They're awful. Really awful. God awful. With the sole exception of Tezkal Elves, these packs are terrible. I'm sorry, there's just no other word for it. These need to be changed, especially with the influx of new players coming into the game recently. So, let's start by looking at Tezkal elves, the best starter pack, and seeing what they have. Elf Warrior: Epic x1 Rare x3 Uncommon x3 Common x2 Elf Priest: Epic x1 Rare x2 Uncommon x5 Common x2 Elf Wizard: Epic x1 Rare x3 Uncommon x2 Common x4 So from this, we can establish some ground rules for creating these parties. First, each character gets at least one epic and two rare items. Second, among the commons and uncommons is at least one level 18 item. Third, one rare is tokenless. Fourth, the epic item needs to be in the Weapon/Staff/Divine Weapon slot. Using this template above for each character, I'll propose a new deck build with the expansion in mind for the first pack, Adventurers. Dwarf Warrior So this guy has a big axe and a chop theme. Seems okay enough. Obviously Chop attacks are rather dubious in MP ranked, but let's try to keep the theme anyways. Perhaps the most exciting card we can give him that keeps the 'Chop' theme would be Master's Battleaxe. It gives him chops and mobility at the same time, reflecting the powerful nature of a Dwarf. Since we want to emphasize that power, we should also keep the theme of dedicating tokens to his weapon slots, so keeping Burnished Blade seems like a good choice, and using Nimble Hatchet keeps in with the theme. The next thing to emphasize is his Dwarf Skill section. This is what defines your race after all beyond HP and Movement. Since he's not in a Dwarf Party though, I'd opt in for Untrained Toughness for the tokenless rare. Novice Slicing would get the second uncommon slot to further emphasize the combo being presented with this character. For the second rare, I'd place it in the Shield Section, giving him Steel-Rimmed buckler for two Parries (important for any warrior) and a Surging Shield Block for a bit more movement. Finally, since no Dwarf would be complete without a Charge somewhere in their deck, I'd opt for Steel Boots of the Bull for the third rare, and round out the Helmet and Armor slot with Plate Mail and Helmet of Thorns. Elven Wizard It's a bit hard to really pin down what this elf is supposed to be good at. She bashes people who get up close, fires from range 8-10 on most spells, and combines armor discard with penetrating bolts and is described as Cunning, perhaps emphasized by her perplexing rays. My advice? Since most people who use mages are going to come upon electricity first, let's take that theme and roll with it. Well, let's start with the Staff. Since this is an elf wizard, we want to keep her at range. Thus, Oxha's Sparkspreader seems like a fun first pick. And for our second? Mighty Sparking Staff. However, as an elf she's going to need lots of mobility. Thus, I'd go for Thin Sparkling Cloak in the robe slot. Electroporter Novice would normally be the go-to Arcane skill in this case, but this time I'd actually opt for Exceptional Sparking, because Obliterating Spark is a fun attack card for new players. Fill out the Elf Skill slot with Cautious Trickery since well...it's the most fun and the most effective tokenless elf skill for wizards. Heavy Hide Boots gets the nod here for Healing Dash. The arcane items get a bit tricky, but I think they're on the right track with armor removal and putting distance between you and your foes, especially as an elf, so I'll keep the Wand of Sealed Air and Akon's Amulet, but also bring in Blasting Amulet and Blood Locket for the final Arcane Slots. Human Priest The priest is always a tricky class to handle in any build, but the Adventurer's Party seems to emphasize healing so