I might be raising the dead in this thread, and I am not very 'on' the changes that are on the way, but the Warlord really seemed to me as the weakest mage from the current 6 [DvN in the way]. The outpost zone limitation is just the worst part for me, but it comes with more. First, Barracs is the only Spawn point that makes your mage cast other conjurations to be minimally usefull, which means you are already behind the others. This conjurations do NOT receive any bonus from outpost, and are actually very mediocre themselves. Horn can't be used with Sledge, wut? But what really puts me down is the goblin grunt. Just, really. Its just like the Bitterwood fox and the Bobcat, except weaker for no reason. Fox has fast, Bobcat has charge, Goblin has...uselessness [if that is a word].
I also disagree a bit with what was said: the fact that AW is fixing mistakes on upcoming expansions is awesome, but it also just makes it even more clear that the Warlord is underpowered, and it seems like he is not a favorite, since he is not receiving any buff. I do not think its needed to change the mage card, but the spells are very subpar and in need of some love. I hope next expansion brings some better options for him, or even DvN [as I did not see all cards spoilers, but that does not seem the case].
Anyway, I do not get tired of saying this, but the game is awesome. AW, I love you guys, but please, give some love to Warlord as well.
XD
A couple of things...
The Hammer wasn't meant to be used at the same time as the Horn. The hammer was designed to help the Warlord fulfill an "in your face melee" role (a sweeping 50% daze attack is amazing), while the horn was designed to help him fill a support role.
Having to cast extra Outposts wouldn't be a mark against the Barracks if they released Outposts that the Warlord would want to cast anyway. Quite frankly I think they should make Outposts that give global benefits to soldiers, like the totems that animals have. I really do think they need to drop the adjacency rule either way.
Goblin Grunt is pretty comparable to a Feral Bobcat (assuming animal totems aren't in consideration). Bitterwood Fox just outclasses either of them though. The main detriment against the Goblin Grunt is that there isn't any reasonable way to give them buffs (aside from Fortified Position and Sacred Ground, both of which are a little dubious in value).
The main problem with the Warlord is the triple arcane costs, combined with the fact that Wizards can have the Earth School with no detriment and the even more frustrating fact that the War school is kinda weak itself. Every major school has some decent creatures, and the War school is no exception (Grimson, Thorg, Sir Corazin, Dwarf Panzerguarde, etc), but it falls behind in pretty much every other category. It doesn't have many enchantments that buff creatures (just Fortified Position [dubious value] and Retaliate [destroys self after use]), the best incantations are either Novice or level 1 aside from Whirling Strike, and the War conjurations are pretty weak aside from Battleforge (wall of pikes lacks piercing, outposts need work).
Some solutions to the above:
Better War enchantments: releasing Akiro's Favor and Critical Strike will help a lot, though those are both level 1. While I can see War giving melee or armour +X, I'm not sure they will since those are already in the Nature school. I would love to see a level 2 (or 3) enchantment that gives you the option or turning a quick melee attack into a full sweeping attack, an enchantment that adds an effect die to attacks (such as daze or bleed) or a piercing damage barrier (ex. Spiked Armor, level 2 War, damage barrier = 2 dice and +2 piercing). Basically we need more enchantments, and a few that won't often get stolen by other mages.
Better War conjurations: Altar of the Iron Guard will help, but most important new Outposts that give global buffs to soldiers.
Releasing the one-handed War weapons/shield (though most mages will like that).
Either non-Arcane or Novice alternatives to Dispel, Nullify, and Teleport. The fact that so many spells that are practically required for mages are in the Arcane school is a real problem for the Warlord.
Example spells:
Minor Dispel, incantation, cost =X, level 1 Arcane, Novice, destroy target
level 1 revealed enchantment, X=casting cost of the enchantment
Tunnel through Earth, incantation, cost =8, level 2 Earth, targets non-flying corporeal creatures, move target creature up to 2 zones away (this is considered a teleport)
I'm not quite sure about Nullify. Perhaps something similar to Armor Ward to help reduce the dependence on Nullify?
Finally, I don't know if the Warlord
needs this, but I'd love to see a Warlord-only Earth spell, just so the Wizard can't have every Earth spell the Warlord can have. Something like Adramelech (4 War/2 Earth) would be fine (Wizard could still take it but would be discouraged from doing so).
