The Daily Deal

Clown is misspelled on the item. Look at the pic, look at the cards. It's obvious.

 

Why are you sparkping controversy here? What sorcererery is this?

 

I calls 'em like I sees 'em. And I'm feeling a bit onxy, truth be told.

 

Ring Of Appropriation is a great control item in multiplayer, where movement is king. It's not really an item for single player, where you usually face hordes of enemies.

Blackeye Hammer is a ripper of a cheap weapon for newbies in single player, where enemy mobs with large hands of cards will often see the Punishing Strikes do similar damage to Obliterating Bludgeons (especially after the upcoming balance changes). With the addition of a Blind Rage, it's on par with everyone's favourite, Infused Greatclub - but costs a less.

The other item new players should grab if they don't have it is the Spellthwart Shield. It's essential protection on the ranged mob single player levels. There are upgrades available on tokenless missile shields, though, including my favourite, the Bullseye Shield, so if you have any of these, save your 100gp.

 

Brin's Spiked Rod
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Stone Spikes is a fine card, especially for paper quality. Counterspell is not as fowl as I originally thought now that I've played with it a few times (thanks Quick Draw for making me to play cards I otherwise wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole). You still need line of sight and priority for the optimal payoff but it's so rarely used that no one plays around it. You will almost always be facing a buff priest or wizard so Counterspell is not likely to be completely dead but being useless against warriors is a massive downside. Brin's Spike Rod is good for being tokenless but it is not something I'd be thankful for. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Brin's Spiked Rod gets a lot weaker in singleplayer. Not only does Stone Spikes not do enough when you are outnumbered but there are plenty of double Firestorm options to choose from for your tokenless arcane item needs. Don't be a turkey. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Rod Of Palver Pree (E), Runcible's Bracelet (E)

Agility
Cobalt's Chalice
Ring Of Appropriation- Great for control wizards. Bought a fourth one myself.

 

St. Pascal's Torch
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Inspiring Presence and Cleansing Ray are both best in wizard builds. Wizards want to be distanced from the enemy and so does Inspiring Presence. Cleansing Ray is horrendous if your opponent doesn't use terrain attachments and you don't run any yourself to at least cycle them. While I wouldn't particularly want it for regular play, there are leagues where St. Pascal's Torch shines. Any map where there is a lot of impassible or difficult terrain like Roll Out the Barrels is great for Volcano, the best card to pair with Cleansing Ray. Other than that, spending your turn clearing your own attachment just to draw a card is not the best use of your time or item slots. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Volcano is my strategy of choice for farming levels where tokens are available. While St. Pascal's Torch would fit pretty darn well in the deck the stuff it does isn't particularly necessary. You can usually get the AI to burn its movement cards by passing or using things like excess cone attacks allowing you to save your own movement cards for post Volcano use. Inspiring Presence can be hit or miss depending on starting placements. There are plenty of cheaper items that can cleanse or team heal if you want those effects so no self respecting Scrooge McDuck would shell out for the legendary version. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Revenna's Incense (E), Scuffed Relic (R)

Bloody Battle Axe
Dancer's Dagger
Superb Stoutness

 

Peonprop, what are your thoughts on Dancer's Dagger? Is it worth the investment?

 

You are mainly using it for the Disorienting Blocks over the damage so you may as well just run Spear Of Dancing.

 

Well, I just drop one in an epic chest. Happy I didn't buy it hehe

 

Today is The Day of Crap:

Ekkerg's Amulet 2/2. Very unfocused item. Stone Spikes and Cone of Cold aren't very powerful. Could be playable if it would be tokenless maybe...

Keen Baselard 1/1. Just one good card here. One of the worst weapons in the game.
Madman's Maul 2/1. Too dangerous for the regular use.
Tarial's Diadem 2/2. There are no cards here to justify paying a yellow token for this.

 

