As I promised in my earlier article, How to Exode: Rebel Agent Special Starter Review, I ran several evacuations with a Rebel themed deck. It certainly has potential, though I expect it will be much more interesting planet side during colonization. I'll share my thoughts and suggestions after my usual intro blurb. As always, feel free to skip it if you are already familiar with Exode.
For those who aren’t familiar with Exode, here is a quick summary of the game:
Exode is a blockchain based space colonization game currently being developed. Considering it's a one man team, progress is going fairly fast. There is a playable alpha of the first phase, Evacuation, a short scanning scene where you can learn about your eventual planet, and colonization gameplay on the horizon. All you need to play is a single starter deck, though having more cards obviously gives more options. This is also a game first, currently the only way to earn is through reselling cards. You will be able to play to earn in the future, but the gameplay will ALWAYS come first and the design is fairly resistant to abuse. Along those lines, anything gained from a referral bonus is account bound. There is no financial benefit to spam referrals, but plenty of game benefits as you get account bound boosters and an elite officer for free. If you decide to try out the game based on this article, make sure to use my referral code - 984a3c4
Now that referral spamming is out of the way, on to my thoughts!
Despite not playing for a year, I was able to successfully complete three Evacs using an all Rebel deck. Two of these attempts were using an unedited Rebel Agent starter, and the final attempt was using a more fleshed out version of the Rebel Agent starter.
For those of you who don’t have time to read a full post, I’ll summarize here:
While it is fully possible to evac with the Rebel Agent Starter alone, I don’t recommend it. This was a limited release starter for existing players. Unless it is rereleased, owners of this deck should have plenty of other cards to fill in the gaps. Still, it is important to share how it performed so you can learn its gaps and weaknesses.
When playing with just the starter, I suggest taking some calculated risks during evac. With no cargo, no passengers, and not even a full crew, all but the most habitable planet will be rough.
You will need to keep a sharp eye on your cargo loaders, and make sure to regularly issue new load fuel commands to the rest. There is a high chance your cargo loaders will get killed off if you aren’t lucky or careful. If repairing the hyperdrive or loading fuel takes too long, and the attack begins, you can always send someone to work the shield.
The improvements for this deck are pretty obvious, add weapons, one crew member, and load up your cargo and passengers. You have plenty of options, and your colony goals should be used to determine what you pick.
At the time of this article, there are 13 options for crew. I won’t discuss them all, but there are a few standouts worth mentioning.
If you are looking for a more specific role, you do have options. Space Surgeon could act as a doctor, Life Searcher could help on the planet, robots don’t need food, and there are other characters who fill similar roles to what comes with the deck.
I tried a run with the Cornered Rebel Agent, and even fully armed and armored she died. My top pick would probably be Oksana.
The smart choice is to fully load up your passengers before evacing. With a small ship, quality is more important than quantity.
I’m not going to go into detail here, this section depends entirely on your collection and play style. Here’s my bullet pointed version:
That should be enough to get you started.
Play smart, play safe, play to survive.
