Part of the reason I enjoy reading these forums is to break out of my groupthink and see what cards other people find powerful that I may have overlooked. What cards do you think don't get their fair due?
Part of the reason I enjoy reading these forums is to break out of my groupthink and see what cards other people find powerful that I may have overlooked. What cards do you think don't get their fair due?
Ring of Protection is probably my no. 1 choice. While I think armors are dumb, I really like the Ring, particularly for effect damage (I'm looking at you, Enchanter!), and if you take a chunk of damage, why not reveal the ring and then discard it too? There are several characters without optimal item choices until AP 4 (particularly if your party picks up on Abadars to help with barriers), and the Ring of P is one of my favorite "it'll do for now" items.
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Aid is another one I really like, for three reasons: it's a spell and not a blessing, so you can use both on the same check; it always gives a d6 and never a d4; it has a reasonable recharge check/ability, unlike, say, blessings.
There are a couple of hidden gems in the Basic cards you might otherwise remove.
Illusionist Ezren should think long and hard before letting anyone remove Invisibility. No check limit, not mental (like most evade spells), and he can put the monster on the bottom of the deck. If you put the monster behind the henchman, defeat the henchman and close the location, Invisibility is like an auto-defeat for Illusionist Ezren.
I also like Tome of Knowledge. You can give a character like Ezren lots of possible Knowledge checks to use it on. Give him both codices and Brodert Quink for example.
The Mattock for Valeros or Amiri. They can use Melee in place of the normal skill for any barrier with the Lock or Obstacle trait. Now go look at how many barriers they normally struggle with that have the Obstacle trait.
The problem I have with the mattock is that the thieves tools are pretty much just better, and when you start getting barriers that are too tough, you have a good chance to have found a masterwork tools or chime of unlocking (or some Abadars; I love that blessing).
I do not think that Ring of Protection is that underrated, actually. I value it extremely highly in my group. It is just a great items to keep around.
I do think that Aid is considered a throw away card, but I think that in a larger group, it can be kept until you are into A3, at least. I know that my Lini has. I am playing her as more of a balanced support character.
I think that Hawk has a decent point about getting the Mattock as well. I like to have it on Amiri. I think that Chime of Unlocking is also up on the list for this same reason. A character that struggles to open up the chests will have no problem with the Chime. Out Kyra has it, and has probably unlocked 7 barriers in 4 scenarios. While it may be a little lucky, it has happened.
Detect Magic on Ezren is really powerful and gets better the farther you get into the game instead of worse. It automatically recharges as soon as you put a single point into Intelligence or +Recharge. It tells you what the next card is. Then if the card has the magic trait, you can encounter it for free. Any such card is a card that, if acquired, lets Ezren explore again for free. It's really really good the further you are and the more magic items you encounter.
I think Mending is really undervalued...oh wait.
Speaking of spells, I think Mirror Image is a very nice card for card for Ezren. Our Ezren still has it through Deck 4.
Mirror Image is great. It can deal with any kind damage from a monster and functions all turn long.
Detect Magic on Ezren is really powerful and gets better the farther you get into the game instead of worse. It automatically recharges as soon as you put a single point into Intelligence or +Recharge. It tells you what the next card is. Then if the card has the magic trait, you can encounter it for free. Any such card is a card that, if acquired, lets Ezren explore again for free. It's really really good the further you are and the more magic items you encounter.Well...prepare to like Detect Magic a little bit less. Ezren's ability that you mentioned only triggers if he acquires a magic boon during an explore. Encountering from Detect Magic does not qualify.
Aha! Thanks. It's still excellent, though. It's basically a recharging possible exploration, even if I don't get to chain it into more explorations.
Dunno if folks consider Crown of Charmisa undervalued. To me, it is a must have item. Shoulda been loot dare I say. Made me sad when the latest Grey Elephant video tossed it..again..
Dunno if folks consider Crown of Charmisa undervalued. To me, it is a must have item. Shoulda been loot dare I say. Made me sad when the latest Grey Elephant video tossed it..again..
Care to expand on why you find it so fantastic? I understand that it can help acquire allies, but... no one in my group has ever kept it upon resetting their decks, and we often don't acquire it if it shows up. It just seems mediocre. Not bad, just not great either.
Dunno if folks consider Crown of Charmisa undervalued. To me, it is a must have item. Shoulda been loot dare I say. Made me sad when the latest Grey Elephant video tossed it..again..Care to expand on why you find it so fantastic? I understand that it can help acquire allies, but... no one in my group has ever kept it upon resetting their decks, and we often don't acquire it if it shows up.
