[Pirate Outlaws] It's like Slay the Spire with Pirates!

MNC Dover · July 2020

Yaaarr! Welcome to the Pirates Outlaws thread! Set sail as your favorite captain in search of adventure, repute, and loot!

OK, so what is Pirates Outlaws?
Basically, PO is a roguelike card game that borrows heavily from Slay the Spire. While it's very similar, it does have it's own mechanics so it's not a one for one copy. It's not as deep as StS, but it's much faster and the variety in games comes from the multitude of characters and levels to choose from.

Where can I play it?
The game is available on Steam ($19.99), iOS ($0.99), and Android ($0.99).

What? Why the huge price difference?
Well, the mobile versions of the game requires a lot of grinding which isn't found on Steam. The game features two in-game currencies on mobile: gold and repute. You earn both by beating the game. Gold is used to unlock characters, levels, skins, and permanent buffs. Repute is a progression gate that is required to unlock characters, levels, and so forth. On Steam, the game does away with gold and you only need repute to unlock things.

So the game is way cheaper on mobile, but requires a lot of grinding gold to unlock things. On Steam, you pay more upfront, but unlock things with a lot less hassle over time. Find which one works best for you! Of course, it's probably best to wait for a sale on Steam before picking it up.

Side note: If you do play on mobile (which I've been doing), I'd highly recommend you buy the "Upgrade Pack" for $2.99 which doubles your gold, exp, and repute rewards. It greatly reduces the grind.

I love Slay the Spire! What's some of the similarities and differences between the games?
Things that PO shares in common with StS:

Deckbuilding
Relics
Energy (called Ammo in PO)
Selectable Pathing
3 levels with bosses
Unlockables after runs end
Combat w/enemy intents
Different characters with unique playstyles

Ways that PO plays differently than StS:

Attacks are melee or ranged. Melee attacks cost no Ammo, but can (generally) only target the front enemy.
Ammo is spent on skills and ranged attacks. Also, it does NOT refill between rounds. You have to play Ammo cards to restore Ammo.
Armor you gain DOES carry over between rounds. It's only lost when it takes damage.
Enemies can be in one of three spaces. The closest enemy to you can be hit by melee or ranged attacks. Anyone in the back can only be hit by ranged.
You can only have one status effect at a time. If the enemy debuffs you, simply play a buff on yourself. Of course, this means you might override your own buffs too.
Your cannot hold more than 5 cards at a time. Excess cards drawn are discarded.
You MUST select a card/relic after each battle. On the plus side, you can reroll your choices for a little bit of gold.
You can only hold 5 relics (up to 7 w/unlocks), but you can sell your Relics for extra money.
Sailing around the map is just like the pathing in StS, but it costs Action Points to move from area to area. Manage that AP or your sunk!
There are Markets and Taverns in the game. Markets sell cards and relics and allow you to upgrade your cards. Taverns sell AP refills, HP refills, purchase relics you want to be rid of, and allow you to remove cards from your deck.
There's no Daily Runs or Modifiers, but there is a 100 floor, pure combat Arena mode for creating crazy broken decks.

Hmmm...let's see some gameplay!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lov-syv9GlY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlSTXHHUXLQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2OOf4p4kDU

shalmelo · July 2020

This looks rad, and there's a good chance that I'll pick it up for my phone if the UI is intelligible at that size, but damn if "it's like slay the spire, but with ________ and ________" isn't 2020's game pitch of the year.

Signed,
a dude who has put 25+ hours into both Monster Train and Griftlands whilst working from home

MNC Dover · July 2020

I just unlocked the 3rd character. His ability is that he starts the game with a powered up relic and gets an extra relic slot and a 4th card choice.

I beat the game on my first run with him. Found a relic that gives you another card selection so I was able to pick from 5 choices after every fight. I was pretty crazy.

I just need to RNG into the last boss I haven’t faced on the first level of the ocean map to complete my quest. After that, I think I’ll save up to unlock the next world, which looks to be undead themed.

MNC Dover · July 2020

I hope I'm not the only one playing this game! It's fantastic! Where you at @The Zombie Penguin?

Just unlocked the second map, Skull Island. Got to the final boss on my first run, but didn't know their mechanic was that they heal to the max of the healthiest one. Unfortunately, my deck was heavily melee focused, so any damage I did to the front guy got healed up. Next time I'll know to bring a mix of melee and ranged against them.

The Zombie Penguin · July 2020

MNC Dover wrote: »

I hope I'm not the only one playing this game! It's fantastic! Where you at @The Zombie Penguin?

Just unlocked the second map, Skull Island. Got to the final boss on my first run, but didn't know their mechanic was that they heal to the max of the healthiest one. Unfortunately, my deck was heavily melee focused, so any damage I did to the front guy got healed up. Next time I'll know to bring a mix of melee and ranged against them.

Broke! I spent over 200 NZD on a weighted blanket so uh, i'm not buying games for a while >.>

akjak · July 2020

Imma try this out, I like the art style

MNC Dover · July 2020

akjak wrote: »

Imma try this out, I like the art style

You should, it's really good. I'm not super into like StS, but it's fun as a pick-up-and-play game.

akjak · August 2020

So two things:

Not exactly perfect info like StS. Fought a boss who was somehow applying “Injury” to me and I have no idea how.

And what do the different AP costs of islands mean? Will a cheaper one be a harder or easier battle than an expensive one?

MNC Dover · August 2020

As far as be found, the AP costs have no bearing on anything. If you have a cheaper path to a destination, then take it.

And yeah, some of the enemies (and bosses) have certain perks you may have to discover the hard way. Like on one run in the next world, the pair of bosses healed each other to the highest HP. Since I only had one Ranged Attack, all the damage I did to the front enemy got healed back.

