How to build a deck and succeed?

[Hoppled]

Not asking for a net deck or specific build. I have about 10 hours in the game already and I never seem to quite make what I want. I die very early, often. They say to choose cards that synergize well with your deck and to not exceed usually more than 20 cards in a deck. I usually get rid of the strikes first.

My first run I chose random cards and did not abide to any guides I've seen on the internet. Ironically, that run I actually got the furthest, to act 3, second to last enemy before the last boss.

Whenever I try a certain build- oh, I see a strength card so I'm going to stick with a strength build. Then I don't get strength for 10 floors and my deck is useless. Vice verse; then I try to use block, by then half my deck is strength and block, which is a mess.

Tips appreciated on how to go about doing this, thanks.

[rifraw]

First you pick up good cards and then you try to make a deck about good relic or some good cards you have. I play silent a lot now in stage 9 , And what relicas ar the best ? the ones that give you bonuses to defend or dmg every turn . And if you feel you have good deck early like you kill elites/mobs in 1 - 3 turns its btter to skip cards that dont fit it type.

[OneMoreStimpak]

Right now the only real way is to go for STR as Ironclad, and Posion/Shiv as slient. If you don't get the picks, die, restart. :/

IF you are looking to get wins. Otherwise you just have to try something. Most of the time you will die. Just how it is right now. I have 80 hours, and really its just RNG and how well you know the cards and what you could get. Even then, you can be hard countered by a lot of common encounters if not running the meta.

[crate]

Don't worry about arbitrary deck size numbers. If you manage to remove all your bad cards, that's excellent, but you don't always manage to do that. Don't refuse to add good cards to your deck just because you already have 20 cards.

[Mandragore]

The game is built in a way that heavily rewards synergistic decks, and punishes non-synergistic ones. Right now, you have:

Block control, Strength, Exhaust, Machine gun cycle for the Ironclad (HP loss builds are barely supported, HP loss cards are generally a bonus for Strength builds).
Block Control, Poison, Shivs for the Silent, with Discard being a possible archetype that requires a monumental amount of setup, is very hard to make work and often ends up being actually Block Control with a weird win condition.

Like it or not, runs that don't follow those archetypes are likely to end up dead in the water. I'm sure that will change as the game evolves though.

[Sir Fart Face]

I am no expert at all, but i can tell you what works for me.. If i play Ironclad for instance i will be looking for a specific set of cards that will win the run.. One example could be whirlwind. If i get whirlwind i will ignore most attack cards from there on out and try to focus on strong defensive cards, strength buffers and card draw. Whirlwind is a good example of a card that can win you a run, if complimented properly.
Now if i am at the beginning of a run, i will only pick up cards that are either deck defining, such as whirlwind, or cards that are generally good in all situations. Cards that are generally good in all situations could be Battle Trance, Shrug it Off, Ghostly Armor and Offering. Try to avoid picking up cards if they just seem like filler cards. Things change if you play higher ascension modes, but the core principles remain the same, you just have to be less picky about what cards to pick up.

[darkcrye]

Don't forget that you should try to synergize your deck with your relics as well. A mediocre deck can become extremely potent when supported by the right relic loadout. For example, a discard deck really only becomes viable if you have a relic that supports it (for example deals damage when you discard).

Some deck types are better at different sizes also. Decks that play slower need to be thicker to protect against being flooded with status cards over time. Faster decks generally need to be thinner to ensure that you get your strong combos as consistently as possible.

Depending on where you like to put your risk factors, you might enjoy trying for an infinite combo deck. Problem is that if you don't start getting the cards for it early, you'll likely lose the run before the first boss. If I get an early Tactician card, I almost always try to go for an infinite Acrobatics/Tactician combo, for example (though that does require that your deck be less than 12 cards).

[♥♥♥♥ Goblin]

Cards: many cards are situational, so only pick a card if you think you can build a deck around it or it is good in many decks (ie. block cards are good in many decks). Many "good decks" have relics that improve the deck/cards.

Act 1: focus on offensive cards or transforming basic cards (ie. strikes). Save gold and visit 1 shop if you have 250+ to try and get a good relic or card (ie. apophesis). Avoid elites if silent unless you get a good relic/transform/event.

Act 2: start building deck but as above, don't take cards that don't synergize or that require synergy that you don't have (ie. don't take poison cards if you don't have a poison based build or a poison friendly relic). Visit a shop or two to try and find some good relics/cards.

Act 3: take upgraded cards if they are good, otherwise ignore most cards. Visit a shop to try and find some good relics/cards.

Block builds are by far the easiest to win the game. Ironclad block + power type builds can be very powerful (ie. metalize + dual wield). Silent cycle/discard/block builds are decent too (ie. concentrate + acrobatics). IMO, Ironclad can have deck sizes above 30 (due to exhaust cards like iron grip) and work well, where-as silent works best with smaller deck sizes.

[HoneyDrake]

Originally posted by TheNamesKyle:

Right now the only real way is to go for STR as Ironclad

there are 2 other strong builds: exhaustion/corruption build and the defense body slam build.

Silent has sadly less options on higher tier ascensions

[robofish126]

I'm becoming fond of the Power Through+Second Wind combo. 34 block on its own, plus another 12 if you have Feel No Pain out. That's 46+ block for 2 energy, and Second Wind also helps you cleanse your deck of Wounds picked up on turns you didn't draw both, other status cards, weak defense cards, etc etc.