Hey people,
I have analysis paralysis with Ezren regarding his role choice. So far I picked +4 int, +3 spells, +2 recharge, +1 hand size. Planned spell list (still need to find some of them):
3 attack spells
2 haste
2 augury
1 incendiary cloud
1 swipe
1 mirror image
1 invisibility
items:
sihedron medallion, codex, wand of enervation
allies:
3x sage
The point for the Evoker is the possible extra card, the extra damage really isn't necessary at all (the reason being +4 int for recharges and to overcome spell resistance is mandatory, spells do enough damage that way).
The Illusionist on the other hand can get a bonus to acquiring allies, which is probably nice to have. But since I want +3 recharge (auto recharge haste, swipe, cloud, codex) and at least +2 hand size, power feats might be too thin anyway.
Would you ever want to recharge a spell instead of drawing it with the Illusionist ability? If that ability would let you recharge non spell cards it would make sense imho. Having a larger hand size seems almost exclusively superior.
Side note: Would you rather go for +dex or +wis after int is maxed? I figured wis is a good call to make it easier to get extra explores on divine spells and wisdom checks seem really common. Dex would only benefit the one dagger and against some barriers.
Thanks in advance for any input on that matter!
Regards,
Spock
The clear benefit I see about the Illusionist role, especially with Invisiblity in your deck, is being able to evade a monster to the bottom of the deck. That's nearly the same as defeating the monster. There are some later monsters against which it is difficult or impossible to play Attack spells. Our Seoni carried Summon Monster for just such an occurrence, but this is better.
I played Ezren with the Evoker role. I did take it for the extra damage, which was handy, although as you say, usually unnecessary. I added to his Wisdom after maxing Intelligence, because Ezren had the highest Wisdom die in the group.
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I've played Ezren through the whole adventure path twice, once as Illusionist, once as Evoker. You can't go wrong.
Some things to think about in general though: Get cards that help you acquire those Magic boons you can't roll well on. Monkey, Codex, even Crow. Second to that get cards that manipulate the location deck. Brodert Quink is a great example.
When I went Illusionist, I think I got away with only 2 attack spells (and no cloud spells) in my deck. The rest was Invisibility, Enfeeble, Augury, Scrying, and Haste. (Multiples of some of those.) I avoided combat checks all I could. It was all about deck manipulation (both my deck and the location deck).
Evoker is nice because you won't need your fellow players to play blessings on your combat checks. Like ever. I kept churning out explores and blowing things away.
I also went Wisdom, giving him a better shot to acquire Divine spells and some items to trigger his exploration power.
Thank you for your input!
Well, I thought about the "put to bottom of the deck" ability of the Illusionist. The problem I have with that is, that augury will shuffle the cards back. While you may have problems with combat spells due to "magic resistance", some monsters cannot be evaded or have nasty side effects when evaded. Going for a mix of both is probably the best way to handle things.
Currently I have no problems handling monsters with attack spells and this ability only enhances one spell in my list. I'm just not sure it's worth it.
The way I read the first Illusionist ability ("or recharge it" extra when playing spells), it doesn't allow you to recharge non-spell cards. I cannot imagine any reason to do that. Discard a card to draw a card seems like a very weak ability as well.
Thank you for your input!
Well, I thought about the "put to bottom of the deck" ability of the Illusionist. The problem I have with that is, that augury will shuffle the cards back. While you may have problems with combat spells due to "magic resistance", some monsters cannot be evaded or have nasty side effects when evaded. Going for a mix of both is probably the best way to handle things.
Currently I have no problems handling monsters with attack spells and this ability only enhances one spell in my list. I'm just not sure it's worth it.The way I read the first Illusionist ability ("or recharge it" extra when playing spells), it doesn't allow you to recharge non-spell cards. I cannot imagine any reason to do that. Discard a card to draw a card seems like a very weak ability as well.
Keep in mind that the problem with evading to bottom (that Augury reshuffles it in) is the exact same problem you have with multiple Auguries. And at the same time, you still have multiple Auguries in your deck (and will probably have a lot of scrying, too when it's available I'm betting). It's a weakness, for sure, but look at the upside: You get to 'defeat' any Monster with NO ROLL. Something that potentially strong needs some weakness, right?
I'd say Illusionist is better whether you want the evade thing or not.
The +2 to acquiring allies can be pretty cool - since Ezren can't take blessings, he can be limited in explores without Haste (so not really relevant in RotR, I know). Acquiring allies more easily, even if you're not going to keep them, can be great.
And the discard to draw a card power is pretty sweet. Get that combat card, that card you don't mind banishing to close, or whatever, faster. Discard your weapon. Draw a non-spell that's at the top of your deck (limited use, to be sure, as this is the start of your turn, but still).
