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The idea of reviewing the class decks has been bouncing around in my head for a while since it's pretty clear that some decks are better than others. I haven't seen any discussions of specific class deck contents, so here are my thoughts.
I'm not going to evaluate or rate the characters in the class deck themselves since I think each character has their own theme and flavor. I really enjoy the fact that there are noticeable differences in the overall strength between characters and believe those differences add to the richness of the game.
Instead, the primary crux of my evaluation is how the cards in the deck support the characters in the class deck. I'll be breaking the ratings down by card type and grade the selection of cards on an A-F scale. I'll also be giving an overall rating of the deck as a whole.
One thing of note is that I use a tier system to categorize direct attack spells based on how much damage they do and if there are other mitigating factors. Here's how I group them:
Tier 1 - Spells that can add 24 or more damage, most commonly via 4d6, 3d8, or 2d12.
Tier 1.5 - I put spells in this tier if they do damage equivalent to tier 1 spells but are generally weaker due to other factors, mostly their traits. For example I consider poison blast and vengeful storm tier 1.5 spells due to the large amount of creatures immune to them.
Tier 2 - Spells that can add 18-21 damage, most commonly as +3d6.
Tier 3 - Spells that can add 12-16 damage, the most common being the +2d6 spells.
Tier 4 - This tier is comprised of the basic attack spells that either add +2d4 or +1d6.
Here's my wizard deck review:
Weapons:
Weapons are a little more important for wizards than sorcerers since 3 of the 4 wizards included in the deck start with a weapon – in fact Darago and Melindra start with two – so I’m going to give the selection a bit more weight than what I gave for the sorcerers. There are 9 weapons in the deck: 3 basic and one each from AD1-6. The selection, frankly, is poor. Every single wizard has a bigger dexterity die than strength die and can put equal or greater skill feats into dexterity. Yet the deck has 5 melee weapons vs. 4 ranged weapons. And aside from the Force Sling +3, those ranged weapons are very mediocre. For most of your wizard’s career weapons will be clogging your hand. The Spellsword +2 is nice, even though it’s likely only ever to be used to recharge a spell. Grade D
Spells:
More than any other class, spells are the bread and butter of wizards. And with 29 in the deck, there’s a lot to choose from. How good are your potential choices? Let’s find out.
The Good: Two auguries and a scrying gives you lots of scouting ability if you want. Blizzard, corrosive storm, and even crappy masterwork for combat support. Sphere of fire in AD1. Life Leech.
The Mediocre: Attack spells are lacking. No tier 1.5 or 2 spells, so you’ll making due with frost ray, sphere of fire, and dehydrating touch all the way until AD5 when you can pick up icy prison. The combat support spells being in AD5 and 6; swapping either blizzard or corrosive storm for an incendiary cloud in AD3 would’ve been much better. The crappy AD0 spells such as arcane armor, sleep, magic weapon, instead of better AD0 spells such as black spot.
The Bad: The biggest issue with the spells – and really, the deck as a whole – is the lack of swipe and haste. Wizards get few ways to explore given their lack of blessings, which is why haste is very important – and why its omission is such a glaring weakness. To compensate for their lack of explore ability, Ezren and Darago have a basic power that allows them to immediately explore after acquiring a card with the magic trait. Melindra can also get this power in her Mage Spy role. This is why swipe is a very important spell for wizards, since it lets them acquire weapons, armor, and items that they normally would have a very difficult time acquiring. Its absence is keenly felt.
All in all with 29 spells to choose from you’ll be able to make it work, but the selection overall leaves much to be desired. Grade: D
Armor:
Generally an afterthought for wizards, since only Darago starts with one (and he starts with two!). There are 6 in the deck, and none are going to make or break things for you. Robe of Vision is disappointing since none of the wizards have perception. A reflecting shield or reflection buckler would’ve been nice. Grade: D+
Items:
Things start out pretty mediocre with nothing in AD0 that’s especially desirable, but things get much better after that. AD1 has the spyglass and sapphire of intelligence, AD2 has the ring of protection and staff of minor healing, and AD3 has the mist horn, all very nice items to choose from. I normally don’t care for the staff of heaven and earth but other people find it very useful and it’s a good item, while AD5 gives you the headband of epic intelligence and wand of treasure finding. Finally in AD6 you’ve got the boots of teleportation and pearl of magic. I’ve personally never used the pearl of magic and tend not to keep the boots, but they’re both solid additions to a deck. Aside from AD0, there aren’t any real weaknesses here. Grade: B
Allies:
There are a pretty good selection of allies to choose from across all ADs. The allies in AD0 and 1 are serviceable though not spectacular, but things start to get good from AD2 on up. Having an incanter, apprentice, and pyromaniac mage is nice for arcane checks, while the cat in AD3 helps with recharging. The lizard is an excellent ally, and in AD5 the clockwork librarian is there to supercharge your spells. In AD6 there’s the excellent clockwork owl, which between that and the lizard means you can have the ability to auto-succeed on stealth, perception, and survival checks. The mountaineer is fantastic as always. The only real disappointment is that Darago and Melindra can only have 2 and 3 allies respectively. Grade: B
Blessings:
Wizards don’t generally get a lot of blessings, and the selection reflects that. Four Blessings of Pharasma spread out over AD0-3 is nice so you can have all Pharasmas if you want to. I also like that aside from AD3 each AD# (except AD6, which only has one blessing) has difference blessings to choose from. I am however very disappointed that there are no blessings of Calistria or Milani for Melindra since dexterity is important to her. Points for a decent variety, but minus points for leaving Melindra high and dry. Even just one dexterity blessing would’ve been nice. Grade: C-
Summary:
While the wizard deck has some good things going for it – its item and ally selection – overall it’s about as bad and disappointing as the bard deck. This is in large part due to the underwhelming spell selection; the lack of haste and swipe really cost it. The crap weapons and armor will make Darago’s life frustrating and the lack of a dexterity blessing for Melindra kind of feels like a slap in the face. Like all class decks there’s enough there to function and succeed, but you’re going to be spending a lot of your character’s career feeling a bit trolled by your deck’s contents.
Overall Grade: D+