The Daily Deal

Buy the slippers if you have the gold. I own 3 and they are 3 of the 9 legendaries I use in my current mp build.

Edit: 5 to 9. I miscounted xD

 

I'll be honest, the fact I'm seriously considering plonking down 2500 gold to change exactly one card in my deck should tell you how much I love these slippers. Zachary's is a better deal for sure at 1/5 the price for two of the same cards and one slightly worse, but if you want violent spin, Pergop's are the best you can get.

 

Nah, let's not be THAT negative.

Boiling Warper - if you have an access to some heavy Volcano builds in SP, consider buying this thing. There's a ton of annoying armor bearers on higher level adventures. To name few, Blitzkenripper, monsters with the armor that grants them immunity to lasers (4+ or 5+ iirc). While firestorm is cool and all, you pretty much can't kill anything from your own party when volcano is in your hand and you have yet to move. Or if some members have Hover or Dimensional Traveller And if you don't, you should have a priest with either Bless or Cleansing Ray. Both of which provide healing and drawing. Not only that, with the Accelerate Time you can inflict damage with Volcano and burns, but also heal and draw with said Bless. I always end up having at least one of these on my Accel Time wizard for SP for all the reasons mentioned.

 

Gloomthirst

Spoiler: Previously Reviewed

Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
There is no better divine weapon for card draw than Gloomthirst. While the draw take a while, you accumulate a big edge over your opponent at no tempo loss past the initial casting. The delayed card draw also has the hidden upside of getting around the hand size limit at end of turn. If movement is king in Card Hunter, card advantage is the power behind the throne. Games are won and lost by how many cards you play and simply drawing more cards gets you a long way towards a win. Highly recommend purchasing.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Unholy Energy and Accelerated Thought take 4 rounds to fully resolve. If it takes you 4 rounds to complete a module you are doing it wrong. There are a couple of exceptions like the level 18 modules of doom but I always end up using an Impenatrable Nimbus spammer. I'd be interested to know if anyone uses these draw spells for the grindier levels. For now I will just go with my gut and pass on Gloomthirst for singleplayer.

Substitutes
Coruscating Blade (R) , Quickmind Spear (C) , Unholy Cudgel (E)
The Daily Deal

Did Peon Buy It?
Yes, but not today. Two is it for me. Playing 2 buff priests is usually overkill, especially if the buffs are long duration like Unholy Energy. Looking back I may have been a little overenthusiastic on Gloomthirst. While great, it's not as big of a priority as divine weapons like Darkblood Glaive or St. Olf's Fiery Pike/Huetotl's Firebrand. There are fairly good lower rarity items for card draw. On the other hand, high quality attack buff items are nearly all legendary so they get first crack at your gold.

Epics
Agility
There are better skills for all 3 cards.

Cherry Shield
The poor man's Ichabod's Buckler though I'm starting to believe that Buckler Of Protection may be the way to go anyways. Drawing 2 cards is better than 1.

Dual Optimum D-45
Too top heavy with double emerald cards. This sort of gamble can be fine if those emerald cards are stellar but Cooling Laser and Scatter Laser don't really fit the bill. There are also more focused staves for both cards in case you do hold them in high regard.

Notable Rares
Acrobat's Aegis (P)
Acrobat's Aegis has 2 great blocks and a cycling trait. All 3 cards are particularly good against wizards. Absorbing Block essentially "blocks" additional magic attacks as long as you're not at full health. Disorienting Block is a Surging Shield Block with back attack and victory square stealing potential. If the game goes on long enough, Traveling Curse sets both the shield bearer and a random enemy at 5 less hp for free. Wizards tend to have lower health than melee characters so the free damage from Traveling Curse is even more pronounced. Acrobat's Aegis is about as good as it gets when it comes to anti-wizard shields with all purpose blocks.

Spoiler: Rare Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
Who need legendaries and epics when you have rares like these? This item is not only powerful but also fits in well established multiplayer or farming archetypes.

(N)iche
This is a great item but fits in a very specific build. You should only consider purchasing if you have that particular strategy in your sights.

(P)layable
Not the best. Not the worst. This item is simply solid all around and I believe could see play. If that isn't enough of a ringing endorsement then I don't know what is. Oh, and you can go ahead and assume that any item that falls into other categories is playable as well. I will not list things that I would not be willing to play myself.

