Xenophon Level 19 Human Warrior Sharp Spetum Warrior's Mace Rageblood Dagger Dependable Mail Sepia Shield Wyvern Hide Helmet Goat Boots Advanced Command Sharp Bashing 1 x Quick Reactions 2 x Lunging Hack 1 x Flanking Move 1 x Raging Strike 6 x Vicious Thrust 1 x Blind Rage 1 x Sprint, Team! 1 x Dancing Cut 1 x Immovable 2 x Mighty Bludgeon 1 x Impaler 1 x Bruiser 1 x Run 1 x Thick Hide Armor 1 x Dangerous Maneuver 3 x Devastating Blow 1 x Hard To Pin Down 1 x Jarring Block 1 x Shield Block 1 x Weakened Armor 1 x Reliable Mail 1 x Penetrating Cut 1 x Strong Bash 1 x Parry 1 x Traveling Curse 2 x Mail Hippolyta Level 10 Human Warrior Bejeweled Shortsword Warrior's Mace Lochaber Axe Dependable Mail Slippery Shield Wyvern Hide Helmet Goat Boots Advanced Command Sharp Bashing 1 x Quick Reactions 2 x Lunging Hack 1 x Flanking Move 1 x Run 3 x Vicious Thrust 1 x Immovable 1 x Sprint, Team! 2 x Mighty Bludgeon 1 x Impaler 1 x Bruiser 1 x Thick Hide Armor 1 x Dangerous Maneuver 3 x Nimble Strike 3 x Hard To Pin Down 1 x Weak Chop 1 x Weakened Armor 3 x Powerful Hack 1 x Reliable Mail 1 x Penetrating Cut 1 x Strong Bash 1 x Parry 1 x Powerful Bludgeon 1 x Traveling Curse 1 x Unreliable Block 2 x Mail Hector Level 11 Human Priest Glinting Eye Hammer Whiteglow Flail Blessed Ring Shirt Dueler's Buckler Goat Boots St. Bethan's Charm Bleneth's Frenzy Tome St. Bethan's Charm Advanced Flexibility Trained Cleansing 2 x Nimble Strike 1 x Raging Strike 2 x Help The Weak 2 x Purge 1 x Immovable 2 x Mighty Bludgeon 1 x Powerful Bash 4 x Mass Frenzy 1 x Holy Presence 2 x Hardy Mail 2 x Team Heal 1 x Minor Heal 1 x Martyr Blessing 1 x Parry 1 x Dangerous Maneuver 1 x Weakened Armor 1 x Impenetrable Nimbus 2 x Leadership 1 x Block 1 x Boosted Heal 1 x Unreliable Block 1 x Savage Curse 1 x Healing Rays 1 x Slowed 1 x Invigorating Touch 1 x Barge So this is the deck I use in MP, been reluctant to post it but I really like this thing, so I figure it's better to share. This deck is all about one thing closing with your opponents squishy targets (usually wizards) and picking them off fast. And I mean really fast, you get one maybe two cards to play before the **** blows up in your face, and then your opponent, who is REALLY ticked at this point gets a chance to lay the hammer down. So character by character shall we? Xenophon- Since five of my items are common to two characters (three characters technically with goat boots) I'll deal with them first. Wyvern hide helmet is all anti-range in it's conception and usage here, yes traveling curse hurts, but when it shows up in an enemy's deck it's priceless, further heal weakest will nip any early turn curse in the bud. Othertimes it'll kill you when you least need it to, but bad traits are supposed to hurt, right? Dependable mail is just what it says, dependable albeit minor damage reduction. This deck is a glass cannon anyway, so this a no token bandage essentially. Goats boots provide three things, and three cards! First immovable, not a game changer with one in each deck, but it will save your butt occasionally. Second a move 4 card, while dangerous move has it's drawbacks the additional square it gets you is really worth it. Most of the time it'll be used for maneuver, but occasionally it'll be the only way to get base to base with your opponent. Third and least, weak armor, its basically in there as armor of last resort. Y'know which kind of damage doesn't depend on facing? Terrain damage, so it helps with that sometimes and gets discarded all the rest. Advanced command gives you two good things and one pretty meh. Sprint team is your blitzkrieg. It advances you deep into enemy territory and often allows you to position yourself against his weakest or most isolated party member, use it judiciously or save it. Flank move has two real uses in this deck, getting to go first and extending the range of your step attacks. Extending step attack range is far more useful, but far less reliable, so use it when you get the cards, but don't count on it. Run gives you a run, nuff said. Sharp bashing is in the deck precisely because it does not depend on warrior traits, it has no token cost plus two of your attack cards will get minor buffs. Both of those attacks have situational uses tactically, I've killed more than a few heavily armored characters with penetrating cut for example. Warrior's Mace could really be any weapon that requires one yellow and one blue token, but I'll tell you why I like it. First, two mighty bludgeons, no it's not obliterating bludgeon, but that's what priests are for. Second and third, two shuffles that can also clear melee blocks and a parry because parry is awesome. Unless you play wizards, and even then thanks to Ironwood Staff Of The Magus sometimes useful. As to the two unique items, Sharp Spetum is in the deck for the three vicious thrusts it brings to the table, and devastating blow often does far more damage than it's stated seven. Rageblood Dagger brings