Severed Steel – Rogue Steel Card Guide

An in depth guide to using all the cards in Rogue Steel mode and how to survive some of them.

Guide to Rogue Steel Cards

Note: Credit goes to Campion

Score Clarification

First off, play for fun. I only talk about points out of necessity, and for players that want the achievos quickly.

If you’re aiming for high scores, prioritize multipliers. Rogue Steel doesn’t care about stuff you do in game like headshots, melee kills, etc. like firefight mode, it only cares about total kills of each enemy type and explosives destroyed. If you miss a few props in a level, don’t sweat it too hard. As with any game with grinding, it’s all about efficiency.

Advanced Options

Shorter runs

Arguable if these are best for point efficiency. You’re getting the same content of a longer run, just without the 2 longer levels and 2 less cards which could be multipliers. Those two levels could have a lot of enemies and destructible props for more points. I recommend picking what you’re comfy with, I’m more of a short run guy myself.

Perma death

3 lives for 2,500 additional points each level, which is pretty fair. If you’re playing for challenge, go for it, you’ll probably be fine. If you just want points and you’re not the best, just play without it.

Molten Steel

Ask yourself if you’re willing to abandon the run and the points half way or late in if it gets too much for you before trying this option. This primarily for the challenge and maximizing score.

Weapons

Rogue

Gives a multiplier and can be easily gamed by finding a Bulldog, P99 or whatever powerful weapon you want to bring into the next stage. Stack this with Double MAG and it’s GG. If you’re looking for Easy high scores to get those skins quick, this is the weapon card to choose.

Tier 1

Gravity cannon

Grav cannons main issue is being a situational weapon. Some stages don’t even have props to grab or any heavies to make use of their grenades and rockets. If you want to blast through a wall and you have nothing immediately available, you’ll just have to take a long way around. On top of that, bigger objects are unfortunately a bit glitchy and blow up on Steels hitbox when launched while moving in certain directions. Grav gun can be useful for pulling random weapons, but unfortunately I’d rather use any other cannon right now.

Boost ROF

Shortens gun cycles and lets you snag more kills quicker during bullet time. Good.

Double Mag

Overpowered with Rogue weapon, as mentioned. What this card doesn’t mention is that it buffs all hand placed weapons in a level with the same ammo capacity as well!

Exploding doors

Enemies kill themselves on some stages without you even being near them. Try to leave doors alone. EZ.

Explosive shields

Handguns take a little long to blow these up for my taste, so I prefer using shotguns and automatics. Dropped shields can still blow up after being let go. Can be used as a counter card toward Super Shields.

Best for last

Extremely good card, meta worthy even. Makes for a godly stack with Kills refill mag. This card works best with shotguns that shoot multiple pellets at a wide spread, making it easy to lazily point and click on enemies. Best used with Sawn off. A budget way to use this card with Kills refill mag is just expending a grunt pistol to last bullet, then getting ez kills. If you’re going for high score and expect to use Attack the weakpoint, pick this or Thrown weapons explode for sure if you get the chance.

Rip and Tear

Breaks the entire game. Find a P99 or Bulldog, get those slidekick kills and you’re already done with the run.

Tier 2

Jet Cannon

Probably useful for speedrunners, but for casual play just slide upward (or whatever direction you want) in mid air after falling for a few seconds.

Thrown weapons explode

Another meta card. Instead of getting accurate shots you can just blow ♥♥♥ up. This card counters Attack the weakpoint really well. If you’re going for high score and expect to use Attack the weakpoint, pick this or Best for last for sure if you get the chance.

Perfect Accuracy

Not a fan. Essentially the card reduces all spread on guns to 0. Spraying still causes a lot of recoil and the entire point of shotguns are lost. Maybe there’s some hidden potential to this card, but until I learn of it or it gets a buff: Pass.

Explosive props

Awards a little more points. The explosive radius for their explosions aren’t too impressive, but items stacked in corners can create alternate entry points in a pinch.

Cutter cannon

This thing is a headshot machine and carries a lot of ammo, and compared to other cannons it’s very safe to use from the security of a wallrun in slo mo. This makes it super useful for Attack the weapoint and Molten runs. The only drawback is wall destructibility. My main recommendation is carving a little hole big enough for steel to kickslide through. This cannon also rewards bullettime for body hits, at least until Attack the weakpoint.

Faster steel & Super kickslide

Buffs speed, but also boosts kickslide. Faster kickslides = easier kickslide kills, and lets your cover more ground. Faster kickslide lets you instakill grunts without holding down a or d while doing it.

Tier 3

Boom headshot

Kills with splash damage and stacks well with other explosive cards. Throw and cannon headshots also explode.

Kills refill mag

Refer to Best for Last. Even without it, KFM is stupidly good with Sawn off and explosive weapons. Great counter to Attack the Weakpoint.

Chain Reaction

The main way to top off any explosive card stack. Clear out entire groups in a single click with explosive weapons or throws.

Big Heads

EZ mode. Perfect counter to Attack the weakpoint obviously, but they occupy the same tier so…

Multipliers

Faster Slow mo and Rebalanced bullet time

These come down to preference, but I recommend trying them purely to help improve your skill. Suddenly the game becomes a lot faster paced and you need to make the most out of your slow mo shots. When you run out of slow mo (and you will) don’t panic. The most common fallback you can rely on is wallrunning and slickslide kills, but there are a variety of melee and explosive cards to help you get easy kills too. Sometimes if you’re on a second or third floor, you can shoot a cannon under an enemies feet to kill them with fall damage to claw back some Slow mo. Some automatic weapons reward bullet time for hits like the Heavy machine gun, so might be worth keeping in mind. Once you get used to this playstyle you’ll not only get better at Severed Steel, but you’ll be stacking a lot more points than before.

