# Pick your character
On your first run you start as Ironclad. Simply playing a run with a character—win, lose, or abandon, no special item required—unlocks the next one in order: Silent, Regent, Necrobinder, and finally Defect.
Ironclad
Strength & blockSilent
Poison · Shivs · SlyRegent
Stars & dual resourcesNecrobinder
Osty · Doom · soulsDefect
Orbs & ClawPro tip: unlock every character quickly
Unlocking the next character just takes playing a run with the one you already have—you don't need to win, and there's no special item to pick up. Start a run, then finish it or abandon it, and the next character unlocks. Repeat down the order and you'll have the full roster for experimentation in minutes. See the full unlock order for the exact sequence.
# Map navigation & pathing
The map is a planning puzzle, not a straight line. You can scout the whole act and even use the ping/draw tools to mark your route.
Room types
- Fights — rewards and card picks
- Elites — harder, relic on kill
- Rest sites — heal or upgrade a card
- Shops — buy cards, remove cards, relics
- Events (?) — high-variance swings, usually net positive
- Chests — free relic
Path strategy
- Line up rests before elites when you can
- Keep branching options: strong deck → take elites; weak deck → shops/rests
- Chest banding is fixed—pathing doesn’t change chest rules
- Upgrades at rests are still great at full HP
- Use the draw/ping tool to pre-plan
# Combat basics
Most turns: 3 energy, draw 5, play cards that cost energy. Block clears at the end of the enemy turn unless it says otherwise.
Attacks
Deal damage—e.g. Strike or Neutralize.
Skills
Grant block or utility—e.g. Defend or Survivor.
Powers
Persistent effects for the fight—e.g. Accelerant or Hellraiser.
When to tank, when to race
"Sometimes it's better to eat damage and kill quickly than to block every turn. Enemies that scale, or clutter your deck, should die ASAP." — Tenkiei
# Deck-building fundamentals
After most combats you add (or skip) a card. Not every card makes the deck better. Core habits:
Skip picks often
If a card doesn’t advance your plan, skip. The skip button is one of your strongest tools.
Remove strikes/defends
Use shops and events to remove baseline Strike / Defend—they’re usually your weakest density.
# 9 tips & tricks
These distill Tenkiei’s early-access grind: commit to a plan, stay thin, and read enemy intent lines.
1Commit to one strategy
If you pick up Accelerant, commit to poison—skip random shiv clutter. If Hellraiser shows up, lean into Perfected Strike with draw to find copies.
Split plans usually mean two mediocre decks. You can still take generically strong block or damage—just don’t dilute your win condition.
2Smaller decks rotate faster
Prioritize removes from shops/events. A thinner deck sees its best cards more often.
Also thin by skipping rewards, exhausting chaff, and playing powers that leave the deck.
3Read threats in intent
Bucket threats: now (big hit this turn), soon (ramping buff), later (stalling engines).
Example: one cultist hits now, the other ramps strength—burst the right target first.
4Learn attack patterns
Many elites loop predictable sequences—hold retained block for the big telegraphed turn.
Elites often escalate—potions and fast clocks prevent disaster.
5Events can spike your run
Events trade risk for removes, upgrades, relics, or gold—most skew positive if you read outcomes.
Don’t starve your deck of picks—you still need fight rewards. Transforms are high-variance fun.
6Powers & enchantments matter
STS2 enchantments can redefine cards—Tenkiei’s example stacks duplicated Claw into triple-digit swings.
7You can pause between rooms
Save & Quit commits on room boundaries (not mid-turn). Seeds stay consistent—don’t expect deterministic rerolls.
8Spend HP like a currency
Early elites and greedy paths can pay if your deck can stabilize—full HP is not the only win metric.
Learn when you’re strong enough to spike an elite on fumes—and when to path away.
9Ancients set the tempo
At run/act start, Ancients offer packages—HP, card+ potion, or cursed gold bursts. Pick what your deck actually needs.
Ready to climb?
Open the card database or keep reading character hubs and builds.