Looking at the leaderboard, it's obvious that some people have figured out some ways to get past the higher levels. Can anyone share tips and tricks? I've looked on the partner sites, etc., but it doesn't look like they've done any updating since the updates to Deckathalon...all of their hints seem to be directed at the four-level originals. Thank you!
Side note, should Events be a new section of the discussion boards with different boards for each event (like when you added Monstrology and Fishing to the board) to give us specific places to go for discussion?
I was thinking that it would be nice to have Event at the same level as Hobbies, for example, so that there could be one board for each of the different events (for what it's worth) so that Deckathalons and Beastmoons and so on (including future amazing events) don't get mixed up and make it hard to navigate.
Kinda late I know but will try to help with what I can.
For starters I have a life deckathalon deck tier 3 and I use the starter life scarab pet for extra damage (though very little)
I'm so far up to stage 5 but trying to collect death runes before I progress so I can craft the tier 4 deck.
So Stage 1: First Floor - Immediate Ghoul Second Floor - Immediate Ghoul + Scarab into horse, pass then Ghoul into the bug Third Floor - Pass then Banshee
Stage 2: First Floor - Pass then Banshee Second Floor - Shield, Banshee, Shield, Pass, Banshee Third Floor - Banshee or Vamp if you need health
Stage 3: First Floor - Shield, Pass, Vamp Second Floor - Shield each turn until Scarecrow Third Floor - Shield, Pass, Pass, Skeleton
Stage 4: First Floor - Shield, Shield, Pass, Wraith
Then that's the limit that the tier 3 deck can hold but does allow you to collect an easy 28 event points until you upgrade with multiple death rune drops
I too am late to this thread but thought since the other comment focused on a procedural model to the life deckathalon specifically I would focus on deckathalons as a whole with it being the middle of the balance deckathalon. Also I noticed top level deckathalon players are skiddish to reveal their strategies to ensure less competition at the top so maybe I can help.
1. Your main focus should be upgrading the decks since these are the only things that give you any stat bonus at all in the tower (contrary to what was said above about the scarab pet giving stats). Pets are useful for other things but decks are extremely important for the flat resist they grant to the opposing school along with the additional deck space and health which is crucial to your success in the deckathalon.
2. It is hard to get the reagents to craft the decks so make sure you play the deckathalon on all your characters that are at least level 10 so you can get many more opportunities to run the tower and collect reagents to craft the next decks, you do not need to buy packs for the reagents, running on multiple characters should be more than enough.
3. PETS! although pets don't actually give you any stat bonuses their maycasts (and willcasts) are activated so you want to be working towards some kind of maycast pet for the deckathalon whether that be a pet that can cast a tower shield or one that can cast lots of heals (thats what i generally go for) also there are set shield talents so you can technically make a different set pet for every deckathalon. I mentioned willcasts earlier and think that they are the key to success in the deckathalon later down the road but there aren't nearly enough willcast pets out there at the moment and the reagents to unlock them are nearly impossible to get so we will have to wait on that.
4. General Deck Setup: The most important thing that you MUST have in your deck when going into the tower is set shields to the opposite school, this probably seems like a no brainer but it will heavily aid in your ability to mitigate damage from your opponents in the tower and is essential in making it to later stages. You also want to pack 1-3 fairies for yourself in a run because you never want to be solely relying on your pet for maycast heals. Lastly minions are extremely helpful in the 2v1 fights for reducing target on you and putting out some helpful damage.
5. POWER PIPS WORK FOR EVERY SCHOOL! When you go into the tower you have mastery to every school meaning it is probably a good idea to lean into the hardest hitting school in the game. Yes I am talking about running storm hits, it is by far the easiest way to find success in later stages and makes the earlier ones much easier. That along with single hitting the minions in the 2v1 fight instead of trying to kill them both at once makes stage 6+ 2v1s much easier. Minions I would recommend are Talos and the Water Elemental since they are very available.
Some Odds and Ends: You have a natural boost of the opposite school of 15% (except for balance deckathalon where balance boosts 15% and has a 5% to spirit schools)
Don't try to use critical, it doesn't work
Don't try to cheese with insane bolt they have 70% moon resist
Save your runs on higher level characters and farm on your lower levels: This is because you can socket jewels but only to the max level of your characters so if you have a 130 you can use 125 health jewels whereas your level 30 doesn't have access to those and will struggle at higher stages but will preform fine on lower ones.