let's roll with that a bit. First the Divine Epic Weapon. I don't think anything emphasizes it more than Healing Hand Mace (since Whiteglow Flail is already being used and I don't want to be repetitive). Rockshaft Atlatl gets the second slot for more general support. Advanced Flexibility comes next, to further emphasize the utility of the human priest, and Novice Piety because Altruism will work nicely with all of the holy effects. For the divine items, since this priest was described as Noble, I'm going to avoid the more demonic items and instead go with Abalone Relic, Medallion of St. Vigus, and Clouded Healing Ring. Twisting Shield fills out the shield slot, Barbed Armor for the Tokenless Rare, and Jackrabbit Boots for the final slot. The Final Party Strong-in-the-Arm Level 20 Dwarf Warrior Nimble Hatchet Burnished Blade Master's Battleaxe Plate Mail Steel-rimmed Buckler Helmet Of Thorns Steel Boots Of The Bull Untrained Toughness Novice Slicing 5 x Chop 3 x Strong Chop 1 x War Cry 1 x Charge 1 x Reliable Mail 1 x Obliterating Chop 1 x Ouch! 1 x Surging Shield Block 1 x Powerful Hack 1 x Backbiting Strike 1 x Weak Chop 2 x Slicer 1 x Mail 2 x Skillful Strike 3 x Dancing Cut 3 x Parry 1 x Spiked Mail 1 x Shrug It Off 1 x Nimble Strike 1 x Strong Hack 1 x Thickened Mail 1 x Reliable Hide Armor 1 x Hardy Mail 1 x Muscle Through Kilia Level 20 Elf Wizard Oxha's Sparkspreader Mighty Sparkping Staff Wand Of Seared Air Akon's Amulet Blasting Amulet Blood Locket Thin Sparkling Cloak Heavy Hide Boots Cautious Trickery Exceptional Sparking 3 x Arcing Spark 1 x Path Of Knives 1 x Spark Generator 2 x Sparkling Cloth Armor 4 x Jumpspark 1 x Elven Trickery 1 x Wall Of Fire 1 x Thick Hide Armor 2 x Winds Of War 1 x Cautious Sneak 1 x Shuffle 1 x Dissolve Armor 1 x Penetrating Zap 1 x Healing Dash 2 x Boiling Armor 3 x Mighty Spark 3 x Spark 1 x Squeamish 1 x Vulnerable 1 x Obliterating Spark 2 x Force Cannon 1 x Weakened Armor 1 x Hot Spot Terra Level 21 Human Priest Healing Hand Mace Rockshaft Atlatl Barbed Armor Twisting Shield Jackrabbit Boots Abalone Relic Clouded Healing Ring Medallion Of St. Vigus Advanced Flexibility Novice Piety 1 x Healing Dash 3 x Stone Feet 3 x Team Heal 1 x Potent Stab 1 x Minor Heal 1 x Shredding Strike 2 x Heal 2 x Leadership 1 x Mail 2 x Mighty Bludgeon 1 x Healing Blessing 1 x Slowed 1 x Purging Strike 1 x Lunging Hack 2 x Pushback Parry 1 x Greater Heal 1 x Purge 2 x Altruism 1 x Misguided Heal 1 x Horned Plates 1 x Hard To Pin Down 2 x Strong Bludgeon 2 x Impenetrable Nimbus 1 x Consecrate Ground 1 x Leather Harness Obviously this is just a rough build at the moment, but I really think these starting parties should all be in and around the level of the Tezkal Elves, or at least have their own special epic item that can get someone excited to buy and play the party. If you have your own suggestion for a revision to the starter parties or a suggestion for the above build, feel free to discuss it. I might take a look at the other parties as well if the idea catches on.
They probably should have the new Tezkal one cost pizza and changed the old ones to buy with gold. Maybe 500-1000 gold. I haven't looked at those starter parties since I first started the game last year (never bought any of them), and you are right they are pretty awful and I hope nobody actually pays pizza for them.
Moved to feedback. Also, it should be noted that the starter packs have been mentioned as being up for redesign in general - and Jon has asked for feedback from the community on this in other recent threads, so it's not something they're not unaware of.
There's another thread where we talked about this and gave ideas of other competitively viable Starter Parties with Rare or lower items (with maybe 1 or 2 Epics that are not top of class).
