Any tips for beating the awakened one?

[Dr Six, corgi battlemaster]

My first try playing against this guy, I walked into his fight with a messy deck and on half hp, so I understandably lost.

But today I tried fighting him again, I had a balanced mostly low-cost deck, I was on full hp, and yet again he destroyed me. I focused on the Cultists and during his first phase, he got me down to half HP, then during his second one he wrecked me yet again.

Could you guys give me some tips on how I should prepare and what strategies I should employ against this guy?

[Khor]

1. Get a decent deck
2. Nuke the Cultists
3. Familiarize with the Boss https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/Awakened_One
4. Notice he doesn`t scale unless you play Powers -> no need to rush
5. Avoid playing Powers in phase 1 unless they are high-impact like Daemon/Echo Form
6.????
7.WIN

[Zu]

Originally posted by Khor:

6.????
6.5 Disarm / Malaise
6.8 Piercing Wail / Dark Shackles before you beat phase 1
7. DAB

[Dusk_Army]

What the others said about powers, but also: carefully plan the timing of your cards in general. This applies to most bosses, but as a specific example for the Awakened One, if you're running poison with Catalyst, try saving the Catalyst for stage 2. It's all about playing things when they'll have the greatest impact, which is easy to say but often hard to judge.

[fractal9091]

If you can permanently reduce his strength, that's valuable too. He'll remove any negative strength when he goes to Stage 2, but it still helps for canceling out any strength buffs he got from when you played powers.

[DJDiceZ]

Originally posted by Zu:

Originally posted by Khor:

6.????
6.5 Disarm / Malaise
6.8 Piercing Wail / Dark Shackles before you beat phase 1
7. DAB

Some people call it cheating, keep that in mind.

I don't, i think it's all fair and game and a proper and clever use of the game's mechanics.

[fractal9091]

Originally posted by DJDiceZ:

Originally posted by Zu:

Some people call it cheating, keep that in mind.

I don't, i think it's all fair and game and a proper and clever use of the game's mechanics. :rbrbr2:

What's cheating, exactly? Using skill cards? Or making the temporary strength reductions permanent?

[Dusk_Army]

Originally posted by fractal9091:

Originally posted by DJDiceZ:

Some people call it cheating, keep that in mind.

I don't, i think it's all fair and game and a proper and clever use of the game's mechanics. :rbrbr2:

What's cheating, exactly? Using skill cards? Or making the temporary strength reductions permanent?

Presumably the latter since it relies on a (maybe) unintentional interaction between effects.

But I'd also agree it isn't cheating; there isn't really a difference between that and using Orange Pellets to make the effect from Flex permanent, for example.

[Zu]

If they really wanted to, they could find a workaround. Try piercing wail when the heart buffs. LUL

[Gentlest Giant]

Originally posted by DJDiceZ:

Some people call it cheating, keep that in mind.

Yeah, I can see absolutely no viable argument to that being cheating in any sort of way. I have the same amount of regard to "these people's" opinion as that of somebody claiming pineapples on pizza is evil.
I can appreciate the joke, but if there is the slightest hint of being serious they get the logic beatdown.

[K E N N I]

Wait, are you telling me its strength remains reduced for the entire second phase when you debuff it on the transform turn? Almost 1000 hours in and I had no idea about this interaction.

[Dr Six, corgi battlemaster]

Thanks for the responses, everyone! I appreciate the help.