this game is really difficult

Full damage strategy works with any class. With Priests some healing cards are unavoidable, especially at the beginning, but the point is that when you have a choice, you go for damage every single time, and ignore all items that are healing/protection only. And yes, that includes the ones with Nimbus (which you do not need in SP unless you play 1 HP quests or something).

But for anyone who wants quick results without really caring who they play with, the best choice of class/race for SP is definitely dwarf wizards. Nothing else comes even close in term of consistency and speed.

 

Without tokens and rare items wizards are not that great I think. But I have never tried only wizard team in single player so I am not sure about that. I would be quite worried about swarms of enemies all around my wizards but who knows, maybe...?

 

Have you actually played through the campaign this way? Starting with the Woodsman's Axe, Beginner's Staff, and no tokens? Just curious.

 

Your party set-up is much better than when my first party was at lvl 6-- so at the risk of being unduly offensive/personal, and channeling my own experience, I am going to suggest that there is more about the game/gameplay that you need to be aware of...

The other posts suggesting that you play differently-- not to mention the ones suggesting you play with some uber/optimal set-up-- are not going to help a new player who is still coming to grips with the table-top gameplay mechanics of Card Hunter... cos unlike most fancy online/virtual adaptations of table-top games (say, Hearthstone), Card Hunter mostly ADAPTS table-top gameplay without over-"streamlining/simplifying" them (except for things like rolling dice and moving pieces/cards)

The LEVEL 6 progression wall was about the time I learnt to pay attention to armor, blocks and parries-- cos there are very few enemies with uber 20+ hitpoints, so it is entirely possible for your characters to take them on 1-vs-1 IF you can hit/damage them... and so we have all the tactics/strategies on drawing out blocks/armor (hitting them with weakest/ranged attacks first, using items/cards which remove them like Warcry for warriors, Memory Loss for wizards, Wavering Faith for priest, etc.).

The LEVEL 8 progression wall was about the time I learnt to pay attention to the map/terrain and party/enemy movement points-- cos there are enough (strong) enemies who can (gang up &) take down your characters (barring any armor/defenses) in one turn... and so we have all the tactics/strategies of advancing/retreating/holding your positions as well baiting/focusing enemies, etc. (E.g. Priest Entangle , Wizard Hot Spot , Warrior Able Stab )

The LEVEL 10 progression wall was about the time I learnt to pay attention to party synergy/co-ordination (i.e.. mixing-&-matching all manners of "buffing/healing/cleansing-Priests" + "penetrating/chopping/bashing Warriors" + "ranged/area-attack/control Wizards")-- cos there are humanoid enemies who basically have access to all the items/cards that are available to the player's party... and so there is no choice but to literally "play better" than the AI(Gary), by going defensive when the AI draws a better hand than you and then going offensive when you draw a better hand than the AI, etc.

Beyond LEVEL 10 is where I finally start paying to attention to the so-called uber-builds/items-- cos there are some pretty "gimmicky" maps/challenges that might require you to center your tactics/strategies on using the "right/uber" builds/items... whereas prior to this, it is still quite possible to breeze through on good draws (or bad draws for the AI) with a cursory understanding of Card Hunter mechanics, while remaining oblivious to which enemies have what attacks/defenses/weaknesses.

IOW, you have to go the whole mental process of checking enemy positions/cards and possible plays, checking party positions/cards and possible plays, deciding on which character to go first and do what, rinse and repeat EVERY TURN... and so until you have the gameplay mechanics down, most of the forums threads outside of the FAQs/maps/bugs discussions are not really relevant/helpful to you.

Sorry if this post is more about me than you-- but yep, Card Hunter reminded me of how bad a table-top gamer I was... but at least I don't have to go through the hassle of getting a group together or wasting my group's time, 8^P.

 

It is a bit similar to chess. You plan your moves, trying to predict what your opponent is going to do. In chess all pieces are in play at start, here we have some random elements. But Single Player quests are not much random, so after a few tries you know what cards does your enemy hold. If they run to you fast, you can try to use some Bash melee attacks to smack them back (divine weapons have some number of them). Wizard can use Force Blast found on Malachite Orb or a bit more common and worse Force Bolt. With Path Of Knives they make very nice combo, especially paired with Force Blast - that combo will do 6 damage (2 from Bolt, 4 from Path) and move enemy away. When enemy runs back, Path will make at least another 4 damage. So one combo use does 10 damage (only 5 with Force Bolt).
There are more tricks like that. Part of fun is to find them... At least for many of us.

