Welcome to the Into Indie Games guide on how to have the best start in Cursemark.
Cursemark is a roguelike game where you create your own build and, depending on your luck and choices, you either demolish your enemies or end up getting bested by them. However, there are several important things you need to consider if you want your runs to start on the right foot. Here, in this guide, we will tell you how you can have the best possible start in Cursemark.
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Table of contents
Cursemark – How To Have The Best Start
In order to have the best start in Cursemark, there are several things that you need to keep in mind. The following tips and strategies are worth implementing if you want to make your early runs much stronger and more efficient:
Your First Runs Are Not Going To Be Your Best Starts
In roguelike games, your first few runs are usually spent learning the game rather than making meaningful progress, and that is going to be the case in Cursemark as well. Sure, you can get extremely lucky and make it much farther than expected, but going into the game with little knowledge will rarely work in your favor.
So, for starters, you should expect to do several runs simply to learn and fail. It does not matter how many attempts it takes. Fight the bosses, learn their movesets, understand how to avoid their attacks, and become familiar with the combat system. Once you gain that knowledge, your future runs will become significantly easier.
There are also several altars throughout the world that are corrupted. Make runs specifically for the purpose of removing corruption from these altars. Doing so is worthwhile because removing corruption is a permanent upgrade. Once an altar has been cleansed, you will be able to make use of it in future runs without having to repeat the process.
Exploring the world is also extremely valuable. By thoroughly exploring different areas, you can unlock permanent bonuses and effects that will continue helping you throughout your playthrough. These upgrades may seem small at first, but they add up quickly and can make a huge difference over time.
After spending enough time exploring, you will start to understand which runes are worth using and which ones are not. However, even then, you may not immediately know the best ways to obtain the rarest and most powerful runes.
Defeat The Bosses To Get Legendary Or Rare Loot
You can unlock shortcuts to bosses, and doing so makes traveling back to them significantly easier. Defeating The Iron Bastard becomes fairly straightforward once you have fought him several times and learned his attack patterns.
A good strategy is to start a run, clear a few areas, collect some useful runes and talismans, and then challenge The Iron Bastard. This approach allows you to enter the fight with a stronger build while still reaching him relatively quickly.
Defeating this boss can reward you with a legendary or rare rune, as well as powerful talismans. There is also a chest in the area that can reward additional loot. On top of that, there are several other valuable rewards scattered around the boss arena.
Do note that this is not the only boss in the game. There is also Lucian the Fallen Prelate, who can be a bit more challenging to defeat. However, by the time you reach him, you should be powerful enough to put up a good fight.
Make sure that you have a rune that allows you to spray either ice or flames. Having access to one of these effects makes the encounter dramatically easier and can turn what would normally be a difficult fight into a very manageable one.
After defeating this boss, you can obtain yet another legendary or rare item, making your character even stronger. There is also another boss in the first area called Crusade Captain Orsic, who is relatively easy to defeat as well. However, you will first need to find a key to unlock access to the encounter, and that key can only be obtained through exploration.
Collect Blessings
Blessings are extremely important in this game because they can provide substantial bonuses to your character. Some blessings increase your health pool, while others increase your damage output or improve other aspects of your build.
There are several different types of blessings, and almost all of them can be useful depending on your playstyle. Throughout your adventure, you will come across altars that can improve and level up your blessings. In the same area, there is also an NPC capable of upgrading all of your blessings at once.
These upgrades can make your character feel overpowered very quickly. However, it is important to remember that runes and talismans will still play an even bigger role in determining the strength of your build. Because of that, you should make sure that those items are upgraded whenever possible.
There are multiple altars throughout the game that allow you to improve your runes and talismans. As a result, reaching the maximum level for your strongest equipment is usually not too difficult if you prioritize exploration.
Increase Your Botyls
There are several areas that contain red vases, so if you are running low on Botyls, make sure to visit those locations whenever possible. The Paladin NPC can also provide additional Botyls in exchange for money. The first purchase costs only five coins, but the price increases by five each time afterward.
While increasing your health is important, obtaining additional Botyls is equally valuable. Later areas can be unpredictable and much more dangerous, so having extra healing resources available can save an otherwise doomed run.
You should also make it a priority to unlock every shortcut you encounter. Unlocking shortcuts makes future runs considerably smoother and allows you to reach important areas much faster. In many cases, shortcuts also allow you to bypass some of the most annoying or time-consuming sections of the game.
A Rune Being Legendary Does Not Mean It Will Be Good
Some legendary runes are incredibly powerful, but it is important to remember that not every legendary rune is automatically amazing. Certain legendary runes are actually quite underwhelming and only perform well within very specific builds.
Even when used correctly, some of these runes simply do not provide enough damage output to justify their rarity. On the other hand, there are uncommon runes that can completely outperform them.
One excellent example is the Embershot Rune. Despite only being an uncommon rune, it absolutely demolishes both regular enemies and bosses when used properly. Its damage output is impressive and can carry entire runs on its own.
Compare that to a legendary rune like Rune of Echoes, which increases your sequence count by one while reducing your damage by 20 percent. This rune is not necessarily bad, and upgrading it can make it much stronger over time. With the right setup, it can even allow you to eliminate certain enemies in a single combo.
However, even with those advantages, it still falls short of runes like Embershot Rune, which can end some boss fights in less than ten seconds. Because of this, you should always evaluate a rune based on its effectiveness and synergy with your build rather than its rarity alone.
With that, our guide on how to have the best start in Cursemark concludes. Looking for more walkthroughs? Please check the links below:
- Into Indie Games Homepage
- Puni the Florist Walkthrough – All Story Mode Requests
- Arcane Merchant Complete Walkthrough and Guide
- Mina The Hollower Complete Walkthrough
- LumenTale: Memories Of Trey – Walkthrough Hub
Obaid Ur Rehman is a lifelong gaming enthusiast with a deep passion for writing about video games. While he enjoys all genres, he specializes in RPGs and Soulslike titles. After tackling some of the toughest bosses, he often unwinds with a cozy game to relax. Outside of gaming, Obaid enjoys watching anime, bingeing TV series, or staying active at the gym.
