The Daily Deal

Yeah... I hope all you MPers are ready for the massive influx of fire wizards.

 

My elves are ready for everything. Always. Usually.

/continues to not play for a few days

 

Staff Of A Million Embers
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
I think everyone can clearly see this is a good item and I already went over the pros and cons of each Ember Burst staff when I reviewed Staff Of Embers which you can find here. Instead, I want to talk about burning wizards in general. Burning wizards can pump out the most damage of any wizard. Not only are burning spells the highest damage attacks a wizard can have, if you take into account the attachment damage, but you can also find them on arcane items meaning you have the potential to load up your wizard with more attacks than a warrior. All that firepower (pun intended) comes at a price. Your wizard need the full amount of tokens for the premium staves and arcane items/arcane skill meaning you've got little armor, no blocks or Toughness from racial skills, and limited boot options on top of lacking the usual control spells. What does a burning wizard do right? You don't need a buff priest to get damage through. Savage Curse is worse than usual since so many of your wizard's card do 4+ damage. Unholy Wellspring is still fine but what you really need help with is defense. That means you want a warrior or vamp to get out front and draw attacks away or a control wizard for crowd control. Make sure that support character is sturdy. Should they die your burning wizard will fall quickly soon after. Also, don't forget to pack some sort of armor removal. You do not want to face down a Resistant Hide or even a Reliable Mail with no answers.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Multiplayers
Double major token. No Firestorms or Volcanoes. Any questions?

Substitutes
none

Firehide Robes- These are THE robes to have for a burning or Firestorm wizard. You can get away with Emberfloat Mantle if you're broke, but if that's the case you probably shouldn't be trying to make a full on burning wizard.
Spiked Shield- Lunging Thrust is awful. Try Wedge Shield instead.
Sturdy Mail- The worst of the double Reliable Mail heavy armors. Wait for the better ones if you can. Clovidian's Mail, Sturdy Armor, or True Mail.

Notable Rares
Wouldn't buy any of them. The best two, Incense Of The Nether Fog and Mirror Of Melting, have better alternatives in Incense Of Roiled Air and Akon's Amulet respectively.

 

Meh .. do we need 2 Staff Of A Million Embers ?

I usually used Blue Destructions .. but who knows for some future tech? Is anyone going to buy 2nd? What do you think?

 

I wouldn't get a second one. Every Ember Burst you play after the first in the same turn will only add 3 damage and it's highly unlikely you're opponent will be gracious enough to stay in place for a second helping for multiple characters.

 

Agreed...I was psyched to get my first but almost certainly wouldn't buy a second, even for SP where one might have a lot more potential targets. You'd basically have to be running two dedicated targeted-fire wizards. I tried that tonight with a few of the higher-level SP maps (since I also have two Red Flames), just to see what it was like. It was neither as fast nor as much fun as rounding out my firestorm/volcano party with a tank warrior, Blue Destruction wiz, or even a buff priest instead.

 

I agree, you would want multiple fire attachements to lit with your instant burns to really get the most out of a fire mage. Thats why i still think Barnum's Staff is the superior tool of the trade.

 

I've been trying to get a hold of this staff for far too long, plus have tons of gold and treasure sitting in my keep, so yeah, insta buy (despite the fact I'll rarely use it, if ever).

 

Burst is important enough that I'd say Million Embers is the best pure burning staff, despite only having one attack type. You get more from the arcane items.

The problem with Million Embers is that buffed wizards are by far the scariest right now, and Blue Destruction and Searing Pain are better for that.

 

In the context of a insta burn build, the main problem with Million Embers is that 2 major tokens is too much, when compared to all the alternatives available. An Ember Burst or two less in your deck is not a big deal when you are free to spend the gold token you save on something else.

For a pure burst wiz, Ember Burst probably isn't the most popular option, but it surely is on par with Arcane Burst (when you consider 3+2 = 5 > 4). Buffs don't really change the picture much, as they apply equally to both.

What little you lose in immediate damage (1 point) you gain back in burning damage. Actually, in a scenario when you manage to hit multiple enemies while having Firestarter going on, Amber Burst is capable of dealing even more damage than Arcan Burst. What you do get with the arcane counterpart is the hard to block given by traits you'll prob be running on such a flavor of a wiz, so it's more of a choice between consistency (Arcane Burst) or higher damage potential (Ember Burst).

