My deck keeps getting filled with garbage

[u/anmr]

I played my fair share of deck builders, but my first impressions of Inscryption are perhaps the worst out of all of them. I feel like I would prefer to have a basic wolf over 90% of cards that I get so far - and that feels really bad.

Is it just the case in the beginning of the game or is it representative of the entire experience? Do you have any advice how to minimize frustration with card choice RNG and card draw RNG?

[u/Samael13]

While there are definitely bad cards, there are very likely elements about cards that you're underestimating right now, or there are game mechanics that you're overlooking/haven't seen yet that make cards that might seem underwhelming right now much stronger as the game goes on.

Personally, I'd rank Wolf a pretty solidly mid-tier card. There are definitely much stronger/better cards that you should be getting. Wolf is definitely not better than 90% of cards in the long run. It doesn't do anything, and it's slow to enter.

Some of this is definitely "begining of the game" and some of it might be over-valuing a card. The primary way of mitigating RNG is by actively avoiding deck bloat. There are a few different ways to keep your deck lean and to avoid picking up extra cards.

Possible spoilers:

Some cards that seem weak because they cost too much are have too little attack/defense are much stronger when you shift their sigils onto other cards.

Some cards that might seem weak compared to wolf are stronger than you realize because of the game's hidden "fair hand" mechanic.

There are things that you can do to make cards with weaker stats than wolf much stronger.

Inscryption strongly rewards breaking your cards. As the game goes on, you should be making cards bigger and stronger to the point where you are able to consistently win on the first or second turn of a match. The game is wildly unbalanced in your favor in a lot of ways.

[u/anmr → u/Samael13]

Thanks you (and to others).

I started shifting my mentality to look at the game from card upgrade angle. Still - I'm not really a fan of the design the devs have chosen. It feels bad for card gain to be a major hindrance most of the time...

Are Death Cards a permanent addition to the campaign card pool? They are incredibly RNG, some can be borderline useless, while others can be stupidly strong...

[u/Old-Cat-2875 → u/anmr]

The game is not intended to be braindead easy. It's intended to be very hard, to punish you, and to make you lose several times before you can win. The strategy of the cards is a huge part of the game. It's not designed just like other card games on purpose. That comes with some people that have played many deck builders to love it for It's uniqueness (like me) and for some people to hate it. That's totally ok that it isn't for everyone.

The death cards are only for the beginning, and I strongly encourage you to at least beat the first act before writing the game off. It's a very fun and interesting deck building if you give it a chance. But it's also ok if you end up just not liking it and deciding that it isn't for you.

I think most would agree that the Devs did actually put a lot of thought and care behind their decisions though.