Finally beat Jokerless.

I did it with A five of a kind build based on twos. I didn’t get telescope but had good enough early game economy and a lucky spectral card.

That also means I’ve beaten all the challenges. Honestly cruelty was harder and I feel like Jokerless just makes you develop a better understanding of how to actually play Balatro.

  • SuperSpruce@lemmy.zip
    2·
    2 months ago

    I won after a dozen or so attempts by going for something similar: 4 of a kind Aces. A couple Grims in some early spectral packs helped immensely in drawing that hand consistently.

    • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.worldOP
      1·
      2 months ago

      yeah for me this was the biggest learning: you almost can’t do it with basic hand types.

      I had plenty of excellent runs with straight or flush, but you basically can’t scale past ante 4/5 on a straight or flush build.

      Five of a kind is the easiest nonstandard has to build into, and if you can get a telescope, it’s linear scaling is close to enough to get you through to the end.

      Five of a kind aces would be my target because of cryptid, death, grim, and if you are really lucky, ouija.

      But realistically, just ouija early and then build around that.

      I don’t think 4 of a kind scales well enough to make it past ante 6/7

    • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      2 months ago

      Golden needle is 100% about getting to $25+ in the bank before the end of ante two. Save your time by not playing past ante if you don’t have the economy. $25 in the bank gives you everything to basically ignore the hand cost.

      Also, its got five joker spots. Which after cruelty feels like cheating.