(U)nique
There is nothing quite like this item. Its cards or combination of cards are not found on other items of the same slot or not on other items period. If this item catches your fancy you should take a second look because you won't find anything similar elsewhere.

(V)alue
There may be better options but this item won't bust your piggy bank.

 

The substitute is basicly Axe Of The Dark Soul, which I prefer even in slow leagues. In your priority list I miss Knife Of St. Blenko and Ripping Mace. Both are great in the current MP meta.

I prefer Yvette's Buckler, if I have just a minor token to spend.

 

The problem with Gloomthirst is that most builds rely on attachments for damage, effects and card cycle. It's very difficult to balance those and leave room for unholy energy and accelerated thought in the three attachment limit. Bless seems to work much better for me (especially with burfft builds), and comes with the ever-handy martyr blessing and even a cleansing ray to clean up behind you, and draw a card, if you have to leave the blessed terrain to attack.

 

I dunno guys... Unholy energy and accel thought allow me to continue drawing without losing mobility (via bless). It's great for builds that don't require damage buffs (like burning wiz).

 

Even there you want to keep your Firestarter and may have Immovable from Goat Boots or Hover from a Robe Of Lightness. But burn wizards dont have so many different traits as wizards, which use Electroporter Novice, so they may a rare case where card draw whith attachments is possible.

 

That is true. However, all I need are 1 or 2 draws to make it count Plus having gloomthirst and cursed radcannon allows me to spam them with not much drawback except missing out on some inspire presence

 

Missing Inspiring Presences is a big drawback, especially if you already have Unholy Energy from the Cursed Radcannon.

 

Okay, I'm slightly bored, I'll try doing something...

Sabo's Flamespit Staff

Multiplayer usefulness: Flame Spit is a strong card, without a doubt. With a total of 8 damage, spread out across 3 turns (2-3-3 respectively), it's definitely something worth looking at. Especially when you consider that you can double the burning damage by having Firestarter, extend it by another 2 with Curse Of Fragility and add another burning attachment to maximalize the Curse of Fragility usefulness. I'm mostly talking about this build right now. But what if we go outside of it? While Flame Spit does significant amount of damage, the drawbacks are rather glaring, especially when you compare this card to Ember Burst. Squeamish suddenly starts to matter, and you lose the ability to multi-target characters with Ember Burst. As much as I hate to admit, burst is just more useful in this meta. And while everything might change within few weeks or months, it's still not really worth purchasing over Staff Of A Million Embers unless you really want to build around Curse of Fragility. And even if you do, I'd buy it only with spare money. If I had, like, 7500 gold.

Singleplayer usefulness: It is... decent. All the maps with trees just beg you to use fire. However, that's rarely the fire you want - if you want to farm it really fast, just get something with plenty of Firestorm and Ember Burst, or add Volcano on higher-leveled campaigns. And all the cards I mentioned are useful on almost every other module. Wouldn't purchase that for SP.

Epics:

Aegis Of The Defender - A must have. Probably won't be needed if you have more than 3 of it, but in the rare case you have less, this 500 gold item will be amongst the most used ones. 2 Defender's Blocks is powerful on one item.

Big Ash Shield - Great puns aside, there are much better alternatives for this item. Underdog's Shield being one of them.

Rusty Healing Armor - Whether you want armor or more healing, nearly everything else is a better option. Healing-focused divine armor that's relatively cheap is Mail Of The Golden Aura. More Armor can be found on pretty much any other tokenless armor. Dark Chain Shirt is the best option.

Rares worth mentioning:

Angel's Strapping - In the rare case you'd want to build your Priest like you would build heavily armored Warrior, this thing does its job well. There are two pairs of boots with Enchanted Harness and both are Legendary, just saying. Pretty niche item you won't use often, but it's an option. You just need to take into consideration whether Heavy Armor hurts you with its encumber or not.

Vibrant Plate - You can't just disregard an armor that gives you the biggest mobility. It's a niche to fill. Some Cautious Mobility Elves can use it. Although there are Ogre Hide Armor and Tough Hide Shirt that you might look at when you build your Elf that way.

Warp Crystal Gun - Not the best Accelerate Time item, but an Accelerate Time item nevertheless. If you're not stocked on these, you might want to pick it up.

Sorry peon, I wanted to do something myself. Hope you won't mind.

