Ironclad Vulnerable Guide: When to Commit
Use Vulnerable as an Act 1 bridge when the deck can apply it and immediately cash it in with efficient attacks. A second Vulnerable source is a signal; it is not permission to stop drafting Block, draw, or front-loaded damage.
When should Ironclad use Vulnerable as a real plan instead of taking another generic attack?
Open the Ironclad overviewThe job
What this package is trying to solve
The cleanest Act 1 route: keep Vulnerable up, then let efficient and multi-hit attacks cash it in. The package is useful only when it answers the fight in front of you; it is not a shopping list that overrides the map, enemy intent, or the cards actually offered.
Apply Vulnerable before the attack that matters.
Keep enough ordinary damage to survive before the package is complete.
Use Block and draw to make the multiplier appear on the turns you need it.
Treat multi-hit attacks as the payoff, not as an excuse to skip defense.
Build the job, not the label
Cards and relics to recognize
Core cards
Bash · Taunt · Tremble · Molten Fist · Dismantle
These are the cards that make the package's central action possible.Support cards
Vicious · Colossus · Cruelty · Dominate · Sword Boomerang
These help the package survive, draw, scale, or bridge into the next fight.Relics
Paper Phrog · Bag of Marbles · Ruined Helmet · Shuriken
Relics can change the value of the package, but do not force a plan that cannot solve the next combat.Commit condition
When should you take more of this?
You have a reliable Vulnerable source beyond the starter Bash, or an early payoff that is playable now.
The next Elite or Boss can be answered by the attacks already in the deck.
Adding the next Vulnerable card improves a real damage check rather than diluting the deck.
Protect the run
When should you stop forcing it?
Core failure mode: Too many cards that apply the same debuff and too few attacks, draw tools or Block cards. Vulnerable does nothing when the deck cannot cash it in safely.
The deck applies Vulnerable but has too few attacks to spend it.
You are losing HP because another debuff card was taken instead of Block or draw.
The next fight demands immediate area damage that the package cannot provide.