i became crap with defect, help

[dolcedivo]

I can craft decks it seems with syngeries, but 9/10 times the run just ends when I cant deal with a monster attack from a boss, or those three slavers. Even with buffer+. So I decided to try a frost deck to outblock everything - that still got overwhelmed.
So I made a streamlined combo claw deck with shuriken, nunchaku and plenty of hologram. Stripped deck of everything not needed bar a couple of strikes. Didnt manage to get an all-for-one or buffer to help me survive / combo-off faster, died to reptilemancer.

So I make a lightning/thermodynamics based deck. Great against multiple foes, died to heart after not getting tungsten rod / had already played my buffer+.

What am I doing wrong? People say this game is perfect, but those big chunk attacks just seem to disable 90% of well-tuned decks that I make.

[Zu]

You're not covering all your bases.

Slavers demand lotsa damage upfront. Save relevant potions for them.
While you're turtling with frost, how are you dealing / scaling damage?
While you're doing 0-cost shenanigans, how are you scaling defense?
While you were prioritizing lightning, did you skip valuable frost cards?

Have you just been unlucky, missing out on certain combos or relics from hunting elites that could cover defect's biggest weakness which is turn 1 / turn 2?
Ship relics, bag of prep boot sequence, genetic alg runic pyramid, echo form self repair, creative ai bird urn, bottled biased cog with orange pellets from the shop which could also cleanse vulnerable vs heart on turn 2.

[trial_by_fire]

Just going to say that sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

[LHGreen]

What ascension level are you playing on? And were you not crap with Defect, before?

[Blackcompany]

I recommend ignoring it. Defect is a terrible, unfun hero. Almost as badly designed as Watcher. Both of these heroes NEED a lot of their own, character specific cards to be good. But since the game forces you start with virtually none of these, you're stuck playing BAD decks for the sake of grind.

Ignore the terrible design and move on.

[Gentlest Giant]

lol, here we go again

[LHGreen]

Originally posted by Blackcompany:

I recommend ignoring it. Defect is a terrible, unfun hero. Almost as badly designed as Watcher. Both of these heroes NEED a lot of their own, character specific cards to be good. But since the game forces you start with virtually none of these, you're stuck playing BAD decks for the sake of grind.

Ignore the terrible design and move on.

Ignore the terrible whining and move on.

[trial_by_fire]

Originally posted by Blackcompany:

I recommend ignoring it. Defect is a terrible, unfun hero. Almost as badly designed as Watcher. Both of these heroes NEED a lot of their own, character specific cards to be good. But since the game forces you start with virtually none of these, you're stuck playing BAD decks for the sake of grind.

Ignore the terrible design and move on.

Ok, back up your claim. Provide specifics on how it is a bad design.

[n13e86]

From your explanation, it sounds like you're trying to go for a specific deck type (even if for a different one each time).
It is generally suggested to pick things that enhance what you already have, instead of hoping that you'll find something specific.
I'm in low ascensions with the Defect, but my favourite deck type so far, is based around Powers. Even without Mummified Hand, it is easy to use - it deals damage when you're hit, and passively, and when you play new Powers. You mostly just need to manage block (for this deck, Force Field works best).
Again, though, it might not be a good idea to force a build.

[trial_by_fire]

Originally posted by n13e86:

Again, though, it might not be a good idea to force a build.

If there is one thing that almost every 'vet' of this game agrees on, it is this.

[dolcedivo]

Originally posted by Zu:

You're not covering all your bases.

Slavers demand lotsa damage upfront. Save relevant potions for them.
While you're turtling with frost, how are you dealing / scaling damage?
While you're doing 0-cost shenanigans, how are you scaling defense?
While you were prioritizing lightning, did you skip valuable frost cards?

Have you just been unlucky, missing out on certain combos or relics from hunting elites that could cover defect's biggest weakness which is turn 1 / turn 2?
Ship relics, bag of prep boot sequence, genetic alg runic pyramid, echo form self repair, creative ai bird urn, bottled biased cog with orange pellets from the shop which could also cleanse vulnerable vs heart on turn 2.

ty for the reminders
dont think ive been unlucky, dunno what it is. I definitely prioritse some good block / early block / buffer /frost in every deck in order to survive. Self repair goes in at least half my decks so I can prioritise upgrading cards at rest sites.

Its just either those chunky hits from multiple chars at once e.g slavers hitting for 12,13,14 all at once, then similar again on next or third turn, etc, meaning im investing two or more cards each turn into defense, so deal less dmg, or something like that reptilomancer, which hits for 12x3 on turn 3 or something ridiculous. I even had a bonkers lightning deck, just spamming lightning, nuked everything before that, with some decent relics and most cards upgraded, but then on that turn 3, drew no block to save me from instant death.

Personally I feel genetic algorithim can be a bit of a trap. Even when u get it early, you play it once and thats all you get. Yes, it helps thin the deck after playing it, but its only a "semi-reliable" block at best for me.

Maybe I will record my next game and upload them and shorten them so you guys can tell me where could improve.

[dolcedivo]

Originally posted by LHGreen:

What ascension level are you playing on? And were you not crap with Defect, before?

probably, but didnt realise. ascension 7

[dolcedivo]

Originally posted by trial_by_fire:

Just going to say that sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

even against those big bosses/elites that just chunk your health with one or two big hits? I mean you need certain cards still to make that viable though dont you? e.g thermodynamics, or claw deck with syngery, etc. Ive yet to make a deck that works with either sunder or streamline, maybe one day

[Banzai]

Streamline fits in a lot of Defect decks quite comfortably, in particular if you have hypnotise, all for one or some other recursion. Sunder is a bit unwieldy but its often good enough to finish off something essentially for free. Its maybe a bit of a risk at high ascension levels.

[dolcedivo]

Originally posted by n13e86:

From your explanation, it sounds like you're trying to go for a specific deck type (even if for a different one each time).
It is generally suggested to pick things that enhance what you already have, instead of hoping that you'll find something specific.
I'm in low ascensions with the Defect, but my favourite deck type so far, is based around Powers. Even without Mummified Hand, it is easy to use - it deals damage when you're hit, and passively, and when you play new Powers. You mostly just need to manage block (for this deck, Force Field works best).
Again, though, it might not be a good idea to force a build.

thanks for thoughts, I definitely try not to pigeon hole my builds too early. I try to be open to syngergies and new combos but maybe I dont see them. Early on I tend to prioritise cards like charge battery/ lightning / one coolheaded or glacier, and avoid cards like barrage (unless capacitor card/relic), anything which channels dark (I hate dark, you have to draw a dualcast to make it good, and have it sit for turns, which means you might hesitate to cycle through your orbs, and then it only targets the weakest enemy which sucks against several enemies), sweeping beam, turbo, and sunder/streamline. Streamline is nice but just seems you have to do a lot to make it work, and it really needs a beam cell /hologram to shine, so can force you to build around it.

Happy to be challenged on the above thoughts though

[mldb88]

Honestly dark can offer some great early game scaling for longer fights. It’s not something you might want to fully invest in and lean super hard on, but grabbing something like a doom and gloom provides great upfront aoe and makes fights like slime boss a lot more managable if you don’t have a lot of good orb cycling options yet