Quite broken: Self-vampire kiss. Vengeance as move 2. Maybe broken: Hex of Dissolution plus Acid Spray spam. Investigate / Sacred Shroud plus Impenetrable Nimbus. I had some fun with the latter category. Gumshoe's Dissolution: ? - ? (more losses than wins I believe) Spoiler: Gumshoe's Dissolution Three identical human wizards: Lapis Lazuli Level 25 Human Wizard Caustic Pain Caustic Pain Caustic Wand Caustic Wand Caustic Wand Sludge Pendant Alchemist Robes Gumshoe's Gumshoes Subtle Positioning Battery 4 x Investigate 2 x Weakened Armor 1 x Spark Inductor 7 x Acid Spray 7 x Acid Blast 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Acid Leak 1 x Dissolve Armor 4 x Deadly Spark 2 x Vanguard 6 x Hex Of Dissolution Explanation: Two full acid sprays charge Hex damage to 12, three full acid sprays to 16. With 6 Hex per wizard, not to mention 4 Deadly Spark per wizard, that's a lot of damage, and armor removal is built in. The Investigates are for movement and healing. Notes: I've found that about 14 Hex damage worth of acid terrain is usually the critical point where further acid reduces mobility more than the extra bit of damage is worth, and it's smarter to save the excess acid cards for when duration 2 runs out. Investigate doesn't seem as effective as I expected it to be, and defenses are insufficient. Taking these notes into account I modified the original a bit. Spooky Dissolution: 8 - 1 Spoiler: Spooky Dissolution Three identical human wizards: Lapis Lazuli Level 25 Human Wizard Caustic Pain Caustic Pain Vial Of Ectoplasm Vial Of Ectoplasm Vial Of Ectoplasm Caustic Wand Warp Robes Werewolf Boots Subtle Positioning Battery 6 x Hex Of Dissolution 1 x Mystical Drakehide 1 x Dimensional Traveller 1 x Acid Leak 1 x Spark Inductor 6 x Acid Blast 3 x Boo! 1 x Dissolve Armor 1 x Dangerous Maneuver 5 x Acid Spray 4 x Deadly Spark 1 x Wild Run 1 x Shifting Block 2 x Flanking Move 2 x Wounded Block Games 1 - vs Potato Priest (some build with a vampire) The build felt much more stable with the improved defenses. Damage is slightly reduced but it's still quite potent. Victory. . - vs Cardotron2000 Drew a nice bit of acid round 1. Victory was swift, all enemies dead before the end of round 2. 2 - vs Potato Priest (zombifying priest + silvery wizards) I must admit Potato's build here seems very strong. He took out one of my wizards a few rounds in by turning it into a zombie with blind rage (had 4 attacks in hand, so used Boo to give myself a dash and take 3 fewer damage) and then attacking me with silvery magic once I got the Creature of the Night trait. However, my acid mages held VP and quickly took out his priest, then one of his wizards. Victory. 3 - vs Potato Priest (zombifying priest + silvery wizards) Victory with two kills at round 2 and taking 0 damage. Interaction: Mystical Wyrmhide reverses the Fright from Boo!. . - vs Cardotron2000 (I know AI battles don't count but I think it's worth mentioning) Ripped Cardotron apart with ease. Victory. 4 - vs chickenbao (some kind of wind dancing warrior and two priests) I never really got a good look at his deck anyways because Boo! didn't allow him to do anything while I killed him with 2/3 hits from range 6. Victory. 5 - vs Khyle345 (vampire kissing human priest with two werewolf elf warriors) It was an interesting fight. Boo! made it trivial though and I won with all mages alive. Victory. 6 - vs Testlum (direct damage/smoke wizard and two warriors, heavy Vanguard trickery) First defeat. Testlum's warriors apply some really serious pressure with flanking vanguards and step attacks, while the wizard's smoke obstructs my normal strategy of "kill the enemy before it does anything at all". Acid Spray can clear out a nice chunk of smoke so it's not hopeless, but that isn't enough. If not for the smoke it would definitely have been a victory as I had Hexes charged up to 16 damage at times that I couldn't play. Defeat. 7 - vs Voltaumento (human priest, dwarf/elf warrior, with wind dancing and vanguarding tricks) This wasn't an easy match due to high mobility on the warriors and a Bless over top of two VP acid terrains early on. One of my mages was killed, the game lasted a while, but I won in the end with 2 mages still alive. Victory. Final Comments: This build works and it's super powerful. That's easy to see so there's no reason to continue testing it.
Thank you for this, I'm putting you down for 3 games so far since Cardo doesn't count. I really appreciate you giving me an overview of each game in addition to your more general observations. Thanks!
