Keep at it! I lucked out on my first run as well, then I had to figure out which cards and relics have some synergy.

I have about 550 hours in the game, and beat the boss at lvl 20 with both the ironclad and the defect. The latter was gruelling. I started an ascension with the silent as well, but unfortunately StS2 came out in early access, and that bad boy has multiplayer!