It's hard to say there is an objectively right or wrong way to play 100% Orange Juice, and RNG will forever remain a strong determinant in the direction of any match. However, I will confidently maintain that there remain methods to increase the odds in the player's favor, for the many variables you have control over per match. Below I will be synopsing these factors in the order you'll most likely be encountering them in an average game (assuming players are playing normally, not achievement-hunting, etc.).

At most, these can better your chances at winning, but in general they can increase the enjoyment factor, making even a match lost, a satisfying experience you can non-sarcastically concede a "gg" for. If it wasn't already apparent, it should be noted that this guide is geared more towards intermediate or veteran players, as basic mechanics will not be detailed, but rather, used as a reference point.

In any event, what qualifies me to provide definitive comments to this effect? Not to brag, but I've been around the block and accrued a bit of experience on the matter:



That is not to say that every conclusion I draw up here is infallible, being based on a plethora of in-game experiences versus players - from all level groups - that may, or may not, have been playing intelligently. In general, however, my methodology gives the game a deeper strategic depth and nets better rewards than when I began playing OJ, bearing no sense of its intricacies. Either way, feedback in both directions is appreciated. So without further ado:

This one is probably the most-straightforward, but also one that I feel is too often taken for granted. Not only should you be loading cards that have the most potential for your character selection alone, you should also be accounting for situations that are most likely to occur in an average match. Do you really need that Sealed Guardian taking up a slot? If you or (more likely) another player is to find it, will you be able to benefit at any particular point in the match?

This is especially the case for Limit 1 cards. With a mere ~2.1% chance of finding it per draw panel, you'd better hope an opponent finding it won't: 1. Be an immediate discard (thus a total waste to have brought) or 2. Completely screw you over (equating to a mistake to have brought). An example I like to use is Scrambled Eve on Aru: Sure she can occasionally profit off a string of low probability occurrences, but averages dictate that the opposite is significantly more likely, namely, that another player will find or play Scrambled Eve at an inopportune time, and/or that any hypers Aru held will be found and used by other players. And since Aru's hypers are her life-blood and sole competitive edge against opposing star-farmers, a waste of this magnitude might just have lost her the match.



With the way that decking works in OJ, Limit 1s are really only worth bringing if they have a global benefit so anyone will use them (ex. Holy Night), or a benefit so exclusive to your character, that others will hesitate to use it against you (ex. PiyoPiyo Procession on Starby). The same principle can still apply for Limit 3s, of course, and should, where possible; think 300% Heat on Kae.

Still, sometimes rounding out a deck means packing for the same sorts of contingencies other characters of your archetype tend to deal with, which is, in and of itself, not wholly bad, as you're more likely to find duplicates packed by opponents. Just don't be surprised when they pull the same tricks on you, and account for that if you start spotting them (ex. Piggy Banks are a popular tank/trap-layer ploy that is pretty easy to see through once you've seen one or more in the deck). Below is what I consider to be a fairly well-rounded setup on Aru that accounts for much of her standard play and doesn't do much critical harm when finding its way into opponent's hands:



Characters with flexible passives/hypers can carve their own path through much of matches, sometimes regardless of decking, but a good, well thought-out deck will still go a long way for any cast member, even Manny, somewhat amusingly. It's a good idea to always be refining your decks, preferably not when peeps are waiting on you, but whenever you notice particularly handy card combos pulled off, particularly by characters you might struggle with getting to work yourself.

This section is pretty no-brainer, but merits review for its criticality on bigger maps. Also referred to as 'Pathing', Panel Priority is a large determinant in establishing early leads or maintaining late leads. On maps that offer diverging paths to either bonus or draw panels, generally speaking you'll want to focus on bonus until 3rd norma, and card panels after, coasting off of chapter income until you have a full, decently usable hand. Empty panels are the devil, except for on maps like Sealed Archive, where choosing an empty panel over a bonus could yield an earlier norma, and thus quicker subsequent star returns: Lost time taking the long way around, even with the added incentive of favorable panels, can not only cost you leads, it can leave you unprepared to deal with bossu or assailants, when you have insufficient norma to use good cards.