four step attacks with it, hooray! It also brings raging strike and Blind Rage, boooooo! Raging strike is real drawback. If you get caught out in the open with it, you're pretty much dead. However, Raging strike will also make your opponent fixate on that character, they're not about to turn down an extra three damage after all. Basically discard it unless you can use it immediately. Blind rage is fairly random, but since most of your time will be spent in setup and getting behind cover, it will hurt you more often than you get to use it against your opponent. Since this also exposes your attack cards to your opponent, they can be that much harder to get off. However, everyone assumes that being within three squares of a warrior is bad news at this point, so you're telling them what they already know. Sepia Shield is in this deck because I don't have two slippery shields but it get's the job done, it does have more focus on making sure those blocks happen in melee, but not by much. Hippolyta- Hippolyta has three items that are different than Xenophon's, so we'll cover them in turn. First Bejeweled Shortsword. Two step attacks and four rng 1 attacks. Believe it or not, the 4 rng 1's are very expendable, they're hard to use despite the pack they punch. I'd almost rather have two sharp spetums, but the slight difference in usage dictated by Bejeweled Shortsword+Lochaber Axe vs. Sharp Spetum+Rageblood Dagger can be an interesting dynamic. Regardless, Bejeweled Shortsword can dish it out. Lochaber Axe brings four step attacks with it, which balances out Bejeweled Shortsword, and keeps both of my warriors mobile. Three of those are the famed Nimble Strike, but more often than not, Nimble strike is far more valuable as a move 4 rather than a damage 6. It's when you combine those two attributes that threads get started. Weak Chop is a block clearer, if you position well it can clear two at one time. Unreliable block just might be my favorite card. You expect nothing of this card, and neither does your opponent, but 1 in every six times, it proves it's worth in gang buster style. 6+ is better than no +. Slippery shield is amazing. It is amazing because hard to pin down is amazing. What these cards allow you to do is bait a wizard and 66.6% of the time get a quick move out of it. It's a block plus a step attack... 66.6% of the time. Expect this card to disappoint one in every three. But when it works it allows you two main uses and one wildcard, first to close the distance on a wizard and smack him (or her) around with your rng 1 attacks. Second it allows you to step attack a warrior (or wizard but slightly less so) from behind cover, and then get back behind cover before they have a chance to damage or encumber you... 66.6% of the time. Wildcard!(#It'sAlwaysSunny) you can use this card like you use flanking move, extending your step attack rng by 3 instead of just 2, but not consistently. All I'm saying with the percentages is KNOW THY RISKS, risk management is key part of playing this build and you need to know when it can turn around and bite you. Also Hard to Pin Down allows you to run, useful but not optimal. Hector- He's a weird little fish, but he's the final piece to the puzzle. First and foremost, Whiteglow Flail, this gives you two of the all important step attacks, plus decent utility. Martyr's blessing and Impenatrable Nimbus aren't important for what they bring to the table, but rather what they force you opponent to do. For example, warriors with nimbus will only be attacked with encumbrance attacks for the most part. Whereas with Martyr's Blessing they will refrain from attacking you period. Some exceptions apply. Glinting Eye Hammer, this item gives your priest the ability to smash like a warrior. So we're basically taking it for the mighty bludgeons, not that the other cards aren't decent. Raging Strike- see above. Powerful bash is sometimes useful but you'll be surprised how often you discard it. Healing rays is really good, but since you only have 1 in your deck you wont get the opportunity to use it that often, but when you do it allows you absorb far more damage than you otherwise would be able to. Purge keeps you moving, it can also remove Martyr's blessing and impenetrable nimbus off of people, or a tri-traited damage buff warrior. Dueler's Buckler, any no token shield can go here, I just prefer this one because it has my favorite block and and versatile setup. Blessed Ring shirt, again any no token divine armor item can go here, this item is actually fairly new to my build, I went with it because x2 hardy mail is better than x2 mail, bandages over gaping wounds, but it serves. St. Betham's charm, Frenzy and reliable heals. Frenzy keeps my damage comparable with the best cards and heals heal. Heal weakest works because all the max hp levels are close together, if you run an elf it'll be hard for the heals to get where they need to go, but your mileage may vary. Bleneth's Frenzy