Tips for card distribution in solo?

[Climhazzard]

I've played several runs now, maybe 8 or 10. I got to the first boss twice but still haven't killed him yet.

I'm wondering how I should be distributing cards between me and serenade? If I give her no cards, she still acts, but if I give her just 1 card, is it used just once and then it's done? or is it used again in a later fight?

In general, how many cards should I be giving serenade and how do I decide which ones to give her vs. which ones to keep?

[Marphod]

Serenade will use all the cards you give them plus their 3 starting cards one time each, randomly, until their draw deck is empty. If, at the interbiome step, their deck is empty, it will be reshuffled and restarted. If their deck is empty and the need a card, they default to (IIRC)

• (none)
• <_>>
• (none)

What cards to give?
My general rule was to give Serenade any card that didn't have a red/green/purple tag or a gear. The tags in the player's hand meant more combat triggers (and more likely to trigger deck checks), and serenade can't usually use gears. in the later game, I also gave them cards with a vial, as their 3 hearts on the melee side could use the support.

You want to give them cards that are better than their default, and enough of them that they will not their deck run out in the middle of a biome, but near the end. This number varies with the different biomes, and you can decide if you want to aim for a reshuffle every interbiome or just for the 2nd biome (for the 3-stage levels).

[DrunkCat1337]

All the non-tagged cards. Serenade can not do checks and relies on the tags in your discard for additional actions.

[BBBB Kiwini]

I focus on what I want, and give Serenade everything else. I usually take all skill cards, plus any status my Beheaded has synergy with. Fire for immolated, all statuses for poisoned, freeze for drowned, nothing for quartered or flayed.

Quartered is at their best just spamming lacerated aura for every single action, whether you're playing solo or in a group. No reason to take any cards except skill cards. Serenade's only job is to give round 0 heal/ round 0 shield / round 0 action. I don't need it to take any actions based on tags, and i don't care that i fail deck checks, consistency in combat is more important outside of a couple of feats.

I've finished Hand of the King solo, and it was pretty smooth.