Initial Blatherings

I just started the other night and I'm at Level 6/6/7 currently. I haven't read everyone's feedback to if I say something that has been talked about to death, I apologize.

I really like this game despite my words below. I would like to see some more in-depth adventure design... perhaps where you get to make certain choices between battles. Branching paths that you can go back to later. I think initially I imagined the game having an exploring aspect to it so I was surprised to learn that it is nearly pure combat with some funny dialogue between battles. I can work with it though.

The art is amazing. I love the Moldvay eraser next to the board. I'd like minor animations for actions though. Say, a spear actually juts out from a mini to strike his foe or a glowing magic circle appears below the wizard when he casts a spell. Minor stuff that helps evoke the mood. I'm very theme oriented.

...but... The game seems to run somewhat slowly on my system which is usually pretty decent as far as 2D/flash games go. Might have to check the wireless connection strength for this one though. I turned off lighting and turn the quality to low and still didn't make a difference.

I don't like Martial Skills. The bonus range is too narrow. Chop, penetrating, bash, etc... I'd much prefer damage type: crushing, piercing, slashing, etc. Or at least some options that are more general (+1 to melee damage, duration 2). Obviously I'm not too far into the game yet but I also think more interesting bonuses should be introduced such as...

"add Step 1 to all of your melee attacks with a base damage of 5 or less, keep, duration 3"​

"Parry any, keep, duration 3, 5+"​

"Draw a card whenever you deal 5 or more damage with a melee attack, keep, duration 3"​

I like Divine Skills but I have similar complaints about Arcane Skills being too bland. I'm sure more skill types will emerge in due time.

Is there a universal time when the adventures become available again or is it based on when you completed it? Either way, I'd enjoy an indicator telling me when they will be ready again. All that said, I don't like waiting. I'm sure it is done for a good reason but it really killed my momentum the other night.

The game seemed easy up until The White Star where I went from never losing a battle to getting systematically defeated each and every time. Maybe I'm just terrible at this game but after losing the 1st battle multiple times, the 2nd one destroyed me easily. So much parrying and blocking from those little guys! With their super small focused decks the kobolds can consistently pull out the same tricks over and over. Maybe it is meant to be this hard but I can't grind lower levels consistently due to exhausted adventures. =/

This might be completely out of the question but I was wondering if you folks ever considered zone of control type mechanics? Or at least adding cards that represent that mechanic. It seems too easy for people to just up and run off after you move next to them. Sure, the foe should get a chance to run away but perhaps only on a roll of 4 or better? Or maybe their total movement is reduced by 1? Maybe I play too much HeroClix?

And finally... once the game launches, will I be able to buy physical copies of the game's paper minis???

 

"The art is amazing. I love the Moldvay eraser next to the board. I'd like minor animations for actions though. Say, a spear actually juts out from a mini to strike his foe or a glowing magic circle appears below the wizard when he casts a spell. Minor stuff that helps evoke the mood. I'm very theme oriented."

This detracts from the board game feeling tho and i wouldn't like it personally.

"...but... The game seems to run somewhat slowly on my system which is usually pretty decent as far as 2D/flash games go. Might have to check the wireless connection strength for this one though. I turned off lighting and turn the quality to low and still didn't make a difference."

Flash has a memory leak in it press f1 repeatedly to flush your cache.

"Is there a universal time when the adventures become available again or is it based on when you completed it? Either way, I'd enjoy an indicator telling me when they will be ready again. All that said, I don't like waiting. I'm sure it is done for a good reason but it really killed my momentum the other night. "

Resets at a set time every day as far as i know.

"The game seemed easy up until The White Star where I went from never losing a battle to getting systematically defeated each and every time. Maybe I'm just terrible at this game but after losing the 1st battle multiple times, the 2nd one destroyed me easily. So much parrying and blocking from those little guys! With their super small focused decks the kobolds can consistently pull out the same tricks over and over."

The game is very easy compared to how it was earlier in beta there are plenty of tips how to get past your problems that i suggest you reading up about because if the game gets easier they will start really losing core customers. You aren't neccerely bad but the game has a learning curve that you need to get used to and adapt with.

"This might be completely out of the question but I was wondering if you folks ever considered zone of control type mechanics? Or at least adding cards that represent that mechanic. It seems too easy for people to just up and run off after you move next to them. Sure, the foe should get a chance to run away but perhaps only on a roll of 4 or better? Or maybe their total movement is reduced by 1? Maybe I play too much HeroClix?"

This is in but not as a prevent you from running more as a actual zone control as units can only move one square through melee range of other characters.

 

Just stopped into the forums to see what was up with the reset, a timer would be helpful.

