Aloyzo's Arsenal Official SUBMISSION Discussion Thread

I'm a big fan of creative item design. That generally means I want to put cards that belong on one type of item on another type of item. Or putting a monster card or even a unused card from the game's databases nan item. Stuff like Dieben's riot items or the infamously controversial Tasty, Tasty Staff. Not that I don't like conservative item design such as the Dynamic Staff, but creative design is more appealing to me (and easier imo).

That being said, please take a look at this.

A Warm Retreat - Arcane Item
Chilling Rime, Retreat, Hot Spot

 

time you managed to do two things:nearly break my computer and confuse the heck out of me as to where my posts went.
I applaud you, On topic is the fact that either way, the developers are a bit biased to fire, electricty and teleportation for arcane skills. This is mildly annoying, but its easy to fix. I was at least trying to fix it in some incremental way. I was trying to make something balanced and not dull. My original idea was a staff with ALL cards that have cold damage. Or six blizzard breaths.
This is better than my original idea of how to overhaul the priests divine skills into blessings for a pantheon of gods and goddesses to fix the fact that the source priests draw apon has no issue with them shooting bolts of horribly evil magic and healing themselves with the same divine powers. If I did that, the sheer amount of blessings would construct an entire expansion.

 

Tasty, Tasty still basically uses cards that mimic similar stuff. Retreat doesn't mimic any existing thing.

 

I think that difference is what made it special. Maybe go for less daring and use Winds Of War or one of the teleport move cards?

 

Teleport Self + Hot Spot + Chilling Rime might work

 

Aloyzo's Arsenal is strictly an item creation contest, not a card-making contest.

(That being said, I do understanding where you are coming from. A cold-attack-boosting trait could make cold attacks more viable in the game. I think there isn't something like that already is because Encumber used to be stronger. Encumber 2 would just disable a Dwarf warrior from moving with a Walk. Cold attacks were so powerful and didn't need a buff at the time. Encumber was nerfed and with it the power of cold attacks. The devs are trying to buff cold by adding stuff like Cooling Laser.)

 

In truth, I think adding an item to the Cold item pool won't really make much impact in terms of balance. Cold attacks aren't ruined by their lack of number or by being weak; they're actually pretty strong, except for one bit: cards with the Push effect are not affected by Encumber. This fact is really crippling and makes it impossible to make a competitive deck based entirely off cold spells, given that there's so many Push effects in the metagame and there always have been. Not to mention that Sprint, Team! is the most overpowered gold card in the game...

I think it's better if we went for a creative intuitive design that's not really competitive or metagame-improving, since it's super hard to make one new Wizard item have a huge impact on the meta. That said, though, I really would like a tokenless or minor token Cold item.

 

Defender's Block would like to have some words with you about most overpowered gold card.

And that's what my Icicle Staff was designed for... it is 1 minor token for a staff that is decent for basic encumber and an introduction to cold spells.

 

I just wish we had Ice terrain-
"When you move onto a square with this terrain type, Slide in the same direction of your original move, until you are no longer on Ice terrain."

Phrasing may need some work, but- totally silly, revolves around emphasizing positioning, and could make for an amusing ice based league.

And then, of course, we'd need Ice Skating Shoes, loaded with 3x of a card that gives "when your character is affected by a Slide effect, you may choose the direction you move in."

 

well, the idea was to give a basic trait for cold attacks, a trait for acid attacks and depending how insane you want to get, a trait for arcane attacks.

 

Arcane attacks share traits with Electric attacks, there's no 'need' to add any more arcane traits just yet.
Acid is primarily terrain based, so unless you implement a 'acid terrain gains 1 duration', any acid traits would be pretty dull +damage affairs, which don't really match theme.
Cold could have some cool- heh- potential, though. Like a trait that deals damage to each encumbered enemy at the start of each round.

Either way, this isn't really a thread for discussing new cards

Cold spells are plenty viable as is, and savage-cone or wind-encumber builds can be fantastic.
No, the main issue I have is DEFINITELY one of gearing, with very few options with the key cold cards [cooling laser, ice bolts, cold-wind items, and in a sense, the fact that I can't easily min-max cone of cold for savage-cone builds], and very few viable low token cost items for rounding out a build.

Another issue is an overemphasis on chilling rime and frost jolt over cold snap, which I much prefer for overall effectiveness in both damage and encumber, and is available at the most even cost.
Finally, the fact that ice and acid are typically thrown in as filler cards, rather than having many good focused items available.

If any of those were addressed, I'd use the path even more- and again, there's nothing wrong with the path, as is. Much like Elven Wizards, it's tricker to build for and has some weaknesses [that the things I mentioned above would address], but it's entirely viable and has some unique benefits.

 

Time to round up the entries i assume will appeal to and be choosen by the flaxes. (aka shortlist prediction)

Spoiler

Snow Blower - http://forums.cardhunter.com/threads/aloyzos-arsenal-5-custom-item-submissions.8443/#post-106910
Blizzard - http://forums.cardhunter.com/threads/aloyzos-arsenal-5-custom-item-submissions.8443/#post-106945
Winter Travel Gear - http://forums.cardhunter.com/threads/aloyzos-arsenal-5-custom-item-submissions.8443/#post-106949
Sharpened Icicle Staff - http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...stom-item-submissions.8443/page-2#post-106967
Snow Cone - http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...stom-item-submissions.8443/page-2#post-106975
Kelvin's Steam Cleaner - http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...stom-item-submissions.8443/page-2#post-107001
Shroud of Shards - http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...stom-item-submissions.8443/page-3#post-107045
Agony on Ice - http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...stom-item-submissions.8443/page-3#post-107090
Cold-Fusion Generator - http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...stom-item-submissions.8443/page-3#post-107124
Snow Blind Amulet - http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...stom-item-submissions.8443/page-3#post-107190
Unique Snowflake Staff - http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...stom-item-submissions.8443/page-4#post-107326
Haelstrom Caller - http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...stom-item-submissions.8443/page-5#post-107504
Icicle Staff - http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...stom-item-submissions.8443/page-5#post-107633
Warm Retreat - http://forums.cardhunter.com/thread...stom-item-submissions.8443/page-5#post-107692

 

That's a huge shortlist. Should at least narrow it down to your top 3 guess.

