Dawncaster: Deckbuilding RPG

Depending on your IPhone model I'd suggest turning screen brightness down to zero as well since non-LED screens still eat more battery if your brightness is up.

As for in the game I'd definitely go to settings>performance and turn down your FPS (Frames per second) to 30 and possibly turning animations off as they may eat up battery even with screen curtain on. I also know in the past with other games turning off the sound could possibly help as well but that is a personal choice as sound makes up so much of the experience for us.

All in all though compared to other games, this game isn't too bad on battery consumption. I can play for hours and still not need to charge unlike Idle Iktah which just drains my battery so fast I have to charge multiple times a day.

I appreciate the response, Jonathan, but was looking for settings to adjust from within Dawncaster itself: animations, frame rate, and some sort of host thing. What are those settings, and how should I configure all of the game's settings to minimize it's specific drain on my phone's battery as much as possible. I already do most of the other things you've listed here.

Thanks! I should have seen that this thread has gone onto a second page before responding to Jonathan's message. This is definitely closer to the information I was looking for. I did turn off all animation and set frame rate as low as possible. I'mstill curious what the host setting is, but am leaving it alone for now. Battery drain is definitely less drastic now, so I'm happy. I kept sound enabled, because it is a big part of the enjoyment. I have an iphone 13 pro, and I know that sooner or later, it will need a new battery, but for now, it's hanging in there reasonably well. Meanwhile, if anyone has any idea what the host setting is, and whether or not it would influence battery life in any meaningful way, I'd really appreciate that information.

I put together a YouTube video demonstrating basic gameplay and the endgame tutorial. This video probably needs work, as I am still getting to know YouTube, as far as posting videos go, but I figured this would be good for people, struggling with the basic concepts of the game.
Dawncaster: basic game play and tutorial
https://youtu.be/1DIdnSFigGc

The game isn't my kind of thing anymore but the update really breaks the flow of things.

It will read, card 1, 4 dots, dthe card does x, 4 dots, and so on.

I'm guessing your on Android? I'm not having this issue with IOS and I've got voiceover turned on. Maybe it might be your punctuation settings? I don't know. Ain't having said dots reading out over here. However, I can confirm that the dev is fixing this. May wanna hop into their discord if ya haven't already. I do know they're actively working and fixing stuff.

It was an attempt to create a pause break between elements on a card during combat. If I recall it's been discussed on another board and am sure is being looked into.

I'm not part of the discord anymore but I did mention it.

Ah now I'm kind of curious. Lem check the discord hehehehe. Actually I can't find it but no matter. I do agree with previous poster above. You couldn't have either waited or even waited for a response from the dev and if what the previous poster said above was indeed true, and if ya indeed left because of stuff like this then shame on ya bud. Anyway, moving on.

I'm going to suggest this in the discord too if there is such place for this but ah... Not sure what ya think of this, but perhaps their could be an accessibility channel feedback section but only have it assigned to the sr role so it don't get cluttered up for people who don't have or need said role? In essence, the channel will show up if you have said role and will be hidden if the role isn't active. However with that being said, Looking forward to this next update.

Ah. yeah I can see that too. Was mostly thinking of organization here but that's a good point.

I just wanted to take a minute to sincerely thank the developers of this awesome game for all of their hard work in making it accessible. There are still a lot of things I don't understand, like how to do the seeded runs, when it's best to play each card, etc. I've joined the Discord thing, but still find Discord to be very confusing to navigate. So, I found the redit community for Dawncaster and read things there as well as keeping up with comments here on Applevis. In spite of my essential cluelessness regarding this specific type of game, I'm having a blast playing. I've made it to level 22 in the knight class, so I suppose I'm making decent progress for a newbie. LOL! If the punctuation thing is being addressed, I honestly don't have any issues at the moment. My only wish list/nice to have request would be that we can create and save our own character name. I'm getting good at typing in the name I want to play under, but if it could somehow save it, that would be very much appreciated. Portrait descriptions would be awesome at some point in the future, but for now, I'm perfectly happy to simply pick one at random and enjoy the adventure. Anyway, I just want to make sure the developers know that their efforts are extremely appreciated. I'm going to go watch the Youtube video that was just posted to see if it helps me understand how to play any better.

