Total Games so far: 7 Games 1-4, October 1st, starting at 3:00 AM EST. My initial party wanted to test out Wind Dancer, test out Investigate, and try to break Ancient Grudge. Yes, all at once. Spoiler Diabolicalhoun Level 22 Elf Warrior Vibrant Pain The Lunginator The Lunginator Xander's Mail Granwick's Shield Captain Cedric's Helm Gumshoe's Gumshoes Cautious Mobility Focused Dervish 2 x Reliable Mail 1 x Scouting Run 3 x Wind Dancer 4 x Unnerving Strike 3 x Investigate 2 x Mighty Hack 1 x Surging Shield Block 2 x Elven Maneuvers 6 x Nimble Strike 6 x Lunging Bash 2 x Subtle Parry 4 x Officer's Harness Pitch Level 22 Elf Wizard Silver Justice Xemu's Conclusion Wym's Spiteful Bucket Wym's Spiteful Bucket Wym's Spiteful Bucket Wym's Spiteful Bucket Prillith's Frock Of Spite Gumshoe's Gumshoes Cautious Mobility Novice Electromancy 1 x Punishing Bolt 2 x Elven Maneuvers 1 x Force Cone 1 x Scouting Run 1 x Spark Inductor 6 x Inquisition Bolt 9 x Ancient Grudge 3 x Investigate 1 x Path Of Knives 1 x Medium's Garb 1 x Spark Generator 2 x Subtle Parry 3 x Long Spark 4 x Lava Pool Holly Level 22 Human Priest Healing Hand Mace St. Olf's Fiery Pike Mail Of Succor Azan's Icy Bulwark Gumshoe's Gumshoes Purging Charm Purging Charm Purging Charm Bossy Command Novice Piety 1 x Delegate 2 x Help The Weak 2 x Fiery Stab 3 x Enervating Touch 1 x Minor Heal 2 x Altruism 1 x Block, Soldier! 3 x Icy Block 3 x Investigate 3 x Purge 2 x Stab 3 x Purging Burst 3 x Team Heal 1 x Attack, Soldier! 1 x Sundering Strike 1 x Dynamic Armor 2 x Mass Frenzy 2 x Mighty Bludgeon Game 1: vs Potato Priest My opponent was running 2 Elf Wizards and an Elf Priest. I know the Priest had Investigate, and at least one of the Wizards hit me with "Boo." In chat afterwards they said their party was mostly Silver attacks and immobilizing roots. My Elf Fighter had Wind Dancer active as he played many step attacks in a single round, and I think by the end of the final round he had about 5 or 6 Unreliable Blocks in hand. It was at that point that I decided to run Leadership for this build after all, because it would give me something to do with the blocks and help maximize Ancient Grudge. Ancient Grudge never managed to be ridiculous, but it did respectable damage for a card found on an Arcane Item (at least 5 or 6). I won the match. Game 2: vs smirnfil My opponent was running a Human Priest and 2 Elf Warriors, and I had switched to a different build to try out the Focused (Form) cards. Spoiler Diabolicalhoun Level 22 Elf Warrior Vibrant Pain The Lunginator Eixocl's Hammer Xander's Mail Granwick's Shield Captain Cedric's Helm Gumshoe's Gumshoes Cautious Mobility Focused Lycanthropy 1 x Dodge 5 x Lunging Bash 3 x Investigate 2 x Elven Maneuvers 4 x Officer's Harness 2 x Pressing Bash 2 x Reliable Mail 2 x Subtle Parry 6 x Nimble Strike 1 x Scouting Run 1 x Surging Shield Block 1 x Mighty Hack 2 x Unnerving Strike 3 x Lycanthropic Form 1 x Blind Rage Pitch Level 22 Elf Wizard Silver Justice Xemu's Conclusion Wym's Spiteful Bucket Wym's Spiteful Bucket Wym's Spiteful Bucket Asmod's Telekinetic Chain Prillith's Frock Of Spite Gumshoe's Gumshoes Cautious Mobility Focused Ethereality 6 x Inquisition Bolt 3 x Lava Pool 7 x Ancient Grudge 2 x Elven Maneuvers 3 x Ethereal Form 1 x Path Of Knives 1 x Scouting Run 2 x Subtle Parry 1 x Force Cone 1 x Stone Spikes 3 x Investigate 