Really? I love Crown of Charisma. Especially for Valeros. He gets great use out of the reveal power, since that gives him 2d6 +2 for Diplomacy.
I never would have even thought to mention it as undervalued, because I assumed everyone valued it. That is the interesting thing about this thread. One man's trash...
Merisiel makes good use of it when she is in the Prison location. Recharge to card to auto-pass the location. She can then also take advantage the dex/disable scenario effect. (Roll dex instead of the usual trait when acquiring boons)
There are multiple scenarios where collecting allies are the focal point.
Recharge to pass the 10 check on the Red Dragon? Yes please.
It'd be cool to get it as loot when defeating Black Fang. Kinda set you up for the Local Heroes.
Just my 2 cents ^^
Yeah, I think a lot of people fail to realize how awesome those auto-pass cards are. That said, I finally pitched it in AP5 because Allies are completely irrelevant. Traded it out for the very much needed Eyes of Eagle though. That is one must-have card if you aren't playing Lini. Those Wisdom/Perception 12 checks are rough so saving a blessing or two by using that card is important.
It depends on how often that check that you're auto-passing is. I think we can all agree that, with the game as it is thus far, a card that recharges to auto pass a crafting check is a waste of a deck slot, whereas one that auto-passes combat is pretty much broken.
I find that the Crown helps with a check that just isn't important enough. Finding allies to help explore is nice and all, but is it worth the slot in your hand that the Crown takes? And if you're recharging the Crown to acquire that ally to explore, aren't you better off just using a card to explore in the first place, so you don't have to count on finding an ally in the location deck? And if you're just taking it to help acquire boons, why not a codex, or another blessing, or something? Lastly, if we're talking about closing locations, you can always use a blessing or send a character with a good diplomacy stat to take it out.
Maybe I'm just too analytical. I can understand that it's not terrible, but I find other options superior, so I just go with those.
Oops, double post.
Yeah, I think a lot of people fail to realize how awesome those auto-pass cards are. That said, I finally pitched it in AP5 because Allies are completely irrelevant. Traded it out for the very much needed Eyes of Eagle though. That is one must-have card if you aren't playing Lini. Those Wisdom/Perception 12 checks are rough so saving a blessing or two by using that card is important.It depends on how often that check that you're auto-passing is. I think we can all agree that, with the game as it is thus far, a card that recharges to auto pass a crafting check is a waste of a deck slot, whereas one that auto-passes combat is pretty much broken.
I find that the Crown helps with a check that just isn't important enough. Finding allies to help explore is nice and all, but is it worth the slot in your hand that the Crown takes? And if you're recharging the Crown to acquire that ally to explore, aren't you better off just using a card to explore in the first place, so you don't have to count on finding an ally in the location deck? And if you're just taking it to help acquire boons, why not a codex, or another blessing, or something? Lastly, if we're talking about closing locations, you can always use a blessing or send a character with a good diplomacy stat to take it out.
Maybe I'm just too analytical. I can understand that it's not terrible, but I find other options superior, so I just go with those.
I think that just speaks to how different people approach the game differently. And maybe also to character selection. Definitely not all cards are going to be as useful for all characters.
The Prison comes up quite a bit. And Merisiel is awesome at acquiring stuff there, but not so great at closing it. She can recharge the Crown for her solo combat boost, and she has to have tons of items in her deck anyway, so I would think it wouldn't be a bad card for her.
And like I said, Valeros doesn't need to use the recharge power, since the reveal power can make his diplomacy skill very good. Granted you might say that it would clog up his small hand size, but there are ways to deal with that. And he's a guy that does benefit from acquiring allies for extra exploration during a scenario.
Now for Lini, the Crown of Chraisma might need be such a valuable card. She'll probably not struggle to need explorations, and the allies she wants to keep don't have diplomacy checks. Same thing for Seoni probably. She probably doesn't need the Diplomacy boost since most people are dumping skill feats into her already fantastic Charisma and she has Diplomacy to boot.
