Guides / Dark Tower: Idle Villain TD
Dark Tower Dark Cards Guide: All 20 Cards, Odds and Best Picks
ONI Games · Published
Every Dark Card in Dark Tower: Idle Villain TD: how the Dark Draw works, how Dark Energy is earned, the real chance of each rarity and how saving energy improves it, all 20 cards from level 1 to their maximum, and which to buy first.
Dark Cards are the roguelite part of Dark Tower: Idle Villain TD. At the start of every battle and after every fifth wave, three cards appear, and you buy one with Dark Energy, save the energy or reroll. There are 20 cards in four rarities; a card's price is 40, 90, 170 or 300 energy by rarity, plus a quarter for every level you already have, and the cards last for one battle. Saving energy also makes rare cards more likely: with 450 energy in the bank, a legendary Black Hole is almost three times as likely as at the start.
We make Dark Tower, so every number in this guide comes from the game's code.
How the Dark Draw works
- When: once at the start of a battle and after every fifth wave. A checkpoint start brings 12 extra Dark Energy for every wave skipped.
- Time: six seconds to choose. The first draw of a battle has no clock.
- Choices: buy one card, keep your energy for the next draw, or reroll the three cards for 15 energy.
- Levels: taking a card you already have raises its level, up to 3 or 5. Each level costs a quarter more than the last.
- Free rerolls: the Dark Insight research gives up to three per battle, and the Lich Phylactery relic one more.
Dark Energy
You start every battle with 45 Dark Energy, plus whatever the Energy Reserve research kept from your last battle and 12 for every wave a checkpoint lets you skip. During the battle you earn about 30 energy from each wave's kills, whatever the size of the wave, 15 more for every boss and 3 for every new wave.
The odds of each rarity
The more energy you hold when the cards are dealt, the better the odds of rare cards:
| Energy saved | Common | Rare | Epic | Legendary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 55.7% | 36.7% | 7.0% | 0.6% |
| 150 | 44.8% | 44.8% | 9.6% | 0.8% |
| 300 | 33.1% | 53.0% | 12.6% | 1.2% |
| 450 or more | 25.1% | 58.5% | 14.9% | 1.5% |
Those are the chances for each card dealt. Cards you have already maxed are never dealt again.
All 20 Dark Cards
| Card | Rarity | Max level | At level 1 | At max level | First price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frost Aura | Common | 5 | Enemies in range 12% slower | 36% slower | 40 |
| Vampiric Bolts | Common | 5 | Heal 1% of all damage you deal | 3% | 40 |
| Soul Greed | Common | 5 | +15% soul orbs from every kill | +75% | 40 |
| Golden Tithe | Common | 5 | +15% gold at the end of the battle | +75% | 40 |
| Twin Bolts | Common | 5 | +8% double shot chance | +40% | 40 |
| Cruel Crits | Common | 5 | +5% critical chance, +20% critical damage | +25%, +100% | 40 |
| Dark Shield | Common | 5 | Every 18 s a barrier worth 10% of max health | 30% | 40 |
| Chain Lightning | Rare | 5 | 10% chance per hit to arc to 2 more enemies | 26%, 5 more enemies | 90 |
| Soul Explosion | Rare | 5 | Slain enemies explode for 15% of their life | 43% | 90 |
| Nova Pulse | Rare | 5 | Every 12 s a shockwave for 100% damage, with knockback | Every 8 s, 200% | 90 |
| Hellfire | Rare | 5 | Bolts burn for 10% of your attack each second for 3 s | 30% | 90 |
| Dark Frenzy | Rare | 3 | Every 14 s double fire rate for 3 s | For 5 s | 90 |
| Orbiting Skulls | Rare | 3 | 1 cursed skull circles the tower | 3 skulls | 90 |
| Berserk | Rare | 3 | Below half health: +30% damage, +20% attack speed | +60%, +40% | 90 |
| Split Bolt | Rare | 3 | Each hit splits into 2 shards | 4 shards | 90 |
| Meteor Rain | Epic | 5 | Every 10 s a meteor for 200% damage on the biggest crowd | Every 6 s, 400% | 170 |
| Thunder Strike | Epic | 5 | Every 7th shot: lightning for 250% damage and a short stun | 450% | 170 |
| Execution | Epic | 3 | Enemies below 10% life die at once, not bosses | Below 18% | 170 |
| Gem Hunter | Epic | 3 | Each kill has a 0.5% chance to drop a gem | 1.5% | 170 |
| Black Hole | Legendary | 3 | Every 22 s a black hole for 40% damage twice a second | Every 16 s, 70% | 300 |
Maxing a card costs its first price plus a quarter more for every level: 300 energy for a common, 675 for a five-level rare, 1,275 for a five-level epic and 1,125 for the Black Hole.
Which cards to buy
- The first draws: cheap commons. Twin Bolts and Cruel Crits raise all your damage for 40 energy, and Soul Greed pays for itself, because more soul orbs buy more upgrades for the rest of the battle.
- Crowds: Frost Aura, Nova Pulse and Chain Lightning. They handle the big late waves that single shots cannot.
- Bosses: Thunder Strike and Berserk. Execution never works on bosses, so it is a wave-clearing card.
- Farming: Golden Tithe and Gem Hunter. Golden Tithe adds up to 75% to the gold at the end of the battle; Gem Hunter turns kills into gems.
- Legendary: Black Hole, whenever you can afford it. Saving energy for a few draws raises its odds.
Dark Cards FAQ
How often do Dark Cards appear?
At the start of a battle and after waves 5, 10, 15 and so on up to 45: ten draws in a full 50-wave battle, and more in the endless Abyss.
Do Dark Cards stay after the battle?
No. They last for one battle. The Heart of the Abyss relic starts every battle with one to three random cards.
What is the rarest Dark Card?
Black Hole, the only legendary. It is a 0.6% chance per card at the start and 1.5% with 450 energy saved.
Is it worth saving Dark Energy?
Yes, when a draw shows nothing you need: the energy carries over within the battle and improves the odds of rare cards.
Draw your first Dark Card in Dark Tower: Idle Villain TD, free on Google Play.
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