Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Messages - Fentum

Pages: 1 ... 4 5 [6] 7 8 ... 24

Spells / Re: Wizard Tower

« on: September 07, 2013, 05:09:24 PM »

Quote from: ringkichard on September 07, 2013, 03:20:51 PM

I know that sounds like a nerf, and it'll help some with Ballista, but I don't know if it would hurt Wizard's Tower much at all. If I quick cast, then action, then ready marker, I'm still playing solitaire. Wizard's Tower's sweet spot is with Battle Forge and Hand of Bim-Shalla, and the hand doesn't need to be part of the combo, usually.

Yup, I agree. I just worry about future ready action cards adding more opportunities for chained mayhem.

Spells / Re: Wizard Tower

« on: September 07, 2013, 12:43:36 PM »

Quote from: Charmyna on September 07, 2013, 11:30:11 AM

Quote from: Fentum on September 07, 2013, 10:35:04 AM
Quote from: Charmyna on September 07, 2013, 09:40:09 AM
Quote from: The Dude on September 06, 2013, 03:21:03 PM
I've beaten Charmyna twice now. I haven't played a serious book against his wizard, but it is beatable.

If I remember correctly, you beat my warlock twice. The wizard is still unbeaten. Not saying its unbeatable - just didnt happen yet .

Great thread about the wiz tower! It is an awesome card and I wouldnt be surprised if its nerfed soon. The attack spells you mentioned add great utility to the damage (surging wave, jet stream, geyser), which allows the wizard to often save actions. And as you pointed out with acid ball from the new expansion the wiz tower will be even more useful. For now I cant say if the tower is OP or not, but if i compare it to mana crystal I find it surprising that the crystal only costs 2 mana more and is much tougher and allows for so many combos. Maybe the designers thought that the tower is balanced because you cant decide what to spend the mana on. But, with so many utility attack spells that isnt really an issue.
In the end, I guess we have to wait and see how the meta after the release of the expansion evolves before we can say whether or not it needs to be nerfed.

It's not the tower, it's the action marker chaining mechanic that is a worry.

Well, I think its both. Even without ready marker mechanic the wizard tower would allow the wizard to save actions often. The ready marker mechanic makes it alot worse for the opponent though. Still, im not sure if it would be enough to change the ready marker into an action marker in order to balance the tower. Anyway, that would bring other problems (the total number of action markers is often important for tactical play and a relatively cheap but tough conjuration with an action marker might be problematic).

Agreed. I quite like the proposal of allowing only a single ready marker to be flipped such that chains become shorter.

Spells / Re: Wizard Tower

« on: September 07, 2013, 10:35:04 AM »

Quote from: Charmyna on September 07, 2013, 09:40:09 AM

Quote from: The Dude on September 06, 2013, 03:21:03 PM
I've beaten Charmyna twice now. I haven't played a serious book against his wizard, but it is beatable.

If I remember correctly, you beat my warlock twice. The wizard is still unbeaten. Not saying its unbeatable - just didnt happen yet .

Great thread about the wiz tower! It is an awesome card and I wouldnt be surprised if its nerfed soon. The attack spells you mentioned add great utility to the damage (surging wave, jet stream, geyser), which allows the wizard to often save actions. And as you pointed out with acid ball from the new expansion the wiz tower will be even more useful. For now I cant say if the tower is OP or not, but if i compare it to mana crystal I find it surprising that the crystal only costs 2 mana more and is much tougher and allows for so many combos. Maybe the designers thought that the tower is balanced because you cant decide what to spend the mana on. But, with so many utility attack spells that isnt really an issue.
In the end, I guess we have to wait and see how the meta after the release of the expansion evolves before we can say whether or not it needs to be nerfed.

It's not the tower, it's the action marker chaining mechanic that is a worry.

Strategy and Tactics / Re: Walls

« on: September 01, 2013, 11:28:51 AM »

Quote from: DeckBuilder on September 01, 2013, 09:46:26 AM

The Warlord is built to play like a minis wargame but the game is more like Chess; you just need to kill the King and nobody cares about your hopeless board position.

