Balatro, the roguelike deck builder that has you play poker hands for points, includes a massive 150 Jokers to collect, each granting a unique effect that can alter your session. Of these 150, there is a special set of five Legendary Jokers that can truly send your score into the stratosphere.
But Balatro doesn’t hand these Legendary Jokers out for free. You’ll need to get extremely lucky to get your hands on them, but once you do, you won’t want to look back. Here’s everything you need to know about Legendary Jokers in Balatro.
How to unlock Legendary Jokers in Balatro
Legendary Jokers in Balatro are not like your regular Joker and cannot be found in the Shop or from Buffoon Packs. You can only obtain Legendary Jokers by opening Spectral Packs and getting the Soul Card.
The Soul Card spawns randomly in Spectral Packs and even has a very, very low chance of being generated in Arcana Packs. Once you pick and play the Soul Card, a random Legendary Joker will be added to your Joker collection.
Do note: You must have room in your Joker collection to receive the random Legendary Joker! Trust me though, the effects a Legendary Joker can have on your score are monumental and in most cases, you’ll want to sell an existing Joker to slide one of these bad boys in.
All Legendary Jokers in Balatro
There are five Legendary Jokers you can collect in Balatro. All of the Legendary Jokers are based on revered jesters in history and each comes with a unique and powerful ability. Here are the Legendary Jokers and their effects in Balatro.
| Card | Effect |
|---|---|
| Canio | Gains 1x Mult when a face card is destroyed. Stacks infinitely. |
| Triboulet | Played Kings and Queens each give 2x Mult when scored. |
| Yorick | Does nothing initially. After 23 discards, gain 5x Mult for the rest of the run. |
| Chicot | Disables all negative effects of every future Boss Blind. |
| Perkeo | Create a Negative copy of one random Consumable card in your possession at the end of the Shop phase. |
All of the Legendary Jokers have their benefits and drawbacks, much like their regular Joker counterparts. The first Legendary Joker I encountered was Yorick, but I opened him very close to the eighth Ante, meaning he took up a Joker slot and did nothing in the most critical part of a run. Had I found him much earlier, I might have been able to put his 5x Mult bonus to better use.
Perkeo is an example of a powerful late-game Joker. Copying Tarot Cards like Hanged Man (to destroy cards in your deck) or The Fool (replay the most recent Planet or Tarot Card) means you can stack on the hand bonuses and tailor your deck to your needs.
Don’t overlook Chicot’s ability either: The Boss Blind effects are no joke, especially when you are nearing the eighth Ante. Going after a regular score with no drawbacks is a lot simpler than trying to take on a boss who disables half your cards.
Like Yorick, Legendary Joker effects are very powerful, but getting them earlier in a run is always going to be more beneficial. All you can do is hope to get lucky from an early Spectral Pack and land that Soul Card!