Ekkerg's Amulet
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
In my opinion there are three ways to go about building a wizard. Pure offense, highly controlling, and the kitchen sink. Burning wizards fall into the pure offense category. They are the only ones with arcane item support for burning attacks like Glob Of Flame. Controlling wizards devote their arcane items to spells that aren't aimed at killing but rather slowing down the game so that virtual card advantage takes over. This can be done by encumbering the enemy with frost spells like Cone Of Cold, moving the enemy away directly with slide cards like Telekinesis, or throwing down barriers like Flash Flood. In each case, the goal is to prevent opposing characters from using attacks and thus discarding them to hand size each round while you use ranged attacks or terrain attachments to chip away at their hp. There are wizards that fall in between but they tend to lean towards one side or the other. On the other hand, the kitchen sink wizard uses anything and everything in an attempt to throw stuff against a wall and see what sticks. These wizard are unfocused and unpredictable. You won't have much control over what you draw or when you draw it but hopefully you can use this to confuse your opponents more than yourself. This is where Ekkerg's Amulet and similar items come in. Glob of Flame wants to kill fast, Cone of Cold wants to slow the game down, and Stone Spikes does a little of both depending on the situation. Will you be able to use it in a well tuned deck? Probably not. Can you use it effectively even though the cards are used to accomplish different things? Possibly, the cards are all strong in a vacuum. Would I personally purchase Ekkerg's Amulet? Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
There is only one question you need to ask yourself when it comes to arcane items for singleplayers. Does it say Firestorm or Volcano on it? It doesn't? Well then, see you all tomorrow!
.
.
.
In all seriousness though, unfocused cards like Ekkerg's Amulet are awful during the campaign unless your strategy involves all three cards. Not drawing what you need is backbreaking when you're up against an emotionless AI that doesn't change tactics based on previously played cards. You are much better off getting items that have more copies of the particular cards you want. That way, even if you do want Cone of Cold, Glob of Flame, and Stone Spikes in the same deck, you can cobble together your own Ekkerg's Amulet Frankenstein from different items while still being able to break them apart for more focused builds. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Writing that wall of text made me lazy. Click [Expand] on the wiki page to see what items with the card fit your budget.
Cone Of Cold
Glob Of Flame
Stone Spikes

Keen Baselard
Madman's Maul
Tarial's Diadem

 

Typo.

 

I would disagree with you here. For one, it's the only tokenless item with Dodge (because let's be real, who is gonna play Untrained Insight?)

For two, there are many scenarios where bypassing armor is desirable.

Yeah, it's a very kitchen sink-y item, what with the Flimsy Block, but given how prevalent both Telekinesis and Gusts Of War are, that can be a useful card to have around.

Mind you, I'm not saying this is on the same level as The Strongarm, but in the campaign, I use it about as much as Blazing Shortsword or Nifty Halberd, and I can see it having its uses in multiplayer.

Now, would I pay 500 gold for it? That's the better question, I have four or so, and I dropped them all. I'd probably pass, but again, I think it deserves better than 1/1.

 

And i disagree with it. I used it a lot in SP, so definitely it not a '1'

 

Two Raging Strikes all for two Controlled Overswings and mass frenzies? Doesn't seem worth it to me, especially with items like St. Olf's Fiery Pike around. Furthermore, the next balance change will make it an even worse item.

 

Haha, nice one .. I totally agree with it.

Although I would only add Kerrick's Steel Boots and Bertha's Big Clogs like a nice addition to FS

 

Overheated Staff
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
I've tried playing around with Instant Burn builds and the hardest part about it besides getting all the bling you need is token allocation. Overheated Staff is an option to use over White Flame to shave a token for use elsewhere. Combustible can be a rough handicap to draw with Firestorms in hand or facing down burning wizards but at least it cycles. If you believe that getting an additional minor token to work with is worth cutting out 2 Instant Burns then Overheated Staff is a great buy. Personally, I think the Instant Burns are too essential to the build and would look elsewhere for token savings. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Saving tokens is a much bigger deal for lower levels. This is particularly relevant level 3-4 where you are allotted a single minor token. However, I still wouldn't want Overheated Staff or Instant Burn in general for lower level farming. The best burning items all require a minor token. If you spend your token on the staff your options for burning spells on arcane items are limited to Firestorm, cones spells, and the occasional Glob Of Flame if you're lucky. Just play a straightforward Firestorm party instead. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
None

Mageslayer Mail
Sharp Flames
Trained Flexibility

 

Also, new-ish players should probably take the chance and snatch a Yolotli Armor. For 100g only, you get one of the best non-epic/legendary pieces of gear. It doesn't come cheap on the tokens side, but you can often put it to good use both in SP and MP.

 

I'm personally a huge fan of Overheated Staff. I like the extra token it gives me, and from my somewhat limited experience, I generally see an Instant Burn when I want one. It is potentially less explosive than White Flame cause you're less likely to draw multiple Instant Burns in the same turn, but I've been very happy with Overheated Staff. Random Flame Spit is randomly useful, too. If you want more Instant Burns, I imagine Overheated Staff would pair nicely with Red Flame!

 

Yeah, I had been looking for it for weeks, bought it right away.