In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros., it’s not just your boots, hammers and special attacks that decide how successful Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario fight. With the fighting cards, you also have a system that allows you to increase the values of your group, weaken Enemies, restore life energy or even cause direct damage. The great advantage is that the use of a combat card does not consume a normal attack train. For example, you can first increase the power of your three heroes and immediately afterwards execute a strong pair or trio attack. Especially with the later bosses, this combination makes a considerable difference.
You’ll get your first battle card set during the main story in the Twinsy Tropics rogueport underground. After freeing the captured paper Goomba from his cell, he thanks you with several combat cards and explains how they are used. Then you can create your own deck in the menu under the corresponding card point. At the beginning you have twelve different cards available, of which you have to choose exactly ten cards. In the further course, numerous additional cards are added, so that you can change your composition regularly and adapt to particularly difficult Enemies.
Creating the First Battle Card Deck
After talking to the paper Goomba, open the menu and select the fighting cards. There you will see all the cards received so far and can add them to your active deck. A valid deck always consists of exactly ten cards. As long as fewer cards have been selected, it cannot yet be used in combat. More than ten cards are also not possible. At the beginning, you can only put together one deck. As your collection grows, you’ll have a total of three deck spaces, so you can prepare one deck for ordinary Enemies, another for boss fights, and a third for collecting Experience Points.
The maps differ by their effect and the required star points. Some cost only one or two points and can therefore be played after a few attacks. Others need eight, ten or even more points, but have much stronger effects. Especially at the beginning, you should not choose only the most expensive cards. If your entire deck consists of particularly expensive effects, you may not be able to use a single card for several rounds. A mixture of favorable reinforcements, direct damage and healing is therefore much more meaningful.
For the first battles, cards are especially recommended for increasing the power, improving the defense and restoring the HP. In addition, there are cheap cards that damage several opponents at the same time. This allows you to quickly eliminate even weaker groups without an elaborate bros each time. You have to make an attack. Later, this basic deck can be expanded with stronger healing, the restoration of BP and special attacks against paper, spine or flight opponents.
Collect star points and use combat cards
During a fight, a large star display appears on the top left of the touchscreen. It shows how many star points you currently have. Normally you can accumulate a maximum of 20 star points at the same time. With a certain rank bonus, this limit can later be increased to 30 points. The star points are obtained by successful attacks on Enemies. The better your keystrokes are, the more points will be credited. An ordinary jump or hammer strike delivers comparatively little, while well-executed pair and trio attacks can generate significantly more points.
This is why it is worthwhile to master the available special attacks as reliably as possible. When Mario and Luigi their Bros. Complete attacks with an excellent rating, they not only cause more damage, but also fill up the star point display faster. The same applies to Paper Mario’s Trio attacks. Ideally, this creates a cycle: You use strong attacks, get star points and then use them for combat cards that make your next attacks even more effective.
To play a card, touch it on the touchscreen. Then their effect is displayed and you can check if there are enough star points. If the card is ready for use, the corresponding confirmation appears under it. Touch the selected card a second time to spend the required star points and trigger their effect. After that, the normal move of your character will remain. You can still jump, use the hammer, select an item, or launch a pair or trio attack.
This mechanic is especially effective for cards that increase the power of your group. For example, if you have a card that temporarily improves the power value by 25 percent, you should have it as close as possible to a strong Bros. use of attack. Mario then attacks with the Cannonball Chuck or Luigi with the Mega Thwonk and benefits directly from the reinforcement. In this way, an already strong hit becomes a particularly effective attack, without you need an additional game move.
However, you don’t have to spend your Star Points immediately once a card is available. If the current Enemies has only little life energy anyway, it is often worth saving the points for a later fight. Especially in front of a boss, you can use a strong reinforcement with a well-stocked star point display already in the first own round. This way you start the fight with a clear advantage.
Turn around cards and reshuffle the deck
A maximum of three combat cards can be placed on the touchscreen at the same time. As soon as all three places are taken, no further cards are drawn. This is especially unfavorable if you have several expensive cards in your hand, for which you still lack numerous star points. However, you can exchange the cards at any time without losing them permanently. Touch the appropriate card and select the function to flip. This puts it down and clears the space for a new card that will appear on the next pull.
Turning it over also makes sense if a card does not have a suitable effect in the current fight. For example, if you are only facing ordinary Goombas, you do not need a card that works specifically against flying Enemies or paper sting monsters. Turn it around and wait for a more useful card from your deck. This will prevent important healing or reinforcement cards from being blocked behind an unusable selection.
