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Messages - reddawn

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General Discussion / Re: Fix Bloodwave Warlord

« on: December 25, 2016, 10:43:08 AM »

Quote from: Alex on December 25, 2016, 03:12:28 AM

One big disadvantage of the Orc warlord are the battle commands. Actually they should be an advantage for the orc warlord, but most warlord player I know use instead other more powerful command spells from their spell book.
The easiest fix of the warlord in my opinion will be to improve the battle commands.

The outpost rule is also a topic and can be fixed by adding a general outpost trait for conjurations:

Outpost
Friendly soldier creatures need only a quick action to move between friendly outpost conjurations.

I always thought that the Orc's commands were superior to the Dwarf's, as they should be, given the strength of the Dwarf's Runes. You should always have the bigger picture in mind when playing the Warlord, and his Battle Orders let him do something solid for 0-1 mana if you realize you can't make good use of one of your prepared cards, need to save up extra mana to get out another creature, etc.

And the bigger picture for Orc Warlord isn't complicated, as you should generally be doing one of three things; summoning more creatures, adding more dice through things like commands and Rouse the Beast, or preparing heals to make sure your swarm stays alive.

Quote from: Schwenkgott on December 25, 2016, 05:44:32 AM

Who knows ... maybe there will be a way for the warlord in the future to use his commands without wasting one of his precious actions.

Well, the Orc Warlord never really lacked for action quantity, it was more that without all the helpful expansion cards, the quality of his actions didn't scale well enough as the game went on. Standard Bearer and Fortified Position are great, but he needs his Signet Ring and Armory, and some Acid Balls too. The biggest weakness of the Warlord, and the swarming playstyle in general, is the fact the cards that are necessary for him to compete are spread over multiple expansions.

Also, the Warlord does have a way to use commands without spending a mage action; Gurmash does that exact thing plus more. He's not as strong of a caster as some other familiars, but he's also less expensive, arguably sturdier and has the best base attack of any familiar.

If you meant he should be able to use his commands without spending an action at all, that seems hard to balance. Maybe give him some kind of amulet equipment that allows for that?

General Discussion / Re: Fix Bloodwave Warlord

« on: December 25, 2016, 02:22:01 AM »

Once I re-familiarize myself with the current state of the game, I'll be testing the Orc Warlord a lot. Before I took a hiatus, I played him quite a bit and found him very effective, as long as you have access to all the great war cards from other sets like FiF. That set, plus bringing in Trolls from Kumanjaro and Meditation Amulet from DvN, makes his swarm game very good.

You can't really make comparisons based solely on mage ability cards, because a lot of power of a mage isn't included there. To the extent that it is, I don't even think the Orc Warlord's abilities are that bad, especially if you know the strategic value of Veteran and the commands, which is long-term swarm supremacy against other swarms. Properly supported with Fortified Position, Armory, Standard Bearer (amazing card), Group Heals, maybe Etherian Life Tree and probably a Fog wall or two to mess with LoS (if you suspect a zone attack), your level 2 and up veterans should last a while and will eventually out-value other swarms. Even your Grunts that manage to survive or are summoned mid-late game stand a pretty good chance of avoiding getting one-shotted once you have all of your swarm buffs online. Some Rouse the Beast serve him very well too, unlike the Necromancer.

If I'm playing Orc Warlord and my opponent begins with some kind of spawnpoint, I'm feeling good about my chances in general.

Things are a bit different when I can't get reliably get Veteran, like when I'm playing against a more solo mage like Forcemaster or Warlock. I opt to not go the spawnpoint route against Warlock, since Warlock basically counters all the supporting cards for the spawnpoint build order (everything is weak to fire), and instead go with a Battleforge build order built to counter Warlock and Forcemaster. Iron Golems, supported with Charge, and a well timed Agony can be a real headache for either mage. Landing a lucky Daze or Slam also wrecks more solo mages, though a good Warlock/Forcemaster book should absolutely have ways to deal with it (Akiro's Favor, Colossus Belt, Wand of Healing, etc).