 

Sabo's Flamespit Staff
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Sabo's Flamespit Staff has almost all the marquee qualities of a powerhouse item. It has lots of copies of the same card and Flame Spit is fairly comparable to Flame Jet and Glob Of Flame, two of the best burning spells. What it doesn't do is shore up weaknesses or close out games. Flame Spit is simply another low damage spell that relies on slow burning attachments. Burning wizards are already filled to the brim with the aforementioned Flame Jet and Glob of Flame. The best burning staves have Ember Burst and/or Instant Burn. Those spells offer more immediate payoffs in the form of bigger chunks of damage and, in the case of Ember Burst, a longer range spell that can often hit things behind cover. Sabo's Flamespit Staff only offers more of what you already have, and when that's long duration attachments that can easily knock each other off it can be too much of a good thing. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny Pinching Singleplayers
Burning wizards are for the most part vastly inferior to Firestorm wizards when it comes to farming. The exception is when you are up against a smaller amount of mobs with higher hp. Even then, you run into the same problem as above. Flame Spit is just more of the same stuff. If you really want to make a proper burning wizard farmer, you'll want to look out for Instant Burn staves. With Instant Burn, you get a damage advance on all your miscellaneous burning attachments which speeds up your damage clock like nothing else. Well, Accelerate Time works too if you can get a hold of Flame Warper but that's a whole other review. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Torching Staff (E), Tempered Flamestaff (E) , Charring Staff (E)

Did Peon Buy It?
Nope. Interesting story though, I did find one. Way back before The Daily Deal and overstocked Randimar's Rarities, I was swimming in gold after a particularly long dry spell. I tried buying chests (don't remember exactly how many but it was at least a few hundred) and many clicks later, I got nothing but junk and duplicates. I was getting close to the bottom of that pit of disappointment when a Sabo's Flamespit Staff popped out, the sole new legendary I received. Needless to say, I haven't bought a chest since. All this because I read some glamorous @Sir Veza post about opening chests in batches of a thousand with spare gold. Don't buy gold chests kids, that dude is crazy.

Epics
Aegis Of The Defender
If there's one major token shield that you should own it's Aegis of the Defender. Any card powerful enough to inspire it's own "nerf now" threads is worthy of your attention, especially when it's best found on an affordable epic. Card draw, team protection, potentially blocking back attacks, what's not to like?

Big Ash Shield
Not bad but given the choice, I'd rather run Icicle Shield. Flimsy Block looks terrible but it blocks a surprising amount of annoying utility cards like Purge and Telekinesis. Just want a tokenless all purpose block shield? Try Underdog's Shield.

Rusty Healing Armor
Heals are already fairly underpowered compared to other cards. The gap only widens when you shift to tokenless items. Case in point, Rusty Healing Armor.

Notable Rares
None

 

You literally beat me by a couple minutes. The more the merrier.

 

PROCRASTINATION POWEEEERRR!

Spector's Raygun

Multiplayer usefulness: By all means, all three cards are useful. Well placed Hypnotic Beacon is a nightmare for step attacking warriors and overall moving to the target. Illusory Barrier successfully denies vision to those pesky burst-spamming wizards, as well as can act as a bridge over difficult terrain for you, and Stone Spikes can change Blessed tile to your favor, or just penalizes using all the moves instantly. As you can see, everything you get is useful... for different things. Therefore, it's too unfocused to be used to its full potential. Something that does its job way better against Warriors is Overheated Mesmerizer, and Illusion or Phantom Pain/Ixtli Amulet gives you more reliable ways of blocking wizards' vision. So, Spector's Raygun isn't really worth it.

Singleplayer usefulness: This is a major token arcane item. At this point you'll get to see more Cone types of attacks, rendering the barrier useless. Off the top of my mind, Steps are only on Spiders and some Slimes, and most of the opponents have their "racial" move card of 2 or more, not counting trees, astral figures, etc.. What I wanted to say is just that there are better options for SP modules than these things. Overheated Mesmerizer, again, is your best friend when you want that Hypnotic tile. Trust me when I say that Illusory Barrier is rarely worth it in SP (Mind Munchers in AotA adventures might be the creatures where it's worth to pick it up). And Rod Of Palver Pree is a very good (and tokenless) item for tile changing shenanigans that allows you to move somebody to said tile. Wouldn't purchase.