2 x Long Spark 1 x Punishing Bolt 1 x Medium's Garb 2 x Telekinesis Holly Level 22 Human Priest Healing Hand Mace St. Portia's Maul Mail Of Succor Azan's Icy Bulwark Gumshoe's Gumshoes Spellstripper Relic Purging Charm Purging Charm Advanced Flexibility Focused Vampirism 3 x Team Heal 2 x Leadership 3 x Investigate 1 x Sundering Strike 3 x Vampiric Form 1 x Slowed 3 x Consuming Spear 2 x Mighty Bludgeon 2 x Enervating Touch 3 x Strong Bludgeon 1 x Dynamic Armor 3 x Icy Block 2 x Purge 5 x Purging Burst 2 x Help The Weak This was poorly timed, as my opponent appeared to have a dedicated Inquisition build with every anti-monster card under the sun... including the sun. My wizard turned into a spirit, which in that match was underwhelming. I managed a narrow win standing on a VP square with my final character at 6 HP and on fire vs their 2 remaining characters. That was enough to send me back to my first build (now with Leadership). Game 3: vs smirnfil - Haunted Crypt map. Opponent had a new build with a Dwarf Wizard instead of Priest this time. That was the match that I learned that Sundering Strike is a werewolf card, when the extra damage that meant from Inquisitor's Bolt killed their character. I thought things had changed so that step attacks no longer triggered Wind Dancer, but I later saw in the forums that it's only if you don't actually attack (and that it's a bug?). That match I lost. Game 4: vs Pyrious - Celestial Koi map. Opponent had 3 Human Priests. I got turned into a zombie for the first time (2 characters in rapid succession), but alas for Pyrious, the Blinding Rage and the attacks I drew from them zombifying me were enough to kill their priest. Then I hit both of my zombies with a Purging Burst before the round ended, so my time as a zombie was pretty much all upside. It made me reconsider whether you're supposed to zombify your own people? It's interesting that I'm still not 100% sure if the card is meant as an attack, as a boost for your own characters, or situationally either. I guess I feel like the short-term gains could be worth it if you think the battle will end before you're drawing bad zombie cards instead of your own (theoretically) good cards. But the Blinding Rage and 2 (possibly crappy) cards can be a huge bonus for that first turn as a zombie. I won that match 6 stars to 0. Thoughts at the end of Day 1 of testing: Investigate is my new best friend. If you can manage to rotate which character is taking fire you can heal your other two characters while one soaks up damage. Anything that hits multiple characters at a time loses a lot of punch. It seems very good, particularly because when you eventually do need to use it to move you actually get to move 4. I'd be tempted to run it even if it only moved you 3. As is, I expect to favor Gumshoe's Gumshoes on all 3 characters for quite a lot of playtesting. Wind Dancer's ability to fill your hand with possibly relevant cards that can also be ditched to Leadership makes it pretty cool as well. Being a Spirit was underwhelming, but I only managed it the one time, and probably didn't draw any of their good cards. I haven't managed to be a werewolf or a vampire yet. Purging effects seem more important than ever. -- Games 5-7, October 5th, starting at 2:10 AM EST I decided to try a dedicated Howling character, so I swapped out my wizard and put in