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« on: January 25, 2015, 11:35:14 AM »
Hi, I took the liberty and copied - pasted the answers from BGG into this forum. In my opinion the answers are good, and it would be simply too sad if not published here..
Chris May
(Chrisgmay)
I am by no means an expert but here is my opinion. Limiting the number of of teleports is a good thing. It is the only card I don't really care for and think may be overpowered. (Or at least makes games last too long). So to me on that front you are fine.
The only cards I think you specifically need for every book are the dispels and dissolves and maybe nullify. You are right that if those two cards are limited to one each the games could go on forever with mages buffed and nearly unbeatable. You could pick up spell tomes or you could just proxy 10 or 12 dispels and dissolves.
I have this same problem with my collection. I own two of everything (except spell tomes only one of each) and I still don't have enough dissolves and dispels for 8 or 10 spellbooks. If I get into more serious play with more people I willprobably proxy some for that purpose.
You are definitely on the right track though. I think just using what you have and building the books the way you can will make,for interesting games. I think the game is balanced and I think that you won't have too much trouble if you build the books with what you have.
Jonathan Maisonneuve
(Wildhorn)
Enchantment Removal – Dispel*, Seeking Dispel, Purge Magic, Steal Enchantment, Dispel Wand
Equipment Removal – Dissolve*, Explode, Corrosive Orchid, Steal Equipment
Counterspells – Nullify*, Reverse Magic, Jinx
Mobility (friend or enemy) – Teleport*, Force Push*, Cheetah Speed, Mongoose Agility, Teleport Trap
Anti-Mobility – Tanglevine, Stranglevine, Spiked Pit, Force Hold, Banish, Sleep, Turn to Stone, Quicksand, Stumble, Enfeeble
Armor – Equipment*, Rhino Hide, Hand of Bim-Shalla
Defenses – Cobra Reflexes, Force Sword, Force Orb, Deflection Bracers, Reflex Boots
Channeling - Mana Crystal, Mana Flower, Moonglow Amulet, Harmonize, Spawnpoints, Familiars
Enchantment Removal: Each book should have 2 Dispel (preferably 3) and 1 Seeking Dispel.
Equipment Removal: Each book should have 2 Dissolve(preferably 3).
Counterspells: Each book should have 1 Nullify (preferably 2).
Mobility: Each book should have 1 Teleport (preferably an infinity), 2 Force Push
Armor: Each book should have 2 Chest armor to swap corrodes.
For the rest of your list, its up to book flavor and they are not required.
I would have at least 1 way to bypass guard (Tanglevine, Moongoose Agility) and 1 way to bypass defense (Falcon Precision, Unavoidable attack) in each book too.
NOTE: Spawnpoint and Familiar are NOT channeling improvement, they are actions improvement. If you cast one to save mana, you are wrong. They are there to save you actions.
Justin Meshew
(gpmushu)
Thanks for the replies. This is about how I was thinking as far as absolute musts go for the different books. Definitely a good point about the spawnpoints/familiars. I wasn't really counting them as mana sources in and of themselves and more if the strategy is already using them as action generators.
How do you feel about the Warlord and the fact that to get all of the staple cards he has to use up way more spellpoints? Just using the minimums you have here, he has to pay 18 spellpoints for 2 dispel, 1 seeking dispel, 1 nullify, and 1 teleport. Normal mages have to pay 12 for that and the Wizard only 6.
Are there any good alternatives for the Warlord? Should he be using less of these than the other mages, or should he just suck it up and take the hit to spellpoints?
Scott Douglass
(sdougla2)
Seeking Dispel is not completely necessary. Mainly try to run it if you are going to be playing high cost incantations and/or are a Wizard.
Every mage should run at least 2 Dispels, with 3-4 being better most of the time.
Every mage should have at least 2 Dissolves.
Nullify isn't necessary. It can be useful, and Wizards should run a few at least, but it's not the critical staple that many make it out to be.
The Warlord is weaker than the other mages until you add in Forged in Fire. Harshforge Plate and Harshforge Monolith help mitigate the high cost of Dispel. I probably wouldn't bother with Nullify or Seeking Dispel. I don't think Teleport is as necessary for a Warlord as for other mages once you have Forged in Fire, at least for builds that play a lot of creatures.
Ivan Kidd
(Zub3ri)
I agree with Scott Douglas on the Warlord. For him, take out Seeking Dispel and Nullify and put in Harshforge Monolith and Harshforge Plate instead.
I think you are right on the money by identifying TYPES of cards rather than specific cards needed by each mage. Stay true to that route and don't get locked down to specific spells. In addition to the changes mentioned for the Warlord, you might have the Forcemaster carry Steal Equipment instead of Dissolve, or a Warlock carry Explode. You can be creative with what tools you use, as long as they cover all of the functional bases you mentioned.