How to Successfully Fight in Tight Spaces

Some of this is self explanatory, other bits are beginning to get into advanced mechanics. I'll add more as I think of it, feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments. Will add: Card List & Prices, Event List, Speed Tech, Routing & Seeds, WR 100% Speedrun VOD(s), Paraphrasing & more. Updated with each patch. New Update 4/14/21 0.17.4432 (WIP)

Opening Tips & Tricks:

    Balanced deck is the easiest and most approachable class for learning and exploiting the game as well as modifying it to your own play style.

    Never take damage if possible, full health is worth more than most rewards.

    Informant/Ambassador will heal you 15 hp if kept alive which is the same value as a heal from the Medical Location which costs £40 or £80 so informant is worth more than the cash reward (£30 or £60) for the mission if you're choosing between priorities. (You can't remove a long-term injury using the Gym Remove Card feature, you have to use the Medical Location)

        Out of Arena Kills - Hang out by the kill planes. (Push, shove, kick, knee, etc.. all push over the half barriers like railings. Grapple does NOT move enemies over rails or kill planes like doors after patch 0.17.4426!!! )(Kill Planes are God's Greatest Gift, press Q or E 4 times at the start of every mission and analyze the walls looking for railings, train tracks, windows, doors, glass, stairs, etc.. I have killed more enemies by pushing and shoving them for no damage then I will ever kill with straight damage and Most Kill Planes Are NOT marked with skulls just fyi)

        Case Mission - Focus all your efforts on picking it up first while taking as little damage as possible. Saving health is always worth more than a card or money reward for a mission; however, some upgrades are worth a hit or two.

        Informant Missions - Informants/Ambassadors don't take damage from your attacks, only push damage. Feel free to scoot them around as necessary. They can also tank a few hits, check those damage values!

        Boss Round - You only have to kill the boss to advance, focus them down as fast as possible! (All but 1 boss can be pushed around and all bosses can be stunned. You will need some kind of manipulation or neutralization for later bosses such as the Prison Boss.) Be mindful that hitting the ninja boss when they have armor will do significant damage to you depending on how much armor/damage scaling they have. Dealing with them as quickly as possible and in nonviolent means is one of the few ways to not net damage. The second to last boss cannot be pushed, that is something most usually forget. The Final Boss fight with all the bosses can get a little chaotic. Feel free to dance around and let them hit each other. They do a ton of damage by that point. Again All bosses can be stunned by Throw or other means (Pocket Sand, Counter Stun, Intimidate, etc..) these cards are vital to secure damageless victories on harder opponents such as the Assault Rifle Thugs, Prison Boss and Ninja Boss.

Planning, Routing, Priorities & Shopping:

    Priorities!! Check your mission objectives before you do anything. Formulate a plan for achieving that goal. (You get used to just killing everything but some missions like Survive & Bosses allow a completely different tact.)

    Always go to the Gym, never go to the Medical Location (unless momentum upgrades take you there or you're in dire need of healing/injury removal), just dodge damage and use informant missions to heal. (There are a few heal cards you can find too, all once per fight though. Some definitely worth taking and saving though. A couple events also let you remove injuries or visit a Mob Doctor a.k.a. Medical Location)

    Always buy the most expensive upgrade first at each gym. The first upgrade is normal price and each upgrade after that is about 2x£ the normal price, doubling with each upgrade purchase. (Resets every gym) All pricing scales this way, healing, upgrades, card removal, the only thing that remains static is new card prices from Gyms. (There are discount Gyms hidden in events throughout most chapters, if you're flush with cash try hitting events for secret Gyms.)

    Full length glass breaks on the second hit, in the later chapters it acts like a kill plane you just gotta hit it twice. (Not half windows)

    Measure twice, cut once. The menus are difficult to read and misleading in some advanced cases. Plot out your entire hand before you make a move every round. This guarantees your highest possible chance of success. Enemies are nefarious with their seemingly random placements some rounds ping-ponging you through all of them, be mindful of enemy turn orders when manipulating their positions to make sure the one(s) you want to do the attacking will get their chance.

    Plan your route!! Look ahead at your path, see which path you have to take to get to Gym/Medical depending on what you need. Also all missions tell you what their rewards are so you can plot your entire route accordingly.

        Circle with an arrow inside it is +2 combo upgrade.

        Circle with two arrows is +1 momentum upgrade.

        Circle with a heart and arrow is +2 health upgrade.

        Cross or plus sign just means Ambassador/Informant.

        £ Money symbol means £ Money (British Pounds). :)

        Card means a choice of one of three cards.

        Circle with a card and an arrow means an upgraded card out of three.

        Question mark is an enhancement.

    Value Order of Rewards from greatest to worst: Momentum Up, Enhancements, Enhanced Card, Combo Up, Health Up, Healing, £ Monies!!, Card. (This in mind I aim for momentum upgrades first until I have a couple then gyms after that, trying to make sure I get enough gyms in early to remove my bad movement cards. It's also all situational, pick your path based on your needs as the values of the priorities change.)

