The Daily Deal

We could get two different items?

 

It's updated in Today's Daily Deal - shieldripper

 

Then why was @Ector talking about The Lunginator?

 

Shieldripper (P)

Spoiler: Previously Reviewed

Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Unnerving Strike is decent but it isn't all that it's cracked up to be. The average melee character has 3 blocks and the average wizard has none. Most of the time Unnerving Strike winds up being a Strong Bludgeon. When you do catch someone with a block there's a good chance it's a high percentage block like Parry which will still trigger 50% of the time. Unnerving Strike is even worse currently due to widespread usage of Aegis Of The Defender. Not only is everyone down a block for you to remove but you also can no longer assume that the character your opponent leads out with has a block in hand. While fine on lower costed weapons where you really only want the 8 damage with occasional card advantage, spending two major tokens for copies of a relatively low damage card that doesn't live up to expectations is overkill. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
You can use Shieldripper in modules starting at level 14. There are a couple of mobs with annoying blocks including those damn dirty monkeys. The majority of them have block melees. What are you trying to tell us Peon? Is little Timmy stuck in the well?

Spoiler

USE YO WIZARDS

Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Maquah Of Ancient Blood (E) , Riptide (E)

Did Peon Buy It?
Nope. Too often an overcosted The Strongarm to justify paying major tokens for but it can obviously be great in a block heavy environment.

Epics
Apprentice Command (P)
Not terribly exciting, especially if you're facing non-melee characters but not bad otherwise.

Ripping Mace (P)
Great attacks and spells though it doesn't give you any buffs which is what most priests are used for.

Tempered Flamestaff
Burning wizards are so expensive to make that it doesn't make sense to cheap out on the staff, arguably the most crucial slot not to cheap out on with it's 6 cards. If you want a burning staff that only costs a single token Igneous Scorchstaff is the way to go. Not only are the burning cards more powerful and unique but Combustible is much less of a liability than Defensiveness.

Notable Rares
Coruscating Blade (V)
Unholy Energy will deal you a noticeable amount of damage if the buffee isn't attack heavy or packing armor but extra cards for a couple hp you weren't using anyways is never a bad deal. When it comes to card draw on divine weapons, Coruscating Blade is only second to the legendary Gloomthirst. However, it's a little easier on the tokens, has a nice pair of Penetrating Stabs, and you get a little Purge thrown in for good measure.

St. Xarol's Axe (P)
When you are farming the lower level modules, 5 damage is the sweet spot as it puts you out of Weak Block range that those darn Kobolds seem to never run out of. Being able to hit two things at the same time is just icing on the cake. If there is a priest in your low level farming party, St. Xarol's Axe is an excellent choice.

Spoiler: Item Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
This item is the best of the best of the best. With honors. It 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 rare 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 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.


You could probably engineer a situation where this item wouldn't suck but it's more trouble than it's worth.


This item makes me sad and will probably make you sad too if you buy it. There are no circumstances where I'd consider playing this item.

 

Because I see The Lunginator instead of Shieldripper.

 

If you loaded the Daily Deal from 0:00-2:00 GMT then you would have gotten the The Lunginator. If you loaded it after 2:00 GMT, you would get the Shieldripper. The patch deploy seems to be the reason why we got differing TDDs.

 

The lunginator is probably a N(iche) item, if you want to play with bashes you probably want lunging bashes since they combo with themselves, that leaves you, on the weapon front, with:
Goblin's Club full of bad attacks.
Porior's Nimble Mace decent but probably outclassed by eixoocl's hammer
Crimson Morningstar still probably outclassed by the hammer due to the bad attacks.
Ettin's Club pretty bad damage output.
Eixocl's Hammer probably one of the besh bash weapons, but a bit low on damage and therefore a bit risky to double wield.
Basher's Delight, basically a worse lunginator, less tech, less damage and a bigger token cost(that doesn't let you equip Bloome's Barging Boots,if you want to do that).
Zoltan's Laser Scourge probably the best one, but between drained battery and the best tokenless helmets and armors revealing your hand, plus blind rage also doing that, dual wielding it might be a bit frustrating.
The Lunginator, probably the best of the bunch in term of pure damage, but might require careful positioning to throw the enemy against the wall with a bash, on the plus side a bashed enemy doesn't turn around, so it might remove parries more easily later in the round.

So it is probably a valid option for a bash build and little else

 

Has anyone tried Zoltan and Lunginator and Porior together? 10x Lunging Bash, and you have a major and two minor tokens left for other slots. You'd probably want Flanking Move on your boots, for when Step 1 isn't enough to line up the Whips.

