Dandy Ace

Disclaimers/Notes:
- Dandy Ace is a game that seems pretty hard at first. But just grind a little for good cards/trinkets on Normal/Hard mode and for enough shards to unlock the best permanent upgrades and it will be much more manageable.
In retrospect, Hard mode seems to be the most difficult hump to get over because you don't have many upgrades yet and you don't have enemy attack patterns memorized yet (the latter here being the most important aspect of beating this game).
- The best permanent upgrades I would suggest getting ASAP are Quick Wagon Special Deals 1/2/3, Reshuffle 1/2, Tea Potion Satchel 1/2/3/4, Reward Tent Extra Card 1/2, and Power Start 1/2/3. With just these and the right build you could beat Nightmare handily. All other upgrades are helpful but not necessary.
- This game is heavily RNG based. So while I'm recommending a specific build you may not always be able to acquire the right high level versions of the cards I'm recommending. However, with a few tricks you should be able to get to Lele on Nightmare with at least one level 13 Poison Roses which is the most paramount high level card you need for this build.
- There are many other builds that could work, this one just worked wonders for me. Some close combat builds with Titan Punch, Flurry of Blows, or Crushing Hand are extremely powerful but I found myself taking damage too often when getting in close with mobs.

I M P O R T A N T
- The easiest way of making sure you run across these specific cards often is to only pump Shards into unlocking the cards mentioned below until after you've beaten Nightmare mode. Spend all your other Shards on permanent upgrades with Jolly Jolly/Nnif or trinkets. The reason for this is that the more cards you unlock the smaller chance you have to run across the cards you actually want. Essentially the game is punishing you for unlocking more cards.

THE BUILD:

Cards
Main 1: Escape Artist - Upgrade: Starburst (for regular worlds) or Flurry of Blows/Toxic Retreat (bosses)
Main 2: Poison Roses - Upgrade: Twin Daggers or Crescendo Fireworks
Main 3: Poison Roses - Upgrade: Packet/Intoxicating Trick (for regular worlds) or just another Twin Daggers/Crescendo Fireworks (definitely for bosses)
Main 4: Magician Overdrive - Upgrade: Performer's Refuge or Aegis Cloak

Trinkets:
The following two are absolutely essential for this build.
-Abjurer Prowess - If using Performer's Refuge with your M.O. then you will almost never be susceptible to double dmg but always be dealing double.
-Invocation Mastery - Extra DOT dmg. A no-brainer for the Roses.
- 3rd one is up to you. I'll give suggestions further below.

- Two sets of Poison Roses with either bleed or burn as a secondary effect does INSANE damage-over-time. Just cast both in quick succession.
- When fighting mobs, throw some roses and escape away. When fighting bosses, pop Overdrive and hit them fast and hard with everything you've got. Escape when you need to but don't worry so much about getting damaged, just take them down ASAP. The longer the fight draws out the more risk there is of dying. Scissorella seemed to be easier than Axeangelo on Nightmare with this build but you may feel differently.
- Unless you're falling a few levels behind on upgrading your Roses try not to spend any money until the worlds directly before a boss. Then use your two free shuffles on wagons and hopefully grab an upgraded Roses. Always put your highest leveled one in the slot you tend to press first. Save all your other money until the Gala Hall before Lele then blow it all on shuffling wagons to hopefully get level 13 Roses in both slots and a lvl 13 Escape Artist if possible.
- It is not necessary to have a super high level blue or yellow card. The Magician Overdrive for instance can be level 2 if you're unlucky enough to find a higher level one. You won't be relying on Yellow for dmg, just the buffs. It would be good to have a high level Escape Artist though it's not really necessary for bosses; however, it is quite nice for mobs.
- The push from Starburst works with the noxious cloud from Escape Artist so you can blink backwards and nothing can reach you since they're constantly being pushed. This is great for mobs but accumulated pain from Flurry of Blows doing lots of extra damage against enemies affected by DOT effects is far better for bosses.
- Packet/Intoxicating Trick on your lower leveled Roses is very good at quickly wiping out packs of enemies (the Ooze enemies in the Courtyard/Garden especially).

Ideas for your 3rd trinket:
There are a number of useful ones.
-Pepperina Infuser - If you use a tea potion at the beginning of a boss fight (even if you don't need the health) you'll get an extra 1,126 damage to every attack when fighting Lele. Using this and the Roses build I was able to kill him in less than 20 seconds on Nightmare without needing any other potions.
-Trap Senses - if you find yourself getting nicked by the environment a lot or you're really good at setting up the enemy in the right spot.
-Cloak of Retribution - standard issue reflect. Good one.
-Assassin's Cloak - If you regularly find yourself very close to the bosses when casting your Roses then this trinket can pack some great extra dmg, and is also useful in regular worlds whereas Pepperina Infuser isn't useful at all in normal fights.

Please let me know if you can think of any way to improve the build and I'll credit you if I use the info. If you have questions please let me know! Thanks!

You should absolutely read ICE Faux Pirate's guide for specific instructions, but if you want to see it in action, here's my run. I do explain a lot of what I'm doing, but your RNG will vary of course. See my guide on Shard Farming here for how to unlock everything quickly: Solution for Smuggler's Best Friend In Dandy Ace