Another common choice players are called upon to make is between battle and drop, or bossu and drop, depending on how far along the match is, and that's typically up to stat distribution. Plus attackers should always seek battle unless they are at critical hp, and plus defenders can typically get away with it too, but can't generally profit off it. Still, avoiding a drop is in of itself a profit, from a certain point of view. In regard to double drops, however, seriously consider pathing to a boss if you risk losing more off a 7+ drop than what you'd lose from death to bossu (heck, you might also live and lose nothing, if you've got some hp to burn).



Stopping on bossu is also a nice way to ward off bullies, provided they're on star norma and care about losing their gains (naturally, Starby will not). I cannot stress enough paying attention to bossu hp, though. Not only is it a game-changer if you can swipe that kill once she reaches critical, but the consequence of hitting bossu at 2hp is equally severe, since landing a hit opens up the boss-kill for anyone watching, especially to those immediately behind you, in position to steal it from under your feet. If you've unintentionally stumbled upon this scenario, you'd best be prepared to stop any would-be thieves with lethal force to protect your boss-kill turf. And please god, NoName players, take the hit rather than give away a boss-kill with poorly-timed Overseer use.

While it's wasn't the first point I chose to address, normas should always be your foremost priority. Failure to do so will cost you matches. It just will, as I've seen it happen time and again.

Unless you main Starby (if it wasn't already apparent, a lot of this guide does not cater to her unique method of play), that star multiplier will get you leagues farther than players opting to hit a higher volume of bonus panels early. It'll also make your star-pool usable in regards to progressively higher-level cards, and is a leg up on other players in the race to the endgame: Even should you fall, at max norma, you have a higher chance of coming back into the game compared to someone with more stars but fewer normas, as they have more legwork to do catching up, and now get more time in the limelight as the primary target.



While this section is primarily geared towards star normas, the switch-over to win normas has obvious merits of its own, provided you start accruing them early enough to keep pace with others. As a general rule of thumb, you'll only ever want to start going wins normas when you have the requirements already or are only a few off, but take into account your character's innate ability to farm wins, compared against the char matchups and field events. It's also beneficial to stave off on turning in 4th norma as long as possible so you can continue to farm off the easier battle panels (instead of bossu).

Win normas are especially beneficial in matchups where you foresee frequent retaliation and star loss, since wins secured cannot be negated; thus, win farmers have a significantly easier time in the race to the finish since KO is essentially lost time and nothing more, once all 14 wins are completed. Understand, though, that keeping with win normas will make players actively avoid you, which is abusable in your favor for glass cannons like Yuki and Sugi, but obviously makes it harder to gather wins in general.

Now, smaller map layouts make getting normas a cinch, so for those, you have only yourself to blame when neglecting normas. Other maps make lining them up significantly harder, like White Winter or Sunset, in which case, you need to make the most of every available chance, or synthesize opportunities of your own:

Battling a player on a home panel is the most straight-forward example. As an extension of that, if you are nearby a player closing in on their home, consider fighting them until they reach norma, also referred to as following to home, but take into account the risk of killing them outright, as well as the opposite. Some players will recognize the follow attempt and opt to norma later, especially if you are ahead, so use discretion.



In the more likely event that you aren't always conveniently behind someone close to norma, cards like Dash! and Lonely Chariot are great for controlled repositioning, so long as you scout ahead a little and understand averages, in the case of the former. Here and There and targeting warp panels when you find yourself on or just ahead of your home, is an expedient way to shave off travel time re-circling the board. Also, clever use of Lost Child and the Backtrack field effect (where applicable) will go a long way.

More than anything, beware of adversely advantaging players looking to snag normas off of you. Especially where potentially winning normas are involved, stave off your own norma, unless you have a valid, potent counterattack prepared. Even then, it's often better to save that for a non-game-jeopardizing space if it doesn't go as planned. It will save you some flak in chat, if nothing else.

While there are a few builds that benefit from scattering traps pell-mell whenever you have the chance, like Krila and YukiD, generally you want to be a bit more intelligent about it. There's an obvious payout for targeting homes, but smaller maps like Vortex and Practice Field tend to de-emphasize that importance, as it is relatively simple to hit a nearby home instead.

Effective trap use comes largely from understanding where characters are most likely to path to on any given map. In the best case scenario, you want your traps to be unavoidable. Since this is not always possible on maps with many branching paths, you also want the risk of hitting any given trap to be lower than the space they are placed on.



