Arcane Wonders Forum
Mage Wars => Mages => Topic started by: iNano78 on September 03, 2015, 11:47:04 AM
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Thinking about two-handed weapons, and weapons with more than one attack on them, (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=15966.msg56145#msg56145) got me to thinking about the Johktari Beastmaster's issue with her Ranged +1 ability. Until Kajarah (in Mage Wars Academy), the Johktari Beastmaster has been without a Ranged weapon that (a) covers her range-0 blind spot, (b) allows her to both move and attack in the same round, and (c) is one-handed (since Teleport / Force Push type effects help her get around (b), but due to (c) she can't equip a Mage Wand to make move + shooting more efficient). Oh, and (d) weapons that are strictly ranged don't benefit from her own "Wounded Prey" ability.
Behold [mwcard=MW1Q31]Staff of the Arcanum[/mwcard] (SoA). It isn't perfect, but (a & b & d) it has a quick-action melee attack that covers range 0 and works with "Wounded Prey," and (c) it is one-handed. The ranged attack is limited to 1-1, but that isn't so bad if she can have a Wand of Force Push or Teleport in the other hand; besides, Kajarah only covers range 0-1 and doesn't benefit from "Wounded Prey." And she'll be rolling 4 dice with either attack (before Hawkeye or Bear Strength or "Wounded Prey" or whatever) - same as Kajarah (which has a 3 dice ranged attack if an "animal" damaged the target, plus Ranged +1 mage ability = 4 dice, with range 0-1 ... but obviously no Mana Drain or Ethereal, although it costs a lot less to cast and include in your book).
Also, unlike [mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ02]Hunting Bow[/mwcard], SoA costs 8 to cast (same as [mwcard=MW1Q13]Ivarium Longbow[/mwcard]) so only requires 1 round of channeling to cast - which is pretty huge for a 9-channeling mage. And as a 9-channeling mage, the fact it does Mana Drain - with either its melee or ranged attack - means you can bring the opposing mage down to your level (or lower, if he/she also has base channeling of 9). As for book building, SoA costs the Beastmaster 4 sbp (same as Ivarium Longbow) compared to 3 for Hunting Bow... so not breaking the bank or anything.
Has anybody tried Staff of the Arcanum on a Johktari Beastmaster? If so, did you go all-out mana denial with her (e.g. include some of [mwcard=MW1C24]Mana Leech[/mwcard] / Mana Worm (http://magewars.weebly.com/uploads/2/1/7/6/21761652/7643588_orig.jpg), [mwcard=MW1J14]Mana Siphon[/mwcard], [mwcard=MW1E15]Essence Drain[/mwcard], [mwcard=MW1J21]Suppression Orb[/mwcard], [mwcard=MW1J16]Mordok's Obelisk[/mwcard])? Could be something interesting to try out - and certainly non-standard / possibly unexpected. Too bad there aren't any "animal" creatures that have obvious synergy with the Mana Drain theme while benefiting from the J-Beastmaster's "Wounded Prey" ability (or similarly, too bad Mana Leeches can't be summoned by a Lair). Or an Enchantment that grants a creature "Mana Drain."
Oh wait...
(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1945263_md.jpg)
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Search engine is my friend.
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=14293.0 (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=14293.0)'
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=14878.msg44993#msg44993 (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=14878.msg44993#msg44993)
Still seems pretty niche. Anybody have success stories they'd like to share?
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That's a very good point. I had just assumed that Staff of the Arcanum was Wizard only. Guess I should learn to read. I have been toying around with the idea of a voodoo johktari that runs [mwcard=MW1E14]Enfeeble[/mwcard] and [mwcard=MW1E31]Poisoned Blood[/mwcard] and stacks up Bleed effects using [mwcard=MWSTX1CKC02]Dire Wolf[/mwcard] and [mwcard=DNW01]Bloodspine Wall[/mwcard] shenanigans.
I was going to use the [mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ02]Hunting Bow[/mwcard] for extra Bleed, but having a hand free for a wand with Force Push might be just the ticket!
