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Get the lowdown on Battle Cards and Character Cards in the Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam game.

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ESRB Rating: Everyone with Mild Cartoon Violence

Battles are at the heart of every Mario & Luigi game, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is no exception!

You’re going to need an arsenal of attacks to beat the baddies in this game. That’s where Battle Cards and amiibo Character Cards come in!

 

Battle Cards

Battle cards are in-game cards that can improve your stats, heal characters, boost attack power—all sorts of amazing things that can help you defeat enemies in battle. Here’s a Goomba to explain things a little more:

The basics:

  • Collect Battle Cards as you progress through the story.
  • To use a card, you need a certain amount of Star Points (but don’t worry—you can earn Star Points by doing things like stomping enemies!).
  • Select up to 10 cards to build a deck to use during battle. You can actually create a deck specifically for the enemy you’re about the fight!
  • You can use only one card per turn.
  •  There are two kinds of Battle Cards:

Regular Battle Cards are, well, regular.

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Shiny Battle Cards have a stronger effect!

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amiibo Character Cards

There’s another kind of in-game card you can use during enemy battles, and that’s the amiibo Character Card. You can create your own in the game, then save it to a compatible amiibo figure! Here’s a video that shows amiibo Character Cards in action (sorry, no Goomba this time):

The basics:

  • You can use one of six compatible amiibo to create a Character Card: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, and Bowser.
  • You need ? Cards in order to craft Character Cards. You can get ? Cards from random loots drops when fighting enemies, or you can buy them from Special Toads.
  • To get a card, tap a compatible amiibo to the NFC reader on the lower screen of a New Nintendo 3DS XL system, or use a Nintendo 3DS NFC Reader/Writer accessory (sold separately). Then, save the card to the amiibo.
  • Tap the amiibo during battle to pull up its inventory, then choose the card you want to use.
  • There are three special types of amiibo Character Cards:

A Duo Card can be created using two compatible amiibo.

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A Sparkle Card can be created using two amiibo of the same character—these cards can be very powerful!

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After you fill all available Character Card slots, you’ll earn a Completion Card with special artwork.

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If you want to learn even more about the battle system in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, you can check out the in-game Battle Guide!