Struggling with "Losers, Weepers"

[Jakkson K]

I have gone 10 attempts and I can barely make it to floor 4, my deck gets bloated and it takes me so long in fights because I have to be deleting cards. I am constantly dancing at deaths door, usually getting down to 1 hp before level ups since I can't even do like any damage. This is especially bad with Sneezy or any other enemy with tons of weak attacks or synergies that Jester can't make use of.

I was able to first try the first 2 episodes as Jester and I seem to be making more progress with the elimination round. Can anyone give me hints or things to delete/keep in my deck.

[Swampert]

Delete cards early and often. The harder it is to activate, the higher on the priority to delete it is. Here are some good deletion candidates:

• High countdown cards.
  
• Dice pair cards.
  
• Cards requiring specific dice.
  
• Jester's starting cards.

Anything else, anything goes.

[Overwatch]

I'd say be even more extreme about deleting cards than Swampert suggests.
Deleting cards is the most important thing to do on every turn.
Delete anything that doesn't contribute to your 'core combo'.
Don't let your deck get above 8ish cards.
I would delete every countdown card unless it costs 6 or less. Unless it is part of some major combo.

[Jakkson K]

Originally posted by Overwatch:

Delete anything that doesn't contribute to your 'core combo'.
.

Well, for me actually getting a core combo is impossible, on a regular run where I luck out and get to floor 4 the most I have is maybe some poison or burn cards from random enemies. The worst is when you have to face Wizard, Sneezy or Bully as all of their equipment sucks and they have so much of it.

My main problem is the fact that I use too many dice to delete cards while the enemy is killing my. My best run my deck was something like:
Cannon Fire x2
Sweets x2
Whatever equipment the fire head dude gives x1
Rose's equipment x1
Duplicate x1
Bump x2
Hammer+ x1
Shockwave x1
and maybe something else that dealt damage idk.
This run I died to kraken when kraken was at 2 hp, burned, weakened, shocked and frozen(somehow) and none of that helped me not take 6 damage from him.

At this point I feel like I am going insane as my attempts flicker between dying on floor 1-2 and dying on floor 4. In between runs I have been attempting several elimination rounds and doing only slightly better.

[Overwatch]

By "regular combo" I meant 'The combo you currently have available based on who you fought'.

Kraken can be really nasty if it get's the rolls it needs to ramp up.

With what you listed above, I would have cut
Sweets x2
Whatever equipment the fire head dude gives x1
Rose's equipment x1

You really REALLY need to trim those cards down. If you have more than 1ish cards more than you can possibly play then you will have more bad rounds.

The more cards you HAVE, the harder it is to trim the ones you don't want.

Also, if you are having trouble surviving long enough to get the deck trimmed down, try to keep more 'control' cards. Weaken and Shocked can lower the opponents damage enough to give you some breathing room. The 2x cards from Stereo Head are great for this. Even sticking a 1 in them will help out (and can free up a 5-6 to trim another card). Freeze is a distant third, and can actually make things worse against certain opponents. But it is also MUCH more common.

[Overwatch]

Another thing.

Since trimming your deck is the MOST important thing. You should probably be picking your fighting order based on it.

If you just got 4-5 cards from an enemy, make sure the next fight is one you can afford to spend a few extra rounds in. Either because you are going to level, so to incoming damage doesn't matter. Or the enemy is the weaker choice.

[Overwatch]

Here is an example of the extreme trimming.

• Floor 1: Magician, Rose
  
  • Finish first fight against Magician with Boop_x2 Sweets_x2 and 4/24hp.
    
  • Fight added MagicMissile_x1 & MagicShield_x1.
    
  • Eat Apple --> 8/24hp
    
  • I now have 6x cards and 2x dice. I kept the sweets to help keep me alive for now. And the Boops because they don't need any specific dice to work.
    
  • Rose has 2x dice, but only 1 attack, and it needs an even. So 75% chance of even being able to attack. Average damage will be 3 (ACTUAL damage can't be 3 since it needs an even.)
    
  • I got unlucky and was hit with 6 damage in round 1. So I concentrated on healing and shielding.Round 2/3/4 I took 2/0/4 more damage.
    I just kept healing and shielding until I had enough breathing room to use an even die on Magic missile for 5 damage 3 times. I was trying to minimize damage from the thorns.
    
  • Fight added RosewoodSpear_x1
    
  • Level. Full HP.
    
  • Going into Floor 2 I have 7xCards & 3 Dice.
    
• Floor 2: Pirate, Dryad, Apple > Apple, Sneezy > Shop
  
  • OK so right away this sucks. Pirate has 3x cards. And they aren't terrible. But that would give me 10x cards so I have to get rid of BOTH of my Boops without taking much damage. My other option is to do Dryad first. But Dryad has 2x trash cards. Poison will cause her to ramp. She can get lucky with a few heals and a hard hit. And can also hit reliably because her main attack has no dice requirements.
    
  • Sneezy is also a potential run killer. He has 5x cards and can stomp your face if you get unlucky. So I need to finish both of the first 2 fights with as few cards as I can, AND without using either apple since I will need them after Sneezy. NOTE: Cards that are off screen will not get counted down by Sneezy's 'Sneeze'. This makes all 5 worthless baggage that you will need to delete ASAP on floor 3.
    
  • I've decided to go Pirate > Dryad
    
  • Pirate fight. Remove Both Boops. Add PirateHook_x1 & CannonFire_x2.
    
  • 17/28hp. I guess I'll try to get rid of Rosewood Spear and at least 1 Cannon Fire. I still need the Sweets for now I guess.
    
  • Dryad Fight. Remove Both Cannon Fire & Pirate Hook.Couldn't shuffle Rosewood Spear into position. Probably better off anyway. Almost died twice. Dryad rolled 3x6s on rounds 1 and 4.
    
  • Add PoisonSlingshot_x1 & VenusFlyTrap_x1
    
  • Level Up: + Duplicate & Full Hp
    
  • Sneezy Fight: Loss. Rolled Double 6s 3 rounds in a row. Nothing I could do.
    

So. A loss. But hopefully more information on what I mean by 'Extreme' deck trimming. Hopefully it helps.

[Jakkson K]

Update: After reading this I tried 2 more times and some how managed to win against Maddison with like 40 health remaining due to weaken. My final deck had like 10 or so cards in it but it was just enough to cycle through the entire deck and only be 1 die short of using every card. Honestly this was the best piece of advice: "If you just got 4-5 cards from an enemy, make sure the next fight is one you can afford to spend a few extra rounds in. Either because you are going to level, so to incoming damage doesn't matter. Or the enemy is the weaker choice."

And with that done the only episodes I have complete are the first 3 as each character so next I am gonna really focus on some Elimination rounds. The ones I have tried are Jester (made it to floor 4, only tried it once), Robot (which I lost to a boss on my only attempt after going into it at full hp), and Thief which I tried a couple times and was having a hard time getting to the boss but I think i kept getting to floor 5.

[Overwatch]

Good to hear you got through this one.