General rule when I'll be posting these (can't tell you when I will, because I'm doing it right now to kill some time) is "Replacement is what I mention in the "review" of an item". Just saying.

Epics:

Aataabulous's Boots - I feel bad for this guy's name... And the boots he wears too. While Scamper laughs at the difficult terrain (and so does Leap) you'll be better off carefully planning your moves and increasing their number. Both team moves (Team Walk and Team Shift), all the Team moving commands and step attacks should make up for any free move you have. Nimble Strike gets a special mention in that it allows you to both get out of a sticky situation and avoid opponent's Parry or any other block. Oh, and it has Shimmering Aura, which is pretty weak currently.

Flashing Longspear - This is one of my favorite weapons. I think this might be the weapon that benefits from Impaler in the best possible way, with 5 penetrating attacks (2 of them being the incredibly powerful Impaling Stabs) and an useful cycling trait. Because it's only 1 major 1 minor, when you equip two of these you can give yourself either Vibrant Pain or Rageblood Dagger/Lochaber Axe to make up for their lack of movement. Blind Rage is right now one of the most overpowered cards in the meta, allowing you to get a two-turn melee frenzy with rarely important drawback. And because of the fact it's a trait, you get to draw a card after you use it. Highly recommend buying them until you have around 6 or so (simply because going for 3 of these per hero is kind of an overkill).

Trog Melter - Eh... While armor removal is always nice, staff isn't really the place to go when you want to have some of it. Just go with some arcane item. From tokenless, to major token, your options are Armorbane Pendant (common), Akon's Amulet (common) and Cinnabar Ring (also a common). Wouldn't recommend it... for the Multiplayer.

It's not a bad option for SP though. Some opt to have a wizard for armor removal on more armor-heavy opponents, and then hitting them with attacks (especially when you have 1 of every class). And Force Cannon is fantastic. The thing is, even here I think that Armorbane Pendant does its job slightly better, because the armor removal range is longer, Memory Loss, due to it discarding the oldest card of the target, will often remove the armor and that on low-level adventures, and there's only one or two places where Combustible will matter. If you want more removal than three or four of these common Pendants offer, then go for it.

Rares worth mentioning:

Focused Electromancy - You can't ever go wrong with 3 of the same traits. And electricity is underused and underappreciated right now. I highly recommend buying it regardless of whether you want to make a lightning wizard(s) or not. You never know when it will come to play.

 

Spector's Raygun
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Hypnotic Beacon is a card that widely varies in its usefulness. If your opponent doesn't have an incentive to move, using wizards or just chilling on victory squares perhaps, Hypnotic Beacon literally does nothing. At its best, the random movement will land the enemies right back into range, making them wander aimlessly for 2 turns. More often than not, Hypnotic Beacon will move them out of range where they can use their next movement to get wherever they need to go, effectively trading 1 for 1 with a movement card. At its core, Hypnotic Beacon is a passive control card that is akin to using Illusory Barrier to restrict movement. Both are minor inconveniences unless you can spam them, which is hard to do with the emerald quality Hypnotic Beacon. Illusory Barrier on the other hand, is much more spammable and spamming is definitely the way to go. If you really want to try out Hypnotic Beacon, I would get something more focused like Command Stone, which is better at controlling movement, or Spatiomancer's Sidearm/Overheated Mesmerizer, which enhances a terrain attachment theme. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
More enemies means more opportunity for Hypnotic Beacon to work. Or you could just play Whirlwind and mess with everyone. Whirlwind also happens to be good against mobs camping on victory squares. Illusory Barrier isn't very useful in most modules, especially ones without ranged mobs, but it is exceedingly necessary to survive things like 1 hp quests. Hypnotic Beacon is not. I would look to load up on Illusory Barrier with Illusion, Phantom Pain, and/or Ixtli Amulet instead. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Overheated Mesmerizer (E) , Command Stone (E)

Did Peon Buy It?
Nope. The more I think about Hypnotic Beacon, the less I like it. If I were to ever build around it it'd be on a control wizard so I'd use Command Stone for sure.

Epics
Aataabulous's Boots
Shimmering Aura and Leap are incredibly weak. Leap gets a pass on items since it is at worst a Walk but Shimmering Aura is to be avoided at all costs (unless some crazy powerful item uses it as filler but that has yet to happen).

Flashing Longspear
The best Penetrating weapon but most opt for Double-Edged Sword for its more mobile stabability.

