When one first gets started inBalatrojust getting that first win feels like a monumental achievement. Somehow, despite the climbing score requirements, RNG and killer boss blinds, ante 8 was cleared and the victory screen was reached! Balatro’s response: “Great job! Now do it again on Red Stake!” Yup, this was only the lowest difficulty: you’ve still got to fight your way up through six more difficulties and defeat Gold Stake to claim ultimate victory.
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Asthose who’ve played Balatroknow, clearing Gold Stake even just once is something most players have not yet managed thanks to just how demanding it is. Money is tighter, score requirements are much greater and resources are much more restricted than in White Stake, making every Gold Stake run a daunting challenge. But by following these tips, it doesn’t have to be.
10Consider the Deck You’re Playing
All strategies can do better or worse depending on the deck.
There area total of fifteen decksin Balatro and each applies different modifiers to the game. Some grant advantages, some apply hindrances and others introduce or remove entire mechanics. This means that certain strategies or tactics will be more or less usable depending on the deck.
Are you playing Red Deck or Painted Deck? Then consider taking advantage of the extra discard or hand size to play straights or four or five of a kind. Playing Zodiac Deck? Then make good use of its plentiful tarot cards to make lots of glass and steel or quickly shift the deck to one or two suits. How about Black Deck? Use those scarce resources to fill those joker slots quickly and get scoring online. Play to deck strengths and mitigate restrictions.
9Keep Some Glass Cards in Your Back Pocket
Better to have it and never need it, than to need it and not have it, you know?
Glass cards usually aren’t seen as a good investment, but having a few handy is actually worthwhile. With how quickly scoring scales in Gold Stake andboss blindslike The Flint, The Arm and The Wall being ever-present threats, sometimes one’s build either can’t scale fast enough or will get severely hampered at the worst time.
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It’s on these occasions that glass cards shine. By doubling the played hand’s base multiplier (or mult), they temporarily negate the effects of the Flint and the Arm, making the Wall much more easily scaled. Can they break? Yes, but if the round is cleared, then they’ve done their job and provided the player with much-needed time to scale and rebuild.
8Replace Jokers Carefully
But DO replace them.
One always has towork with what they getin Balatro, especially in the beginning, but one shouldn’t allow themselves to get attached to weak jokers either. The needs of each build will vary, of course, but one should generally always be trying to get at least one scaling +chips joker, a scaling +mult joker and an x-mult joker. For example, Runner, Red Card or Hologram.
Replacements must be done carefully, though. Red Card is better than Abstract Joker, but not if Abstract’s +15 mult is needed to win the next blind. That Abstractwillneed to go eventually, though, so make it less vital before replacing it. And, yeah, don’t take eternal versions of weak jokers. Just don’t.
A “+chips” joker is any joker thatadds chipsto the total; a “+mult” joker adds multiplier to the total, and “x-mult” jokersmultiplythe total multiplier. “Scaling” jokers are jokers whose mult or chip values cancontinually increaseover the course of a run.
7Give Yourself a Headstart
The first two antes are often what make or break most runs.
For those who don’t care about winning streaks and just want to clear Gold Stake, one of the best possible things to do is re-roll for good tags in Ante 1. Balatro is all about setting oneself up to get strong enough to start snowballing, so a strong start is crucial. And what makes for a strong start? Money and/or strong jokers.
Balatro is all about setting oneself up to get strong enough to start snowballing.
The Investment, Rare, Holographic and Coupon tags are the most consistent means of getting these critical starting tools, so why not just go right for them? The Investment tag is probably the most valuable, since results can vary with the others, but the payoff is usually worth it regardless.
6"Never Skip" is a Dumb Rule
It’s always worth considering if it can help your strategy.
On that note, there are many players out there that like to insist that skipping is never a good idea, arguing that the blind money and additional shops are always more valuable.This isn’t entirely true.Skipping is good in Ante 1 since it can fast-track a run into a strong position.