 

Quick Jon's Axe
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Obliterating Chop has never been very good and Unnerving Strike is decent but overrated. It all comes down to how valuable Dodge is. I have not tried to make a Dodge heavy build since the nerf and I haven't faced it more than a handful of times so I don't know for sure if it is viable anymore. I do know that if I had the choice between keeping a Dodge or a strong attack/armor at the end of turn, I would choose to discard the Dodge most of the time. It isn't worth holding on to a card that is spectacular 1/3 of the time when you could save a consistently good card instead. If a card isn't powerful enough to hold on to then I don't want it in my deck in the first place, especially if it uses up 2 major tokens. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Dodge is good at helping you not lose but you should be focusing on winning for speed farming. That means you want as many big attacks as possible. You could argue that Obliterating Chops can count as 20 damage since it isn't too hard to hit multiple targets but I think you'd be better off with a Bloodchopper. At the end of the day, if your weapon doesn't have all attacks or traits to draw you into attacks it probably isn't worth playing. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Bec De Corbin (E)

Enormous Tree Branch- The damage is way too low to consider for a regular warrior. You could consider the Barges for a victory point grabbing warrior who isn't all too concerned about killing stuff.
Scintillating Robes- One Shimmering Aura too many.
Shimmering Hood- Two Shimmering Auras too many.

Notable Rares
Diamond Moccasins- Three excellent card that are especially good at chasing down ranged targets.
Focused Healer- A must have for any respectable vamp.
Focused Teleportation- Dimensional Traveler is one of those cards that you wouldn't mind having but don't really want to pay for. Focused Teleportation is really nice for Volcano builds though and not a bad option if you have a spare token and few attacks to buff.

 

Robes Of Avak Seth
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Arcane Shell looks good on paper but just isn't worth it. Burning wizards have the greatest amount of attacks to buff but are also the most token hungry. A single Arcane Shell is not worth downgrading two good burn spells to Firestorm with Azgul's Orb. For just about any other wizard your arcane item slots are going to have mostly non-damaging attacks meaning you'll most likely be drawing 1 buffable attack a turn. This is again not worth a token. I am a much bigger fan of running Arcane Aura with Cotton Wizard's Robes or Cursed Wizard's Robes. While it counts towards hand size, which is less of an issue for wizards, and falls off on successful armor rolls, the 2 point buff has a much bigger impact. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Unlike multiplayer, you're much more likely to be able to avoid getting hit but Arcane Aura will get knocked off by all the Firestorms you're running. You are running Firestorms aren't you? Good, just checking. While I'm not a fan of Arcane Aura for singleplayer, Arcane Shell still does too little in comparison to other stuff you can do with that token. Draw 3 cards with Dwarven Battle Cry? Don't mind if I do. Volcano for a minor token you say? Well, that dungeon floor was looking a bit drab. You also have to give up your precious Resistant Hide too. Arcane Shell asks for too much and gives little in return. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Cotton Wizard's Robes (C) , Cursed Wizard's Robes (C)

Armor Of Negation- You generally don't want Arrogant Armor or cleansing effects. When you do want them you're not always going to want both.
Demon's Golden Blade- Good damage, a great buff, and the other two cards cycle though very painfully. However, buff priest's generally don't care about the quality of attacks and Demon's Golden Blade falls short in the buff department. Axe Of The Dark Soul is much more commonly played.
Terxe's Medallion- Armor Of Faith is one of those cards that is so bad that you need the other cards to be extremely good to consider playing. I'll give you a hint, there aren't any Armor of Faith items that fit that description in my opinion.

Notable Rares
Perilous Ringmail- One of the best tokenless heavy armors.
Savvy Attacker- Team Walk is still pretty darn good people. On second thought, I don't really want to play against it. Keep on ignoring those Team Walks.

 

In SP, I've used for a long time now Cotton Wizard's Robes, especially in the lower levels that do not have any arcane opponents. I also use Ulalia's Boots together with the Robes quite often. That and all the buffs from my priest makes 2 x Staff Of The Misanthrope WMD.

 

Interesting! As always with Flash Of Pain, I can certainly see this being deadly on the more open maps, and you've got one advantage over firestorm in that the casting wiz never takes self-damage. OTOH, on most of the maps, I'm having a hard time picturing how all the Arcane Aura and buffs in the world would make up for the LoS issues with the monsters and the (now even greater) damage you're inflicting on the rest of your team. Any other tricks up your sleeve with this build that make it win out over the more traditional FS/volcano approach in your eyes?