 

@Souleye has posted some Zoltan / Lunginator builds: http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...t-weapons-in-the-game.7019/page-7#post-102417 and onwards.

 

Hawlic's Robes

Spoiler: Previously Reviewed

Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Although there are more cards that dish out attachments now, Mystical Wyrmhide is still not as cool as one would hope. It will reflect attachments from Radiation Bomb and Radiation Bolt but merely discards the ones from Irradiated terrain. Also, while adding to the armor roll is nice, Leather Harness is nearly useless when you don't have the Mystical Wyrmhide in hand. My rule for running weak cards is you need 2 strong ones to compensate or at the very least there needs to be card draw attached to one of the other cards. Hawlic's Robes has a nice concept but poor execution. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Attachments can be annoying but they are far from devastating for the most part. The only one I'm particularly scared of is Mind Munch and surprise surprise, it completely hoses Mystical Wyrmhide if it lands. Stick with Resistant Hide robes which cover poison (like Infected Bite) and burning attachments, the two most damaging attachment types. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Boltswap Robes (R), Hutul's Robes (E)
The Daily Deal

Did Peon Buy It?
Nope. Seeing as how Radiation Bomb is gaining in notoriety, Mystical Wyrmhide might actually be a good card to look into. However, wizards have a lot more leeway with major tokens compared to other classes so I'd be more interested in Meztis Wyrmhide Robes. If my intuition is correct, you wouldn't even need roll boosting from Harnesses. The threat of reflecting back negative attachments should be enough to keep your wizard from being targeted.

Epics
Charging Boulder
Shrug It Off can be a dead card if you don't face off against negative attachments, card disadvantage if the attachment was a rider on a damaging attack or a self imposed handicap, and occasionally a one for one against cards like Path Of Knives. Toughness technically keeps you from going down a card and there's no other dwarf skill with Brutal Charge but I would still avoid Shrug it Off.

Farzil's Perplexing Horn (V)
To be perfectly honest, most of the time I use Farzil's Perplexing Horn is when I have a spare major token and feel bad about squandering it minor token Telekinesis items. Short Perplexing Ray being an attack does have nice synergies with cards like Unholy Energy and Inspiring Presence. Bewlin's Baffling Bauble is obviously preferable if you're specifically trying to get Short Perplexing Rays though having Perplexing Ray as a long range early play can be nice.

Reckless Warp Boots (P)
The pair of long range movements allows you to set up your position early though Warp Run can be a liability when you're loaded up on buffs and traits. Warp Run is also available for a minor token Shielding Warp Boots and I prefer the double shot at Rocket Dash from Rocket Boots.

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.

Spoiler: Item Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
This item is the best of the best of the best. With honors. It 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 rare 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 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.


You could probably engineer a situation where this item wouldn't suck but it's more trouble than it's worth.


This item makes me sad and will probably make you sad too if you buy it. There are no circumstances where I'd consider playing this item.

 

Shrug It Off will also let you steal priority. Sure, you would rather have Flanking Move instead nearly every time, and it's still a dead card if you already had priority, but it's not a card I deliberately avoid.

 

St. Xanu's Geneshaper Gear (U)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
As a defensive card, Adaptable can be hit or miss. Face off against damage type focused characters like vamps and it will buy you all kinds of time. Run into more diverse attacks or party setups and you may as well not have Adaptable at all. To make matters worse, you cannot rely too heavily on buffs and traits as they're likely to get knocked off after getting hit a few times. When you consider that for a minor token you can get Cintxotl Mail for much more reliable damage prevention St. Xanu's Geneshaper Gear just doesn't cut it. However, using Adaptable as an enabler is a different story. It's when you're building around a strategy that involves repeatedly taking damage of one type that Adaptable truly shines. Maybe you are stacking a bunch of pain free Loners (it's the attachment that prevents the damage, not the armor itself). Maybe you want to toss out buffed up Flash Of Agony without hiding behind a wall first. Sure, there isn't too much you can do with Adaptable at the moment but that likely won't always be the case. Purchase if you want to build around Adaptable. Would not purchase as a defensive measure.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Mob attacks tend to be a lot more focused and the AI doesn't take Immunities into consideration when attacking so you are bound to prevent a lot of damage. However, it's a major token luxury whose effect can be replicated by a simple Impenetrable Nimbus. Sure, that only lasts one round but that's often all you need to soak up attacks and gain an hp advantage. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
None

Did Peon Buy It?
Yup. I was originally going to pass but I talked myself into buying it. Adaptable just has a lot of combo potential and it's too rare to pass up.