Trog Melter
Very good tokenless way to get armor removal if you at willing to give up a staff slot. For multiplayer, that isn't very feasible since that how most wizards get their offense. For singleplayer, Firestorm is all the rage and available on arcane items so Trog Melter can easily be swapped in.

Notable Rares
Focused Electromancy (P)
Spark Generator is obviously a powerful card for spark and arcane wizards alike. What keeps Focused Electromancy from receiving the coveted Best of the Best rating is the power curve demolishing Electroporter Novice. You get much of the same attack boost and, more importantly, trait cycling at no token cost. For a major token, spark wizards also have the option of using Superb Electromancy which gives you an advance in your damage output in the form of Obliterating Spark.

Spoiler: Rare Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
Who need legendaries and epics when you have rares like these? This item is not only powerful but also fits in well established multiplayer or farming archetypes.

(N)iche
This is a great item but fits in a very specific build. You should only consider purchasing if you have that particular strategy in your sights.

(P)layable
Not the best. Not the worst. This item is simply solid all around and I believe could see play. If that isn't enough of a ringing endorsement then I don't know what is. Oh, and you can go ahead and assume that any item that falls into other categories is playable as well. I will not list things that I would not be willing to play myself.

(U)nique
There is nothing quite like this item. Its cards or combination of cards are not found on other items of the same slot or not on other items period. If this item catches your fancy you should take a second look because you won't find anything similar elsewhere.

(V)alue
There may be better options but this item won't bust your piggy bank.

 

Kreevian Radcannon
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
My initial impression of Genetic Engineering was that it's a bad card that not only replaces any buffs you have on but also loads you up with what are most likely going to be useless boosts. While I wasn't far off in that respect, I totally ignored its use as a Purge. If the boosts are going to be useless anyways, why not use Genetic Engineering to knock off your opponent's buffs? That's a nice Impenetrable Nimbus you've got there. It'd be a shame if someone were to replace it with Adapted To Sonic. You managed to get Unholy Wellspring and Savage Curse on your wizard? Have some Slicer and Altruism instead. Sometimes you'll inadvertently give them something useful or, if you're really unlucky, not knock off the attachment you wanted period. However, Genetic Engineering does have the capability to knock off some handicaps that Purge can't hit so it isn't completely inferior. From here on out, I'm treating Genetic Engineering as a Purge. In that respect, Kreevian Radcannon is actually pretty darn good. It's the best divine weapon to get Radioactive Sprays and it gives you emergency handicap removal if you get caught up in your own Irradiated terrain. That said, it doesn't make for a good purchase. You get a 1 to 1 major token to Radioactive Spray ratio which is quite abysmal compared to The Irradiator. Use the divine item slot to load up on Radioactive Sprays and you free up a major token for something else. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Radioactive Spray is slow, low damage strategy with unreliable outcomes. Those are big farming no nos. Add to the fact that Kreevian Radcannon costs double major token limiting it to the most difficult and grindiest modules and you've got a recipe for disaster. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Blessed Radcannon (E) , St. Well's Powermace (E)

Did Peon Buy It?
Nope. I will be trying to pick up a full set of The Irradiator though.

Epics
Dragonslayer Sword
Decent top end with godawful filler cards. There are much better weapons for both Impaling Stab and Sundering Strike like Double-Edged Sword and White Katana.

Sarigo's Rod
The full combo on one item. Try Blood Locket if you find you're drawing too many Path Of Knives.

Zod's Vile Spaceplate
The title of best Cushioning Armor divine armor is a toss up between Zod's Vile Spaceplate and Stargod's Raiments. Unholy Energy is going to be more consistently good while Bless is high risk high reward. Both are great so it all comes down to your play style for the tiebreaker. I personally don't like dealing with Blessed Terrain so for me Zod gets the nod. KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!

Notable Rares
Goat Boots (B)
Goat Boots has an insane amount of things going for it. It is tokenless, it has a good cycling trait in Immovable, it has 2 non-movement cards for maximizing Elven Maneuvers, and the 1 movement card it does have is a Dash with minor downside. For those not in the know, Elven Maneuvers is mostly used as a draw engine for Step attacks. Boots with fewer movement cards increase the likelihood that your stream of death will go uninterrupted. Goat Boots also happen to be a stellar choice for singleplayer where you're less likely to need the movement against melee mobs. They come to you for the most part so all you want are boots that cycle you to your more important cards. For that, you can also go with Glimmer Boots for better armor if your character can play around Squeamish.

