Drum of Battle Rework: Building Ironclad's New Exhaust Archetype
Drum of Battle changed from Power to Skill in v0.104.0 and now synergizes with Exhaust builds. This guide covers what the rework means, the core card package, and how to identify and commit to the Exhaust line during a run.
What changed and why it matters
Old Drum of Battle was a Power that, when played, gave you bonus strength for each card remaining in your hand. It was a one-shot buff that rewarded large hands and punished lean decks. Most Ironclad players treated it as a fringe pick — high variance, hard to plan around.
New Drum of Battle is a Skill. Its exact wording now ties its effect to Exhaust — each time you Exhaust a card this turn, you gain a stacking bonus (strength or block, depending on version). This is a fundamentally different card. It rewards you for repeatedly Exhausting cards rather than holding them. That means it plugs directly into Ironclad's Exhaust cards: Fiend Fire, Limit Break with Exhaust, Corruption, Armaments, and the various zero-cost cards that Exhaust on play.
- Old: Power — bonus strength per card in hand (one-shot, hand-size dependent).
- New: Skill — gains bonus per Exhaust this turn (stacking, Exhaust-count dependent).
- Plugs directly into existing Exhaust cards that were already in Ironclad's kit.
The core Exhaust card package
An Exhaust Ironclad deck wants three layers: triggers (cards that Exhaust reliably every turn), a Drum of Battle to convert those Exhausts into scaling, and payoffs (cards that deal damage or provide block proportional to how well the engine is running).
Reliable Exhaust triggers include: any card with Exhaust keyword that costs 0 or 1 (Clash, Burning Pact, the upgraded versions of setup cards), Corruption (makes all Skills Exhaust on play — a single card that transforms the whole deck), and Sentinel which Exhausts itself and refunds energy. Fiend Fire is the primary Exhaust payoff — Exhaust your entire hand, deal 7 damage per Exhausted card. With Drum of Battle running, you are also gaining strength for each of those Exhausts, which feeds back into Fiend Fire's per-card damage.
- Corruption: turns all Skills into Exhaust triggers — the highest-leverage single card.
- Sentinel: Exhausts itself, refunds energy — a zero-cost Exhaust loop piece.
- Fiend Fire: the primary damage payoff — deal 7 per Exhausted card.
- Drum of Battle: converts each Exhaust into stacking strength, amplifying Fiend Fire.
Supporting relics and how they change the line
Relics accelerate Exhaust builds dramatically. Dead Branch (whenever you Exhaust a card, add a random card to your hand) converts Exhaust spam into card advantage — with Corruption active, every Skill you play generates an extra card. Charon's Ashes (whenever you Exhaust a card, deal 3 damage to all enemies) turns the engine into AOE damage. Both are Boss Relic tier and will rarely appear, but if you see either and you are already running Drum of Battle, commit hard.
Common and Uncommon relics that matter: any relic that reduces card costs (Bag of Preparation, Toy Ornithopter) increases your per-turn Exhaust count by letting you play more cards. Belt (no maximum hand size) is the old Drum of Battle relic; it synergizes less with the new version but still helps if you are trying to hold cards for Fiend Fire.
- Dead Branch (Boss): every Exhaust generates a random card — insane with Corruption.
- Charon's Ashes (Boss): every Exhaust deals 3 AOE — turns the engine into board control.
- Cost-reduction relics: let you play more cards per turn, more Exhausts, more Drum stacks.
When to commit to the Exhaust line
The Exhaust line requires critical mass. Three Exhaust cards and Drum of Battle is a mediocre deck. Six Exhaust cards and Drum of Battle with at least one payoff is a very good deck. The decision point is usually after Act 1: if you have Drum of Battle and two Exhaust triggers by the end of floor 10, aggressively draft toward the remaining pieces. If you have Drum of Battle but no Exhaust triggers, hold it in reserve and pivot if the pieces arrive later.
Do not draft Drum of Battle speculatively without Corruption or multiple 0-1 cost Exhaust cards already in your deck. The old Drum did not need companions to function; the new one does. Treat it as a payoff card that needs setup, not as an opener.
- Threshold: Drum + 2 Exhaust triggers by end of Act 1 → commit hard.
- Without Exhaust triggers: hold Drum in reserve, do not build around it blindly.
- Treat new Drum as a payoff card that needs setup, not an opener.