Some card names and effects come from a community-maintained reference rather than an official database. Treat exact numbers as version-sensitive and confirm them in your own card collection.
Fast answer
The answer before the background
For a reliable deck, start with the hero’s intended resource loop, then add only cards that improve that loop. Keep the deck compact, remove basic attacks that fall behind, and prioritize upgrades with a permanent effect on cost, draw, damage, defense, or Ammo. Strong general patterns include cheap ranged cards with Ammo support, melee damage supported by critical-hit or lifesteal effects, and defensive decks that turn Armor into damage or card access. There is no consistently verified universal skip button for ordinary card rewards. If you do not want a card, prefer a relic or another reward when available, remove an unwanted card later, or avoid unnecessary combat. Exact reward-screen behavior may differ by mode and platform.
1. BUILDING THE RUN
How to assemble a dependable deck
The game is a roguelike deckbuilder with hero-specific starting decks, more than 700 cards, and Ammo management as a central combat resource. That makes consistency more valuable than collecting the largest possible card pool. A large deck can contain powerful cards and still perform badly if your best attack, Ammo card, or defensive answer appears too rarely.
Choose a primary plan before adding cards. A ranged plan wants reliable Ammo and enough damage to justify spending it. A melee plan usually wants ways to increase attack quality, exploit critical hits, or recover health. A defensive plan needs more than Armor: it should eventually convert survival into damage, card draw, or a safe counterattack.
As a practical rule, add a card when it solves a current problem or directly strengthens your main engine. Do not add a card merely because it is stronger than a starter card in isolation. Every addition makes the rest of the deck less likely to appear when you need it.
- Keep attacks, skills, and resource cards balanced around the hero’s starting mechanics.
- Avoid mixing several expensive damage packages unless you already have enough draw or cost reduction.
- Use consumables as concentrated power because they leave the deck after use, but do not depend on finding a particular consumable every run.
- Reassess the deck after each major reward: remove cards that no longer contribute to the plan.
| Deck plan | What it needs | Common failure |
|---|---|---|
| Ranged damage | Ammo generation, efficient shots, draw, and a way to handle low Ammo | Powerful attacks stranded in hand without Ammo |
| Melee criticals | Reliable melee access, critical-hit support, and survivability | Too many setup cards with no immediate damage |
| Armor control | Armor generation, defensive timing, and an Armor payoff | Blocking damage without a way to finish fights |
| Status or scaling | Repeated application, draw, and enough early damage | Slow setup losing health before the engine starts |
A compact, average-quality deck is usually stronger than a bloated deck containing several unrelated high-rarity cards. The game’s card pool is broad, but the best synergy is the one you can draw consistently.
2. CARD SYNERGIES
The card interactions worth seeking
Ammo is not just a cost; it is a deck-building constraint. Cards that reload, reduce Ammo costs, or reward you for reaching zero Ammo can turn otherwise awkward hands into efficient turns. Snowball is one example of a card that rewards ending at zero Ammo by reloading, while Firearms Mastery supports a ranged hand by reducing the cost of ranged cards for the turn. These are useful only when the rest of the deck supplies enough ranged cards to benefit from them.
Draw effects become much stronger when the deck is small. Cards such as Quick Upgrade, Risk and Reward, Watch and Wait, Bookmark, or Draw Arms can help you reach the part of the deck that actually matters, but their value depends on their exact version and hero access. A draw card that finds the wrong card type is weaker than a cheaper, less dramatic card that advances your main plan every turn.
Armor has two roles: preventing damage and enabling effects. Forced Knowledge, for example, requires Armor before trading it for card draw, while Explosive Armor uses Armor as part of its damage calculation. These cards should not be placed in a generic deck together without checking whether you can create enough Armor at the right time.
Consumables are useful for keeping a deck lean. Quality Emphasis upgrades cards across the deck, while other consumables can provide burst damage, healing, emergency defense, or battle control. Their one-use nature reduces repeat-draw clutter, so a consumable can be preferable to a permanent card with similar power.
- Pair draw with the card type your engine actually uses rather than taking generic draw blindly.
- Use Ammo reduction when the deck contains enough relevant attacks to exploit it immediately.
- Use Armor payoffs only after confirming that Armor production is reliable.
- Prefer a consumable when you need a single large effect and do not want another card in future draws.
| Synergy | Core idea | Best upgrade target |
|---|---|---|
| Ammo loop | Reload or reduce costs, then spend Ammo efficiently | The card that most often determines whether the loop starts |
| Draw loop | Thin the deck, then draw into attacks or setup | Cheap draw, cost reduction, or a card that draws the needed type |
| Critical melee | Create critical attacks, then amplify their payoff | Your most frequently played melee attack or critical enabler |
| Armor conversion | Build Armor, then turn it into damage or cards | The payoff if Armor is already dependable; otherwise upgrade the generator |
The broad resource rules and card categories are supported by the store descriptions and card reference. The relative strength of particular synergies is a recommendation based on how those listed effects interact, not an official tier list.
3. UPGRADES AND REMOVAL
What to upgrade first
Upgrade choices should improve the cards you draw most often, not necessarily the card with the highest printed damage. A one-cost card that becomes free, draws a card, reloads, or gains repeatable scaling can improve every future hand. A rare attack that remains expensive may be a lower priority if it is only playable once per battle.
