Card pool mechanics

2023-11-7 update: I discovered that the original Chinese text distinguishes drawing vs. gaining cards. I've rewritten the exceptions section.

2023-10-27 update: Surreal_Memoir[www.twitch.tv], who told me much of the information in the original version of this guide, has now published a full guide: Deck Mechanics and Deviation Syndrome[docs.google.com]. I've rewritten this guide to be a summary of Surreal_Memoir's guide. Refer to Surreal_Memoir's guide for elaborations.

Card pool mechanics

Each player has their own pool. There are 8 copies of each card, except only 6 copies of Incarnation cards. (And only 4 copies each of Talent Elixir, Great Bodybuilding Elixir, and Enlightenment Elixir.) Absorbing or exchanging a card doesn't return it to the pool. Exchanging a card also causes two copies of the same card to be deleted from the pool. (Whether the card is upgraded or not has no bearing on the amount of cards removed.) Exception: Practice Writing and other Painter cards with "Exchange:" abilities, when exchanged, don't cause other copies of themselves to be deleted.

An exchange won't give you another copy of the same card.

In Foundation, Virtuoso, and Immortality phases, your first exchange each round is more likely to draw a current-phase card. How it works is, the first time it randomly chooses a card, if it's not a current phase card, it will re-randomize. So if you're in Foundation, and 55% of the pool is Foundation cards, then the chance of getting a Meditation card would normally be 45%, but on the first exchange, it's (45%)^2 ≈ 20%, and the chance of getting a Foundation card is 80%.

Each round, you draw two Sect cards and one Side Job card. If no Sect cards are left in your pool, you get a Deviation Syndrome card instead of a Sect card. If no Side Job cards are left, you get a Sect card if any are left, otherwise you get a Deviation Syndrome. From other draws that can give you a Sect or Side Job card, such as the draw from exchanging, you only get Deviation Syndrome if your pool is empty of everything. (If you got Deviation Syndrome at the beginning of the round because there were no Sect cards left, but there are still Side Job cards left, exchanging it (or any other card) will give you one of those remaining Side Job cards.)

Drawing vs. gaining cards

Some effects create cards instead of drawing cards out of your card pool.

In particular, Mental Perception, Tool Governor, Thunder Tribulation, and Shattered Dao draw cards, whereas "Inheritance of X" Immortal Fates (such as Inheritance of Cloud Sword) create new cards. However, these latter effects will only copy cards currently in your pool, including legendary cards added by other Immortal Fates; if you have no copies of a card left in your pool, it won't be copied.

To quote my request in the #translation-errors channel in Yi Xian discord:

Originally posted by Xom:

Standardize 获得 = gain / 抽 = draw, for creating cards vs. taking cards from the card pool. There is at least one inconsistency in the original Chinese: In Daoist Rhyme Omen, either 立刻获得 should be 立刻抽牌, or in the text of “At Own Pace” 抽 should be 获得. There may be other inconsistencies, I don't know. Of course, the current English translation simply uses "draw" almost everywhere. See table:

