Time Enough for Testing

Discussion in 'Castle Mitternacht Playtest' started by Rohndil, Oct 1, 2016.

  1. Rohndil

    Rohndil Hydra

    Disclaimer:
    This is my first attempt at playtesting ever. Please do note that my main interest in Cardhuntria rest in the campaign, I seldom play pvp or leagues. Feedback from a casual player I'll say.

    I bought some Mitternacht chests and made a somehow balanced 1-1-1 deck, just to get a feel of the new items/cards and have some fun, without getting too many legendaries. The idea was to use Walpurgis Night to screw enemy buffs, meanwhile trying not to die. My next build will be more focused.

    Deck:
    Lorrik
    Level 18 Human Warrior

    Baldy
    Level 18 Human Priest

    Fir
    Level 18 Human Wizard

    1: vs Khyle345
    Two elven vampire priests and a dwarf warrior. I lost 6 to 5 after a long struggle on the victory squares, when my Walpurgis Night gifted him an overcharged Ancient Grudge. I would have probably lost anyway, due to the extreme survivability of vampires packing Vampire's Kiss, Sacred Shroud and the good old Talented Healer. The puny Inquisitor's Badge saved me from Vengeance early on.

    2: vs Khyle345
    Two human priests and an elf warrior. While I managed to kill the elf, Daylight and Monstrous Hide made it quite hard. My warrior lived on, but my worn down Priest and Wizard were hunted down and killed, with a little help from Vanguard.

    3: vs stupid531
    Two elven wizards and a dwarf warrior. Highlight of the match was diverting his Mighty Charge with Mind Muddle and then hitting back with my Mighty Charge. Awesome. Near end game Pathfinding skyrocketed his discard pile to 20+, all was ready for a lethal Ancient Grudge... Luckily he didn't draw it in time. First and only win.

    4: vs adajon42
    Dwarf priest, elf warrior, human wizard. A 1-1-1 like mine, but built way better. My warrior (or priest?) was evaporated by combining Vampire's Kiss with Inquisition Bolt. Adding Talented Healer would make it quite the punishing move.

    5: vs Fanturluche
    Two dwarven priests and a human wizard. Blind Rage on my characters followed by Accelerate Time. Never saw it coming. Mystical Wyrmhide looks really nice now.

    Random thoughts:

    Vampire's Kiss does too many things. Good damage, heal you like no single card does, discards armor, movement, failed blocks (yeah, your entire hand). More importantly it screw up your plans for the character for at least one turn, while also making it extremely vulnerable to Inquisition Bolt. No othere card can do this much. Well, no combination of cards can do this. It may be fine (?) if this was a "rare" card, but right now you can equip up to 14 copies (though doing so requires 3 legendaries and 3 epics).

    Ethereal Form makes you immune to too many things. Other forms really can't compare.

    Sacred Shroud is a nice concept , but might be too powerful. Looking at the numbers it may be the best armor in the game for damage prevention, no other silver armor can compare. I'm not sure priests need another tool to enhance their already high survival skills.

    Ancient Grudge probably needs a damage cap or some kind of tweak. I saw it ready to deal 27 damage by round 6, and I'm sure it could be set up earlier.

    Medium's Garb is really good, maybe too good. Adding a roll 2/3+ for the create spirit card effect might help.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2016
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  2. Flaxative

    Flaxative Party Leader

    Thank you for the feedback, and thank you for describing each game!
     
  3. Rohndil

    Rohndil Hydra

    Here we are with 5 more games. Let's try the recommended (and amazing!) @Maniafig's format. Next time I'll put maps too.

    Matches played as of this post: 10
    Test server username: Rohndil
    Real server username: Rohndil

    Deck:


    A Mitternacht take on the classic maneuvering elf warrior (6 new items out of 9). I could have mixed it up more, but loving symmetry I ended with 3 identical characters. The key card is Howl, with 7 copies. This means quite the extra hit points (potentially 20 counting Toughned Hide Strips) and a lot of randomness, going from a nice Mighty Charge to a great All Out Attack or a puny Lunging Bite. The usual step attacks, and as a bold move Dodge instead of Parry.

