Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

So, I must thank Enduro for his relentless praise of this game..I went and picked up a copy and played 20 plus hours this weekend...However when I got to the board with Ryvern and that furry snow creature I got my ass handed to me.. So i went to a few culdcept forums..(one of which I saw a post from Kin Korn Karn about using vs. Matches to get more cards, which was helpful) but i haven't really found a good site to get some ideas on how to construct a good deck..are you supposed to lose a match to see what kind of deck you should build? or are there multi purpose decks..granted i don't have alot of cards yet..but it seems like the cards don't synthesize as well as i thought they would... and sites or ideas would be appreciated...

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

There are some card deck construction threads at this Culdcept message board. As I noted on the other board, this site is a bit slow, but there is still good info there.

Some players keep multiple decks. Myself, I only used probably two different decks to get me through the main story. Yeah, it took a loss here and there in order to figure out what it was that I needed to either add or drop from my deck. This is because some AI characters would be real heavy in a certain creature color. Or maybe they would use offensive spells on my cepter all the time, so I would have to add some spells to help counter act. What I would do, though, is just edit my main deck from game to game. That way I always knew my deck and there weren't any surprises.

Naturally, your deck is a bit sparse right now, and it makes the creation of a solid deck a bit hard. So, concentrate on buidling the deck rather than constructing one. I would suggest that you mess around in versus mode on some easier maps for a while and better your card choice.

If you have specific questions just let us know.

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

I, too, picked this game up a while ago. Actually, I got it new for $20 about a week before maggie left. I'd meant it to be a game we could play together. :(

Anyway, I've not yet touched it. Actually, I did try and look at the rule book, but my god is it daunting! Should I try and read through it first, or just start playing? Also, I missed any other links to good Culdcept sites you provided, 3K, so would you mind putting them up again? I'll just bookmark 'em for later use b/c frankly, right now I'm all wound up with FFT (and even have a thread going about it). :D

Thank ya kindly. :)

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

That's the only link I have, save for going to the boards at GameFAQ's.

You can start playing the game without reading the game manual, as they do walk you through some of the mechanics of play. However, you will be best served if you at least look over the book at some point. It does seem a bit daunting at first, but experience will pay off. You will learn as you go by paying attention to what the AI is doing.

Knowing the basic numbers on the cards (ST, HP and MP) is probably the first thing that you should pay attention to.

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate and start playing the game right away. It is easily my favorite PS2 game, and it may be yours as well, given time.

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

i had one more question...how many colors do you use in your decks? after getting beat really bad I decided to switch to 3 colors (B,G,Y) because I had less red to choose from..and i threw in a some horned chameleon's, cause i like that card.. which combinations do you like best?

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

My approach has alwasy been to keep a well balanced deck: equal numbers of each color of card. After it is all said and done, I would have probably 53% creatures (almost 1/4 of each color and a few neutrals that are appropriate), followed by about 22% items and 22% spells.

I would adjust the deck when necessary. Sometimes I would remove an entire color if it made no sense to use it, for instance.

Starting out I essentially played whatever cards felt best. This would skew the deck in one direction or the other. Honestly, I don't think the color combination matters all that much earlier in the game. Just as long as you have ENOUGH creatures to be effective. If you find that you are going around and not able to place creatures because you do not have any in your hand, then bump up the allotment. I think if you keep around 50%+ but no more than 60% creatures then you are doing good.

Pay attention to the cost of the card. It is tempting to load your deck with billy bad ass creatures, but the downside is that they are too expensive to play consistently on the earlier maps. This seems to be a common problem for beginners. They want to use those new cards, but they go broke doing so and lose matches because of it. I would suggest that you do not put perhaps more than one or two 100G plus cards in your deck until later.

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

Walls, Walls, and more Walls! Load up the board with these formidable defensive creatures and then use those movement cards (I forget what they're called) to force your opponent to roll a number that will land on your walls. Also, I love using symbols. I know some people don't make use of the symbol feature, but it's like insider trading. Buy stock in colors you know you're going to level up the land in and before you know it, your purchases are almost paying for themselves!

Aside from that, I generally keep a little of everything in my deck -- usually no more than 1 or 2 badass cards -- and about the same breakdown as KKK reported: roughly 50/25/25 for creatures/spells/items.

