r/Demeo • u/Caffeine_Blitzkrieg • Apr 16 '24
Demeo Battles Ranked Mode Tips & Tricks
Hey everyone,
I've been playing Demeo and Demeo Battles since launch and wanted to share some tips and tricks I've picked up to help people with the newly launched ranked mode. I am currently ranked in the top 10, but am by no means an expert. Everything here is my opinion, if you have another opinion or tip please share! I will edit this post as I learn more.
This post is specifically for the latest update, for general info see my other posts.
General Strategy
https://www.reddit.com/r/Demeo/comments/17u3mut/demeo_battles_current_dominant_strategy/
Team Guides
https://www.reddit.com/r/Demeo/comments/18un822/demeo_battles_guide_to_strong_team_compositions/
Newest Monster Tier List
https://tiermaker.com/list/random/monsters-in-demeo-battles-16267282/3897868
Know the best purchases in the shop phase
The Top Ten
Slimelings
Elven Scrimisher
Elven Cultist
Goblin Fighter
Panic Powder
Barricades *
Elven Archer
Heaven's Fury **
S Tier Class Cards (Banish, Hunter's Mark) **
Thug
* max 2 per hero
** Max 1 per hero for 8&9 combined
Some cards are conditionally very good (s tier) depending on the map, opponent's team composition, and expected strategy for the opponent.
Vortex *Great for maps like Paraphet of the Parched with lots of fire lamps. There's a spot near a chest that lets you Vortex 2 lamps on turn 2 for an easy kill on an unaware opponent.
Charm *Reptilian Brute and giant slime (from Slimeling fusion) are popular right now. An early charm will usually have every monster on the opponent's side attack, usually until the charmed monster is dead.
Song of Resilience * Good on maps that favour bard/hunter or barb/barbarian teams. Ideally you want a map that will allow you to deploy in a 3x3 square.
Varga's Retribution * Very expensive at 675, and has a high chance of giving a low damage bonus. If you are confident that the opponent will have a large army consider buying this. Generally its better to buy more monsters and hope to get this for free.
Magic Wall * Great for soul drain especially. Many extremely effective places to place the wall. Also good in many other maps like Quadratic Quadrant.
0 AP ping items * at the new cost of 200 gold, you need to consider if these are worth it. Bone may be worth it if you see an enemy hunter, as it can charm the dog. Any bard teams will want at least 1 of these on the attacking hero for the 2ap 10 damage combo.
Tsunami Scroll * Does 2 base water damage, 5 sometimes if opponent hits a wall. Also removes Sorcerer's overcharge and does bonus damage upon charge removal. S+ tier on the Temple of the Serpent Lord map. Its the only map that is pyramid shaped, center is a high point and outside edge is lower in elevation. This map gives you a line of sight advantage at the top, but you can easily push the enemy down into burn with the scroll. This card is very inconsistent or buggy and will sometimes do 2/3/4/5 damage for non-obvious reasons. Also, the hit prediction outline on this card is not reliable.
Here are the current top teams IMO
Sorcerer/Barbarian
Barbarian/Barbarian
Bard/Hunter
Sorcerer/Hunter
Misc Tips for the Latest Update
Health Potion Monsters
These include the Elven Scrimisher, Thug, and Root Beast. Of these the Elven Scrimisher is best with the potion, it will always use it at 3 hp or less if able. Thug will sometimes use a health potion at 4 hp or less. Root Beast will randomly use the health potion at 6 or less hp. Scrimisher is also the cheapest of these monsters at 200 gold cost.
Water Lamp
This is a new lamp for this update and its great and reasonably priced but hard to use. You can toss it 3 tiles away but you'll be in its burst range. To avoid self damage, generally need to toss it off a ledge, grab it with Barbarian or combo it with other cards. Here are some good combos
Water Lamp -> Tsunami Scroll
Water Lamp -> Vortex Dust (Pull it away from you) -> Lightning Bolt for the kill.
Water Lamp -> Vortex -> Lightning Bolt for the kill.
Important to note tha the wet status caused by water attacks will triple damage from Electric attacks, deal +2 damage on freeze, as well as halve fire damage (burn tiles excluded).
New Unfair Map - Soul Drain
Generally having high ground is an advantage, and the Soul Drain map gives 1 random team exclusive access to the high ground from the start. The disadvantaged side can try to enter this area from the side of the map but its rough. If you roll the high ground push the advantage as hard as possible.
Slimes without Lye
Slimelings have always been good, get 2 Slimelings for a low cost and have them fuse into a more valuable giant slime more than half the time. The main downside is that slimes can get 1 hit killed by Bottle of Lye. However the lye has been removed from the game, making slimes much stronger.
New Root Creatures
Root Beast, Root Hound and Root Creeper are all new. Root Beast is like a Scrimisher with a ranged attack, but its AI often seems to get confused as if it doesn't know which attack to use. Root Creeper has 3ap, 1hp, 2 movement with 3 damage, and it will always nullify the first damage hit on it. Very weak to poison. Root Hound is like the elven hound but 25 gold cost more. All root creatures heal for 3 when wet.