Epics
Advanced Footwork (P)
This one gets a P pretty much on the back of Violent Spin alone. Escaping Run is decent since it draws you around half a card and is at least a Run. Smashing Spin on the other hand just reeks. It would be fantastic if it had Push or even Slide Back though that would probably warrant a boost in quality rating.

Mithril Mesh Slippers (P)
Great movement and armor but Mithril Mesh Slippers is a mix of more focused boots, Crafted Monkey Boots and Kerrick's Steel Boots/Quellic's Boots. Personally, I'd go with the more focused boots.

Novice Evasion (P)
Slippery is without a doubt the single most powerful elf card. You essentially get 3 free back attacks if you have priority or at the very least stick close to/get the heck away from enemy characters. Novice Evasion and other minor token Slippery skills simply suffer from class based considerations. Elf warriors tend to not have tokens left over and benefit greatly from the tokenless Cautious Mobility. Elf vamp priests have the opposite problem, an abundance of major tokens, allowing them access to the drawtastic Superb Mobility. As for elf wizards, well everyone knows that they're simply a myth.

Notable Rares
Inspired Command (P)
Inspirational Thinking is the most powerful draw effect in the game so it gets paired with less than stellar cards. The difference with Inspired Command is that Shuffle, Team! and Subtle Parry, while weak, are moderately useful. If you like "going big or going home" strategies this may just be the skill for you.

St. Xarol's Axe (P)
When you are farming the lower level modules, 5 damage is the sweet spot as it puts you out of Weak Block range that those darn Kobolds seem to never run out of. Being able to hit two things at the same time is just icing on the cake. If there is a priest in your low level farming party, St. Xarol's Axe is an excellent choice.

Spoiler: Item Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
This item is the best of the best of the best. With honors. It 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 rare 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 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.


You could probably engineer a situation where this item wouldn't suck but it's more trouble than it's worth.


This item makes me sad and will probably make you sad too if you buy it. There are no circumstances where I'd consider playing this item.

 

Apprentice Stoutness

Spoiler: Previously Reviewed

Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Apprentice Stoutness is pretty much a bad Trained Toughness and I wouldn't touch that either. Most player know better than to lead off with their best attack. This is less true for generally blockless wizards but dwarf wizards are notorious for packing Toughness so even then it's very rare. What ends up happening is your opponents will see the Duck and they proceed to throw all their unimportant stuff at it until something lands. With Toughness, you get a shot at a random card from your deck that is going to be better than a low end card of your opponents' choice more often than not. For a minor token you just can't pass up playing Toughness. I would go with Raging Rock for melee characters and Advanced Toughness for wizards. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Since the AI uses attacks at random you have a much greater chance of getting something juicy with Duck. However, since you are routinely outnumbered, mob attacks tend to be weaker. There are exceptions of course with big boss mobs. If the sound of serving the Troll King a healthy dose of his own Almighty Bludgeon seems way too tempting, there are much cheaper ways to go about it. Chain Harness and Toughened Hide Strips are nothing special so replacing them with any old cards is perfectly acceptable. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Novice Stoutness (E) , Trained Toughness (E)
The Daily Deal

Did Peon Buy It?
Nope. I will say that I have a little more respect for Duck thanks to this post by @Lucky Dice. Everyone and their mother runs a bit of armor removal now and Toughness gets caught up in the crossfire. I still prefer Toughness to Duck in a vacuum though I would not fault anyone for choosing Duck due to metagame considerations. Oh, and Apprentice Stoutness still sucks.

Epics
Hylithia's Wand (P)
Xochu's Icy Circlet is generally going to be better. Acid Blast has all the unreliability of damaging terrain and only a smidgen of the damage.

Rusty Healing Armor
Weak cards all around. That's all there is to it.

Xander's Boots (N)
You are paying a major token to change the Flanking Move on Ulalia's Boots to an Escaping Run. That probably isn't even something you'd want given how amazing Flanking Move is on wizards.

Notable Rares
Draining Console (N)
Vamp fans received a huge boon with the introduction of Draining Console. Not only does it provide a sink for unused major tokens, something vamps have a tendency to end up with, but it's also the first good rare vampy divine item. Healing Beacon is obviously not ideal but a pair of whopping 7 damage Invigorating Touches is more than enough for Draining Console to be in the good graces of bloodsuckers everywhere.

Spoiler: Item Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
This item is the best of the best of the best. With honors. It 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 rare 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 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.