Cards & Meta Ideas:

    Don't oversaturate your deck with random cards. There is a button to skip picking a new card when offered, it's in the middle on the bottom. Don't be afraid to use it, I do! A good deck doesn't need more than 25ish cards. Pocket Sand, Throw and Intimidate are three of the most useful cards in the game. Have at least 1 Slip and 1 Shift in your deck at all times (balanced & trickster decks start with both). The Swap card counts as a movement card and auto faces your target at you, don't pick it up! You always get one movement card per round even if you only have one and just used it you're guaranteed to draw it every round, meaning spend the £60 (each) to remove step and dash and don't pick up other movement cards and you'll always have a good movement option available to you. (In rare instances this can hurt/kill you waiting for the next turn for the right movement card and enemy positions not yielding the exact set up you need. See two tips down for advice on that.) With movement solidified find and upgrade damage scaling cards for later chapters. Let the enemies beat the crap out of each other too, they do good damage.

    Do take Multiple permanent damage multiplying/adding cards (Steel Self, Rising Strength, etc..) and cards that are discarded like heals. Redraws and other Special cards you may take at your own discretion, there are some infinite decks that work wonders but that takes a lot of fine tuned deck crafting. Personally I love Manipulation decks which are just moving enemies around. Be Careful using strength modifiers over time like rising strength and enhancements (Strength, etc.) you won't be able to deal nondamaging moves to enemies like the Ninja Boss unless you have Intimidate. Push, Shove, Pocket Sand and other nondamaging moves gain damage over multiple turns with those modifiers.

    Don't take more than one of pretty much anything else and definitely not more than two. Aim for a card count between about 15-30, the smaller the better to guarantee a smooth flow and predictable progression/playstyle as you get to the later chapters. Only take multiples of your decks speciality to ensure you maximize your deck efficiency. (This doesn't mean you can't win with a 45 card deck. But it is wildly unpredictable what kind of round each one will be. Yours odds of success are drastically reduced. Finally shifting from aggressive to trickster to counter to balanced to movement/manipulation in 2 turns gets a little nutty and enhancement reliant.)

    Balanced deck has at least 2-5 cards I remove on my playthrough when making a manipulation deck (step, dash, block, quick block, counter and quick strike maybe). The ratio I currently aim for with manip. is at least 33%-50% of cards need to be manipulation cards to have the correct balance per turn. For the proper amount of movement cards per turn to work with the manipulation I usually will pick up an extra shift and slip at least and maybe 1 more of either one just to have multiple options for almost every scenario. Trickster deck has neither step nor dash and has both shift and slip to start with but also has another 2-4 cards I like to remove personally. Trickster is a more advanced deck so be careful when adding and removing cards from it. (I pick up 1-2 additional movement cards {1 extra at least} no more than 4-5 or you start to draw too many, two more kicks {quick and/or front, front is better because its a free movement and upgraded quick costs 0 momentum}, at least 1-2 pushes and at least 1-2 shoves. I don't upgrade my shoves and pushes so they don't do damage and that's my kill method for the Ninja Boss. This ratio of cards, keeping my deck count around 25, adding in a few special damage boosting cards like steel self and rising strength, is perfect for drawing enough manipulation, damage and movement every round for damageless runs. Plus any throws, pocket sands or intimidates up to 2 of each. If I'm momentum shy I'll grab a hook kick, bide time, etc.. and if I need more damage I'll grab jolt, flurry, snap strike, etc..)

    All spawns and hands are random to a certain degree, don't get discouraged if you get spawned in a corner and cornered in and beat to death in two turns because you can't move or neutralize. You just gotta roll with the punches, other levels will generally be nice with their spawns and AIs, like the ninja master roof battle I've beaten twice in a row with only two cards. Ninjas on the subway aren't too bad either. Riflemen in the high rises and enforcers in the prison are the ones to look out for. Don't let them pin you in! (Patch 0.17.4426 included easier spawns so you'll never be actually cornered in first turn anymore.)

Enhancements List:

        Card Sharp - Choose from one extra card at the end of each fight.

        Tactician - Increase card draw by 1.

        Emergency Move - Emergency move once per fight.

        Bonus Move - Gain a bonus move card each turn.

        Steel Body - Add 8 to Max Health.

        Distraction - Reduce incoming damage by 3.

        Resilience - Add 3 block per turn.

        Peripheral Vision - Add 1 Block per enemy on Turn Start.

        Bonus Combo - Gain 6 combo every 5th turn.

        Twitchy - Combo never drops below 1.

        Special Serum - Remove Combo Cap. Lose all combo if you play no attacks in a turn.

        Combo Captain - Increase maximum combo by 5.

        Momentum Boost - Increase maximum and per turn momentum by 1.

