Idling the Invisible Stalker

[sIKE]

It seems to me that I could park a low level critter in his zone and not activate him until after the Stalker has been activated and attacked. If the Forcemaster has himself and the IS out it seems that if the opposing mage has three or more creatures in the same zone then the FM would not want to activate the IS. Am I missing something here? I think it would be quite easy to open a can of Whoop A!^ on him or just idle him as Mana waste. At some point you have to make him useful and then he would have to pay for it, correct?

[Gewar]

Maybe the fact that Forcemaster can easly regroup your army in a way she wants it is worth consideration in your plan.
Some force pushes and pulls, some sleeps and Invisible Stalker could be in very good position to strike.

[Tacullu64]

The Invisible Stalker can still activate and move, he doesn't become visible until he declares an attack. Since he is elusive while invisible you can't pin him down that way. But you are right that at 15 mana he has got to earn his keep sooner rather than later.

[sIKE]

All to be taken in to consideration, but the main point is that for him to be effective and last long enough to make him worth the mana expenditure he has to make the last attack of the round. As a counter just don't let that happen.

Thinking a bit further, an Idol of Pestelence would really mess his day up.

[Tacullu64]

All to be taken in to consideration, but the main point is that for him to be effective and last long enough to make him worth the mana expenditure he has to make the last attack of the round. As a counter just don't let that happen.

Thinking a bit further, an Idol of Pestelence would really mess his day up.

Neither the IoP or Ghoul Rot affect him. He is non-living.

[Gewar]

He doesn;t have to be last in a turn - he has to act after every creature that is thetening him, so:
- he can go after every creature in the arena (can be easly countered, as you've proven)
- he can attack lone, weak target, which will probably die be one hit or could not make decent damage
- he can be protected with spells like Block
- Forcemaster can separate his target from the rest of the group
- Forcemaster can make potencial threats to him incapacitated
Your oponent can try to counter those situations, but this is win for you too, becouse you are the one who dictates what your oponent does.

[sIKE]

@GEWAR

I did say "not activate him until after the Stalker has been activated and attacked". With all of the powers that the Forcemaster has, specially with the Invisible Stalker there are other things you can do otehr than load up with AOE spells to counter him.

How could he be protected by a spell like Block if he is Invisible and can not be targeted?

The thing about the Invisible Stalker is he is predicated on taking the last attack action of the round. The other thing to think about here is that he is Ethereal so the Creature I speak of would also have the ability to attack Ethereally otherwise he would be toast.

[Gewar]

FM can pass untill there will be situation in which her oponent has only one active creature - you can easly outmanuver your oponent so that creature would be to far away from IS.

About casting Block:
When IS can perform an attack and ofter his action, with quickast marker, FM can cast Block.

[sIKE]

But then my mage then could Qucik Cast a Attack spell too. I am not trying to go down the rabbit hole here, but to keep him alive on the board, all of the oppoents action markers (including the Mages Qucikcast) would have to be spent before you would want to activate the Invisible Stalker's attack.

Seems very restricting if played against properly.

[Gewar]

Yes - playing IS require certain strategy and he is not so flexible like ie. Grizzly. But it can do things Grizzly can't. And IS nicely synergise with FM's other spells - just pick up your targets and separate them from the group.

[Shad0w]

This was a balancing factor that we added in during play testing.

[piousflea]

With 7 hp and Incorporeal (this is equivalent to 21 hp corporeal), non-Ethereal creatures actually have a lot of difficulty killing Invisible Stalker even after it is revealed.

Nothing about the Invisible Stalker says that you HAVE to keep it alive at all costs. In fact, if it soaks a few hits but doesn't die, it may have just wasted a bunch of the opponent's attack dice. (as it is very difficult to land additional hits to finish it off)

Of course, I don't recommend using invisible stalker against a Lightning wizard. Electrify and Circle of Lightning are way too effective vs it.

[Teclis]

You have to be very careful not to be to close to the enemy mage, cause he can easily damage IS with a quickcast attack spell in his quickcast phase at the end of the action phase. But if you are aware of this he can be a real thread to your opponent... :evil:

[Teclis]

Obviously it is a great option to attach Reverse Attack to your Invisible Stalker. Your opponent will not have many chances to hit him, so he will try to do it whenever he has the opportunity. And when he casts that lightning bolt... BOOM... it hits him right in his own face! :woohoo:

[Tacullu64]

Obviously it is a great option to attach Reverse Attack to your Invisible Stalker. Your opponent will not have many chances to hit him, so he will try to do it whenever he has the opportunity. And when he casts that lightning bolt... BOOM... it hits him right in his own face! :woohoo:

That is a nice thought, unfortunately it won't work. Reverse Magic targets corporeal creatures and the Invisible Stalker is incorporeal. The stalker is still a solid creature (no pun intended).   :cheer: