Piercing Strike

[Borg]

AFAIK, it's common practice in Mage Wars to swing a Hurl Boulder, Force Hammer or Fireball or something along those lines at a key opposing Conjuration like a Battle Forge or Wizard Tower to take it out asap.

That may work alright but it's also pretty expensive mana-wise and often also SBP-wise.

A couple of weeks ago, when building my Cervere book however I stumbled upon a great alternative for taking out Conjurations ( or anything else which is highly armored ) : [mwcard=MW1I19] Piercing Strike[/mwcard]

Look at it :
- only 2 mana
- only 1 SBP - even if you don't need it all game, it's not a heavy SBP "investment"
- Incredibly cheap compared to the attack spells and in the right situation, just as effective.

Anyway : my point : Piercing Strike has reached "staple" level in every melee book I currently have.

My Beastmaster ( Cervere book ) runs one
Added one to my Forcemaster book too
and I'm sure this will prove an efficient addition to my Priestess' Transfusion Angels as well.

Thought I might just share my positive experiences with this card

[SharkBait]

How many copies do you run?

I was planning on adding it to my Forcemaster book, but haven't had a chance to do that/test it out this week. It is probably a candidate for a thoughtspore spell should the right circumstances present themselves.

[Puddnhead]

It's great to see other options being explored.  I think the trouble with [mwcard=MW1I19]Piercing Strike[/mwcard] is that it requires 2 actions (quickcast and an attack) and cannot be done at range.  Definitely see the merits of packing it with your buffed [mwcard=MW1C07]Cervere, The Forest Shadow[/mwcard] since you already have a 2 range attack on the table.

The advantage of [mwcard=FWA04]Hurl Boulder[/mwcard] and [mwcard=FWA02]Force Hammer[/mwcard] is that they are ranged 2 and roll a large amount of dice for just 1 action.  Many critical conjurations are protected by their placement in the rear of the arena so it might be worth packing at least one of these ranged smash spells especially in your Forcemaster book where it's only 2 points for a Force Hammer anyway.

[Borg]

I think the trouble with [mwcard=MW1I19]Piercing Strike[/mwcard] is that it requires 2 actions (quickcast and an attack) and cannot be done at range.

Sure, but on the positive side, an attack costs no mana and the Piercing Strike only 2.
Investing 1 attack action + QC for just two mana total to destroy a BF or WT seems like a great play imo.
At the same time, let's not forget this important bit, it allows you to save up some valuable mana for your next round or your Thoughtspore.

It cannot be done at range, that's correct, but the books I use it in can use it on R3 if necessary, that's only 1 round later than the attack spells can be fired.
BF will get 2 pieces of armor out instead of just one, but that is balanced out by being a much cheaper way to destroy it imo.

Also, just 1 Hurl Boulder or 1 Force Hammer will probably not be enough to destroy the conjuration , so you may have to spend a second action on it as well after all - either an extra spell like Acid Ball ( making the mana cost even higher ) or an attack.

Overall, I'd say the attack spells ( and certainly Force Hammer ) are the obvious and superior choices vs conjurations with 0-1 armor whereas for anything that has 4 or more armor you're probably better off with Piercing Strike - if you have a creature that can lay down a 6-7-8 dice hit of course.

The advantage of [mwcard=FWA04]Hurl Boulder[/mwcard] and [mwcard=FWA02]Force Hammer[/mwcard] is that they are ranged 2 and roll a large amount of dice for just 1 action.  Many critical conjurations are protected by their placement in the rear of the arena so it might be worth packing at least one of these ranged smash spells especially in your Forcemaster book where it's only 2 points for a Force Hammer anyway.

Certainly. The 2 Force Hammers are still in my Forcemaster book, it's just that Piercing Strike gives me an additional ( and cheaper way ) of dealing with armored objects.

[Borg]

How many copies do you run?

I was planning on adding it to my Forcemaster book, but haven't had a chance to do that/test it out this week. It is probably a candidate for a thoughtspore spell should the right circumstances present themselves.

Just 1 copy. I don't plan on using this more than once per game, actually.
Destroying an important conjuration this way should give you a considerable advantage to build on and focus on the opposing mage from there on.

Have my doubts on the effectiveness of it on a Spore but would certainly like to hear your results.

[Puddnhead]

Very well spoken, sir.  I agree wholeheartedly that you save a massive amount of mana by using Piercing Strike.  Including it with a 6-8 dice attack is an excellent move.

My consideration is that I don't necessarily have that amount of dice in the beginning of a match.  If the enemy conjuration is bad enough that I need to get rid of it quickly rather than build to my striking potential first, then I'd want to use the mana rather than the actions.