For instance, take a branch between battle and drop: In most cases, battle will be the more lucrative option, thus the place for your trap. On the flip side, if bossu is upcoming, or already in play, the drop would be the better position. Some players use this methodology in reverse for hiding Piggy Banks, which can be effective if you're paying close attention, but it can also backfire brilliantly, so use that questionable tactic at your own risk (personally, I do not, but it's apparently a staple on Saki mains).

Speaking of Piggies, trapping your own home will automatically be perceived as leaving a Piggy for the undeniable utility this presents. Use this generalization in your favor to leave detrimental traps for others to willingly hit, provided you are sure others can realistically reach your home easily (ex. White Winter would be a poor place to try this out). This is especially valuable for traps that provide some perceivable remote benefit to you, such as Present Thief, Toy Store, or Tragedy in the Dead of Night.



For branches of a different nature, say between a bonus and a draw, this is largely up to preference for what you wish to deny most reasonable passing players forced to make the choice. It's advisable not to trap both branches in the same movement range, though, for the inevitability that you'll have to detonate one yourself on further laps. Naturally, it does force other players encountering the junction to choose one, but it's not really strategy as much as it is luck by then, unless you can ascertain based on the opposing character archetypes which choice is more likely, and thus, which branch to leave the more dangerous trap. Still, that requires quite a bit of setup and foresight, when the better option is simply to save your trap for a different junction.

Home Roulette in conjunction with trap builds has beautiful potential, since it streamlines the process of getting traps on to enemy homes. It can also backfire though, so don't go too crazy.

I realize this section doesn't address optimal placement of Saki's trap hyper, Big Bang Bell, as it requires a different mentality altogether. Being the only AOE trap, it's hard to go wrong with, though. Frankly, I don't perceive it as balanced, so will leave fundamentals of its use to other guide authors.

A field that is often overlooked in character matchups, effective Card Management can make or break a match. And while there are some characters that can largely survive a match without a card, there is an undeniable edge that cards present when 1. You are not the leader, or 2. You come across an unexpected scenario, be it a skirmish, a trap, a boss panel, etc.

In general, you never ever want to have an empty hand, as it paints a big red target on your back and tells all nearby players 'I have no plan'. This is especially detrimental for chars that rely on hypers for combat survivability, like Alte, QP, or Peat. Even if this means holding onto a costless, easy-to-use card (say, Nice Jingle or Flip Out), it's important to maintain the illusion that you always have something up your sleeve. While this may not deter everyone, it will deter an opponent who might have something to lose by making a poor attack choice (Kae and Hime know this feeling all too well).



It also pays, across the board, to have something, anything, you can exploit, be it in battle, sabotage, sowing disorder, or just accounting for a bad roll. All cards have usefulness somewhere, and a true master will use whatever tools are at their disposal to manipulate their chances.



When you have a full hand going, and have the opportunity to optimize it, weigh your characters' strengths and weaknesses. A Saki's Cookie on Poppo isn't going to go very far, but Quick Restoration certainly will. Consider your opponents as well. Big Magnum isn't going to impress Kyoko, but Forced Revival, timed after a Crystal Barrier suicide, will certainly get her blood sugar pumping.

An ideal full hand would give you some degree of each of the following:

• Board/movement control
  
• Offensive/comeback contingency
  
• Heal/defensive contingency

Based on your character's general competence in battle, the offensive contingency could also be swapped for cards that enable star-gathering for you, or hinder others', so traps could fit in that category, or hypers that end up netting you some form of payout. Gauging your characters affinities is key here, alongside adapting what other players packed into usefulness for your own purposes, since finding everything you packed or sniping a full hand of hypers every game, is simply wishful thinking.



If I haven't emphasized it enough, making choices on the fly isn't always easy. This is as true in regards to discards, as it is to choosing your card plays. When engaging opponents, don't waste cards needlessly. While that attack boost will indeed guarantee a kill on a critical-hp player, consider saving it for a higher-value target, or if it's only mid-game, for when things inevitably start turning south. Never use cards on mobs unless you're near-death yourself.