    6: vs chickenbao
    - Vanguard was the game changer here. It made sure Cause Fumble and Defender's Block were always ready to trigger, prevented me from surrounding characters, even negated me the benefits of Inspiring Presence by moving out of range! This card has amazing potential.
    - Mighty Charge is one of the best gift of Lycanthropic Form, but you really need cantrip moves if you want to do more than 6-9 damage. On really open maps this may be worth to build around.
    - Lost 6 to 4, failing to retake VP advantage in a 2 vs 2 situation.

    7: vs tmzerozero
    - I killed the wizard without many troubles but wasted too much time, while doing so the two priests entrenched 2 VP out of 4. Lost 6 to 2.
    - Vampire's Kiss and some blocks proved to be too much of an hurdle for my somehow frail wolves.
    - Howl shone, creating two All Out Attacks in my hand, de facto giving me a chance to win. Too bad my 32 Unnerving Strike got blocked. Though to be fair I had a couple of lucky dodges.

    8: vs Khyle345
    - Howl rampage! 4 or 5 consecutive turns spent howling for cards.
    - Somehow like an improved version of my build, the vampire is just incredibly hard to kill without a dedicated setup. Though I defeated it, doing so cost me a warrior and a half... and probably the match. Lost 6 to 2.
    - My opponent was way better than me at setting up Mighty Charges.

    9: vs Fanturluche
    - Monstrous Hide, Barge, bashes and high damage attacks. Tough.
    - The VP were distant from each other, despite Vanguard I had better mobility and got a resign after killing two characters (5 to 3).
    - The combination of dodges, steps and Vengeance really came through here.
    - Howl heals!

    10: vs Pyrious
    - I was obliterated here. The map was quite open, but my attempts at mighty charging were too obvious.
    - Once again Howl gifted me 2 All Out Attacks on one character.
    - First real encounter with Zombie Form. Interesting... Brains! can really turn you into a sitting duck.

    Thoughts:

    Howl is amazing, I'm in love. I find it more consistent than Push The Button, it packs extra healing and can provide you with game changing cards. Its ability to "pass" without risking an End Round should't be underestimated. Of course to really enjoy this card you have to fully embrace the RNG.

    Lycanthropic Form is nice. Its pool of cards is solid enough and extra armor is always welcome. It pales in front of the other two forms, but the problem lies with Vampiric's card pool & Etheral's many immunities, not here.

    Talissa's Trident is great, Vengeance is greater. Though Legendaries are required for packing multiple copies on warriors maybe the move 2 effect shouldn't stack?
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2016
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  4. Flaxative

    Flaxative Party Leader

    Thanks, got you up to 10 games!
     
  5. Legendaries aren't required for packing more than one vengeance on a warrior. The aforementioned Talissa's Trident has 2, and it's an epic. I have tested a hardcore vengeance build, and the only thing that makes the card really viable is the stacking. In my playtesting I found that vengeance is only really good against wizards, as it simply cannot handle defender's block or good armor. The only reason it was even viable against Pyrious' acid mages was because when it stacked I could cross 3 or four tiles after taking damage even if one of them was difficult terrain. One of those squares was in fact almost always difficult terrain due to the copious volume of acid that was being sprayed. The hardest counter for vengeance that I fought was definitely Boo!. Giving a player with double vengeance a dash is completely meaningless, as they can already go wherever they want anyway, but Boo! prevented them from being able to attack once they inevitably got close.
     
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  6. Rohndil

    Rohndil Hydra

    Matches played as of this post: 15
    Test server username: Rohndil
    Real server username: Rohndil

    Deck:

    Baldy
    Level 18 Human Priest

    Lorrik
    Level 18 Human Warrior

    Shoal
    Level 18 Human Priest

    Gameplan: draw Arrogant Armor, Walpurgis Night the enemy, Daylight the enemy, finish the survivors while their Vengeance bounces off your Inquisitor's Badge. Jokes aside, the deck is about making Daylight works. As not everyone is kind enough to bring forms to the fight, Walpurgis Night seems necessary to make Daylight do damage consistently, with the nice side effect of screwing with the enemy draws. Hopefully Arrogant Armor will keep you safe from annoying things like Fright and of course the RNG. Using Walpurgis Night to get yourself forms is also a viable (and often inevitable) option. The warrior is here to provide some blocks, damage and leadership. Lack of armor removal is a problem, bringing Sundering Strike or a wizard with control and armor removal could have helped.

