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It’s rare for anything in the world of The Witcher to be easy, and Rogue Mage is no exception, challenging players with a blend of deckbuilding and roguelike elements. The player must choose a deck, modify it as they go, and ultimately slay the boss who waits at the end of their journey. Each deck has its own advantages and disadvantages to learn. This guide explains the fundamentals of the starting deck, Bulwark.
The Basics Of Bulwark
Bulwark is the first deck that players receive, and it’s one of the easiest to learn, which is helpful for beginners. In many games, starter decks are soon outclassed by the other decks that players unlock. Bulwark remains a solid pick throughout the game, even after the next deck is unlocked at level 15, thanks to its simple strategy and effective cards.
The main mechanic around which the deck is built is boosting: increasing the power of cards. In Rogue Mage, power serves two purposes: it acts as the card’s health (allowing the card to survive attacks), and it adds to the player’s victory points. The player with the most points at the end wins, so the same points that keep one’s forces alive will lead the player to victory. For Bulwark’s boosting strategy, this couldn’t be more convenient.
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The player doesn’t have a huge amount of control over their deck thanks to RNG during the run, so understanding the deck’s fundamentals is a must. The basic Bulwark strategy is to boost one’s own troops as much as possible, keeping them alive despite enemy pressure and ensuring that the player has enough points to come out on top.
Alzur’s friend, the sorceress Lylianna, is the deck’s leader, adding 3 strength to one of the player’s cards on the table whenever the player casts a spell. Since one of the starting spells (Cleanse) already allows the player to boost a card by 3, it’s not hard to buff even the weakest grunt into something impressive, given a little time.
Important Cards And Strategy
Temerian Drummer boosts the card to its right by 1 each turn, which can produce massive buffs if played early but is less effective in the late game, since each match is capped at 10 turns. This card pairs well with Tridam Infantry, which damages a random enemy unit by 1 whenever it is boosted. For players who want more control over their damage, Aedirnian Mauler is a great alternative, since its Order damages an enemy by the amount that Aedirnian Mauler has been boosted. That’s useful no matter how many hours players have in this Witcher title.
Ramon Tyrconnel and One-Eyed Betsy are exceptions to the deck’s boosting strategy, providing additional cards and damage instead. Prince Stennis, Recruit, and Zoltan Chivy provide significant, one-time boosts thanks to their Deploy abilities, which helps keep valuable cards like Tridam Infantry alive late into the match. Vysogota of Corvo has a unique boosting Order that gains a Charge whenever the player draws a card, letting the player continually strengthen their board as long as they keep drawing.
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Key cards are one of the game’s best and most surprising features, and Bulwark’s key cards all play around the theme of boosting, synergizing well with the rest of the deck. The player’s choice of key card here is largely a matter of taste.
When it comes to the starting spells, the player should always cast Cleanse over Thunder unless they need to clear a dangerous card from the board, since Lylianna’s power buffs a card whenever Cleanse is cast, doubling the potential boost and comboing with other effects. Portal can be powerful but more situational, so the player must learn to use it well.
Gwent: Rogue Mage is available for PC, Android, and iOS.
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