a Human Warrior with 9 Howls. -- Spoiler Diabolicalhoun Level 22 Elf Warrior Vibrant Pain The Lunginator The Lunginator Xander's Mail Granwick's Shield Captain Cedric's Helm Gumshoe's Gumshoes Cautious Mobility Focused Dervish 2 x Mighty Hack 6 x Nimble Strike 2 x Elven Maneuvers 1 x Scouting Run 2 x Subtle Parry 1 x Surging Shield Block 4 x Officer's Harness 6 x Lunging Bash 2 x Reliable Mail 3 x Wind Dancer 4 x Unnerving Strike 3 x Investigate Hackerly X Level 22 Human Warrior Howling Pain Howling Pain Ravager's Cudgel Xander's Mail Eeygonnic's Shield Howling Hood Corian's Boots Afflicted Guard Focused Lycanthropy 1 x Reliable Mail 6 x Nimble Strike 1 x Shifting Block 1 x Surging Shield Block 3 x Lycanthropic Form 4 x Officer's Harness 1 x Enchanted Harness 1 x Chain Harness 9 x Howl 1 x Quick Step 4 x Wounded Block 1 x Vicious Thrust 1 x Able Bash 2 x Unnerving Strike Holly Level 22 Human Priest Healing Hand Mace St. Portia's Maul Mail Of Succor Azan's Icy Bulwark Gumshoe's Gumshoes Spellstripper Relic Purging Charm Anti-Radiation Hypo Advanced Flexibility Novice Piety 1 x Slowed 1 x Minor Heal 1 x Dynamic Armor 1 x Healing Rays 3 x Team Heal 1 x Sundering Strike 3 x Consuming Spear 4 x Purging Burst 2 x Leadership 2 x Gene Therapy 2 x Altruism 2 x Help The Weak 1 x Purge 3 x Icy Block 1 x Enervating Touch 2 x Mighty Bludgeon 3 x Strong Bludgeon 3 x Investigate Game 5: vs Zacharianthi - Cyber Arena map. My opponent was running 2 Dwarf Wizards and a Dwarf Priest, and had already told me they were trying to break Ancient Grudge. I played a very aggressive game, knowing that every turn that went by would only make their Grudges deadlier. Finally managed to turn into a werewolf. I killed one Wizard early, they rallied for a bit, and then their own Traveling Curse finished off a second character to give me the win. Game 6: vs Zacharianthi - Temple Tussle map? Rematch! This time they were able to draw enough movement effects to keep me off the victory squares, keep their characters out of danger, and draw things out enough for Ancient Grudge to be more dangerous. Win for their side. Game 7: vs Zacharianthi - Celestial Dojo map We decided to try my same party vs their Pre-Mitternacht party from their normal account - Dwarf Priest, Warrior, and Wizard. I managed to Howl myself some Monster Hide on my Warrior, but my opponent couldn't tell because they always had one or more frenzy auras when they attacked. That game went downhilll quickly, even with two successful rolls on Unreliable Blocks. Win for their side. Thoughts after Day 2: Howling was fun, but I think I'd scale back on it a bit if I try it again. It was nice to finally be a werewolf. I was even briefly a vampire thanks to Shifting Block. On the other hand, Shifting Block also turned me into a zombie at one point, which was less cool. I'd sort of forgotten that could happen. I might stay away from Shifting Block after all...I don't want my warrior (or priest) turning into a Spirit or a Zombie, really. Investigate didn't come up as often today, but when it did it was still quite good. Zacharianthi noted at one point that it healed my guys a surprising amount. Wind Dancer still seems quite good. I wasn't running Ancient Grudge today, but it worked very well for Zacharianthi. I don't know if I'd say it was actually broken, but it seems plausible to me that it is.