This is VERY important in the meta. Mage Wars is a 'Kill the King' game. If terrain pieces are ever introduced, with victory points attached, then that might spin a different tale.

Strategy and Tactics / Re: Walls

« on: September 01, 2013, 02:45:38 AM »

I use Wall of Thorns plus Force Push / Jet Stream extensively.

Beyond that, I use walls to force non flying creatures to go the long way round or to lose time attacking the wall. I only ever consider them temporary speed bumps.

I have played against a Wall Maze strategy a couple of times, but on each occasion the opponent confused their own play and the walls ended up my advantage.

They are a consideration for me when choosing between playing a Grizzly or a Nec Vamp. If i sense a wall heavy game, I go vamp for the flying trait.

Rules Discussion / Re: Highly embarassing clarification ref Tanglevine

« on: August 29, 2013, 02:45:15 AM »

Quote from: sdougla2 on August 29, 2013, 02:06:02 AM

A creature restrained, whether by Tanglevine, Force Hold, or Force Crush is still able to make melee attacks against creatures in the same zone. They do not need to attack the Tanglevine.

PHEW!

My honour remains intact. Thanks.

Rules Discussion / Highly embarassing clarification ref Tanglevine

« on: August 29, 2013, 02:02:42 AM »

You know those moments when you have been playing a game a hundred times, pulling all sorts of wild combo's thinking hard about the ultimate Assassin/Big Few/Forge/Control/Free Action/Banana/Mountain Dew/Tractor/Umvavu stratetactics, and suddenly doubt your basic rules understanding?

Tanglevine: a creature with this card acting on it can melee attack a creature in its zone, right? It DOES NOT have to target the Tanglevine, right? Tanglevine causes the Restrained trait, which stops movement, but does not affect target selection, right?

Please help this doubting Thomas.

Spellbook Design and Construction / Re: Overused cards?

« on: August 29, 2013, 01:51:45 AM »

Quote from: ringkichard on August 28, 2013, 08:11:56 PM

Here's another crazy idea for an Enchantment: Haste: Level 2 War. 2+5 Non-Mage Living Creature. Replace this creature's action marker with a ready marker. It now activates before or after any other friendly creature's activation.

Someone grab him, quick! He's gone MENTAL!

Cool ideas. Love the familiar concept, but anything that increases the opportunity to 'chain free actions to cause mayhem', e.g. Haste, is a worry.

Spellbook Design and Construction / Re: Overused cards?

« on: August 28, 2013, 03:32:48 PM »

Quote from: ringkichard on August 28, 2013, 03:15:19 PM

Would you play this card?
New Lair. Level 3 Nature. 10 mana. Conjuration. 8 hp, Arm 2. Spawnpoint. Nature Mage Only. 0 channeling. May cast a creature every turn during deployment.

What if it had this rule instead?
"New Lair may play one creature per turn during the final Quick Cast phase, regardless of that spell's action length."

Still not convinced? What if it had this rule, too: Do not select a creature spell for New Lair during Deployment. Instead, select a creature spell during your final Quick Cast.

The new rules don't change the long term strategic value of the New Lair, but they sure do make it more tactically useful. I think the version with both rules might be as strong as Wizard's Tower.

Aside from the great strategic value of spawning creatures (free full actions) the tactical value of the existing creature spawnpoints is kinda terrible: the spawned creature sits there doing nothing for your entire turn, waiting to get hit, and that's after you spend a turn casting the Lair, which does nothing for a turn, either. The problem with spawnpoints isn't just that they're too expensive, it's that they're too slow.

I mean, strategically, Real Lair is 10 mana for 2 channeling and one free full action every turn. That's probably a really good deal, especially because two mana flowers take up 2 actions to cast. It's just not any help in combat for a long time, so it's a tactical liability instead of a strategic asset.

I do occasionally wonder if there is a slow build meta that I am missing. One where many creatures come out to do battle in a grand melee style. When perusing art and just looking at the game, it looks as though that might happen. When actually playing the game COMPETITIVELY, it seems better to have just a couple of creatures and go for the kill.