    11: vs tmzerozero - Cyberspace Arena
    - Lost 6 to 0, conceding VPs while waiting for the perfect combo was an obvious mistake.
    - First "surprise": Ethereal Form negates Daylight's damage.

    12: vs Khyle345 - Cyberspace Temple
    - Everything clicked, almost as described in the deck's gameplan. Won 6 to 2.
    - Inquisitor's badge is invaluable. A paper card found on somehow decent tokenless items that can prevent tons of damage? While it may not always come into play I'd always bring a copy with me, as you never now when Silver will hit. Even blocking a single Vengeance before getting boiled or sundered will be enough to repay your pick.
    - Second "surprise": Lycanthropic Form + any armor will greatly diminish Daylight's damage.
    - My single Purge came at the right time to destroy Prowl, Elven Maneuvers and another boost. With all these forms and traits flying around equipping something like Spellstripper Relic might be a good idea.

    13: vs Testlum - Haunted Cabin
    - Lost 6 to 5. Got a little careless with my warrior, good old penetrating stabs still hurt.
    - Again, giving up VPs while waiting for cards was a mistake.
    - Third "surprise": Vampiric Form will heal 3 each round, so you better pile up Daylights if you want to deal significant damage.
    - Random Trivia: Slowed triggers Mind Muddle. Funny.
    - Hex Of Dissolution is nice even without acid terrain.

    14: vs Force.ofWill - Cyberspace City
    - Won 6 to 5 thanks to Doom and a bit of luck.
    - Daylight will heal you a lot.
    - Walpurgis Night random forms saved me from being drained to death.
    - I state my point about Vampire's Kiss. Some kind of nerf is in order.
    - You can push away Doom while wearing Arrogant Armor if it's your oldest attached card.

    15: vs Khyle345 - Cyberspace City
    - Lost 6 to 0. Walpurgis Night totally backfired, helping my opponent with a couple of nice cards instead of somehow hindering him.
    - Lack of armor removal proved fatal here, I couldn't scratch the heavily armored Dwarves.

    Afterthoughts:

    Daylight is a really interesting card. It's going to get unblockable, which is of course nice, but more tweaking may be in order. It's hard to use to your complete advantage, feels like an emergy healing/damaging cards which may be nice to have if the enemy transFORMs, not something to build around; this is probably intentional and I'm fine with it. Walpurgis Night or Spark of Undeath are required if you want to force forms on your enemies and get the max out of it (heal for you, death for them). Range 5 is great, if set up properly feels like a friendly Firestorm.

    Daylight is supposed to be a counter to forms, so let's see. Lycanthropic Form gets 2 less damage, Vampiric Form will heal 3 the next turn. It's fine, you may want to buff and pack some armor removal. The real problem is Ethereal Form, which is totally immune. This makes no sense and should be addressed, as it makes an highly situational card even more situational.

    Walpurgis Night is another interesting card. I have mixed feelings about this, as sometimes it feels like "hey, now we will play with other characters, screw you and your build!". While there are plenty of counters and your hand won't get discarded, the ability to equip up to 10 copies (5 legendaries required) might be an issue, though not a serious one like Vampire's Kiss. Love for the RNG is required to play it without raging.

    Inquisitor's Badge. Incredible value for a paper card. Keep it secret and keep it safe, because Vengeance is coming.



     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2016
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  7. Rohndil

    Rohndil Hydra

    You're right, my bad. You can easily pack 5 copies with epics and up to 8 with legendaries. As Talissa's Trident looks the way to go it's not really an issue. I still haven't faced the new Acid Wizards, but given how easy is to hold Vengeance in your hand in comparison to other movement enhancing cards I still have my doubts about stacking the move 2 effect. We'll see, there's an easy paper counter for silver and saving two Vengeance in your hand means probably leaving your warrior without much needed armor or block cards... but movement rules Cardhuntria. Mmmh, tough decision. Whatever, not the most pressing issue of Castle Mitternacht (that's Vampire's Kiss if anyone is wondering).
     
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  8. Hear Hear!
     
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  9. In terms of passive bonuses, ethereal form is definitely the best, with charge immunity, bust immunity, burning and poison immunity and so many other things. On the other hand, I really hate the ethereal form card because spirit cards suck. Getting them as a bonus from medium's robes can be handy, but a straight Spirit packs almost literally no damage. Cards drawn in spirit form don't count towards your discard pile, making Ancient grudge really lame, and spirits have no acid of their own to back up their hex. Although it depends on the situation, using spirit form you can really shoot yourself in the ectoplasmic appendage, and I don't consider it the best of the forms.
     
