How to Unlock Hit The Road Joker in Balatro

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Achieving success in Balatro involves a blend of various collaborating characters, or Jokers, that complement each other. Balatro’s ‘Hit The Road’ Joker handles the Multiplier aspect, but you must first unlock it, and once unlocked, understanding its proper application is essential.

In the game I play, called Balatro, my runs of Chips have been heavily skewed, with a similar situation occurring for Mult. However, the powerful Plasma Deck can address these imbalances. If you’re using a different deck, it’s advantageous to have dependable Jokers that can significantly boost your score. The Hit The Road Joker performs this function exceptionally well in Spades, and also in Clubs, Hearts, and Diamonds.

In Balatro, there are more than 150 Jokers, including the Brainstorm Joker, making it challenging to remember all the conditions needed to unlock them. However, Hit The Road has a unique and strategically demanding condition for activation.

How to Get Hit The Road Joker in Balatro

You need to discard five Jacks simultaneously to unlock the Hit The Road Joker in Balatro.

It’s understandable if you think, “This seems unattainable!”, as that was my initial thought as well. However, imagine situations where you possess not one, but five Jacks at once – would that ever cross your mind?

If you’re struggling, here are some ways to artificially manufacture a hand of five Jacks:

  • Purchase Standard Packs to have a chance of adding new Jacks to your deck—Jumbo Packs are ideal.
  • Open Arcana Packs to get Tarot Cards capable of altering your held cards:
    • Strength: Increases the rank of up to 2 selected cards by 1—If you have two 10s, they can become Jacks.
    • The Hanged Man: Destroys two cards—Destroy any cards other than Jacks.
    • Death: Select 2 cards, convert the left card into the right card—Move any card to the left of a Jack, select them both, and use Death to turn a card into a Jack.
  • Spectral Cards are far less consistent, but they can make your job easier:
    • Ouija: Converts all cards in hand to a single random rank, but -1 hand size—Need a lot of luck with this one, but it could turn many cards into Jacks.
    • Cryptid: Creates 2 exact copies (including Enhancements, Editions, and Seals) of a selected card in your hand.
  • The DNA Joker adds a permanent copy of the selected card to your deck which you can immediately draw to hand, but only if your first hand of the round has one card. You can copy many Jacks this way, but it’s a Rare Joker, so don’t expect to see it as often.

What Does Hit The Road Joker do in Balatro?

In the game “Hit The Road,” you begin with a multiplier of 1. For every Jack discarded during a single round, the multiplier increases by 0.5. However, it’s important to note that the multiplier resets back to 1 at the end of each round.

In simpler terms, every time you get rid of a Joker in a single game, it makes the next Joker you play with more powerful. Specifically, if you discard three Jokers before starting your first hand, that particular card will have a 2.5 times multiplier effect.

Should You Get Hit The Road in Balatro?

This card, “Hit The Road,” heavily relies on the Jack cards you currently have in your deck. However, I believe its exceptional quality as a Joker makes it hard to ignore.

In simpler terms, the Red Deck provides an additional discard during each round, and both Wasteful and Recyclomancy Store Vouchers offer the same extra discard option. By constructing your deck around these characteristics, you’ll have more discard opportunities, which increases your chances of drawing Jacks. Utilizing all the strategies mentioned earlier ensures a substantial multiplier in each round.

So, if you ensure you have an adequate supply of chips alongside your strong multi-potentiality, navigating through the later stages of the game shouldn’t be a problem. Just be cautious of the Boss Blinds who might try to counter your strategy.

  • The Fish: Cards drawn face down after each hand played.
  • The Water: Start with 0 discards.
  • The Mark: All face cards are drawn face down.

As a member of the Balatro community, I’ve found myself utterly captivated by the allure of “Hit The Road” among our favorite cards. However, I can’t help but wonder if perhaps its renown is somewhat overstated. Or maybe, like me, you’re finding it a bit challenging to uncover the secrets that unlock this elusive treasure?

Explore additional Balatro material such as top-rated Seeds in Balatro, as well as understanding the function of the Blank Voucher.

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2025-01-10 14:17