April map rotation is awful!

Maybe everyone can share some general thoughts in regard what this rotation demands from builds.

Mobility might be even more of a necessity then usual, since the bigger portion of the maps actually offers some space, space melee characters have to overcome. Sprints, Dashes, Charges and speeding with auras actually might be worthwhile for melee characters, all kinds of anti-control goes along with that. For casters, high range and encumber seems to have more impact. Also you got better chances to max out the use you can get out of often neglected control spells like force cannon or winds of war. I cant say that mages are a bigger presence then in other rotations, the usual suspects simply stuck to their burst builds, often with an almost standardized bless/inspiring presence/greater heal bot lurking around. So if you go wizard yourself, you could look into faciliating extra cover on the open maps or armor up to get out ahead in the damage trade. Shutting down bless with smoke is always a good move, as is disrupting LOS between enemy team members. Also I found dimensional traveler to be of enormous value when it comes to engaging other casters, as well as countering their sad volcano attempts.

 

@LieutenantCommanderData: Did not see Accelerate Time anywhere in there, which, in turn, laughs at your sad Dimensional Traveler/Slippery attempts.

 

Actually accelerate time still follows the general start of turn procedure so your attachments would trigger first and everyone with slippery or traveler would move away from the lava.

Volcano biggest strenght is that on turn 1 it is difficult to separate from burst 2 decks, you want to start moving the character with the most moves first and save team moves for last.

 

Ah, I've had my rating shoot up this rotation from low 1300s to mid 1400s with my favorite party: close-range wizard, vampire priest, and support and high-damage priest.

I think the close-range wizard is the important part. His spells take advantage of the open views; and because he's built for being up front with Staff Of Chask, Escaping Runs, and similar things, he's safe when melee fighters are nearby, as is often the case on Fool's Trap and the largely-unobstructed Mushroom Glade. As such he doesn't need to fall back on Flash Flood or illusion terrain at all, though he does have one Acid Jet from Amethyst Crystal Shard and I must say it was quite satisfying both times he drew it on Oasis. With his emphasis on proximity he's not much of a damage dealer against other wizards, but then he's very useful for moving my priests. Just one way of dealing with these maps.


I feel like the only map that really privileges bursting more than usual is Oasis because of the ease of getting burst angles combined with the difficulty of getting a melee character over to the other side. So I'd say dealing with difficult terrain or making some cover where there is none is particularly important.

Fool's Trap is the place for difficult terrain, but I've had success there with range-2 melee attacks and some teleportation. Running up there before the enemy can block off access to the middle area seems to help. I don't think this map particularly favors wizards over melee.

Frozen Tenement seems to me like it's a dangerous map for parties that depend on your characters being close together; more independent characters like warriors that don't rely on buffs, or Volcano wizards, can easily split up and hide. That's actually bad for my build, hm. I didn't think about that till now.

 

?

 

@hello world and @LieutenantCommanderData: Accelerate Time activates more than just field effects, as both of you likely well know. Getting Lava Pool'd isn't exactly the WORST thing that can happen to you should Accelerate Time go off [coughcoughfirestartercoughcough].

 

I'm not sure what you're talking about. I hadn't replied to this thread nor played ranked in at least a week when you posted that, and I haven't played Slippery in ranked maybe ever. I think you're confusing me for someone else.

 

Stop it with the slippery obsession already, Data. We've heared enough.

 

Honestly, for the past week, I'd been on the verge of agreeing with the general idea of the thread, because the map rotation hasn't been kind to me at all. I'd tried a ton of parties - War/War/Pri, Mage/Mage/Pri, War/War/Mage, Mage/Mage/Mage, and a few others, and I just couldn't get a footing for a long while. My Elo fell around 250 points, and my winrate sunk by 10% .

But then, it happened. Enter... the Cowards. They're disgusting. They're reprehensible. They're rather swell at hearing loud noises. They are my salvation.



Basic idea: whatever your enemies throw at you, pick it up and sling it back. Being burftted on Mushroom Glade? Charge in head first, soak all those hits, and then volley a laser spree back. Or, if you're being rudely clubbed to pieces in Frozen Tenement, you'll be able to politely decapitate your foes with a whip.

Mantra of the day: if you can't block your enemy, block your enemy.

This rotation is an above average difficulty one to prepare for, in my opinion, but I have just barely managed to scrape my way through the 1400's with this idea, so I'm feeling hopeful.

 

This is so cheesy, it works...kinda funny, too.

 

well, aside from me discovering that my Spellstripper Relic is legitamately cursed in real life and sending me into a depressive funk for a good part of the day, I DID try smoke bomb, with the new epic staff, unfortuantely, that kinda prevented my team from functioning well, as a dwarf vampire, a human wizard and an elf warrior need to be able to see at times. Ironically, I could run three elf warriors but my inner sense of morality and my strange personal quirk (If I have more than one of each item, I just feel wrong, like something horrible is going to happen) keep that from being a thing

 

@snickersimba try combo smoke with a bless priest, perhaps with non-target stuff like Team Heal or Inspiring Presence. An Elven step warrior with Rageblood, Bejeweled, and Double Edged Sword with Cautious Mobility can fight down any threat that enters the smoke. Smoker could use Smoke Ring and new staff (Smoke on the Water), along with other Illusory back up.

 

I don't really plan on switching a winning formula unless I figure out how to make a warrior that isn't a bejeweled shortsword elf. I actually run two shortsword only because it works well/I don't have vibrant pain yet