Combat cards are not consumed by their use. After you have played or flipped all ten cards of your deck, the pile is automatically reshuffled. Then the same cards are available to you again. Unlike ordinary healing objects, you can use a good combat card as often as you want, as long as you have enough star points and it is drawn again. Even between normal fights, the current card order is basically preserved. If you rearrange your deck in the menu, the card output starts again from the front.
Later in the game, you will also receive special cards that can be used to draw several new cards or to immediately reshuffle the entire pile. These effects are especially helpful if you are looking for a certain reinforcement or urgently need a healing card. If possible, do not use them indiscriminately. Especially with a well-arranged deck, it often makes more sense to turn over individual unusable cards instead of spending additional star points for a complete redistribution.
A balanced deck with ten combat cards
As history progresses, you can buy most of the major basic cards in the Toad villages‘ battle card stores. Especially for longer areas, a selection is recommended that covers both offensive and defensive effects. The following deck contains exactly ten cards and can be put together comparatively early as soon as you have bought the necessary copies. The names describe the actual card effect so that you can clearly recognize them independently of the display in the card menu.
| Card effect | Star Points | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Recover HP of all figures by 20% | 5 | Paper Goomba |
| Increase the Group’s power by 20% | 3 | Paper Goomba |
| Increase in Group Defense by 25% | 2 | Paper Goomba |
| Star points gain increased by 25% | 2 | Paper Goomba |
| Damage all opponents 20 | 4 | Paper Goomba |
| Recover HP of all figures by 30% | 6 | Card store, 450 coins |
| Restore BP of all figures by 30% | 8 | Card store, 600 coins |
| Resurrected defeated figures with 25% HP | 9 | Card store, 900 coins |
| Power of Enemies reduced by 20% | 3 | Card store, 450 coins |
| Enemies‘ Defense Decrease by 20% | 3 | Card store, 450 coins |
With this compilation you have several cheap cards for the first rounds of combat and also important safety reserves for dangerous Enemies. The attack increase and the reduction of the enemy defense are particularly suitable before a strong pair or trio attack. The defense increase and the reduction of enemy power, on the other hand, make sense before longer attack combinations. If you use both types of effects skillfully, you can cause significantly more damage and at the same time better survive dangerous hits.
The two HP cards seem similar at first, but differ by their cost and the restored life energy. The cheaper card from the starter set is suitable if your group is only slightly hit. The stronger variant from the card store, on the other hand, should preferably be used if several characters have already lost a larger part of their HP. Even more important is BP recovery, because it allows you to fill up the special attack points of all the characters without consuming your normal move for a syrup glass. In particularly long boss fights, this is a considerable advantage.
The revival card is also a good protection. Once Mario, Luigi or Paper Mario has become incapacitated, you can use the card to bring the affected character back into battle. Then the normal train is still available to you. This allows you to attack again immediately instead of using a complete action for a 1-UP mushroom. For particularly difficult bosses, you should not turn this map over prematurely if you expect that one of your characters could be defeated in the next attack sequence.
The Right Deck for Boss Fights
For ordinary Enemies, the proposed deck works very well. For particularly strong bosses, however, you should adjust the selection beforehand. Against King Boo, King Bob-omb or the two Bowsers bring you additional Experience Point or coins at first, as long as you have difficulty winning the fight at all. Instead, it is recommended to select as offensively as possible with attack increase, enemy defense lowering, direct damage and enough healing. Especially cards that heal several figures at the same time or a strong bros. Preparing for an attack belongs in such a boss deck.
In the later course of the game, you can also purchase stronger variants of the existing cards. For example, one card increases your group’s power by 25 percent for four star points, while another lowers enemy defense by 30 percent for five star points. Both effects can be used specifically before a strong attack. Likewise, there are cards that completely prevent the damage of the entire group twice or replenish paper Mario’s copy stacks immediately. Especially against bosses with long attack combinations, such effects can save several elaborate healing rounds.
For certain opponents, it is also worth a special card, which lowers their level by five levels. In the card store you will find such effects for piranha plants, the Koopalings as well as Bowser and Bowser Jr. For the Koopalings, the regular card costs nine star points and 2,400 coins in the store. The variant against Bowser and Bowser Jr. requires ten star points and costs 4,800 coins. Such cards do not necessarily belong in your general deck, but can be much more helpful against the matching boss than an ordinary direct damage bonus.