        Momentum Mastery - Increase maximum and per turn momentum by 2.

        Increasing Strength - Gain 2 damage bonus every 3 turns.

        Strength - Apply 2 extra damage to all attacks.

        Apprenticeship - Reward cards are automatically upgraded (if available).

        Fast Learner - All purchased cards are automatically upgraded (if available).

        Bounty Hunter - Gain an additional £5 every fight for each enemy knocked out.

        Lean Decker - Gain £20 every time you skip a card draw. (And enhancements from my experience)

        Deep Pockets - Gain an extra 15% on currency rewards.

        Card Shredder - Reduce the cost of card removal by £20.

        Versatility - Open up an additional two enhancement slots.

        Toned Physique - Gain 5 hp every time you skip a card draw.

        Fast Heal - Recover 6 health on completion of a fight.

        Enhanced Facilities - Gain 25 when healing at Medical Facilities.

        Deadly Deal - Lose 3 health every turn but restore to full health after each fight.

        First Turn Redraw - Gain Redraw card on first turn of each fight.

Good luck! Keep doing runs, sometimes the items, rng and cards are on your side. Some times they aren't.

This is a phenomenal guide for getting you started. "Steam Community :: Guide :: How to fight in tight spaces" https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2417983938

Check out this guide for more late game tips by u/simiansays. - https://www.reddit.com/r/FightsinTightSpaces/comments/lvzcal/thoughtstips_after_first_win_manipulation_deck/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Or this guide for card tips by u/TheZeeno. - https://www.reddit.com/r/FightsinTightSpaces/comments/lxdjuq/5_quick_tips/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Speedrun Tech (I've thought of so far)

    Disable all blood and dynamic effects (set it to neutral) to minimize time loss from animations. There is also a way to skip through animations by clicking or something, more play testing required. (Especially with push, shove, roll and throw kills the animation can be accelerated I believe with multiple inputs.)

    Make your decisions as optimal as possible. By not wasting multiple attacks on armor and simply stunning the person and killing them next round you'll save seconds all over your run for optimal plays. Keep grinding and the decisions will become more natural and automatic. Don't be afraid to end turn with attack cards and movement cards still in your hand.

    Survive missions and events are godsends, dodge damage on the survive rounds and it is very smooth and fast every time. Events just take minimal to no risk outcomes and you'll save multiple minutes compared to taking fights.

    Mashing the Enter key (or console equivalent) is a faster way to scroll through text but be careful when selecting your deck with the enter key because the very next enter stroke will always take you in to the tutorial. (Not sure what happens if you mash Enter in between chapters when choosing an enhancement. I'll let you know.)

    Know your pacing, the first few chapters are a lot easier and more forgiving with playing a lot more aggressively. Late in the game take just that extra little bit of time to make sure your decisions are factoring in all the special enemy conditions.

    Use the Enter key (or console equivalent) to end your turn faster than clicking. Be careful though, always keep your hand off the key until you are playing your last card for that round. One accidental key stroke can end your run.

    The order which the enemies appear is their attack order so pay close attention and keep a mental count and you'll know who will hit who first at all times without ever having to check.

    Know your enemy. The enemies have the same attack patterns and distances every time. Only a rare few enemies like the bosses and the Assassins and Ninja Bosses have multiple moves so check them each round to see what they're doing and what you can do to them. The better you know the enemy the faster you can end every turn confident you're out of attack range.

    Go to Speedrun.com for access to splits and VODs of runs for different deck ideas and gameplay strategies! Only a few submissions so for, take a crack at it!

PB is currently at 55:37. Working it down slowly but surely. A respectable and realistic WR pace is sub 45 minutes. That's my next goal but I won't grind it out. Watch the current WR here: https://youtu.be/SL_7HupSKgM

Credits for additions: u/Solrates, u/TheZeeno, u/simiansays, u/edgeofblade2

(Event Tip)

Time for your annual review, do you deserve a raise?

Yes. (Always Say Yes.)

Now, do it again... but better.

Change Log:

    Guide v. 0.01 - Build 0.15.4356 - 3/15/21 Created

    Guide v. 0.02 - Build 0.17.4426 - 4/9/21 Enhancement edits, Additional Credit, Organization, Beautification, Meta Talk, Change Log Added

    Guide v. 0.03 - Build 0.17.4426 - 4/12/21 Speed Section Added, VOD w/ Manip. Deck Win Hyperlink, Add. Enhancements

    Guide v0.04 - Build 0.17.4432 - 4/14/21 Finished Enhancements List, Patch 0.17.4432 Release, New PB/WR - 55:37 VOD

Hapaxed

Fights in Tight Spaces

Death's Head Biker Gang

marmarkus

Speedrun_Johnny

Adding More Categories (Or Levels)

Question about level speedruns

Adding a damageless category

Zachava

speck853

The_AV8R