Bifurcated Strike

Bifurcated Strike, as seen in Act I.

> A card bearing this sigil will strike each opposing space to the left and right of the space across from it.
>
> Rule Book

**Bifurcated Strike** is a sigil that bestows a card the ability to strike the spaces to the left and right of its opposing space (but not the opposing space itself), meaning that it attacks twice in a single turn.

## Behaviour

When a card bearing this sigil attacks, it strikes from left to right. If its first attack to the left of the opposing space causes it to perish, then the second attack does not happen. If this card is in the leftmost or rightmost lane, then it will not attack the left and right spaces respectively, meaning it will only attack once.

If a bearing this sigil also possesses the Trifurcated Strike sigil, it will override Bifurcated Strike. As of Kaycee's Mod V0.28, Bifurcated Strike and Trifurcated Strike now stack, resulting in 2 strikes to the left, 1 strike in the middle, and 2 strikes to the right.

If a card bearing this sigil also possesses the Sniper sigil, then the player will be allowed to choose two spaces to attack instead of one, and may choose to attack the same space twice. If a space occupied by a Repulsive creature is attacked, then only the attack on that space will be negated.

## Strategy

This sigil has high utility, in that it essentially doubles the creature's attack in most circumstances. Although it is generally inferior to Trifurcated Strike in Act I, it becomes more appealing in Act III, since **Trifurcated Strike** does not naturally appear on any cards and Trifurcated When Powered must instead be used.

### In Battle

If possible, the leftmost and rightmost lanes should be avoided when placing a card with this sigil, since it will negate one of its attacks. As well, since a card with this sigil cannot attack the creature opposing it, it can be easily defeated without having a chance to retaliate. Therefore, it is often beneficial to place these creatures in front of cards with no attack (most commonly trees), since this will dramatically increase their chances of survival while still allowing them to deal damage around the opposing card. Cards with this sigil provide a safe way to deal with opposing creatures with the Steel Trap or Detonator sigils (and, by extension, Gem Vessels under the effects of Gem Detonator), since attacking on a diagonal leaves it out of range of the resulting explosion.

Since creatures on the player's side of the field always attack from left to right, this sigil can be used to open up lanes for an immediate follow-up attack. For example, if a Wolf is being opposed by an enemy with 1 Health, then the **Wolf** will waste a turn defeating it. However, if a creature with this sigil is placed to the left of the **Wolf**, then that creature will defeat the enemy *before* the **Wolf** attacks, allowing for 3 direct damage to be dealt. This can also go the other way: if an attack from an existing friendly creature will open up a lane, a card with this sigil can be placed to the right of that creature to immediately attack the empty lane.

### Deckbuilding

If creatures with this sigil die regularly (cards with this sigil naturally often do, having lackluster **Health**), there are several methods to making them more durable, including Campfires, Nano Armor and Loose Tail. A slightly different approach can be taken, however: if Stinky is applied, then the card can safely be placed opposing 1 Power creatures, making it much easier to play.

Ways to increase offensive capabilities are highly recommended, since the attack of cards with this sigil is already quite strong. Therefore, visiting **Campfires** and Overclocking to boost Power are incredibly valuable, as 1 additional **Power** translates to 2 additional damage per turn, and can lead to monumental direct damage. Instead of buffing **Power**, Touch of Death can be applied to make this card extremely adept at eliminating opposing enemies.

An incredibly desirable combination in **Act III** is **Bifurcated Strike** and **Sniper**, negating most weaknesses of the card and providing additional application: a particularly durable creature can be attacked twice to likely kill it; the space opposing a card with these sigils can now be hit, making the card harder to kill; the card can now be played on the leftmost or rightmost spaces without losing attacks and, on top of all of that, the full direct damage of the card can be dealt if *any opposing space is empty*.

If given to a low-cost card with 3 or more **Power**, this sigil can allow the player to defeat their opponent on the first turn. This is easiest to do with Custom Deathcards and the Card Creator in **Act III**, since a high attack and low-cost card is hard to come by naturally. In the case of the latter event, the player can introduce Brittle and Annoying to earn more SP, since both sigils apply on the *next* turn, and can include Airborne to make direct damage more likely. **Sniper** can make the opponent easier to hit, but the SP cost makes it ultimately detrimental to this tactic.