And when death does catch up with you, don't waste high-value battle cards (ie Accel Hyper, Final Battle), unless your intent is targeted star denial on a norma panel, since a lot of the time, there will be another, better opportunity to use those same cards, either at full hp post-revive, and/or with you as the vengeful aggressor.



Save flexible boost/event cards for situations that warrant them, rather than as the cheap fodder I see them traditionally used for. For instance, a good use of Here and There denies a winning norma, or uses Dash! to snipe a boss-kill. Gentleman's Battle can also be great in the endgame, but only if you have a plan alongside it.

Every so often, there will be virtually cardless matches, most popularly on the Night Flight or Frost Cave maps, due to their setup, but elsewhere too, if the dice are not with you. In those circumstances, you have to fallback on your character stats, pathing effectively, and perhaps most importantly, choosing your battles wisely, which leads into my next point.

Battle is a fundamental aspect of the game that can be the key to victory. With that being said, fights should be chosen carefully to maximize gains and minimize risk of needless loss. And while not every character is designed with an affinity for battle, all can benefit from it in some fashion or another.




Battle's primary utility is obvious, as a way to squash opposition and take leads. This opens the way for stragglers to manage comebacks, where otherwise RNG would be the sole determinant. And while RNG still remains a factor in combat rolls, there is certainly a more consistent payout than simply praying for misfortune to befall your opponents in the form of drops, boss tiles, or more courageous assailants than you.

Before you enter a battle of your own initiative, it's important to ascertain both the risk and reward for doing so. Some questions to consider, right off the bat: Do I stand a chance at damaging or KOing this opponent? Can I survive a hit if things go poorly? Is there a meaningful star reward to be gained from a KO here? Is it worth risking my own star-pool for? Would I still net a profit if I were to use cards here? Ultimately, is this kill necessary?



If any of the above answers are no, especially several at once, then it's probably not worth it. Consider pathing away or ignoring them completely. Do remember, however, that avoiding conflict can also create openings for opponents opting to strike you, in which case, battle can also be a defensive weapon:

Plus attack points are valuable with this, since they aid in the effectiveness of a first-strike, but are not strictly necessary. Sporting critical hp or a sizable star lead, it's safe to assume opponents are looking to jump you (tanks are also prime picking). After all, it only takes a single backstab to open up a chain of attacks from continued pursuit, at which point you're just praying for good movement rolls to escape. Thus, any capability you have to shutdown your assailants early is one you should make use of, given it is possible you can make a difference and not simply endanger yourself further.

Lastly, it should be stated that the phenomenon of "bullying", or attacking whatever's in front of you with reckless abandon, is ultimately a strategy destined to fail, especially if you ever wish to retain stars. It is far wiser to cherry-pick your targets, mitigating the damage that others will use against you.


There is particular tactical merit in using battle as a way to snipe favorable panels. Normas and boss-kills have been mentioned, but there are plenty of other examples: Bonus, card, move, miracle panels, playground panels. In the same vein, it's also great for navigating away from unfavorable panels, say drop or bossu. Every advantage you can get, use. Works wonders in the otherwise slow early-game since no-one has cards up yet, and might even net you an easy 2nd norma.



Sometimes, it is clear and unavoidable that your char will be KO'd. In such cases, there is an added battle/battle-panel utility for your consideration. Mentioned in brief earlier, targeted star/win denial is deliberately opting to KO to a straggling player or panel, to ensure that those rewards don't fuel the leading player unto victory. And while it is something of a niche, undesirable concept, it can become critical in certain matchups, such as Waruda Sisters vs Starby.


And now, at long last, we arrive at the reason that prompted me to formulate this guide in the first place: Distinguishing who to attack and when. The answers should not come as a surprise to many, but are actively utilized by very few.

In the early-game, it doesn't matter, values change too quickly. By mid-game, you start to get a picture of who's been the luckiest on bonus panels and who you should start gunning for if you want to keep up. But it's only by the endgame, a.k.a., when most players have reached 4th or 5th norma, that it becomes absolutely clear who's taking it home, provided no-one gets in their way.

This is the player you need to stop!



So long as there is a clear leader, everyone should be joining in. There is not as much value in going after lesser targets for a slight advantage, and in continuing to do so, you can actually impede others' coordination in preventing a single player from scoring an unchallenged, landslide victory.