Perfect Ferocity (NU)
There is one reason and one reason only to pick Frenzy Aura over double Blind Rage dwarf skills and it isn't the bad Rusty Armor impression. Adding Penetrating to melee attacks is crucial for vamp priests. They have lower damage attacks that get doubly screwed over by damage prevention since every point of damage dealt is a 2 point life swing. Having access to 2 Frenzy Auras is the biggest reason to go dwarf with your vamps so Perfect Ferocity is a must for short bloodsuckers.

Spoiler: Rare Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
Who need legendaries and epics when you have rares like these? This item is not only powerful but also fits in well established multiplayer or farming archetypes.

(N)iche
This is a great item but fits in a very specific build. You should only consider purchasing if you have that particular strategy in your sights.

(P)layable
Not the best. Not the worst. This item is simply solid all around and I believe could see play. If that isn't enough of a ringing endorsement then I don't know what is. Oh, and you can go ahead and assume that any item that falls into other categories is playable as well. I will not list things that I would not be willing to play myself.

(U)nique
There is nothing quite like this item. Its cards or combination of cards are not found on other items of the same slot or not on other items period. If this item catches your fancy you should take a second look because you won't find anything similar elsewhere.

(V)alue
There may be better options but this item won't bust your piggy bank.

 

They are one of the best tokenless boots. Alltough I have enough Hawkwind Moccassins I often enough choose to play Goat Boots over them.

 

Bolg's Club Of Evasion

Spoiler: Previously Reviewed

Peon's Prescription for Post Patch Procrastinating Multiplayers
Dodge builds used to be able to accumulate two copies and annoy the heck out of melee attackers with a 75% success rate. With the updated Dodge, that rate goes down to 55.56%. Because of this, I think it's better to think of it now as a value card rather than a complete strategy. It's ok to replace blocks in the shield slot since they serve similar functions. However, now that you can't rely on it as much, the value of replacing attacks with Dodge goes way down. As much as it pains me to say it, and you know that I love me some 13 attack warriors, the kind of build Bolg's Club of Evasion was meant for isn't feasible anymore. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Postponing Purchasing Singleplayers
Warriors are either killing machines or damage sponges in the campaign. Those in the former don't want to skimp on attacks. Those in the latter would rather be Impenetrable Nimbused since it always works and isn't useless against ranged mobs. Heck, everyone wants to be Nimbused up. You get a Nimbus! And you get a Nimbus! Everybody gets a Nimbus! Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Bec De Corbin (E)
The Daily Deal

Did Peon Buy It?
Yes, but back before the Dodge nerf. Dodge is still fine as a value card but not good enough to base your entire strategy around.

Epics
Eixocl's Hammer
Speaking of value Dodges, getting one or two copies from items like Eixocl's Hammer is perfectly reasonable. Add on highly useful Bash cards and you've got one of the better double minor token weapons.

Ihibrin's Holy Droplets
Jygpin's Healing Ring and Silver Healing Ring are better and cheaper to equip healing items. You could also try Medical Kit for double Greater Heal goodness. Anything to avoid playing Soothing Darkness.

Spritastrophe
While not game changing and lacking in consistency, there are some incredible cards on Spritastrophe and it is definitely playable. I would say it's around the same power level as Whorl, another budget friendly staff with an odd assortment of good cards.

Notable Rares
Manifold Healer (N)
Talented Healer a vamp priest's best friend. Not only do you get incidental heals from all your vamp attacks but by making them Cantrip, you can chain them together and suck people dry out of nowhere. With so many of the best vamp items requiring minor tokens or less, there is almost no reason to not play the major token requiring Focused Healer. That is of course unless you're using a vamp in a low level module. When major tokens aren't available, Manifold Healer is the next best thing.

Spoiler: Rare Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
Who need legendaries and epics when you have rares like these? This item is not only powerful but also fits in well established multiplayer or farming archetypes.

(N)iche
This is a great item but fits in a very specific build. You should only consider purchasing if you have that particular strategy in your sights.

(P)layable
Not the best. Not the worst. This item is simply solid all around and I believe could see play. If that isn't enough of a ringing endorsement then I don't know what is. Oh, and you can go ahead and assume that any item that falls into other categories is playable as well. I will not list things that I would not be willing to play myself.

