Much like Waldo, good statistical choices are often difficult to find at first. However, when you peer through the crowd of seemingly great choices, the right one is often the hardest to find. In only a few games, I've gone from lasting 3-4 turns, to lasting on average 7-8 weeks. It can be hard to consistantly win, but you can definitely go far if you play your cards right. Most people misunderstand games as, I'm SUPPOSED TO WIN. While that may be the case for most titles, here you're not. The goal of Tharsis is to go as far as you can with the cards your dealt. Winning is just the icing on the cake. Poker is very similar to this regard. You may always get dealt crappy cards, but you can bluff, and read your opponents to a high enough degree that you can go much farther than any rookie might have, even winning at times. Its statistically unlikely that you'll always get the short end of the stick, but at the end of the day who will people remember more, the player who won by getting the best hands in the game non stop, or the guy that lasted right up to the end using only high cards and low pair? This game is about making the best out of a horrible situation, and proving yourself.

A dice has a varying amount of sides, based on whether you're playing something like dungeons and dragons all the way to battletech. Here however, there are 1~6 sides. In most cases players assume 6 is the best, and 1 is the worst. This is not true in Tharsis's case, and I'll explain why shortly.


In probability and statistics, the chances of getting either a one or a six is roughly the same, however, the odds of getting either a cluster of low rolls, and or an amount of high rolls is much rarer than in the middle ground.

*I lacked the data package to create a crap ton of bins on the fly, so I just did a few by hand, which is why my distribution looks like a pyramid :(. Laziness ftw...*

• 1 - Research/Room Slot
  
• 2 - Research/Room Slot
  
• 3 - Reseach primarily, but possibly repair
  
• 4 - Hybrid, roughly 70/30 on repair/research
  
• 5 - Repair or Character Abilities
  
• 6 - Repair Primarily, but can also be used for Character Abilities

In general, your go to's for repair should be 6's and 4's. These provide a meaty amount of value for lowering the counter. 5's are great for this also, but try to work it down with what you have, as 5's can be VERY useful based on where you are located.

As you can see, with a teamate that has 5 dice available, the odds are that you will land between 15 and 19 cumulative value. The fewer dice someone has, the more this value will start to plummet. As a result, you can see why its so hard at times to successfully repair a system. The odds of getting above 20 repair are slim. Thus, it is important to have research cards available, to help guarantee you get above that threshold.

In game, events occur which need your direct intervention to prevent from going out of control. To do this, you utilize dice to reduce a counter of "DOoom" to 0. As a result, most players just pour in as many dice as possible, while rerolling everything lower than a 4 into oblivion. However, before rerolling consider what you already have.

At the bottom of your screen you should see research cards,


An interesting ability for the research points is that you can reroll the 3 cards presented. When using research, or the reroll ability, the lowest value die(s) is automatically consumed. As a result, lower value dies can be useful for quickly rerolling through research.

Statis, a very common negative effect present in the game, often locks your lower value dice in place. Thus, rather than wasting these dice on repair, you can instead utilize them for research.

Why would you want to pour so many dice into research however?

You know the feeling when you see one of those 30+ repair systems popping up right? You hate it.... because its so bloody difficult to bring down. However, do you even need to repair it?

In certain circumstances it can be better to leave a system damaged rather than repairing it. Lets say for example, the entire ship is clean, except on one section with a 32 count repair required, that will deal 1 damage per turn to the ship. Now, instead of trying to repair it with that last guy on your team with 5 dice, why not instead go to repair the ship in the engine room? For the simple price of 2 dice, which is generally very easy to obtain with a reroll, you can fix the ship for 2 points. If you get 3 dice, which again isn't that unheard of, you can bring it up by 3 instead. Now, if you ALSO happen to have a mechanic, you can throw in another +1, and in a single characters turn, you just got the ship up 4 HP. Rather than using wasting two, or maybe even three crew members' turns on repairing that one hp room, you just buffered yourself from the damage it would deal for four turns.

In many situations, I leave those -1 ship, SYS, and -1 hp systems up while I take to preparing myself for the future. Each lesser system event up means there's one less slot for a more serious one to take it's place.

Though -1 events usually aren't serious, they can still mount up fairly fast, so always consider what leaving those events up might bring. Is you entire crew at 2-3 hp? You should think about clearing that -1 hp system out, as another -hp event might pop up next turn. However, if everyones at 3-4+ hp, consider leaving it, as you shouldn't be in immediate danger.

