I've been playing off and on for over a year now. I still can't beat the original campaign. I'm very lucky if I can beat one new module a week. Frustration is beginning to overwhelm any fun I'm having here, since I can't figure out where to improve. The thought of multiplayer genuinely terrifies me, since I'm getting my ass kicked so bad just by the AI. I've got about a dozen different characters now, none of which are more successful than any others so far (though I am beginning to despise elves with a passion). Is there a particular party that worked for you? I can't figure out if I'm just terrible at building decks, or if I don't even have the right cards to begin with. I know I struggle to understand what makes any of the treasure hunt items so special, so I'm not sure I'd even recognize the "right cards" to begin with. Are you supposed to grind out lower, easier modules over and over again before having a dream of beating the higher level ones? Is a general walkthrough possible? Or is each module so different as to render such a project impractical? Are there any general tips, or a certain approach to the campaign that worked for other people? Any constructive thoughts are welcome. I really don't even know what to ask anymore. Or, if there's people out there as bad as I am, I wouldn't mind hearing that you're struggling too. It might be a balm to know I'm not the only one out there that sucks this bad.
Try doing some co-op with people. You may be making mistakes in your gameplay that other people can help you to correct, and I imagine most people would be happy to offer tips if you ask. General tips: - if one of your characters is about to die and still has cards, play those first (especially if they can get you out of the situation) - if you can kill an enemy that hasn't acted yet, do that rather than kill an enemy that has already acted - attack from the rear when you can to avoid blocks - against ranged enemies, try to save up two moves so you can chase them when they inevitably run away, rather than [move, they escape, repeat forever]
Have courage! You can do it! General level advice is to adapt your build to the enemies. Try to counter their strengths and exploit their weaknesses. For example, if the enemies are trees, bring fire or stuff which removes armor. There's advice on a adventure-by-adventure basis in the forum, search the subforum we are in for them. Because the adventures are somewhat puzzle-like, there are no general strategies which work everywhere. Card Hunter is all about adaptation. There is no one build which works in every adventure, Card Hunter is very different from almost all RPGs in this regard. You must always change your items to ones which work well against the enemies in the adventure. The first time through the campaign is the hardest. It's not necessary to grind lower level adventures for better items, though. It's possible to complete the campaign with just the stuff that drops along the way. It's still good to look out for nice items in the shops. Many excellent items are only Uncommons or Rares and thus cheap. The guaranteed treasure hunt items are usually not that good, unfortunately. Ring Of Appropriation is one exception to this, it's a great control item.
About parties, I think almost any combo works but Elf Wizards are hard mode because of the low health. I think my first party was Human Warrior, Human Wizard and Dwarf Priest. I used them to complete the campaign, I never varied the party. I'd recommend playing what is most fun for you or alternatively what roles you feel you have the best items for.
Have you ever thought about spectating multiplayer? You can learn a lot of play strategies just by watching. As you watch ask yourself would I have done that? If not, why did they do it? Is that a strategy that I can use to become a better player? Also the one piece of tangible advice that I'll offer, make sure to use the most powerful weapon at your team's disposal: the pass button! When I play a level it's not unusual for my first 3-4 actions to be pass, pass, pass, pass. Every time the AI acts before you play a card, the more info you have to craft the best strategy of what cards to play when, and what cards to save for the next round.
Thank you all for your thoughts. I have spectated a few games. Unfortunately, the only thoughts I tend to get from them are along the lines of "I really hope I get that card someday" and "How many babies did this guy have to sacrifice to the RNG gods, for his armor and blocks to be so consistent?" Passing to start sounds like it could be promising; at least it's something I haven't tried yet. At this point, the party that will be the most "fun" for me is one I can actually win with. I've tried quite a few combinations now. This game has done a lot to destroy the fantasy tropes I usually prefer. Co-op is a new thing since my last serious attempt at progress. I'll definitely give it a try, I just hope people don't mind playing with somebody this bad, lol. I think I will post more specific questions about my current modules in another thread. I appreciate all the tips given so far.
Yep, think of cards not just as actions, but as resources. Don't spend your resources unless doing so is giving you an advantage over your opponent. This could really help if you find someone with the time and willing to help. I'm of the latter, but rarely have the former. That said you're always welcome to track me down in game and ask.
Some general tips: Try to create a local superiority. Overwhelm one or two enemies with all of your guys. Focus fire then to death. A dead enemy cannot hurt you and it will deprive the enemy groups of cards. The less monsters there are left in a group, the less cards they will draw each round. If there is a particular enemy you notice doing a lot of damage to your guys, try to either kill it first or to block the type of damage it's doing. Sprites whittling you to death from afar? Bring magic/projectile blocks or Reliable Armor or Resistant Hide. Often doing this allows you to deal with the rest of the enemies first and then chase down the more elusive ones at your leisure. In other words, if an enemy type is creating a death clock for you, try to slow it down or stop it. You're rarely in a hurry in single player. Be patient and wait for your best cards to show up, especially ones that help you mop up an enemy or two while taking minimal damage. Just stall for time while you wait. Move your guys away from the enemies bit by bit to let them waste their movement cards. Have enough movement to be able to do this. (Note that this isn't always the best strategy as movement cards could maybe be attacks or other more useful ones.) Use a tank character in a map bottleneck to keep the enemies away from the rest of your characters. Impenetrable Nimbus (click Expand to see the items it's on) is excellent for this as the AI will keep attacking a character with it on even while doing no damage. Firestorm and Volcano are hard to get in quantity but with enough of them you can win most of the single player adventures pretty fast. Using three Dwarf Wizards with Resistant Hides and as much fiery death as you can pack is how old-timers blaze through most adventures when they're in a hurry. Remember, it doesn't matter if two of them die along the way, too. Last dwarf standing wins.
And to take this further, cards like Firestorm and Flash_of_Agony process damage on all affected enemies before they process on friendlies, so you can win even if the same spell that finished off the opposition would also have wiped you out, too. Speaking of mutual destruction... a few days ago I had a hilarious ending to a match -- we were each down to a single almost-dead character with almost empty hands. I ignited him with embers, he dropped lava under me, neither of us had any way to avoid the resulting damage... I won the match, because attachments to characters trigger before attachments to terrain so he burned to death first, but my dwarf wouldn't have been able to yell in triumph for very long.
