Hiker

Hiker

Effect

Every played card permanently gains +5 Chips when scored

Rarity

Uncommon

Unlock Requirement

Available from start.

Stats

Buy Price

5

Sell Price

2

Type

Chips

Activation

On Scored

Compatibility

Copyable

✓ Yes

Perishable

✓ Yes

Eternal

✓ Yes

Hiker is an Uncommon Chips Joker that permanently adds +5 Chips onto every played scoring card for the entirety of the run. The additional chips stack onto each other, so the next time a card is scored that has been boosted by Hiker, it will get an additional +5 Chips for a total of +10 Chips, etc. These bonus chips attached to the playing card cannot be removed and will be retained even if Hiker is sold, the card's suit/enhancement is changed, etc.

This also works with any Bonus Cards ({{hl|blue|+30}} extra chips Bonus Card.png) or Stone Cards ({{chips|+50}}<br>no rank or suit Stone Card.png); they will get an additional +5 Chips on top of the additional + Chips they already had. If a card with Hiker's additional chips was copied with Death (Select {{hl|orange|2}} cards, convert the {{hl|orange|left}} card into the {{hl|orange|right}} card<br>{{hl|gray|(Drag to rearrange)}} Available from start. Tarot Death.png), Cryptid (Create {{hl|orange|2}} copies of {{hl|orange|1}} selected card in your hand Available from start. Spectral Cryptid.png) or DNA (If {{hl|orange|first hand}} of round has only {{hl|orange|1}} card, add a permanent copy to deck and draw it to {{hl|orange|hand}} Rare Effect On Played DNA.png), it will retain the bonuses from the copied card.

• The Abandoned Deck ( Start run with no {{F|}}[[Card Ranks#Face cards|{{hl|orange|Face Cards}}]] in your deck Win a run with the {{D|Green}} on [[Stakes|any difficulty]] Abandoned Deck.png) and Mad World ( ) both have fewer cards than the standard 52 card deck, making finding the desired cards to level up with Hiker much easier. It also benefits from centralization around certain ranks, as those cards will already be played more often.
• The Red Deck ( {{hl|red|+1}} discard every round Unlocked from start Red Deck.png) allows for +1 discard to find cards more reliably.
• The Blue Deck ( {{hl|blue|+1}} hand every round Discover at least {{hl|orange|20}} items from your [[collection]] Blue Deck.png) gives a +1 hand allowing the player to score more cards for Hiker.
• The Painted Deck ( {{hl|orange|+2}} hand size, <br> {{hl|red|-1}} Joker slot Win a run with any [[Decks|deck]] on the {{Stake|Green}} difficulty or harder Painted Deck.png) increases the player's hand size, making it easier to find desired cards, in addition to making better hands easier to find for those cards.
• The Erratic Deck ( All [[Card Ranks|{{hl|orange|Ranks}}]] and [[Suits|{{hl|orange|Suits}}]] in deck are randomized Win a run with any [[Decks|deck]] on the {{Stake|Orange}} difficulty or harder Erratic Deck.png) can have certain configurations that make it easier to play hands that have 5 cards, allowing Hiker to level up more cards.

Hiker upgrades whenever cards are scored. Naturally, hands with more scoring cards will perform better with Hiker. In particular, Full House, Four of a Kind, Five of a Kind, Flush House, and Flush Five work well as they allow playing multiple of the same rank, upgrading multiple cards of that rank at the same time and making them more appealing and powerful to play in the future.