Is that from the reading of the card itself or an update/errata?Aha! Thanks. It's still excellent, though. It's basically a recharging possible exploration, even if I don't get to chain it into more explorations.Detect Magic on Ezren is really powerful and gets better the farther you get into the game instead of worse. It automatically recharges as soon as you put a single point into Intelligence or +Recharge. It tells you what the next card is. Then if the card has the magic trait, you can encounter it for free. Any such card is a card that, if acquired, lets Ezren explore again for free. It's really really good the further you are and the more magic items you encounter.Well...prepare to like Detect Magic a little bit less. Ezren's ability that you mentioned only triggers if he acquires a magic boon during an explore. Encountering from Detect Magic does not qualify.
That is from the card itself. Detect Magic doesn't make you "explore". It lets you "examine and encounter" which feels a lot like exploring, but isn't really exploring.
During your turn discard this card to examine the top card of your location deck. If it is a blessing or has the Magic trait, you may immediately encounter it; otherwise, return it to the top of the deck.
If you do not have either the Arcane or Divine skill, banish this card.
And Ezren's power says he has to acquire a card with the Magic trait while exploring, so acquiring one while "examining and encountering" isn't going to activate it.
If you acquire a card with the Magic trait during an exploration, you may immediately explore again.
This was added to the "Things to Keep In Mind" part of the rulebook to highlight this fact.
If It Isn’t Called Something, It Isn’t That Thing. Every term described in the rules and on cards has a specific definition...Detect Magic doesn’t use the word “explore,” so you can play it at times when you can’t explore. Don’t make assumptions—just read the card.
And this comment by Mike is also helpful.
Here are my thoughts on the subject:
Fiery weapon: awesome for casters, especially part 4+ where you start running into troll and troll-like creatures, which require the fire trait to defeat. I don't see it taken very often, and it makes me sad.
Invisibility: no mental trait, autopass stealth checks, and decently low recharge? pretty solid.
Staff of heaven and earth: discard a spell to beat a barrier! why does everyone I play with hate this card, but love masterwork tools sooooo much? I mean, if you aren't playing a spellcaster, I get it, but a character like Seoni can seriously benefit from it.
those are the ones that I can remember off the top of my head. I'll post some more (probably) when I get home...
Dogslicer +1 on Seelah. Recharge is a D6. I used Hemlock and SaberKitty quite a bit to add more D6. Poison Cloud from Ezren added another D6. I think Blizzard will 2 or 3 to the check? Kinda looking forward to that. (Shes a power healer with two major cures and mass heal so not worried about the discard effect..)
Id imagine Lini with Scythe or the new Falchion will be good as well...
So Lini with Scythe or the FF + bear + incendiary cloud + blessings would be quite the combo o.O
Is that from the reading of the card itself or an update/errata?Aha! Thanks. It's still excellent, though. It's basically a recharging possible exploration, even if I don't get to chain it into more explorations.Detect Magic on Ezren is really powerful and gets better the farther you get into the game instead of worse. It automatically recharges as soon as you put a single point into Intelligence or +Recharge. It tells you what the next card is. Then if the card has the magic trait, you can encounter it for free. Any such card is a card that, if acquired, lets Ezren explore again for free. It's really really good the further you are and the more magic items you encounter.Well...prepare to like Detect Magic a little bit less. Ezren's ability that you mentioned only triggers if he acquires a magic boon during an explore. Encountering from Detect Magic does not qualify.That is from the card itself. Detect Magic doesn't make you "explore". It lets you "examine and encounter" which feels a lot like exploring, but isn't really exploring.
During your turn discard this card to examine the top card of your location deck. If it is a blessing or has the Magic trait, you may immediately encounter it; otherwise, return it to the top of the deck.
If you do not have either the Arcane or Divine skill, banish this card.And Ezren's power says he has to acquire a card with the Magic trait while exploring, so acquiring one while "examining and encountering" isn't going to activate it.
If you acquire a card with the Magic trait during an exploration, you may immediately explore again.This was added to the "Things to Keep In Mind" part of the rulebook to highlight this fact.
If It Isn’t Called Something, It Isn’t That Thing. Every term described in the rules and on cards has a specific...
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Here are my thoughts on the subject:
Fiery weapon: awesome for casters, especially part 4+ where you start running into troll and troll-like creatures, which require the fire trait to defeat. I don't see it taken very often, and it makes me sad.
Invisibility: no mental trait, autopass stealth checks, and decently low recharge? pretty solid.
Staff of heaven and earth: discard a spell to beat a barrier! why does everyone I play with hate this card, but love masterwork tools sooooo much? I mean, if you aren't playing a spellcaster, I get it, but a character like Seoni can seriously benefit from it.
those are the ones that I can remember off the top of my head. I'll post some more (probably) when I get home...