  10. Rohndil

    Rohndil Hydra

    I'm not sure. While it's true that the Ethereal Form's card pool doesn't bring you much in terms of damage it offers a lot in terms of "utility". Mind Muddle & Boo are really powerful control cards, Hex Of Dissolution is fine even without spraying acid around, Unholy Curse and Curse Of Fragility will improve any attacks you have left and more importantly your allies firepower. Doom is tricky, it can win you a game (actually happened to me) or possibly force a purgeless enemy to go out of his way to remove it. It's not exciting like an All Out Attack or a Swarm Of Bats, but it's not a bad card per se. Ancient Grudge depends on when you draw it and how earlier you enter the form, Beam Of Hate is nothing to write home about and good old Memory Loss is good old Memory Loss. Fly will keep you out of harm's way.

    Seems an ok move set to me, though less focused then the other two. We agree that Ethereal Form is not the way to go if you want a straight damage wizard but only Walpurgis Night can force you into it, and if you really want access to the card pool there's Medium's Garb. If this proves to be an issue an easy solution could be switching out Doom for some raw damage.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2016
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  11. Flaxative

    Flaxative Party Leader

    Got you at 15 games, thanks.
     
  12. Rohndil

    Rohndil Hydra

    Matches played as of this post: 20
    Test server username: Rohndil
    Real server username: Rohndil

    Deck:

    Fir
    Level 18 Human Wizard

    Lorrik
    Level 18 Human Warrior

    Shoal
    Level 18 Human Priest

    Nothing fancy, a human 1-1-1 with Vanguard, Focused Forms for some randomness and overall nice equipment from Castle Mitternacht.

    16: vs SanPunkrazio - Cyberspace Arena
    - Won by resign after killing one wizard and severely injuring the others.
    - The new Ethereal form is still awesome, fireball and the likes won't scratch you without some heavy buffs.
    - Vanguard rocks.

    17: vs SanPunkrazio - Cyberspace City
    - Won 6 to 3.
    - The new Ancient Grudge is still deadly in the late rounds.
    - Sacred Shroud is still amazing.
    - Vanguard really rocks.

    18: vs stupid531 - Cyberspace City
    - Zombie form is bad.
    - Really bad.
    - Lost 6 to 2.

    19: vs Fanturluche - Cyberspace Dojo
    - My Walpurgis Night on the first round totally backfired.
    - Lost 6 to 1.
    - Nothing can hunt you down like Swarm of Bats.

    20: vs Fanturluche - Cyberspace City
    - Once again Walpurgis Night wasn't really helpful.
    - Lost 6 to 3.
    - Fanturluche's deck.

    Opinions:

    Walpurgis Night's greatest asset was the ability to mass purge everyone... it still does, except with Mandatory Action you'll almost never benefit from it! This is a massive nerf, as you're giving up card advantage AND initiative for the totally random chance of getting better forms/cards. Honestly in its present state I'd never use it. Cantrip could be a possible fix, but more tinkering might be in order.

    Sacred Shroud's nerf is negligible, I still want 2 copies on my priest.

    Vanguard is incredible, I'd add an effect range to limit it somehow (3? 4? 5?).

    Ancient Grudge will take more turns to become deadly, but its power in the late game is unchanged. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing.

    Zombie Form is bad, really really bad. The possibility of getting this and the nerf make Walpurgis Night almost unplayable. Brains! alone won't make up for a lousy and small card pool, plus you can draw again the form making sure you're stuck as an undead for a looong time. It's a full handicap, I get it, but no other handicap card feels so punishing. Though I haven't really played around it this really makes me wonder about Spark Of Undeath.
     
  13. I think that large weapon and Defensiveness are its equal.
    I agree that the worst thing about zombie form is the small card pool that makes it extremely likely for you to be a near-permanent zombie. Perhaps some more bludgeons should be added to the pool, and maybe Septic Bite.
     
  14. Flaxative

    Flaxative Party Leader

    Thank you for all your help with the Castle Mitternacht playtest.

    Unless you posted more in another thread (in which case, sorry I missed it), I have you at 20 games.

    You will receive 4 Epic Mitternacht chests when this content is released.
     

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