I could go on, but suffice to say I think the Orc Warlord has plenty of tools to compete on par with the other mages. The only thing I really have never understood about Warlord is the outpost placement restriction. I don't know if it's a thematic gesture, but it just seems entirely unnecessary. It's not a big deal, though, because defending more than one Garrison Post is tough against a smart opponent.

Mages / Re: Top-Tier viable mages?

« on: October 16, 2015, 10:56:22 PM »

I left after playing Forged in Fire (great expansion) frequently, and while Domination/Academy looks interesting, I would have liked there to have been some decisive balance changes to address the Wizard.

I'm not convinced that the Wizard is somehow going to be brought in line as the card pool grows, at least considering the current pattern of releases; the problem is that he can, through his training, just adapt to best suit the current card pool.

For the Wizard to be balanced via new releases, those new releases, maybe a couple or so, would need to stop introducing important cards that the Wizard can include at base spellbook point cost...which is pretty limiting from a design perspective, considering that would include all of the minor schools (and Arcane). But as Academy gives the Wizard lots of new toys, such as a level 1 Arcane creature (the Wizard used to be the only Mage with a Spawnpoint without that, IIRC), I just don't see that happening. I'm not sure why the first set of Academy was Wizard v. Beastmaster and not Priestess v. Warlock, to be honest.

I hope that as I play these new releases, I'll see yet more improvement in terms of balance, but I really see the problem with the Wizard based in his mage stats card (primarily) and the unyielding expansion of the Arcane/Minor schools, not necessarily the lack of options for other mages.

Here's to hoping I will be pleasantly surprised in the coming months.

Mages / Re: Top-Tier viable mages?

« on: October 16, 2015, 08:59:08 PM »

Hm...I was hoping AW had improved the balance since last I played. If the consensus is that Wizard is still the best, I'm very disappointed.

I get that balancing asymmetrical games is inherently difficult, especially with a small company, but if there is consistent community consensus that something is fundamentally wrong with a key hero in a game, and AW doesn't do anything to address that problem, I place full blame on AW.

General Discussion / Re: Ok lets talk Domination.

« on: October 15, 2015, 09:36:16 PM »

After just one game, I can see how Teleport is even stronger, granted the new Anchored cards helps. Spawnpoints also seem better, since the precon arenas usually have more space between players and are thus harder to destroy, and more creatures = more orb control.

As a quick rules question, because I don't have the Battlegrounds rules in front of me...does Mordok's Obelisk basically destroy all the NPC Orb Guardians?

Also, I would really like to see AW offer up something in terms of precon deck ideas for Battlegrounds. Maybe one of the other playtesters could post something; I'm just returning after a hiatus.

General Discussion / Re: Academy

« on: October 15, 2015, 07:54:10 PM »

Quote from: Puddnhead on October 15, 2015, 01:34:12 PM

1) Arcane Duels has a series on the cards of Academy as well as an Academy match on their YouTube Channel.
2) Sike has officially stated that he is going to upload Academy to OCTGN when Academy is released and not before.

Awesome, thanks. Official release date? The bankroller for my group already got his preorder so...

General Discussion / Re: Academy

« on: October 15, 2015, 04:31:57 AM »

Is there any card list/bios available for Academy and is there any word about Academy on OCTGN?

Considering becoming re-obsessed with MW, now that both Battlegrounds and Academy are out.

Rules Discussion / Re: DvN rules questions

« on: December 15, 2014, 12:43:38 AM »

Thanks Zub, thats the answer I was looking for.

Rules Discussion / Re: DvN rules questions

« on: December 14, 2014, 07:34:27 PM »

Quote from: Laddinfance on December 14, 2014, 07:30:53 PM

Vine Tree is a tree spawnpoint and so it can use the vine markers when it's casting a vine spell.

I meant more like, can the Vine Tree itself actually place vine markers and using its own mana?

Rules Discussion / Re: DvN rules questions

« on: December 14, 2014, 07:18:56 PM »

Can the Vine Tree cast the Vine Markers? I interpreted the wording meaning that the Vine Tree cannot cast them. The FAQ doesn't have a Vine Tree section so I'm asking you guys.

