Mauve Manticore

I find Mauve Manticore has good replay value. I've played five or six times. As I just mentioned elsewhere, I find it a nice change not to have to deck-build.

#1 is pretty easy, IMO. There are lots of options other than freeze. Yesterday I used Rockfall on the ogre and the door. He didn't actually move toward me, but if he had, I had a Force Bolt to push him back. If worst comes to worst, he can usually be tanked for a turn.

#2 is more challenging, but well-balanced, I think. You can lose through bad luck, but if you are careful and avoid too many chops you should be okay. What you want are frenzied vampire attacks, really, and hopefully some help from the ogre. At least that's what I hope for. Not sure the first-round draw even matters that much, I'm happy if I get a few good cards but it doesn't really start until round 2 anyway.

#3 is obviously just an arcade challenge, but it's quick and fun, and a nice way to finish off. It could be frustrating if one's connection is poor, I guess.

I don't believe unlimited replays are needed. The difficulty level is lower than the high-level standard maps IMO.

 

#1 Is interesting. On the first time I did it, I got lucky and froze the ogre in place but the other times I didn't have that luxury and still had no problems with the ogre. Getting multiple characters out of the hallway is tough, but certainly doable. As long as I get one character out and over to the golems I'm fine. One time my priest got stuck in the room with the ogre but I still won in the end.

#2 Was confusing the first time because I thought I had to hold the VP. Once I realized I could win killing goblins it became much easier and really fun.

#3 Was and has been a pain. I get it and think it's original and would like to see more from the creator, but the inclusion of blocks made me think there were actually traps that I needed to keep these for at first. So even the flavor text at the beginning can lead you astray instead of help. Later I realized they were dead cards. I would have liked to see something that made those cards more useful.

 

Heh. The whole game is purely luck based by that standard. There are a LOT of outs and strategies in both the first and second maps. Having played them a number of times now, I can reliably beat both. I understand that it may feel frustrating, and I am sure there ARE zero-out hands that cause you to lose, but for the most part the quests are doable.

 

I realy don't like the new challenge. Its only based on luck....if you cant freeze the big guy in the 1st turn your screwed.

2nd took me some braindamage but now I solve it each time (but also based on lucky cards). I just try to get into the south door and kill 6 guys asap those in the south door a lot off time carry that wep that hurts themselves (sorry forgot cardname).

3 th damn easy but the first time I failed now I run it in under 1 minute.

*spoiler* first you need 1 walk then 2 then 3 then just keep passing till you get an attack and...yeah obvious attack....disgard again till you get attack aso aso .

 

If you don't have anything to keep the Ogre in place, block him from advancing with your most armored character. Use the others to break down the door.

 

One small tip on #3 for anyone who is getting timed out: when you're hitting the door, don't wait for auto-target select. Click on the door once you've selected a weapon card. It only saves a second or so, but that might add up to a couple of extra draws in the end...

 

It's not that I actually lost, it's just that the victories took a long time and were less fun for having lost a character right away who didn't make it out of the first room...or that it took three rounds to get anyone out to engage the geomancer, or both.

 

Slightly digressing from the discussion.

Should I play this at my low level or should I wait till max level then get higher level loot?

 

That depends on what level loot you want. If you want high level loot, wait, if lower is OK, don't wait. The difference between the first completion of the adventure and the later ones is just the one chance of a guaranteed rare compared to a guaranteed uncommon, so it doesn't make all that much difference when you do it. You can always complete it again at whatever level you like or even all of them (one completion max per day like all the other adventures).

Based on all that, I'd give the same advice that I think applies to all Card Hunter play: Play it when you like, as you like, whatever way is the most fun for you. The fun counts for a lot more than the in the end pretty small differences in loot.

 

I don't think there was a guaranteed rare on completing MM for the first time, though... so I'm pretty sure loot tables are the same no matter how many times you complete it. I don't think waiting accomplishes anything if you're planning to play the scenarios multiple times.

(I might be talking out my butt but I'm pretty sure the highest rarity I got for completing sneak thief the first time was uncommon.)

 

You aren't. I noticed the same thing. Which struck me as odd because the chest was definitely golden.

 

The point of the last few posts being, I think, that if you run the scenarios now, you won't be hurting your loot when you run them again later at a higher level.

 

I would safe it for higher level

A yellowbox is a yellowbox and has better loot....in the low levels you get enough yellowboxes.

 

The design of Sneak Thief is terrible. It's far to easy for a string of bad draws or armor rolls to leave you with no path to victory.

I like the concept, that it educates you on the value of pooling move cards, but the Goblin badly needs some higher damage cards.

 

I've never failed it since I upped the animation speed. I guess if you have a poor connection or are just not a fast clicker it might be harder. Still, it's just one mission out of... how many are there, must be about a hundred!

The scenario creator was limited in his choices, also - it seems you have to take monsters and doors as they come. So you need a monster that gets a Run at least every turn (preferably more) and also will find a door some sort of challenge. That doesn't leave too many options, though maybe a higher level monster with multiple doors would be doable. I sense a sequel, involving G'zok's larger cousin and a more vigilantly defended treasury!

 

Actually, the sort-of sequel will be an evasion challenge to escape from the manor. I haven't decided yet who the PC will be, but I'm thinking maybe a Kobold Avenger.

 

I finally found time to play through the Mauve Manticore adventures and just wanted to say thanks to tuknir, Phaselock and Kalin. I really enjoyed the new scenarios.

The first battle provided the fun of having encumber cards combined with powerful terrain cards, while starting off in a confined space against a powerful ogre and an enemy capable of expanding the area of the terrain effects. Very nice design.

The second battle I was a little unsure of at the start. There were a lot of goblins and I spent quite a lot of time early on hitting pass. Ultimately it did come down to a nail-biting and satisfying conclusion once the goblins got in and swarmed the priests, and anything with Mindless Battlerage is always good for a laugh.

The third battle was very inventive, I love the idea behind it. I also forgot the door had a zone of control, so just when I thought "this will be easy" I suddenly had to keep passing while I waited for G'zok to build up enough courage to run past the door. Finished it fairly comfortably in the end, although there was a lot of frantic clicking. And I still don't know why Gary wins if I'm standing on the victory squares...

 

Ha! That's brilliant.