How to play Blackjack[]
Blackjack can be played in almost any pub in game. The first time you go to a Blackjack table or machine, you are automatically given 10 casino chips.
You play by using (t) a casino table, pachisuro machine, or dart board on the ground. The pubs in some towns have one (Port Kapul for example), Palmia has a dedicated casino, and Party Time! quests always have lots of the required objects. You can easily pickpocket one of these from the underground gambling hall in Melkawn (first kill all the nearby silent NPCs) and then play from the convenience of your home.
The objective of Blackjack is to have a hand of cards that is as close to 21 as possible. Going over 21 results in a "bust", meaning you automatically lose. If no player has 21, the higher number wins. If both players have the same number or have busted, the game is considered a tie.
Your hand is limited to five cards, while the dealer starts with two cards. The dealer will move before you and will hit until he gets more than you, and possibly another card if there's no chance of busting. It is a good idea to count his cards. Sometimes, the dealer will go over. If this happens, just Stay to win the round. For high initial values (19+) in Elona+, the dealer will be satisfied with matching your hand.
You are given three choices - Stay, Hit, or Cheat. Stay plays the hand you currently have and is not effected by any stats. Hit draws a card. If the card would put you over 21, a number is generated between 0 and your luck. If the number is over 40 then there is a message stating that the card you've been dealt is "bad" and put back in favor of a new one.
Cheating attempts to replace your latest card with the next one in the deck, and is affected by your Dexterity. Choosing to cheat will roll your character's Dexterity against a number, and if the roll is lost, you will be caught cheating. Check the version specific sections for more details.
If you are caught cheating, the round immediately ends, any prizes that would be received will be forfeited, and you also lose five Karma.
In Vanilla Elona[]
You can bet one casino chip, five casino chips, or twenty casino chips. The prizes for betting five chips are slightly better, but betting five chips will make it far harder to get a potion of cure corruption. Betting 20 casino chips and winning several times in a row will usually result in miracle equipment as loot. However, 20 bets with one chip can potentially win 20 cure corruption potions, which is better than miracle equipment.
Prizes[]
Your prize from Blackjack starts off small, and grows as you win more rounds in a row. The most notable piece of loot from Blackjack is a potion of cure corruption, which can be obtained by betting one chip, and winning four times in a row. Note that you aren't guaranteed to get a potion of cure corruption even at 6 times in a row. Other loot will be mostly equipment.
Cheating[]
The cheating difficulty number depends on the number of chips you have in the bet - 20 if you have 1 chip, 40 for 5 chips, and 60 for 20 chips. For example, if you have 40 dex, you will get caught slightly less than half the time on average when you cheat after betting 5 chips. (It's not exactly equal, since if your roll is the same as the dealer's, you will win and succeed cheating.)
In Elona+[]
You can bet one casino chip, five casino chips, ten casino chips or twenty casino chips. The bet does not change the reward table, but set the reward level to the betting amount. Each win increases the reward level by two.
A fourth choice is available when betting more than one chip : "I'm out". Choosing this option will forfeit the current round, losing one chip from the current bet and one reward level but with no other penalty. This option is available as long as more than one chip is remaining on the bet.
Prizes (version 2.13+)[]
Since version 2.13, the rewards are cumulative and depends of the reward level, displayed on the top of the screen.
Always check your inventory for free space before playing blackjack. Prizes are given in a dialogue box and don't drop on the floor afterwards, leaving you no chance to get rid of less important items if your inventory is full.
Reward-lv | First claim | Later claims
(when relevant) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Weapon or armor | Item quality tier increases at 7, 14, 21, and 28
Can give unique artefacts ("Nightmare" at least) | |
5 | Gift | ||
9 | Potion of cure corruption | ||
11 | Unicorn Horn | ||
13 | Blank Business Card | ||
15 | Scroll of Faith | ||
17 | High potion of wisdom | ||
19 | Golden mead | ||
23 | Potion of potential | ||
25 | SurvivabilityEXtenderX | ||
27 | Master of diamond
Master of heart Master of club Master of spade |
<Slash Joker> | No known use for the "Master of X" items. |
29 | Starfiber | ||
31 | Craft repair kit | ||
33 | <Super lure> | High potion of soma | |
35 | <Skeleton key> | High potion of Nektar |
(Source: https://elona.fandom.com/wiki/Changelog_(Elona%2B)#2.13:_detailed_changelog)
Prizes (version 1.10)[]
The following tables should show when a prize is guaranteed. Although you may receive a Potion of Cure Corruption after only four wins (on a single chip bet), a Potion of Cure Corruption is always awarded after the fifth win (unless the tables need improved). Other consistent prizes include Scrolls of Faith, Business Cards, and Potions of Potential.