 

Just like with volcano, timing is important when using flash of pain. With FoP you can see the results immediately. With volcano, it's often possible that the opponent has some kind of trick up her sleeve during her round. Also Resistant Hide is basically useless against FoP.

Now if I had 3 x wizards with all the greatest FS items, I'd be using them for sure. But then again, I'd probably have most of the other items that I'm hunting by then, so not much of a reason to grind anymore...

But at the moment, I'm enjoying the flexibility and efficiency of my trio and for me they do their job fast enough. (human warrior - dwarf priest - elf wizard)

 

Axander's Robes
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Well this sure looks familiar. Basically everything I said about Robes Of Avak Seth applies here except that for a major token you could get the far superior Robes Of White Wylla. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Ditto.

Substitutes
Cotton Wizard's Robes (C) , Cursed Wizard's Robes (C)

Cottonwood Staff- One of the better tokenless staves. If this looks unappealing to you then stop being so stingy with tokens on staves.
St. Amarack's Cudgel- Besides the Mass Frenzy you are getting a bunch of mediocre cards. I wouldn't be against playing it but I don't think it's worth buying.
Trog Melter- On the plus side you get a good amount of armor removal for no tokens. The bad news is it costs you a valuable staff slot.

Notable Rares
Ebony Prayer Beads- Bad Luck is bad but Ebony Prayer Beads gives you more card advantage than most divine items.
Infused Greatclub- Sometimes you just need to pulverize things.
Perfect Command- There aren't many reasons to run humans but this is on the top of the list. There are some skills that offer similar amounts of movement for a minor token but they come with a stinker of a third card.
Sub-zero Staff- Freeze might not be able to halt things anymore but it pretty much shuts down a character for 2 turns. The other cards are middling to awful but if you're packing enough control cards it shouldn't matter.
Vibrant Plate- Requiring a major token is rough but Dynamic Armor can add some serious movement without diluting your deck when you don't need it. Drawing armor with Elven Maneuvers is a pretty neat trick too.

 

What is up with Arcane Shell + Force cone legendaries? I mean, Force Cone has undergone some major buffs and these items are still subpar.
Now, if you could get one Telekinesis, Path of Knives, Flanking Move, Firestorm or maybe Reliable Mail/Short P. Ray instead of unwanted cards Toughened Hide Strips and Leap, you might have a pretty cool item for lower levels, albeit less effective on some maps than plain old Cotton.

 

I'd just want to add to new-farmers -> not sure about others, but I use this a lot in my farming decks.. especially lower levels without much power tokens for both staffs (and I its also good for (low level) quests).
If you farm and have excess gold, its a decent tokenless staff

 

Jannivol's Shield
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
I am not a fan of magic blocks. The power level of magic attacks is usually much more evenly distributed on a wizard than a melee character. That means you want a reliable block since test attacks are going to do similar damage to anything else. There is no magic block that works better than two thirds of the time. On top of that, spark and Spark Generator boosted arcane attacks will knock two points off your block rolls turning your Catch Arrow into an Unreliable Block. You're limited to blocking a small set of spell types in an already narrow pool of wizard users. Jannivol's Shield is also just a Backflip Buckler with a crappy magic block attached. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
When in doubt don't pay for legendary shields. Low rarity tokenless shields are some of the best options. You want a cool magic/projectile blocking shield? Get Bullseye Shield. I honestly wouldn't pay for that either. Heck, I don't even switch out Parry shields against ranged mobs because it would take me more time to change the shield than to just beat them senseless while holding dead cards. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Backflip Buckler (E)

Atlatl Of Zuma- Vampire's Blade is a better vamp weapon. Better to take some damage from Loner and draw a new card than be forced to keep a Healing Pulse in hand.
Staff Of Immolation- Range 2 spells should be avoided if possible. If you are close enough to Fire Spray a warrior, they are probably close enough to smack you back.
Voltstaff- The surprise blocks are nice but spark wizards are already limited to 12 damaging attacks and going down to 10 is a bit sketchy. A control wizard can save a token and run Staff Of Chask instead. You may also want to consider Silver Fir Staff to save a token too.

Notable Rares
Demon Charm Of The 3rd Circle- A great draw spell, a decent buff, and a painful cycler. Not the best but not too shabby either.
Inspired Command- By far the best Inspirational Thinking item. You really only want it for digging to specific cards though since most decks would rather just have cyclers that don't force them to play cards like Shuffle, Team!.

 

Ultimate laziness! You could just keep saved parties laying around to load up with 2 clicks...