Spellbook Design and Construction / Re: The Cursebomber Warlock

« on: December 14, 2014, 04:27:07 PM »

The main problems I see here are Eagleclaw boots and playing against builds that have a better economy.

General Discussion / Re: Tips for losing to new players

« on: December 08, 2014, 07:59:36 PM »

The best situation you can present is a game between 2 new players, that way neither can accuse you of stomping them.

If you don't have that luxury, just stick to simple spell interactions for the first few games, which shouldn't be hard given the apprentice decks.

Spellbook Design and Construction / Re: Semi novice Johktari Beastmaster, any good?

« on: December 06, 2014, 08:00:49 PM »

I don't think you really need the Morning Star or Reflex Boots; you could just use Falcon Precision and Cobra Reflexes for half the spellbook points and without taking up the boot slot, which you might need for Eagleclaw Boots or cheap armor access.

If you're worried about getting blown out by Purge Magic, include an Enchanter's Wardstone.

Steelclaws are good, but you might want to cut 1 for some more lower level creatures so you can make sure your Spawnpoint is providing extra actions consistently. JBM works better with the more creatures you have anyway.

I would include a Staff of Beasts and one or two Call of the Wild. The Staff in particular is better with JBM with her Fast, as it lets you provide bonuses to your smaller creatures without investing cards. It also boosts her melee attack against Wounded Prey targets to 5 dice. Imo, it's very underplayed for everything it does.

Call of the Wild is solid too and works better with more, rather than larger, animals. It's a nice option to have, very inexpensive, and is especially useful when you might separated from your creatures.

TL:DR

-1 Relfex Boots
-1 Morning Star

+1 Staff of Beasts
+1 Cobra Reflexes
+1 Eagleclaw Boots
+1 Call of the Wild

Spellbook Design and Construction / Re: Support for my first warlord attempt

« on: November 28, 2014, 01:59:05 PM »

Talos isn't meant to be used against aggressive builds; he's meant to be used against books that build up some. 3 Turns of waiting against a mage that is rolling 7+ dice is a long time, so you'd be better off getting more armor, a defense, and an Iron Golem.

Strategy and Tactics / The Mage Scale and Matchups

« on: November 21, 2014, 08:47:28 PM »

Concept: Create a scale that rates/lists mages based generally on whether that mage excels in the early, mid, or late game.

For those who don't really know what "X"-game means, the term refers to how much stuff has happened since the start of the game, usually measured by the amount of cards in play. So, "early-game" would be the first few or so rounds of the game when neither player has played many cards, "midgame" would be when both players have some cards, and "lategame" is when you would expect both players to have played many cards. A mage's stats and the kinds of cards he or she has access determines where they fall on the scale of early, middle, or lategame.

My list, in early/mid/late-game order:

Forcemaster - Straywood Beastmaster - Arraxian Crown Warlock - Priest - Johktari Beastmaster - Bloodwave Warlord - Anvil Throne Warlord - Adramelech Warlock - Druid - Wizard - Necromancer - Priestess.

Generally, the mages nearer to the beginning of the list want to be applying pressure through attacks on the opposing mage, whereas the mages nearer to the end focus more on getting more mana and cards. Depending on the mage you're playing and the mage your opponent is playing, you may want to be playing more offensively or defensively than you anticipated; that's fundamentally what a matchup is.

Granted, that I still have a lot to learn

, I attribute a lot of my better playing/deckbuilding to recognizing how a particular mage relates to the other mages in terms of how I should spend mana in a given matchup. Maybe knowing matchups comes to some players naturally, but Mage Wars gives the player access to so many choices at once that knowing which choice is right can be overwhelming. This is doubly complicated in that, once you start playing against tougher opponents, you're also trying to out-think your opponent at the same time, preparing a counter for the counter you expect

.

That's when a mental exercise like the "mage scale" is useful; by knowing where each mage sits, you can cut through the "analysis paralysis" and narrow down your choices during deckbuilding and during a match. Sometimes the answer to what you should be playing or how to counter your opponent isn't obvious, but knowing how the mages in that game basically relate to each other can at least point you in the right direction.

I'd like to see other players' "mage scales" too

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