If prizes depend on Luck, your results may vary; this table was made using a level 58 character with moderate Luck and the +77 Luck buff from the Statue of Ehekatl.
"Miracle" denotes the minimum winning streak at which only (Miracle) grade equipment was given as a prize. The minimum streak for (Miracle) equipment from a single chip bet has not been established. {Godly} equipment is obtained with 20 Chip bets after 17 times streak (exact streak needed for godly is not confirmed but surely it is between 14th~17th streak since 13th streak still gives miracle).
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
Random Item | Cure Corr. | Faith Scroll | Business Card | Potential Potion |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
Random Item | Cure Corr. | Faith Scroll | Miracle | Business Card | Potential Potion |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
8 |
15 |
Random Item | Faith Scroll | Cure Corr. | Business Card | Potential Potion | Miracle | Godly Item |
Cheating[]
Like in vanilla Elona, cheating will roll your Dex attribute against a number. This number, however, is now 20 with 4 or fewer chips in the bet, 40 for 5-9 chips, 50 for 10-19 chips, and 60 for 20 or more chips.
You also can't cheat through the whole deck (at least in Elona+ 1.29). Once the deck has 10 cards remaining, you're forced to stay.
Note that being caught means losing *all* of the accumulated rewards, making it a very poor choice on later rounds, unless you have godlike agility...
Tips[]
- Potions of Hero or Dexterity-boosting equipment can assist if you plan to cheat. Mica equipment increases Luck, as do related Feats.
- If you receive the Lucky Day buff after sleeping, eating blessed food, or using the Statue of Ehekatl, it would be the perfect time to play Blackjack, but winning is not guaranteed.
- The dealer will always draw another card if he is under your total. Thus, even if you have poor chances, always take another card after the initial 2 if the dealer has no chance of being over 21. Similarly, if he drew another card and it is fairly small, you can count on his total being just over yours. For example, if you are at 15, and the dealer just drew a 3, you know he is at 17 or lower.
- Additionally, the dealer will always draw another card if under 10, and usually draw another if under 15. Thus, if you start low, and he draws a low card, you can count on him not having much more than 15.
- Luck gives you a chance to pass any card that would make you bust, giving the message "I have a bad feeling about this card". High luck from Lucky Day will allow this to consistently trigger several times, making a draw at 17 or even sometimes 18 profitable.
- Always take time to count the dealer's cards. If the dealer ends on a high card, it is likely he has gone over 21. Remember the third and fourth points above, and see how likely it is for the dealer to bust.
- Also, always count maximums - if the dealer has an 7 and a hidden card, it's a waste to try to go over 18, even with lucky day, as he cannot possibly have more than 18.
- If the dealer has a high value of cards showing (18+), it's generally not worth trying to beat him, as if he has a low card his hand will be nigh impossible to beat while if he has a high card you have already beaten him. The exception to this is when the dealer has ended on a small card (under three), and you have a high starting hand (for example, 18). In this situation, you know the dealer has not gone over, and thus have nothing to lose by trying to beat him.
- If you start with a high hand, and the dealer takes additional cards, there is a very high chance of him busting. For example, if you start with a 18, the dealer cannot stop drawing until he has over 18, so if he draws twice and ends on a king, he has almost assuredly gone over 21.
- There may or may not be a penalty to cheating chance related to amount of chips bet and streak size. It's possible to cheat through the whole deck (until there are 10 cards left) in any round, however it's also possible to get caught even with godlike amounts of dexterity (2000+), so cheat at your own discretion.
- Betting 5 or 20 chips in the hopes of getting good equipment can be a waste. You can bet 1 chip and try to win a cure corruption potion, then if you want rare equipment, trade the cure corruption potion with other adventurers. Basically, 1 chip = 1 cure corruption potion = 1 rare equipment. See Pickpocket for ways to get your potions back.
- If you bet 20 chips and win ~9+ games in a row, you will likely get a godly item as a reward. However, you can trade multiple potions for godly items, and then steal the potions back. This generally results in more equipment. Blessing a large stack of potions will lower the potions needed - one potion is 100,000 gold, or 120,000 gold when blessed. Unless the reward is worth around 2 million gold, it is generally best to simply farm potions of cure corruption.
- Chips are considered materials and can be obtained from material gathering locations, scrolls of gain material, and/or material dreams.
- You can gain potions of cure corruption after winning only 3 games. However, this is highly unlikely - at 4 wins, it becomes very likely, and at 5 wins it is guaranteed.
- If your dexterity is high (>100), or if you don't mind running some of your Potions of Cure Corruption to Noyel to restore karma: if your first card is either an Ace or a ten point card, consider cheating until you get another ten pointer for an easy 21 or 20, as the chance of a ten point card is quadruple any other card.