– 2 health

If you prefer playing the game on Sharpened Steel, this pick will come naturally. Even if you’re used to Severed Steel difficulty, the jump isn’t too harsh since you still regen life in danger status.

Floor is lava

Another preference card. The description is weirdly written, but essentially you won’t take damage on the floor as long as you’re in iframes. Diving almost becomes off limits unless you’re ending it by sliding off a ledge to get your recovery in mid air. An easy way to move outside of wall running is to slide, jump, slide, jump, repeat. If you already play the game spending most of the time jumping and sliding around, this won’t affect you too much. Stick to the walls and slide toward them and you should be fine.

Attack the weakpoint

This card flat out changes how you play the game, and paired with some multipliers it gets downright brutal. The idea is simple: Any bullet or melee attacks that don’t affect the head deal no damage, but there is a silver lining. All enemies still die to explosive damage, and this will be your main counter to the card. They also die to fall damage, and while it isn’t rare it is situational and only occasionally happens.

Cards focusing on explosives like Best for Last + Kills refill mag, Explosive throws, Chain reaction etc. will help a lot. Explosive weapons (Lobber, bulldog, P99) bypass this card entirely. After a recent patch cannons can get headshots easier than you’d think in slow mo. Melee isn’t very viable, especially for blood feud making cannons more preferable for healing. Kickslides are possible, but require a lot of precision and a little luck (You need to aim your kick slightly above their head) that you may not be able to reasonably afford if out of slow mo. If using blood feud and you get Air Support, kick jetpackers for HP. While body shots don’t damage enemies, they do stun them which can set up for a headshot. Cutter cannon is an unappreciated weapon for this card.

Getting this card without beneficial cards and other multiplier cards stacked (one in the chamber) is an absolute nightmare, but not impossible. Levels will get a lot longer with this and One in the chamber alone.

One in the chamber

A blessing and a curse, and one of my least favorite mutators in the game. The only good situation for this card is stacked with Best for last, as well as kills refill mag. Cards like Explosive throws and melee can help nullify it a little too but without these the card drags the game down a lot, especially combined with Attack the weakpoint.

Blood feud

Not too hard to manage until Attack the weakpoint. When going for cannon kills, try to get used to aiming for the head. Normal grunts and Air Support jetpackers are your best prey for slidekick and kick kills in general, achievable by just jumping off a wall and slidekicking at them. Once you get Attack the weakpoint, do you best with cannon headshots. If you’re going to attempt slidekick kills, do it with grunts and aim slightly above their head. Will update guide if I find an easier way.

Edensys

Quick note

Most super enemies carry fusion pistol side arms which are basically handgun Ayakashis but with much faster fire rate. Use these to blast last remaining stragglers across the map.

Tougher enemies

Don’t worry too hard about this card. Most of your shots should be aimed at heads and enemies still instadie to explosions anyway. Mega powerful weapons like shotguns and super enemy guns will still be powerful no matter where you aim. Later on you might even get Attack the weakpoint so this card won’t matter outside of a free multiplier.

Anti air

Sounds annoying but Jetpackers become a lot more vulnerable to melee for some reason, especially kicks and weapon throws which kill them instantly outright. Very handy for Blood feud. When super jetpackers die, they fly around and cause random explosions. Nifty.

Super heavies

Coolest enemy in the game. Main thing to look out for, they destroy scenery the fastest out of any NPC and seem to have double health for their backpack. Just like flame thrower enemies (“Zombies”), they carry side arms that make quick work of them if used efficiently. These enemies can suddenly pose a little more of an issue as multipliers stack, as they make wall running harder and slow mo gets scarcer to deal with them. Killing them first might be a good priority.

Super jumpers

Upgrade to player. Just jumpers, but now they carry more powerful guns. These guns don’t do anymore damage to player and player has a buffer for how much damage they receive anyway so, not much of a risk from my experience.

Edensys extended mags

Another straight player upgrade. Player always benefits from guns having more ammo, period. Soldiers have a habit of reloading their guns long before they even need to, so them getting more ammo is not even threatening.

Super shields

A nuisance and definitely noticeable change, but they are still impacted by explosives and Explosive shields can combat it. You’ll just have to slide or jump past them for some kills if you can’t shoot through their peaky hole. As with any enemy, shoot at their feet with explosives to kill with splash damage.

Cowboy

An interesting and fun card, and can make things a little harder in some unseen ways. Grunts losing their automatics can have a bit of an impact when paired with Attack the weakpoint when you can’t spray and pray at heads. On the flip side sawn offs and shotguns become a lot easier to acquire, and bolt actions carry a lot of ammo. Their guns are fun to use, so ♥♥♥ it.

Super snipers

Super snipers are unique in that they are one of the few super enemies that are unaffected by explosive damage. Outside of headshots, melee and slidekicks finish them easy. Their explosive sniper rifles are excellent for some multiplier cards but they do lose out on wall banging. Luckily their fusion pistols still allow for it.