(U)nique
There is nothing quite like this item. Its cards or combination of cards are not found on other items of the same slot or not on other items period. If this item catches your fancy you should take a second look because you won't find anything similar elsewhere.

(V)alue
There may be better options but this item won't bust your piggy bank.

 

Bloome's Barging Boots
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Charge is a notoriously hard card to play to full effect. Moving away with your melee character is an instant red flag that will cause most competent players' Chargey sense to start tingling. Rocket Charge deals with this problem in two ways. First of all, 3 points of damage per square moved is huge. Two squares is a maxed out Charge and then some. Three squares almost gets you a maxed Brutal Charge. You don't need to back up to get decent damage out of Rocket Charge. Just line yourself up during your normal advance and you'll get in what is essentially an unblockable mid sized attack or better. The addition of Fly also helps mask an incoming Charge. Set yourself up behind impassable or difficult terrain that would halt a normal movement card and your opponent likely won't see it coming. Do note that blocking terrain is entirely different beast. If you're thinking about Rocket Charging through a wall, you will be a sad panda shaped splat on said wall. So is Bloome's Barging Boots actually worth playing? That depends. You need a character that has a spare major token, doesn't mind getting close to enemies, and doesn't need their boots slot for longer ranged moves. That's not impossible to accomplish but it is a pretty tall order. Alternatively, as the only boots with two copies of Lunging Bash, Bloome's Barging Boots might be appealing to a Bash warrior but you again need a spare major token and an alternative way to getting your movement. Those simply looking for controlling cards on their boots would be better served going with Violent Spin. Long story short, possibly great on elven vamps and Bash warriors but needs a lot of help for everyone else. Would not purchase unless you're sure you can use it to good effect.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Bloome's Barging Boots does enough damage to be considered half a weapon. While a fantastic source of damage, that major token still needs to come from somewhere. Most likely, it's coming out of your actual weapons. When you consider the loss in damage from switching a major to minor token on a weapon you're pretty much breaking even. Rocket Charging a mob into oblivion is fun but that's all it is. A fun card. It won't help you farm faster and odds are, you'll actually be losing time trying to get that sweet sweet 15 damage Rocket Charge in. If you're just out to have a good time by all means play with Rocket Charge, but just get it from the much more reasonably priced Sky Traveler's Boots. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Sky Traveler's Boots (R)

Did Peon Buy It?
Nope. I very nearly talked myself into buying it writing this review. Then I saw 3 pairs of Boots Of Etzicatl that I've literally only equipped once starring back at me and thought better.

Epics
Dworia's Soulstone
The poor man's Bleneth's Frenzy Tome. Great in a 1-1-1 build (one of each class), decent in a melee build if you can use that Savage Curse to good effect before succumbing to the card disadvantage.

Jackrabbit Shield
Hit The Deck is so bad that Jackrabbit Shield saw nearly no play while Dodge was still a metagame scourge. Halting yourself is just too great of a price to pay, even for more powerful cards.

Sarigo's Rod
Path Of Knives and Slide spells go together like peanut butter and jelly. Consider Sarigo's Rod a premade PB&J sandwich with the crust cut off. Try Blood Locket if you find yourself with too much peanut butter Path of Knives.

Notable Rares
Spacediver's Face Screen (P)
This helmet has it all. Top notch defense, free attacks, and a little card draw thrown in for good measure. Spacediver's Face Screen would be a great candidate for Best of the Best were it not for its token cost. Sadly, most warriors simply cannot afford to devote a major token to the helmet slot. Those that do tend to want something extra defensive like Bubble Helmet. However, I would use Spacediver's Face Screen if you're looking for the best Mimetic Crown helmet. Alternatively, you can go for the less powerful but more consistent Flexible Space Helmet for your Mimetic needs.

Spoiler: Rare Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
Who needs legendaries and epics when you have rares like these? This item is not only powerful but also fits in well established multiplayer or farming archetypes.

(N)iche
This is a great item but fits in a very specific build. You should only consider purchasing if you have that particular strategy in your sights.

(P)layable
Not the best. Not the worst. This item is simply solid all around and I believe could see play. If that isn't enough of a ringing endorsement then I don't know what is. Oh, and you can go ahead and assume that any item that falls into other categories is playable as well. I will not list things that I would not be willing to play myself.

