New Player Guide: Emblems and Consumables

Sixth post in the new player series. Cards aren't the only thing you pick up during a run. Emblems and consumables are the Gauntlet's other two reward types, and they're easy to underrate when you're new. Here's what each one does.

Emblems: passive power for the whole run

An emblem is a passive bonus that switches on the moment you take it and stays on for the rest of the run. No cost, no activation, no upkeep. You'll mostly earn them from elite tables, which offer you a pick of two after the fight, and they show up in shops now and then.

Some examples of what they look like:

• War Banner: your units get +1 attack.
• Stone Bulwark: your units get +1 defense.
• Trade Charter: +1 income every turn.
• Scholar's Habit: draw an extra card at the start of your turn.
• Innkeeper's Kindness: your fortress heals 1 at the start of each turn.
• Veteran's Drill: all your units gain Toughness.

None of these look dramatic on paper. Over a nine-table run they're enormous. An extra card every turn or a fortress that quietly heals between hits will win you fights that your deck alone wouldn't. This is why elites are usually worth the risk: the gold is nice, the emblem is the real prize.

Consumables: one big moment, once

A consumable is a single-use battle item. It sits in your fortress zone, with a charge on it, carried from table to table until you spend it. You can fire it from the fortress banner during any of your main phases, and then it's gone.

A taste of what's out there:

• Mana Nade: 2 damage to a target and 1 to whatever is next to it.
• Bombardment: pick an enemy five times, 2 damage each pick.
• Throw a Sheep: turn a unit into a 0/1 Sheep. Yes, really.
• Magic Rocket Launcher: ten rockets at random enemies, 1 damage each, and about a third of them miss. Chaos in a box.

Consumables drop after some battles, show up in shops, and come out of certain events. The classic new player mistake is hoarding them for a perfect moment that never comes, then losing with two unspent charges. If a fight is close, spend. A consumable that wins you a table at 4 HP is worth infinitely more than one still in your pocket when the run ends.

What carries, what doesn't

Emblems and consumables are run-scoped. When a run ends, win or lose, they reset. The thing that persists is discovery: every emblem and consumable you've ever held gets logged in the catalog on the Unlocks page, so you can browse what you've seen and wonder about the tiles still showing question marks.

Next up: the last post in the series, on starter decks, card rewards, and the long road to building your own deck.