CATEGORY	NAME	ENGLISH	CHINESE
card	Ask Dao By Paint	Draw	获得
card	Reason By Analogy	Draw	获得
card	Wonderful Strokes	Draw	获得
card	Mystery Seed	grows	变
card	Space Spiritual Field	gain	获得
card	Demonic Dao Fruit	draw	抽
card	Brocade Rat	draw	抽
card	Inheritance of Five Elements	Draw	获得
Immortal Fate	Mental Perception	Draw	抽
Immortal Fate	Tool Governor	Draw	抽
Immortal Fate	Thunder Tribulation	Draw	抽
Immortal Fate	Shattered Dao	Draw	抽
Immortal Fate	Fortunes and Luck	Draw	获得
Immortal Fate	Inheritance of X	Draw	获得
Immortal Fate	Sword Pool The Heart Ask	Draw	获得
Immortal Fate	legendary card Immortal Fates	Gain…, and you may gain	获得…，…抽
Immortal Fate	character card Immortal Fates	Draw	获得
Immortal Fate	Bloodline Potential	Draw	抽
Immortal Fate	Inheritance of Dragonling	Draw	抽
Immortal Fate	Lithe As Cat	Draw	获得
Immortal Fate	Swordsmith	get	获得
Immortal Fate	Study Hard	draw	抽
Immortal Fate	Bloodline Power	Draw	抽
Immortal Fate	Innate Spirit Body	draw	抽
Immortal Fate	Lantern Spirit Awakening	Draw 1 card immediately	…抽
Immortal Fate	Perfectly Planned	get	获得
Immortal Fate	Avatar Of Five Elements	draw	抽
Immortal Fate	Innate Element	draw	获得
Immortal Fate	Innate Spirit Formation	draw	获得
Immortal Fate	Secret Seal Affinity	Draw	获得
Daoist Rhyme Omen	label above At Own Pace	Obtain Immediately	…获得
Daoist Rhyme Omen	other labels	obtain	获得
Daoist Rhyme Omen	At Own Pace “card” text	Draw	抽

Chatters currently believe that At Own Pace draws a card out of the card pool.

We don't know for sure whether effects other than "Inheritance of X" that create new cards, such as Wonderful Strokes and Space Spiritual Field, depend on what's currently in your pool.

Card upgrade effects like Enlightenment Elixir don't take anything out of your pool. Mystery Seed transforms itself, so I can't imagine that it takes anything out of your pool.

2023-11-26 update: Someone made a post[www.bilibili.com] in Chinese that agrees with all of the above, except that it doesn't discuss Deviation Syndrome. It doesn't say how they know. It claims that At Own Pace draws a card, and that Space Spiritual Field depends on what's currently in the pool.

Appendix: transcript of 2024-1-25 FAQ about Game Rules

Hello everyone, we have compiled some common questions about game rule mechanics, hoping this FAQ will help you enjoy the game better.

Q: Is there a probability boost for drawing cards during the first card exchange in each round?
A: The probability of drawing cards from the current phase is increased during the Foundation Phase, Virtuoso Phase, and Immortality Phase's first card exchange.

Q: How do Absorb and Exchange affect the card pool?
A: Absorb does not affect the card pool; If you exchange the card, two cards with the same name are removed (cards with Exchange effect are not removed).

Q: Under what circumstances will you draw "Deviation Syndrom"?
A: "Deviation Syndrome" is obtained when you need to draw a card, but there are no cards in the card pool that meet the conditions.

Q: How many copies does each card in the card pool have?
A: From the Meditation Phase to the Immortality Phase, there are 8 copies of each card, and in the Incarnation Phase, there are 6 copies.
Talent Elixir, Great Bodybuilding Elixir, and Enlightenment Elixir are exceptions with only 4 copies.

Q: What is the probability of drawing cards from different phase? Will you prioritize drawing cards from the current phase?
A: The probability of obtaining each card is consistent.

Q: How do BUFF and DEBUFF affect damage calculation?
A: Effects are applied in the order of addition and subtraction (minimum reduced to 1) followed by multiplication by percentage (percentages are added first). The final result is at least 1.

Q: What is the difference between "Obtain" cards and "Draw" cards?
A: Obtained cards are additional copies and do not affect the card pool. Drawing cards reduces the number of cards in the card pool as cards are drawn from it.

Q: Are the cards drawn in each battle completely independent? Will the cards drawn in this match affect the next one?
A: The cards drawn are completely independent from one battle to another.

Q: How much Cultivation, MAX HP, and card exchange chance are gained each round?
A: Each round grants 2 Cultivation, 2 MAX HP, draws 2 sect cards, and 1 secondary occupation card.
Card exchange chance increase by +3 from rounds 1 to 9, +4 from rounds 10 to 14, +5 from rounds 15 to 19, and +6 from round 20 onwards.

