Just starting out?

[someguy]

Should I be fighting Goligan a zillion times until I start getting good cards? I'm getting whomped by Selena and Zalgor (sp?), the 2 other starting opponents.

The only decent cards I've gotten so far are boomerang (which is admittedly a great card) and winged boots (another great card), one of each. I somehow wound up getting a bunch of heavy hitter monsters like chimera, behemoth, grendel, and dagon, but they're too expensive in practice, and if I draw a bunch of them at the beginning of the game, I can't play them because they have land requirements.

Am I just stuck with Goligan for another 30 rounds until I can build out a good collection of one or two good colors? Just checking. Thanks.

[utawoutau]

Although it never hurts to fight and gain more cards, you really shouldn't need to fight Goligan over and over again before you are able to take out Selena and Zagol.

You should theoretically be able to take out each new stage one by one without having to replay the old ones. In practice it doesn't quite work out that way, but somepeople don't ever lose until much later in the game.

Here are a couple of points that should help:

1) You need to be luckier. It sounds kind of mean to say this because this isn't something that you can control. But basically earlier in the game when you don't have a solid deck strategy (due to lack of cards), luck plays a pretty substantial role in whether you win or lose. You might just have really bad luck in that you cannot defeat Selena and Zagol - in other words - keep trying!

2) Become a more proficient player. One thing that beginners tend to ignore is paying attention to your opponent's hand. Although it may seem hard to remember what your opponent is holding because you only see their hand for brief moments - keep on practicing memorizing what they have. The computer always knows what you have, so you are at a definite disadvantage when you don't know what they have. You'll get better at this the more you play. And once you can easily recall what they have, you will know whether or not you need to use items during battle - which is a huge advantage.

3) Rebuild your deck. Just because you don't have the rarer and more powerful cards, doesn't mean that you cannot win. Try making different themes - such as only one color, two colors, three colors, or four color decks. Try using more spells and less items and monsters (actually some of the best decks are 40,40,20% monsters, spells, items - although this might be hard to do without the more useful rare spells). Basically create new decks from scratch if you aren't having any success with your current one.

Those are just a couple of hints, hope they help!

[Insomniac74]

This game really helps you cultivate a feeling of insecurity as you go through story mode, especially if you're a conservative game player like me. The maps slowly get larger and more complex, as do the match dynamics (1-on-1 becomes 1-on-1-on-1). Utawoutau has a couple good points, though.

1) It's NEVER a bad idea to fight Golligan many times before moving on. In fact, I returned for a match against Golligan often after advancing the story elsewhere. When you can regularly beat Zagol and Selena, use them as your practice dummy. They give you more cards, and a more powerful Cepter will give you a better picture of how your deck is working out.

2) Rebuild your deck, but you don't really NEED to overhaul it. The starter decks are quite compitent if you're familiar with the cards, practice hard, and of course, have a little of our capricious friend luck. I began with the red/green deck, and it turned out to be pretty good even though I hardly changed it for Golligan, Zagol, and Selena.

3) It is indeed a good strategy to notice what the other player has in hand. It'll look like a blur at first, but you'll be able to pick out the dangerous cards in his/her hand with practice. Knowing the opponent's strategy combined with seeing their cards makes things a lot less stressful. Does Zagol have a long sword in hand? Then he's going to kill that poor Goblin of yours, even if you use your leather armor, so save it.

A lot of advice you'll be getting at this stage is going to sound VERY generic, and that's to be expected. The early opponents you'll face have rather plain decks without a serious focus or set of "killer cards" to defend against. Your primary weapon is going to be developing a board strategy; finding the best place to set up a chain for your colors and when/where to level up lands. It all takes time, but while you're playing, win or lose, you're earning new cards as well. Pretty soon you'll be stressing about a lot more than Zagol and Selena, so have some Pepto-Bismol close by and don't give up.

[someguy]

Yes, I generally keep an eye on my opponent's items to make sure my critters come out on top in a fight.

Also trying to cultivate an all first strike deck. It hasn't actually happened just yet. With a really good first strike deck full of reasonably priced first striking creatures, I can safely cut out my defensive items (am currently sticking with mostly offense items, like claymore, and offense/defense items, like boomerang and catapult). Only defensive items I'm using right now are one red colored shield (only one I have). I'm playing mostly yellow & red. I wish there were some way I could trade cards to a NPC shop or something (the NeoGeo Pocket game Card Fighters Clash lets you trade away bunches of cards at a loss to get cards you actually do want).

With a few exceptions, my best critters are all expensive heavy hitters that cost 70-80+ and require at least one land controlled. Have started many games on turn 1 with a bunch of critters in hand that I can't use because I don't control a land of that type.

I need to thin out my deck to get critters that cost a reasonable amount and don't have land requirements. Giant rat is actually a very tempting card that I find myself swapping in and out of my deck because it's free.

I don't really have that many land requirement critters in my deck (1x Valkyria, 1x Chimera, 1x Fire Giant, and maybe a few others), but I always wind up drawing them first turn. If I could get some centaurs (only have 1), and some roadrunners and wasps, I think I'd be in better shape. (Somehow, I did manage to get 4x veteran monks. Thanks, Goligan)

[masonik4]

The guys above make excellent points on how to take out the next two enemies. Luck plays a large part in Culdcept, but so does the cards. If a person plays Selena after winning the first battle, and I play Golligan 10 times after my first victory, I stand to earn 100 more cards than the first person; that kind of ammunition helps you to create a better deck than you already have; it might mean another Manna card, or a Chimera card, or a Spitting Cobra, or who knows what else? Unless you are the Culdcept King of playing, you have to create your own luck by bolstering your cards. Granted you get cards by losing too, but the shortest games you can play are generally the Golligan game and maybe Selena. I can play for 20 minutes and get 10 cards. Playing Zalgor will take about 30 minutes or longer; Selena can take about 20 minutes, or a bit longer, if you win. I say play Golligan several times; it is after all practice, and helps you understand how certain cards work.

[KinKornKarn]

This is all good information. I'm having lots of trouble with the first battle of the game, so, I think I have a bit more understanding on how to approach the game in general (card COSTS, I haven't paid any attention to, for instance).

[masonik4]

Hey KinKornKarn, I know exactly where you are coming from. When I first started playing Culdcept, Ryvern kicked my behind several times before I got my first win. It might have been the fourth or fifth time until I got my win, but in the meantime I was at least getting some cards. One of the first things I did was to dump the bats, wolves and goblins for some thing better. I was also learning how the game works, so it might be the same with you. Once you get the gist of it, you will do fine.

[J]

In the first few stages, you shouldnt worry about land elements too much, I basically beat every stage up until where you have to face two people at a time just by placing a creature every chance I get, you shouldn't need to face golignan at all to proceed