Ironclad

Ironclad

Use this as the character-level operating note for Ironclad runs.

Required Reading

Read these before acting in an Ironclad run:

• /home/igorw/Work/STS2/.agents/skills/ironclad/references/core-plan.md
• /home/igorw/Work/STS2/.agents/skills/ironclad/references/card-and-relic-priorities.md
• /home/igorw/Work/STS2/.agents/skills/combat/references/heuristics.md
• /home/igorw/Work/STS2/.agents/skills/act-start/references/rewards-and-deck-shape.md
• the current run log under /home/igorw/Work/STS2/vault/runs
• any matching section in the relevant skill reference, especially hard-fight, shop, or event notes

If the current decision is an elite or boss commitment, also read /home/igorw/Work/STS2/.agents/skills/boss-and-elite-fights/SKILL.md and its required references.

Core Doctrine

• Ironclad usually wins by turning raw cards into a coherent damage engine faster than the act punishes dead draws.
• Early priorities are reliable damage, vulnerable application, draw or energy relief, and enough block to survive setup turns.
• A card is not good because it is generically strong. It is good if it fixes the next real problem the current deck will face.
• Avoid carrying too many medium cards. Ironclad can tolerate some clunk, but dead weight compounds fast.
• Remove basics to sharpen the plan unless a specific payoff makes density valuable.
• Solve AoE before Act 1 elites and multi-enemy fights make the weakness expensive.
• Do not over-index on greed picks because Ironclad starts sturdy. Starting health is permission to invest selectively, not to draft sloppily.

Combat Lens

• Frontload matters because many hard fights punish slow starts.
• Setup is still mandatory when the fight demands it. Ironclad loses plenty of runs by pretending all strength or exhaust turns are too slow.
• Powers are part of Ironclad's real fight plan, not decorative draft text. If the deck has taken a power because it solves scaling, draw, or conversion, then elite and boss fights must explicitly ask when that power should be deployed.
• If a safe or semi-safe setup window appears and a drafted power still does not get played, treat that as a likely play mistake unless current survival math concretely forbids it.
• Exhaust, card flow, and energy conversion are often what turn strong cards into an actual deck.
• Take damage intentionally, not lazily. HP is there to buy winning positions, not to subsidize fuzzy lines.

Drafting Lens

• Prioritize cards that solve immediate deck failures: weak turn 1s, no vulnerable, no draw smoothing, no AoE, or no scaling.
• Respect skip. A filler attack or block card can be worse than preserving future draw quality.
• Treat synergy as earned. Do not draft for a payoff line that the deck has not actually started supporting.
• Do not draft a power as if it were future flavor text. If the deck takes a power, the run must expect to cast it in the hard fights it was taken for.
• Rare rewards require a second pass. After identifying the obvious on-plan card, explicitly ask whether another rare would open or enable a stronger Ironclad lane that the deck can realistically support soon.
• Premium engine rares like draw or exhaust enablers should not be dismissed just because the current deck is winning with a different package. Consider whether the reward is offering a real pivot, not just an immediate fit.

Planning Lens

• Route according to the deck you have, not the deck you hope to draft in three floors.
• Shops, events, and rewards should feed the same plan instead of pulling the deck into disconnected lines.
• Before any act pivot or boss prep window, re-check whether the deck is still a frontload deck, a scaling deck, or an in-between deck that needs one more missing piece.

Maintenance

This skill and its matching references are living documents. Improve them as new things are found. Do not append drift. Edit and rewrite to keep them sharp and short, and add references when needed.