 

No, some of them are too similar to settle for one of the options. Also we are talking about flax, the man that makes it very hard to relate to his standards.
There might be hidden but essential criteria like "what name allows easy item icon photoshopping"

 

b-but my thematic and completely useless as an item submission?

 

I tried my best to make it thematic, fun, playable, and not OP. If it doesn't even get a mention in the video then I'll assume I'm clueless.

 

Hmm....I figured another Resistant Hide robe would be nice, but, unlike LCD, I don't assume I'm clueless.....I know I'm clueless!.....

 

To be honest it's really hard to tell what Flax would pick. There are so many ways an item can be good (or bad), and selecting which aspects of which items to consider results in a huge range of possibilities.

Edit: I just realized after viewing some of the submissions, a lot of edits were made to support the whole Whirlwind + Cold concept... it's impossible to be original without making something ridiculous.

 

Nuh uh. My first suggestion would have easily won: "Flax's Awesome Staff" - Muscle Through, Muscle Through, Invigorating Touch, Tongue Lash, Tongue Lash, Ice Bolts

I didn't submit it because I don't want something like that to exist in-game.

 

Here's a review of some items that I found quite interesting (either in a good or bad way).

Room9's Snow Blower

Thematically the item makes sense. It's very similar to my my item in that 3 core cards are the same (Ice Bolts, Gusts Of War, and Whirlwind Enemies). I think it's too strong, though, because not only do you have all six cards as strong control cards, but also because it destroys the current concept of "all items with 2 Gusts or Winds of War have a weak point". Yoloxl's Staff has 3 Jumpsparks that are usually bad and a waste of card points, Whiterune Staff has double major token cost to include 4 other cards that are quite weak, and Pearwood Staff has that Fright. It's a direct upgrade to Whiterune Staff with next to no disadvantages, and the way the item level is pushed to 21 with 3 prime control cards and no visible weaknesses concerns me a lot.

gulo gulo's Larchwood Staff of the Magus

No bias to gulo gulo, but this staff would be cool in practice. It's obviously a combat staff that works well at mid range, and its slew of cards is perfect for that. It's also at a two minor token cost, which is a very underused token cost for staffs. There's a really strong concept here: Encumber certain opponents so you can more easily select which one you'd take down with Big Zaps and similar cards. I could really see the vast knowledge and experience gulo gulo has with wizards through this item's design. It's not too strong, also, because combat wizards in general are risky. I prefer this over the similar item suggested by Data (sorry Data).

Lucky Dice's Staff of the Cold Relationship

Aside from being funny as hell this staff was just almost viable in my eyes. The problem here is the card Loner, which in my opinion is better not on wizards at all (since nobody uses Puce Diadem because Perplexing Ray and Reflexive Teleport are meh) and makes this item too strong.

In an alternate reality in my mind this version of the staff is bonkers amazing:

Defensiveness is a real, real drawback, so the deck-thinning provided by it comes at a decent price. I once thought about suggesting a double Defensiveness item because of the possibilities created by such a staff. This staff is tokenless, and remember how Trembling Staff used to be an issue before? It won't be an issue here, I think, because Defensiveness is just that bad. I'm not saying the staff would be useless, though. Barge can place opponents right outside of the trigger range of Defensiveness, so if you can get past the blocks you can in a good spot. Purge also removes attachments now so you can stack some Defensiveness and Squeamish and only purge them when necessary, making a strong but not overpowered, sensible, and creative staff.

setharue's Icy Ewe Jerkin

This item has a simple and elegant design. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the design at all, and it does put a Cold card on a Robe which is good. The only issue that I have with it is that it's not really creative and it doesn't really inspire any new strategies.

Wandere's Shroud of Shards

Very nice and elegant design, as it allows several things to happen. The following traits are really nice:

• It makes sense in a current build, the Cooling Laser build.
• It puts a Cold card onto a Robe, which allows greater Cold focus.
• It makes a good Arcane Shell option available to new players.

claptrapbeatboxtime's Caustic Ice

Though it's a potentially controversial submission due to both the Acid Jet and Chilling Rime on an Arcane Item, I find it balanced and truly worth considering. Acid Jet is a strong utility card, and Arcane Items need to have utility cards on them. Although I do admit that Acid Jet is pretty strong in terms of damage for a card in the Arcane Item slot, we don't have too much of it and it's more difficult to buff than other attacks, and it also has relatively low range. I would definitely use this item for creative builds, and I don't think it's too strong.


Obernoob's Traveller from the North

This item, while appreciably mundane, has strong possible uses. You're basically paying a major token for an extra Freeze, which is not at all bad. It also opens up the potentiality of increasing the number of Freeze cards you have or using it in conjunction with Cooling Laser or Staff Of Winter. It might be too strong, though.

Vakaz's Blizzard in a Bottle

This gives you both Cone Of Cold and Whirlwind for a good tokenless choice; it's strong in that sense. Neither card is available on tokenless items for whatever reason, and this fixes that. It makes sense thematically, and the Trip there is a real drawback that can be fixed by a Whirlwind-based build or control/push cards.

Those are all that I found pretty interesting. There were some good suggestions I didn't put because they were too mundane without being perfect in design.