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Seoni's Element Master role works a little differently than most character roles. When you gain the role, you have the option of putting your power feats into one of four elements: acid, cold, electricity, or fire. When you do so that element is considered "Mastered". All of your powers, including your non-role powers, interact with elements you have mastered. So the question becomes; which elements are best to master? I've looked at all the cards to include deck 4 in order to figure this out. If you'd just like a summary of my analysis, jump to the next post.
When you first select an element to master - assuming you use your first power feat after you get your role to master an element - you immediately gain the following benefits via your powers:
1. Before your combat check, you may discard a card to draw a card that has the Arcane (□ or Magic) or mastered trait from your discard pile.
2. You may automatically succeed at your check to recharge a spell (□ or an item) that has the Attack or mastered trait.
3. When you acquire a card that has a mastered trait or an ally (□ or a spell), you may draw a card.
4. Reduce damage of a mastered type dealt to you by 2 (□ 4).
Powers 1 & 2 are irrelevant [where mastered traits are concerned] as through deck 4 there are no arcane spells that have a masterable trait which are not also attack spells, while the only non-spell card which has a masterable trait is a loot bow from deck 4 which has the fire trait.
Power 3 is also irrelevant if you spend a power feat into the ability to have it also trigger off spells. If you did not put a power feat there, the breakdown of boons - all of which are spells - which have masterable traits (through deck 4) is as follows:
Acid = 0 spells
Cold = 5 spells
Electricity = 2 spells
Fire = 10 spells
Of note is that of the 10 spells with the fire trait, 5 are divine only.
That leaves power #4: Reduce damage of a mastered type dealt to you by 2 (□ 4). I went through every card which you may encounter in deck 4 and totaled up each masterable damage type that a card may inflict. I broke them down into the following categories: barrier/regular monster/henchman/villain/location. For barriers and regular monsters I counted each copy of such a card, while for henchmen and villains I only counted each once. Furthermore, I noted whether or not the damage was conditional, meaning you could avoid it with a successful check or die roll. Here's how it breaks down:
Acid: 2/11/0/0/0 = 13 total, 6/13 sources conditional. Of that breakdown, 2 [regular] monsters are basic while 4 are elite. Of note that while 6 of the sources only inflict acid damage conditionally, 4 require difficult [for Seoni] checks to avoid the damage.
Cold: 2/0/0/0/0 = 2 total, 2/2 sources conditional. In deck 4 the only way you will suffer cold damage is if you fail to defeat the Baleful Shadows barrier and encounter the henchman Wight. This barrier is elite.
Electricity: 0/3/1/1/0 = 5 total, 4/5 sources conditional. Of that breakdown, the villain will only inflict electricity damage if you chose to defeat it via its card text, while one of the monsters will only inflict electricity damage if you choose to re-roll your combat check, which the monster allows you to do.
Fire: 3/1/1/1/1 = 7 total, 7/7 sources conditional. Of that breakdown, 1 barrier is elite. Also, the location Molten Pool inflicts 1 fire damage at the start of your turn [if you're there] and changes all combat damage received into fire damage.
In addition to those automatically acquired powers, there are two additional powers you can gain by spending power feats:
5. □ You may add 1 mastered trait to your check.
6. □ Add 4 to your check that has a mastered trait.
Power #5 only comes into play on its own when fighting certain banes; otherwise it's much more relevant when combining it with power #6. Using the two powers together will net you +4 on every check you make, so long as the card or ability against which you're making the check is not immune to that element.
Each considered on their own, powers 5 & 6 are almost solely relevant when fighting monsters; Many attack spells will have a masterable trait, while many banes will react to a masterable trait in 3 possible ways: The bane is immune to the trait, the bane is strong against the trait (which means a check with that trait has an increased difficulty), or the bane may be weak against the trait (meaning checks with that trait get a bonus). As with damage, I broke them done between regular monsters/henchmen/villains:
Monsters which are immune to a masterable trait:
Acid: 7/0/1 = 8 - Of that breakdown, 1 monster is elite. Of note, 6 of the 7 are also monsters that inflict acid damage.
Cold: 1/1/0 = 2
Electricity: 28/8/1 = 37 - Of that breakdown, 4 monsters are elite.
Fire: 3/4/0 = 7
Monsters which are strong against a masterable trait:
Acid: 0/0/0 = 0
Cold: 3/0/0 = 3
Electricity: 4/0/0 = 4
Fire: 3/0/0 = 3
This category basically consists of the pitborn scoundrel. It's strong against cold, electricity, and fire, and there are 3 copies. It's elite.
Monsters which are weak against a masterable trait:
Acid: 0/1/0 = 1
Cold: 6/0/0 = 6
Electricity: 0/2/0 = 2
Fire: 2/1/0 = 3
Of all those monsters, 1 is basic and 2 are elite, and all three are weak against cold.
Since power #6 {Add 4 to your check that has a mastered trait} mostly interacts with many of your spells (until you get power #5), it's important to consider how many arcane spells of each masterable element there are. As of deck 4, here's the breakdown:
Acid = 1
Cold = 8
Electricity = 3
Fire = 8
These number include both spells that have the trait by default and spells that can add the trait as part of the spell's power.
Last but not least, there are a few other non-weapon cards that can add a masterable trait. Through deck 4, they're as follows:
Fire - Druid of the Flame
Electricity - Druid of the Storm, Lyre of the Storm
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All in all the elements play out like this: Acid is the best choice for utilizing the damage prevention ability as going through deck 4 it's the most common source of masterable element damage, and unlike fire a lot of that damage is going to get through because the conditional sources are hard for Seoni to avoid without blessings or other cards. It's poor for utilizing the +4 to checks power feat as there's only 1 spell that can inflict acid damage, and is the second most common element that monsters are immune to.