The next build is an attempt to synergize Walpurgis Night with Daylight. Walpurgis Light: 1 - 0 Spoiler: Walpurgis Light Stevonnie Level 1 Human Priest Purging Mace Purging Mace Daylight Corona Nightmetal Shield Galvanized Zombie Boots Radiant Goblet Radiant Goblet Radiant Goblet Advanced Flexibility Perfect Corruption 1 x Slowed 1 x Shifting Block 7 x Daylight 2 x Predictable Stab 2 x Blight 1 x Walpurgis Night 2 x Leadership 7 x Purging Burst 2 x Lunging Bash 3 x Healing Pulse 1 x Inspiring Armor 1 x Hardy Mail 2 x Creature Of The Night 4 x Purging Strike Navy Level 1 Human Priest Purging Mace Purging Mace Daylight Corona Nightmetal Shield Galvanized Zombie Boots Radiant Goblet Radiant Goblet Radiant Goblet Advanced Flexibility Perfect Corruption 1 x Slowed 1 x Shifting Block 7 x Daylight 2 x Predictable Stab 2 x Blight 1 x Walpurgis Night 2 x Leadership 7 x Purging Burst 2 x Lunging Bash 3 x Healing Pulse 1 x Inspiring Armor 1 x Hardy Mail 2 x Creature Of The Night 4 x Purging Strike Rose Quartz Level 25 Dwarf Priest St. Hedvig's Black Axe Coven Lance St. Hedvig's Black Halo Nightmetal Shield Galvanized Zombie Boots St. Hedvig's Black Bundle St. Hedvig's Black Bundle St. Hedvig's Black Bundle Raging Battler Perfect Corruption 10 x Walpurgis Night 1 x Soothing Darkness 3 x Creature Of The Night 2 x Destructive Purge 1 x Shifting Block 2 x Blind Rage 2 x Lunging Bash 1 x Obliterating Chop 2 x Toughened Hide Strips 1 x Unholy Frenzy 1 x Disorienting Block 3 x Unholy Energy 2 x Blight 1 x Demonic Feedback 1 x Hardy Mail 1 x Savage Curse 2 x Enervating Touch 8 - vs Voltaumento (doesn't at all matter what the original build was) I won but it wasn't nearly as clear cut as I had expected. The effects of Daylight are weakened because Ethereal Form is immune and Lycanthropic Form has 2 armor. The amount of Walpurgis was extremely excessive. By the end I was just fighting in my Forms because Daylight wasn't getting enough done. Victory. Walpurgis Lite: 1 - 0 Spoiler: Walpurgis Lite Navy Level 1 Human Priest Lance Of Overflowing Light Purging Mace St. Hedvig's Black Halo Nightmetal Shield Galvanized Zombie Boots Radiant Goblet Spellstripper Relic Radiant Goblet Subtle Positioning Perfect Corruption 2 x Walpurgis Night 1 x Shifting Block 6 x Daylight 1 x Inspiring Presence 1 x Predictable Stab 2 x Warding Lance 2 x Vanguard 6 x Purging Burst 2 x Lunging Bash 1 x Potent Stab 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Toughened Hide Strips 1 x Unholy Frenzy 2 x Purging Strike 2 x Healing Pulse 1 x Hardy Mail 2 x Creature Of The Night 2 x Blight Peridot Level 25 Elf Wizard Silver Lightning Silver Lightning Ring Of Appropriation Ring Of Appropriation Asmod's Telekinetic Chain Asmod's Telekinetic Chain Poltergeist's Cape Werewolf Boots Focused Silversmith Focused Electromancy 8 x Inquisition Bolt 3 x Spark Generator 9 x Telekinesis 1 x Ancient Grudge 2 x Gusts Of War 1 x Officer's Harness 3 x Fey Silversmith 4 x Obliterating Spark 1 x Wild Run 2 x Stone Spikes 2 x Flanking Move Stevonnie Level 1 Human Priest Vankenstein's Pillar Vankenstein's Pillar St. Hedvig's Black Halo Nightmetal Shield Galvanized Zombie Boots St. Elar's Opposite Droplets St. Elar's Opposite Droplets St. Elar's Opposite Droplets Subtle Positioning Perfect Corruption 5 x Walpurgis Night 2 x Soothing Darkness 3 x Daylight 2 x Vanguard 1 x Shifting Block 2 x Lunging Bash 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Toughened Hide Strips 1 x Unholy Frenzy 2 x Unholy Energy 2 x Blight 1 x Hardy Mail 3 x Misguided Heal 4 x Strong Bludgeon 2 x Creature Of The Night 4 x Spark Of Undeath 9 - vs Rohndil (doesn't at all matter what the original build was) The match took longer than I would have liked due to lack of purging burst and lack of damage on the wizard. The deck still needs fine tuning. Victory. Walpurgis Blight: 1 - 1 Spoiler: Walpurgis Blight Navy Level 1 Human Priest Vankenstein's Pillar Vankenstein's Pillar St. Hedvig's Black Halo Nightmetal Shield Galvanized Zombie Boots Spellstripper Relic Spellstripper Relic Spellstripper Relic Subtle Positioning Perfect Corruption 2 x Walpurgis Night 2 x Soothing Darkness 2 x Vanguard 1 x Shifting