Plasma & Focus Down

attack

Hyperbeam

2

B-

Deal 26 damage to ALL enemies.
Lose 3 Focus.

skill

Reprogram

1

D-

Lose 1 Focus.
Gain 1 Strength.
Gain 1 Dexterity.

skill

Fusion

2

B-

Channel 1 Plasma.

skill

Reinforced Body

X

B+

Gain 7 Block X times.

attack

Barrage

1

B-

Deal 4 damage for each Channeled Orb.

skill

Hologram

1

B+

Gain 3 Block.
Return a card from your discard pile to your hand.
Exhaust.

This build flies in the face of what most Defect builds are trying to do, ignoring most Orb scaling and effects in exchange for classic Attack damage and Block defence that are more common in the other characters. Hyperbeam is very powerful in Act 1, allowing you to smash combats and Elites early and scale with relics and upgrades. It drops off by Act 3 but is still respectable damage for its cost.

Reprogram has a lot of potential and easily fits into this archetype, but can scale quite slowly. Having a couple of copies helps your scaling immensely, and Hologram is a great pick in this deck since it scales with Dexterity and allows you to play your Reprograms even more frequently.

Plasma orbs are excellent here since they are unaffected by Focus, always providing a flat 1 energy (or 2 when Evoked).

Barrage and Reinforced Body both scale well with Reprogram so fit nicely in this build.

skill

Steam Barrier

0

B+

Gain 6 Block.
Decrease this card's Block by 1 this combat.

attack

All For One

2

C

Deal 10 damage.
Put all Cost 0 cards from your discard pile into your hand.

attack

FTL

0

B

Deal 5 damage.
If you have played less than 3 cards this turn, draw 1 card.

skill

Skim

1

C+

Draw 3 cards.

attack

Beam Cell

0

B-

Deal 3 damage and apply 1 Vulnerable.

attack

Sweeping Beam

1

C

Deal 6 damage to ALL enemies.
Draw 1 card.

attack

Meteor Strike

5

F+

Deal 24 damage.
Channel 3 Plasma.

power

Loop

1

B-

At the start of your turn, use the passive ability of your next Orb.

skill

Skim

1

C+

Draw 3 cards.

skill

Overclock

0

C+

Draw 2 cards.
Add a Burn into your discard pile.

attack

Sweeping Beam

1

C

Deal 6 damage to ALL enemies.
Draw 1 card.

skill

Fission

0

B-

Remove all of your Orbs.
Gain and draw 1 card for each Orb removed.
Exhaust.

power

Echo Form

3

A+

The first card you play each turn is played twice.
Ethereal.

Vajra

common

At the start of each combat, gain 1 Strength.

A+

A

A

A+

Nuclear Battery

boss

At the start of each combat, Channel 1 Plasma.

B+

Normally Strength and Dexterity relics would be underwhelming on Defect, but here they shine.

Zero cost cards are generally strong, since Strength and Dexterity benefit them just as much as any other card. If you find a bunch, All For One is a great pick up too.

Recursion grants 2 energy with Fusion, and when upgraded can be pulled with All For One. Loop is good for triggering your Plasma orb for even more energy. Meteor Strike does grant Plasma orbs but requires so much energy that it can be inconsistent if you're trying to get started using it; consider it instead as a follow up if you already have energy generation.

This deck can eventually leave you with a lot of energy per turn, so make sure you have draw options like Sweeping Beam, Skim and Overclock.