• Retrigger Jokers are invaluable to Hiker's success, as they allow cards to be scored multiple times and get upgraded multiple times. In addition, each scoring will add multitudes of chips to the final score, as the cards played ideally have dozens, even hundreds of bonus chips.
  • Sock and Buskin (Retrigger all played {{hl|orange|face}} cards Play a total of {{hl|orange|300}} face cards Uncommon Retrigger On Scored Sock and Buskin.png) and Hack (Retrigger each played {{hl|orange|2}}, {{hl|orange|3}}, {{hl|orange|4}}, or {{hl|orange|5}} Uncommon Retrigger On Scored Hack.png) work best for these purposes, as their retriggers are only rank-reliant.
• Splash (Every {{hl|orange|played card}} counts in scoring Common Effect N/A (Passive) Splash.png) has an interesting synergy with Hiker. Because it scores all cards played, certain cards can be upgraded with Hiker that normally would not be due to the hand. This dual combo can act as a strong chip provider for High Card and Pair builds, as one can focus on playing the same cards again and again to continuously upgrade them without caring about rank.
• Jokers that give Mult based on scored cards are helpful, such as Smiley Face (Played {{hl|orange|face}} cards give {{mult|+5}} when scored Common Additive Mult On Scored Smiley Face.png) and Fibonacci (Each played {{hl|orange|Ace}}, {{hl|orange|2}}, {{hl|orange|3}}, {{hl|orange|5}}, or {{hl|orange|8}} gives {{Mult|+8}} when scored Uncommon Additive Mult On Scored Fibonacci.png), especially if they also benefit from the retriggers Hiker loves.
• Vagabond (Create a [[Tarot Cards|{{hl|purple|Tarot}}]] card if hand is played with {{Money|4}} or less Rare Effect Independent Vagabond.png) can work well with Hiker, as it requires many hands to be played to work the best. A number of other Jokers like this benefit as well, like Ride the Bus (This Joker gains {{Mult|+1}} per {{hl|orange|consecutive}} hand played without a scoring {{hl|orange|face}} card <br> {{Currently|{{Mult|+0}}}} Common Additive Mult Mixed Ride the Bus.png) and Spare Trousers (This Joker gains {{Mult|+2}} if played hand contains a [[Poker Hands|{{hl|orange|Two Pair}}]] <br> {{currently|{{mult|+0}}}} Uncommon Additive Mult Mixed Spare Trousers.png).
• Vampire (This Joker gains {{xmult|0.1}} per scoring {{hl|orange|Enhanced card}} played, removes card {{hl|orange|Enhancement}} <br> {{Currently|{{xmult|1}}}} Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Mixed Vampire.png) can occasionally work well with Hiker. The bonus chips Hiker provides makes up for the lack of enhancements on cards. This idea also combos well with Vagabond (Create a [[Tarot Cards|{{hl|purple|Tarot}}]] card if hand is played with {{Money|4}} or less Rare Effect Independent Vagabond.png), as one can end up playing many hands to get as much value from Vampire and Vagabond as possible while also upgrading all their cards. This does weaken one of Hiker's main draws, though, that being buffing already powerful modified cards to even greater heights.
• DNA (If {{hl|orange|first hand}} of round has only {{hl|orange|1}} card, add a permanent copy to deck and draw it to {{hl|orange|hand}} Rare Effect On Played DNA.png), ironically, works best with Hiker after Hiker has been sold. Creating copies of cards will usually end up flooding the deck with too many cards to upgrade in a round, and takes away a hand that could otherwise be used upgrading cards. It is better to copy an already powerful card after Hiker is sold to retroactively make it as if Hiker buffed an additional card each round it was used.
• Wee Joker (This Joker gains {{Chips|+8}} when each played {{hl|orange|2}} is scored <br> {{Currently|{{chips|+0}}}} Win a run in {{hl|orange|18}} or fewer rounds Rare Chips Mixed Wee Joker.png) needs 2s to be played to upgrade it, however, 2s are weak early game due to their low base chip count. Hiker can buff a player's 2s to 12 Chips from just 2 triggers, which is higher than a base face card value of 10 Chips.

• Red Seals (Retrigger this card {{hl|orange|1}} time Red Seal.png) can also retrigger cards for Hiker, giving an additional permanent +5 Chips, for a total of +10 Chips, each time the card is played.

• Wasteful (Permanently gain {{hl|red|+1}} discard each round Base Wasteful.png) and Recyclomancy (Permanently gain an additional {{hl|red|+1}} discard each round Discard a total of 2500 cards Upgraded Recyclomancy.png) both give +1 discard, which helps the player to find cards more reliably.
• Grabber (Permanently gain {{hl|blue|+1}} hand per round Base Grabber.png) and Nacho Tong (Permanently gain an additional {{hl|blue|+1}} hand per round Play a total of 2,500 cards Upgraded Nacho Tong.png) both give +1 hand, allowing the player to score more cards for Hiker.
• Paint Brush ({{hl|orange|+1}} hand size Base Paint Brush.png) and Palette ({{hl|orange|+1}} hand size Reduce your hand size down to five cards. Upgraded Palette.png) both increase the player's hand size, making it easier to find desired cards, in addition to making better hands easier to find for those cards.

• Fragile ( ) makes Hiker useless, as every played card will be destroyed once played.
• Double or Nothing ( ), although every card has a Red Seal (Retrigger this card {{hl|orange|1}} time Red Seal.png), Hiker can only give a maximum 10 Chips to every card before they get debuffed.

• High Card and Pair are generally the worst to play with Hiker, as the fewest cards are scored. There are some circumstances where they are decent, but those circumstances are uncommon. High Card and Pair have the least amount of scored playing cards, making it less useful with Hiker since only those cards will be enhanced. However, it is possible to make these Poker Hands work if the circumstances are right (ex. Splash (Every {{hl|orange|played card}} counts in scoring Common Effect N/A (Passive) Splash.png)).

• This Joker's name and art is a pun on the word "hike", as it can also mean a sudden price increase, similar to how its effect increases a playing card's Chips.
• Hiker is the only Joker that can permanently and repetitively buff playing cards.

This information has been manually compiled. Some updates may not be included yet.