I don't see how anyone is expected to get up to 450 deckathelon points within 6 days if we only have 3 credits to use per day. Even if you successfully did 3 runs of the tower 4 for six days plus the 20-point/day tc bonus, you'd only have 408 points. Which means to get to 450 you'd have to start from tower 3 or below and continuously make it up to tower 4 and complete it, levels 3 and 4 being almost completely up to luck. If you die just once it will cost major points and probably will prevent you from getting the 450 point prize.
This also requires you to go on every day and claim your credits because if you don't claim them before the next day then you don't get those.
If there HAS to be a credit system, there should be a lot more and it should stack over the whole 6-day period without having to claim them manually.
From my experience the best way to accrue points is to go through as many floors as you can per credit, not just one. For the Balance Deckathalon floors 1-3 are pretty straight forward. Floor 4 starts to get a little more complicated because enemies begin using Spectral Blast which can hit pretty hard. I find the double shield spells from the elemental schools (Thermal Shield, Glacial Shield, and Volcanic Shield) are generally better than Tower Shield or Elemental Shield for limiting the damage you take. Floor 5 and onward is where everything starts to get really frustrating because everything knows Mana Burn.
I don't consider myself an expert player or wizened Deckathalon veteran (this is only my 3rd one) but even I can reasonably complete floors 1-4 in a single run. This nets me 40 event points per run and with 3 credits each day that alone will get me 120 points plus the 20 bonus points from using treasure cards - more than enough to reach 450 over 6 days. If a pet has Frozen Kraken Trained I can even go from Floor 1 through the end of Floor 5 on a single credit. Will cast attacks are very useful for taking out enemies quicker and preserving your own attack treasure cards.
On another character I focus less on farming lower floors for points and more on getting as far as possible in the tower to learn higher deck recipes. Higher tier decks means bigger sideboards which will allow you to have more cards to complete more floors with a single credit. Runes and decks from previous Deckathalons will also help give you a head-start.
I do have my my own criticisms of the Deckathalon such as the difficulty of the 2-versus-1 battles in the higher floors. But as far as I'm concerned the 450 event point requirement for the pet is actually pretty doable. I do like the idea of credits automatically being given, though. Even with the event teleport button it can be a nuisance to redeem credits every day you're doing it on multiple characters.
From my experience the best way to accrue points is to go through as many floors as you can per credit, not just one. For the Balance Deckathalon floors 1-3 are pretty straight forward. Floor 4 starts to get a little more complicated because enemies begin using Spectral Blast which can hit pretty hard. I find the double shield spells from the elemental schools (Thermal Shield, Glacial Shield, and Volcanic Shield) are generally better than Tower Shield or Elemental Shield for limiting the damage you take. Floor 5 and onward is where everything starts to get really frustrating because everything knows Mana Burn.
I don't consider myself an expert player or wizened Deckathalon veteran (this is only my 3rd one) but even I can reasonably complete floors 1-4 in a single run. This nets me 40 event points per run and with 3 credits each day that alone will get me 120 points plus the 20 bonus points from using treasure cards - more than enough to reach 450 over 6 days. If a pet has Frozen Kraken Trained I can even go from Floor 1 through the end of Floor 5 on a single credit. Will cast attacks are very useful for taking out enemies quicker and preserving your own attack treasure cards.
On another character I focus less on farming lower floors for points and more on getting as far as possible in the tower to learn higher deck recipes. Higher tier decks means bigger sideboards which will allow you to have more cards to complete more floors with a single credit. Runes and decks from previous Deckathalons will also help give you a head-start.
I do have my my own criticisms of the Deckathalon such as the difficulty of the 2-versus-1 battles in the higher floors. But as far as I'm concerned the 450 event point requirement for the pet is actually pretty doable. I do like the idea of credits automatically being given, though. Even with the event teleport button it can be a nuisance to redeem credits every day you're doing it on multiple characters.
Thanks for the tips. I am planning to do the Storm Deckathalon that's starting next month in order to get the Storm Hamster, but I'm completely rusty on how to properly prepare. Do you have any specific recommendations for that you would mind sharing?
Thanks for the tips. I am planning to do the Storm Deckathalon that's starting next month in order to get the Storm Hamster, but I'm completely rusty on how to properly prepare. Do you have any specific recommendations for that you would mind sharing?
From what I've heard Storm tends to be one of the easier ones so long as you are well protected since Storm enemies have trouble getting around shields. The flat Storm resist from the Storm Deckathalon decks will also help protect you.
The Deckathalon is intended to be a gold sink, but buying cards from the Bazaar a month or a few weeks in advance can help save you some gold. For farming lower stages you'll probably be fine using a lot of the standard Myth spells like Humongofrog and Mythblade. I'd recommend using Gobbler (375 Myth damage) over Cyclops (310-370 Myth damage) for farming lower stages. Not only is it slightly stronger, but set damage versus a damage range is very good for the Deckathalon. It allows you to more accurately predict how many spells you will need to clear a certain floor since enemies won't occasionally be left with a sliver of health left. This is important for planning your deck ahead of time to make sure you make the most efficient use of your deck space. Gobbler is currently widely available on the Bazaar, so now is your chance to stock up.
Starting at Floor 5 Storm enemies will start using Disarm, so you will want to transition from Mythblade to more trap-focused decks like Myth Trap and Hex. Ninja Pigs and Oni No Jade are both very hard-hitting single target Myth spells. Like Gobbler they have set damage - 640 Myth damage for 5 pips from Pigs, and 800 Myth damage for 6 pips from Oni. Ninja Pigs is very common on the Bazaar right now, though it may become harder to find once the Storm Deckathalon starts. Oni No Jades are less common but it wouldn't hurt to check for them whenever you stop by the Bazaar. The new and improved Orthus will be your standard choice when you want to hit multiple enemies. Like all the other examples it is set damage making it easier to predict how many copies you need to clear a given number of floors. Now would be the time to buy some since getting them off the Bazaar will be cheaper than having to buy the from a treasure card vendor. You can also check for cheaper Storm dispels from the Bazaar - they come in handy at higher floors when enemies have a scary number of pips.
Higher leveled Deckathalon decks have jewel sockets. You get a tear slot at tier 3 for more health, a square slot at tier 6 for more resistance, and a triangle slot at tier 9 for accuracy or pip chance. I would therefore hang onto any Health Opals, Defense Amethysts, and Accurate Peridots you come across in the coming weeks. If you plan to transfer a single high-tier deck between characters you'll need backup jewels since you will have to shatter them to put the deck in the shared bank.
It can help to make a seperate, free "mule" account with level 1 characters to hold onto these treasure cards until it's time to use them. It can also be used to transfer tradeable treasure cards between two characters on your actual account. Sadly KI decided not to give us an actual treasure card vault which would have made doing all of this unnecessary but... oh well, I guess.
