Shards of Order – Best Cards to Unlock Early

Welcome to Into Indie Games’ best early-game cards guide for beginners in Shards of Order.

As you progress through each region, slaying monsters, your party members will level up. Levelling up in this game allows you to unlock a new card for the specific Character that you can then add or remove from your deck. While the game offers multiple build possibilities, certain cards in the deck stand far above the rest.

In this guide, we’ll showcase some of the best cards you can unlock for each character and give you our reasons for having them on this list. Keep in mind, this is a subjective list based on our experience, but you might find different cards that suit you better. Keep experimenting!

This article is part of our Shards of Order – Walkthrough and Guides Hub.  

For more information about the game, check out their official website here. 

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Best Warrior Cards to Unlock Early

Lev, the Warrior, specializes in dealing massive single-target damage and also can buff up with Shield to tank a lot of hits. You’ll want to run him as a frontliner soaking up damage and building up his Rage. Don’t be afraid to swap him around to protect other characters. Here are some of the cards you’ll want to consider picking up early for the Warrior:

Commanding Shout

You can unlock Commanding Shout as soon as you level up as Lev, and considering how good this card is, you should unlock it right away. When used, the card gives your selected character 2 Strength, and the Warrior also gains 1 Rage. Its upgrade, unlocked at Tier III, lets you give all characters 1 Strength while still adding 1 Rage. If you’re building up Strength stacks on your Warrior, this card is a no-brainer.

Reckless Strike

There are very few cards in Warrior’s arsenal early on that let you build up multiple Rage stacks. This is what makes Reckless Strike such a good pick up. It’s available from Tier 1, and lets you deal 6 Damage and gain 2 Rage for only 1 Time Cost. If you’re using Vengeance as your weapon, this will fill up 2 out of its 3 Maximum Rage stacks instantly.

Crushing Blow

As we said, Warrior plays by building up his Strength and Rage stacks. The Crushing Blow on its own is a pretty mediocre card which deals only 8 Damage for 2 Time Cost. However, its unique effect allows Strength to apply twice to the damage, pushing it into overdrive. If you have a consistent way to build up Lev’s Strength stack, this is one of the highest damage output cards you can have in your deck.

Duel

Duel is great if you’re using a weapon with high Max Rage and can keep building your Rage up consistently. The card only costs 1 Time to play and deals 7 Damage at its base level. However, if the Warrior is targeted by an enemy when you use the card, Lev will gain Shield equal to twice his current Rage. It can make him a true tanky powerhouse.

Irritation

Irritation is a reliable Tier II card that costs 0 Time and deals a respectable 10 Damage at base Strength. The only cost for playing this card is that you take 4 Health Damage, but considering the Warrior’s massive Health Pool, it’s not a massive concern. When played, it reduces your Redraw cost by 2, helping you cycle through your deck faster. You can also increase its damage by stacking Strength.

The Judge

The Judge might be the most powerful card in Lev’s arsenal, which is only held back by its 2 Time Cost. It deals 10 Damage at its base level but adds The Jury card to the top of your Draw Pile, which means the next time you draw a card, it will come to your hand. The Jury also costs 2 Time to play and adds The Execution card to the top of your Draw Pile.

The Execution deals 20 Damage at its base level, has 2 Time Cost, and if you manage to get a kill with it, increases the Time Counter of all enemies by 3. With enough Strength stacks, it can give you a massive edge in fights.

Best Exile Cards to Unlock Early

Ayla, the Exile, is a damage specialist who requires a bit of time to truly ramp up. Her main mechanic, Sharp, relies a lot on filling up her Quiver with high-damage arrows. Luckily, the card that gets the most out of a full Quiver, Barrage, is unlocked the moment the Exile becomes available in your party. With that said, here are some of her cards that are worth picking up early.

Lock and Load

Both Lock and Load and its upgrade are available in Tier I, and honestly, both are worth picking up early because of how much value they provide. At the base level, Lock and Load lets you load 1 Arrow in your Quiver and attack for 1 Damage. But the Damage is also increased by 2 for each Arrow in your Quiver. That, combined with Quiver Overflow if you’ve got a Full Quiver, lets you take out a decent chunk of health from your enemy right off the bat.