Also just hit this point, used a bunch of different strategies but still get killed in the end. Almost feels like its nudging me into the pizza coin exchange. It's beta still so I'm hoping its just a slight balance issue or something. Other then that everything else is good with the game, enjoying it so far - well not at the moment while I wait for the lower levels to unlock.

Oh and it needs to have a play by email feature!

 

Maybe but there are other small animations such as the slash through a character that is not board gamey at all. I'm not asking for the minis to swing swords and thrusts spears, just a little hacking/stabbing/invoking animation.

Thanks, I'll give it a shot!

Do you perhaps know what time?

I don't even know where to start, really. How do you defeat blocks? Get behind them and wizard spells that are Hard to Block are the only ways I know. I definitely can't get behind the Kobolds (they are filtered towards me via a one-space wide corridor). I have attacks that can kill the 8 HP Kobolds in a single shot but even when I poke at them with a weak attack followed by the finisher they seem to have a 2nd block. x_x
I'm just going to wait for the refresh, go through all the adventures again and see if any good stuff pops up in the level 6 shop.

Yeah, it is the same in HeroClix only without the Break Away rules. It would change the game a lot and add a new feature for cards to focus on. Do effects exist that ignore the stop rule besides teleport?

 

Yeah, seems like an easy fix.

I planned on buying pizza eventually but mostly for the cosmetic stuff and to unlock the treasure hunts. I won't ever buy anything that gets me free equipment no matter how hard the game is. If I can't beat it through grinding then I'll quit, simple as that. I'm hoping my next run through of the lower levels makes me strong enough to make it through so I don't get to that point.

Agreed. I am enjoying everything else as well... I just wish I could grind lower levels more often. Every now and then I pop into the multiplayer to see if I can challenge Gary to get treasure whilst avoiding others players that would probably stomp me.

 

"Do effects exist that ignore the stop rule besides teleport?"
Very few but there are cards that say free move basically meaning they ignore any movement restrictions outside of encumber.

"How do you defeat blocks? Get behind them and wizard spells that are Hard to Block are the only ways I know. I definitely can't get behind the Kobolds (they are filtered towards me via a one-space wide corridor). I have attacks that can kill the 8 HP Kobolds in a single shot but even when I poke at them with a weak attack followed by the finisher they seem to have a 2nd block. x_x"

Two options either flush out their blocks with aoe attacks using the wizard or use attacks that bypass their block which is like 60-70% 4 damage or less only 20-30% block anything but take 2 damage and 10% parry.

"Do you perhaps know what time?"
late evening early morning cet not sure sorry.

 

I don't have much AoE stuff... better grind for it I guess. I need to see if I have an acid cone or something.

 

Doesn't have to be the Wizard: your Warrior can hit two enemies at once with a Chop. Of course, it's not as impressive as hitting nine enemies at once with magic, but it avoids all the Missile Block and Reflecting Block cards. And then you can bring Slicer to up the damage so even Weak Chop is helpful.

Also, for the case of enemies approaching you one at a time: you don't have to worry about getting behind them anymore! "Weak enemies approaching one at a time" is basically the best scenario you could hope to have when you don't own area-of-effect cards. Bottleneck and kill.

 

More thoughts... (keep in mind that I really, really like this game)

If there isn't anything you can do with treasure beyond sell it... wouldn't it be nice if the game showed you the item then just transmuted into gold for you?
Coming off that... Once you've seen the garbage in the stores you don't need to see them again until they refresh. So why not give us the ability to sell items from the loot screen?

I dread the fact that I unlocked racial skills. "Here is one good card, an emeffing walk then something else trivial." Thanks for watering my deck down. -_-

I don't think the Card Hunter Club should cost pizza. Offer me straight terms and I'll be more likely to give it a shot.

Furthermore, I will not pay more than the following for that privilege: $60 for 12 months, $36 for 6, $21 for 3 and $8 for 1.

Chop would probably help a lot in that scenario since I can't seem to kill the first wave then I get overwhelmed from both sides. @_@

I made this huge mistake where I was just selling everything that I didn't like. Now I don't have any alternative strategies to opt for. >_< My bad. I'm grinding the lower levels right now and keeping more loot than normal to correct this.

Ah man, now the server is going down for a new build! I literally just arrived at the level I can't beat after grinding through everything, getting everyone up to level 7 (with a talent point to spend!) and finding some new awesome gear.

Normally I'd agree... But even with my priest and warrior swinging at a single enemy these freakin' kobolds have two blocks that are guaranteed to work each time. I start to see red when my 10 damage overswing is negated by a jarring block. x_x

Hopefully once this grind is done I'll be able to take them down.

 

Ahh, Jarring Block. I like Jarring Block. It turns the most trivial things into pain.