Tome, MOAR FRENZIES, plus savage curse will really make a character a target for the other team and will help you if used on a one attack hand. Advanced Flexibility, originally I had this on Xenophon and Hector got a sprint move human skill item. Moving two warriors is better right? Slow really kills a mobile warrior though, and it's far more important that both my warriors have decent hands through leadership, rather than a warrior and priest. Ultimately it's up to your discretion, but since the priest tends to hang a bit back anyway, slow makes much more sense on him. Trained Cleansing, a decent attack, another purge, and a slightly cruddier version of purge that doesn't take up any hand space. Tips and Tricks 1.We're in business! Defilade! Other side of the hole! -Sgt. Horvath Stay behind cover! I repeat, STAY BEHIND COVER. You can attack around corners, but your opponent can't, generally speaking. Find the spots on the map that are visible from very few angles, then inhabit them. These are your staging areas, occupy them before your enemy makes them useless. 2. I wouldn't go out there fellas, this sniper's got talent. -Pvt Jackson Bait your opponent, if you run out into the open screaming and waving your awesome weapons you're going to get smoked. Never expose yourself unless you having a plan to deal with incoming fire. Enemy wizards aren't going to expend movement cards when you've so kindly presented them with a target, use this. 3. Well, what I mean by that, sir, is... if you was to put me and this here sniper rifle anywhere up to and including one mile of Adolf Hitler with a clear line of sight, sir... pack your bags, fellas, war's over. Amen.
gah edit function malfunction, Part three is to apply the first first two and then kill the opponents wizards. Now you wont succeed a lot of the time. but eventually you'll get the hang of which hand draws give you a decent chance of ending the magical threat right then and there. But a few rules can be discerned, first go after the isolated ones. If your opponent has moved his warrior up to cap, run around. If he's turtling wait or just bum rush. Odds are if he's really cowering in a corner, he's firestorm anyway. Above all keep your options open. Your opponent will have many tools to deal with you flinging warriors at him, the trick is to know when to keep on the pressure and to know when to back off and wait another turn. A corollary to that is knowing how to back off, disengaging is the most dangerous moment for you tactically. If you can't get to cover in one card, you're probably better off taking it and using your opponents fixation against him. In any case it's a high risk high reward list that encourages doing the bold thing. Remember your opponent is just as worried about you as you are of him. If you can grab the psychological initiative and get him running, then you're doing exactly what you need to do. Just don't over extend yourself.
This is a pretty basic 2 warrior 1 priest setup. I used a similar build myself between ratings 1000 and 1500, with the main differences being that I used dwarves, I had a bit more steps, and my priest was full damage Mass Frenzy-Vampire. I also used some different items but the basic idea was the same. It's a fun strategy to bum rush enemy wizard and kill it fast, then carefully grind grind the 3 vs. 2 victory. The good thing is that almost every team has at least one squishy target. Bad news is that if they don't, you are pretty much screwed. Some items look a bit weird to me but if it works it works. I didn't do any deep analysis but that Blessed Ring Shirt caught my eye seeing how mediocre it is. Something like Glowing Hide Armor or Dark Chain Shirt (if you have it) would be much better imo, especially since there is Mass Frenzy involved. Minor Healing is just a terrible card that I usually try to avoid at all cost.
I don't have dark chain shirt, would use it for this role if I did, since it's better at what I'm trying to go for. I chose blessed ring shirt because at zero power token, I get to choose between a bunch of armor 2 mainly 4+, this gives me two armor 2 at 3+, minor heal is just another paper card. But most decks simply have to accept the fact that there aren't enough tokens for everything and a few "bad" cards will end up in your hand. Glowing hide armor suffers from having reliable hide, which while reliable, often just isn't worth keeping in your hand. Further, the cleric hangs back anyway and is squishy enough, one invigorating touch, mainly used for block checking anyway, is enough. If they're playing all warrior, which is the only way to have no squishies, then you just outlast them because you have heals, however minor, and they don't. You do play a far more evasive game, but cards that get you to cover without getting nailed by wizards work just as well for running away.
Excellent post! I especially like these deck building posts where the OP walks you through the idea behind the build.