King Bob-omb and the map for more time
A particularly interesting exception is the fight against King Bob-omb on Mount Brrr. There is a countdown of four minutes during the fight. However, after successfully completing Lakitu challenges, you can get a special combat card that extends a faded timepiece by five minutes. You get them as a reward for 32 Lakitu medals. The regular map requires five star points, while its glitter variant costs only three.
If you have already received this card, you should definitely include it in your deck before fighting King Bob-omb. With five extra minutes, the bomb king can be defeated much more relaxed. The special time card is also helpful for other time-limited challenges, provided that a corresponding combat timepiece is displayed there. Outside of such situations, however, it has no use and should be removed from the deck before the next ordinary fight.
If you don’t have the time card yet, that’s no reason to interrupt the entire route to Mount Brrr. King Bob-omb can be reliably defeated without them if you counter his attacks and use the repulsed red bomb for an extra minute. The map is especially interesting for players who have completed as many Lakitu missions as possible before the summit or want to challenge the boss again later in the combat arena.
More Experience Point and Coins with Fighting Cards
Not every combat card is exclusively for difficult Enemies. Some cards increase the Experience Point or coins you receive after a winning battle. This allows Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario to reach higher levels much faster or raise enough money for the best equipment. Especially in areas with large opponent groups, a second deck is therefore worthwhile, in which several cards are included to improve the combat rewards.
The paper Goomba already leaves you with cards that increase your Experience Point or coins by 25 percent at the end of a fight. Later you can buy stronger variants in the card store. A card with 50 percent more experience points costs 600 coins and requires five star points. The corresponding card for 50 percent additional coins costs 1,600 coins and also five star points. Also of particular interest is a card that increases both the Experience Point and the coins by 50 percent after the fight. It is one of the rewards of the Lakitu challenges.
Other cards double the Experience Point or coins for Enemies, which you defeat with the immediately following attack. If possible, you should use these effects if several Enemies are already weakened and Mario, Luigi or Paper Mario can eliminate several of them simultaneously with a single surface attack. Especially the bomb derby, the drop chopper and various trio attacks are well suited for this. If you have several nearly defeated Enemies in front of you shortly before the end of a fight, such a card can bring in significantly more than an ordinary damage bonus.
However, pay attention to the exact effect of the individual reward cards. Cards that relate their effect to the next attack action are not the same as cards that increase the reward at the end of the entire battle. Different types of bonuses can work together, while repeating cards with the same effect do not simply add up indefinitely. It is therefore worthwhile to combine different types of cards with each other instead of occupying all deck spaces with almost identical experience cards.
Glitzer combat cards: Same effect for fewer star points
In the further course you occasionally encounter particularly striking paper enemies, whose body shines unusually. These rare enemies can leave a special glitter battle card after their victory. Unlike ordinary combat cards, these variants are not sold in the normal card store. You get them mainly by defeating suitable paper enemies, such as paper paragumbas, paper shy guys, paper coopas, paper ninjis or paper dry bones.
Glitzer combat cards basically have the same effect as their normal variants, but only require half as many star points. In the case of odd costs, rounding up shall be used. For example, an ordinary map that requires six star points costs only three as a glitter variant. A card for nine points needs only five points in its shiny form. Especially with strong healing, resuscitation and damage maps, this difference is considerable.
If you receive a new glitter combat card, you should check in the menu whether the normal variant is already in your deck. If this is the case, you can often replace them immediately with the cheaper card. So you still have the same effect, but you need fewer star points and can use your other cards more often. Especially in long boss fights with several phases, a deck of cheap glitter cards can be much more effective than one with exclusively ordinary variants.
For as complete a map collection as possible, it is worth fighting against the rare shiny paper enemies you encounter during your exploration. However, you do not have to search all areas continuously for such enemies. Over the course of the main story and the optional challenges, you will already get many opportunities to find additional cards. The shiny variants are especially interesting for players who want to optimize their deck later on.
More combat cards through Lakitu medals
Another important source for new combat cards is the Lakitu Info Centers. There you can complete numerous paper toad rescue missions, races, skill tasks and other challenges. For successful degrees, you will receive Lakitu medals that unlock various rewards. This also includes some of the strongest combat cards of the entire game. The more missions you complete, the larger your choices become.
Particularly interesting are the cards for restoring 50 percent of the HP or BP of all figures, the stronger versions of the attack increase and the card for protection against multiple hits. You can also get cards that significantly improve your Star Point win or add several new combat cards at once in a particularly difficult situation. These rewards are especially useful for the later boss fights and the combat arena.