I have to echo what the previous poster just said. This game is so awesome! Level 22 though? You’ve made it a lot farther than I have. I have managed to defeat two of the bosses and that is it. I know kind of sad huh? L O L anyways, hope you like the YouTube video, it might not be my best work. There are things I can improve on, but I am learning. I guess I just want to do two things, help people, play games, and also give these developers or any developers that put Accessibility at the top of their list as much recognition as possible. Without the hard work and dedication of these individuals games like these would not be possible for us to play. I would like to thank you guys myself. Keep up the great work! I do have a question though. I have heard that there is another class called the cyan? If I’m pronouncing that right? If so, I don’t see this class in the list of classes that you can play. Is this even a class or was I reading it wrong? If it is a class, how do I get access to it. Do I wait until I beat in the game for the very first time? Also, I love the weekly challenges! Just as a sidenote.

I don't hate the game or anything, it's just not my kind of thing anymore.

I actually bought the £12 bundle a couple weeks ago. I'll freely admit the accessibility work on this app is amazing!

@Missy Hoppe oh wow! Level 22, that's dedication right there :)

I'll probably redownload it later on this year to have another play around with it but yeah, the accessibility is amazing.

I think my punctuation is set to some but before the dots were added there were no issues reading it so I wonder what the diffirence is between me and everyone elses phones?

Oh one thing i'd like to see for the future is the character descriptions read out. I don't mean the pictures, I mean, for example, rogue, a person who's great with bows,if that's part of the character screen, it might not be.

Are you thinking of a seaker?

Here's a tv tropes wiki for the characters: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Dawncaster

Thanks for posting this. It is appreciated. 😀

Seed codes are codes that will enable you to replay a run with the same offered rewards during that particular run.

Hello again, all. For those of you who are impressed by my level 22 accomplishment, bear in mind that I only ever play the knight class, so invest all my fate shards into unlocking things which I believe are specific to that class. It says my knight level is 23 now, but anything else is most definitely only level one. For the person asking about the sion class, which I'm pretty sure that I am also spelling wrong, I *think* that class is unique to the sun forge challenge.
So now, for my question. If I somehow get a really great run with useful skills or whatever, how do I find the seed number and apply it for future attempts? This concept is still illuding me. At the moment, I've gone back to playing in story mode, but will probably switch it back to playing in normal mode again in a few days. I don't see myself being able to handle higher difficulty levels any time soon. I like attempting the sun forge thing each day, and I love the weekly challenge as well. I'm guessing that resets on Sundays? Anyway, I need all the fate shards I can get so that my knight can become as awesome as possible, but I know I still have a lot to learn.

Hmm... Kind of wondering the same thing here as well. Haven't had a lot of time to play round with this.

Not sure what the best way to report a possible bug in the game is, apart from Discord, but I think the weekly challenge is broken. I can start it, but when I get to the starting location, no actions appear. It just shows my health, a few other things and then settings. I just tried it again, and my phone froze up in a weird way. Just curious if anyone else is having trouble with the weekly challenge. Everything else seems to be working beautifully.

I sincerely hope that the developers keep adding more expansions or creating more stories about this game.
Perhaps they can keep adding more cards or something like that.
This game is beautiful. I just have to say that this has become my favorite game.
I thank the developers for making this game accessible.

I have to say, as of right now, when the golden apple awards come around again, and it’s time for nominations, I am definitely going to nominate this game for an award.