Where as acid is mostly defensive, Cold is the opposite. Through deck 4 it's the least common immunity, and most common weakness, and it has the most spells (tied with fire) that have cold as an inherent or optional trait.
Fire is a balance between Acid and Cold. It's the 2nd most common source of deck 4 damage after acid, but much less threatening overall because the majority of those damage sources are easy for Seoni to avoid. Offensively there are 8 arcane spells that can have the fire trait, though it's a somewhat common immunity possessed by henchmen.
Electricity is clearly the worst of the bunch. Not only is it a rare source of damage, a whopping 37 monsters are immune to it. Which is just as well, since only 3 spells can get the electricity trait.
Overall I think the best element to master first is acid. Because you get the damage prevention power immediately upon getting your role card, acid is the best out of the gate because it's the most common source of damage. Cold is the best for offense, but that doesn't come online until after the 4th scenario in deck 4. Once you get your first power in deck 5 the biggest benefit of cold - there are 8 spells which do cold damage - is lessened because you'll be able to add your mastered element to all your checks.
I'll update this thread as decks 5 and 6 are released, as the contents may alter the balance between the elements. Likely electricity will still suck, though.
Great analysis! Many thanks for doing the heavy lifting :-)
Suspected acid was the best choice but your analysis nails it - nice work!
Assuming the usual distribution of power feats, the element you master "first" is likely to also be "only" (unless maybe you drop in Fire in AP6). It'll take all the way to AP5 to get Seoni's +4 to every track engine running, and I can't imagine many people are going to pick this Role and deviate from that route.
Suspected the best trait was acid too, and not playing Seoni, but loved reading this breakdown. Thanks! :D
To be honest, electricity seems like the only rough option here. Which shouldn't be too surprising if you've made it to AD4 and seen all those demons.
I hear Lightning Master Seoni is guest-starring in Season 4 of the Worldwound's hit show, Everyone Loves Valendron.
She'd be flavorful for a run through Skulls and Shackles, say.
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Update totals for deck 5:
Powers 1 & 2 (as I've listed them in the opening post) are still the same as before. The only card in deck 5 that has a masterable trait is the icy prison spell.
Power 3 {When you acquire a card that has a mastered trait or an ally (□ or a spell), you may draw a card} is only relevant for the icy prison above. So that brings the current total as follows:
Acid = 0 spells
Cold = 6 spells
Electricity = 2 spells
Fire = 10 spells
Again, note that of the 10 spells with the fire trait, 5 are divine only.
Power 4 {Reduce damage of a mastered type dealt to you by 2 (□ 4)} new totals:
Acid: 2/14/0/0/0 = 16 total, 7/16 sources conditional. Of that breakdown, 2 [regular] monsters are basic while 4 are elite. Of note that while 7 of the sources only inflict acid damage conditionally, 4 require difficult [for Seoni] checks to avoid the damage.
Cold: 4/0/0/1/0 = 5 total, 4/5 sources conditional. 2 of the conditional sources of cold damage come from encountering the henchman wight after failing to defeat the baleful shadows barrier. There are 2 copies of this barrier and it's elite.
Electricity: 0/3/0/0/0 = 3 total, 2/3 sources conditional. Of that breakdown, one of the monsters will only inflict electricity damage if you choose to re-roll your combat check, which the monster allows you to do.
Fire: 5/1/1/0/1 = 8 total, 8/8 sources conditional. Of that breakdown, 1 barrier is elite. Also, the location Molten Pool inflicts 1 fire damage at the start of your turn [if you're there] and changes all combat damage received into fire damage.
Power 5 new totals:
Monsters which are immune to a masterable trait:
Acid: 10/1/1 = 12 - Of that breakdown, 1 monster is elite. Of note, 7 of the 10 are also monsters that inflict acid damage.
Cold: 1/0/1 = 2
Electricity: 34/1/4 = 39 - Of that breakdown, 4 monsters are elite.
Fire: 3/0/1 = 4
(unchanged from deck 4)Monsters which are strong against a masterable trait:
Acid: 0/0/0 = 0
Cold: 3/0/0 = 3
Electricity: 4/0/0 = 4
Fire: 3/0/0 = 3
This category basically consists of the pitborn scoundrel. It's strong against cold, electricity, and fire, and there are 3 copies. It's elite.
Monsters which are weak against a masterable trait:
Acid: 0/1/0 = 1
Cold: 6/0/0 = 6
Electricity: 0/0/0 = 0
Fire: 2/1/0 = 3
Of all those monsters, 1 is basic and 2 are elite, and all three are weak against cold.
Since power #6 {Add 4 to your check that has a mastered trait} mostly interacts with many of your spells (until you get power #5), it's important to consider how many arcane spells of each masterable element there are. As of deck 5, here's the breakdown:
Acid = 2*
Cold = 10*
Electricity = 5
Fire = 10
These number include both spells that have the trait by default and spells that can add the trait as part of the spell's power.
* I made an error with my previous numbers; I had the spell hellmouth lash incorrectly adding cold instead of acid.
Last but not least, there are a few other non-weapon cards that can add a masterable trait. Through deck 5, they're as follows:
Fire - Druid of the Flame
Electricity - Druid of the Storm, Lyre of the Storm
demon armor (x2) - fire
Suurlahetas - fire
Runelord Alderpash - acid, cold, electricity, fire
evocation staff - cold, electricity, fire