Beginning a run of Gwent: Rogue Mage is strenuous, partially because of its roguelike mechanics. Like all roguelikes, there is a heavy amount of random chance that ensures you'll never get the ideal deck loadout you're hoping for. The only way to rework your deck is during specific moments that allow you to remove or add a card.

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If you find yourself lucky enough to garner a decent hand, your next step is to pick out the best cards for the job. Defensive ones are the obvious way to go, but without a couple of offensive cards to boot, you'll find yourself in hot water. Here are the cards you'll want to utilize at the beginning of your playthrough.

8 Recruit

Gwent Rogue Mage. Recruit card with two soldiers awaiting battle.

The recruit card has a base power of four and, upon placement on the board, will boost an allied unit of your choice by three, and a random unit in your hand by one. It's a basic play solely used for getting a little more bang for your buck by increasing the power of allied units.

It's also a card you have right off the bat, so you won't need to play against the roguelike gods to try and obtain it unless you want a duplicate of the card.

7 Raven's Armor

Gwent Rogue Mage Raven's Armor card. Armor with a red background.

Treasure cards are a little different from standard ones. They mainly provide passive boosts and don't have the usual trademark of characters on their art. One of the easiest to find is the Raven's Armor, which is a callback to Geralt's armor in The Witcher 2.

Raven's Armor adds two armor to your units, meaning every card can take another two points of damage. This buff makes it harder for the opponent to wipe out cards with one hit, giving you extra time to defend yourself.

6 Zoltan Chivay

Gwent Rogue Mage Zoltan card. Zoltan swinging his axe.

Everyone's favorite Gwent enthusiast Zoltan Chivay, as it turns out, is also one of the best cards you can have in your deck, whether it be at the beginning or later on in your run. Zoltan's base power is a four with an additional four armor, making him a tank that's tough to take down.

Once deploying Zoltan, he will boost adjacent units by four, which can be particularly handy for bolstering your allies and increasing your overall score. His armor also allows you to increase the card's power after he's been hit.

5 Old Speartip

Gwent Rogue Mage Old Speartip card. Ogroid towering over a cowering knight.

Old Speartip doesn't have an ability like most others in the game. Its solitary purpose is to increase your final score, which will ensure you a win. Having a few cards like Old Speartip is good to include, since they work like the hero cards in The Witcher 3's Gwent which often help you win the round.

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The downside to using Old Speartip is it will place a massive target on your back. One where your enemy will immediately begin targeting the unit with the highest power. It's always best to set these stronger cards near the end of the round.

4 Prince Stennis

Gwent Rogue Mage Prince Stennis card. Prince Stennis reaching for his crown.

Prince Stennis is one to favor because of the accessibility of his deployment abilities. Placing Stennis in the melee tier lets you boost one allied unit by four. Placing Stennis in the ranged position allows you to boost four allied units by one.

Which position you choose will differ from match to match, since you may play a game where the opponent whittles your health down low, which is where the ranged tier would be preferable. Alternatively, melee would be the better choice if you wanted to boost the power of a unit whose ability would benefit from this.

3 Runic Disc

Gwent Rogue Mage Runic Disc card.

Runic Disc is another treasure card that gifts you the ability to spawn three random bronze units onto the board. The Runic Disc doesn't provide any points outside of this, so it's a one-time use type of play, and due to its random nature, it's not guaranteed the move will be 100 percent worth it. It can, however, be the push you need to beat your foe and will undoubtedly add more points to your ranking.

The Runic Disc is easy to come by and one of the first treasure cards you're likely to find, so playing it is a risk worth taking.

2 One-Eyed Betsy

Gwent Rogue Mage One-Eyed Betsy card. Ogroid holding food.

The best starting card for offensive play is One-Eyed Betsy, who will deliver potent damage to your enemy. Once placed on the board, you have two choices: to either harm an unarmored enemy unit by four, or to damage an armored one by six. One-Eyed Betsy also has his standard power of four points.

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The best way to use this card is to wait until there's an armored enemy on the opponent's side that you can wipe out in one fell swoop. The other tactic is to damage an enemy unit harboring a rather powerful ability.

1 Temerian Drummer

Gwent Rogue Mage Temerian Drummer card. Temerian banging a drum.

The Temerian Drummer is a fantastic passive tool that will add to your match score at the end of your turns. Place the drummer next to a unit you wish to strengthen, and it will boost the card to its right at the end of your turn. While only adding a singular point, these begin to stack up and can be used in conjunction with other passive cards of its type.

The Temerian Drummer has a base level of four, so it's one of the weakest you can obtain during the early game, points-wise. However, this card was never intended to be used for brute strength and instead exists to improve the power of other allied units.

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