The Deckathalon is EXTREMELY expensive to take part in if you want to complete it or be competitive so if you don't have mounds of gold laying around or hundreds of plants this probably isn't the event for you.
Lastly don't let the balance deckathalon leave a sour taste in your mouth for deckathalons, it is by far the hardest one due to the lack of possible set shields and the fact that you're just taking 30% more damage across the board.
If you have any questions about what I said or think I missed out on something and want to add on ill watch this topic for replies.
Every deckathalon I never get past the third level.. this one i get to the second level and fail.. I put in heals and myth spells... When I see it is a deckathalon week think to myself Welp guess i wont be getting any points for this stupid event. I can not convey enough how much i LOATH this event!!
It would be one thing if you could heal inbetween stages.. Or if you didnt turn down the pet healing in this event.. Or you could play as many times as you want.. but giving us only 3 chances a day is just silly
Every deckathalon I never get past the third level.. this one i get to the second level and fail.. I put in heals and myth spells... When I see it is a deckathalon week think to myself Welp guess i wont be getting any points for this stupid event. I can not convey enough how much i LOATH this event!!
It would be one thing if you could heal inbetween stages.. Or if you didnt turn down the pet healing in this event.. Or you could play as many times as you want.. but giving us only 3 chances a day is just silly
I think at first a lot of people thought 3 credits a day was silly, but after you get more familiar with the event and you can do Level 1 to 9.3 on one credit you'll see that 3 credits is more than enough. In most Deckathalons I can't even use them all!
I think @Quinn Dragongem's post on tips and suggestions was thorough and extremely helpful - brilliant! - but at the time he posted this in June I don't think enough was known about the Will Cast pets and the impact they have on this event. When the Deckathalon first came out I would've said having the best deck possible was the most important key to success. However, knowing now how OP the Will Cast pets I would say definitely that the single most important factor to making the leaderboard is having Frozen Kraken or Vampire. A pet with May Cast heals can be a life saver and the May Cast auras like Fortify, Amplify, Infallible, or Empowerment cast so often they are always handy, but a Will Cast Frozen Kraken pet gives you over 1,500 worth of damage EACH FIGHT! So OP!
Worth mentioning though - a Will Cast pet is expensive to use (one run from 1.1 to 9.3 can require feeding your pet up to 25 level 9 mega snacks!) and will slow things down a ton to where one credit may take 2 hours to use. However, if you have the time and the resources, a Frozen Kraken or Vampire pet will make any Deckathalon seem "easy".
Every deckathalon I never get past the third level.. this one i get to the second level and fail.. I put in heals and myth spells... When I see it is a deckathalon week think to myself Welp guess i wont be getting any points for this stupid event. I can not convey enough how much i LOATH this event!!
It would be one thing if you could heal inbetween stages.. Or if you didnt turn down the pet healing in this event.. Or you could play as many times as you want.. but giving us only 3 chances a day is just silly
Upgrading decks is crucial. You want to craft the event specific decks as soon as you can.
It helps to use one character to work out strategy and farm runes, then run for points on another. That way you can make best use of the 3 credits per day per wiz. Of course you can use more characters if you have them, and have time.
I've been able to get hamsters in every school, and get through the towers. I haven't had time to make a serious run at the top places, but did reach the first page of leaderboard a few times.
There are some good tips here and on fan sites. Generally, a pet with healing, the crafted decks, and school specific shields are a good start. Don't forget weakness and plague for defense against DoT attacks. In the two enemy fights you may be better off taking one down as soon as you can, vs waiting for an AoE.
Don't be afraid to try new tactics if what you usually do doesn't work, and don't give up. You can do it!
