Card effects and the Upright/Reversed distinction come from the current normalized data. The score and route notes are a decision layer built on top of those facts. They are useful recommendations, not a claim that one card wins every run.
Read the condition before the number
Tarot cards are most valuable when they change something your run is already doing. A card that triggers on Embarkation wants an Embarkation package. A card that pays on dismantling wants a source of items and a reason to dismantle them. A Sub Weapon card wants a second weapon with effects worth sharing. If the condition is absent, the card is a future promise, not current value.
The practical order is simple: identify the trigger, check whether your Hunter and weapon create it, then compare the card against a reliable stat or survival pick. This prevents the common mistake of treating the Tarot slot as a free upgrade slot.
Route families
Embarkation and dismantle
These cards pay when a run starts or when items are deliberately dismantled. They are strongest for Jenny and other runs that can create the trigger repeatedly, but they are poor blind picks when the condition is not yet present.
Useful tags: embarkation, dismantle, economy.
Crit and boss payoff
These cards want a stable damage channel and a target worth concentrating on. The Emperor is a route card once the run already owns Critical Chance; it is not a universal first pick just because the word crit looks attractive.
Useful tags: crit, crit-payoff, boss, mark.
Sub Weapon and Battle Skill
The Lovers changes what the Sub Weapon slot means. Its value depends on the effects actually available on the second weapon, so it belongs in a route with a reason to share or cast those effects.
Useful tags: subweapon, battle-skill, tarot-synergy.
Survival and growth
These cards are the honest answer when a run has a good engine but cannot stay alive. A defensive card that keeps the engine running is often worth more than a conditional damage card that never gets its window.
Useful tags: survival, growth, reliable.
The current curated pool
| Card | Route reading | Tags | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Death | A verified upright face for destination, frequency builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, destination, frequency | 3/5 |
| Death (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for destination, economy builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, destination, economy | 3/5 |
| Judgement | A verified upright face for boss, survival, safe builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, boss, survival, safe, conditional | 3/5 |
| Judgement (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for boss, survival, safe builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, boss, survival, safe, conditional | 3/5 |
| Justice | A verified upright face for growth, boss, survival builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, growth, boss, survival, safe, frequency | 3/5 |
| Justice (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for boss, survival, safe builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, boss, survival, safe, frequency | 3/5 |
| Strength | A verified upright face for the current route builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy | 3/5 |
| Strength (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for survival builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, survival | 3/5 |
| Temperance | A verified upright face for economy, frequency, conditional builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, economy, frequency, conditional | 3/5 |
| Temperance (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for dismantle, economy builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, dismantle, economy | 3/5 |
| The Chariot · Upright | On [Embarkation]: triggers all your [Destination] effects. | embarkation, growth | 3/5 |
| The Chariot (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for embarkation, destination, frequency builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, embarkation, destination, frequency | 3/5 |
| The Devil | A verified upright face for embarkation, destination, economy builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, embarkation, destination, economy, survival, frequency | 3/5 |
| The Devil (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for embarkation, destination, economy builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, embarkation, destination, economy, survival, frequency | 3/5 |
| The Emperor · Upright | Doubles Critical Chance from other sources; excess converts to Critical Damage. | crit, crit-payoff, boss | 5/5 |
| The Emperor · Reversed | Base Critical Damage becomes dynamic, 200%–450%. | crit, crit-payoff | 3/5 |
| The Empress · Upright | 25% chance to return an item of the same type when dismantling. | dismantle, economy | 4/5 |
| The Empress · Reversed | 15% chance to return an equal-or-better item when dismantling. | dismantle, economy | 3/5 |
| The Fool · Upright | Your [Embarkation] effects trigger 1 additional time. | embarkation, growth | 4/5 |
| The Fool · Reversed | Dismantling an [Embarkation] relic triggers all your [Embarkation] effects twice. | embarkation, dismantle | 3/5 |
| The Hanged Man | A verified upright face for frequency builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, frequency | 3/5 |
| The Hanged Man (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for embarkation, economy, frequency builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, embarkation, economy, frequency | 3/5 |