I haven't felt overly motivated to vote in the Golden Apple Awards for several years now, but Dawncaster absolutely deserves as many awards as possible. Got the patch this morning for fixing the weekly trials, so once again, all is well. As I've said several times, I still have tons to learn about how to play the game effectively, but at least at the moment, none of my issues are accessibility related; it's just lack of knowledge and needing to figure out winning strategies. I'm trying an alternative option in the mansion, but so far, I've never been able to determin an outcome for that, so I'm excited to get that mystery solved eventually. In closing, I just want to thank Dawncaster's developers once again for making such a fun and wonderful game accessible with VoiceOver.

Gotta agree with what's been said here. And I do believe they're gunna add more stuff when it comes time but all in all, can never get enough of this game. It's fantastic!

I do have a question. I am doing a weekly challenge right now, do I need to complete that in one sitting?

I wonder that too.

I will be voting for this game as well.
The developers have done an awesome job at making this game accessible.
A wonderful game like this deserves a shot at the award.
If it was up to me, I'd say that this game will be the winner. Lol.

First off, huge thanks to the devs for their commitment to accessibility.

I've been trying to buy stuff from the store but keep getting errors, no idea if it's an issue at my end or not.

Does anyone know how you can choose what kind of energy you use when you play a card, this is kind of important when your attack crits when you use holy energy and else not, but somehow the game chooses to not use the holy energy for the bonus.

One more suggestion, the challenge to clear a run in 90 minutes is never going to happen for a screenreader user, I don't know if the game can detect the use of a screenreader or not to support more appropriate. bounties?

all in all a great game, I've finished runs already as a knight and warrior, getting close with my arcanist :D

KR

Could someone explain to me what is a charge card?
Also, what do they mean when they say performance?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Happy playing.

I get it now. Thank you so much for your answers.

I just did another YouTube video on Dawncaster. This one is the first boss battle. I will be doing one on the haunted mansion this week, since it seems that a couple of people might be having trouble with getting out of it. I do remember at least one person posting on here that they were having trouble. Dawncaster: The first boss battle!
https://youtu.be/LI94R1AoLbw

Just wondering if anyone has any tips for surviving the initial game as an arcanist. I find that I really can't get past level 2, or chapter three when starting in the cemetary. if i start in the woods, i can't really get past the second boss. my cards just do not seem to deal enough damage. i use chain with forcewind with shock. but the cards i draw after just don't seem to generate the damage i need before things kill the character. also i don't seem to be able to unlock any additional cards. when do i see the rewards menu?
thanks to everyone who has shared there experiences and advice!
does anyone know how to enable rewards?

I only ever play as a knight so far. I've made it to level 35, and things typically don't get too complicated until the third chapter. So, for what it's worth, my only advice is to use trial and error. The game does a great job of describing cards, so just try to pick whatever cards you can that you think will most fit your chosen playing style. I still think there is a ton of room for improvement in my strategies, and I know there are still plenty of game mechanics that I don't understand; most notebly swapping/upgrading cards at shrines. I am pretty sure I'm not doing those correctly yet, so I hope that maybe someday, someone who knows what they're doing could demonstrate that aspect of the game and explain it in a way that makes sense.

Perhaps someday, I'll try another class, but I truly enjoy the knight class, and I feel like there's still so much I haven't discovered. For example, in the weekly challenge, a couple of the starting setups for knights listed cards and weapons I've never even heard of; one setup seemed to be music-centric, which I'd love to explor, but I have no clue where to get the harp or whatever else it was talking about. Anyway, I wish you the very best of luck in making progress as an arcanist.

One thing that might help you, Jack, although this is definitely not in full proof, is upgrade your cards whenever you can. Visit a blacksmith whenever you can, 50 gold might seem a lot to upgrade all your basic attacks, but it really really helps.

Besides upgrading your cards with the blacksmith, you also need to visit some shrines and to open the spots that say opportunity or trap.
Explore everything in the game and you will come to understand how to choose your cards.
Also, there are a few cards that will upgrade your basic attacks as well.
I am not an expert in this game. I am just beginning to figure things out Little by little.

