[Suggestion] Reduce Elven Maneuvers to Duration 2

I really meant just in comparison to other duration/draw changes, though it is the single most thrown around suggestion I've personally seen in-game-chat.
Altruism isn't a bad way to go, if you set it up so that, same as altruism, you're guaranteed at least one draw.
It doesn't address the 'not ideal for non warriors element', but does seem a great approach to balancing it properly to quality.

That's one consideration. But talk to the devs about that, they're the ones who've made cards like Parry [which should be a rare silver, not a common bronze, if it were matched to other parry and block cards] to establish certain dynamics in the game.
That's all I was referencing.
I'm personally a fan of overall balance, I'm just not sure that's easily achieved within the current game dynamics.

I recall Flax stating previously that balance was based around humans, and that other races had disadvantages that their racial skills made up for.
That is what I was referencing.

Electroporter gives an advantage- 2x cycle and 1x cycle+actual benefit.
Elven maneuvers can be functional on casters, but it's USUALLY a handicap- cycling aside:
1: Elven Caster builds (versus melee builds) don't want to get hit and take damage, they die too bloody easy. This makes an on-damage cards generally not preferable.
2: Elven Caster builds are based on their non-movement cards, since they don't favor either block-moves or attack-moves. A cycle-three-discard just runs the risk of discarding your best spells, in favor of movement cards that, as an elf ranged character, you flat out shouldn't need [and generally, don't even slot to begin with, dynamic staff aside].

I run elf mages a lot. They're my main character type, other than dwarf priests. I've personally found elven maneuvers to be very negative on elven caster priests and wizards, and those I've discussed it with have had similar experiences.
This may not match your experiences.
However, reducing the cycling amount does address this flaw- regardless of how notable it is or is not.

Perhaps there are other, better ways of addressing it.
This was more a matter of simplicity, than anything else.

I don't understand what this is directed toward. :X

 

The general air of despair in some of the postings.

Wow. Good show! I ran the default freebie MP party with no changes in one of my accounts, just to see how far I could get. (About 1100 before the maps rotated, and I started sliding back.) Running an elf wiz is challenging for me. I do it way too much in QD these days, and may be improving slightly.
I have run elven maneuvers on both elf wizards and priests in some of my SP toy builds. As you say, the wiz is not designed to be hit. On the rare occasions maneuvers cycled I discarded some good cards, but I was running so many cyclers it didn't matter much. Same with the priests.

 

I would agree that Elf-Wiz is disadvantaged vs. any of the 9 other combos. I Find Elves make great vamps and Elf Man is ideal for that type of build since taking damage is easier to overcome or having extra Healing Dash or even Flanking Moves is valuable. Lately I have become much more acutely aware of card advantages especially with Mimetic and Elf Man combos. I need to make a super card advantage deck but that is a whole other issue.

I don't actually think Parry should be Silver and even if it was it would affect only 4 items 3 Staves which are rarely used and 1 Dwarf Skill. The only Block card Silver or better that only Blocks 1 type (melee vs magic) is Cause Fumble which is more than just a simple block. There are the hybrids Counterspell and Parrying Strike, as well but they are valuable for being more than a block.

I'd love to see the Altruism Roll over a Duration nerf as someone who faces Elves much more than I play them making it unreliable (and the possibility of losing it if we are mirroring Altruism exactly) would turn the tides of battles enough to make it only an advantage sometime. I think an "always on" for Duration 2 would be more powerful than a 50-50 roll for 3 rounds. But this would mean that 12.5% of time Elf Man would go 0 for 3 (or 3 for 3) on draws.

For the record I recognize that there cannot, and probably should not be a perfect balance between cards within a quality. But when something becomes an outlier that is obviously out of balance it is not strategic it is a must play. I think the attempt to give unique advantages to balance out the racial weaknesses from their imbalance to Humans as the standard race is hard. Blind Rage is finally becoming a tactical weakness with the (albeit rare) ability to use Accelerate Time, but the 0 token 2 trait racials for Dwarves have always been an advantage. Giving Elf Man to the Elves made them much more viable in MP as warriors (and to a lesser extent Priests since very few step attacks) but people saw the power of the card, maxed it out and now it is clear there is an advantage that makes using other warriors less viable. The margins are still very slim but if you can improve your win rate by 5% based on build that is huge at the 1300+ ratings.

I've said for very long again and again I think Dwarven Wizards have too much of a longevity advantage (25 HPs plus up to 2 Toughness) and while the movement disadvantage is real it is much easier to overcome since added movement doesn't get penalized and it is a lot easier to add movement than to add HPs. I also want a Human 0 token 2 trait skill, or at least 1 that doesn't have Wimpy, Unreliable Block, Slowed, Vulnerable or 3 slow cards, but I have stopped holding my breath. The 3 best 0 token humans skills: Untrained Flexibility has slowed, Novice Guidance has Vulnerable and Advanced Guidance has three slow cards (need to use them to create a card effectively taking 2 turns to use) which are nice due to flexibility but not often people are clamoring for more Block or Bludgeon in their build. I just realized that Bloodied Block is a Bronze, definitely will be part of my next AA submission if Human Skills are allowed. Perhaps Defensive Flexibility: Retreat, Bloodied Block and Reliable Hide Armor.