You could probably engineer a situation where this item wouldn't suck but it's more trouble than it's worth.


This item makes me sad and will probably make you sad too if you buy it. There are no circumstances where I'd consider playing this item.

 

Oskar's Pine Shield

Spoiler: Previously Reviewed

Multiplayer
Defender's Block is one of the most sought after blocks. The ability to block anything for anyone within 3 and draw a card on top is too good to pass up. Catch Arrow and Weak Parry may look like narrow blocks that are good against completely different builds but just look at all the Nimble Strike/Whirlwind parties out there. What's that, this isn't 5 months ago? Yeah right, now you're going to tell me Brazil won't make the World Cup finals.

Singleplayer
Shields are usually one of the last things people spend token on since getting great attacks takes priority. If you can spare the token and you know you will be facing a combination of melee and magic/projectile attacks then Oskar's Pine Shield is superb. This shield can come in handy against anything from slimes to chess pieces or even those damn dirty apes.

Peon's prescription for prodigious players- Getting Defender's Block is great but not at the cost of having dead cards in many situations. If you are going to have narrow blocks, go with block melees. Most builds in multiplayer and mob setups in the campaign have some sort of melee attack. What you are really after is that Defender's Block and there are a decent amount of general use options available. Ichabod's Buckler with two block any Wounded Blocks for instance is a much better buy in my opinion. Would not purchase Oskar's Pine Shield.

Substitutes
Buckler Of Protection (R) , Defensive Buckler (R) , Aegis Of The Defender (E)
The Daily Deal

Did Peon Buy It?
Nope. This outdated review could use a redo but it's the holidays, I'm feeling lazy, and I don't think Oskar's Pine Shield is worth picking up anyways.

Epics
Dual Optimum D-45
Unfocused, top-heavy, and not powerful enough to compensate.

Necalli Charm
Pure vamp items like Wuuna's Vampiric Shroud are better.

Untrained Footwork
Still getting hit with ranged attacks after a triggered Skip is awful. That isn't to say it's unplayable but it certainly isn't a reason to pick Untrained Footwork as your tokenless elf skill of choice.

Notable Rares
Blood Locket (V)
When you run Path Of Knives, you obviously want ways to force afflicted characters to move. This is most often and most easily accomplished with control spells. Blood Locket just so happens to give you both on the same item. The epic Sarigo's Rod is better if you want an additional copy of Path of Knives but that isn't always the case. You may very well want a cycling trait instead and Squeamish is one of the easiest handicaps to play around.

Crafted Monkey Boots (P)
If you've got a heavy hitting melee character that would like nothing better than to pick off an enemy character with their pants down, Sprint is definitely the way to go. You do risk getting ganged up on but it can often be worth the risk, especially if your opponent's movement cards have already been spent. Both Scamper, with its Free Move to bypass defenders, and Dangerous Maneuver further the theme of getting in a quick ambush. While Crafted Monkey Boots is the best overall Sprint boots, you may want Crazy Fast Boots as a more reliable Sprint source if you can deal with or play around Trip.

Emberfloat Mantle (V)
Very few robes have Sparkling Cloth Armor and even fewer have Firestorm. Emberfloat Mantle is the only one to have both. While that makes it the second best choice for both cards, it is still an incredible value item. Firehide Robesis the obvious choice for a Firestorm wizard though Sparkling Cloth Armor is significantly better against melee than Resistant Hide. Thin Sparkling Cloak has an extra copy of Sparkling Cloth Armor but its popularity took a nosedive after the Vulnerable nerf. For having good anti-melee capabilities and a cycling trait all while remaining tokenless, Emberfloat Mantle is a great all-around choice of robes.

Mail Of Absorption (NV)
Mail of Absorption doesn't have good enough armor to play on any warrior but it does have one thing going for it. You get the electricity immunity of Grounding Plates without the Encumbering Heavy Armor on Stormward Pauldrons. This is especially important because electricity using mobs are all ranged so you will need to chase them down. There are legendary options such as Aranak's Chain Web and Ozone Plates but they are a lot more expensive and not much better. You could also go for the major token epic Spaceproof Carapace which is much more suitable for general use with its inclusion of Force Field.

Staff Of Winter (N)
There are staves with better cold spells, there are staves with bigger variety of cold spells, but no other cold staff has the same level of consistency and damage. While packing the odd cold spell isn't unheard of, cold wizards themselves aren't very popular. Other good options include Frosty Staff, which trades damage for encumbrance stacking potential against 4+ movement and Staff Of The Arctic, which trade even more damage for a better chance to hit the rest of your team multiple targets.

