Doing a 1hp quest? Thinking about your go-to items? You might want to think twice. There are a number of items out there that have such bad cards they are "unplayable," but in a 1hp quest they just might fit the bill. Ever equipped Oversize Pick? You're insane! Raging Strike is a brutal card that can absolutely decimate you when it gets drawn, particularly if you have multiples in your deck... unless your whole strategy revolves around never taking damage in the first place! With some rare exceptions where you're using armor to tank your way through a 1hp quest, there's no drawback to cards that increase the damage you take, because if you take any damage you're dead anyway, so the added damage has no effect. These include cards like: Raging Strike Vulnerable Combustible Nightling (against some of the new CM maps) Don't be afraid to give a second look at items that have these cards which you've avoided in normal play. They might just be a piece of the build you've been looking for. Likewise, if you're a fan of: Vengeance Sparkling Cloth Armor Martyr Blessing Think again. These don't give you any bonus unless you actually take damage. Time to shelve those for when you return to normal runs. (Don't confuse this second list with cards that give a bonus when damage is dealt, Mimetic Armor paired with Impenetrable Nimbus actually works really nicely in 1hp quests because it triggers even without damage being taken. Got others to add to either list? I'm sure I've left some off... feel free to share!
Very good ideas for 1 HP quests: Lifesaving Block Impenetrable Nimbus Not so very good ideas for 1 HP quests: Bloodied Block Wounded Block Absorbing Block Boosted Heal Very not so very good ideas for 1 HP quests: Ouch! Brain Burn Traveling Curse Demonic Revenge Demonic Power Demonic Feedback Jarring Block Unstable Bolt Bungled Bolt Backbiting Strike Predictable Stab Anything with an erratic roll There should be more card that are great with 1 max HP.
protip, use nimbus on character using laser attacks. Very good cards: Smoke bomb. flash flood Not that awesome big zap vampire kiss walpurgis night
While Nimbus + Sacred Shroud is an awesome combo normally, healing does you no good in 1hp. I'd actually put these on the "lose value" list.
I've said this one in World Chat a couple times: Mind Leak. Who cares about losing a card, you're dead already. Free Trait cycler! $:^ D EDIT: Likewise, many have pointed out that elves can outperform dwarves due to Dash vs. Walk and no HP difference. However, I should also add, Lucky Toughness being a common for one is an incredible new dwarf-only, stacking, prevent-damage item...
how to beat 99% of 1hp levels FIRESTORM RESISTANT HIDE [or impenetrable nimbus] the other 1% exception might be spreading blight because the warding lance is annoying as hell and you have a very hard time bypassing it