The only other unclear thing you can run into is having a Mark. When something is Marked, it takes double damage. The enemy’s attack damage won’t reflect the double.

mageormike · August 2020

I am enjoying this so far! I am not too good but still learning the game.

akjak · August 2020

So there seems to be no way to defeat that thorny boss. *Any* damage you do (except maybe magic/tentacles?) stacks injured on you and you just die.

Or be ready to overwrite the injury with something else every single turn?

Bad UI guys. No tooltip to indicate it’s going to happen so you can’t even make strategic choices. Ugh.

Oh, and the quest objectives are horribly unexplained too. They seem more like just more locked achievements for all the guidance they give.

MNC Dover · August 2020

akjak wrote: »

So there seems to be no way to defeat that thorny boss. *Any* damage you do (except maybe magic/tentacles?) stacks injured on you and you just die.

Or be ready to overwrite the injury with something else every single turn?

Bad UI guys. No tooltip to indicate it’s going to happen so you can’t even make strategic choices. Ugh.

Oh, and the quest objectives are horribly unexplained too. They seem more like just more locked achievements for all the guidance they give.

Yeah, the thorn boss isn't that bad if you override the the status affliction. Since you can see him coming, just try and find a buff. He's a lot easier with the Swordmaster if you've unlocked her yet. Things get even easier as you unlock perma-buffs from the shop.

schuss · August 2020

I've been playing it on my phone for years. It's great.

akjak · August 2020

I must be just really bad. I've played a million hours of this, unlocked a bunch of things and pirates... and haven't won even one time.

I have 0 quest progress on anything, and I feel like I'm forever spinning my wheels. It's way more punishing than Slay the Spire, (which I don't win at a lot either) in that a single bad turn is usually the end of your run. This may be a bit TOO "rogue" for me.

schuss · August 2020

Eh, each class has its thing and honestly the biggest factor is upgraded cards, closely followed by artifacts. Key cards to upgrade:
As gunslinger - the autocrit one goes from 1-2 guaranteed. Couple with the life on crit or big damage cards and this is huge. Bleeding decks are also a thing.

Beyond that, check what boss is there as that will dictate what cards to pick. For example:
Thorny guy? You want self debuffs/buffs that will replace the wound (can only have one buff/debuffs active at a time) or just go wound yourself to never build up stacks.
Commander with summons? AOE/multi hit to clear trash for more DPS on the boss.

MNC Dover · August 2020

akjak wrote: »

I must be just really bad. I've played a million hours of this, unlocked a bunch of things and pirates... and haven't won even one time.

I have 0 quest progress on anything, and I feel like I'm forever spinning my wheels. It's way more punishing than Slay the Spire, (which I don't win at a lot either) in that a single bad turn is usually the end of your run. This may be a bit TOO "rogue" for me.

I can try giving you some help! Start with the Swordmaster. And follow these tips.

Upgrade her Berserkergang, Misdirect, both Ammos, and one Dodge. Remove everything else starting with her Shots. Berskergang before anything else, then upgrade/remove as necessary.
Berserkergang + Misdirect is a 24 HP heal. Use this combo to top off.
For rewards, focus on Relics prioritizing any that grant melee damage, melee upgrades, or increase max HP.
Get a few high-damage Melee attacks and 1 solid Ranged attack if the boss requires it. Multi-hit cards are better if you've found attack buff Relics.
If you're in a fight with a weak enemy that only buffs and does little damage, spend a few rounds using Berserkergang to restore your HP.
If you get the Cursed Hammer event, feel free to upgrade multiple times. 3 Upgrades for 30 HP is huge, considering how easy it is to top off your HP.

General tips for any hero

Once you have the gold, I'd suggest buying the Ship AP boost upgrade from the shop. That extra 20 AP means you only have to repair your ship once through all three levels, freeing up 100 gold. This is huge.
Remove most of your starting deck. Upgrade key cards, with Ammo being a good general priority.
Don't be afraid to reroll your rewards 1-2 times. Try to take Relics, but if you can't, take cards that Remove themselves after use. Consumables are even better!
Upgrade your ship as far into the second level as possible. Make sure you have 100 gold ready to go.
Sell off any useless Relics. Even a 40 gold Relic is basically an upgrade or removal.
Don't spend money on restoring HP unless you absolutely have to.
Check the boss at the start of the level and adjust your build accordingly.
Try and keep your deck small. If you can get it below 10, you're doing great.

I'll update this post if I think of anything else. If you have any other questions or points you're getting stuck at, let me know.

akjak · August 2020

I’ve been doing most of that. How do you Berserkergang more than once a battle? It removes.

MNC Dover · August 2020

akjak wrote: »

I’ve been doing most of that. How do you Berserkergang more than once a battle? It removes.

Once upgraded, it's no longer self-removes. That's why you should find a Tavern to upgrade it ASAP.

MNC Dover · August 2020

I just finished the second quest for the first level. It was multi-part and couldn’t be finished in one run. Got it done in my second run. On to the next quest.

I think I’m going to unlock and other character when I get the gold. Not sure which one yet. They all look pretty interesting to play as.

akjak · August 2020

Finally got a dang ol’ handle on this game. Range attacks suck. Chicken OP.

My favorite so far tho is Alchemist. Gotta love a deck that self-thins.

I still think there are too many invisible status effects. Enemies that you can’t damage (or kill yourself on) until you trial/error. Captain abilities that aren’t explained.(Lucky/Unlucky is not in the glossary, nor is Combative) Same with some Relics.

If this game has been out a long time, I guess there’s no hope for better tooltips or templating.

Penny Arcade

Quick Links

[Pirate Outlaws] It's like Slay the Spire with Pirates!

Posts