Spoiler: Item Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
This item is the best of the best of the best. With honors. It 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 rare 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 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.


You could probably engineer a situation where this item wouldn't suck but it's more trouble than it's worth.


This item makes me sad and will probably make you sad too if you buy it. There are no circumstances where I'd consider playing this item.

 

Reaper's Scythe (P)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Is Reaper's Scythe better than Bejeweled Shortsword? Well that depends on how badly you want Dodge. Most warriors would rather have attacks. When it comes time to discard, Dodge just isn't reliable enough to hold on to in favor of other cards. However, if your warrior is a tank whose main job is to soak up attacks rather than dish out damage, you suddenly have a reason to hold on to all those Dodges. You could argue that Reap The Whirlwind or Bolg's Club Of Evasion would be better for the job but Reaper's Scythe is a nice middle ground for tanks that still want to be able to close out games. Purchase if you want a defensive warrior that can still pack a punch. Would not purchase for the run of the mill warrior.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Is Reaper's Scythe better than Bejeweled Shortsword in singleplayer? Nope, see everyone tomorrow.

Substitutes
Bec De Corbin (E)

Did Peon Buy It?
Nope. I do use occasionally but not often enough that I'd buy one.

Epics
Cleansing Diamond (NV)
The poor man's Fulg's Cleansing Pot. Cleansing Diamond is better than most Cleansing items since Cleansing Ray replaces itself but the effect itself is still incredibly narrow.

Pendant Of Artax
Glob Of Flame and Telekinesis, while great, tend to go into different archetypes. Little Zap plain stinks.

Silver Fir Staff
Spark wizards don't have any obligatory arcane items so they are pretty much free to go token crazy on staves. Minor token Spark staves tend to be underpowered. Case in point, Silver Fir Staff. If you're going to neuter yourself with low cost Spark staves, you may as well go tokenless for Greenspark Staff.

Notable Rares
Yolotli Armor (U)
If there's one thing that Enchanted Harness loves it's armors with triggered effects and Barbed Platemail is the daddy of them all. To get both cards on the same heavy armor is just icing on the cake. If you've ever wanted to build around Enchanted Harness, Yolotli Armor is a good place to start.

Spoiler: Item Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
This item is the best of the best of the best. With honors. It 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 rare 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 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.


You could probably engineer a situation where this item wouldn't suck but it's more trouble than it's worth.


This item makes me sad and will probably make you sad too if you buy it. There are no circumstances where I'd consider playing this item.

 

Personally, I like to build Enchanted Harness around Grounding Plates, since it becomes a reliable Armor 4 with electrical immunity. However, it's only possible for me because I was lucky in randimar's once and got General Jelom's Helm.

 

Advanced Crushing (P)

Spoiler: Previously Reviewed

Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Crusher is one of those cards that seems great but looks can be deceiving. If you look at the all the contenders for best weapon there are shockingly few that are crushing weapons. Heck, most of them don't even have crushing attacks. All you get when you play crushing attacks is damage with a side order of more damage (excluding Bashes which have their own more reasonably costed trait). The minor token Advanced Crushing requires commits you to the cause but while you gain in raw power you lose out on versatility. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Damage wins out over tricky stuff against the AI so boosting high damage weapons even more is not too shabby. However, you get more damage out of your tokens from weapons so you don't have tokens to spare till level 11. Once you get sufficient major tokens you can just start using Bejeweled Shortsword for your obscene damage needs. The level range where Advanced Crushing excels doesn't have any modules where melee farming is faster than wizards in my opinion though maybe that's my Firestorm addiction talking. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
None
The Daily Deal

Did Peon Buy It?
Nope. Warriors gain reach from diversifying their attacks. You don't need reach on your warriors in singleplayer but the highest damage weapons aren't solely Crushing attacks (aside from Infused Greatclub).

Epics
Coruscating Mail (P)
I really want to like Coruscating Mail since searching up Dynamic Armor with Elven Maneuvers is exceedingly cool but that Shimmering Aura is a major buzzkill. As is, Coruscating Mail barely crosses the threshold of playable thanks to Reliable Mail. I would be more interested in running Ogre Hide Armor which has a second Elven Maneuvers searchable armor in Thick Hide Armor.

Sparking Shell
Two Shimmering Auras too many. Warriors have a decent amount of great tokenless heavy armors to choose from you won't be missing much.