First upgrade cards that define your hero’s starting loop or remove a major restriction. Next, upgrade efficient attacks that you expect to play repeatedly. Then improve draw, Ammo, or defense cards if they are the reason your best turns succeed. Leave narrow answers and expensive finishers for later unless the next boss specifically demands them.
Removal is an upgrade in its own right. Remove starter attacks when your acquired cards deal more damage for the same cost, remove excess resource cards when they clog hands, and remove defensive cards if they are no longer needed. Do not remove every basic card immediately: early runs still need enough playable actions to survive before the deck’s main engine is complete.
- Priority one: cards that reduce cost, increase draw, or create the resource your deck lacks.
- Priority two: the attack or payoff card you play most often.
- Priority three: defensive cards that prevent damage without ending your turn’s pressure.
- Remove duplicates and weak starters before removing a situational answer you still need against bosses.
- If an upgrade affects all cards in a deck, use it when the deck is already mostly assembled rather than spending it on a temporary collection of filler.
| Situation | Prefer upgrading | Consider removing |
|---|---|---|
| Early run | Reliable starter attack or resource card | Only clearly weak duplicates |
| Deck has a plan | Main payoff and its enabler | Cards from abandoned archetypes |
| Late run | Cards that answer the next boss or improve consistency | Low-impact basic attacks |
| Consumable-heavy build | A reusable draw or copy effect | Permanent cards that duplicate one-use effects poorly |
Upgrade prices and available actions can vary by mode. A community reference reports increasing shop upgrade costs, but the developer’s public pages do not document a universal cost table.
4. REWARD MANAGEMENT
Can you skip cards?
The safest answer to the question “can you skip cards?” is: do not assume a normal battle reward has a universal skip option. Community reports consistently describe ordinary post-battle card selection as something the game expects you to manage rather than freely decline. Those reports are not an official rules document, so mode-specific exceptions may exist.
When the reward screen offers a relic or another reward type, taking that alternative can prevent an unwanted card from entering the deck. In the Arena, community documentation also describes rewards that can include loot, action cards, and relic choices. If your relic slots are full, the interface may provide a way to decline a replacement, but this is not the same as a universal skip-card button.
The practical response is to plan around forced choices: keep the deck small, use removal opportunities, choose routes that avoid unnecessary fights when possible, and take a mediocre card only when it is better than adding several future dead draws. A skip card would be convenient, but learning when not to add cards is part of the game’s intended difficulty.
- Do not add a card just because all three choices are acceptable; choose the one with the clearest role.
- Use relic alternatives when the screen provides them and they fit the run.
- Treat removal as the answer to earlier reward mistakes.
- If the interface behaves differently on your platform, trust the in-game button and record the mode before reporting a discrepancy.
| Question | Best-supported answer |
|---|---|
| Can you skip every normal card reward? | No universal option is consistently verified by the available sources. |
| Can you avoid adding cards sometimes? | Yes, through alternate reward choices, removal, route decisions, or mode-specific interactions. |
| Should you take a weak card to avoid wasting a reward? | Usually take the least harmful card only if no alternative exists, then remove it later if possible. |
The developer’s official store and game pages explain deckbuilding and modes but do not publish a complete reward-screen ruleset. The skip-card conclusion is therefore based mainly on repeated community reports and should be treated as version-sensitive.
5. RUN CHECKLIST
A simple decision process
Before adding a card, ask three questions: Does it support my main damage plan? Does it improve Ammo, draw, defense, or consistency? Will I be happy to draw it in the next boss fight? If the answer is no to all three, leave it out when an alternative exists.
Before upgrading, identify the card that appears most often in successful turns. Before removing, identify the card that produces the most dead draws. This keeps choices evidence-led instead of chasing rarity or card art.
Finally, test the finished deck over several battles rather than judging it from one spectacular hand. A deck that occasionally produces a huge combo but frequently fails to generate Ammo or defense is less reliable than a modest deck that performs every turn.
- Pick one main win condition.
- Add only cards that support it or solve a known weakness.
- Upgrade consistency before spectacle.
- Remove cards that are weak, redundant, or off-plan.
- Check card text in the current game version before relying on exact values.
The strongest deck is not the one with the most powerful cards. It is the one that draws its key cards often, pays for them reliably, and has enough defense to survive the turns when the perfect hand does not appear.
FAQ
Common questions
What is the best deck size?
There is no single official best number because heroes and modes start differently. In practice, keep the deck as small as your available removal and rewards allow, while retaining enough attacks, resource cards, and defense to function without a perfect draw.
Should I upgrade attacks or skills first?
Upgrade whichever card drives the deck’s main loop. An attack is usually first when it becomes cheaper or gains major damage; a skill is usually first when it provides draw, Ammo, cost reduction, or a permanent engine improvement.
Are consumable cards worth taking?
Often, yes. A consumable can provide strong burst, healing, defense, or control without remaining in the deck after use. It is especially attractive when your permanent deck is already consistent.
Why does my powerful deck still feel inconsistent?
The deck may be too large, may contain several competing plans, or may lack the resource needed to play its best cards. Remove off-plan cards and check whether Ammo, draw, and defense support the damage package.
Is there an official card tier list?
No official tier list or complete versioned card database was located. Community references can help identify card text, but exact values and availability should be verified in the current client.
Sources
What we checked
Official listings establish current availability and product facts. Community pages are used for mechanics and build history, then labeled separately.