If you really don't have enough minor Attacks to trigger such Blocks, then don't forget they are "Block Any": Telekinesis would trigger them. Minor Heal would trigger them! In the latter case, you just have to cast it on a full-health enemy to ensure you don't mess up.

And anyway, once you're thinking in those terms, you can see what other cards in your deck are good for flushing Blocks.

 

"If there isn't anything you can do with treasure beyond sell it"
Me and a few other people are a bit oldschool and ocd so we like to make collections and complete them which i find to be a fine use for the items.

"I dread the fact that I unlocked racial skills. "Here is one good card, an emeffing walk then something else trivial." Thanks for watering my deck down. -_-"
I agree for humans and elfs, but dwarfs don't really lose out on much and can quickly get a decent on from the shop.

"I don't think the Card Hunter Club should cost pizza. Offer me straight terms and I'll be more likely to give it a shot."
While i agree i has to be up to them in the end how they make money from their product and i find it to be decently fair and above all else not pay to win in any respect.

"Furthermore, I will not pay more than the following for that privilege: $60 for 12 months, $36 for 6, $21 for 3 and $8 for 1."
I agree that the prices are a bit high and i hope they go down by about 33% before launch aiming for a sell more for less strategy instead of a sell less for more.

 

I knew Telekinesis would but I didn't think Minor Heal would! Weird.

I just beat The White Star! It was really tough but I used fire spray, kindler and fire wall to win. For my valiant efforts? I got The White Star! Is that a guaranteed drop or did I get lucky?

Well... we should at least have the option to sell items during the loot screen.

The kicker is that I'm running an Elven Fighter, Human Priest and a Human Wizard.

Certainly is up to them. But I've never liked buying currency to spend on things in a game. It has never sat well with me. I want to spend exactly how much I want to and not a penny more. I'm more likely to not buy things if the standing order is, "Buy more fake currency and spend less!" I don't have an unlimited entertainment budget after all.

I'm all about supporting Blue Manchu's amazing work here... but they have to work with us a little bit. I'm totally willing to pay for a year of the club membership, buy all of the figures and the treasure hunts... Things I won't buy; starter packs and chests. Still, I'd say that being reasonable.

 

Aw, man. The White Star is only worth 10 gold? I was expecting 50 or more. x_x

I think there is a typo in the first Compass of Xorr adventure. The 2nd adventure's first battle has a type as well, "Compass or Xorr."

 

Ye it really doesn't work out now that was supposed to be a real special and hefty gold reward it definitely needs to be reworked somehow. That said props for fixing the membership issue with it I'm sure you can come up with something to fix the problem.

 

I just played the Melvelous adventure. Yeesh! I died once on the 2nd battle but... the first battle I killed him with a single Fire Wall (the damage triggered 3 times, killing him instantly) and I did almost the same with the last battle using two tiles of lava. I don't know what I would have done without Fire Wall. @_@

I think the naming conventions for the spells are off. Zap/Bolt isn't electrical but Spark is?

Could someone tell me... has anyone asked about or any official word been given on potential co-operative adventures? Imagining a six-person party engaging creatures and a map double the size we are use to is pretty wild, man.

 

Zombies are immune to fire? Since when? I would have thought that they would be weak to it...

Typo on the aftermath screen of the 1st set of Gladiator battles: "as the first" where the as should be at.

 

Nice finds on the typos and such!

I heard that four tile mobs are supposed to only be affected by a tile type once, which will lower the power of firewall for these boss fights. However, this does mean you could affect him with 4 different tile types if you wanted!

 

As stated, yes, the "multiple tiles hitting multiple times" thing is supposed to be "corrected" sometime.

Next:

Their response:

Next: co-operative adventuring would be great sometime, but it's not nearly as concrete as other things coming soon (i.e., the Rogue).

Next:

Only a subset of them. Only a very specific, very frustrating subset of them.

 

Long names don't match perfectly to the Level indicator shown when viewing an adventure (but not starting that adventure). My elven fighter is Zelda the Shadowed Step and 'step' appears below it but the Level indicator is parallel to both lines leaving Dardareth the Elliptical with no indication of what level he might be!

I feel like there might be a specific forum/thread for typos...? Until someone points me elsewhere otherwise, I'll report what I see here.

Blah. I don't like that. If your body is covered in four times as much lava, you are four times as much dead.

Wouldn't Blast/Beam/Ray/Mystical Boot/Force/anythingelsebutzapandbolt make more sense...?

Of course. But it would be cool if Blue Manchu had that in the pipeline. It would make it easier for me to fork over a year's worth of club money and to start convincing others to join when the time comes.

Bah! Well, it was quite a surprise when my lava tile did no damage. Surprise with an admixture of vein bulging anger.