Overview
A few ideas to help new players pick up and understand how the meta game works in Ironbound.
First Things First
Play the tutorial!
General Considerations
Choose a class and try to clear the solo missions using only that class. You will learn the class abilities and tempo.
While playing solo games you can use specific items to defeat specific bots. In other words, you can adapt by using a “hard counter” gear to any bot you fight.
All the weapons priced under 1000 gold and all the trinkets priced under 500 gold can be sold back for full price. If you buy something more expensive than that, be sure its fits in your long term plan.
If you don’t know what item to pick first, I suggest picking a weapon. A sword is probably a safe choice, since with very few exceptions, swords can be used by all classes. There are also a few trinkets which offer very good value at the beginning of the game.
If you are stuck at one of the Hard or Expert solo challenges, you should try a few multiplayer games. You will get 100 gold for ranked victories, and 50 gold for unranked.
Don’t forget that you can spend gold to level up each class. The 5 levels that are currently available only bring health upgrades, but are nonetheless very important. You should aim to reach level 5 as soon as possible, but make sure you have a good weapon before buying level 4 or 5, since the final level upgrades are pretty expensive.
Besides HP levels, each class has 3 perks, which provide additional build customization options. The perks can only be unlocked by winning multiplayer ranked games.
Classes
Each class has 15 unique spells, represented by 30 tokens (some spells occur more than once in the deck). You can see the token list by pressing the Show Description button atop the character portrait, and then clicking the token image. The composition of the deck cannot be edited.
Each class has a special state which is triggered by certain events. You can play various builds based around the special state. The states are:
- Berserker – ENRAGED: while at 30% health or below, gain 20% critical hit chance.
- Crusader – LAST STAND: while at 30% health or below, has a 50% chance to reflect incoming damage when blocking with the shield.
- Assassin – STEALTH: has a 20% chance to evade incoming attacks. Stealth is lost when using a weapon and can be regained using special tokens or items, or by not playing any actions during a turn.
- Witch – FOCUSED MIND: has a 25% chance to copy tokens played by the enemy, but no more than once per turn. The Witch is Focused when the enemy is in his or her class special state. When two Witches face off, they are both Focused all the time.
All classe also have tokens which alter their behavior when the special state is active.
Perks
Perks are unlocked and upgraded based on certain achievements in ranked multiplayer games. Each perk has 5 levels. Players can select one perk to be active during a game. The perks are:
- Cruelty: gives a bonus to the critical hit chance. The perk level is based on the number of ranked games won and increases the bonus.
- Mastery: class-specific ability enabled while the class special state is active. The perk level is based on the maximum multiplayer rating achieved, and increases the chance of triggering the ability.
- Resilience: adds a chance to gain a class-specific token each time you receive a critical hit. The tokens are: Bloodbath for Berserker, Beacon of Light for Crusader, Poison Blades for Assassin and Fire Chant for Witch. The perk level is based on the length of the maximum winning streak, and increases the chance to get the token.
The abilities granted by Mastery are:
- Berserker: chance to double weapon damage for every attack
- Crusader: chance to double any healing spell
- Assassin: chance to not break Stealth when attacking
- Witch: chance to recover 2 Action Points after each action played
(Remember, Mastery only applies in the class special state.)
The Metagame
On the mid and long term, try to have at least two classes with one or two solid builds (item configurations). The metagame is all about the “dance” you do between your 4 classes. There are many item builds which are hard counters to some class or build you can encounter on the ladder.
Get your classes at level 5, build your strategy on what you have now (i.e. items and perks); if you encounter someone who hard counters you, change your build or class too and try again.
Don’t forget about items which will help you multiply your gold income, they are a good investment once you decide to play competitive on ladder.