In Balatro, choosing and using Joker Cards properly is the key to a successful run. In this guide, I'll teach you how to order the Jokers you own so that they can be used to their fullest potential.
Balatro - Complete Joker Order Guide
When it comes to ordering Jokers in Balatro, you're generally going to want to follow three simple rules:
- Any Jokers that multiply the multiplier only under certain circumstances should be moved to the far right side of the Joker Card slots.
- Any Polychrome Jokers should be placed in the next rightmost slot. However, if the card in the right slot multiplies the multiplier value by less than 1.5, place the Polychrome Joker into the far right slot.
- Carefully examine your Jokers to see if they rely on the positioning of other Jokers, like the Blueprint and Ceremonial Dagger cards. These need to be placed carefully to maximize their value. If placing them on the far right would be more beneficial than placing a Polychrome Joker there, do so.
Balatro Joker Order example
As an example, look at the disorganized Joker Cards in the image below. The Polychrome Card, which is also a Joker Card that multiplies the multiplier, is second from the left. This means that both its x2 and x1.5 multipliers are only applied to the total multiplier after the cards have been counted, not after the rest of the Jokers have added their amounts to the multiplier.
With the Jokers in these positions, playing this Straight hand would make my total multiplier would only amount to 46.
However, rearranging the Jokers to place the Polychrome card at the end would make my total multiplier for the Straight worth 58.5.
If you played the hand with the Jokers in their original positions, you'd get about 9,200 chips. However, playing it with the revised hand would get you 11,700 chips. That's 2,500 chips you can get for free just by moving your Joker Cards around.
Related: Balatro Tips and Tricks
To help you visualize how this works, I've detailed exactly how Balatro calculates your score for each hand.
How score is calculated in Balatro
In Balatro, the score is calculated for a played hand in a series of steps. Firstly, the base chips and multiplier are determined by the hand you choose and its level.
Next, the chips of each card are added to the base amount of chips. Number cards give chips equal to their number, face cards give 10 chips, and aces give 11 chips.
While the chips from the cards are added to the hand's score, any Jokers triggered by specific cards will have their ability used right after that card is counted. This includes cards like the Wrathful Joker, which adds a 4x multiplier when spade cards are played, and Photograph, which doubles the current multiplier when the first face card in a round scores.
If the cards triggering the Joker have a special effect, like Glass Cards or a Red Seal, the effect will trigger around this time as well. After the playing cards and the immediate Joker effects are triggered, the cards in your hand will be triggered. This mainly applies to the Steel Card, which multiplies the current multiplier by 1.5.
Finally, the effects of all of the Jokers will begin triggering from left to right. The effects triggered include the Polychrome, Foil, and Holographic enchantments, as well as the Joker's base abilities.
Once everything is added up, the total amount of chips will be multiplied by the multiplier to give you your total for the round.
.For more Balatro fun, check out our guide on the Best Balatro Mods here on Pro Game Guides.
Published: Mar 14, 2024 02:45 pm