October 6th, 4:00 AM EST 2 more games vs Zacharianthi (the only other tester online at the time) Spoiler Diabolicalhoun Level 22 Elf Warrior Vibrant Pain The Lunginator The Lunginator Xander's Mail Granwick's Shield Captain Cedric's Helm Gumshoe's Gumshoes Cautious Mobility Focused Dervish 6 x Nimble Strike 1 x Surging Shield Block 4 x Unnerving Strike 1 x Scouting Run 3 x Investigate 2 x Subtle Parry 4 x Officer's Harness 3 x Wind Dancer 2 x Mighty Hack 2 x Reliable Mail 6 x Lunging Bash 2 x Elven Maneuvers Pitch Level 22 Elf Wizard Silver Fir Staff Silver Fir Staff Wym's Spiteful Bucket Wym's Spiteful Bucket Wym's Spiteful Bucket Wym's Spiteful Bucket Prillith's Frock Of Spite Gumshoe's Gumshoes Cautious Mobility Novice Electromancy 4 x Potent Spark 2 x Stone Spikes 3 x Investigate 2 x Subtle Parry 4 x Spark 1 x Path Of Knives 1 x Scouting Run 1 x Spark Generator 9 x Ancient Grudge 1 x Long Spark 4 x Lava Pool 1 x Medium's Garb 2 x Elven Maneuvers 1 x Spark Inductor Holly Level 22 Human Priest Healing Hand Mace St. Portia's Maul Mail Of Succor Azan's Icy Bulwark Gumshoe's Gumshoes Spellstripper Relic Purging Charm Anti-Radiation Hypo Advanced Flexibility Novice Piety 1 x Purge 2 x Help The Weak 1 x Enervating Touch 1 x Healing Rays 3 x Consuming Spear 3 x Investigate 2 x Altruism 4 x Purging Burst 2 x Leadership 1 x Sundering Strike 3 x Strong Bludgeon 1 x Dynamic Armor 2 x Mighty Bludgeon 1 x Slowed 2 x Gene Therapy 3 x Team Heal 3 x Icy Block 1 x Minor Heal Games 8 and 9: vs Zacharianthi - Celestial Dojo, then Celestial Lions Opponent's build was Elf Wizard, Elf Warrior, Elf Priest. I saw Investigates, Inquisitor's Strikes, Inquisitor's Badges, Maze, Gusts of War, Mass Frenzy, Silversmithing, various healing, and the star of the show - Vengeance. Wow, Vengeance is weird, and interacts super weird with Bashes. After one hit from a Bash they figured out how to use the 2 movement points to still be adjacent even after the push from the Bash, so I couldn't escape. The first game I was much too reckless with my Wizard, and it was a pretty short and brutal game. Second game I tried to be a little more careful, but still got my Wizard killed super early, partly due to accidentally summoning their Warrior closer with Vengeance. I'm really out of practice managing a wizard in PVP. Or I just suck at playing Wizards? I don't know, but I got murdered in both matches. In that first game they had several Investigates, including 2 in the hand of their Wizard. Once the Wizard managed to get too far away to catch I had to either attack another target and heal the Wizard as a consequence or just sit there and do nothing...I continue to believe that Investigate is really good. Still not sure if it's broken, but wow, it's really good.
