Stuck in a "reclaim loop"?
I've been playing Spirit Island since the base game, and I'd say I'm pretty experienced with it by now, though more of a casual player than going for the challenge. I play with adversaries sometimes, usually on difficulty 1-2 just to spice things up a little, but mostly I just play vanilla. I'm an experienced boardgamer in general, but I must admit I'm not the greatest strategist or planner. That might be relevant to my question.
I notice I often get stuck in a "reclaim loop", where I either don't have enough cards to not reclaim every other turn, or doing the same thing over and over again is the best immediate option, forcing me to reclaim every single turn. For instance, I have 3 card plays each turn and only 5 cards in hand, or I need to use a specific card (say, a big Defend number) every single turn to not lose Dahan/Presence/gain Blight.
Am I doing something wrong? I must admit, I often focus on not losing anything right now instead of losing something right now and preparing for more power/impact next turn. I'm basically making sure things don't escalate, but also ensuring that I don't gain the upper hand, either. Should I sometimes take the loss of a Presence to set myself up for the future, or is this how you're "supposed" to play? I know, Blight is a resource, but I also want to make sure I don't set myself up for cascades in the future.