Tarial's Diadem
You would think that burning spells and Lava terrain would go hand in hand but you'd be wrong. Wall Of Fire goes best with control spells like Winds Of War *cough* Runestone *cough* and Glob Of Flame goes best with more burning stuff to maximize Firestarter. I would avoid magic only cards though I'll admit I have a bias against running them and Counterspell is near the top of wizard hosers.

Notable Rares
Ebony Prayer Beads (V)
While a little slow and vulnerable as attachments, the card draw that Ebony Prayer Beads offers is almost unparalleled for a minor token divine item. Though a bit painful, you can get similar card advantage from Incense Of The Caged Demon which benefits from a cycling trait. If you have a major token available the obvious upgrade would be Mokad's Reeking Skull.

Orb Of Flames (NV)
It can be incredibly expensive to make a great Firestorm farming party but a bare bones version will still be significantly faster than anything else you can conjure up. Enter Orb of Flames. Definitely not the most glamorous with its short range cone spell but what matters is that it'll get you started on the path to Firestorming the countryside. For Firestorm on the cheap, you can also turn to Storm Circlet. For a little extra there's epics like Banik's Bubbling Bauble, Crown Of Mad Eskin, and Stookster's Amulet which have control spells to help you get into optimal Firestorming position. You'll definitely want to be looking out for the double Firestorm legendaries in Azgul's Orb, Chartwell's Ring, and Brin's Storm Locket.

Shielding Token (BN)
Shielding Token is not only one of the best sources of Impenetrable Nimbus but it is also the cheapest to equip tokenwise. An unanswered Impenetrable Nimbus is incredibly powerful and luckily for singleplayers, the vast majority of mobs don't have answers for it. The AI also does not play around Impenetrable Nimbus making Nimbus spamming one of the most effective strategies to employ in difficult modules. However, the same cannot be said for multiplayer. You can and will run into players who both run answers like Purge and have the experience to play around it, either by declining to engage you while Impenetrable Nimbus is active or going after your other characters. The only other good source of Impenetrable Nimbus on a divine item is Medallion Of St. Vigus which is only uncommon but requires a major token.

Spoiler: Item Rating Code

(B)est of the Best
This item is the best of the best of the best. With honors. It 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 rare 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 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.


You could probably engineer a situation where this item wouldn't suck but it's more trouble than it's worth.


This item makes me sad and will probably make you sad too if you buy it. There are no circumstances where I'd consider playing this item.

 

Advanced Crushing A must-buy item if you don't have it yet. Just for a blue token you get two Crushers adding +2 damage to all crushing attacks for 3 turns (NOT just for 2 turns like Blind Rage and Mass Frenzy) and one decent crushing attack, especially useful if you have low number of attacks. Note that Crusher stacks well with the other buffs, so you will often get +4 damage to your crushing attacks which will make even your Strong Bludgeon devastating.

This is wrong even currently, since The Lunginator exists. Also, there are Porior's Nimble Mace, The Pulper, Beater, Dangerous Club, Maquah Of Ancient Blood and so on. In the future this may become terribly false, and you will regret skipping this skill.

This is wrong too. Unnerving Strike is a crushing attack with a good tech that isn't a Bash. Many weapons have half bashes and half non-bashing attacks like Porior's Nimble Mace. Most importantly, it's very difficult to build a good warrior with only bashes, so your Novice Bruising will affect only part of your attacks (excluding even its own Bludgeon!), while it's quite possible to build a good warrior with almost all crushing attacks.

This implies that "versatility" is always better than the "raw power" which obviously couldn't be true. Yes, it's true sometimes, maybe even most of the time, but not all the time. There are maps where you don't need much movement, for instance, and the raw power wins there.

As a conclusion, Advanced Crushing is the best damage-pumping martial skill. It's even better than Focused Crushing, since you get two out of three Crushers for a blue token instead of yellow and may spend that yellow token on something important for your build. If we would ever see a wonderful crushing weapon for , this skill will be the only option for a good build, as the Focused Crushing wouldn't allow you to take two copies. Don't miss it!

The only reason I didn't grab it immediately is that I already have two copies

 

Ok ok, you win. I hereby decree that Advanced Crushing is a must buy. If you see it you must purchase it on sight. What's that? I'm just one guy expressing his opinion and has no power whatsoever over what anyone buys? Well go back to buying whatever the heck you want I guess.

 

I'm sort of guessing he posted because adding reasons to actually buy it makes some sense.

Speaking of which, today's daily is Larkin's Orb which I'll be speaking more about... later, as I have some plans for my morning.