Monster Train 2: 12 Essential Beginner Tips

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Greetings! It seems that you might have started with Monster Train 2 without experiencing its predecessor. I regret to inform you that this may not provide the best gaming experience due to potential references or gameplay mechanics that were introduced in the original. If you’d like, I can help guide you through some resources where you can learn more about the first game before diving into Monster Train 2. Would that be of assistance?

In a completely open manner, let me say that I didn’t play it myself. However, when I looked into its sequel, I thought for sure that the 200+ hours I invested in Slay The Spire would give me an advantage at the start of this new game. But, to be honest with you, they didn’t.

While Monster Train 2 isn’t the most intricate deck builder globally, it certainly offers a deeper level of complexity compared to some beginner-friendly games in the genre. The game does an excellent job of making its systems and mechanics understandable, but there’s still a lot to grasp from the outset.

For veterans transitioning from the initial game, there won’t be any difficulties at all diving into the follow-up title; nevertheless, it’s always beneficial to brush up with a quick recap. If you’re new here, I strongly recommend you review the advice below to ensure a seamless start on your journey towards reaching your heavenly goal.

All aboard, Champions.

12.
Become A Student Of The Game Immediately

Read, Experiment, Learn, Fail, Repeat

Prepare yourself for a crucial point: Jumping into Monster Train 2 with an open and eager mind to learn is the first vital step in your deck-building adventure. The game introduces numerous terms and distinctive mechanics that require careful thought. It’s perfectly fine if you feel overpowered by these new concepts initially.

To master the game swiftly, it’s highly recommended that you thoroughly read all the explanations provided. Whenever there’s an opportunity to add a card or choose a Champion, use the extra moment to comprehend every explanation offered for each buff, debuff, skill, spell, and so on. Some concepts might not become clear until you see them in play, but it’s essential to establish a solid foundation of knowledge first.

Feel free to explore various strategies by tinkering with build structures, placing units thoughtfully, choosing cards wisely, and optimizing upgrades. You will experience setbacks, but remember that Monster Train 2 is a game that relies on numbers and mathematical principles. If you observe the game’s progress closely, you’ll always be able to discern why your strategies are triumphing or leading to total collapse.

This game is a type of roguelike, meaning multiple plays are essential for success. Feel free to consider your initial tries as opportunities for learning rather than failures.

11.
Stay With The Default Primary Clan For Now

Fel Can Carry Your Entire Run

In each game, you can choose a main faction and a supportive one. Each faction offers distinct cards for your deck, troops to field during the game, and a Champion who is added to your hand at the beginning of each fight, providing unique abilities.

At first, you will find yourself with just two choices: The Banished and The Pyreborne. By selecting one of these as your main clan, you’ll gain access to all their cards or units. However, this decision affects which Champion you can deploy in combat during your campaign.

1) Choosing the Banished as your main faction grants access to Fel as your champion. Opt for the Pyreborne, and you’ll receive Lord Fenix instead.

To put it simply, utilizing Fel’s special ability and constantly adding Valor to her makes her incredibly powerful. In contrast, even in an early fight, she outperforms Lord Fenix significantly in terms of carrying the team.

As a devoted enthusiast, I must say that Fel’s multi-strike skill, when properly boosted with a substantial amount of Valor, consistently dishes out over 200 points of damage per strike on the baseline Covenant Zero challenge – frankly, it’s downright mind-boggling!

10.
Stay At Covenant Zero Until You’re Winning Runs

We’re Talking About Practice

After stumbling on my initial playthrough in Monster Train 2, it promptly offers me the chance to tweak the game’s toughness, also known as the Covenant Level, right from the get-go. I can choose between Covenant Zero or Covenant One, with the sweet promise of additional cards and bonuses if I decide to step up to Covenant One.

Hold off for now. If you’re completely new to the game, Covenant Zero has enough cards that will help you win eventually, even if you’re not an expert yet. The lower difficulty level is ideal for getting familiar with the game’s mechanics and systems.