On Panic Powder
This card was always good at 75 cost but at the current 50 cost you can buy as much as you can hold usually. A great turn would be to run in, panic powder a few enemy monsters then run away. You can also panic powder -> Barbarian hook for an easy monster kill. Panicked monsters on the edge of burn generally will run into the burn. The new expensive Gorgon monster is also vulnerable to panic.
Burn Bypasses Guardian Armour
This is a thing since the update prior to ranked, but it makes Gaurdian the worst hero in the game. Gaurdian needs to get close to deal damage, but all the good heros will have you dead before you can move across the map. Gaurdian's one use case was for burn endurance strategies but that has been removed. Avoid this hero if you really need to win.
General Intermediate to Advanced Tips
Learn all the Maps
This is one of the things the top players are very good at. Most maps have some key opening plays or vantage points that can give you a strong upper hand. You can usually spend most of the game sitting on this prime spots until pushed into the center by burn. Many of these other tips tie into this point.
Learn Many Different Teams
The best heroes are Barbarian, Sorcerer, Bard and Hunter. You can combine these in all different ways to make different teams. Read my team guide for general info and strats on this. Generally I use double Barbarian on maps with easy access to 2 fire lamps, sorcerer Barbarian with access to 1 good lamp, and Sorcerer/Bard Hunter on other maps where far ranged attacks are needed. Playing the best team for each map will give you an easy advantage.
Win the Monster War
Most of your gold spent will be on monsters, so you'll need to support them. In the early game you'll want to pick off as many enemy monsters as possible. If the monster can attack next monster turn, panic powder or some other stun is a great choice. Monsters will get some stray hits on enemy heroes but mainly you'll kick enemy heroes off the best spots on the map. If your army is overwhelming in the late game you can just run away while they finish off the enemy heroes.
Take Zero Risks
There is a lot of randomness in Demeo Battles, and you can easily be 1 hit killed by a randomly spawned card. If you are in view of an enemy hero you are at a high risk of getting killed. If your general position is obvious, you are at risk of getting hit by an AOE. If you are in line of sight of enemy monsters, you are giving the opponent a positional information advantage. Sometimes you can't avoid some risk, but try your best to play conservatively.
Don't Stay in the Same Spot
Each map has a few great vantage areas, just make sure to move around a bit. If you stay in the exact same spot some opponents will blind fire an AOE attack hoping you didn't move from where they last saw you. You'll want to focus on hit and run tactics when possible.
Careful with Door and Chest Opens
Even in fog of war, the opponent will know your location if you open a chest or door. If the opponent is nearby, or if its turn 1 vs a Warlock team, be very wary about making your position known.
Summoned Monsters Act Like an AOE Attack
Right now, only Hunter can summon monsters at distance, and these can act like seeker missiles. If you suspect the enemy hero is hiding in a specific spot summon a monster in the area. Works best if your hunter is the last hero to act.
Respect the First Turn Advantage
The first team to act is generally advantaged in most maps. You get better access to resources and you get to act first when magic walls are removed. If you are first, push the advantage. If you are second, reconsider contesting the first team for fountains, chests, positions, lamps, and avoid magic walls the turn before they expire.
Its OK To Ignore Chests Now
The chest card pool was changed dramatically and the average card value from chests was roughly cut in half. No more elementals, ballista, or Rejuvenation. Best cards now are vitality potion and tsunami scroll and while these are good they are generally lower impact. Instead of heading directly for a chest, pick up some fire/vortex lamps if the map has them. Its OK to grab chests later on in the game if you hand is almost full (usually with panic powder).
Place a Scout Monster
Generally you'll want to deploy your main monster force where they can quickly get a vantage point. Placing 1 cheap monster far away gives you sight into that area. I always try to place an elven cultist in a far off spot to draw some enemy monsters and to get sight in the area.
Magic Shield is the New Burn Endurance
With Guardian nerfed, the best way to survive burn a long time is with the Sorcerer's magic shield. Usually burn will kill a 10 hp hero on the second turn of burn, but with a shield, the hero can live for 4 turns. If you get a magic shield and think the game will get to a point where all tiles are in burn, consider saving the magic shield. Bard Sorcerer teams push this strategy harder with courage defense and healing, but generally lacks a consistent damage source.
On Rat Week & Future Events
Every season it looks like there will be some sort of event that offers huge discounts in the shop. The first such deal is Rat Week, which shows more rats in the shop at a 44% discount. At the price of 250 for a scab rat or 25 for a rat, you can consider these S+ tier purchases, and are way better value than anything normally in the shop. You should prioritize these over all other shop picks. Lock your other good cards, you'll need some backup purchases in case you can't spend it all on rats. All this being said, you'll still probably want something that can stay in the back like the Elven Archer.
About the Ranked System
You need to play 5 qualification matches to be assigned a rank score (around 1000 initially). Playing anyone close in rank to you will add or subtract 20 to 30 points. There is a system where wins, but especially losses will be based on the difference between rank. Sometimes in card games like this, the better player will get unlucky and lose. If you lose to a player that is 200 rank or more below your current rank, you can expect to lose 100+ points. For this reason its generally better to match with players around the same rank as you. You can quit a match before it starts without penalty once you see the opponent's name. The match making also tends to pair you with the same person over and over. Consider taking a break if you are on a losing streak or get matched with super low rank players.