The card rewards are gradually unlocked. For example, after 20 medals, you will receive an improved card for Star Points after a successfully repelled attack, after 32 medals the already mentioned time extension and after 41 medals a card to restore 50 percent of the CP. Particularly strong effects follow with increasing number of medals. Once you have received all 70 Lakitu medals, you will finally get a powerful attack card that hits all Enemies several times in a row.
For the completion of the main story, you do not have to unlock all cards. However, those who also want to defeat the difficult boss variants in the combat arena benefit significantly from the additional rewards. Especially the cheap glitter variants of these strong cards can make a big difference later on.
Paper Mario’s copies and the right special attacks
In addition to a good deck of cards, you should always consider the special abilities of your three characters in combat. Paper Mario’s copy crystal block is one of the main defense mechanics of the game. With it, Paper Mario creates several copies that can enable additional attacks and intercept hits. Once his copies are lost, he becomes significantly more vulnerable. Especially before a longer boss fight, it is therefore worthwhile to build the copy stack as completely as possible.
Later, you can even buy a special combat card to fully restore all Paper Mario copies. It costs 1,600 coins in the normal card store and requires six star points. With this card you can refill the copy stack immediately without having to use the paper Mario’s normal move for the copy crystal block. Especially for bosses who destroy multiple copies at the same time or temporarily capture Paper Mario, this possibility is extremely valuable.
Note also that Bros. Attacks are only available if Mario and Luigi are operational together. If one of the two brothers is incapacitated or incapacitated by a certain condition, the corresponding special attacks are temporarily not available. For trio attacks, on the other hand, all three characters must be active. During battles against King Boo or the two Bowsers, a lost character can therefore change your entire attack strategy.
For this reason, you should always have at least one card ready for revival or joint healing. It can allow you to restore an incapacitated character and then a strong Bros on the same move. Performing an attack. A BP card is also helpful if you have already used several pair and trio attacks during a longer boss fight. This saves valuable items and the group remains capable of acting offensively.
Choose jump, hammer and counterattack correctly
Even with the best combat cards, the right timing remains crucial in the ordinary attacks. Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario have different jump and hammer abilities that should be used against different enemy types. Ordinary jumps are especially suitable against flying Enemies and enemies without Spike Trap. Enemies with barbed armor or pointed Elder Princess Shroob, on the other hand, should preferably be with the hammer or a matching Bros. The attack is attacked. If you jump unprotected on such an Enemies, your own character suffers damage.
With the hammer, you should not press as soon as the Enemies prepares its attack. Wait until a bullet or enemies is actually within range, and then strike. In a successful counterattack, the attack is often thrown back and injures the Enemies themselves. Especially with the later bosses such additional hits are very helpful. Some attack episodes can even be completely interrupted if you counter the first part correctly. Others, on the other hand, consist of several hits that you have to fight off one after the other. Therefore, always observe the entire movement and do not rely exclusively on the first successful hammer strike.
For flying enemies, you should also pay attention to which pair and trio attacks they can actually achieve. Not every bros. Attack automatically hits Enemies in the air. Especially against paper paragumbas, fly guys and other hovering enemies, special combat cards can be useful, which directly damage all flying opponents. In the card store, for example, there is such a card for 450 coins, which inflicts 50 damage on all flying opponents and requires six star points. Similar cards are also available against barbed opponents, paper monsters and tank carriers.
Good preparation therefore consists not only of the highest possible attack values. In front of a difficult boss, also control his weaknesses and consider which of your special attacks can reliably hit. A favorable attack with excellent timing often does more damage than a complicated technique where you miss multiple inputs or have to stop the attack prematurely.
Practice new pair and trio attacks
Each newly learned pair or trio attack has its own keystring. Some techniques require fast inputs with A, B and Y, others require precise control with the sliding pad or several particularly precise jumps. If you have received a new attack, you should therefore first use the appropriate exercise function. There you can repeat the movements and get to know the correct key inputs without having to spend BP every time in an ordinary fight.
Especially helpful is the possibility to watch the demonstration of an attack. The game shows the required keys and their correct order. Then you can practice yourself until the movements succeed reliably. Especially for longer attacks such as the Toad Trail, the Mega Thwonk or the Trio Meteor, this preparation is worthwhile. A fully executed attack creates more damage while helping to fill up the Star Points display for your next battle cards.
If a particular attack continues to cause you difficulties, you can also use the simple attack mode. In this mode, certain special attacks run slower, giving you more time for the individual inputs. Additional BP is needed for this. Especially against strong boss opponents, this can still be worthwhile if you often miss several hits with the normal speed. In the simple game mode, additional help is also available to alert you to dangerous attack patterns.