Certainly there are cases where multiple characters have leads, and going after the 2nd place character isn't inherently bad either. Weigh norma level, norma progression, and likelihood of pulling ahead when selecting a target. Just don't get so focused on a single player, leader or not, that others slip through the cracks.

There are a number of characters whose stat distributions, passives, or hypers make them tough to handle in the endgame - for instance, Sweet Eater, Nath, NoName, Kyoko, or Sherry. And while typically you'd have wanted to handle them earlier to prevent their rise to power, things don't always go as planned. Still, at the end of the day, they are only mortal. Attack them enough, and they will fall. Don't, and they will win. Simple as that.



And while battle is usually the most effective way, there certainly exist other methods of interfering with player win chances, even if that means underhandedly setting up a kill for another player. Super-All Out Mode, Long-Distance Shot, Mixed Phenomenon, all carry excellent utility for this, when used with precision. Use whatever tools are at your disposal; it's better to try a risky maneuver if you have something to gain, than surrendering a win without ever trying.

Being handed a win you don't deserve doesn't feel good, and watching it happen feels even worse. Don't let either side be you. Instead, let's all do our best and "gg" for realsies. Happy juicing!

After almost a year of waiting, the dev-team have chosen to bless us with a new and improved Co-Op mode. Thus, I’ve chosen to update this section with tips more relevant to the changes made, which are significant, for those of you who weren’t here for Summer 2018. And while most were for the better, one I can assuredly say I initially disliked is that newbies to the mode have it worse off this time, seeing that role levels were added, and what most roles get at level 10 is actually what used to be the starting line. On the other hand, there’s new benefits and abilities for continuing past level 10, including fancy dice and oranges on each level-up, which could be said to encourage newbies in particular to try for it. So I try not to fault devs for the decision, and whatever your stance, it adds a degree of longevity to the mode quite foreign to Summer’s Co-Op [as of Version 2.7, roles were once again overhauled to make all abilities available by role level 10, but previously level 25 abilities were removed/reworked]. Anyway, enough griping, let’s get into it:

Similar to versus mode (from here on, this will be my shorthand for the vanilla OJ multiplayer experience), it is hard to pinpoint an objectively incorrect way of playing Co-Op, but there are certainly ways to increase your odds of survival and/or success. Also, while some of the topics covered previously still apply here, many norms are skewed; thus, I felt this warranted its own section.

Right at the outset, communication is key; Pick a team with a nice blend of roles, and ensure teammates have a moderately good understanding of which roles they selected (for beginners, Attacker is usually best), and how it synergizes with their character. With a display above the deck screen showing who picked what char/role, you needn’t necessarily hold up matches discussing it at the Ready screen, just be attentive and flexible.



A good template team is 2 Attackers, 1 Guardian, 1 Support. It's not the only workable setup, but as a general rule of thumb, you always want to have at least a single, competent Support, especially with high-revive char compositions. Lastly, some familiarity with the selected boss and their related effects is recommended, but not as important if you start out on a lower difficulty, say Normal or Casual (going with that, Hyper difficulty absolutely necessitates this).


Where before decks came pre-selected, now they are tied to character grades, giving a greater margin to play, for lack of a kinder term, ‘sub-optimal’ chars in order to access a greater volume of favorable, more utilitarian cards. A select few, un-balanceable cards are disabled in Co-Op (thank god we’re finally free of Scrambled Eve), but for the most part it’s still player’s choice.

For public lobbies, it’s important to remember that, should the deck timer expire before ready-up, the remainder of the deck will be stuffed with level 1 traps that are mostly unfavorable to your team, so deck presets (notably separate from your vs presets) are a good idea, but not one you can expect CPU teammates to observe.



Zero-cost cards like Here and There, Dash!, and Rainbow Circle, make great deck stuffers and sport some of the widest usefulness to varied teams. More specialized picks like Accel Hyper, Dinner, and Pudding also come to mind, but are costly to bring, and will be hard to find, when not brought in multiples by several teammates. Thus, a good medium of 2-point cards like Saki’s Cookie, Quick Restoration, and Extend, is also worth consideration. Again, keep in mind the selected boss and roles for your ultimate choices: Guardians, Avengers, and Attackers, respectively, benefit the most from the above picks.