| The Hermit | A verified upright face for reload, conditional builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, reload, conditional | 3/5 |
| The Hermit (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for frequency, reload, conditional builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, frequency, reload, conditional | 3/5 |
| The Hierophant · Upright | Marks the highest-Health enemy as [Heretic]; damage to it adds 50% True Damage. | boss, mark | 4/5 |
| The Hierophant (Reversed) | The high-stakes version of the Heretic mark: you keep the true-damage rider on the toughest enemy, but the damage boost now cuts both ways at 50% each. Fantastic for glass-cannon builds that plan to delete bosses before getting touched; dangerous if your run lacks the defenses or burst to win that race. | mark, boss, survival | 3/5 |
| The High Priestess · Upright | [Destination]: restores 10% Health; 20% of overhealing becomes [Growth] stacks. | survival, growth | 3/5 |
| The High Priestess (Reversed) | Makes overcapped healing worth something: any heal beyond your max health comes back as double its value in [Armor]. If your build already has strong sustain, this converts what would be wasted numbers into a steady defensive buffer; without reliable overheal sources it sits idle. | survival, safe, reliable | 3/5 |
| The Lovers · Upright | You gain the Weapon Effects of your Sub Weapon (some will not take effect). | subweapon, volley | 3/5 |
| The Lovers · Reversed | On using Battle Skill: cast the Battle Skill of your Sub Weapon. | subweapon, frequency | 3/5 |
| The Magician · Upright | [First Shot] becomes a Magic Bullet; +50% damage to transformed Rabbits. | first-shot, crowd | 3/5 |
| The Magician (Reversed) | The doubled-down rabbit trick: the polymorph stays, and your bonus damage against transformed targets climbs to double, but there is a random chance the trick misfires and empties your magazine entirely. High-reward for fast-reload builds that shrug off losing ammo; risky for weapons where a surprise empty clip means death. | first-shot, luck, reload | 3/5 |
| The Moon | A verified upright face for frequency, subweapon, conditional builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, frequency, subweapon, conditional | 3/5 |
| The Moon (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for frequency builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, frequency | 3/5 |
| The Star | A verified upright face for boss, survival, safe builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, boss, survival, safe, conditional | 3/5 |
| The Star (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for growth, boss, survival builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, growth, boss, survival, safe, conditional | 3/5 |
| The Sun | A verified upright face for the current route builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy | 3/5 |
| The Sun (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for the current route builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy | 3/5 |
| The Tower | A verified upright face for economy, conditional builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, economy, conditional | 3/5 |
| The Tower (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for destination, economy, frequency builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, destination, economy, frequency, conditional | 3/5 |
| The World | A verified upright face for growth, survival, safe builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, growth, survival, safe, frequency, conditional | 3/5 |
| The World (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for growth, survival, safe builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, growth, survival, safe, conditional | 3/5 |
| Wheel of Fortune | A verified upright face for frequency builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, frequency | 3/5 |
| Wheel of Fortune (Reversed) | A verified reversed face for survival, frequency builds. Take it when the run can satisfy its stated trigger; the exact ranking still needs in-game testing. | tarot-synergy, survival, frequency | 3/5 |
Three cards that need context
The Emperor: its critical route becomes attractive after the run has other Critical Chance sources. The current effect also converts only half of excess Critical Chance into equal Critical Damage, so do not describe all overflow as preserved value.
The Lovers: Upright and Reversed solve different problems. One shares eligible Sub Weapon effects; the other connects Battle Skill casts. The exact result depends on the second weapon, which is why Stella's page treats Lovers' Gift plus The Lovers as a blueprint rather than a guaranteed ranking.
The Fool: Embarkation cards are strongest when the run has enough Embarkation effects to repeat. Jenny can make the Reversed face more attractive because her economy creates more dismantle decisions, but the current patch also places caps on some repeat-trigger loops.
Use the planner to test the condition
The interactive planner scores tag overlap and flags conflicts without inventing DPS. Put in the Hunter, weapon, and Tarot you are considering, then read the warnings. A close score is a signal to choose the reliable option rather than a reason to claim a precise winner.
The game does not currently provide a public damage-testing dummy. Exact Tarot DPS rankings remain unverified until that changes or a reproducible external test method appears.
Sources and patch boundary
The card pool and effects were normalized from the current bilingual data snapshot, then rewritten into original route notes. Patch 1.0.466 may change trigger limits or effect text, so revisit the patch review before treating a saved build as current.