When constantly given low dice values, research can be a saving grace while you hold out for better things. As shown before, the chances of grabbing a large batch of 1-2 dice is very rare. So before you reroll, ask yourself, will rerolling possibly kill my crew member, or kill a few of my dice? Also, is there someone else that can tackle this event, and leave the ship safe? If there is, start pumping those low values into research, and then rerolling to find 3 new cards. Depending on the situation, each card may or may not be useful to you. The goal is to find at least 2 cards that you need. If you can find 3 thats great, but don't over do it trying to get 3.

High rolls are valuable resources that can be used on character or room abilities. In addition, they are most often used on repair. As a result, these dice often tend to end up consumed quickly. Low rolls on the other hand, are the exact opposite. They are generally hard to get rid of meaningfully. By pouring these dice in reseach one at a time, and then rerolling the 3 options presented, you can find cards you need for future turns, while still making use of those low rolls.

But why are low rolls valuable? Why would I not want a high one in its place regardless? When you go into a room to repair it, you again, want those high rolls gone. In the case of a previous turn where you saved a high die, what are the odds that you will be able to replace it more readily? Most likely slim. By using those low, 1, 2, or even 3 dice into research, you can use extra abilities that can help your team out. Think of those low dice as "bonus" dice. Save them for research cards, and you will go far!

The goal of the game is to reduce risk whenever and wherever possible. If for example, you have a crew member with 2 hp left, and 3 dice in a room with a health hazard, try to refrain from using a reroll, as you will most likely kill yourself. Use those low dice to grab research, and preemptively buffer yourself for the next turn.

Examples of research situations:

Is the crew all low on health? Try to find health cards
Is the ship torn apart? Try to find repair cards
Low on Dice? Look for Dice Roll bonuses

In general however, the absolute BEST research cards involve repairs. Did you have a good turn earlier when there wasn't much to do? Build up that research so you can use the 4 point (Reduce system repair by 17) card. You won't know what will happen in the future, so by getting a buffer ready, you can prevent the worst from happening.

In Tharsis, there is a variety of important resources you need to keep track of.

• Ship: By tearing the ship apart, you can quite quickly get your squad up to pace. However, it is often hard to utilize on difficult runs, as it can be difficult to tackle when you can't clear all events. If you can get everything under control however, sacrifice this in a heartbeat, keeping your crew up is vastly more important.
  
  
• Assists: Assists neutralize negative dice rolls in events. By keeping up a healthy supply, you can improve the odds of your repair endeavors being completely successfully. Generally, when my crew starts getting low on health, I bump this up to 3, so I can prevent anyone from dying. In essence, it helps improve rolls.
  
  
• Food: This ties in with dice. Food is extremely important in making sure you can quickly tackle all events that occur as it replenishes 3 dice on whomever consumes it. Try to have at least 1 food on you whenever possible. Be cautious in consuming it however, it can often be better to save it for later use if say, 3 members are fairly high, and one is low, as you can quickly generate more dice through the ship room, or research cards.
  
  
• Health: I can't stress how important health is. Losing a crew member in this game is a death sentence. You should aim to keep everyone at around 3 health or more, AT THE MINIMUM. You'll encounter injury events very frequently, and it isn't uncommon to lose 2 health at once in a room. You'll generally want to tackle injury rooms first to use up your valuable assists. Remember, minimize risk, keep your crew alive!.
  
  
• Stress: Stress affects crew members decisions between turns. Keeping it down will drastically improve your ability to improve your teams outlook. When a crew member is at around 50~60% stress, I take them down to the communication area and use a 5+ roll to lower them. The main reason I use a valuable characters turn here is because mid turn decisions often have team wide reprocussions. Sacrificing one character's turn can help a second character in addition to themselves, resulting in a net gain. Though, when to do this is up to your disgression, as you may find other matters more pressing.
  

I don't really have a lot to say about preference for the characters, as each is very useful in their own way. As a result, I'll summarize situations in which each character excels, so you can make your own decisions.

I'll also tack on a turn number, 1-3, to suggest a role, and when to use a character.

• Kayla Jones - Doctor [2]
  Kayla can heal teamates in the same section of the ship as herself. Considering that many events inflict damage, she is often very useful to keep people from dying. At first glance the single blip of health is very minor on Kayla, however, this is VERY useful in the endgame. Events that reduce crew health are generally extremely dangerous, as it isn't uncommon to have someone in the 1/2 hp area after clearing an injury room. As many of you know, it can be difficult sometimes to clear every event on the ship at once. Thus, by taking Kayla, it can be, at times, easier to LEAVE those health damaging events up, while you repair ship damaging events or dice removal.
  