Another noteworthy change away from 2018’s Co-Op was the handling of char vs role hypers (the latter accessible past role level 10 exclusively), and while it is easy to forget to swap your hyper type over, a factor you should consider before doing so is the flexibility of selected char's hyper over their role counterpart. For instance, Sugi’s Accelerator vs Ultimate Weapon in the Sun. Still, the opposite may be true, since despite their rebalances, some char hypers still have limited potential, say YukiD’s Evil Mastermind. Mostly this element is per-player, per-char, and best left to observation on what works best for your role.


To fully utilize the abilities of your team as soon as possible, it is advisable to rush through normas. With stars and wins being shared, bonus and battle panels should be the sole priority at first, with cards or warps only targeted to avoid drops or an untimely demise to bossu at critical hp. Additionally, with globally targetable home panels, positioning to norma quickly is only important for a single player, best left to Support on account of their progressive movement boost, or Guardian when they've been giving out a lot of shields. Attackers and Avengers are free to pursue the boss afield, just be wary of AOE or backstab effects, which all bosses possess in varying degrees.



Once you’ve gotten in a sufficient amount of normas (typically 4 for max role boosts is acceptable, but 5 for maximized income - no longer necessary for role hypers), there is more leeway to target a greater variety of panels, as well as spend stars. Be conscious of your star-pool not to over-spend, since frequent KOs and thus Support’s revive-costs tend to add up the most, but in terms of battle and boost cards, generally it’s better to use them than let them go to waste. Just try to preserve hypers and heals for when they're absolutely needed.

All roles have their own benefits and drawbacks, with a good blend supplementing the failings of each. Below I've highlighted a general gameplan for each role, and how to maximize their strengths so as not to unnecessarily burden your team, as well as a rating on their perceived difficulty.

Role: Easy
Abilities: Easy

The most straight-forward role, Attacker's job is to target bossu or battle panels as often as they can. That being said, they tend to take the most fire and spend the most time in revive, so they should minimize unnecessary risks, and use battle cards intelligently. They make great targets for Guardian's Shield ability, however, given the sheer amount of damage they would otherwise be soaking up. Along with that, they should endeavor to stay within range of Supports to gradually recover battle damage and receive quicker revives.



Once sufficient norma is reached, normal battle tiles outlive their usefulness as a possible hp drain for little star gain, so pursuing bossu becomes the biggest priority, with minions afield being the next best, particularly if they give bossu passive bonuses (like Chicken or RoPoChi). Offensive hypers should be reserved for boss only, but worth retaining during stat or roll modifying effects, like Snatcher’s PoppoFormation or M10’s Scrambled Delta Field. Still, Attackers should remain conscious of how many team-members are up at any given time, meaning avoiding battle as the last standing char, or when many players are about to fall to a hostile effect at chapter end, is occasionally a necessity.

Attackers are free to use their Fury cooldown ability every 6 turns to increase damage yields in combat, but it's most valuable against bossu, particularly with defense debuffed and/or boosted player attack. Fury also stacks alongside Attacker's role hyper, useful to bring on chars who fit the role but whose hypers don't (both Yuki sisters know this pain).

My preferred Attacker pick: MSora
Popular Attacker picks: Kae, Starby

Role: Hard
Abilities: Moderate

Up until normas are maxed, Supports have their work cut out for them, and play basically the same as any other passive build: Circle the board, gather stars, stay out of fights, etc. Since manual revives can be costly, it is usually better to stockpile those stars for quicker normas (adversely, as bossu is generally less dangerous in the early-game, Supports have more freedom using their cooldown ability). Gravitate towards clusters of players so you can chain-heal them in a row as you pass. It's always beneficial to stay nearby other players as much as possible.



Once normas are all achieved, Support has a lot more wiggle room, and can pretty much revive at will. However, over-spending can quickly become a problem if you're not careful, so the key is prioritization: If only a single player is down, save yourself the trouble. Where multiple players are down, you'll want to revive a few, naturally prioritizing higher RECs first, and grouped players over isolated ones.

