Officially, to get cards from Set 6 (Triumphant Return), you either grind for hours or buy the DLC season pass. The NSP Update 17 Better bundle includes the 0100E870132D9000 title ID with all DLC flags set to "purchased." This gives you:

In vanilla Dear Days, earning enough in-game currency to buy a single booster pack (100 SP) takes roughly 3-5 CPU fights. To build a meta deck like Bastion Prime or Gravidia, you need hundreds of packs. This is designed to push microtransactions.

The "Better" mod changes this:

Prior to Update 17, the AI was predictable—it would always guard early or never commit to a final push. With this patch, the AI now simulates real human pressure. It baits triggers, saves Perfect Guards for actual kill turns, and utilizes the Dress mechanic more aggressively. If you are downloading the Cardfight Vanguard Dear Days NSP with Update 17 applied, you are getting a proper single-player challenge.

| Aspect | Official v1.3.0 | Hypothetical NSP Update 17 | |--------|----------------|-----------------------------| | Card pool | Up to D-BT12 + promo DLC | Up to D-BT14 + extras (if modded) | | Balance | Meta stale (Gandeeva/Chronojet) | Fan-tweaked (opinion-based) | | Stability | High | Low to medium | | Online ranked | Working (servers up) | Disabled or dangerous | | Grind reduction | Slow VP/CP gain | Often removed (all cards unlocked) | | AI difficulty | Fixed, repetitive | Could be improved but untested |

Conclusion: If you only play offline and want more cards + less grind, a fan NSP might feel "better". But if you value stability, legality, or online fights, stick with official + DLC.


You might ask: Why stop at Update 17? Why not 18, 19, or 20?

The answer lies in compatibility. After Update 17, Bushiroad and Furyu began implementing stricter anti-modding checks. Updates 18 and 19 introduced server-side validation for ranked matches, which caused modded Switches to crash upon login. Furthermore, Update 20 added a new encryption layer to the master_data.cpk file.

Thus, Update 17 remains the final mod-friendly stable build. The "Better" mod pack capitalizes on this last vulnerable version, allowing players to access all cards up to the Blazing Dragon Reborn set without triggering ban flags (provided you stay in airplane mode).

Note: I cannot provide direct download links, but you can search for "Dear Days unofficial balance patch" or "Dear Days plus mod".


Would you like a comparison of official DLC packs vs. what a modded Update 17 could add, or a guide on applying layeredFS mods to the game safely? Let me know.

The "better" aspect of this update primarily stems from critical bug fixes that impacted gameplay fairness and quality-of-life improvements. Before this patch, several card interactions did not work as intended, causing frustration for competitive players.

Here is what makes Update 1.17 an essential download: