Hey everyone!

I've recently started playing the Downfall mod and have been having so much fun. Considering the quality of the mod (a full blown expansion!) and how it's now on its own Steam page, I was quite surprised to see so little discussion about it on the internet.

I'm particularly interested in finding guides, tips or streamers of the mod, because it would be cool to have experienced players' opinions on the new classes' cards and such.

Personally, I've gathered some thoughts about the different classes and what seems to be their strong points or cards (haven't tried the Hermit yet though), feel free to discuss them if you have an opinion on it!

The Slime Boss: seems to be a very strong class, the split mechanic particularly seems very strong due to how absorbed slimes recycle themselves into strength scaling. The basic split into 2 random slimes card seems to be an immediate upgrade, because the versatility granted by the choice of the two slimes seems to make it absolutely game-winning against the Act 1 bosses (AoE and shield against Turrets, damage and goop against Nob, shield and damage/goop against Laga for example) and overall, throughout the whole game. The Duplicate Form seems to allow the Slime Boss to really shine in the late game, as a less powerful Echo Form but on a class that is so strong in the early.

The Guardian: don't have as much to say about them since I haven't played them that much, but the gem manipulation seems like it can be abused in a lot of ways, since it's more of a deckbuilding possibility rather than an in-combat mechanic. The fact that gems can be used on their own makes it so that they don't feel that horrible to collect between two campfires, at least if the deck operates with 3 energy, and some stasis cards seem to be bonkers (the common one that deals damage and then draws for 2 ticks, just wow lol).

The Hexaghost: holy crap, they're busted, come on lol. First off, the afterlife cards really seem to aid in the early game / during hallway fights (I'm thinking specifically about the 8 dmg AoE one, and the block + draw one, which are also common so easy to find early on) due to being free. And against bosses and longer fights, this plus the self-exhaust means that except from being drawn once, they don't interfere much with your scaling plans / global strategy. That aside, the fact that there are so many ways to advance and ignite the ghostflames seems to indicate that this class is very abusable and an absolute killing machine in the hands of an experienced player. The third ghostflame seems particularly scary to build around (strength scaling). I'm not sure about the retract package because those cards seem like awful early draws, but during longer fights, the ability to generate energy AND draw when retracting must enable some crazy combos (and remember, no Time Eater in Downfall lol). Lastly, while completing the Seals' sidequest seems to be a meme in higher ascensions, some Seals seem to have potential to be played standalone (First, Third and maybe even Fourth?).

The Champ: haven't played much of them, but they seem similar to the Watcher due to their stance mechanic. While the Watcher's third stance, divinity, is more of a "meme" compared to the regular OP calm-wrath stance switch gameplay, the Champ's ultimate stance seems to be extremely strong and worth building around, due to the fact that it renews itself on stance switch/exit. Once again, I don't have enough experience on them so maybe I'm completely wrong lol.

The Automaton: very interesting function mechanic. Potential to be abused with the 0 cost encode cards especially, since the functions themselves already cost a very noticeable 1 mana. While the function mechanic seems WAY too strong on earlier ascensions, I imagine that the Automaton's strength diminishes on higher ascensions, due to how their gameplan seems to be much slower (you have to construct the functions before playing them and thus thin and improve your deck for the rest of the battle). Hopefully, the fact that there is AoE encode (the common bullet deal 6 to everything) as well as ways to stabilize later on (the encoding repair, which can then be copied in the next 2 functions with that one power for up to 21-24 healing per fight) must mean that this character must still be pretty good as the ascensions get harder.

The Gremlins: they are definitely one of the most interesting and unique characters imo. They seem to have a lot of ways to be built (wiz, weak, shield, strength, Nob, shiv, ...) which means that an experienced player could really do wonders of deckbuilding and find the most appropriate playstyle in a given game. The design of a lot of their cards is extremely well thought out since they enable synergies in different playstyles (Pinprick can be used at utmost efficiency in both weak and sneaky/shiv builds, while the 0 mana 3 block cards can be used in both shield and wiz builds, for instance). They also seem to operate very well at 3 energy, which means that you could maybe prioritize other more specific boss relics than energy-related ones, such as the one that revives gremlins, since losing gremlins seems to be this class' biggest weakness (can completely lock away a part of your gameplan for some time if you lose an important gremlin). Finally, a comical amount of dmage can be dealt with strength/wiz build-up and the fan-of-knives-like card (1 mana common, deal 3 AoE twice) against both single AND multiple targets, due to the fact that the card is both AoE and strength-scaling, since its damage is dealt twice (or thrice if upgraded). That card seems to be one of the Gremlins' strongest staples.

The Snecko: definitely my favorite lol. At first, they seemed rather weak, but once you begin focusing entirely on unidentified cards, you begin to realize how this character enables incredible gameplans. The strategy isn't always obvious but it's surprisingly consistent: by focusing on picking unidentified cards with potential (synergy within the 4-class combination) and trying to hit the most campfires (or memorize cards) to identify them, you end up with a deck that is quite specialized in whatever your gameplan is. There seems to be a MASSIVE gap of power between adding an Exotic Form to your deck and not, though, as this card enables almost-infinite combos, in the vein of exhaust/corruption Ironclad, provided you've identified the adequate cards (0 cost cards in particular). As a result, the Snecko feels almost invincible once their form is online, and can feel lackluster if they don't have it, which can feel frustrating at times. Lastly, the Snecko's own class cards all seem to support their distinctive playstyle by either energy-cheating, or by manipulating low-rolls of unidentified cards (using "Nope" on bad cards, for example). Haven't tried "Transmogrify" yet but relic manipulation is one hell of a concept lmao.

Those were my thoughts, thanks for reading and feel free to comment if you want, or if you know external resources/streamers focused on the Downfall mod!