In the example of a Cervere buddy build I would suggest that Piercing Strike is the superior choice in almost all circumstances.
Other mages that are not packing a fast, elusive big dice creature may want to think more carefully before relying solely on Piercing Strike as their conjuration killer.

[Borg]

In the example of a Cervere buddy build I would suggest that Piercing Strike is the superior choice in almost all circumstances.
Other mages that are not packing a fast, elusive big dice creature may want to think more carefully before relying solely on Piercing Strike as their conjuration killer.

OK, that leads me to the conclusion that :
- Attack spells are costly but are the most common choice because they are usable by any mage ( aggressive, defensive, control ) at any time without any setup
- Piercing Strike is a cheap and viable alternative for a melee aggro book that builds up quickly.
A definition that certainly applies to my Forcemaster build as she can hit for 8 dice on R3.

My standard Forcemaster build up :
R1 20 : Cheetah Speed - Battle Forge
R2 17+1 : Gauntlets of Strength + FD Bear Strength + Hand of Bim Shalla
R3 18+1 : Galvitar + Piercing Strike + Attack = 8 dice + Pierce+5
R4 16+1 : as you can see the Forcemaster is in fine shape regarding damage dice and mana at the start of round 4

[rodriguekhalil]

One thing to keep in mind with Piercing +X vs Melee +X is that piercing is applied to ALL attacks of a creature.

Use it on a Hydra and all three strikes get their piercing, effectively landing 9 dice of damage on the oponent.

Also what I like about Piercing Strike: applies to ANY corporeal creature, onlike the nature buffs. So I always put some Piercing Strike and Power Strike in my Necro spellbook or my Iron golem Wizard. Even used on a skeleltal Minion, I find it to be rather effective. After all, three dice damage lending on a target without armor, that can be surprisingly strong.

The more I play with piercing, the more I enjoy it, because it looks to me it's almost always cheaper than dissolving or Acid Balling an armor.

Also the perfect solution to an armor stacked Mage with veteran belt: if you ignore the armor, he can't convert any damage to non-crit!

Anyways , Borg, I support you 100% and go even further by saying that you don't even need to wait to have 6-7-8 dice attack tu use Piercing Strike.

[Borg]

One thing to keep in mind with Piercing +X vs Melee +X is that piercing is applied to ALL attacks of a creature.

Are you sure about that ?
I thought the codex said it only applies to the first attack of an attack action ...

[sIKE]

My standard Forcemaster build up :
R1 20 : Cheetah Speed - Battle Forge
R2 17+1 : Gauntlets of Strength + FD Bear Strength + Hand of Bim Shalla
R3 18+1 : Galvitar + Piercing Strike + Attack = 8 dice + Pierce+5
R4 16+1 : as you can see the Forcemaster is in fine shape regarding damage dice and mana at the start of round 4

Time for the Cheese:
RD1 Wizard Tower + FD Surging Wave, Armor
RD2 or RD3 Wall of Thorns + Force Push + Surging Wave
RD3 or RD4 Jinx + Force Push + Hurl Boulder on Wizard Tower

If you get the Push from the Surging Wave = 38 Dice of Damage, if you miss the Push it is still 28 dice of damage.

Optimally. the Wall of Thorns would be placed to block LOS from the FM's Battle Forge. The Wall of Thorns + Push would be cast during the FM's Initiative round and the Jinx would be there to prevent you from getting away during the First QC phase of the following round.

Yeah that's what put the thrill of playing the FM to rest for me.

[Borg]

And what if R2 I just cast Leather Boots instead of the Gauntlets ( with BF ), together with Hand of Bim Shalla giving me 2 Armor ?

[sIKE]

And what if R2 I just cast Leather Boots instead of the Gauntlets ( with BF ), together with Hand of Bim Shalla giving me 2 Armor ?

That will work, but from my experience "Undoing" affects the FM more than most of the other mages. Once you start peeling away equipment and getting him off the heavy agro rush strategy, you better have a good fall back second strategy that I could never really develop.

[sdougla2]

Piercing Strike only affects the next attack, not all 3 attacks for a Darkfenne Hydra's triplestrike.

[rodriguekhalil]

Piercing Strike only affects the next attack, not all 3 attacks for a Darkfenne Hydra's triplestrike.

Oops, I was mistaken with something else then… Is it one of of the Warlord's runes, the one that gives Piercing +1. Would I be mistaken to say that this one is applied to all attacks (sweeping trait for instance).   

And what about Lion Savagery? I might be mistaken, but I think that one is also good for all attacks. Again, really not sure. I'll double-check.

[sdougla2]

Other sources of piercing generally apply to all attacks, but Piercing Strike specifically only applies to the next attack. Lion Savagery for example would benefit all 3 strikes of the Darkfenne Hydra's triplestrike.