October 11th, 1:00 AM Glorious New Build - I mean a new build on the test server - Build 3.156. I have a new build too, but I'm not sure it's glorious. Spoiler Diabolicalhoun Level 22 Elf Warrior Vibrant Pain The Lunginator The Lunginator Xander's Mail Granwick's Shield Captain Cedric's Helm Gumshoe's Gumshoes Cautious Mobility Focused Dervish 2 x Elven Maneuvers 2 x Mighty Hack 2 x Reliable Mail 4 x Officer's Harness 3 x Investigate 1 x Scouting Run 4 x Unnerving Strike 6 x Nimble Strike 1 x Surging Shield Block 6 x Lunging Bash 3 x Wind Dancer 2 x Subtle Parry Hackerly X Level 22 Human Warrior Final Sword Final Sword Troll's Ire Snarlcub Hide Black Cat Buckler Outgrown Helm Gumshoe's Gumshoes Subtle Positioning Novice Bruising 1 x Toughened Hide Strips 1 x Bludgeon 6 x Vengeance 1 x Officer's Harness 2 x All Out Attack 2 x Howl 1 x Monstrous Hide 3 x Investigate 6 x Strong Hack 2 x Bruiser 2 x Blind Rage 2 x Sundering Strike 1 x Ill-fitting Armor 2 x Vanguard 1 x Subtle Parry 3 x Parry Holly Level 22 Human Priest Healing Hand Mace St. Portia's Maul Mail Of Succor Aegis Of The Defender Gumshoe's Gumshoes Spellstripper Relic Purging Charm Anti-Radiation Hypo Advanced Flexibility Novice Piety 3 x Team Heal 1 x Sundering Strike 1 x Slowed 1 x Healing Rays 4 x Purging Burst 2 x Defender's Block 1 x Minor Heal 2 x Altruism 3 x Strong Bludgeon 3 x Investigate 1 x Weak Chop 1 x Purge 2 x Gene Therapy 3 x Consuming Spear 2 x Leadership 1 x Dynamic Armor 2 x Mighty Bludgeon 1 x Enervating Touch 2 x Help The Weak Between my overall ineptitude with Wizards and the power reduction to Ancient Grudge, I have returned to my roots and gone Warrior/Warrior/Priest. Elf Warrior stayed the same, still trying out Wind Dancer and such with step attacks. For the human Warrior I decided to try out Vengeance, having seen it work well in the hands of others. Game 10, 11, and 12: vs CT5, who had 2 Elf Wizards and an Elf Warrior. I saw various TK and Force effects from the wizards, as well as Inquisitor's Strike, Obliterating Sparks, and armor dissolving. The Priest had Vengeance, Vicious Thrusts, and other murdering cards. A lot of good armor and Howls as well. Game 10 - Celestial Temple I ran for a victory square with my human warrior, but one of the wizards took a shot me and I decided to use Vengeance to move closer, thinking that they either A) don't shoot at me anymore or B) shoot at me again and allow me to move adjacent to them. They opted to leave him alone. My Priest got hammered early with Obliterating Spark and other damage, and my attempts to move her out of harm's way didn't quite work out. On the plus side, when the wizard moved into a position to finish her off it was vulnerable to my warriors. In the end it was a close match - 6 stars to 5 with one character left on my side. Game 11 - Citadel Irrigation Chamber I've never seen this map before. Wacky. At one point I had double Vengeance - 4 squares of surprise movement! - in two segments, which can sometimes matter. Alas, for all my wonderful Vengeance-fueled progress, I was outmaneuvered in the end...by Vengeance on their side. Also, I may not have used the movement quite right when hit by Force Cone...it didn't register that I was about to be pushed after I moved. Still figuring Vengeance out. This was perhaps the first time I was pitted against Wind Dancer, or at least the first time it was relevant. Unreliable Block saved his priest from a killing blow. That still would have left him two wizards vs my surviving priest, so I think that match might have been doomed regardless. After this game I swapped out the Outgrown Helm for Chapeau of the Afflicted Artist. I like Howl, but I realized that Vengeance is badly hobbled by Ill-fitting Armor...they didn't actually come up together for me, but I realized that I didn't want to take the chance that they would. So only one Howl now, alas. Game 12 - The Fool's Trap Another new map for me. At first I stayed away from the Victory Squares, since I'm all melee and I thought I'd be a sitting duck for Wizards. After I killed one Wizard I felt a little safer about camping on a VP space while my warriors continued to hunt the other characters. Vengeance was truly king for me in this game - CT5 commented after the match that he should have just left my human alone and hoped that he didn't have enough movement cards to close on his own. As it was, between step attacks on the elf and Vengeance on the human I was able to chase down wizards and then finish off the priest 6 stars to zero.