I think both Fiery Weapon and Staff of Heaven and Earth suffer from "good, but not good enough" - they are great when you pull them during a scenario, but never quite seem to make the cut, especially in smaller groups with fewer slots.
My girlfriend's and my Kyra/Seoni duo is to the point where we routinely pass up loot due to a lack of deck space.
Personally, I think Emerald Codex is far superior in the deck of someone that can't normally cast divine spells. Kyra is the last character I would give it to. I love it in Merisiel's deck.
You're not the first one I've heard proclaim this opinion. I don't understand it. Whoever you give it to, what you're giving them is three random divine spells a game. Now, if it's a non-combat spell, it makes no difference who you give it to. Sanctuary, for example, is exactly as good for a divine caster to cast as it is for Valeros. Actually, it might be better for the divine caster, as they tend to have weaker combat than non-spellcasters. The cure spells as well, it doesn't matter who casts them. The argument I see there is that you can have the divine caster with cure AND the warrior with cure so that either one of them can be at the needed place for healing. But then we look at combat spells - why would a non-spellcaster use inflict when they can punch, never mind weapons?
The way I see it, the Codex increases the number of spells you get. While this is nice for a non-spellcaster, it's more vital for an actual spellcaster so they can have more spells in their deck; in my opinion, and I think many will agree with me, for someone with the arcane or divine trait, spells are the best/most important card type in their deck, and I might even go so far as to say that spells are the best card type in the game, albeit only useable by certain characters. Point being, divine casters, even Lini (who starts with 6), never have enough room for spells in their decks, in my opinion and experience.
I guess I'm just saying that I'd agree that the Codex is great for anyone, but I just don't see how it is better for someone without the divine skill.
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Yes, my Kyra has the Emerald Codex, along with the Robe of Runes in case I lose a spell I really want back now. Recharge values on these new spells are tough, even with a d12+5 divine. I also have 3 loot weapons, Impaler, the Club, and the falchion.
Seoni's item slots are taken up by: wand of Enervation, a sihedron medallion, the Revelation Quill, and a new wand of treasure finding.
So yeah a new item has to be basically amazing to get considered.
Personally, I think Emerald Codex is far superior in the deck of someone that can't normally cast divine spells. Kyra is the last character I would give it to. I love it in Merisiel's deck.You're not the first one I've heard proclaim this opinion. I don't understand it. Whoever you give it to, what you're giving them is three random divine spells a game. Now, if it's a non-combat spell, it makes no difference who you give it to. Sanctuary, for example, is exactly as good for a divine caster to cast as it is for Valeros. Actually, it might be better for the divine caster, as they tend to have weaker combat than non-spellcasters. The cure spells as well, it doesn't matter who casts them. The argument I see there is that you can have the divine caster with cure AND the warrior with cure so that either one of them can be at the needed place for healing. But then we look at combat spells - why would a non-spellcaster use inflict when they can punch, never mind weapons?
The way I see it, the Codex increases the number of spells you get. While this is nice for a non-spellcaster, it's more vital for an actual spellcaster so they can have more spells in their deck; in my opinion, and I think many will agree with me, for someone with the arcane or divine trait, spells are the best/most important card type in their deck, and I might even go so far as to say that spells are the best card type in the game, albeit only useable by certain characters. Point being, divine casters, even Lini (who starts with 6), never have enough room for spells in their decks, in my opinion and experience.
I guess I'm just saying that I'd agree that the Codex is great for anyone, but I just don't see how it is better for someone without the divine skill.
By the end of AP5 I'm really hoping we get a killer divine spell or two in AP6 or else I'm not sure the Emerald Codex is going to be as amazing as it seemed initially. I may have banished basic/elites a little too aggressively.
There are what, 4 divine attack spells worth anything? In a 5 man party I've got Kyra holding both holy lights, Ezren with one swipe and Harsk with another. So the codex basically fetches a raise dead, maybe a major cure and usually something like detect evil or speed.
Its still useful, but I'm not sold on its overall power in context by the end of the 5th AP due to banishing of boons. I suppose that's part of the tradeoff - I wanted to cull the spells as aggressively as possible to better serve Ezren, but in doing so helped nerf the codex. I'm thinking of cards like Aid and Cure that maybe I should have kept, but overall I'm kinda wishing there was more overall power in the realm of the divine.
