UPDATE 13/05/05 : Thanks a lot for input, especially for pointing out Force Bash, which is a shame. I've switched out both of those copies, as there are still 2 Knockdowns, which accomplish basically the same goal, which should mostly be used on Flying creatures. Instead I've added 2 Force Holds. Speaking of Flying creatures, I've got the permission to reveal Gravikor conjuration, which forces the creatures withing 2 zones of it to lose and not gain Flying trait. Finally, I've removed Purify and added an additional Hurl Boulder attack spell. Will have to test this new build out today or the upcoming weekend and provide additional, bigger update! Keep the comments coming, offer new ideas or variations or even post your own builds (unless you want to start your own topic, then please point the link on your comment). Thanks!
... or as an acronym - TG! Honestly, I do not visit this part of forums a lot (and shame on me, I am a playtester in the end
) But after playing for the first time Warlord with some Golems, me and my friend thought of how cool it would be to have these lovable lunkheads move around with great mobility. Throw in this ability for the Earth Elemental and we have something bubblin' here! I've tried to design this as competitively as possible, some great hours used to mold it perfectly. Perfection is an absurd description, as this build still really needs tweaking (like an idea to use Poison Clouds, but that will be discussed at the bottom of the post).
Alright, let's sing this!
Mage:
Wizard (Earth)*Format goes like this [Type:Cost]
Conjurations: 5Mana Crystal x3 (3)
Gravikor (2)
Equipment: 11Arcane Ring (1)
Enchanter's Ring (1)
Mage Wand x2 (4)
Moonglow Amulet (1)
Mage Staff (1)
Elemental Cloak (1)
Wind Wyvern Hide (2)
Creatures: 19Iron Golem x3 (9)
Earth Elemental (5)
Blue Gremlin (2)
Huginn, Raven Familliar (3)
Incantations: 53Teleport x4 ( 8 )
Force Push x2 (4)
[strike]Force Bash x2 ( 8 )[/strike] *removed
Force Hold x2 ( 8 )
Dissolve x4 ( 8 )
Knockdown x2 (4)
[strike]Purify (2)[/strike] *removed
Dispel x3 (3)
Seeking Dispel x2 (2)
Minor Heal x2 (4)
Heal (4)
Battle Fury x2 (4)
Charge x2 (4)
Enchantments: 26Decoy x3 (3)
Chains of Agony (2)
Reverse Magic x2 (4)
Nullify x2 (2)
Mind Shield x2 (4)
Block x2 (4)
Teleport Trap x3 (3)
Hellfire Trap x2 (4)
Attacks: 6Hurl Boulder x3 (6)
By taking a look, you and me can agree to one thing - it seems somehow vulnerable to swarm builds. And I can agree, which brings me to this point: some of these cards need to be added, instead of the others
Poison Cloud (preferably 2 copies)
Hail of Stones (1 or 2 copies)
Suppression Cloak (probably to switch out Elemental Cloak)
Earthquake (2 copies)
And if you will be trying out this build or anything similar - feel free to switch them out, you could let loose one Teleport or even the Hellfire traps, but I see traps quite an interesting and potential tactic.
The whole construction seems like this: this is heavily influenced by incantation spells. When I get a hold of a second copy of Huginn, I'll mostly add 2nd copy of it. Huginn is very important in the game and plays one of the major parts in tactics - setting the field for control. He could even be responsible for mobility.
As I am very tired as of this writing, I will
ABSOLUTELY write up some possible openings for each of the opposing mage's and builds.
But here's how I see the build.