When downed players are evenly scattered, or significantly out of your way, your ranged revive ability/hyper comes in handy. It's also a good way to get a cheaper revive on a high-revive char, provided you have a few to spare, or are tight on stars (common once Homes are wiped). Keep an eye on boss effect, however, as there are more than a few that, combo’d with poor revive timing, will prove more of a detriment than a boon.



Support functions as the backbone of the team by the endgame, so good judgement in regards to kit use and positioning is the most critical. In character and particularly hyper selection, balance strengths/costs against their inherent ability to survive in a pinch.

My preferred Support pick: SoraM, Repa
Popular Support pick: Natsumi, Rone

Role: Moderate
Abilities: Hard

Following numerous complaints about Guardian's formerly bland, one-note playstyle that heavily favored specific builds, devs thankfully revamped the class, improving its flexibility and general user-friendliness. Their array of abilities can be overwhelming, however, so a quick breakdown:



Protect (or Shield) is Guardian's staple ability they can re-use every other turn, protecting the recipient from a max of 2dmg for 1 battle. A few notes: Shields remain deployed until struck, either in combat by defending, or via an indirect damage source, like an AOE attack. If a Shield goes unused and a new target is selected, the initial target loses the Shield, meaning you cannot deploy infinite Shields. While you cannot Shield yourself, another Guardian may, and vice versa. Lastly, Shields will remain deployed thru a successful evasion, but where unsuccessful, it will mitigate 2dmg worth of the aftermath.

Guardian Spirit, the ability unlocked at role level 5, casts (invisible) Shields on all party members, self included, and remain active throughout every battle fought for 2 full turn cycles, with a high cooldown of 8 turns. Spirit functions a bit differently than Protect, however, as it only blocks 1dmg, down from 2, and doesn't function outside combat. It does stack with Protect, though.

Lifeguard on the White Beach, Guardian's role level 10 swappable hyper, is essentially 4 (invisible) Shields cast simultaneously, blocking 2 combat dmg on all party members, and also stacking with Protect. It cannot stack with itself, however, so take note of who has stocks left before a 2nd use.



Iron Defense, Guardian's other starting ability, is a combat-exclusive 'self-shield', usable every 3 turns. Rather than boosting the output of defending, your defend roll must meet/exceed the attacking roll to mitigate what would've been 1dmg, at that point (where this condition is not met, it's functionally useless and damage is calculated same as normal). As such, Iron Defense doesn't play well with other shielding mechanics, and should be conserved if already shielded.

Depending on the char used, Guardian can play pretty flexibly, helping tank boss hits while handing out Shields to at-risk teammates, generally Attackers, as they have the highest downtime if damage isn't mitigated in time. In general, they needn't target hostile panels, but they can get away with it if party's on track for normas. Keep in mind, however, that as the char with the highest defense, Guardians are also often called upon to be the last bastion nearing a full party wipe, so particularly in the endgame it's vital to keep that hp up.

My preferred Guardian pick: Nanako
Popular Guardian picks: Kyoko, Fernet
Special mention: Nath

Role: Easy
Abilities: Moderate

Similar to Attacker, Avenger also benefits from frequenting boss panels, and their passive allows them unparalleled damage potential. Unfortunately, without first-strike, they run a higher risk of being KO'd before they can land a hit. Thus, early-on, it is a choice between assisting other roles in gathering stars/normas, or getting in easier hits while bossu is still building up a better deck. Ensure your team is on-board first, either way, since this endangerment can lead to lost norma opportunities.

Make sure you do your math carefully (particularly against Snatcher with stacked damage boosts) if you try to pull off anything risky, like a purposeful evade to boost your attack stat, and remember that stacks cap at +9. It's worth mentioning that for high-hp chars like Castle or Kiriko, this is an easy way to quickly cap damage from full hp, and is duplicable each new life. Keep in mind, of course, that high-hp chars also tend to suffer from poor revive, so a solid Support keeping you up is a necessity when you go that route.



Avenger’s hyper/ability has been reworked a few times and now functions fairly simply, but can still be hard to know just when to save or use. On the one hand, it’s a guaranteed, easy damage boost for a single fight. On the other, it’s an emergency method of ensuring you live through one combat, critical when things get dicey. Thus, paying close attention to current/upcoming effects, boss proximity, and living players, are all factored into it. One notable exploit is using From Beyond alongside Quick Restoration, which makes it functionally the same as the hyper version, assuming you start from full hp.