Block 9 x Purging Burst 2 x Lunging Bash 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Toughened Hide Strips 1 x Unholy Frenzy 2 x Unholy Energy 2 x Blight 1 x Hardy Mail 4 x Strong Bludgeon 2 x Creature Of The Night 4 x Spark Of Undeath Peridot Level 25 Elf Wizard Silver Lightning Silver Lightning Silverfire Vial Silverfire Vial Silverfire Vial Silverfire Vial Prillith's Frock Of Spite Ilinca's Moccasins Focused Silversmith Focused Electromancy 12 x Inquisition Bolt 3 x Spark Generator 1 x Ancient Grudge 1 x Creature Of The Night 1 x Medium's Garb 1 x Path Of Knives 3 x Fey Silversmith 4 x Obliterating Spark 2 x Escaping Run 4 x Stone Spikes 4 x Flame Jet Stevonnie Level 1 Human Priest Vankenstein's Pillar Vankenstein's Pillar St. Hedvig's Black Halo Nightmetal Shield Galvanized Zombie Boots St. Elar's Opposite Droplets St. Elar's Opposite Droplets St. Elar's Opposite Droplets Subtle Positioning Perfect Corruption 5 x Walpurgis Night 2 x Soothing Darkness 3 x Daylight 2 x Vanguard 1 x Shifting Block 2 x Lunging Bash 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Toughened Hide Strips 1 x Unholy Frenzy 2 x Unholy Energy 2 x Blight 1 x Hardy Mail 3 x Misguided Heal 4 x Strong Bludgeon 2 x Creature Of The Night 4 x Spark Of Undeath This build should have a ton of damage on the wizard and a better balance of Walpurgis/Undeath with Purging Burst. 10 - vs Potato Priest (zombifying priest plus two silvery wizards) The enemy wizards' initial cards this time turned out to be troublesome. I found myself leaving the Form cards on certain characters sometimes because they do come with nice advantages, especially now that I cut down on Daylight. The battle was more difficult than I had expected, but the game ended with all my characters still standing. Victory. 11 - vs VermillionOcean (human priest, dwarf warrior, elf warrior) I lost this battle but I learned a few things. Most importantly that Inquisition Bolt does not increase damage from Zombie cards, but also that I should never leave my wizard stuck with a form at the end of the round. Defeat. In light of the previous battle, the next build cuts out Spark of Undeath entirely and includes more Daylight because even if it doesn't deal much damage, it is still a nice healing card. Walpurgis Lightning: 1 - 1 Spoiler: Walpurgis Lightning Navy Level 1 Human Priest Lance Of Overflowing Light Lance Of Overflowing Light St. Hedvig's Black Halo Nightmetal Shield Galvanized Zombie Boots Spellstripper Relic Spellstripper Relic Spellstripper Relic Subtle Positioning Perfect Corruption 2 x Walpurgis Night 1 x Shifting Block 4 x Daylight 2 x Inspiring Presence 2 x Potent Stab 4 x Warding Lance 2 x Vanguard 9 x Purging Burst 2 x Lunging Bash 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Toughened Hide Strips 1 x Unholy Frenzy 2 x Blight 1 x Hardy Mail 2 x Creature Of The Night Peridot Level 25 Elf Wizard Silver Lightning Silver Lightning Silverfire Vial Silverfire Vial Silverfire Vial Silverfire Vial Prillith's Frock Of Spite Ilinca's Moccasins Focused Silversmith Focused Electromancy 12 x Inquisition Bolt 3 x Spark Generator 1 x Ancient Grudge 1 x Creature Of The Night 1 x Medium's Garb 1 x Path Of Knives 3 x Fey Silversmith 4 x Obliterating Spark 2 x Escaping Run 4 x Stone Spikes 4 x Flame Jet Stevonnie Level 1 Human Priest Lance Of Overflowing Light Lance Of Overflowing Light St. Hedvig's Black Halo Nightmetal Shield Galvanized Zombie Boots St. Elar's Opposite Droplets St. Elar's Opposite Droplets St. Elar's Opposite Droplets Subtle Positioning Perfect Corruption 5 x Walpurgis Night 1 x Shifting Block 7 x Daylight 2 x Inspiring Presence 2 x Potent Stab 4 x Warding Lance 2 x Vanguard 2 x Lunging Bash 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Toughened Hide Strips 1 x Unholy Frenzy 2 x Blight 1 x Hardy Mail 3 x Misguided Heal 2 x Creature Of The Night 12 - vs VermillionOcean (don't remember) Don't remember. Victory. 13 - vs Potato Priest (three human warriors) I made the mistake of moving my elf wizard forward round 1, so I lost the wiz straight away due to excess team movement on the enemy warriors. If not for that, I should have won, because I had the Walpurgis + Purging Burst combo round 1. Defeat. Interaction: Ethereal Form prevents Charge damage. 