Is there any love for warlord?

[Aylin]

I really hope Forged in Flame has new War school stuff in it. A Warlord that's actually worth playing would be awesome.

My only issue with it (from the limited information available so far) is the artwork for the Dwarf Warlord. I believe their plan was to have male and female versions of all of the mages, yet both Warlords look to be male. Dislike of gender stereotyping.

[Zuberi]

Depends on your answer to a long running debate among fantasy geeks: Do dwarven women have beards?

If you believe that dwarf women do have beards, then there is nothing in the new Warlord art to say that it isn't in fact a female. Even if you do count the new Warlord as male though, you can use any of the other female art cards for your Warlord build. 40% of the mage art is female, and while that might not be ideal for everyone, it should be enough to provide a diverse range of options for the female player base. I really like that they are putting a dwarf in as it's one of my favorite races. And I like my dwarves with beards regardless of gender.

[Quibleon]

Depends on your answer to a long running debate among fantasy geeks: Do dwarven women have beards?

If you believe that dwarf women do have beards, then there is nothing in the new Warlord art

Perhaps you could he nice enough to link me to that new art?
XD
Thank you.

[Zuberi]

Upcoming alternate art for the Warlord and Warlock




Just to be complete, here is also the upcoming art for the Paladin and Siren





And the alternate art for the Forcemaster and Wizard

[Aylin]

Depends on your answer to a long running debate among fantasy geeks: Do dwarven women have beards?

If you believe that dwarf women do have beards, then there is nothing in the new Warlord art to say that it isn't in fact a female. Even if you do count the new Warlord as male though, you can use any of the other female art cards for your Warlord build. 40% of the mage art is female, and while that might not be ideal for everyone, it should be enough to provide a diverse range of options for the female player base. I really like that they are putting a dwarf in as it's one of my favorite races. And I like my dwarves with beards regardless of gender.

If they did say that the new Warlord was a female Dwarf (complete with beard) then I am on board. I would actually be extremely happy in that case, since it would be the first female mage not wearing fan-service clothing.

However, I don't think they're doing that with this art though, since all of the other female mages (and creatures in general for that matter) except for the female Wizard are all wearing incredibly awkward for fighting fan-service outfits (corsets, high heels, metal bikinis, belly shirts, see-through skirts, chest plates with accentuated breasts, or needlessly long hair which even the female Wizard has). None of the male characters in the game seem to be wearing clothing more suited to a brothel than a battle (though Grey Angel comes close).

[Zuberi]

I'm going to limit my response because I think we're getting off the topic of "love for the Warlord" and onto a topic of "gender stereotypes." I will say, that I doubt they specify the new Warlord's gender. That's not a statistic tracked anywhere on the cards. Just play it however you prefer.

[Aylin]

I'm going to limit my response because I think we're getting off the topic of "love for the Warlord" and onto a topic of "gender stereotypes." I will say, that I doubt they specify the new Warlord's gender. That's not a statistic tracked anywhere on the cards. Just play it however you prefer.

We are a bit off-topic true. So I'll also limit: I know it isn't on the cards (aside from Priestess/Priest), but it is in the new rulebooks for each expansion.

[Qube]

I like the dwarf warlord's look.  To me, having a dwarf is far more (thematically) interesting than just a female version of the same fantasy race.

Also, I have to mention that the male forcemaster's art is making me think he has some kind of levitation ability.

[Wildhorn]

I agree that the main problem with the Warlord is that most utility spells (teleport, jinx, dispel, nullify) are arcane. They should have been Novice spells.

The outpost non-adjency is thematic (it is an OUTpost, supposed to be distant from each others). But would have been nice if the garrison post would have allowed the Barrack to spawn on them too instead of just the mage. The archer tower is pretty good.

What the Warlord need is some level 3-4 incantation/enchantment that give good buffs arena wide range.

[Artemus Maximus]

I for one am ecstatic that the next expansion is Warlock/Warlord (as opposed to what i expected - warlock/wizard).
To me, its further evidence that the design team is listening to players/the metagame. (Woes for warlord/wizard effectiveness, focus on fire to combat DvN possibly)

But for me it raises another question - "forged in flame": will dwarflord be war/fire instead of war/earth and further break the mold? (c.f. Battle Forge)

[Zuberi]

I believe the Schools of Training is one of the inherent things to their class. None of the other alternate mages diverged from their training, and I doubt that the new Warlord or Warlock does either. Warlord will still be War/Earth with a weakness in Arcane, and Warlock will still be Dark/Fire with a weakness in Holy.

Thematically it makes sense (the things you forge in the flame most definitely come from the earth). And I don't mind the weakness in Arcane as long as there are alternatives for the cards you need to be competitive. I think the various pushes make a decent enough alternative for teleport, but you need something akin to dispel and nullify.

[Wildhorn]

A nice card idea for Warlord:

Trench (Zone Enchantment)

Warlord Only.

Hinder movement of non-flying creature. (Have to deal with the trench maze). Creature in this zone can't be targeted by ranged attacks from non-flying non-indirect source. (The creatures are protected by the trenches).


I would also like to see more trap-like enchantments, guerrilla-style. With a spell level of 2 War.

Bear-Trap. When triggered, snap the creature dealing damage and giving it a Lumbering marker (new marker)
Mine. Deal damage and 1-2 burn marker

Or cool stuff like Grenade-Bag, attached conjuration. Creature gain a 0-1 ranged AoE attack.

[Quibleon]

I realize the outpost limitation is simply thematic, but it is a handcap nevertheless. They just need to release some cards that benefit from it, so it will even up things, or that minimize its effects.

Regarding arcane school cards, I think war or novice cards with lessened effects, small versions of the big ones, would be enough. This way the weakness of the school training would still remain, but not in such a horribly weakening way.

Also, I expect a Garrison Post errata, just to make it viable, but that i my very own foolish dream, unless you think its more viable to release an improved version.

[sdougla2]

I don't actually think that the triple cost of arcane is nearly as debilitating as the lack of strong options within the war school itself. Comparing the options within the nature, arcane, or dark school to the options in the war school, and the war school just doesn't have any strong utility at the moment. Nothing nearly as useful as nature buffs or curses. Once the war school has the cards to build a decent strategy in school, and can just grab a few out of school cards to support it, the Warlord will be able to handle paying triple for a few Dispels and a Teleport or 2.

A nature or dark mage could still be completely viable with the arcane school costing triple.

Part of the issue is that orders can be efficient for burst damage, but they are not nearly as efficient as nature buffs for a prolonged battle. Some enchantment buffs like Critical Strike, some conjurations to buff soldiers, and a cheap familiar for casting orders within the war school would allow the Warlord to compete better.

I don't think Nullify is nearly as important as many make it out to be. I always run some in Wizard builds since it's so cheap for a Wizard, but the other mages don't necessarily need it. I've been running it less and less in my non-Wizard builds.

[Qube]

I found the Warlord's lack of additional actions to be a challenge.  Casting incantations is very action-intensive.  The barracks is expensive (and generally crappy) and he has no familiar.  So, the battleforge is the only decent channeling object he has access to.

Hope forged in flame gives us a familiar for him.  Or, an inherent ability/warlord only item that lets him get more use out of his actions.