April 19, 2024, 04:41:02 AM

Author Topic: A Priest that works...  (Read 22740 times)

pete2

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A Priest that works...
« on: June 27, 2014, 07:30:46 AM »
i'm trying to have a Priest that works, but it isn't that simple...yesterday i played a basic Warlock, but i took quite a (fire) beating...this is the build i used :

Mage Wars deck (built using OCTGN deckbuilder) 27/06/2014 0:00:00

Spellbook points: 120 used of 120 allowed

1 Priest

--- Attack ---
3 Pillar of Light
1 Ring of Fire

--- Conjuration ---
1 Hand of Bim-Shalla
1 Battle Forge
1 Mana Crystal
1 Tanglevine
1 Rajan's Fury

--- Creature ---
2 Highland Unicorn
1 Guardian Angel
1 Brogan Bloodstone
1 Knight of Westlock

--- Enchantment ---
1 Mongoose Agility
1 Bull Endurance
1 Nullify
1 Armor Ward
1 Cheetah Speed
1 Eagle Wings
1 Falcon Precision
1 Harmonize
1 Maim Wings
1 Critical Strike
1 Lion Savagery
2 Bear Strength
1 Rhino Hide
2 Enchantment Transfusion

--- Equipment ---
1 Eagleclaw Boots
1 Gauntlets of Strength
1 Dragonscale Hauberk
2 Dawnbreaker Ring
1 Moonglow Amulet
1 Regrowth Belt
2 Staff of Asyra
1 Leather Boots
1 Enchanter's Ring
1 Mage Wand
1 Wand of Healing

--- Incantation ---
2 Dissolve
1 Battle Fury
3 Dispel
2 Teleport
1 Force Push
1 Rouse the Beast

my strategy was : open up with guardian angel as a blocker and afterwards get out the two horses. after that i beefed up both horses with all kinds of aggro enchantments, and i got the battleforge out to get my mage its equipment. My opponent got out 2 flower and 2 crystals to charge is mana supply, which allowed him to get out adramalech and a steelclaw grizzly (yes ! he paid the cost !) + he got quite some equipment on his Warlock..The only thing i managed to do is to kill his adramalech..but besides that i only saw a lot of fire : he just overwhelmed me with zone attacks from his firestorms and his drain life's...However, after that being said, i thought that maybe Samandriel could help me, if we would have the same matchup again...what you guys think ?
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jacksmack

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2014, 07:41:23 AM »
Take my advice with a grain of salt as i have never managed to get the Priest going.

1)
Dont open with guardian angel.
The priest is an offensive mage - not a defensive mage that can build up.

Instead run 1 or 2 depending on matchup and cast a batteforge in NC or FC.

2)
If your opponent spends 20 mana on manage generators then you got your game plan right here.
Summon 1 or 2 bigs and get in his face.
Guardian Angel is again useless for that.

Go for the mage, and consider adjusting to killing the creatures he summon depending on the situation.

3)
With FiF there will be a lvl 2 creature that fits the criterias of making it a 'pet' very well.
Its already released as promo on octgn. Consider requesting permission to use this card.

4)
add 1 more dragonscale.

5)
Dont even think about including rajans fury for only 2 creatures.

pete2

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2014, 07:53:40 AM »
Take my advice with a grain of salt as i have never managed to get the Priest going.

1)
Dont open with guardian angel.
The priest is an offensive mage - not a defensive mage that can build up.

Instead run 1 or 2 depending on matchup and cast a batteforge in NC or FC.

2)
If your opponent spends 20 mana on manage generators then you got your game plan right here.
Summon 1 or 2 bigs and get in his face.
Guardian Angel is again useless for that.

Go for the mage, and consider adjusting to killing the creatures he summon depending on the situation.

3)
With FiF there will be a lvl 2 creature that fits the criterias of making it a 'pet' very well.
Its already released as promo on octgn. Consider requesting permission to use this card.

4)
add 1 more dragonscale.

5)
Dont even think about including rajans fury for only 2 creatures.

guess you're right about the guardian angel..but he gave me some defense against the warlock's ranged attacks...

you think Samandriel could help as a "big" ? any idea how this promo creature in FIF is called ? i will also leave out the rajans fury...indeed not effective, and it would save me the spellpoints to spend on another "big"...thx for the tips !
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jacksmack

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2014, 08:02:38 AM »
Keep the guardian angel in the book, but dont open with it.


I would definately including an angel. Actually there is a possible combo with pushing from the wind angel and the charge from your horses. But as standard i would go with the Light sabre angel.


The card from FiF will be Asyran Defender.

