Tested in veteran and nightmare.
Mom is pretty insane for nightmare cause of the extra life she gives, plus having 2 support slots is probably enough for the majority of the act.
1- Patient hunter is one the most effective and reliable damage card, since we are not going to build a lot of dmg we need to get cards that are super efficient right away
2- Money Grubbers, probably the most efficient card to get extra copper (assuming you are not rushing/speedrunning). Mandatory in nightmare cause you will need copper anyway for upgrades, pharmacy, buying kits. It delays a bit your core build but its worth it imo.
3- Run like Hell, once again it's a card that is just super reliable and is auto include in most builds. I highly value this card.
4- Medical Professional, super core card in nightmare but that starts being useful once you get some copper. So it's basically useless in the first level of an act, but pick it at the second or third level. You should be able to buy two kits and a defib thanks to money grubbers in each saferoom.
5-Combat medic, still not sure if I should put it that high in the list, but it's very good when playing with randoms, because let's face it they will go down. Eventually you can skip this card and go straight for superior cardio.
6-7- Superior Cardio / Mad Dash, classic combo that will boost your mobility / survivability by a lot. We could even delay combat medic and place these two one place higher.
8-9- Tactical Vest / Silver Bullets, we are using the ranch rifle and you should stick to it even if you don't find a green or a blue variant throughout the act. You can skip those 2 cards if you feel like your team is doing enough dmg. With those 2 cards you should be able to 1 shot common riddens in nightmare with the ranch rifle, which is gonna be super handy. Also more ammo with tactical vest which is nice.
10-11- Shoulder Bag / Field Surgeon, two very good utility cards. Your heals are going to be way better, and you will be able to carry 4 kits. It feels a bit late but now you are a very reliable medic. This is why you can maybe skip the 8th and 9th cards and rush those two utility cards if you feel like your team doesn't need the extra firepower.
12-15- It's the late game and at this point you've done the most difficult part. So yeah you can replace those cards however you like, depending on the act, your playstyle, and so on... Basically none of this cards feel like they are core cards to me.
