Hero Field Guides

Frontline pressure / Sword, flame, Vulnerable, Exhaust, self-HP turns

The Ironclad

The last soldier of the Ironclads. Crushes foes with sword and flame against his will.

Crushes foes with sword and flame. Public-beta cards still reward controlled self-damage, draw from Exhaust lines, Vulnerable windows, and durable block turns.

Pommel StrikeBurning PactBlood WallInflameVicious

Opening Plan

Take damage cards that end hallway fights quickly, but do not let the deck become all payoff. Early Ironclad needs one reliable block lane, one way to draw or exhaust, and a clear answer to multi-enemy turns.

Combat Rhythm

Check whether the next hand can produce the key push card before choosing a greedy attack turn. If the odds are thin, block first, then force the damage window after the shuffle improves.

Upgrade Lens

Prioritize cards that make unstable turns stable: cost compression, draw attached to damage, block that scales across turns, and cards that make Vulnerable or Strength matter immediately.

Route Check

Stabilize early, convert HP into tempo only when the next two turns are covered.

Avoid

Do not spend HP because the archetype allows it. Spend HP when it buys a kill, a relic path, or enough draw/control to prevent a worse turn later.

Calculator Prompt

Before a risky turn, ask whether the next block, draw, or damage card appears by turn two or three. If not, take the durable line.

Discard precision / Poison, knives, Sly, discard, hand quality

The Silent

A huntress from outside the Spire. Ready to stab and poison anything in her way.

A huntress ready to stab and poison anything in her way. The exact local keyword text for Sly: if discarded before end of turn, the card plays for free.

SlyAcrobaticsTacticianDodge and RollPoison

Opening Plan

Draft around hand texture. Silent wins when attacks, block, and discard outlets line up; the first bad pivot is adding too many narrow cards before the deck can find them together.

Combat Rhythm

Use discard as a trigger and a filter, not as cleanup. If a Sly card is likely to be stranded, route into draw first and take the safer defense turn.

Upgrade Lens

Upgrade consistency: draw density, discard outlets, strong defensive pivots, and cards that make poison or knife pressure work without needing a perfect hand.

Route Check

Keep hand quality high and let Sly or poison convert setup turns into free tempo.

Avoid

Do not chase every poison, knife, and Sly lane at once. Pick the lane your draw pile can actually support by turn two or three.

Calculator Prompt

Before a risky turn, ask whether the next discard outlet or Sly card appears by turn two or three. If not, take the durable line.

Stars and Forge / Stars, Forge, Sovereign Blade, minion pressure

The Regent

Heir to the Throne of Stars. Wields cosmic powers but his minions do the work.

Heir to the Throne of Stars. Local tooltips define Stars as the Regent resource and Forge as the first-combat action that adds Sovereign Blade and increases its damage.

StarsForgeSovereign BladeThe SmithSummon Forth

Opening Plan

Secure a way to generate Stars or Forge before taking expensive payoffs. Regent looks explosive, but the run fails when the payoff hand arrives before the economy exists.

Combat Rhythm

Count Stars like energy. A strong turn is not just the biggest Blade turn; it is the turn that leaves enough resource, block, and draw to survive the next enemy action.

Upgrade Lens

Upgrade economy and conversion first: Star gain, repeatable Forge, cards that retrieve or improve Sovereign Blade, and block attached to the same plan.

Route Check

Build a real economy first, then turn Forge into a reliable Sovereign Blade win plan.

Avoid

Do not overvalue late-game Blade scaling in Act 1 if hallway fights are already punishing the setup turns.

Calculator Prompt

Before a risky turn, ask whether the next Blade or Star card appears by turn two or three. If not, take the durable line.

Osty control / Osty, Summon, Doom, Souls, transformation

The Necrobinder

A Spireborn lich who seeks revenge. Calls upon her trusty left hand, Osty, in combat.

A Spireborn lich who calls upon Osty. Local tooltips define Summon as raising Osty HP, and Doom as killing an enemy at end of turn if Doom meets or exceeds HP.

OstySummonDoomSoulUnleash

Opening Plan

Take cards that keep Osty relevant without making every turn a setup turn. A good Necrobinder start can block, Summon, and advance lethal without needing all three in one hand.

Combat Rhythm

Plan around delayed lethal. Doom wins only if the shell survives until it resolves, so use the calculator before committing to a payoff hand that needs one missing card.

Upgrade Lens

Upgrade cards that compress actions: Summon plus block, Doom plus draw, Osty attacks that also defend, and Soul lines that keep the draw pile moving.

Route Check

Treat Osty as both protection and damage, then use Doom/Souls to close fights on schedule.

Avoid

Do not sacrifice Osty or flood the deck with Souls unless the next hand can convert that value before the enemy turn lands.

Calculator Prompt

Before a risky turn, ask whether the next Summon, Doom, or Soul card appears by turn two or three. If not, take the durable line.

Orb engine / Channel, Evoke, Focus, Frost, Lightning, Plasma

The Defect

An automaton eternally modifying itself to survive. Deploys Orb technology when it must fight.

An automaton deploying Orb technology. Local tooltips define Channel as filling Orb slots and Evoke as consuming the rightmost Orb for its effect.

ChannelEvokeFocusCoolheadedDualcast

Opening Plan

Prioritize Orb access and survival before the big engine pieces. Defect decks need enough Channel density that Focus and Evoke cards have real targets.

Combat Rhythm

Track slot order. The rightmost Orb matters for Evoke, and Frost changes whether the next turn can be spent scaling instead of blocking manually.

Upgrade Lens

Upgrade cards that make the engine repeatable: Orb generation, Focus, draw attached to Channel, and defensive cards that buy setup turns.

Route Check

Build Orb density first, then decide whether the run scales through Focus, Evoke bursts, or Frost stability.

Avoid

Do not draft Focus before you can Channel, or Evoke payoffs before you can control which Orb gets consumed.

Calculator Prompt

Before a risky turn, ask whether the next Channel or Evoke card appears by turn two or three. If not, take the durable line.

These guides track the live public-beta data: characters, card keywords, hover tips, powers, and cards. We avoid hard tier promises while public-beta balance is still moving.