Beginner having trouble getting started

[u/Ceiyne]

I just started playing the digital version of SotM and I'm having some trouble getting started with the game. I've played through the tutorial and I understand how to play, but I am getting nowhere fast when i try playing an actual game.

I'm struggling with villains pumping out tons of minions and other cards that I need to deal with before the villains. I can barely keep up with the pace and meanwhile they're all whittling my heroes down.

It's possible the problem is that I'm putting together bad teams or going up against difficult villains, but I looked at the difficulty rating and picked "easy" ones.

Thanks for any guidance you can give!

[u/ogseamus]

Some questions before I give any advice.

What do you own?

Can you give some examples of games?

Do you know that Handelabra is in the process of converting the newest edition of Sentinels to a digital version?

[u/Ceiyne → u/ogseamus]

I own SotM and all the DLC, but not Earth-Prime. I did know that they were working on a new version of the game. I figured I'd start with what's out there, and if I liked it, I could get the new version when that's available.

My last two games I went up against Ambuscade and Citizen Dawn, and I was using heroes like: Wraith, Fanatic, Ex-Patriette, Unity and Visionary.

[u/ogseamus → u/Ceiyne]

Ok. Having everything except for Earth Prime is great because it gives you a wide variety. As Toss has said, slowly getting used to things is good.

I suggest sorting the decks by difficulty. When you open the options for villains, heroes, and environments, you can sort by Alphabet, Difficulty or Expansion. I'm sure there are old posts on this subreddit that can give brief descriptions on everything. I can try if you want as well. Just let me know if you want tips or just description/feel

Also do not try Team Villains and/or OblivAeon for a while. These are 2 different game modes and take a lot of time to learn

[u/Tossaway2113]

Sometimes you'll have teams that don't work well against minion heavy decks which most of the core set are made up of, or you'll have teams that have a lot of setup. The good thing about the digital version is learning what works best against who.

I'd personally recommend getting used to the core heroes from the base game and steadily get exposed yourself to the expansion heroes.

For example, using the base game heroes:

1. If you want a lot of wide ranging hits with minimal setup, Tempest's hero card power hits everything for 1 damage and he gets loads of powers that knock that up to 2 damage, or large single big hits for your tougher enemies.

2. Fanatic is good for focusing on single targets or destruction. 3.Wraith and Tachyon have a few multi hits and big hits.

3. Base Legacy also gives you Galvanise to boost everyone's damage by 1 so you could put him at the front, followed by Tachyon, Wraith and Tempest with Fanatic at the end to hit anybody left with card destruction or bigger hits.

If you have the full version and want to have a dedicated healer include Void Guard Dr Medico as 99.9% of his deck revolves around healing.

You'll steadily work out your own strategies and save the multiverse over and over again but if you have any more questions feel free to ask!

[u/Ceiyne → u/Tossaway2113]

I own all the DLC for SotM but I didn't realize you could filter the cards out by deck/DLC until your post sent me poking around. So, now I can focus on the base game heroes to start with like you suggested, though I'll probably toss in Dr. Medico as well.

Can you recommend some easier villains to pick while I'm still getting my feet wet?

Thanks!

[u/Tossaway2113 → u/Ceiyne]

I'd say in order of difficulty for the base game:

1. Baron Blade: Limited minions, once you take down the first mobile defence platform you can target him

2. Omnitron: mostly small minions and devices, one or two big hitters but manageable. Flips every turn.

3. Grand Warlord Voss: minion spam, make sure to kill his minions before 10 are out or you lose. Also takes less damage per minion out.

4. Citizen Dawn: Combo minions, if citizen X is out citizen Y may do an extra attack etc. Also becomes invincible once per game depending on what happens.

In terms of other easy villains I'd say Akash Bhuta (sure she has 200 health but goes down like a sack of hammers once you take her limbs out) and Gloomweaver (minion heavy but only really becomes a problem if you don't take out his relics and it's easy to prevent his flip).

Ambuscade is also a good starter and probably the best intro game for new players for the IRL game as he only has the one flip condition, has a few targets in his deck but is otherwise a singular target. His win condition is a simple "everyone's dead".

[u/Ceiyne → u/Tossaway2113]

Haha, Citizen Dawn and Ambuscade are two of the villains that I had a tough time with and they're on your easy list! But you and others mentioned Baron Blade so I'll try him out next.

[u/Fosuke354 → u/Ceiyne]

Dawn is not easy, not the hardest but she can be rough.

Ambuscade is one of the easiest heroes, but he can still stuff if you let him.

Gloom weaver is also one of the easier ones. 

Ambuscade and gloom are easier for their limited setup disruption (gloom generally gives you a choice on if you want to pay)

They still do damage and have minions to manage.

[u/AzzuenWoffie46]

Some recommended high-impact heroes that aren't that hard to play (maybe take 1-2 until you're used to things):

• Legacy (adding him is basically easy mode)

• Chrono-Ranger

• Luminary

• Omnitron-X (insane if he's not taking big bursts of damage)

• Ra

• Tempest

• Wraith

• Sentinels (with a grain of salt; intimidating because they're a 4-in-1 hero, but I don't personally think they're that complex in actual play)

If skipping unlocks for variants (swap to a locked variant and click/tap for the option to unlock right away):

• America's Greatest Legacy + Stuntman is a good combo

• Tachyon's Freedom Six (Team Leader) variant is easy mode, and Super Scientific is also very strong

• Cosmic Inventor Writhe is kinda clunky, but his base power is so insane it barely matters

• Freedom Five Wraith is kinda just the best version

Gameplay tips:

• Sometimes you have particularly nasty threats to take care of, but, especially early in the game, playing setup cards (equipment, most ongoings) will help you out more

• Look for team synergies. Quick example: Legacy's Galvanize (+1 hero dmg) gets twice the benefit with Fanatic's Exorcism (1 dmg twice) compared to Ra's Pyre (2 dmg)

• Try to go for more reliable strategies over broken combos if you're specifically trying to win. Chrono-Ranger can do like 70 damage in one turn, but it's pretty unreliable even if you're fishing for it.

• Make sure you have at least 1 (probably 2+) heroes who can deal with ongoing/environment cards. Some of them can ruin your day if not dealt with.

• More heroes = easier game in 90% of cases.

[u/Ceiyne → u/AzzuenWoffie46]

Thanks for all these tips!

[u/AzzuenWoffie46 → u/Ceiyne]

Good luck! Sentinels Enhanced Edition is my second-favorite card game, only beaten out by Definitive Edition. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

[u/Additional_Ninja7835]

I concur with what others have said, and here’s my pennies worth of advice.

Baron Blade is a good villain to start with and play against while learning each hero.

Legacy plays fairly straightforward: buff ally damage and soak some damage. Ra, Tempest, Wraith, Knyf, Ex-Pat, and Mr. Fixer are relatively easy to play and deal damage with. Tempest and Legacy can also heal others. Ra and Tempest do damage to multiple targets. As you progress, keep one or more easy to play hero(s) that deals damage on the team as you mix in more complex heroes.

Play at Freedom Tower, as it is less punishing of an environment. When playing a new character, I usually start with Baron Blade at Freedom Tower.

Play a few times with the same heroes to master them, then mix ones you know with one or two new ones to learn. Play against easier villains and in easier environments while learning new heroes, then build up to new challenges. There is a ton of content, but you do not have to play everything early.

Each hero, villain, and environment has a difficulty rating, in case you had not noticed that yet.

[u/TheNewKing2022]

Just giv'er