes is a single focus card to make them really absurd. Defect has just so many unique powerful cards that allows them to be consistent once you have the right things like Seek, Hologram, card draw, and lots of defensive cards.

[dq333]

This was a decent build:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1481873247

Absolutely love powers.