October 14th, 4:00 AM I decided to try out Howl some more, and also Vanguard. Between Vengeance, Vanguard, and step attacks, I hope to be inescapable. I hated giving up playing a priest, because I really like having purge effects on hand, but I wanted to go all in and see how it went. It went poorly. Spoiler Hackerly X Level 22 Human Warrior Final Sword Final Sword Troll's Ire Snarlcub Hide Black Cat Buckler Chapeau Of The Afflicted Artist Gumshoe's Gumshoes Subtle Positioning Novice Bruising 2 x Toughened Hide Strips 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Dodge 6 x Vengeance 1 x Officer's Harness 2 x Sundering Strike 2 x Bruiser 1 x Monstrous Hide 1 x Bludgeon 3 x Parry 3 x Investigate 6 x Strong Hack 2 x All Out Attack 2 x Vanguard 1 x Howl 2 x Blind Rage Skoll Level 1 Human Warrior Ravager's Cudgel Howling Pain Ravager's Cudgel Snarlcub Hide Beacon Shield Chapeau Of The Afflicted Artist Gumshoe's Gumshoes Subtle Positioning Novice Bruising 3 x Nimble Strike 2 x Able Bash 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Dodge 1 x Bludgeon 4 x Unnerving Strike 2 x Toughened Hide Strips 2 x Bruiser 1 x Monstrous Hide 2 x Vicious Thrust 1 x Officer's Harness 2 x Vanguard 2 x Shield Block 8 x Howl 1 x Flaring Torch 3 x Investigate Hati Level 1 Human Warrior Howling Pain Howling Pain Ravager's Cudgel Snarlcub Hide Beacon Shield Chapeau Of The Afflicted Artist Gumshoe's Gumshoes Subtle Positioning Novice Bruising 6 x Nimble Strike 2 x Unnerving Strike 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Dodge 1 x Bludgeon 1 x Able Bash 2 x Toughened Hide Strips 2 x Bruiser 1 x Monstrous Hide 1 x Vicious Thrust 1 x Officer's Harness 2 x Vanguard 2 x Shield Block 9 x Howl 1 x Flaring Torch 3 x Investigate Game 13: vs karnal1 with 2x Human Warrior, Human Priest - Celestial Lions map We turned out to be running similar strategies, I think. I saw a lot of Vanguard and Vengeance on their side. I left a guy out of the action on a VP square, which I realized almost immediately was stupid - this build was supposed to be all about mobbing their characters, and I've deliberately left one aside. Aargh. They had better damage than I did, and Wind Dancer for blocks on top of normal blocks, and I lost the damage race badly. Game 14: vs karnal1 again, still with 2x Human Warrior, Human Priest - Celestial Dojo map This time I tried to be better about putting everyone into the action, but again, they just had better damage than I did. Healing on the Priest, too, so I fell even further behind on the damage race. As cute as Howl is, I return to my earlier opinion that going all in on it just costs too much damage on your weapons. Game 15: vs TimedTesting with 3x Human Priest, Barbarian's Ring map I think every one of their characters had Talented Healer at some point. Vanguard all over the place as well. Blocks, Sparkling Armor, Draining attacks, Unholy Power to bring up their damage. It was like the last two fights in a lot of ways...they might not have done more damage, but their damage stuck better (though between Investigate and Howl I did recoup a few HP). I just couldn't kill anyone, and even with my collection of step attacks and such I couldn't follow a wounded, vulnerable character due to the amount of movement they had from Vanguard. I don't think I'll be trying that build again. They were both perfectly delightful opponents, but those were all super frustrating games. I will give Vanguard another shot, though - that seems like it could really work. It certainly worked for _other_ people.
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 15 games. You will receive 3 Epic Mitternacht chests when this content is released.
I take that to mean that you're wrapping up testing? I was just thinking today that it had been a few days (a week?! Where does the time go?) since I played a match on the test server, and I should really get back to doing that. I've just been too busy playing real Card Hunter. = )
Yeah, we're aiming to release early next week if possible. Just doing some last minute polish & prep.