(U)nique
There is nothing quite like this item. Its cards or combination of cards are not found on other items of the same slot or not on other items period. If this item catches your fancy you should take a second look because you won't find anything similar elsewhere.

(V)alue
There may be better options but this item won't bust your piggy bank.

 

Sander's Force Mirror

Spoiler: Previously Reviewed

Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Based on power level alone, Force Cone is weaker than control spells that allow you to choose where targets end up. The more walls or impassable terrain a map has the worse it gets. However, Force Cone has two qualities that no other control spell has both of. It is able to hit multiple targets and you can get multiple copies per token spent. There's also a slight advantage in not being a targeted spell but that isn't going to be relevant often. Being so map dependent, Sander's Force Mirror is not going to be better than something like Ring Of Appropriation most of the time so I would not prioritize it highly. However, if there's one place Force Cone shines it's Death March league. You never have to worry about walls getting in the way and you can shove any number of opposing characters away from the victory point without worrying about Smoke Bombs or Illusory Barriers. Pick it up if you plan on grinding Death March leagues or have a lot of spare gold. Would not purchase otherwise.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Force Cone is amazing for keeping mobs without blocks at bay but at the end of the day it's still a control spell. Every copy of Force Cone you put into your deck takes a place that should go to a hard working Firestorm instead. Playing keep away is nice but killing everything outright is better. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Ring Of Appropriation (E)
The Daily Deal

Did Peon Buy It?
Yes, but not today. Having to much gold and nothing to buy will do crazy things to a Card Hunter. Luckily, Randimar has stepped up his game so that doesn't happen too often anymore.

Epics
Flashing Longspear
The best Penetrating weapon but most warriors mix and match attack types to shore up weaknesses rather than focusing on any one type. That makes Double-Edged Sword a much more commonly used "Penetrating" weapon with its addition of Step attacks.

Tariel's Diadem
Even discounting the narrow Counterspell, terrain wizards would rather pair damaging terrain with control spells and burning wizards just want more burning cards.

Whiteglow Flail
With great spells and useful attacks, Whiteglow Flail is just rock solid all around.

Notable Rares
Automatic Shield (N)
You need to be in a module where the mobs use Burst, Cone, or Linear attacks (or whatever the attacks those annoying chess pieces have are) and you also need to be using a melee party. If those two things fit whatever you're doing say hello to your new best friend. Why not just spam Impenetrable Nimbusand be done with it you ask? Well, you don't need to remain glued to your priest and you're not always going to draw a Nimbus every turn. This is a very situational item but it is definitely one you should keep in mind as future modules come along.

Focused Cleansing (P)
While not as obviously powerful as other priest traits, Holy Presence offers a highly useful effect with a sprinkling of heals. Bonus points for not relying on running any particular type of priest spell allowing Unholy heavy priests to have a trait to fall back on. Holy Presence also gets rid of handicaps from enemy cards, something that a regular Purge effect fails to do. The biggest thing holding Focused Cleansing back is the existence of Novice Ablution. Two copies of the key card plus the ever useful Purge for no tokens is often too good a deal to pass up. Still, if you've got a spare minor token and no clear priest trait synergies to take advantage of, Focused Cleansing is a great option.

Skipping Boots (P)
If that Reliable Hide Armor were any half decent movement card instead, Skipping Boots would undoubtedly be one of the best tokenless boots. As is, it is still above average and one of the few ways to get Healing Dash for vamps. Those packing answers to handicaps or counters to Halt also have the option of going for Boots Of Discretion.

Spoiler: Rare Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
Who needs legendaries and epics when you have rares like these? This item is not only powerful but also fits in well established multiplayer or farming archetypes.

(N)iche
This is a great item but fits in a very specific build. You should only consider purchasing if you have that particular strategy in your sights.

(P)layable
Not the best. Not the worst. This item is simply solid all around and I believe could see play. If that isn't enough of a ringing endorsement then I don't know what is. Oh, and you can go ahead and assume that any item that falls into other categories is playable as well. I will not list things that I would not be willing to play myself.

(U)nique
There is nothing quite like this item. Its cards or combination of cards are not found on other items of the same slot or not on other items period. If this item catches your fancy you should take a second look because you won't find anything similar elsewhere.

(V)alue
There may be better options but this item won't bust your piggy bank.