It would be more beneficial for you to gain a few victories with Covenant Zero initially, and only then consider increasing the difficulty. Start by mastering the basics, and gradually tackle higher challenges as you progress.

9.
Nail Down Your Unit Placement Strategies

Tanks Up Front, Glass Cannons In The Back

Feeling overwhelmed during unit placement during deployment can be quite common. To start, consider adopting this basic strategy:

1. Position your main offensive or defensive force in the center of your deployment zone for initial balance and control over key areas.
2. Place supporting units on either flank to reinforce your central force and ensure adequate coverage along both sides.
3. Deploy scout, reconnaissance, or other long-range units at the edges, allowing them to spot potential threats and gather valuable information from afar.
4. Lastly, position any specialized or heavy units, such as artillery or anti-aircraft guns, behind your main force, ready to provide support when needed.

  • Level 3: Your Champion (Fel or Lord Fenix, depending on Primary Clan choice)
  • Level 2: Spear Steward in back, Shield Steward in front
  • Level 1: Spear Steward in back, Shield Steward in front

In most cases, it is advisable to station units with high health in the front as they will often be targeted by attacking foes. This role is typically filled by your Shield Steward during the early game, due to their higher health points. Your Spear Steward, though capable of delivering powerful blows, has significantly lower health, so it’s best to position them towards the back where they can strike enemies without worrying about direct attacks.

As a seasoned gamer, I always position my Champion strategically, at the forefront of my team on the train’s highest deck. This tactical placement serves as my final bulwark. For my character Fel, it offers the extra advantage of allowing me to build up her Valor, transforming her into an unstoppable force by the time enemies breach the third floor.

In your progression, this fundamental approach remains valid when you acquire superior troops. Often, it becomes advantageous to swap out the foot soldiers serving as stewards with a strategy of having tanks at the front and snipers or high-damage units at the back.

8.
Prevent Damage By Attacking From Your Hand

You’re The First Line Of Defense

If your units lack a ‘Quick’ trait, they’ll invariably be targeted first in combat. Therefore, mastering the initial moves during the card-playing phase, prior to the units engaging, is crucial for securing an advantageous position.

As a die-hard fan, you’ll frequently find the Firestarter card in your grip, ready to unleash 1 Damage point onto an adversary, while also bestowing upon them 2 Pyregel tokens – these can be accumulated for extra punch!

It may appear minimal, but this amount is usually sufficient to eliminate some weaker adversaries before they can strike your forces.

Although they may not inflict significant harm individually, these adversaries can still accumulate damage rapidly. It’s always wise to eliminate them with cards in your hand at the outset, particularly if they are positioned at the front and obstruct your units from striking the stronger enemies hidden behind.

7.
Don’t Be Too Proud To Restart Or Undo

These Mechanics Are There For A Reason

In Monster Train 2, they provide a very helpful option for beginners, enabling you to restart any battle directly from the pause menu. Additionally, if you find yourself needing to repeat a specific turn due to a misclick or an unfortunate brain lapse, there’s even an “undo” button conveniently located on the screen’s right side for replaying that individual turn.

Some people who are particularly dedicated to their gaming skills might argue that using these features is comparable to save-scumming, and they may even suggest you feel embarrassed for utilizing them. However, personal preferences in gaming vary widely, so… whatever works best for you!

The creators of Monster Train 2 intended these choices for a specific purpose – they can help you essentially have endless lives and chances in every gameplay session. However, if you can still rest peacefully at night, there’s no significant issue with using them. Don’t shy away or be too arrogant to try again if you’re finding a battle particularly challenging. Learn from the experience instead!

6.
Only Take On Trials In The Early Run

Dollar Dollar Bills, Y’all

In each non-boss fight, you’ll have an opportunity to make the encounter more difficult by adding a trial. This will impose a penalty or challenge during the battle, but if you manage to win despite this added difficulty, you’ll receive additional gold as a reward.