 

Yes, it is true that wizards get exponentially better as they get token items, but they are no joke at lower levels either. Burning Bangle is something I like to use a lot at low levels because Hot Spot completely owns those low HP enemies.

Of course it also depends on your inventory. For example, if you have a lot of good rare and epic tokenless Staffs like I do, the lower levels are much easier.

I've finished the campaign maybe 3-4 times with different races/classes and I always use the same full damage strategy. Sometimes you get a couple of defensive cards in the mix, but the main point is to never take any items for defensive purposes only if there is an alternative that would help you kill the opponent faster.

This is a strategy that I implement in PvE in all games whenever possible, not just Card Hunter. It's also a strategy I like to use in MP. In my first successful MP build that took me to 1500+, I spent all my tokens on damage, and even had a Priest that did pretty much nothing but deal damage. It works much better than you'd think.

 

It worked much better for me after I got some good cards. For a while I'd use my mage's single token on a blister stone so I could close off a small area for a "heal break". Recovering a few points helped a lot when I was outnumbered and outgunned. Then I learned how a few things worked, got some better weapons, and stopped needing the heal breaks.

I'd much rather go full damage and take an enemy down quickly, but in some cases I have problems with the wrong side dying if I don't have heals or nimbus. I guess I need to learn some more, but I'm too busy playing for fun to focus on it much.

 

its not like chess at all, unless your opponent has 5 queens

im now trying to push through the nightmare that is the frozen bridge, and its pretty ridiculous, i was especially amused when the trogg negated my armor dissolve spell with his armor, either he had a spare or that spell is bugged, i think the ai should only get two cards like the player each round, i frequently find myself waiting while getting hammered because i just dont have any cards left to use

still trying to wrap my head around how they thought giving them free moves when their armor goes off to stay in spear range was a fun mechanic for the player to deal with

i appreciate the suggestions but showing me your awesome rares that you wreck encounters with does not help me at all, just saying

my current party composition has changed to two elf warriors and an elf wizard with lots of movement cards to try and stay ahead of the troggs, but they continue to do so much more damage than me because they have superior cards

currenty party comp:

Erngwe
Level 5 Elf Warrior

Dull Shortsword
Grey Rapier
Heirloom Assegai
Reinforced Hide Armor
Cover Shield
Novice Boots
Novice Gouging
​

5 x Penetrating Cut
2 x Weak Strike
4 x Able Stab
2 x Reliable Hide Armor
1 x Impaler
2 x Missile Block
1 x Simple Strike
3 x Lunging Hack
2 x Shifty Stab
1 x Weakened Armor
1 x Strong Stab
1 x Flimsy Block
1 x Quick Step
1 x Predictable Stab
1 x Hardy Mail
2 x Stab
​

Denrimeron
Level 5 Elf Warrior

Shiny Blade
Slippery Sword
Dull Shortsword
Bulky Leather Vest
Dueler's Buckler
Croc Skin Boots
Untrained Slicing
​

1 x Penetrating Cut
1 x Weak Strike
1 x Backbiting Strike
2 x Reliable Hide Armor
1 x Unreliable Block
8 x Shifty Stab
1 x Simple Strike
1 x Leather Harness
3 x Lunging Hack
1 x Clumsy Chop
1 x Block
1 x Dash
1 x Parry
2 x Slicer
3 x Stab
1 x Able Stab
1 x Thickened Mail
​

Udhel
Level 7 Elf Wizard

Balsa Boltstaff
Lizard Fryer
Akon's Amulet
Glowing Bangle
Glowing Bangle
Humming Hide Robes
Hidebound Boots
Untrained Insight
Electroporter Novice
​

4 x Long Spark
1 x Deadly Spark
2 x Acid Blast
2 x Spark
2 x Hot Spot
2 x Boiling Armor
1 x Dodge
3 x Reliable Hide Armor
3 x Walk
1 x Spark Inductor
2 x Defensiveness
1 x Spark Generator
2 x Sorcerous Bolt
2 x Dimensional Traveller
1 x Dissolve Armor
3 x Short Spark
1 x Cowardly
​

why are there no lightning damage items for the arcane slot?

 

The frozen bridge actually is a hard one. Can you get wizards round the pincers at the side, and leave a warrior at the back in the middle? That way, you can shoot them from behind with big attacks when they come forward while the warrior blocks the path.
Packing armour removal against these guys is definitely a good idea.

 

The devs will have to answer that. My impression is that they wanted wizards to be multifunctional control tools rather than straight blasters.

