Having trouble figuring out exactly how to get cards.

[Entari]

Okay, this may be silly, and it's entirely possible I'm missing something pretty basic, but I can't seem to figure out exactly how card distribution, well, works.

 

I bought the store bundle after a couple weeks of playing, and I grabbed that 40 chest deal in the humble bundle and opened those, so I've got cards. I look in my Vault and there are plenty of cards hanging around there.

 

They just don't seem to show up in the game itself.

 

I know I've got this amazing looking card, Keen Scythe +2, but heck if I've ever seen it come up in the game for me to use or acquire. Is it a matter of luck? Do I have to "activate" them somehow?

 

Do they only show up in harder difficulties of Quests? Cause I've done those, but I don't notice any difference in the quality of cards I encounter in hardcore vs. normal.

 

 

Sorry to bother ya folks; I'm probably missing something really simple, but I'd appreciate it if someone could cure my ignorance.

 

Cause dang, supposedly I have a Flame Cannon that I'd love to shoot.

[da_mayor]

Well, the Keen Scythe +2 has an Adventure Deck number of 5, which means two more adventures have to come out before you'll see that one.  Flame Cannon is AD4, which means it definitely won't come up until the next Adventure is released.

 

Have you seen any of your Chest cards from decks B thru 3 yet?  Personally, I'm getting a ton of Beast Skins, Dilettantes, Noble Brats, and the like.  I'm even seeing some of the rarer stuff now and then.

[Bajie]

AD4 cards can be acquired in Quest Mode. I got +3 shortsword.

 

Also Cold Resistance Armor is AD4 also but i got it way earlier than before unlocking AD4 cards..weird. Sucky armor though

 

And oh to answer the OP questions..your vault cards are cards you can possibly encounter in your scenario (campaign)

 

...but you have to unlock them first. In quest mode, level 10 unlocks cards with "1" in their portrait..which means they're cards from Adventure1. In story mode those cards are unlock in 1-somethings scenario.

Ditto, AD2 cards on level 2 for quest and in story 2-..and so on and so forth. Rarity effects chances of encountering them but its ok, its easy to bump into legendaries..specially if you have duplicate or multiples.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Bajie

[Kgk4569]

Not completely true. Quest mode does NOT correspond to the Adventure Deck #.

 

Cards in Quest mode are organized based on their abilities. So the crappier a card is, the earlier you'll see it.

[teasel]

Not completely true. Quest mode does NOT correspond to the Adventure Deck #.

 

Cards in Quest mode are organized based on their abilities. So the crappier a card is, the earlier you'll see it.

 

i'm pretty sure the difficulty of quest mode depends on the level of your character so if your character are level 10, you use adventure deck 1, and if your character are level 20, you use adventure deck 2 and so on

[jtrowell]

 

Not completely true. Quest mode does NOT correspond to the Adventure Deck #.

 

Cards in Quest mode are organized based on their abilities. So the crappier a card is, the earlier you'll see it.

 

i'm pretty sure the difficulty of quest mode depends on the level of your character so if your character are level 10, you use adventure deck 1, and if your character are level 20, you use adventure deck 2 and so on

 

 

Yes, but the thing is that some cards have a different effective tier in quest mode that their original deck number, it has been said that some of the more powerful cards have been put in higher tier, and I suppose that the reverse is possible, explaining the case of the cold resistance armor that is supposed to be in Deck 4 but was found before Tier 4

 

In other words :

- Story mode : cards available if their deck number is <= to the current Adventure number

- Quest mode : cards available if their tier number is <= to the current tier of the party (depends on the highest level character, with a new tier unlocked each 10 levels)

 

For most cards, their tier number is the same as their printed deck number, but there are a few exceptions. It would be nice to have a way to know what those exception are exactly, but currently it's a hidden information.

[Ethics Gradient]

Okay, this may be silly, and it's entirely possible I'm missing something pretty basic, but I can't seem to figure out exactly how card distribution, well, works.

 

Okay.  Based on this post by dev LadyKaieta ("For some players figuring out the system is an experience they enjoy"), I'll use that as a springboard to share what I've found to answer some behind the scenes mechanics I've figured out.

 

Building the Box

Unlike the physical game which sits in a closet or under your bed unchanged between sessions, the digital card "box" is rebuilt before each scenario or quest.  It follows roughly the following steps.

 

1. Put all the cards up to the present adventure number/quest tier in the box.

2. Add in a small number of randomly selected treasure cards from deck number up to the present adventure number/quest tier.

3. Add in C-deck or promo cards if you have them.

4. "Shuffle" the whole lot.

5. Cull a percentage of basic and elite cards based on the adventure number/quest tier

6. "Deal" the game.

 

So, with regards to seeing a specific treasure card like "Keen Scythe +2":

a. You need to have first found it in a treasure chest.

b. It needs to be one of the randomly-selected cards above in step 2.

c. If it survives the cull (some treasure cards are Basic or Elite), then it has to be one of the cards randomly chosen to be dealt into a location deck to discover. 

 

Yes, the odds of seeing a treasure card are pretty lousy.  But, in a way, that is somewhat the point.  The core game remains >95% the same, and every now and then something cool pops up.  Almost anything else would dramatically unbalance the game if all treasure cards had the same chance of discovery as a "base" card.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Ethics Gradient

[ArchSenex]

 

Okay, this may be silly, and it's entirely possible I'm missing something pretty basic, but I can't seem to figure out exactly how card distribution, well, works.

 

Okay.  Based on this post by dev LadyKaieta ("For some players figuring out the system is an experience they enjoy"), I'll use that as a springboard to share what I've found to answer some behind the scenes mechanics I've figured out.