Q: What is the calculation formula for Destiny damage? [increased 2024-5-16, in-game FAQ updated 2024-5-24]
A:

• Final HP difference ⩽20: Destiny damage = rounds + 1 + Final HP difference /5 (rounded up)
• Final HP difference >20: Destiny damage = rounds + 5 + (Final HP difference - 20)/10 (rounded up, with a maximum limit of 2 + half of the rounds)

[2024-9-18 update: The in-game FAQ (above formula) is now out of date. The Destiny loss is now 1 less during the first nine Rounds. That is, the formula is now (hpDifference <= 20 ? roundNum + ceiling(hpDifference/5) : roundNum + 4 + min(ceiling((hpDifference-20)/10), floor(roundNum/2 + 2))) + (roundNum < 10 ? 0 : 1). The graph below is now correct for the first nine Rounds. Starting Round 10, the loss is 1 more than in the graph.]

Q: Are each player's card pool independent? Can you interfere with others' card pool?
A: Each player's card pool is independent, and you cannot interfere with others' card pool.

Q: In a situation where both players have negative HP, who will win?
A: The player with less negative HP wins the round. If negative hp is the same, the player who played first wins.

Wishing everyone a happy cultivation journey!

Appendix: 2024-2-1 Q&A with Kreal

Q: When you change side job using the Life Shop, do you get a full set of side job cards added to your card pool?
A: The remaining cards in each phase of the side job cards will be evenly converted into an equivalent number of cards for the new side job. Additionally, each type of card in the new side job will have at least one additional card.

Q: In Incarnation phase, does the first-exchange bonus just not exist, so you won't have increased chance to draw immortal cards or anything?
A: yes

Q: What is the exact % to this first exchange being from the same phase?
A: It's not an exact %. It is equal to the probability of exchanging cards twice to obtain the cards of the current phase.

Q: If you use a fortune voucher card or a Painter card on the first exchange, will you have wasted the first exchange bonus?
A: yes

Q: Sometimes you will hit Deviation Syndrome on side job cards first before sect cards. Does that mean the pools for side jobs and sect cards are separate and don't have the same draw probability?
A: They are not separate.

Q: Are fortune and fates cards in the card pools at the start of game? Or are they just a random chance each time you draw to replace a card?
A: No. It will replace the side job card that would have been drawn at the start of this round.

Q: How does Life Shop discounting work? Will it discount things you already bought?
A: It randomly select 1 item to have 25% off. Yes.

Q: Does the Life Shop's Scroll of Exchange just transform cards in your hand, not draw?
A: Yes

Q: What is the % chance to acquire Fortunes and Luck effect from Curiosity on Lin Xiaoyue?
A: 10%

[Xom]

Updated simplified formula for the maximum Destiny loss is: floor(Round Number * 1.5 + (Round Number < 10 ? 6 : 7)).

[Xom]

Updated simplified formula for the maximum Destiny loss is: floor(Round Number * 1.5 + 7).

Simplified formula for the HP difference necessary for the maximum Destiny loss is (same as before): floor(Round Number * 0.5) * 10 + 31.

[Xom]

Ask Dao By Paint doesn't depend on what's currently in the pool.

[Xom]

I tested At Own Pace. It draws a card.

[Xom]

See also my Table of default Max HP: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3175588941
Each round adds 2 Max HP. Breaking through adds 5 / 7 / 10 / 13 Max HP.

[Xom]

OK, today I exchanged a Fundamental Elixir for another Fundamental Elixir. Wild speculation: Maybe it tries to give you a different card but it does it by picking a card at random and retrying up to a few times if it's the same card.

[Xom]

Tu Kui's Initial Immortal Fate, Forge Body, really does draw (抽).

[Xom]

I just saw Practice Writing exchange for another copy of Practice Writing.

[Xom]

It's random. And it's a separate coinflip from the one that chooses which player's battle scene.

[Spoozy]

Do you know which player goes first if cultivation is the same or is it random?