Lord0fWinter

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #4 on: June 27, 2014, 08:58:00 AM »
The card from FiF will be Asyran Defender.

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pete2

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #5 on: June 27, 2014, 09:10:48 AM »
yeah..thanks for visualizing that lordofwinter !

what about inserting Joseph trublood, high cleric to my book ?
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BoomFrog

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #6 on: June 27, 2014, 09:29:57 AM »
Joseph is worse then a knight of westlock in almost every realistic situation. Joseph is only good if you are going full defense which priest should not do. 

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2014, 12:28:43 PM »
I have never been able to make a Priest build that works. I don't like his offensive focus given that the holy school seems to be 80% defensive spells. Plus the Priest's special abilities are marginally useful and not worth conceding 1 channeling for. I can never see a situation where I would choose Priest over Priestess.
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silverclawgrizzly

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2014, 01:44:38 PM »
I've won a few games with a Priest but it's a hard road. I actually do use the Temple of Asyra but that's just so I don't have to worry about using my full actions to bring out my creatures. Full Actions are for smacking stuff. I also firmly believe in Tanglevines to control board positioning too though.
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pete2

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2014, 02:05:52 PM »
Joseph is worse then a knight of westlock in almost every realistic situation. Joseph is only good if you are going full defense which priest should not do.


i just thought that if i should battle the warlock once again, joseph's 3+2 dice against dark/nonliving creatures + his healing ability could help me...
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sIKE

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #10 on: June 27, 2014, 02:31:22 PM »
In that matchup and against the Necro or a Wizard running non-living he would be helpful, I don't know if you have enough space in your book to carry him and have space for other creature based builds.
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Arlemus

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #11 on: June 27, 2014, 02:32:36 PM »
Priest is probably tied for my favorite mage.  I felt the same as others here ("his abilities are useless") until I realized/tried a few things:

1).  Dropping HA on a big creature early on is not a good idea.  The extra hp you get from HA does not change with level, so the smaller creatures actually make for better and more efficient HA's.  Asyran Clerics and now Asyran defenders are hands down the best targets for HA.  No other card/ability in the game (iirc) can get you that much extra health on a creature for that little mana (2/3mana for 5 hp).  If you need a big creature, like a Knight, just summon one.

2).  I've learned that the best initial strategy is to bind pillar of light to a elemental wand (which is easy with a forge).  It's very non-commital, and rushing your opponent in the typical way is not a good idea, from my experience.  Rather, open him up with buffed Pillar's from dawnbreaker ring and pay 1 mana for malakia's fire each time.  Once your opponent drops an interceptor or a Cloak of Shadows (to prevent your ranged pillars), that's when you drop your staff and prepare for the smackdown, warrior of light style  :P. (Obviously you'll have to dissolve the cloak before you hit him).  If he drops armor, acid ball and keep going.

3).  Things you don't need: Unicorns (definitely not multiples anyway), Rajan's, Maim Wings, Eagle Wings, Moonglow, Mage Wand.  Things you should definitely consider: Gray Angel, Royal Archer, Blinding Flash, Elemental Wand, Fireball, and definitely multiples of Asyran Clerics and (now) Asyran Defenders.  (Clerics and Defenders are your go to meatbag guards.  Also, you don't need to maim wings or Eagle Wings anything, you're in the holy school)

That's all I have for now because I'm packing boxes  :P, but I hope it helps some.  Believe me when I say I thought the Priest was bad until I realized how powerful HA and Malakia's Fire could be; they just need to be used correctly (which can be hard to do).
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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #12 on: June 28, 2014, 06:08:55 PM »
for the points of one elemental wand, you could have 4 pillar of light. and you still need the pillar so make it 5. i think its better to have 6 pillar of light then having 2 pillar and 1 wand. the wand can always get dispelled, and its a cost in mana to have it, cause all it truly does is give you more of the spell you binded to it.

Maybe if you want a diversity of attack spell you bring 2 want and a few spells just so you switch with battleforge so you dont use your action to switch spell and all, but i believe the priest is better with only pillar of light if he put 1 mana to also auto burn. Dang, the new warlock and the priest would be a nice combo in 2v2!

Also, i might be wrong but the elemental rings like dawnbreaker ring give the bonus for each attack that has the "light" type, or so i believe from the wording, since you gain a new melee/range +1 for each light attack. So, with battlefury, it gives its bonus to all "attacks", which makes it really nice with the staff. even if you only burn once.
(P.S. how does one link a card so that we can see its effect? i guess it has to do with the spellbook builder somehow)

Arlemus, do you play with temples also? i always find it hard to summon creatures while doing other stuff with the mage. I'd really like to make the priest work but as for many others i find the priestess just better so if you have more suggestions just pls share the love! and spellbook maybe.