There are several ways to deal with the trogs. If you can use two or three of these, Frozen Bridge is doable.

* Keen Baselard is a tokenless weapon with Shredding Strike. Unfortunately it's a rare, so unless you are lucky, you won't have one yet.

* There are many other useful cards to dissolve those armors. Look out for Wavering Faith, Memory Loss, Perplexing Ray, Short Perplexing Ray, Dissolve Armor, Burning Armor. You can use the inventory search function to find items with these cards.

* Try to draw the trogs all the way to your side and place a warrior on back and front. Alternate your attacks between the two. The trog will turn around, allowing you to attack in the back and ignore the armor.

* The above can also be achieved if you move a wizard to one of the side platforms and shoot a trog in the back with lightning.

More general:

* Don't be afraid to pass while you still have cards to play. That way, you can force the AI to play its cards and draw out moves. It won't always work, but you'll get a feeling for when the AI is likely to pass in return and when not.

* Level your party up to 8 or even 9. Your warriors are still level 5!!
Leveling up will give you extra tokens to equip helpful items, such as a Parrying Buckler, Shielding Token, Akon's Amulet

* Have lots of parries on your Fighters. Why do you use a Cover Shield when the Wizard is just a minor threat?

* Better boots! The Hard To Pin Down on Jumpdragger Boots is helpful for this mission. Nimble Chain Boots are easy to find and work well too. At least your Croc Skin Boots are a good start.

* Use Step attacks instead of Stabs. That way, you sometimes have a chance to step around a trog and attack it from the back.

* The weapons you equip deal almost no damage. Don't you have at least Thick Club or Old Adze? 8 (!!) Shifty Stabs on Warrior #2? Of course enemies take forever to kill if you only equip the weakest damage melee attack card in the game...

* You also have terrible armors. Try to play some of the lvl 5 and lvl 6 adventures again and see if you find something better. Solid Mail is a good common item.

* Burning Bangles are better than Glowing Bangles. That Defensiveness is really bad for you. If you're looking for tokenless acid damage, Thaumaturge's Robe, Viscous Locket, Lavender Staff and Alchemist Robes are better.

TL;DR: Either you have been really unlucky with drops, or your just didn't really check what you have for the best items. Or you haven't really shopped for good stuff yet.
Really, what you need to do is play some other campaign adventures again. Check the shops. Try out a few combinations to see what works. One reason you have such trouble beating the campaign is that your party just isn't well equipped yet. The difficulty level will still go up so I suggest you work on that before you continue.

 

If you're having trouble, you can try using dwarves - the extra HP gives you some more leeway when fighting (though I personally am not a fan of their low mobility). The Elf Wizard is the most frail race/class combo in the game, and if the enemy is still able to get in despite elves' mobility, then that might be something to consider changing.

Another thing you might want to consider is a priest. Having heals helps a lot. Even though 2 HP from Minor or Misguided Heal doesn't feel like much, especially when the enemy is doing 5 or 6+ damage per attack, it might give you just enough HP that it takes the enemy one more attack to finish a character off. In that time, you could run away with said injured character, who can then rejoin the fray at a later time. Also, priests can do decent damage. I was always happy with my priest in SP.

As for your current build, what Martin K said about your warriors' low damage output is probably a huge factor for your difficulty. Warriors are meant to do damage, so equip some items with high average damage! Just because an item is rare/epic/legendary doesn't necessarily mean it's better than a common or uncommon weapon. Case in point - Slippery Sword. It's a rare weapon, but it isn't really what most Warriors want. It has a pitiful average damage of 2.5. I can see it being useful to kite enemies, i.e. use Shifty Stab to step away from an enemy and poke it, which then puts that character out of range for retaliation, but that doesn't change the fact that its damage output is subpar. It probably is taking you a long time to kill enemies, which combined with Elves low HP is probably making the game a bit harder than it should be. At your level, look for weapons that have an average damage of 3+, preferably 4+. You may very well have some lying around in your inventory. Your first warrior seems good, though you might want to look for a replacement for Dull Shortsword. Your second warrior's weapons are a lot worse. Perhaps another reason to consider a Priest - you might not have enough strong weapons for two warriors at this point in the game.

Another thing is to, in general, avoid drawback traits. Especially at low levels, things like Demonic Revenge, Loner, and Travelling Curse can get you killed really easily. It isn't just self-damaging traits to watch out for, though. Defensiveness, for example, is absolutely brutal. It basically makes your Wizard useless (though you don't have a ton of Zaps, so it's not as bad). Cowardly can also temporarily disable your Wizard. You want your Wizard to be doing things. A well-placed Hot Spot can make your life a lot easier. Defensiveness and Cowardly get in the way.