By the end of AP5 I'm really hoping we get a killer divine spell or two in AP6 or else I'm not sure the Emerald Codex is going to be as amazing as it seemed initially. I may have banished basic/elites a little too aggressively.There are what, 4 divine attack spells worth anything? In a 5 man party I've got Kyra holding both holy lights, Ezren with one swipe and Harsk with another. So the codex basically fetches a raise dead, maybe a major cure and usually something like detect evil or speed.
Its still useful, but I'm not sold on its overall power in context by the end of the 5th AP due to banishing of boons. I suppose that's part of the tradeoff - I wanted to cull the spells as aggressively as possible to better serve Ezren, but in doing so helped nerf the codex. I'm thinking of cards like Aid and Cure that maybe I should have kept, but overall I'm kinda wishing there was more overall power in the realm of the divine.
Great catches for Codex with anyone (surely they're not all used/gone):
-Restoration (recharge 14 doesn't matter if it's found through codex)
-Any Cure card
-Sanctuary (at some point during the scenario evading will be helpful)
-Swipe (use it to help or auto-acquire)
-Aid (like a free blessing, kind of)
-Augury/Scrying
-Detect Magic
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I would definitely get rid of divines like detect evil, mending, and guidance, but cures and aids and stuff can be nice to have around. And remember that there're a fair amount of solid cards that are divine and arcane.
Personally, I think Emerald Codex is far superior in the deck of someone that can't normally cast divine spells. Kyra is the last character I would give it to. I love it in Merisiel's deck.You're not the first one I've heard proclaim this opinion. I don't understand it. Whoever you give it to, what you're giving them is three random divine spells a game. Now, if it's a non-combat spell, it makes no difference who you give it to. Sanctuary, for example, is exactly as good for a divine caster to cast as it is for Valeros. Actually, it might be better for the divine caster, as they tend to have weaker combat than non-spellcasters. The cure spells as well, it doesn't matter who casts them. The argument I see there is that you can have the divine caster with cure AND the warrior with cure so that either one of them can be at the needed place for healing. But then we look at combat spells - why would a non-spellcaster use inflict when they can punch, never mind weapons?
I heard someone talking about me. Hehe. I guess there is more than one person loving the Codex in Merisiel.
I love the codex with any character. And I get that Merisiel has 6 items slots to fill. But is it BETTER with her than with a divine character? I'm unconvinced.
I love the codex with any character. And I get that Merisiel has 6 items slots to fill. But is it BETTER with her than with a divine character? I'm unconvinced.
It's probably more a matter of opportunity cost. Divine characters seem to have fewer item slots (Kyra has 1, Seela 0, Lini has 2), so it becomes a lot harder to fit. There is a very small quality drop going from Lini with Emerald Codex to Meresiel (Attack spells are less useful, though Holy Light against an undead still works fine, and Sanctuary is a waste, but that's it), and Meresiel doesn't have the same opportunity cost, with more item slots than she will ever need.
To put it another way: Kyra or Lini use the Emerald Codex better, but Meresiel becomes better from having the codex than Kyra or Lini do.
I dunno though. I gotta agree with Orbis: I think that the Emerald Codex should be on a divine caster. Putting a code on Meresiel doesn't preclude the possibility that she will be unable to use in a practical or efficient manner the spells she gets. She can't discard or recharge them, so she can't sneak attack with them. I understand that she could get two mass and a major cures with them, but she could just as easily end up with two sanctuaries and a inflict from it.
I'd also look at the items that divine casters are going to want instead of the emerald codex. I'm sure there are some, but none immediately jump to mind. When I think about Meresiel, I can easily think of 6 items that would be more beneficial than the codex to her.
To be fair, Aid benefits everyone, almost all the time. the only time it wouldn't work is if you already played a spell for that part of a check, mainly cause Aid applies to any check, not just combat ones. Also, Detect evil is interesting, because it doesn't force you to encounter the card that you reveal (if it's a monster), so you can leave it on top. For me, augury/scrying is not an automatic choice for any of the casters that I currently have played through part 4 (that would be lini (twice now, once as a caster and once as a beatstick), Kyra, Umri (my wizard that I've posted on the boards), or Seelah).
** spoiler omitted **...
After casting the detect magic and deciding you don't like this location, you can also cast scry and set up another location for your liking.
After casting the detect magic and deciding you don't like this location, you can also cast scry and set up another location for your liking.
I'd rather use scry to see if I like the location, and possibly put a magic card on top to turn Detect Magic into a haste.