  
• Allison Silva - Specialist [3]
  Allison is one of the most well rounded candidates in the crew. Her ability allows her to reroll dice one additional time for free, and more than that if you sacrifice dice. She is most useful when used as the fourth character during a turn, after most, or all events have been cleared. In effect, you want her to be used to grab whatever resource you need from the ship. Food, hull repairs, assists, you name it, her extra rerolls allow her to practically guarantee you'll get whatever you need, along with having spares for research. This versatility comes at a fairly heavy price however, in that she is subpar at repairing the ship. Her rerolls are often restricted by stasis or voids, and she can kill herself if shes not careful in injury rooms. Still, usually there are 1 or 2 turns where not much is happening on the ship, so Allison can REALLY be a life saver then.
  
  
• Pacal Lavorin - Mechanic [3]
  Pacal has the ability to repair the ship one point per turn. Generally he works well as a tertiary repairmen on the ship. You want him to go far enough back that you can give him a chance to fix a low count event up, while you use his repair action. The ship is one of the more important resources in the game, as you can gamble points of it away for other things. By using Pacal as many turns as you can, its possible to keep the ship in great shape, while allowing your crew to be healthy, and well stocked with dice.
  
  
• Jean Olowe - Captain [2]
  Jean has the ability to give other crewmen dice. As such, she is an important character throughout the entire game, as being low on dice is equivalant to death. Generally, she works best as the last, or second last character to act on a turn. You let others repair things down enough, and then send her in to fix the last few points, and give others dice.
  
  
• John Park -Psychologist [2]
  John can reduce the stress of nearby crew members. Starting out this ability is fairly weak, as everyone is generally in fairly good condition. As a result, John is very useful in the early game as a go to repairmen. Later, once crew starts to get anxious, John can come in late in the turn to help everyone out. Stress is very important to manage, as having it low can give you the better mid turn event choices.
  
  
• Niki Karam - Commander [1]
  Niki is great at getting systems back up and running. Her ability allows her to repair 4 pts of damage for a mere 1 die and up. As a result, she is a great front runner in tackling the ships problems.
  
  
• Yuri Novak - Pilot [1]
  Yuri has the ability to move through the ship without becoming hurt by damaged systems. As a result, she is great at going in first to tackle the biggest problems on the ship, or to free other squadmates trapped behind a low priority event.
  
  
• Joy Lee - Technician [3]
  Joy has the ability to boost your assist counter amount by two. In some situations you may not need assists, so Joy can be sent in first to repair. On the other hand, you might desperatly be low on health at the start of a turn, and need assists immediatly to prevent yourself from dying. Joy fits well on the team for most situations. Trust me, having assists can be a LIFE SAVER in void/2-3 cloned injury dice rooms.
  
  
• Sofia Diaz - Cannibal [3]
  Sofia, through some arguably large messup by nasa, was let onto the ship as a... cannibal? Regardless of why shes here, Sofia fits well on the team in helping you boost your teams food supply. As a result, Sofia can be useful at any part in the turn, based on what you need.

Roles:
1 - Prioritize repairs
2 - Support of other teamates
3 - Resource Gathering

Characters under each role:
1 - Commander, Pilot
2 - Doctor, Captain, Psychologist,
3 - Specialist, Mechanic, Cannibal, Technician,


Team Composition:
In general, you want to have at least one character from each group. The fourth can be a gray area where you can put anything you want, for example:

• Yuri - Pilot
  
• Joy - Technician
  
• Jean - Captain
  
• Pacal - Mechanic

Though having a well balanced team is generally a good idea, you could quite easily forsake one area to boost another. Again, this is more of a suggestion than anything else. Use what you feel comfortable with. In most situations the turn order I suggested won't work out exactly, due too how many dice someone has, or where they are currently located. In a perfect situation where everything alligns however, try to follow this order.

This is a screenshot of one of my soon to be victories. My ship was torn to pieces, my crew about to become slaughtered, and all hope was fading down the drain. Upon turn 9, I was down to two crew. With my pilot, I managed to put everything I had into repair, putting me down 2 points from what I needed to keep the ship up. I evacuated my mechanic to the escape pod, grabbing a 5+ for a repair, and then blasted every dice I could into research. I managed to obtain a +1 health card that saved my mechanic from dying from health, and then, after 3 research rerolls, I found a +1 ship card, and got me JUST over the red tics. With one crew member left, I managed to escape to Mars.

Never give up until the bitter end, you never know what might happen.

In my opinion the game is quite fun, and less of a brutal experience that many make it out to be. With this guide, I hope some of you realize this and can enjoy it more thoroughly as I have.

I'll probably be improving this in the future, but as it stands, here is my short guide. I hope it helped.