My preferred Avenger picks: Miu, Alte
Popular Avenger picks: Arthur, Sherry

Role: Moderate
Abilities: Moderate

A tad lackluster in that their only stat boost is a single HP point at norma 3, the chosen char's base stats/hyper need to be decent enough to warrant choosing Dealer. Their strength, naturally, lies in their increased drawing ability and getting these to other players, useful regardless of board or boss. Naturally, this necessitates decking intelligently, and is also recommended to have a universally-usable hyper, particularly one that might do better in the hands of other teammates, than your own.

And although less mobile, Dealers have about the same liberty with pathing/tiles as Supports, and should ideally spend much of the match out-of-combat, only sniping hits when cards line up for it. A second, oft overlooked, priority of Dealers is to complement their increased star usage with superior star-gathering, and a simple way to do that, barring conducive passives/hyper, is peppering in a few star-gathering cards to your preset decks each round, such as Nice Jingle, Piggy Bank, etc.

Dealer's ability has a low cooldown and few drawbacks, but is worth preserving in several cases: 1. Your hand is already full, 2. The majority of tiles 6 panels ahead of you aren't detrimental (or are already draw tiles), or 3. Boss/Terror is not afield. Saving for Terror in particular can be a godsend during clutch rounds where you're the last player up!



I also cannot stress enough that Dealers should not continue targeting card panels with a full, decent hand they do not intend to deal, as this equates to a wasted turn discarding cards for that perfect hand that is not as important as simply progressing the match. Just do me and your teammates that favor, and save yourself from flak (or, at best, very drawn-out matches).

My preferred Dealer picks: Nanako, Syura
Popular Dealer picks: Nico, Mei, Sugi46B

If you'd like to know a little bit about me and my OJ playstyle, read on. Otherwise, feel free to skip this section. Comment if you benefitted from this or have suggestions for improvement. Much appreciated!

Yo! OJ user Voidsword here. Sometimes go by Desirous on Steam, and you might even catch me playing on my alternate save slots Desirous or Dirge in-game. You'll find me wandering public lobbies as I feel the fancy, usually among 50+ players as they offer more challenge, but am not against boosting low-levels on achievement-hunting lobbies. Whatever your level range, I'm glad for your tolerance and feedback, and will always endeavor to show courtesy where it is reciprocated, in-game and beyond.

I've been following OJ since a little after release, and would have to say it's my favorite from the developer, but the Human Tanks series is fun too. OJ's tactical depth despite its frivolous atmosphere keeps me interested, and the different approaches brought by the ever increasing cast/decking options keep every match pleasantly unique, so it's hard to get bored of it unless players are spamming, which I am strongly opposed to.

In general, I strive to keep OJ fresh by exclusively selecting characters that I feel are in some way challenging, i.e., are not guaranteed to win from the outset. My top five picks would be, as of this writing: Aru, MPoppo, YukiD, Warudas, and Syura.



I will say I don't believe in tier lists for OJ. There are certainly chars more advantaged than others, but RNG is a fickle mistress that seldom acts in the way we want. In addition, the ideology that we should be required to pick "higher tier" chars to enjoy and have success in the game is idiotic to me and detracts from the experience in all cases.

More than anything, I feel that matches are made most interesting when everyone is gunning for the win equally and trying their best. That being said, I'm not a player that particularly cares about their win ratio, or one to prescribe any particular meaning to the number. If you can score some wins on me, great! That makes it all the more fun and challenging. Bulldozing wins match after match can get boring; I'd much rather have players I can play on-par with.

In any event, thanks for your interest in my guide. As before, feel free to add a comment about what could be added or improved, and I'll update as appropriate. I'm thinking of drawing up another guide based more around character and deck building, but their proliferation makes me hesitant. From what I've seen though, a lot of them ascribe to over-generalizations and don't delve very deep into meta or strategizing, which I'd like to think I focus much more on.

Cya on the flip!

Published

Updated co-op section, some grammar corrections

Further co-op updates, including addendums for latest role/ability overhauls, and new Dealer role summary

Still further co-op updates, somewhat late, forgot to overhaul for the Guardian revamp, slight adjustments to rating scales