Ironclad Guide
Spend health for tempo, then make the trade pay you back.
Take enough front-loaded damage to survive Act 1, then follow the engine the run actually gives you. Vulnerable is the easiest floor-one bridge; Exhaust and self-damage become plans only after you own both a trigger and a payoff.
Start with the engine
How Ironclad actually wins
Ironclad can absorb a few rough trades because Burning Blood heals 6 HP after combat. That does not make health free. The good trade is losing 2 or 3 HP to end a fight one turn earlier; the bad trade is paying HP for a setup that still lets the enemy attack again.
His best decks are usually mixed. Vulnerable provides immediate damage, Exhaust cleans out weak cards and turns them into Block or draw, while self-damage can buy Energy and Strength. Pick the pieces that solve the next fight first, then connect them once the rewards give you a real loop.
Floor-one priorities
Act 1: draft answers, not a fantasy deck
- 01 Add damage that works alone
Headbutt, Pommel Strike, Iron Wave and Dismantle help immediately. They remain useful even if the matching dream package never appears.
- 02 Bring one answer for groups
Breakthrough, Stomp, Whirlwind or Conflagration can cover multi-enemy fights. One reliable area card is a solution; three average ones are deck bloat.
- 03 Repair the Block ratio
After adding attacks, look for Shrug It Off, Flame Barrier or Blood Wall. Burning Blood pays after combat and cannot save a hand that has no defense now.
- 04 Demand both halves of an engine
Rupture without repeatable self-damage and Feel No Pain without active Exhaust are promises, not working cards. Take the self-sufficient enablers first.
- 05 Skip rewards with no current job
Ask whether the card improves the next elite, group fight or boss. A card that is only good after two more specific rewards makes Bash and your real answers harder to draw.
Three packages to recognize
Ironclad builds that have a real game plan
Treat these as packages, not shopping lists. Move in when you already own the signal cards; keep taking standalone answers when the package has not shown up.
Vulnerable pressure
The cleanest Act 1 route: keep Vulnerable up, then let efficient and multi-hit attacks cash it in.
- Core cards
- Bash · Taunt · Tremble · Molten Fist · Dismantle
- Support
- Vicious · Colossus · Cruelty · Dominate · Sword Boomerang
- Relics
- Paper Phrog · Bag of Marbles · Ruined Helmet · Shuriken
How a turn plays: Apply Vulnerable before attacking. With Dominate, stack the debuff first, convert it to Strength, then spend the remaining Energy on multi-hit damage.
What breaks it: 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.
Exhaust–Block engine
Remove weak cards during combat, turn that cleanup into Block and draw, then loop the compact deck that remains.
- Core cards
- True Grit · Burning Pact · Feel No Pain · Second Wind · Dark Embrace
- Support
- Evil Eye · Drum of Battle · Ashen Strike · Pact's End · Fiend Fire
- Relics
- Charon's Ashes · Joss Paper · Anchor · Bag of Preparation
How a turn plays: Put Feel No Pain and Dark Embrace in play before the large Exhaust turn. Then Second Wind or Fiend Fire becomes defense, card flow and deck compression at the same time.
What breaks it: Exhausting the only cards that solve a long fight. Trim Strikes and spent setup first; keep enough recurring Block and damage for the turns after the fireworks.
Self-damage Strength
Pay small, controlled amounts of HP for Energy, Block and Strength, then multiply the Strength with repeated hits.
- Core cards
- Rupture · Bloodletting · Blood Wall · Inferno · Crimson Mantle
- Support
- Spite · Sword Boomerang · Conflagration · Tear Asunder · Offering
- Relics
- Self-Forming Clay · Red Skull · Ruined Helmet · Centennial Puzzle
How a turn plays: Play Rupture before Bloodletting or Offering. Use the new Energy to defend and finish with multi-hit attacks so every point of Strength is counted more than once.
What breaks it: Treating Burning Blood as permission to bleed without a tempo gain. If paying HP does not shorten the fight or build a decisive turn, the deck is simply damaging itself.
Items worth changing your plan for
Recommended relics and why they fit
Paper Phrog
Vulnerable is already present in the starting deck, so the stronger multiplier has value before any dedicated package exists.
It amplifies attacks; it does not fix weak draw or defense.Charon's Ashes
Every Exhaust becomes area damage, letting deck cleanup help solve multi-enemy fights.
Do not Exhaust essential long-fight cards just to trigger it.Self-Forming Clay
Repeatable self-damage turns into Block on the next turn, smoothing the health-for-tempo exchange.
The Block is delayed, so it cannot rescue the current hit.Bag of Preparation
A larger opening hand finds Bash, Powers and early Block before the enemy gets a free setup turn.
More cards only help if the deck can afford or cycle them.Execution wins close fights
How to pilot the deck cleanly
- Apply Vulnerable, build or double its stacks, then attack. Reversing that order wastes the multiplier.
- With an Exhaust deck, play Feel No Pain and Dark Embrace before Second Wind or Fiend Fire so the fuel pays you back.
- If Unmovable is active, save its first-Block-card doubling for the biggest Block card instead of spending it on a casual Defend.
- In self-damage turns, play Rupture before Bloodletting or Offering, then use multi-hit attacks after the Strength gain.
- Headbutt is often a second copy of the exact card you need next turn: Bash, Offering, Second Wind or a finisher.
- Use Cascade and other automatic-play effects only after checking which target-dependent or hand-consuming card they could fire.
Common mistakes
- Taking every Strength card. Strength multiplies damage but does not supply draw, Block or a safe first two turns.
- Taking the payoff before the trigger. A lone Rupture or Feel No Pain makes the first deck cycle worse.
- Avoiding Exhaust because the deck might run out. The point is to remove weak cards; the real risk is removing the recurring answer you still need.
- Relying on Burning Blood instead of drafting defense. Healing after combat cannot Block the attack in front of you.
- Reading Main and Beta rarity changes as cosmetic. Reward frequency changes when Taunt, Cruelty and Dominate move rarity.
Current experimental branch
What Beta v0.111.0 changes for Ironclad
Beta v0.111.0 keeps the improved Vulnerable shell and adds another Ironclad balance pass, including a reworked Expect a Fight and stronger Rampage. It does not remove the need for draw and defense.
It becomes a credible front-loaded attack while still reducing enemy Strength for the turn.
The slow Power now reaches a useful breakpoint one turn sooner in long fights.
The baseline Vulnerable package appears more often, though each copy blocks slightly less.
The multiplier is easier to find while the explosive Vulnerable-to-Strength payoff is less reliable.
The latest beta gives Ironclad a more concrete Strength payoff while making Expect a Fight a larger setup investment.