Quickstrike

As we said, Ayla’s damage output takes a while to ramp up. But if you want a damage-dealing attack even when your Quiver is empty, then Quickstrike is the one to get. It’s available as a Tier 1 card and lets you deal a respectable 10 Damage. The only condition here is that you must have at least 2 cards in your Hand and Discard one of them to play it.

Caltrops

Caltrops becomes available in Tier II and lets you apply 4 Weakness to all enemies on the field. While enemies that deal massive damage on a single hit don’t really care about Weakness, Caltrops is excellent when you’re facing multi-strike monsters. This card also works great in combination with the Weakening card and, once you upgrade both, can severely reduce the damage you receive from the enemies.

Powerload

As you progress into later regions in Shards of Order, your main problem with Exile will be filling up her Quiver. That’s where Powerload comes in. At only 2 Time Cost, this card lets you add an Arrow to Ayla’s Quiver anytime you Redraw.

Salvo

The reason why we put Salvo on this list is that it’s a very versatile card. For a 2 Time Cost, it lets you deal 15 Damage at the base level, which is pretty decent on its own. But its main power comes from when you Sacrifice it. If you Discard it with a card such as Quickstrike, you’ll be able to load 2 Arrows to your Quiver. So depending on the situation, you can either Discard it to stock up on Arrows, or use it to deal Damage.

Fully Automatic

Fully Automatic doesn’t deal any damage on its own. But it’s a high-value card for the Exile. For only 2 Time Cost, it lets you load your Quiver to full. To get the most out of this card, consider using it after something like the Barrage that lets you empty out your Quiver and deal massive damage to the enemy.

Best Scholar Cards to Unlock Early

When it comes to Thade, the Scholar, you first have to decide how you want to play him. Will you use him as a Support who applies buffs like Shield or Enrage on your allies, or do you want to build him to become a pseudo-damage dealer/debuff specialist who applies Rot and increases the Time Counter of the enemies?

I played him as the latter, so I prioritized skills that let him apply more Rot on enemies. But I’ll also mention some support cards that are worth looking out for.

Rot

Rot is a Tier 1 Card that lets you apply 3 Rot (4 Rot when upgraded) to the enemy. What makes this card good is that it doesn’t cost any Mana and only has 1 Time Cost. That means you’ll be able to throw it on an enemy even if you haven’t built up any Mana on Thade. It’s also a prerequisite for some of the other cards you’ll unlock later on, in the same branch, and overall a solid, reliable card to have in your deck.

Contagion

Contagion is another interesting card in Thade’s arsenal. It costs 2 Time and 3 Red Mana, making it pretty expensive. However, it lets you apply 3 Rot on a target, and if the target dies from Rot, the effect amplifies and transfers to another random enemy. This, combined with the Rot card, lets you spread the debuff to multiple enemies and deal a respectable bit of damage over time.

Decay

Decay is a Tier III card, and you’ll also have to unlock both the Freeze and Rot cards to be able to access it. However, its low Time Cost and non-existent Mana cost make it worth the investment. The card deals no damage on its own and only applies Rot equal to the target’s current Time Counter. If you combine it with Thade’s other cards that increase the enemy’s Time and then apply Decay, it can have a devastating effect.

Arcane Path

Arcane Path is a high-cost card that requires 3 of each Mana Color and also costs 2 Time. However, its unique effect permanently increases the Damage of all Arcane Path cards if you manage to kill an enemy with it. While it doesn’t apply to Rot, it still applies to Arcane Bolt and other damage cards in Thade‘s skill tree. Its damage at base level isn’t bad either and can be increased by stacking Strength.

Unstable Currents

Unstable Currents is an Exhaust card, which means after you use it, it’ll move to the Exhaust Pile. It costs 2 Time to play, and when you do so, you’ll be able to deal damage to random enemies after you consume any amount of Mana. Since most of Thade’s cards require him to consume Mana, you’ll be able to constantly dish out damage across the field while applying buffs and debuffs.

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This concludes our best early-game cards guide for Shards of Order. For more interesting articles related to indie games, check out the links below:

• Into Indie Games Homepage
• Lifted Walkthrough Hub
• The Mermaid Mask – Complete Walkthrough Hub
• Dive or Die – Children of Rain: Guides Hub
• Desktop Explorer Walkthrough Hub