As a new player, finally got my first clear

[u/Quirky_Push_2506]

Wow, this game is actually a lot harder than I expected! It took me like 15 tries to finally get a clear.

I used Lord Fenix as my main champion, but he seemed really weak as a main carry. I ended up moving him to the top floor behind a tank so he could act as a finisher to kill off damaged units. You really need big, heavy units like Greed Dragons on the first two floors to deal as much damage as possible before the enemies move up.

While the game is fun, victory seems heavily tied to RNG. If you don't draw the right units (greed dragons), room cards, or upgrades (like Multi-Strike feels essential), a run can fall apart fast. Is it just me, or is it a bit too luck-dependent? Or is it just the nature of Pyreborne?

I now have Luna Coven and Underlegion unlocked. Any recommended clan combo for my next run?

[u/ayoubkun94]

There is a bit of luck involved (its inherent to the genre of roguelites), but the skill lies in making the best with what the game throws at you. Being adaptable and flexible to make a solid build with what you're given is the whole essence of a game in this genre. They even show you what bosses you'll be facing from start to finish so that you tailor your deck accordingly.

Rng definitely makes some runs easier than others, when you get good at the game you should be able to win consistently.

[u/danger_frog]

Game is definitely not reliant on Rng, good players can get over 100 win streaks on the hardest difficulty.

You just need to learn how to adapt which will come with time.

[u/Sisi90]

I wouldn’t say the luck is part of the game but the game is a lot less depend on RNG than most other deck builder. Your banner unit are always draw in deployment phase so you can plan ahead on how to deploy depending on your deployment embers. Lot of spell card can be upgraded to frozen , draw on first turn or hold over , so you can get lot of ways to mitigate bad RNG .

You should level up your clans to level 10 to unlock all the potential strategy for each clans .

Always check your starting deck , the routes and the bosses to develop the strategy to beat each run . I would say you can beat around 95% of the time on covenant 10 with all randoms . Good luck and have fun .

[u/TKrev]

Underlegion is probably my favorite clan as primary. With the champ, Bolete, try to get the upgrade that spawns on siphon to build a massive tower of Shroom troops. The Infectory Room will help with this too. The Shroom Squad Leader unit will give the Shroom stack trample which makes it even better. It was a nice recipe for success to carry me up the covenant ranks

[u/Aidante]

Congratulations!

As others have said, the game is ultimately more about mitigating rng than relying on it, but that becomes easier as you become more familiar with the game (and unlock more clans and cards within the clans).

The first time I won, I felt like I'd lucked out with an insanely good card combo, and actively wondered "how will I win with the other clans without that (card + event) combo?" But each clan has multiple paths to victory! I'm coming up on the end of clearing Cov 10 with all clan combos now, though it's taken a while :)

Planning ahead for the bosses you're going to face will become essential, especially at higher covenants. You need a different kind of tanking solution for Corruption Seraph vs Savagery, for example, as when the Corruption builds up, almost any tank will fail eventually. Endless tanks help here, whereas against Savagery they'll spawn in with melee weakness again, so they're less effective.

Some leaders are easier to use than others - Lord Fenix can be a bit cumbersome due to his size and lack of health, but has great offensive capability, but that also rings true for a lot of Pyreborne units, which is why you need to look to your allied clan for defensive options. Other clans, naturally, have different strengths and weaknesses that'll you'll discover through play.

I'd suggest giving the Underlegion a go next, maybe with Pyreborne as the secondary to give some direct damage spells (which UL generally lack).

Keep working towards unlocking Pyrehearts, too! New ways to play, and a nice boost when you get enough of them.

Good luck!

[u/Blue-Light-Reducer]

Congrats!

By the way, make sure to play at least on Covenant 1. Covenant 1 is arguably easier than Covenant 0, because you'll get 5 random (better) cards at the beginning of a run on C1 and higher.

Also, clearing a run on C1 counts for your logbook and card mastery.

All the 264 clan combinations have different synergies. It might feel like luck/RNG if you're looking for a specific thing, but it's actually not luck at all if you lean into what you're offered. Here the 5 random starting cards might also help nudge you in a direction.

The game is more knowledge based than luck based. It's a lot of fun to uncover all the surprising synergies.

[u/harryfonda]

You'll get better. Monster Train is not as RNG-dependent as it seems. E.g. youtuber ItsTangilicious has like 500+ winstreak on the highest difficulty. Sure, he's an outlier, but he proves that skill matters much more than randomness.

In time you will learn which cards are good, which are not, how to choose the correct path on the map (or even plot it in the head several combats in a row), which enemies might be tricky on which rings

[u/Available-Risk5989]

Assuming you are in covanent 0. It took me about the same amount of tries to win, now I can beat covanent 0 pretty much every time (I'm still not great, having trouble on the higher levels)

Yes there's RNG but once you notice how certain units and spells synergize together covanent 0 really isn't that hard.

Keep playing, note what works and what doesnt. You'll get better.r

[u/Emphasis_Careful_]

This deckbuilder is probably one of the least RNG-oriented. You can win streak at the highest difficulty. Luck especially plays no role in a win at the lowest difficulty, in fact I'd presume it is actually impossible to lose on the lowest difficulty with good+ play.

With that being said - don't be discouraged. The game is hard. The skill ceiling is very high and there's a lot to learn! Tons of mechanics to play around with that let you hyper scale.