The assassin style just leaves all the spawn points far too slow, as you say.

General Discussion / Re: Promo cards

« on: August 28, 2013, 03:27:41 PM »

Quote from: Memnaelar on August 28, 2013, 03:06:02 PM

Keep up the commentary. Obviously AW is listening. I imagine if HoBS or Battle Fury had been promo cards prior to release, they'd've been errata'ed before being sent to final print once their shortcomings became known.

Quite. My previous comment is a cross post from me from another thread. I am worried that the free action cards may cause problems in the game.

I wonder if the play testers can shed light on how the 4 ballistae build hasn't become prevalent?

Spellbook Design and Construction / Re: Overused cards?

« on: August 28, 2013, 03:04:50 PM »

Quote from: Doma0997 on August 28, 2013, 01:56:47 PM

Quote from: Fentum on August 28, 2013, 11:44:35 AM
@ Wiz-Pig

WOAH! Hold up.

Where did THAT come from? Can you please reference or link the Director's comment? Ballista is MAD as currently written. Charmyna started a really good thread about this with various constructive commnest and suggetsions. Are they all to be ignored by principle?

Ho Hum. Just a friendly neighborhood directory here.
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=12908.30

Thanks

General Discussion / Re: Promo cards

« on: August 28, 2013, 02:58:00 PM »

Quote from: patrickconnor on August 20, 2013, 01:41:39 PM

Quote from: DeckBuilder on August 16, 2013, 01:35:36 PM
Shad0w gives us a good reason for promos: beta testing.

While I appreciate the effort here, Shad0w is incorrect. The PROMO cards are NOT for beta testing. The PROMO cards are finished cards meant to promote events and organized play. EACH and EVERY promo card will be released in a future set, possibly with alternative artwork. We strive to make Mage Wars as customizable as possible without making it collectible and we truly care about ALL of our customers, domestic and foreign. With this in mind, as soon as we add a previous PROMO card to a future set, I will let you know ASAP.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact me directly at patrickconnor@arcanewonders.com.

We thank you for you continued support of Mage Wars!

Sincerely,

Patrick Connor
Communications Director, Arcane Wonders

AI AI AI!

I am a bit worried now. I can see a 4x ballistae spam becoming prevalent if the card is released as is.

Spellbook Design and Construction / Re: Overused cards?

« on: August 28, 2013, 11:44:35 AM »

@ Wiz-Pig

WOAH! Hold up.

Where did THAT come from? Can you please reference or link the Director's comment? Ballista is MAD as currently written. Charmyna started a really good thread about this with various constructive commnest and suggetsions. Are they all to be ignored by principle?

General Discussion / Re: What is Arcane Wonders attitude towards Octgn?

« on: August 28, 2013, 11:40:51 AM »

I use OCTGN extensively, almost exclusively, for my Mage Wars hit. I actually prefer that much of it is manual. It gives me that boardgame feel of turning tokens etc. If everything was automated, then I think it would feel a bit 'black boxish'.

It is CERTAINLY true that getting set up on the OCTGN SYSTEM is a bit tortuous, but the actual functionality of the game of Mage Wars is excellent, and very much replicates the real life feel. For the wargamers out there, it is more VASSAL than Zun Tsu.

Strategy and Tactics / Re: Dungeon Twister: A Lesson in Bluffing

« on: August 27, 2013, 07:16:14 AM »

This is all good fun and getting quite specific with the Decoy options.

I like it when I am psyched out, or I psyche out my opponent, by 'bluffing', or mind games, in a more general sense.

When I play Charmyna, I know that we are both efficient practitioners of the Wall of Thorns, Force Push, Wizard's Tower, Jet Steam malarkey. If we ever end a turn near one and other, and we have no armour on, it becomes a 'blinking contest'. Should I put on the Eagleclaw Boots? Will he disrupt his current build to drop a push on me?

I laugh out loud every time I put on Boots to find that he has some other devilment lined up for me next turn, and the boots are useless.

Is that a kind of bluffing? If so, I love it!

Pages: 1 ... 4 5 [6] 7 8 ... 24