Across the Obeliskis another fantastic entry into the long line ofroguelike deckbuilders, and is a game with an absurd amount of content to unlock, builds to try, and playable characters to master. The playable cast of Heroes, in particular,includes 16 different adventurersof all different types of races, backgrounds, and Classes. There are Elves, Lizardmen, Frogmen, and even a Mindflayer. And, for Classes, there are Warriors, Scouts, Healers, and Mages. For today, let’s focus primarily on the Mage class, with Evelyn being the default, usually followed by players unlocking Cornelius, Wilbur, and then Zek.
RELATED:Xbox One Games With The Best Storylines
Now, each of these Mages has different Innate Traits, Level-Up Traits, Damage Specializations, and optimal builds, but there are still cards inAcross the Obeliskthat generally works best between all of them that players should absolutely add to their Decks, at least for the early parts of a run.
6Defense Skill: Elemental Ward
First up isElemental Ward, a cardthat beginners in the gamemight not have expected to be on here. Granted, the card is primarily at its peak usefulness when used by Evelyn, the Mage that works best as a Support. But, Elemental Ward is good on just about any of the Mages, simply because the Insulate Buff is useful in any situation. Insulate reduces the Fire, Cold, and Lightning damage taken by 30%, and it’s basically the elemental version of Reinforce, a buff that reduces the physical damage of Slash, Blunt, and Piercing by 30%.
Elemental Ward, by default, grants 3 Stacks of Insulate, which is usually enough to last through most combat encounters, not including anything past Act 2 or the boss fights at the end of each map.
5Low-Cost Damage Spells: Ice Lance, Emberstorm, Zap & Malicious Eye
Moving onto early game damage spells, each of the four Mages has their own specific option since they all have damage types they excel in. Now, while this game doesn’t haveanything crazy like Elemental Reactions, the Element type used by each Mage does matter, and these are their best options:
The first Act or so ofAcross the Obeliskreally has the player struggling with their Party’s Energy, which is why it’s great that these Mages all have 0-Cost options that deal decent damage but also apply their primary Elemental Debuffs.
4Skill: Transmission
Transmissionis another deceptively incredible Spell, and for one primary reason: it gives a Stack of Inspire. For those who don’t know, Inspire basically lets whoever got it to draw an extra card on their next turn. Not only that, but Transmission also gives the chosen Hero 2 Stacks of Energize, meaning they’ll gain an additional 2 Energy on their next turn to potential users to play their additional card.
RELATED:Best Slay The Spire: Downfall Boss Classes, Ranked
Typically, this Skill is used by Evelyn to set up the Healer so they can cast a bunch of Holy Damage or Heals. But, on the other Mages, they can either use this card on themselves to get set up for the next turn if they drew unlucky cards or to give their Scout Energize and Inspire so they can be the main damage dealer for a turn.
3Book: Scroll Of Intellect
No joke,Scroll of Intellectis probably the best card in the entire game, from an objective standpoint. For 0 Energy, this Card gives whoever it’s applied to 1 Stack of Inspire and 1 Stack of Energize. So, for absolutely no cost, this card gives two of the best beneficial Buffs in the game.Not many card gameshave cards like this that provide massive benefits for 0-cost. That said, both of these benefits do need a turn to bear fruit.
But, thankfully, the Blue Variant Upgrade makes the Card Innate. So, if the Mage is one of the faster characters in the party (usually the Scout is faster), they can use this Scroll to give the other DPS that goes after them a much stronger first turn. The only downside is that Innate does count towards the character’s first draw, meaning it takes up a spot in the starting hand that could have been used for another damage-type card.
2Mid-Cost Damage Spells: Elemental Bolt, Scorching Ray, Shock Nova & Pestilence
Similar to the low-cost individual Spells mentioned earlier here, these are the mid-cost Spells that are the best options for each Mage and are typically picked up in the hub area of wherever the player picked for Act 2, be it Aquarfall Marsh, Velkarath, or Faeborg. The best choice for each Mage tends to be:
These will typically be the Spells that players will have in their Deck for the rest of the run.
RELATED:Beginner Tips For Circus Electrique
They aren’t the Core damage dealing cards in late Act 3 or Act 4, butevery game has a small group of “best Spells"like these that are the perfect blend of Energy Cost, Damage done, and Debuffs applies.
1Skill: Unstable Power
And finally, there’sUnstable Power.WhileBuffs in any game can be confusing, inAtOBuff like Sharp are best used by Scouts and Debuffs like Vulnerable are typically used by Warriors, Powerful tends to work best overall for Mages.
When used in combination with whatever Elemental Debuff the Mage specializes in, whether it’s Chill, Burn, Spark, or even Dark, a few Stacks of the Powerful Buff can make a massive impact on how much damage they’ll do. And, Unstable Power is a great card for building these Stacks with almost zero downsides.