Basically and foremost - Iron Golems are awesome (and so are Earth Elementals!). They get whooping 6 dice quick attack, have psychic immunity, are nonliving (great to use them with Poison Clouds), which grants Poison Immunity. They can't be set on fire, which seems very annoying to me at least, when I have to face these conditions. Not to mention he has 5 armor. Yes, he is very resilient, but this comes with a price: he is Slow, has Finite Life (cannot be healed) and is vulnerable to Lightning +2. Also, being Nonliving comes with more severe news: you can't use any of the Nature enchantments, which is basically: no extra armor, health, damage and no flying, fast and elusive. This is bad, bad, bad. Fortunately, there are some awesome War school incantations, which affect Corporeal creatures (yay!), so I've added 4 of them. The final neutral perk of this guy is Unmovable. I call it neutral, because you can't Push him, but so does the opponent, so it can avoid mobility manipulation and wall bashing. Operating this lovable lunkhead around the field is a joke, since he is Slow. Most of the times, the opponent Mage will just move back one space and avoid its attack. The same goes for Earth Elemental, which is somehow similar to Iron Golem, except he has a lot more health (35!), but does not have and cannot gain armor, is actually Lightning -2 and Tough -2. Again, very resilient creature.
I've added Blue Gremlin to take care of such threats as hidden Blocks, Reverse Attacks. Also he could be used to take down low health conjurations.
Huginn as I've mentioned before, is very important to cast spells such as Force Hold, Force Push, Dissolve, Knockdown, Dispel and even to detect some hidden enchantments.
Looking over at the equipment, I am not sure if I should keep the Arcane Ring, because there aren't too many Metamagic and Mana spells (most come from Enchantments), but it does save mana. Enchanter's Ring seems essential, as to reduce cost of enchantments. Two copies of Mage Wand seems not a great number, might want to add the third. Most of the times, I would bind on it Teleport,Dissolve,Dispel or Knockdown. Elemental Cloak and Wind Wyvern Cloak provide some resilience against most of the elemental attacks in the game, as well provides 3 armor. Mage Staff should be used only when facing Incorporeal Creatures.
Here we come over to the most meaty and important part - Incantations. It was quite hard to choose between them and from most of the times I will probably switch out few them to see how it would work in a different angle. 4 Teleports seem right, as this build is heavily based on them. Most of the times I use this spell to pop out the Iron Golem near the enemy mage, very early in the game. This is an aggressive approach. Force Push is mostly used to pull back the mage or bash it against the wall, if you want to pull out some damage on it. Force Hold seems as a good way to hold the mage in the same spot(great, because Iron Golem can pull out one clear attack). Dissolve is there to battle those pesky Equip builds, bind it on Mage Wand if there's a feeling of running them out. Knockdown is a quick to produce Stun on the enemy Mage, to get the Earth Elemental or Iron Golem to land some attacks. I am not sure about only one copy of Purify, might need more. Also, 3 copies of Dispel are also quite insecure to have and leaves you to trust it more than anything. Fortunately, there are a couple of Seeking Dispels ( if you don't like them, switch them out for more Dispels). Minor Heal and Heal to obviously - heal yourself. Finally, we have Battle Fury and Charge - this is bread and butter to cast on the creature to deal some awesome damage.
Enchantments are mostly very traditional with a twist - traps!
We have Chains of Agony to punish the retreating mage. Reverse Magic, Nullify to cast on yourself or creatures. Block and Mind Shield should be used for yourself or Huginn - protect this little guy with all the cost! Finally, Teleport Trap should be used for some positioning of the enemy mage. Here come's the fun part - I've thrown in Hellfire Traps and Decoy to mess with the opponent's mind if he tries to trigger these enchantments with his creatures - they will either suffer or earn your invested mana back. Most often I put my opponent in paranoia mode, which is awesome to see (and quite sadistic).
In the end, there are Hurl Boulders, which can be switched between Hail of Stones or even added!
So these are the very basics of the build, more in depth look will be provided in the coming week. I will try to put up more information and suggestions on how to work with the build, what openings are good to begin the game with, taking into account which build and mage you are facing.
But most important of all, I want to hear your opinion and ideas of this build, Maybe you hate it or see it completely weak. Maybe it seems not fun for you. I personally love the idea of mobility. Not to mention, by playing this build, I've noticed the nice flow of mana income and the disposal of it.
Please add your opinion and thank you!
