Balatro is not just a game, it is an all-consuming way of life. At first you innocently throw pairs together, and before you know it you're a degenerate poker player, desperately throwing royal flushes and five of a kind in the hunt for the maximum value of a perfect hand.
So, assuming that if you're reading this you probably don't think about anything other than this game every day, you might as well master it. This is where these Balatro tips come into play. There are all sorts of important tricks and strategies that the game doesn't make obvious, and they could be the difference between falling through with a 20-point pair or working your way into ante 12 with a million point flush.
Strong start
In Balatro it is extremely important to take the lead early on– Even if it's clear that your build isn't sustainable, getting some big wins early on will help you accumulate money and give you breathing room to move on to a more long-term build later. The easier you win blinds, the more money you make on unspent hands and the more room you have for long-term decisions and investments.
For this reason, Jokers that give short-term bonuses are a good choice to start with, like Gros Michel, ice cream or popcorn. Jokers that offer a flat bonus that is relatively easy to trigger can also work, such as those that give additional chips or mults to certain colors or simple hand types. Jokers with very long-term bonuses that must be accumulated over time, such as: B. Hikers or Vampires should only be chosen if you are already very confident in the next few blinds, as they will take a long time to pay off.
Jokers that generate money are also important. If you live blindly with your money, you will have difficulty creating a good build. Your goal should be to accumulate $25 in the first few bets –For every $5 you have at the end of a blind, you will earn $1 in interest, up to a maximum of $5 for every $25. This is free money and it really adds up. It will be much easier to reach this point if you have a strong wild card that makes money, such as: B. Rocket or Business Card.
Create your build
So what does a successful Balatro build look like? Although you will always rely on the offers available in the shop, your goal should be to achieve the greatest possible synergy that leads you to Ante 8.
Usually it's best commit to one type of hand, and build your entire strategy around it. Keep jokers that support that one hand, take the corresponding planet card whenever possible, and use tarot cards to customize your deck – removing cards you don't need, boosting cards you need, and changing suit when you need them focus on flushes. There are builds that can work with several different hands, but focusing on just one is usually the path of least resistance. When in doubt, Flush is probably the easiest choice, or Full House can be a relatively easy choice, while Straight tends to be more difficult and requires a more careful discard strategy.
From your jokers, look for opportunities to get bonus chips and/or mult for that hand. Usually Mult is better than Chips because it scales more when combined with other bonuses. Confusingly, there are also jokers that multiply your mult – denoted by a red X, such as “X2 mult”. These are your big hitters because Instead of just adding to your multi, they multiply itand when stacked together they increase your build exponentially.
Other stats and bonuses can be really helpful, but only if you have a solid base of chips or multis– For example, extra discards can be a big advantage, but the ability to reduce to a perfect hand is useless if that hand doesn't give you enough points to win the next blind. Hand size (how many cards you hold in your hand) is another good stat for boosting, but hands (the number of hands you can play in a round) are less useful than it seems – though You don't win in two or three blinds Ideally it's always one hand, this is usually a sign that your build is falling behind, although extra hands will net you at least a little more money if you leave them unused.
When it comes to your deck, you're on the hunt to create as much consistency as possible. Don't just take any cool looking card and flood your deck – it's usually even better Use the Hanged Man tarot card to reduce the size of your deckCut out cards you don't need so you're more likely to draw the ones you do need. When improving cards, try to only improve the ones you're likely to use – there's little point in having a red foil seal “four” if you're going for face card hands, for example.
Order
This is easy to miss The order of cards and jokers is important. Ranked cards, hand cards, and jokers all trigger their effects in the order they are placed – click and drag them to find the most advantageous order. Generally, X multipliers should be placed at the end of the row, with the highest coming lastbecause the more chips and mult accumulated before they are multiplied, the greater the benefit you get from it.
It can also be beneficial to change the order of your jokers midway through the round. For example, if you have a Blueprint Joker that copies the ability of the card next to it, you might want to place it next to another Joker that triggers at the start of a blind, and then place it next to a Joker that grants a bonus to the first hand , then moved to stand next to a large X multiplier for a high scoring hand. There are a few different Jokers that can benefit from dancing around a bit like this, but keep this in mind Any reordering you make while your hand is still being scored will only take effect after scoring is complete.
Play your hand
When deciding which cards to keep and which to discard, you should be clear about which hand you want to play. Don't try to keep a few different options in circulation at once – for example, if you look for the cards for two different straights or flushes at the same time, there's a good chance you'll end up with neither.
Keep this in mind when disposing Discarding up to five cards still only costs one discard. Typically, you want to discard as much of the full five as possible to get the most benefit from your discards. Any time you discard just one or two cards hoping to get exactly the card you need, you are relying too much on luck.
Remember that You can also get rid of cards by playing them. If your played hand has fewer than five cards, you can throw in additional cards even if they don't score – this is often a good way to get rid of bad cards without spending a discard. In desperate times, it can even be a good idea to play an entire hand with only the cards you want to clear, in order to get a low score that round but hopefully set yourself up for a good hand in the next round instead Wasting good cards in a bad hand.
You can click on your deck at any time to see what cards are left in it. This is a great help because it allows you to clearly see your chances of drawing the card you want. If you're looking for pairs and you have three sixes and only two sevens left in your deck, you'll know which pair you're more likely to match.
Running strategy
During a run Pay close attention to the blinds every time you anteand plan accordingly. If the upcoming boss blind goes against your build and you can't reroll it, you need to pivot. Your all-face card build isn't going to do well against a boss that weakens all face cards – maybe it's time to sell some jokers or grab something with a short-term boost to get over that hump.
The small and large blinds can be skipped– This means you lose the money you would have earned and the opportunity to shop, but gain a powerful bonus. This is a tricky mechanic to take advantage of, but the key things to consider are: Is the bonus worth it and is your physique currently strong enough to survive the jump forward?
Vouchers can offer great bonuses, but caution is advised when purchasing them– They are expensive and their benefits often only become noticeable over a long period of time. It's worth paying attention to those that make you money or save money, such as Clearance or Reroll Surplus The easily overlooked king of vouchers is hieroglyphic. This allows you to sacrifice a hand to reset a bet as if you were returning to a previous level. This is amazing in Balatro because it gives you a lot more scope to make some money and work on your build while executing blinds that you already know your setup can beat.
When you complete a run (congratulations!), you should be aware of this Winning Ante 8 is not the end. You can continue your build in endless mode and try to progress through more antes. This gets very difficult very quickly, but it's a satisfying way to see how strong your build can become. Getting antes above eight is also key to getting several useful unlocks.
Did you actually know that after a certain ante the blinds become so high that they have to be represented using mathematical formulas instead of numbers? Try not to let it keep you awake at night. Good luck, my funny friends – follow these tips and you'll be in the big leagues in no time. May the river ever flow your way.
