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[Mephansteras]

Yeah. But it is a decent curse to have if you're going for that style of deck anyway.

[Ulfarr]

Well yes, hence the "unexpected" part. Thing is, in the right deck it might be better than pairing rupture with either Combust or Bloodletting, since it allows the player to build up lots of strength in a single turn instead of having to wait for multiple turns like in the traditional combo.

[Iduno]

Well yes, hence the "unexpected" part. Thing is, in the right deck it might be better than pairing rupture with either Combust or Bloodletting, since it allows the player to build up lots of strength in a single turn instead of having to wait for multiple turns like in the traditional combo.

Yeah, but for the Ironclad, 3 is a lot of cards.

[Ulfarr]

As in playing 3 cards/turn or having a combo that relies on 3 cards?

[Iduno]

As in playing 3 cards/turn or having a combo that relies on 3 cards?

Playing 3 cards in the same turn. Ironclad relies on a lot more 2+ cost cards.

[Ulfarr]

He does have easy access to some cards that can help up cards/turn (0 cost or extra energy) but it does need some good will from RNGesus to work so..yes I see your point 

[MrRoboto75]

sounds like you need to embrace sneko

[Sindain]

Another way to pull of this same curse stuff is necronomicurse + blue candle. Blue candle lets you exhaust a curse for 1 hp and necronomicurse returns to your hand any time you exhaust it. Infinite health damage procs and exhaust procs for 0 mana (until you die anyway).

[Frumple]

That plus bite is fun times.

Though I'm not sure it's actually infinite returns. I've had a blue candle/necronomicurse combo manage to make the curse stop coming back before, heh. Might have been a bug, I'unno, and since fixed, but at the time it was hilarious and iirc unfortunate. That deck was pretty reliant on that particular abuse

[Ulfarr]

Corruption + dead branch is too OP1!!1!11!1

Ascension 20, Ironcald vs Donu&Deca and then Time Eater. The deck turned out surprisingly tanky due to the power that gives defence every time a card is exhausted. Body slam was the main damage dealer along with the occasional fiend fire. Time Eater was the only real threat in this run and it would have finished me if it wasn't for the liazrd tail.

[Iduno]

Ascension 20, Ironcald vs Donu&Deca and then Time Eater. The deck turned out surprisingly tanky due to the power that gives defence every time a card is exhausted. Body slam was the main damage dealer along with the occasional fiend fire. Time Eater was the only real threat in this run and it would have finished me if it wasn't for the liazrd tail.

Man, I can't even get past ascension 10 as ironclad. Even with a decent Entrench/Barricade/Body Slam deck (to be fair, it's rare to get all 3 in one run). How do I get better?

[Ulfarr]

There are a few pointers I could give you but honestly they won’t make a difference if the rng decides to screw you!

In terms of general gameplay I’ve noticed that conserving hp* is becoming increasingly important as you go up the ascensions, learning the attack patterns of certain creatures/elites also helps. Personally I favor a thinner decks but these are easier to get screwed with by status cards, having a way to draw more cards is necessary once you have 18-20 cards in my opinion. I also think that a standard 4 energy/turn is ironclad’s sweetspot since I’ve oftenly found myself with spare energy if I went beyond that (unless you’re going big on “X energy”  cards or have a lot of card draw).

*That AOE attack that heals you back can really help you with that, especially if you had the chance to build some strength..

In terms of specific combos, I ‘m not too keen on full on defense. Entrenched is useless by itself and requires too much of a set up before it can be used effectively. Barricade/demon form are awesome powers but they cost a lot and effectively force you to “lose” a turn in order to play them, take  them if you have the energy to spare but they aren’t a must have. I prefer inflame/some relic and limit break for strength generation.

For damage dealing I prefer a heavy hitter ( bludgeon, heavy blade, whirlwind, pummel) + vulnerable combo. Perfect strike is a nice card but requires specific deck builds, take 1-2 of them if you don’t have any of the heavy hitters. Searing blade/rampage require too much set up to become effective in higher ascensions. An upgraded bodyslam is always nice either for damage or for the play x number of cards relics. Most importantly you really need some AOE damage, for when you are outnumbered, whirlwind is probably the best of the bunch.

For defense, I really like metallicize, rage and flame barrier. The first two allow you to focus on  taking out enemies quickly and the last one gives you plenty of bang for your buck. Upgraded armaments is a nice card but it will become a dead draw eventually, still it’s nice to have one if you haven’t had the chance to upgrade your key cards or if you can't upgrade your cards anymore.

Lastly I'd like to give extra attention on a couple relics/cards/potions.

