Why Did I Wipe? A Fight-Loss Checklist for Guildrun

A wipe in Guildrun rarely means “your DPS number was too low.” Combat is automatic. The useful work happens after the fight: name the failure mode, then buy or place the answer. This checklist is for Demo 0.5.7 players who keep losing fights that felt winnable.

Use it with the databases when you need a name: Heroes, Relics, Items, Keywords. For the broader run loop, see Getting Started. For how to spend after you know the problem, see Shop order: Rank vs Relic vs Item.

How to use this page

After a loss, answer one primary question from the list below before you open the shop. If you try to fix opener, economy, and relic greed in the same screen, you will buy noise.

Write a single sentence like: “Nyx ate the first volley” or “Rush never fired.” That sentence is your shop filter.

The checklist (run top to bottom)

1. Who ate the first hit?

Symptom: Your carry or caster dies in the opening seconds while the “tank” barely took damage.

What went wrong: Formation and threat pathing beat raw Attack. Melee packs walk to the closest or most attractive target. If a Duelist or Mage is on the dive tile, the opener deletes your win condition before ranks matter.

Fix next fight:

• Put a real wall on first contact — look at tanky Warriors, Tanks, Vanguards, or dual anchors like Rowan / Pimenta.
• Move carries (Nyx, Irini, Aria, Hoyoung) off the entry hex.
• If the same hero dies first three fights in a row, do not buy more damage for them until placement and a frontliner are fixed.

Pass condition: A disposable or dedicated frontliner takes the opening volley, and your carry is still casting or attacking when the pack thins.

2. Did anyone cast (or finish) their job?

Symptom: Abilities never leave the bar, or the execute / AoE lands on full-HP tanks and does nothing.

What went wrong: Mana tempo, range, or target priority. Autobattlers punish “pretty kits” that never get a window.

Fix next fight:

• Buy Mana Regen / Attack Speed / Rush tools that match the carry’s cast fantasy.
• Soften or peel so finishers (Dragomir, Yuuna, Logan) see low-HP targets.
• Re-read the active: farthest-target, lowest-HP, and frontal cones all fail when geometry is wrong.

Pass condition: Your main active fires at least once in a normal-length fight, on a target that can actually die or break.

3. Did your keywords fire every combat?

Symptom: You own Rush / Stall / Crit / Shield relics, but the board still feels empty.

What went wrong: Relics are conditional contracts. A Rush banner on a team that never Rushs is a Shard sink. Same for Stall shields, on-kill economy, and class banners with one token hero.

Fix next fight:

• Open Keywords for the tags on your last three relic picks. Ask: who triggers this every fight?
• Prefer another enabler over a second Unique that shares the same dead condition.
• Learn offer types in Banner vs Engine vs Unique.

Pass condition: You can point at a hero or passive that activates each paid keyword in a typical fight — not “sometimes on a perfect shop.”

4. Did adjacency or facing matter?

Symptom: Neighbor shields, auras, or “exactly one ally” modifiers never show up; frontal stuns miss.

What went wrong: Hex geometry. Adjacent effects need intentional clumps or clean pairs. Facing matters for cones and frontal skills (Fault Line-style walls).

Fix next fight:

• Read Adjacent positioning if any of your relics/passives mention neighbors.
• Pair aura carriers with the ally who should receive the buff; leave gaps when enemy cleave punishes blobs.
• Rotate tanks so the pack stands in the cone, not beside it.

Pass condition: The adjacency or facing line in the tooltip has a visible board reason to exist.

5. Did you spend Shards on the wrong spike?

Symptom: Even board, many C-rank heroes, zero B-rank carries; or a shiny relic while the opener still collapses.

What went wrong: Spreading upgrades feels safe and loses challenge fights. Stabilizing the next fight beats collecting options.

Fix next fight:

• Rank the hero who wins if they live — usually one carry or one wall — before equalizing the roster.
• If you are dying on contact, buy the wall / placement fix before Unique greed.
• Follow Shop order when the shop is noisy.

Pass condition: After the shop, you can name the single unit or relic that is meant to change the next fight’s outcome.

6. Was the fight the wrong length for your plan?

Symptom: Burst comps time out into attrition; Stall comps get raced down before DoTs or shields matter.

What went wrong: Tempo mismatch. Rush / Crit boards want short decisive fights. Stall / Poison / Shield engines want seconds inside the plan.

Fix next fight:

• If you are a Rush board, cut greedy late Unique and buy tempo (AS, Rush duration, execute).
• If you are Stall, buy peel and stop taking pure race relics that never wait.
• Rush vs Stall and Stall hubs help you stay honest about which game you are playing.

Pass condition: Your relics and ranks agree on fight length.

Common wipe patterns (cheat sheet)

| What you saw | Likely primary failure | First buy / change | | --- | --- | --- | | Carry dies first | Opener / placement | Move carry; add or reposition tank | | Nobody casts | Mana / AS / geometry | Tempo item or safer tile | | Relics “do nothing” | Dead keywords | Enabler or sell condition greed | | Won early, lost mid | No Rank B spike | Rank the carry or wall | | Long fights, still lose | No sustain / Stall | Shield, heal, or status engine | | Boss dies but you still lose | Death cap / limit | Fewer suicides; thicker front |

A 60-second post-fight routine

1. Name who died first.
2. Name whether your carry cast or stacked.
3. Name one keyword that failed to trigger.
4. Make one shop or formation change that addresses that sentence.
5. Only then look at “cool” offers.

If you cannot name the failure in one sentence, open the hero page for the unit that disappointed you — start with Heroes guide notes (Best for / How to play) instead of rerolling randomly.

FAQ

Is a wipe always a draft problem?

No. Many Demo wipes are placement or spend order with a fine draft. Fix geometry and the next Shard sink before you reroll the whole identity.

Should I restart when Act 1 goes bad?

If you have no frontliner and no plan to buy one in the next shop, soft-resetting can be faster than bleeding Shards into a doomed board. If you have a wall and a clear carry fantasy, stay and run this checklist.

Where do I look up a confusing relic after a loss?

Open that relic’s page and read Shop decision (Best for / Skip when), then the effect text. Pair with reading relic offers if the name type confuses you.

Does this replace builds?

No. Builds give a starting shape. This page tells you why your shape failed this fight so you can adapt the shop instead of copying a list blindly.