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #13 on: June 29, 2014, 12:29:35 AM »
for the points of one elemental wand, you could have 4 pillar of light. and you still need the pillar so make it 5. i think its better to have 6 pillar of light then having 2 pillar and 1 wand. the wand can always get dispelled, and its a cost in mana to have it, cause all it truly does is give you more of the spell you binded to it.

Maybe if you want a diversity of attack spell you bring 2 want and a few spells just so you switch with battleforge so you dont use your action to switch spell and all, but i believe the priest is better with only pillar of light if he put 1 mana to also auto burn. Dang, the new warlock and the priest would be a nice combo in 2v2!

Also, i might be wrong but the elemental rings like dawnbreaker ring give the bonus for each attack that has the "light" type, or so i believe from the wording, since you gain a new melee/range +1 for each light attack. So, with battlefury, it gives its bonus to all "attacks", which makes it really nice with the staff. even if you only burn once.
(P.S. how does one link a card so that we can see its effect? i guess it has to do with the spellbook builder somehow)

Arlemus, do you play with temples also? i always find it hard to summon creatures while doing other stuff with the mage. I'd really like to make the priest work but as for many others i find the priestess just better so if you have more suggestions just pls share the love! and spellbook maybe.

Lemme break that up into points (because I'm bad at forum formatting  :P):

1).  I think I mislead with my post a bit.  Early game it's definitely better to open with some armor off the forge rather than a wand.  I would still use pillar and pay for Malakai's fire ASAP, but not with the ele wand until I was on my last pillar (in most cases).  Sorry about that.

It's true that elemental wand largely only functions to give you more of the spells you already have, BUT I would contend that having access to a 3rd spell (though obviously limited in scope) is definitely worth something.  I think elemental wand is absolutely worth it in Priest (and most books) because it ends up saving me space (rather than having to run more than 1 fireball, hurl boulder, or more than 2 acid ball).

2).  They would be sick together, I hope to start playing 2v2 soon and give a try  :)

3).  You're right about the ring, though most people don't let you battle fury them into a sizzling paste like that, lol; and you link a specific card by exporting a single card with through forum code using the builder, copy and paste. See the line of text that says "mwcard" blah, blah. [mwcard=mw1q27]1 x  Dawnbreaker Ring[/mwcard]

4).  The only temple I play with is the HoB.  I actually just modified my Priest book to include the new Asyran Defenders (I'll post it tomorrow or Monday) and I'm considering using the Dawnbreaker temple now because of the possible meta bump it got from the Asryan Defender's defense.  I've only had 1 game with the newly released promo though, and my initial feelings are that it's not going to be the new HA standard but again that's only 1 game.

Maybe if I just share my start it might help? Here:

Turn 1: Move, forge NC, crystal in starting zone
Turn 2: (prepare pillar and aegis enchant) Deploy Dawnbreaker ring, move and attempt a pillar, qc enchant on self
Turn 3: (prepare Ayran Cleric for HA if they have a creature, if they don't, prepare pillar) Deploy armor, attempt a pillar, summon Cleric if needed or keep stacking defenses

Basically, try to pillar the other mage.  This triggers Malakai's fire (which is amazing), and makes it easier to summon creatures and attack at the same time. 

If you need a guard, make a HA cleric.  They are the least expensive way to get that 5 extra hp, and if someone manages to get to your mage, their attack is actually respectable with the HA buff (4dice, 1 pierce).  Even if it ends up they are useless a turn, they can still heal you.

Don't drop a big HA.  At least not initally, mostly not even at all.  I find HA to be reactionary, so making a huge 17 cost knight that isn't an answer to anything is just begging for it to get controlled.  It's the same deal as with any pet ability: you paid more, but the level stayed the same, so it's just asking to be efficiently slept, etc.  You want to deter people from doing this as much as possible, and spending less mana on your "pet" is a decent way to do it.

TL;DR:
Stack Defenses (armor, aegis, etc).
Pillar or Staff Melee when appropriate.
Summon efficient guard when appropriate (HA cleric).



« Last Edit: June 29, 2014, 12:34:19 AM by Arlemus »
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sdougla2

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Re: A Priest that works...
« Reply #14 on: June 29, 2014, 12:37:17 AM »
Dawnbreaker Ring does not boost a Battle Fury attack. It does boost a Pillar of Light attack and a Staff of Asyra attack in the same round though.
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