• Preserved insect is a really strong relic to have, since it will help you get stronger. Pair it with the Black Star if possible.
• The bird cage relic (I'm not sure how it's called) is a valid option if you haven't had the chance to remove the cards you want to.
• Dreamcatcher, that pipe, and the shovel are mostly useless as relics.
• Upgraded Infernal Blade/exhume isn't a necessary addition in your deck but I find it quite a fun way to play, without sacrificing much in terms of efficiency.
• The smokescreen potion can save you from a bad fight, like that sphere that has the barricade ability and opens the fight with a ton of defense.

[Frumple]

... wait, what? The shovel that gives you more relics over the course of a run is mostly useless? Card removal pipe is also serious mojo if you're going for a slim deck. I'd agree the dreamcatcher is mostly shite, but those other two are pretty golden.

[Iduno]

In terms of specific combos, I ‘m not too keen on full on defense. Entrenched is useless by itself and requires too much of a set up before it can be used effectively. Barricade/demon form are awesome powers but they cost a lot and effectively force you to “lose” a turn in order to play them, take  them if you have the energy to spare but they aren’t a must have. I prefer inflame/some relic and limit break for strength generation.

Yeah, I've started disliking Demon Form's cost. It's an amazing card after a few turns, but 3 energy is too much for a card that also takes time to get good. Also, upgraded entrenched is probably just a second block card, up until you get barricade, so taking it is gambling a campfire and a card take hoping you get Barricade. Barricade is expensive, but it's also a nice way to use your energy for those turns when the RNG gives you only block cards (although, at that point, it's equivalent to an ice cream cone, except it takes 2 energy each fight and also smooths out your only/mostly got attack cards hands.) I've also seen rampage being a low-damage card a lot lately (although it kind of works in long fights like donu and deca, or if you have headbutt as well). I'll probably completely avoid them for a few runs to see how that works out for me.

My only problem with limit break is getting my strength above zero. Flex doesn't work, because it's hard to get them at the same time.

For damage dealing I prefer a heavy hitter ( bludgeon, heavy blade, whirlwind, pummel) + vulnerable combo. Perfect strike is a nice card but requires specific deck builds, take 1-2 of them if you don’t have any of the heavy hitters. Searing blade/rampage require too much set up to become effective in higher ascensions. An upgraded bodyslam is always nice either for damage or for the play x number of cards relics. Most importantly you really need some AOE damage, for when you are outnumbered, whirlwind is probably the best of the bunch.

Ah. Thank you for reminding me why I used to like whirlwind even though it's 5*x damage. That's (potentially) much better than cleave. Pummel+vulnerable+strength gain is a fun combo.

For defense, I really like metallicize, rage and flame barrier. The first two allow you to focus on  taking out enemies quickly and the last one gives you plenty of bang for your buck. Upgraded armaments is a nice card but it will become a dead draw eventually, still it’s nice to have one if you haven’t had the chance to upgrade your key cards or if you can't upgrade your cards anymore.

Agreed. Rage and metallicize are almost auto-picks for me, and I have similar feelings about armaments.

• Preserved insect is a really strong relic to have, since it will help you get stronger. Pair it with the Black Star if possible.
• The bird cage relic (I'm not sure how it's called) is a valid option if you haven't had the chance to remove the cards you want to.
• Dreamcatcher, that pipe, and the shovel are mostly useless as relics.
• Upgraded Infernal Blade/exhume isn't a necessary addition in your deck but I find it quite a fun way to play, without sacrificing much in terms of efficiency.
• The smokescreen potion can save you from a bad fight, like that sphere that has the barricade ability and opens the fight with a ton of defense.

I'd consider adding Giryu to the list of relics that are bad because they require you to use campfire actions. I got it in the recent daily challenge with the ironclad, but never used it. Starting with 3 strength is great, though.

I can't figure out how I feel about exhume/dark embrace/feel no pain, because I usually only see them early and I don't know that I'll get much use out of them. I'll usually take exhume, but not dark embrace.


I like taking Evolve, because so many enemies throw statuses at you. It really shines against "dazed" spammers. Mostly ignoring statuses is also nice when you play with a thinner deck or a lot of power cards.

... wait, what? The shovel that gives you more relics over the course of a run is mostly useless? Card removal pipe is also serious mojo if you're going for a slim deck. I'd agree the dreamcatcher is mostly shite, but those other two are pretty golden.

Yeah, they're great if you somehow have too many campfires and no more cards to upgrade, but that's not a common situation.

[Mephansteras]

Apotheosis makes the various campfire relics much more useful.