Note, however, that the simple game mode has limitations. Among other things, you can not complete expert challenges and get less Experience Point. If you want to complete all challenges with the best ratings later, you should therefore use the normal difficulty level again.
A complete overview of all unlockable techniques can be found in our guide to the Bros. Attacks in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. There you will also find out which attacks are automatically learned during the story and which you can only unlock by additional tasks or tracking Nabbit.
Amiibo and the special character cards
In addition to the usual combat cards, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. also supports a separate system of amiibo character cards. For this, you need a compatible amiibo figure and a so-called? card, which you can buy in certain card stores or receive as a reward. By reading in the figure, a special character card is generated therefrom, the effect of which is stored on the amiibo. Depending on the figure used, different reinforcements, healings or direct attacks can be unlocked.
The most important difference from ordinary combat cards is that character cards do not consume star points. They can therefore also be used if your star point display is almost empty. However, you may only activate one character card per supported amiibo character per battle. The card itself is not consumed and remains stored on the figure. In addition, certain combinations of several amiibo can create special duo cards.
With two amiibo of the same figure, special glitter character cards can also be created. They differ from ordinary glitter combat cards: while the latter reduce their star points cost, glitter character cards grant additional star points when used. Thus, they can be especially useful to after a strong bros. Attack quickly get enough points for the next battle cards.
However, you do not need amiibo to complete the main story. All regular boss opponents can also be defeated with ordinary combat cards, matching equipment and well-executed pair and trio attacks. The character cards only offer additional possibilities and are especially interesting for players who want to expand their combat system beyond the normal decks.
The opposing battle cards of Ludwig
Later in the adventure, you will find that not only Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario can use fighting cards. During the fights against Larry and Ludwig, Ludwig also uses his own card deck. For this purpose, the two Koopalings collect so-called dark star points. Unlike your group, however, they do not receive these points through successful attacks of their own, but especially when their attacks actually hit Mario, Luigi or Paper Mario.
As soon as there are enough dark star points, Ludwig automatically activates one of his cards. For example, it can increase the speed or power of both Koopalings, completely ward off certain hits or cause direct damage to your entire group. Especially during the later repetition of the fight in Bowser’s new castle, these effects can become very unpleasant. The best countermeasure is to counter the enemy attacks as completely as possible and thus prevent Larry and Ludwig from receiving new dark star points.
Before each new card, Ludwig announces what effect it will have and how many points are needed for it. Therefore, watch the display and adjust your next actions to it. If, for example, a particularly strong damage card is prepared, it is worth early healing or a card that wards off multiple hits. If you defeat Larry, Ludwig can no longer use his joint combat card system as before. This can eliminate a large part of his particular strategy.
Morton’s manipulated cards
Another exception you encounter during the last fight against Morton, Iggy and Lemmy. Morton manipulates your entire card deck and replaces the ordinary cards with unknown variants with his own emblem. These cost two star points each, but their effect cannot be seen before the use. Some restore HP or give you strong objects. Others, on the other hand, cause direct damage to your group or change your star points.
Since the effect is random, you should not rely exclusively on your card deck during this fight. Keep enough regular healing items available and use the available pair and trio attacks to weaken the three Koopalings as quickly as possible. Once Morton is defeated, his influence on your cards also disappears and you can use the ordinary effects again as usual.
Battle cards for the last challenges
After completing the main story, the combat arena and the various expert challenges remain as particularly challenging tasks. There, many of the previous bosses compete again with higher values and sometimes stricter rules. A well-arranged card deck is especially important for these battles, because you can often use your healing objects only to a limited extent and have to defeat several Enemies immediately in succession.
For such challenges, especially a deck with favorable attack boosts, strong healing, BP recovery and several protection cards is recommended. If possible, do without effects that only bring additional coins or Experience Point, if you do not want to collect these rewards specifically. Instead, use cards that immediately increase your damage or prevent dangerous hits. Especially against the stronger variants of King Boo, King Bob-omb or Bowser, such cards can allow several additional rounds of attack.
With a full card collection, strong glitter cards and well-controlled special attacks, even the most difficult Enemies of the game can be reliably defeated. The decisive factor is not to use as many expensive cards as possible at the same time, but to use their effects at the right moment. A favorable attack boost immediately before a successful trio attack can do much more than a strong card you play at an inconvenient time. Anyone who manages his star points sensibly, turns over inappropriate cards in time and maintains paper Mario’s copies, thus has a reliable basis for all battles in the Mushroom Kingdom.