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A good Orbital tag ahead of the Arm can be very valuable to runs, depending on hand level. A Boss tag can save a run from an otherwise impassable boss blind, and sometimes the Economy tag can provide just enough resources to seize victory. In other words, skips should always be considered case by case rather than outright ignored for the sake of being “optimal.”
5Keep Your Economy Strong
Money makes the world, and Balatro, go ‘round.
Speaking of money, maintaining a strong economy (or not) will often make or break a run. It’s often tempting to empty one’s wallet right away to grab jokers or open packs, but doing so is often unwise. Unless one is in a make-or-break situation, running a Vagabond build or playing on Green Deck (where normal money rules don’t apply), then it’s vital to never go below 25 dollars.
The extra interest dollars it generates add up over time and they can mean the difference between being able to buysomething vitallater on in the run or not. Seriously, save that money and spend carefully.
4Rental and Eternal Jokers Have Real Advantages. Use Them!
Scoring need not be a joker’s only function.
While perishable jokers are every bit as worthless as they seem, there are actually several great reasons to take rental and eternal jokers. Taking eternals makes powerful jokers like Madness andspectral cards like Hex or Ankhmore usable since they cannot be destroyed. It’s all benefit for no cost basically.
Rentals, on the other hand, can be cheap fodder for Ceremonial Dagger, free fuel for Campfire or even just temporary access to powerful jokers like Blueprint for players on a budget. They can always be sold at any time and can even just be held onto if one’s economy is strong enough. Rentals actually allow for a lot of flexibility that isn’t there otherwise.
3Keep Those Consumable Slots Full
Prevent undesirable cards from spawning.
Tarot cards in general are powerful and players should usuallytry to get and use as many as possible.Not all tarot cards are good for one’s build, however, so the natural thing to do would be to either immediately use or sell them to free up space. Don’t do that.
In Balatro, outside unusual circumstances, there can only be one copy of a given joker or consumable card on screen at a time. This means players can hold onto undesirable cards in order to increase the chances of seeing more valuable tarot, planet or even spectral cards. The effect isn’t dramatic, but it can help a run, especially on Gold Stake.
2Don’t Try to Force Pair or High Card Every Time
Being a meta hand doesn’t mean it’ll always work.
For quite a while now, the consensus has been that pair and high card are the best, most optimal hands in Balatro due to their consistency. And, yes, for endless runs, one will usually want to transition to a pair or high card build. They are not always the best option when playing on Gold Stake, though.
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Trying to force things really doesn’t go well after Purple Stake thanks to faster score scaling, so it’s better to take some direction from one’s first couple of jokers and planets instead. Get a Runner or Shortcut? Perhaps this is a good time to play straights. Get two Sun tarots early? Maybe flushes are best this time. Get an early Death or Cryptid? Why not three or four of a kind? Flow with the run, don’t fight against it.
1Diversify As Much As Possible
Putting a whole run in the hands of a lone Jimbo can yield disastrous results.
Balatro has an uncanny knack for throwing its most troublesome boss blind at players at the worst times. It tanks shaky early game builds with the Arm and the Flint, it punishes multi-hand strategies with the Needle and the Eye, and it decimates face card builds with the Plant and Verdant Leaf. As such, having options in one’s back pocket is important.
It’s not always doable depending on the run, but one should always try to preparesomethingoutside their main strategy. Maybe it’s a secondary hand. Maybe it’s a negative or non-vital joker to sell later. Maybe it’s a handful of glass cards as was discussed earlier. What “it” is will depend on your build, so always be thinking about and prepping it alongside your main strategy.
Once one incorporates these techniques and strategies into their playstyle, clearing Gold Stake will no longer be a matter of “if” but “when.” It’ll still be harder than the others and there will still be losses, but those winswillstart stacking. For more practical training in these strategies and more, verify to try out Balatro’s challenges. We’ve even gota handy guideprepped for you just in case.