14 - vs smirnfil (two silvery elf warriors and a dwarf wizard) I didn't draw a Walpurgis in the first 3 rounds. My team was completely useless. Defeat. Final Comments: I experimented with a few other versions of this, but all attempts to abuse Walpurgis Night failed. The thing about this strategy is that it makes your enemies predictable--so for example you know they will have no silver damage, they will be vulnerable to Inquisition Bolts, they will have at least one trait attached at all times, they may be vulnerable to silver, they may be vulnerable to Daylight, they have no blocks, some have no armor, etc., so you can plan accordingly. However, in order to reliably draw Walpurgis Night and Purging Burst before round 3, you basically need to sacrifice two characters to be otherwise useless Walpurgis/Purge priests and you end up with 1 active character vs 3 forms, and yes the forms are predictable, but they are predictably strong, so 1 active character can't handle them all alone. So in conclusion, I believe that Walpurgis Night is a balanced card, albeit extremely disruptive and randomizing.
The next card I'm testing out is Howl, because I had a game once where I drew three Monster Hides just from Howling. Adding that on to the consistent Heal 2s and complementary Nimble Strikes, I can create a team of tanky yet mobile warriors. Sore Throat: 2 - 2 Spoiler: Sore Throat Three identical dwarf warriors: Jasper Level 1 Dwarf Warrior Howling Pain Howling Pain Howling Pain Snarlcub Hide Aegis Of The Defender Chapeau Of The Afflicted Artist Crazy Sal's Creepers Raging Battler Untrained Lycanthropy 1 x Lycanthropic Form 1 x Monstrous Hide 2 x Blind Rage 2 x Defender's Block 9 x Nimble Strike 3 x Prowl 1 x Weak Chop 4 x Toughened Hide Strips 1 x Dodge 10 x Howl 2 x Lunging Bite 15 - vs EntangledQuanta (two human and one elf warrior, wind dancing and vengeance) At first the damage output and the armor felt quite lacking to go up against three warriors, but once I drew my monster hides and hide strips and Lycanthropic Forms, the game turned around and I won with two warriors left standing. Victory. 16 - vs Force.ofWill (triple dwarf vampiric priests) The build worked exactly as intended. At first my defenses weren't so impressive, but as time went on I drew Monster Hides and tons of self-healing Hide Strips and Howl. If you can't kill them quickly when they don't have armor, then you definitely can't kill them when they do have armor. Two additional nice things about Howl: 1) it may draw Lycanthropic Form which is an attached reliable mail, and 2) it may draw Mad Dog which is a nice "handicap" and then you cycle into your own deck. Victory. 17 - vs adajon42 (triple human warriors with lycanthropy) Well I lost.. but I was hit in the back with a Strong Hack + AoA + AoA + Prowl in the second round. Defeat. 18 - vs TimedTesting (human priest with two silvery elf wizards) As great as the self-healing was in this battle, I couldn't keep up with the silver damage cutting through my armor and sometimes hitting Creature of the Night--not to mention the Inquisition Bolts. Unfortunately I drew no Defender's Blocks in this battle so the defenses were not sufficient. In retrospect I should have hounded the wizards more vigorously before they could deal so much damage. I killed one wizard and lost. Defeat.
I can vouch for the fact that his initial build, gumshoe's dissolution, went up against my Vengeance at least 2 unrecorded times. I'll post em here. Keep in mind these are from my point of view. Edit: Another battle unrecorded by him.
Yep I did not record all my battles, particularly my initial battles because I didn't know then that it was something I should do. For context, the first two battles were Gumshoe's Dissolution and the third one is a Grudge build that I tried out but didn't mention here yet.
Thank you for all your help with the Castle Mitternacht playtest. Unless you posted more in another thread (in which case, sorry I missed it), I have you at 18 games. You will receive 3 Epic Mitternacht chests when this content is released.
