Join me for a deep dive into Watcher gameplay strategy, where I’ll break down decision-making around cards, pathing, and synergies. This walkthrough focuses on Act 1 with a commentary-style approach to help you think like a Watcher main.

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Starting Out with Pandora’s Box

Pandora’s Box is a high-risk, high-reward starting relic. It replaces your starting Strikes and Defends, giving you random cards. In this run, it turned out to be a great pick, offering three different stance-manipulation cards—essential tools for The Watcher’s core mechanics. One highlight is Deva Form, which gives scaling energy, a key to longer fights and flexible turns. Prioritize upgrading it early to remove the Ethereal tag and ensure long-term value.

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Pathing Strategy in Act 1

Early question mark events are extremely valuable. They can offer gold, relics, and card removals without requiring combat. I chose a path heavy on events early with flexibility to decide whether to take the elite fight based on how my deck shaped up by the first campfire.

• Early Card Removal: At the first opportunity, I paid 7 HP to remove a weak card. Prioritize removing non-synergistic cards early, even at a health cost.
• Golden Idol & Greed Events: Taking the curse to obtain extra gold is often worth it, especially when it can fund elite shops or relics later. Avoiding a second curse by taking HP damage was the better trade-off here.

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Key Early Card Picks

• Simmering Fury: Excellent for early scaling and hand generation. Enter Wrath, retain energy, and draw next turn.
• Crescendo: Retain-based stance entry—priceless when upgraded to cost 0. Great for burst turns and control.
• Empty Body: Always have a way to exit Wrath. It’s your lifeline when fights turn deadly.
• Wallop: Helps sustain through tough hits while dealing damage. Good in Act 1 even if not ideal for infinite builds.

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Strategic Upgrades

• Deva Form: First upgrade—removes Ethereal, making it reliable.
• Crescendo (later): Makes it cost 0, enabling precise Wrath entry.

Whenever a campfire appears, weigh rest vs. upgrade based on HP and upcoming challenges. I took conservative rests before elites to avoid risk. Conservative pathing allows greater long-term success and more consistent Act 2 entries.

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Combat Highlights

• Against Elites and stronger hallway fights, the plan is to cycle between Wrath and Calm every turn. Use tools like Simmering Fury, Crescendo, and Empty Body to keep stance control tight.
• Powers like Deva Form and draw boosts set up strong turns where you can burst down enemies.
• Always try to end turns in Calm to regain energy and reduce exposure.

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End of Act 1 and Boss Choices

By the end of Act 1, I had built over 500 gold. Hitting a shop early in Act 2 is a priority to capitalize on that economy.

• Ragnarok: Great pick for Act 2. Synergizes with strength scaling and helps in multi-enemy fights.
• Vault: Fun but risky. Not chosen here because of its unpredictability.

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Shop & Card Management

Skipped Sozu and Coffee Dripper as boss relics—energy wasn’t a huge issue yet, and skipping potions or rest options would limit future flexibility.

At the shop:

• Removed a curse.
• Removed Flying Sleeves to keep deck tighter and more consistent.

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Closing Thoughts for Act 1

This run showcases the power of early event room investments, smart relic trades, and deliberate deck pruning. By carefully managing stance entries and exits, energy, and upgrades, The Watcher can dominate even before the infinite comes online.

Stay tuned for Act 2! If this breakdown helped, leave a COA (Comment of Appreciation), and I’ll keep the series going. Thanks for watching!