To beat King IX IX difficulty in 9 Kings using the King of Progress monarch, focus on rapid early card draw, heavy artifact scaling, and strict board space management. Because this build takes time to scale up, survive early rushes with starting spells while assembling an engine that rapidly cycles your deck for key artifacts.
Early-Game Setup and Wave Management
The initial waves of King IX IX difficulty pose the highest risk of failure due to weak early board presence.
- Rely on Starting Spells: Use starting spells and defensive placement to survive early enemy rushes while your engine builds.
- Draft Card Draw: Select cards that grant extra draw immediately. Rapid cycling allows you to locate core scaling artifacts before mid-game difficulty spikes.
- Avoid Over-Investing in Basic Units: Keep early unit deployments lean so you do not waste gold or crowd your board before securing high-tier items.
Artifact Selection and Placement Strategy
The King of Progress relies on artifacts that scale off death triggers and board clears to handle high-density waves.
| Artifact Priority | Function on King IX IX | Strategic Value |
|---|---|---|
| Cooldown Reduction | Increases activation frequency of active abilities | Keeps main skills firing during dense enemy waves |
| AOE Damage Scaling | Multiplies damage across wide areas | Clears massive enemy swarms before they overwhelm your board |
| Resource Generation | Generates extra currency | Funds shop rerolls to secure high-tier artifacts |
Position core damage artifacts to maximize their effective range, funneling incoming enemies into a central killing zone where passive triggers and active abilities overlap.
Mid-Game Board Thinning
Board capacity is a strict bottleneck on King IX IX difficulty. Standard units lose effectiveness as enemy scaling ramps up, making cluttered boards a primary loss condition.
- Sacrifice Low-Value Units: Intentionally clear weak board units to free up capacity for high-impact artifacts and monarch buffs.
- Keep Core Slots Open: Reserve board spaces exclusively for scaling artifacts or units that directly enable death-trigger combos.
- Maintain Deck Efficiency: Avoid drafting filler cards that slow down your draw cycle during shop phases.
Managing RNG and Reroll Pivots
Because this strategy depends heavily on specific artifact drops, shop luck can dictate run stability.
If core scaling artifacts fail to appear by mid-game, use accumulated resource generation to reroll aggressively. If key items remain unavailable, temporarily pivot into defensive utility cards to survive until the next major shop refresh. Rushing into high-difficulty encounters without established artifact synergies will cause the run to fail.
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Sarah Williams
Sarah specializes in RPG and collection games, explaining team building, character growth, and beginner-friendly ways to avoid expensive early mistakes.
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Player Comments
141 players commented on this guide.
This saved me time in the early game.
This helped me understand early game much better.
I tried this today and it worked better than my old setup.
The explanation is clear, especially for beginners.