Cheat Codes – Tips on Avoiding Common Pitfalls in the HR App

Hero Realms is a beautiful game of skill and luck where players navigate difficult decisions, strategies, and play styles while also avoiding some common pitfalls/traps. In my many games of Hero Realms, I’ve found myself caught in these traps and common mistakes time and time again.  Given the plethora of new players to the app, I would like to take a minute to illustrate my failures in hopes that you won’t make the same ones.  (Or if you do, hopefully they’re in games against me.)

First, and possibly most importantly, do not carelessly rush through your turns.  Digital play inclines the player to play quickly.  Apps are made to compete for our attention, to provide a smooth experience for the user to get in and do their thing.  The Hero Realms app is slick and beautiful and simple to interact with, and all of these UX/UI designs set a trap for the user.  On top of this, familiarity with the game seduces a player to act quickly and stop thinking.  This is called autopilot, which I’ll address in Pitfall #2.  

I play primarily on iOS.  As with other things on my phone, my attention is divided and I’m flipping between different activities, especially with async games.  Because of this, I like to play fast.  If I see it’s my turn, I’ll open the game, take a quick look at the Market Row, possibly look at my opponent’s deck, then pick my purchase.  To do this on the phone you double tap the card you want and then a new card immediately flips over.  

Do you see the traps?  It’s imperative to take adequate time to plan and think through my turn… and to re-evaluate my plan if the Market changes!  Was the Market purchase good for my deck or did I buy it because it was the most expensive?  Or because it was the best option out there?  Should I have passed up purchasing at all?  What did my opponent do on their turn?  Did I take the time to pay attention to that, or did I gloss over the animation and hurry up and get on with my turn?  Or what about the warning prompt on unspent gold or unused abilities?  Do I really want to leave those unspent?  What is the current game state, anyway?  

TIP: I have missed using the “Prepare a champion” ally ability on Domination more than once because I’ve been in a hurry.  The game will not prompt you if you forget to do this.

 The Undo button is glorious for the rusher, but it has its limits.  Rushing a turn is so easy to do because the app is so smooth.  You almost can’t help but play quickly, especially after playing hundreds and hundreds of games.  But this leads to the next pitfall.

I cannot tell you how many games I’ve lost because of this.  I Smooth Heist a delicious bomb early on, confident in the devastation I’m going to wreak.  Other times I play a great combo, dealing a lot of damage, leaving the opponent crippled.  Some games I’ll get a great hate draft card from a weak wizard.  Part of the beauty of Hero Realms is that you can win or lose every game.  It’s designed to have massive swings.

If I snag an early game ace, I’m tempted to put the game in the bag.  I slip back into autopilot and stop thinking.  I don’t care what my opponent buys because I’ve got Domination or Fire Bomb or whatever.  A smarter opponent can see through my hubris and bring me to my knees.   (This is especially true with the campaigns and co-op modes.  I tend to completely ignore what the AI buys.  This article is on PvP though, so I’ll leave it at that.)  Autopilot is a good thing in some capacity, but it’s also a quick shot into losing a game if you’re not careful.

The possibility of bottom-decking your bomb cards is very real, and can be devastating when it happens if you are not ready for it.  Many can weep the tears of Tyrranor or Fire Bomb dropping to the bottom of a shuffle.  I’m confident in my great Market purchase, but I don’t even get to use it before the game is over because my opponent outsmarted me.

This game can work on autopilot, but turning off your brain will lead to more losses than wins.  Confidence in victory is a good thing, but remain vigilant of the opponent’s tactics, or the confidence will evaporate.

This pitfall is related to #1, but there is one major difference.  Let me give you an illustration.  I need to leave my house to run an errand.  I get in my car and see I have a notification to take my turn.  I open the game, take my turn, and go about my business.  Then when I get to the grocery store it’s my turn again.  I open the game, rush through my turn, and go about my business.

The difference I’m highlighting here is related to the Real World we all live in.  Do I give myself enough time to take my turn?  Because I enjoy the game, I want to play it.  However, there is some wisdom in knowing when to play and when to wait.  If I don’t have the time to give my turn the attention it needs, then I probably shouldn’t take my turn.

 Another way this plays out is if I’m playing a Realtime (“RT”) game.  Most RT games are 10 minutes or less.  But not all.  I’ve started many RT games only to be interrupted by life.  I start, intending to finish quickly, which turns into rushing to finish at all.  I don’t have enough time to think.  I play poorly.  I lose.  I’m reminded of why I’m terrible at speed chess.  One more point concerning RT games: playing on weak cellular service.  I’ve had many games time out or crash due to this problem.  Not only is this annoying, I have wasted my opponent’s time and I’ve lost a star.

The point with this pitfall is to consider IRL circumstances as much as possible. When playing RT, make sure you have time where you won’t be interrupted, and also have a strong network connection.  If you want to maintain a high rank and a high victory count, it matters.

In October of 2021, MauraderMo made a profound and impactful statement on the Realms Rising Discord: “It’s always good to do the math, kids.”  Up until then, I guess I just took that for granted.  Little did I know that this trap would show itself time and again.  There are two primary ways this plays out in the game.  One involves knowing what is left in your deck and the other involves understanding damage output versus total health. 

First, a fundamental skill is calculating how much damage is in your deck.  You must have damage in your deck or you cannot win the game.  You also must have damage in order to take out opposing champions.  Are you adding enough damage to counter your opponent’s defense?  Do you have enough damage in your upcoming deck to go lethal?

Now here’s the real question to always ask yourself: can you bring your opponent’s HP to zero?

It’s a simple question, but for some reason I see many players blurry this when there are champions in play.  They may be able to go lethal but for some inexplicable reason they take out non-guard champions and miss the win!  Now my reckoning is that they are either rushing, playing on autopilot, or caught up in trying to pull off some glorious combo that they aren’t paying attention to the game.  Do the math, kids! 

This one may be debatable, but empirically it’s bitten me way too many times not to mention it.  There will come a time when you are tempted to leave an opponent’s champion in play.  You will probably have many good reasons for this.  

Just…. Don’t do it.  You should almost always take out champions if you are able to.  The only times you don’t are if you have been paying attention to the game, you’ve done the math, and you can go lethal in the next turn or two and that champion isn’t going to thwart your plans.  Think it through before leaving one in play.

(I won’t get into the tactics of expending a champion in this article.)

Ok, this one isn’t a trap, unless it leads to hubris, but it’s always a pleasure to win against one of the game’s designers.  Most of the time I’m destroyed against these guys, but every so often I take a win there.  If you happen to find yourself against them, remember the tips and traps above and you, too, might play a better game than them.

———-

There you go.  These are some of the many mistakes I’ve made as I’ve played my way through the Beta and now into the public release.  Hopefully they’re helpful to you and you avoid them!