 

Building the Box

Unlike the physical game which sits in a closet or under your bed unchanged between sessions, the digital card "box" is rebuilt before each scenario or quest.  It follows roughly the following steps.

 

1. Put all the cards up to the present adventure number/quest tier in the box.

2. Add in a small number of randomly selected treasure cards from deck number up to the present adventure number/quest tier.

3. Add in C-deck or promo cards if you have them.

4. "Shuffle" the whole lot.

5. Cull a percentage of basic and elite cards based on the adventure number/quest tier

6. "Deal" the game.

 

So, with regards to seeing a specific treasure card like "Keen Scythe +2":

a. You need to have first found it in a treasure chest.

b. It needs to be one of the randomly-selected cards above in step 2.

c. If it survives the cull (some treasure cards are Basic or Elite), then it has to be one of the cards randomly chosen to be dealt into a location deck to discover. 

 

Yes, the odds of seeing a treasure card are pretty lousy.  But, in a way, that is somewhat the point.  The core game remains >95% the same, and every now and then something cool pops up.  Almost anything else would dramatically unbalance the game if all treasure cards had the same chance of discovery as a "base" card.

 

 

Based on the number of times I see treasure cards compared to normal cards, I don't think your #2 is entirely accurate.  I wouldn't categorize the amount of treasure cards pulled into the box as a "small number."  I generally feel like I have about even odds to get a treasure versus a core set card in any specific encounter, which means that the system seems to be dumping my entire treasure set into the universe of possibilities (and back when I had things like 10+ copies of some treasure cards, I couldn't encounter anything else it seemed).

[Ethics Gradient]

Based on the number of times I see treasure cards compared to normal cards, I don't think your #2 is entirely accurate.  

Its mostly true.  The number of treasure cards selected for a session depend on quest/adventure level and number of characters(locations).

 

Say you are on AD3/Quest Tier 3 with three characters.  The game would then pull up to 14 treasure cards each from decks B, 1, 2, and 3 (I think, I'll double check the math after the next patch).  That would add a max of 54 treasure cards into the "box" for the game to select from.  Those 54 treasure cards are still subject to possible culling, and are still shuffled in with the hundreds of other base cards from Rise of the Runelords.

 

I'm not saying that treasure cards don't come up, but hoping to grab a specific card may be a long wait.  If you're really searching for a specific card, best bet is to play a large party at the appropriate adventure level.

[sleonardo]

Okay, this may be silly, and it's entirely possible I'm missing something pretty basic, but I can't seem to figure out exactly how card distribution, well, works.

 

I bought the store bundle after a couple weeks of playing, and I grabbed that 40 chest deal in the humble bundle and opened those, so I've got cards. I look in my Vault and there are plenty of cards hanging around there.

 

They just don't seem to show up in the game itself.

 

I know I've got this amazing looking card, Keen Scythe +2, but heck if I've ever seen it come up in the game for me to use or acquire. Is it a matter of luck? Do I have to "activate" them somehow?

 

Do they only show up in harder difficulties of Quests? Cause I've done those, but I don't notice any difference in the quality of cards I encounter in hardcore vs. normal.

 

 

Sorry to bother ya folks; I'm probably missing something really simple, but I'd appreciate it if someone could cure my ignorance.

 

Cause dang, supposedly I have a Flame Cannon that I'd love to shoot.

 

 

Let me try to answer some of these since I was new to this game just about a month ago. 

 

1.  You don't get to buy cards and then just assemble them into the deck of a character.  It does not work this way.

 

2.  You buy cards so that they become available for you in-game.  Your characters would still need to discover them following parameters set forth by the game (such as certain level open up certain cards).

 

3.  The store bundle gives you everything to play.  Treasure cards are not required but just add-ons to provide some uniqueness. 

 

4.  Try to discover the difference between Story Mode and Quest Model.  They are a little different in exposing treasure cards to you.

[Entari]

 

Okay, this may be silly, and it's entirely possible I'm missing something pretty basic, but I can't seem to figure out exactly how card distribution, well, works.

 

Okay.  Based on this post by dev LadyKaieta ("For some players figuring out the system is an experience they enjoy"), I'll use that as a springboard to share what I've found to answer some behind the scenes mechanics I've figured out.

 

Building the Box

Unlike the physical game which sits in a closet or under your bed unchanged between sessions, the digital card "box" is rebuilt before each scenario or quest.  It follows roughly the following steps.

 

1. Put all the cards up to the present adventure number/quest tier in the box.

2. Add in a small number of randomly selected treasure cards from deck number up to the present adventure number/quest tier.

3. Add in C-deck or promo cards if you have them.

4. "Shuffle" the whole lot.

5. Cull a percentage of basic and elite cards based on the adventure number/quest tier

6. "Deal" the game.

 

So, with regards to seeing a specific treasure card like "Keen Scythe +2":

a. You need to have first found it in a treasure chest.

b. It needs to be one of the randomly-selected cards above in step 2.

c. If it survives the cull (some treasure cards are Basic or Elite), then it has to be one of the cards randomly chosen to be dealt into a location deck to discover. 

 

Yes, the odds of seeing a treasure card are pretty lousy.  But, in a way, that is somewhat the point.  The core game remains >95% the same, and every now and then something cool pops up.  Almost anything else would dramatically unbalance the game if all treasure cards had the same chance of discovery as a "base" card.

 

 

Oh man, thank you. This clears up a lot of the confusion I was feeling about everything.

 

A lot of the "tier" stuff goes over my head, as I've never encountered anything to do with that from explanations in game, but it makes sense even if I don't understand the details.

 

 

Really do appreciate all the help you've all given me in this thread. Thank you, folks.