God what a freaking awesome game. Every time someone mentions Culdcept, I want to dance. :)

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

The more I hear y'all talk about this game, the more I'm reminded of Magic The Gathering. I used to be /way/ into it back in the day. I mean when it was first out. I had tons of cards, too, all alphas and betas. Complete sets of some early expansion sets and an almost complete set of the first version. But then.. well, an ex left me and took a lot of my cards with him, including the rarest of the rare. Needless to say, I never got back into it after that, and I eventually sold the rest off. :mad:

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

It reminds me immensly of MTG too Hypatia. Culdcept is like a fusion of Monopoly and Magic The Gathering from what i've played. I'd also like to announce that i'll finally be getting a copy of it sometime this, or next week. So I can join in on the discussion. ;)

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

Yeah, except it's 100x better than M:tG.

I use a different deck-building philosophy than most of you. I use about 40-45% spells, 40% creatures, and no more than 20% items. Items are the least transitory parts of your deck; generally you never want to have more than one or two in your hand at any given moment. This leaves more room for mana-gaining, die-rolling, creature-moving, card-drawing, and miscellaneous territory-related spells.

Color-wise, I either go mono-color or use a mix of all four colors depending on how the deck is designed to work.

I think the best way to learn the game if you don't play regularly against other people is to play Zeneth over and over again. You pick up a lot of good deck-building ideas, and his AI is outstanding (if utterly ruthless).

I use symbols as casualty insurance. If I land on a massive toll I have no hope of beating, it's nice to sell off some symbols to cover the loss.

Also, make sure to check out the Culdcept manga. Tokyopop is publishing it, and there are currently four volumes available at your local bookstore.

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

Hearing you guys talk about Culdcept makes me want to pop it back into my PS2 and go at it all over again. I'm only two or three cards away from having them all (not counting the bonus medal cards) and i just had the best time playing it. i'm so glad i put it on my top ten of all time... what a friggin' great game. now, if only they had online multiplayer... that would be the ultimate.

(oh, and i do remember playing against Enduro's wall deck quite vividly... it was a toughie!) ; )

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

Hey sleeveboy, why do you say it's a 100x better than MtG? Just curious.

And for all of you:

Do you think there's a way a second, expansion-type Culdcept could be released with more cards, etc. that HAS online play, all the while still compatible with the core deck/rules?

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

I'm not a Culdcept master or historian, but I do believe that this version is essentially what you are asking about, minus online play. There are previous versions of the game that never made it out of Japan.

Nothing official has been announced about a follow up. Unfortunately, the game is still fairly obscure. I'd be surprised if we saw a new version any time soon.

Regarding specialty decks, I really haven't experiemented with them much (other than my "kick the shit out of Mullyn" deck). It sure is one of the many ways to add another dimension to this already deep game.

Last night I got my first Kelpie! It only took me 133 hours of game time. I think I have a total of 410 different cards. A bit more to go.

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

so I played some more last night on versus match..got my ass kicked..but I still friggin love this game. sometimes it's frustrating though..especially when the AI seems to get all the right cards, rolls, and luck in the world..where as I get the shaft-time and time again..oh well..i guess that's why god invented a reset button..

as far as culdcept being 100x better than magic..i dunno know about that.. i think they're both great games in their own right... magic has a WAY WAY more diverse selection of cards and mechanics..but you don't get to play on a board..and it generally requires another person..unless you play online/against AI..(but i'm not a fan of that)--not to mention that magic is an exspensive game to play- if you're serious about it.

i wish culdcept had multiplayer..this game seems perfect for it. however i'm not sure how the cards would be selected...i bet everyone would have the same deck...

Re: Culdcept Deck Strategies??
 

You'd be surprised. Just in this thread alone I'm seeing that there are different ways to go about playing versus matches against another player.

For instance, I have a deck titled "Ass Kicker" or something like that, and I use it when I play against my friend. It's much different from my main deck, and is packed with cards that I feel comfortable with. What I'm comfortable with may not be somebody else's cup of tea. Also, most all the cards are fairly well balanced: there are only a few cards that would absolutely trump any other card. Couple that with the different play styles of each individual and you can imagine that the decks could be quite different. Actually, it would be interesting for each of us to list out their most used deck.

As for the multiplayer, yeah, I hear you. That's why I actually bought three copies of the game and gave the other two away to friends. Now they are sucked in and we play each other when we can.