Draw power is awesome in card games. I've yet to find an exception.
Draw power is awesome in card games. I've yet to find an exception.
I agree with that. However, I think PACG may be the hardest game to teach that rule to new players, since there's so much fear associated with losing cards from your deck.
Draw powers definitely do got their uses. The scenario we played last night, Erezen's deck was empty, but his hand was full. Time was running out, but my wife was pretty truculent about not being to play Haste over and over, since after a brief discussion we figured "You play the card, you check your deck, then you recharge it" so she couldn't retrieve Haste by playing Haste into her empty deck.
Then she went "wait, but couldn't I just cycle Scrying and Haste?" And then we went on to win the scenario.
Ezren too strong. :D
Draw power definitely is awesome in card games, I used to play a lot of MTG and Dominion. There is a reason blue dominates the MTG Legacy format, card filtering is just ridiculously good. You also cannot pillage too many villages in Mage Knight :)
I personally think Augury is the single most powerful card in RotR (better then Scrying in most instances because of the lower recharge).
My problem with the discard to draw ability is, that it allows you to do nothing you couldn't have done last turn when resetting your hand.
About the recharge ability with spells: If you do have a spell on top when casting one, why would you ever not want to draw it? If the ability would allow you to recharge non spell cards it would be huge, but the wording seems pretty clear on that.
The one thing I found to help circle through your deck, draw more cards in general, have the right cards at the right time is hand size. Why discard a card to draw a card at the start of your turn if you could have had that card in your hand all along? Yes, a bigger hand makes damage more dangerous, but discarding gets rid of those same HP anyway.
The only ability of the Illusionist that convinces me is the ally acquire bonus. But That would only come into play in adventure path 6 though (because auto recharge 10's and hand size 9 is more important imho) so I doubt it will be too much use.
For the last 3 card feats (first 3 being spells), what would you go for? Item/ally/item? Or just 3x Item?
There are a lot of good items for Ezren in the later adventure decks. Not sure how many item feats I added but I know I added a few.
How big is your party? You definitely want at least 1 item, because of the aforementioned great items. If you have a big party, I'd go 1, possibly 2 allies, since you may just need the explores. In a smaller group I'd consider 3 items, and the item/ally/item is probably best for a medium-sized party.
Taking Necklace of Fireballs allows Ezren to essentially move some of his combat spells to the items section of his deck, freeing up more spells for utility. Meaning he can drop a combat spell for a utility spell, and not miss out on combat ability by taking NoFireball. And he's one of the few able to recharge them consistently.
...My problem with the discard to draw ability is, that it allows you to do nothing you couldn't have done last turn when resetting your hand...
This is far from true. You draw cards and then can discard those cards. It even works on your first turn of the scenario.
...My problem with the discard to draw ability is, that it allows you to do nothing you couldn't have done last turn when resetting your hand...This is far from true. You draw cards and then can discard those cards. It even works on your first turn of the scenario.
Yes, right, you can indeed discard a newly drawn card. I still think just drawing an additional card is the better option (and the healthier one).
Another point is that my deck is so optimized already, that there are no cards I dislike drawing into (except for the weapon maybe but once I find a better one this should be fine too). Some cards are a little situational, but that's also something where a bigger hand size helps the most.You probably can go bonkers with a reclining augury/haste/attack spell combo a little easier with an Illusionist, but going to a hand size of 10 should help nearly as well.
Thanks for the suggestion of the Neclace, it also has the nice benefit of circumventing magic resistance. I'll definitely go item with my next two card feats. Except for the clockwork librarian, the sage seems to be the best ally for Ezren. Since there is nothing really there to impress me, I'll probably just go for the third item.
...My problem with the discard to draw ability is, that it allows you to do nothing you couldn't have done last turn when resetting your hand...This is far from true. You draw cards and then can discard those cards. It even works on your first turn of the scenario.Yes, right, you can indeed discard a newly drawn card. I still think just drawing an additional card is the better option (and the healthier one).
Another point is that my deck is so optimized already, that there are no cards I dislike drawing into (except for the weapon maybe but once I find a better one this should be fine too). Some cards are a little situational, but that's also something where a bigger hand size helps the most.
Ah, I see, comparing it to the hand size feat.
I agree, then, up to a certain extent. At some point, though, your hand is just too big...
Thanks for the suggestion of the Neclace, it also has the nice benefit of circumventing magic resistance. I'll definitely go item with my next two card feats. Except for the clockwork librarian, the sage seems to be the best ally for Ezren. Since there is nothing really there to impress me, I'll probably just go for the third item.
Be wary of immune to fire cards, though.
Poog is always amazing. :P