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That's a very good point. I had just assumed that Staff of the Arcanum was Wizard only. Guess I should learn to read. I have been toying around with the idea of a voodoo johktari that runs [mwcard=MW1E14]Enfeeble[/mwcard] and [mwcard=MW1E31]Poisoned Blood[/mwcard] and stacks up Bleed effects using [mwcard=MWSTX1CKC02]Dire Wolf[/mwcard] and [mwcard=DNW01]Bloodspine Wall[/mwcard] shenanigans.
I was going to use the [mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ02]Hunting Bow[/mwcard] for extra Bleed, but having a hand free for a wand with Force Push might be just the ticket!
If sticking with an animal theme (e.g. for Wounded Prey), Kajarah might be worthwhile, too. Very cheap, although a Johktari Beastmaster has to work to get it up to 4 dice (including her Ranged +1):
(http://magewars.weebly.com/uploads/2/1/7/6/21761652/6333090_orig.jpg)
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First off, this combo sounds great! I've just been playing Academy so far and love that Beastmaster so I can't wait to upgrade to the Arena Beastmasters (I already have Arena Core Set ordered).
Would using the one-handed soa free a Beastmaster up to use a Spiked Buckler? And maybe you could use an Enchanter's Ring to make the Vampirism cheaper?
Also, this may be a silly question, but how do you link in cards in your posts? That's really cool!
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What about hunting spear? For me it seems to be THE johktari weapon build especially to her needs. It's ranged and melee, has good piercing, is cheap and expensive the same time making it very flexible. And it has amazing stats.
I like the idea off a voodoo johktari, though ;)
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What about hunting spear? For me it seems to be THE johktari weapon build especially to her needs. It's ranged and melee, has good piercing, is cheap and expensive the same time making it very flexible. And it has amazing stats.
I like the idea off a voodoo johktari, though ;)
It didn't exist ~2 years ago when this thread was live. But yes, it's good for Johktari, and maybe even better for Straywood.
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What about hunting spear? For me it seems to be THE johktari weapon build especially to her needs. It's ranged and melee, has good piercing, is cheap and expensive the same time making it very flexible. And it has amazing stats.
I like the idea off a voodoo johktari, though ;)
It didn't exist ~2 years ago when this thread was live. But yes, it's good for Johktari, and maybe even better for Straywood.
Wow, i didn't look at the time stamp. LOL
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First off, this combo sounds great! I've just been playing Academy so far and love that Beastmaster so I can't wait to upgrade to the Arena Beastmasters (I already have Arena Core Set ordered).
Would using the one-handed soa free a Beastmaster up to use a Spiked Buckler? And maybe you could use an Enchanter's Ring to make the Vampirism cheaper?
Also, this may be a silly question, but how do you link in cards in your posts? That's really cool!
To answer your questions, yes, you could use a Spiked Buckler. Or you could use a wand (e.g. [mwcard=MW1Q19]Mage Wand[/mwcard] or [mwcard=MW1Q08]Elemental Wand[/mwcard] or [mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ05]Dispel Wand[/mwcard] or [mwcard=DNQ09]Wand of Healing[/mwcard]) with your one-handed weapon.
To link cards in your posts, you grab the code from under a card preview from the official spell book builder and card database, linked here (http://forum.arcanewonders.com/sbb/database.php). Quote this post to see how the mark-up looks if it isn't clear how to use it.
Unfortunately the official card database is quite out of date (e.g. no Academy cards, nor cards from Paladin vs Siren, nor Lost Grimoire v.1), but at least you'll find the Arena core set cards and expansions through Battlegrounds: Domination.
A recent fan-made spell book builder has all the latest cards (https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/spell-book-builder/sbb.html), but doesn't have a way to link them for card previews in forum posts.
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To me this screams a completely different route.
Wizard's tower, Hugin, Tinkerbell, Battleforge. This book has all of this. With these tools I can forge a very powerful control book. Is it in the spirit of the abilities of the mage? no Would it win, yes. Would I build it this way every time? Hell Yes and it is prob the most optimal way to build it as well.
I am going to bed, I misread the spirit of the thread. ;D ;D ;D ;D