I have to say, I really love the idea of the deckathalon. However, the last three levels are just draining! They are frustrating and really suck the fun out of the event. I work really hard on my pets and yet, they rarely heal in the tower. It stinks. Even when they do heal, it's problematic because by that level the enemies are just overwhelming. I have run this myth deckathalon twice now trying to get the level 10 deck and badge. It looks as though I probably won't get it, yet again. It's so aggravating trying to reach the top. I know it's possible but it's just so darn difficult it's almost not worth it. I like to try to get all the badges but the way the tower is, I'm unable to get to the top. I understand having it be challenging but this is ridiculous. By the time you get to these floors you're having to deal with stun, earthquake, removal of traps and your shields. When you finally are able to hit you've either lost all your blades and have to waste pips healing. When you get to the 2v1 parts it's just too much. I don't even know how others get to the top. They have so many pips and it just never stops. I'm beginning to not want to do the deckathalons anymore because of just these issues. I can't even get the level 10 deck recipe because I cannot pass. I use all seven of my wizards and still can't get even one to finish the final floor. This is so disappointing. You've taken something that was so fun and just made it stressful and lacking fun at those stages. I hope that there will be some adjustments made to the higher floors. I used to really have fun in this event. Now it just feels like a waste of time and only leads to disappointment. I hate that I spend so much time, snacks and energy making pets specifically for these times and end up with something that just sits there the entire time as if I was just for cosmetic purposes. I feel like pets don't heal nearly as well as they should in game however, the lack of heals in this event in particular is staggering. Some peoples pets heal so much they stay at full health no matter what. Aside from the heals, even if your pet did heal you, getting hit by a spell that does 1000 damage makes any heal you would have gotten worthless. This is just the examples of my max level wizards that can jewel with better stats. I can't even imagine doing this tower on a lower level wizard. The jewels with health only amount to so much. I would really love to see some changes with deckathalons, they really are fun until you get to those last floors.
Looking at the leaderboard, it's obvious that some people have figured out some ways to get past the higher levels. Can anyone share tips and tricks? I've looked on the partner sites, etc., but it doesn't look like they've done any updating since the updates to Deckathalon...all of their hints seem to be directed at the four-level originals. Thank you!
Side note, should Events be a new section of the discussion boards with different boards for each event (like when you added Monstrology and Fishing to the board) to give us specific places to go for discussion?
My 2 cents, may have been said already, I'd like to be able to make my own TCs again for this as buying them or anything else is expensive and time consuming. Even if its just the low level enhancement fist. Or heck, make a 0 increase enhancement fist just so we can make tcs again unaltered. I don't want to spend gobs of gold per day doing this event.
As someone who JUST started this, to add on to Oran Flowers lead there for Deck 3, Here is my update IF YOU HAVE Deck 4. I would love if people did this for each deck for each deckathlon as they come out. This right here is MUCH more helpful than watching videos.
So Stage 1: First Floor - Immediate Ghoul Second Floor - Immediate Ghoul + Scarab (if needed) into horse, pass then Ghoul into the bug Third Floor - Pass then Banshee
Stage 2: First Floor - Pass then Banshee Second Floor - Shield, Banshee, Shield, Pass, Banshee Third Floor - Pass, Banshee
Stage 3: First Floor - Shield, Pass, Vamp Second Floor - Shield each turn until Scarecrow Third Floor - Shield, Pass, Pass, Skeleton
Stage 4: First Floor - Shield, Shield, Pass, Pass, Wraith Second Floor - Shield each turn until Scarecrow, Scarab if needed Third Floor - Shield, Blade, Pass, Pass, Skeleton
Stage 5: First Floor - Shield, Blade, Shield (if you got), Pass, Wraith
19 Life Shields 3 Ghouls 2 Scarabs 5 Banshees 1 Vampire 2 Scarecrows 2 Skeletons 2 Wraiths 2 Death Blades
For all who need help starting the deckathalon I have made a very thorough guide on how the event works and how to do it effectively. I think it'll help a lot of you!
The Balance Deckathalon is coming next week. Does anyone have any tips for Summer Deckathalon or are the previous strategies from last year still viable? I've not been a big fan of Deckathalon in the past because I do not have much success (I struggle to reach level 4) I'd love to be able to make it up the ladder to see the Professor at the top and get some spellements! Anyone have any tips?
I do the deckathalon primarily to get points for the seasonal tapestries. To maximize points for minimal frustration I generaly do levels 2 and 3 and start level 4, 8 pnts for level 2, 12 points for level 3, and 4 for the start of level 4, thats 24 points for levels and 20 pnts for cards expended. Work youf way up to a level 5 deck for each of your avatars, that way they start each encounter with three pips. Storm sharks or better yet Soul catchers are the key to the lower levels while a Kraken or two will be needed to finish things off.
It looks like they've changed the % failure algorithem, This time around I have had more fizzles in one day than I did for the last entire deckathalon,including the dreaded tripple fizzle. For additional points repeat levels 2 and 3 for and extra 20 points per attempt
