Whether found in the Shop’s stock or in Arcana packs, Tarot Cards are a force to be reckoned with inBalatro. There’s a total of twenty-two different Tarot Cards to choose from, with each bringing a uniquely powerful effect to the table.
Balatro: 10 Tips and Tricks We Wish We Had Known
Rare pointers and strategies for newcomers to the ultimate poker roguelike, Balatro!
Obviously, some Tarot Cards are the key to specific builds (for example, The Sun to a Heart Flush build), but we’re here to focus on the best all-round players from the Tarot Card roster.
10The Hierophant
Enhances2selected cards toBonus Cards
The Hierophant enhances two playing cards of your choice with +50 Chips when scored, boosting them far above the chip value of any base playing card. This is one of the best ways to boost your chip count per hand.
Bonus Cards are an unexciting, but reliable enhancement that provide use at all levels of play. If you’re having trouble finding the right Planet cards in your run, these are always a great backup plan.
Creates the lastTarotorPlanetcard used during this run
If you liked that last consumable you used, run it back with The Fool. It doesn’t work on Spectral Cards, but Tarot and Planet cards can be duplicated after use with this ability.
Tarot Cards like The Emperor, as well as suit-changing cards for Flush builds, pair well with The Fool. It also comes in handy when the rest of your Arcana Pack isn’t quite hitting the mark, allowing you to just rewind to your last purchase.
8The Emperor
Creates up to2randomTarotcards
The Emperor creates two random Tarot Cards and places them in your consumables inventory. The catch here is that in order to maximize its effects, you’ll need to be sure that you have two slots free, so ensure to have a clear inventory or a Crystal Ball Voucher purchased.
The Emperor also allows you to save the Tarot Cards you receive until you’re in a round, guaranteeing that you’ll be able to instantly utilize cards that are enhanced by your Tarot.
7The Empress
Enhances2selected cards toMult Cards
The Empress enhances two playing cards into Mult Cards, which add +4 Mult upon scoring. Since your cards are scored before your Jokers, this can actually be an incredibly lucrative enhancement, provided you have plenty of multiplying Jokers to go with it.
10 Best Jokers To Use In Balatro
These are most consistent Jokers in the game!
Another benefit to The Empress and her Mult Cards is the fact that basic playing cards provide zero Mult. The Empress gives cards the actual potential to affect the score of each hand in late-game rounds, instead of being parts of a highly-upgraded hand type.
6The Chariot
Enhances1selected card into aSteel Card
If you have a good base level Mult going on your hand of choice, or a decent amount of Mult Cards to play, The Chariot’s Steel Card can absolutely dominate the felt. Each Steel Card that remains in your hand after playing your cards gives x1.5 Mult, increasing your Mult by 50%.
Having multiple Steel Cards at once, either through multiple Chariots or just cloning cards, can seriouslyamp up your scores each round. We recommend enhancing your lower-rank and lower-priority cards with this Tarot, so you don’t waste your heavy-hitting cards by having them on the bench.
Increases rank of up to2selected cards by1
An extra chip’s worth of value sounds fine, but consider this: if you upgraded two kings with Strength, your standard deck of playing cards would now have a total of six aces. The Strength Tarot Card is perfect for maximizing same-rank card hands in this way.
Be sure to keep in mind that increasing the rank of an Ace using this Tarot Card will change the rank to 2, much lower than what an Ace is worth. Also, keep in mind that your rank-increased cards replace normal cards, so your potential for Straights will go down.
Select2cards, convert theleftcard into therightcard
Death is great for pruning low-rank playing cards from your deck, as well as increasing the number of enhanced and high-rank cards. It copies enchantments, seals, and editions, so use it on enhanced cards when you can.
This card also is great for same-rank decks, eliminating a non-matching card from potential draws and adding a matching one in its place. Be very careful when using Death, and always make sure that the card you want to keep is on the right, and the card you want to alter is on the left (we’ve lost many brave soldiers this way).
3Judgement
Creates a randomJokercard (Must have room)
Notice how the description doesn’t specify what kind of random Joker card you can create with Judgement. This is because uncommon and rare Jokers are up for grabs when using this Tarot Card, making it a worthy investment and potentially game-changing in early rounds.
Balatro: 10 Best Tags, Ranked
The best tags to consider skipping a blind for!
WithBooster Packsstarting at $4-6 in the shop, landing any Joker of use will most likely be cheaper than buying it in the Shop (especially after rerolls). In the worst-case scenario, you can cut your losses and sell the new Joker at any time.
2The Hermit
Doubles money (Max of$20)
Depending on how much cash you have on you, The Hermit can basically serve as a free stack of cash for your wallet. If you have $7 or more and see this pop up in the Shop, it’s a complete no-brainer to snag it as it will pay off the cost and then increase your money afterwards.
If you have enough cash on you, it can also pay itself off in a Booster Pack. Of course, the only downside is that The Hermit is useless if you have no money in your wallet to double, and is actually harmful if you have negative money.
1Temperance
Gives the total sell value of all current Jokers (Max of$50)
More free money! Temperance and The Hermit are both somewhat interchangeable in terms of ranking on this list. Just pick the one that gives you more cash at the moment.
Temperance edges past The Hermit here because it can save you from a $0 wallet, as well as increase your wealth by a potential $30 more than The Hermit can. This works very well with Jokers like The Egg and Gift Card, which increase the sell value of your Jokers.
Review: Balatro
Simple to get into, hard to put down, Balatro’s endless possibilities result in one of the best and most rewarding takes on deck-building yet.