If you’re feeling quite uncertain, you might want to skip these for now and focus on learning the ropes in Monster Train 2 instead. Additional gold can be very beneficial, but there’s no need to worry about it during the learning phase.

When you feel ready for the task, simply activate the Trial mode during the initial skirmishes of each game session. This additional income will help kickstart your journey successfully, and those early battles tend to be manageable once you have a grasp on the situation.

In simpler terms, avoid taking on additional trials as they become increasingly difficult and could potentially end your progress. Only attempt them when you’re absolutely certain of success.

5.
Spend Your Gold, But Do It Last During Each Intermission

Treat Yourself… Responsibly

Following every battle, you have the chance to choose your train’s path, exploring different merchants along the way. Here, you can mend your pyre, recruit extra troops, and engage in various other activities. The goods offered by these merchants require gold for purchase, and it’s highly recommended that you invest your wealth with them.

It’s wiser not to invest in upgrades for units straight away, as you might end up buying a more powerful unit right after, leaving you with insufficient funds that could have been better utilized on the second unit.

Feel free to explore anything along your journey in any sequence you prefer, as long as they are within the same region. Don’t feel obligated to visit a merchant first just because they appear at the beginning of your route. Try to accomplish all tasks without spending gold, and then visit the merchants to ensure you’re making the most cost-effective decisions for your team.

During battle intervals, I strongly recommend saving up as much as possible. You never know when your journey might unexpectedly conclude, so it’s wise to take advantage of opportunities to accumulate resources whenever they arise.

4.
Prioritize Routes With Artifacts And Unit Upgrades

The Easiest Way To Become OP

In Monster Train 2, following each fight, you get to decide the route for your train. Each chosen path results in distinct scenarios, bonuses, and enhancements.

Whenever your travel path offers a chance to acquire or buy an Artifact (equivalent to Relics in Slay The Spire), do so, as it provides a lasting advantage, benefit, or perk for your character.

1. You could use these items to double Valor, boost health and attack of your units, or increase the number of cards in your draw pile. In many cases, these Artifact choices can make you unstoppable during Covenant Zero games.

2. The artifacts can be used to enhance Valor, provide extra health and power for your troops, or add more cards to your deck. Frequently, using these items in Covenant Zero campaigns will give you an overwhelming advantage.

3. These artifacts could let you multiply your Valor, strengthen your units with additional health and attack, or expand the number of cards in your draw pile. In a lot of situations, employing these artifacts in Covenant Zero scenarios can make you incredibly powerful.

4. The artifact choices include doubling Valor, granting bonus health/attack for your troops, or increasing the size of your draw pile. Often, using them during Covenant Zero playthroughs will result in you becoming too strong to beat.

If there are no paths offering extra Artifacts, seek out paths where you can encounter the Merchant of Steel instead. With him, you’ll find exceptional enhancements for your troops, such as increased health, improved attack power, multiple strikes, and various other beneficial features.

3.
Culling Your Deck Is A Good Thing

Too Many Cards Means Too Many Options

In the world of gaming, there’s often an instinct to gather as many items as possible. However, this approach isn’t typically advantageous in deckbuilding games. Instead, it might be more beneficial to limit the number of extra cards you hold onto.

By paying a small fee or taking advantage of certain stops, merchants usually enable you to eliminate a card from your deck. There are also places along your journey that offer this service for free on occasion. With careful thought, it’s often prudent to reduce the number of cards in your draw pile.

After incorporating multiple advanced cards into your collection, it can be beneficial to eliminate the Spear and Shield Stewards primarily to increase the chances of pulling your upgraded cards during the deployment stage. This concept also holds true for other cards in your deck.

By continuously expanding your deck and identifying the cards that aren’t beneficial to you, it’s wise to invest in discarding those unused options. This way, you’ll have fewer cards, allowing for more frequent shuffles and reintroducing your preferred cards into the draw pile more frequently.

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2025-05-21 17:19