One last thing to note is that while this game can be rather difficult, it is entirely possible to beat the single player campaign without grinding. There's obviously no shame in spending time to obtain better items, but I don't want you to get the mentality of 'omg Card Hunter too hard have to grind to win.' I'm sure if you reevaluate your items/build and focus on the gameplay, like where to move your units (no seriously, moving your units into a good position is really important), you can overcome the challenges the game has to offer.

 

I don't think our help would do much if you don't think for yourself. You equipped your warriors (why elves?!) with step attacks but no real damage. You decided to give them support of a wizard instead of a priest (I still would use 1/1/1 party) who could buff these attacks if you insist to use them (they are nice for some quests). With throggs it is more about terrain, movement and positioning your party, so enemies could not jump back. Sometimes you need to lure them back, sometimes advance fast and try to hit from behind. And yes they can have two armors if I remember correctly. Boiling Armor will strip them all. AT least for one turn. You should have some rares already by completing previous quests. I think in general you get almost everything you need - it is not a matter of items. In shops there are nice items too. They do help, but it is doable without rares. And if you are trying challenges, then you do need better items first and there is no workaround. The game is called Card Hunter for a reason.

 

It is difficult at first but as you play, it'll get easier. I don't really have much time but I just wanted to throw out some of my personal experiences as a fellow new player that reached level 12.

-Never sell items unless it is treasure (there really is no point since it gives really little gold), I've accumulated 1267 gold in a week that I have been playing without buying anything.
-I haven't bought anything in shops yet (didn't need to), thus have a good stock of gold (getting prepared to play MP)
-Do the first win-multiplayer everyday for the gold chest. The starter pack should be able to get you a win every other game in low ranks (I'm currently 50% Win-Rate with only the Starter Pack, rating 805).
-Every day, use a new party to get through the low levels. My first party was something ridiculously bad (2 Elf warriors, 1Human Priest) and I was able to get to level 9. I've also done 3Dwarf Wars. My goal is to have at least 1 of every combination so I can make adjustments in higher level to see what helps.
-Read the tips when you lose. You might not have the cards to adjust when you first begin but as long as you keep all your items, soon you'll be able to.
-If you get stuck, level up a weaker party and then when you get to the level you're stuck in, try mixing things up.
-Adjust to the current challenge. If it's Trolls, get a mage with Armor breakers/penetration attacks, if it's goblins, use chop/lava cards.

Once again, I'm still a newb, but I hope my tips help. Most important thing is the accumulation of items so you can adjust and adapt.

 

You're right-- it's not like chess at all... unless the kind of chess you're talking about is "Go". But it's great that you are formulating more and more concrete ideas/strategies for beating the SP campaign (cos it just keeps getting harder and harder)!

Cos the difference between most other forms of chess and "Go" is that you win by taking out ALL of your opponent's pieces-- not just some silly figurehead/boss (the King/General/etc.) which is noticeably weaker than his best subordinates (by some video game logic)...8^S

And the way you take out those pieces is by ganging up on them-- at least in "Go", where all the pieces are perfectly "balanced" by being exactly the same (thereby creating an "unsolvable" game)-- which is where all the mathematics in Card Hunter come in... i.e. how to surround an enemy character, bait-out its moves/blocks/attacks, force them to "discard", as well as how many points of movement does it take for you to engage the enemy character and how many points of damage must you to do before it is able to get out of range, get reinforcements and/or take down your party characters, not to mention weighing the probabilities involved and the possibilities available to you, etc...>_<

If any of these things do NOT cross your mind when you are making move, then you're probably still playing "Go"/Card Hunter as if it is some other chess/card/computer-game-- cos Card Hunter is what table-top gamers would regard as a "thematic" deck-building puzzle/board-game, rather than a dice-rolling "role-playing" game... i.e. people have fun (& go "Yes!") when a series of calculated moves pay off, not when something dramatic or RNG-based happens to favor you (cos that just means that you'd as easily lose upon replaying the module).

The card-draw RNG is just there for variety/re-playability-- e.g. what do you do if your wizard hasn't got that spell you want ready, your warrior is in the wrong position for getting up that block/parry, or your priest starts getting "Squeamish", etc. (which could just as easily happen to the AI/enemy characters).