First, the rewards menu is under meta progression on the main screen. Under that are the classes and you can pay for upgrades with the in game currency the name of which currently escapes me, ☺️

For the trickier stuff, well I hate to say it but it's all about practice and strategy and playing style. Trying to pick cards that work well together and complement each other. Knowing what powers the monsters have and what you'll need to have to deal with them. It's not always about pure power, it's often about protecting yourself from the things the monsters are doing, too.

Also, and this is a thing I didn't realise, you shouldn't always accept every card you're offered. Having a deck that's too big can sometimes be worse than not having enough cards, since you can die while you're waiting for the things you need to turn up in your hand.

Anyway, I'm no expert, this and conjury are the only deck builders I've played, but that's just a couple of thoughts.

Thanks for the suggestions.
I found that the issue was on my side somewhere hidden in the screen time settings of iOS that prevented in app purchases... I guess this shows how rare it is that I buy something, but this game is worth it!
For choosing the type of energy, I found d that the game prioritises non holy and only if that runs out it grabs holy for neutral.

For people that struggle, my tips are to keep your deck small and only take rewards if they fully synergise with your strategy. Also focus a little more on defences or heals rather than only pure damage. Even when it does not synergise, still try to grab a rare card in the first area and go to the alchemist to upgrade it for 35 gold. Always go for the opportunities first and leave the shrines for later when you possibly have more suitable cards for it. Be nice to the stranger and he will become a merchant which might sell you some awesome cards. Good luck and have fun.

KR

I thoroughly enjoy just muddling through and trying to figure things out through trial and error, but some of the shrines really confuse me. The way I thought I understood things, you're supposed to pick a card to sacrifice, trade or whatever. Then, it shows a list of cards, which frequently includes the one you chose on the previous screen. I'm just not sure exactly how that particular aspect of the game is supposed to work. Everything is working well for me, for the most part, but I feel like I'd do even better if I understood how those interactions worked. I also want to agree with what others have said about trying to get upgrades at every opportunity and exploring every single area offered.

If I remember correctly, when you sacrifice a card in one of the shrines, the cost of the card or its power is divided among other cards.
Of course, this card gets removed and destroyed.
I, hope I remember that correctly.

Hi all,
I am having trouble getting past the opening screen while VO is turned on. When I turn it off, it seems like a native screen reader comes on. Is it possible to play the game with VO alone, and if so, How?

turn direct touch on via the roder.

The arcanist class without any rewards unlocked takes a certain amount of patience, especially early in a run. Let's say on turn 1 you start with only one or two base weapons. Ordinarily your first thought is to use one or both cards and move onto turn 2. This however is inefficient since a lot of a starting arcanists' power comes from chains. I've found it's best to play either a single shield card or nothing and move onto turn 2 giving you 3 to 4 INT to maximize your chain damage.

As you progress further in the run I would look for cards that either create other free cards or increase the amount of damage the longer you have it in your hand such as Gathering storm.

Shrines can be a bit confusing at first but here are a few things I've learned.
Only certain cards can be upgraded such as melee attack damage, poison damage and magic damage with numeric values. Trying to upgrade something like a surge card doesn't appear to do anything, wasting the upgrade chance. However if the shrine gives you the option to give a surge card as a second option it will duplicate the surge card you offer.
Sacrificing a card to upgrade another is random and appears to only upgrade a card of the same type, however if you do not own any cards that can be upgraded of the same type not only do you lose the sacrificed card but nothing happens and the upgrade fails once again losing the chance to upgrade.

I should mention that once you are at the final screen showing the newly upgraded card successful or failure it will still continue to show you a card list with your newest cards on the end. This however is not a current deck list of your current cards but appears to be more of a history of the cards you've gained, lost or upgraded.

All in all learning what you can or can't upgrade isn't too difficult to figure out so long as you learn the card type, rarity and color. This information comes in handy especially when upgrading a card through the alchemist.