What it says on the box. Elves are squishy, right? Elf wizards, even moreso. I was thinking of ways to ameliorate that, and after dismissing using Battlefield Training to give them Toughness, I thought "What about giving them some blocks?" Enter Ironwood Staff Of The Magus. It features the best block melee in Parry, and the quite useful Desperate Block (since most players think "Elf wizard? Eat Powerful Hack!"). It also features the always useful Obliterating Spark. What really got me thinking was the two step attacks: Surging Bolt (ehh), and Nimble Strike (!). Who the hell expects Nimble Strike from a wizard? And that synchronizes nicely with the blocks, in case you wind up in someone's melee range. So let's try it out. From there, it was just a matter of how what else to equip the wizard with (Elven Manuevers, duh!), and how to fit out the rest of the party. Yes, the burst-y dwarf wizard was often the MVP, but this certainly isn't a shoot-you-up-the-rankings build. I started in the 1300s, and bounced around there (one massive fall under 1200, but the deck got me back up above 1300, so I don't think it's terrible) Party under the spoiler. Spoiler Westrast Level 20 Human Priest Temple Blade St. Portia's Maul Inspiring Chain Shirt Aegis Of The Defender Sliding Boots Amulet Of Inspiration Demon Charm Of The 7th Circle Purging Charm Advanced Flexibility Novice Ablution 1 x Help The Weak 3 x Consuming Spear 1 x Greater Heal 1 x Sparkling Cloth Armor 2 x Holy Presence 1 x Flanking Move 2 x Defender's Block 1 x Impaling Stab 1 x Clumsy Chop 1 x Slowed 1 x Weak Chop 2 x Purge 1 x Dancing Cut 1 x Demonic Power 2 x Leadership 1 x Enervating Touch 1 x Unholy Wellspring 1 x Purging Burst 3 x Strong Bludgeon 1 x Bad Luck 1 x Mind Leak 1 x Team Walk 1 x Heal 4 x Inspiration 1 x Crafted Mail Kuribar Level 4 Dwarf Wizard Blue Destruction Staff Of Chask Runestone Sensate's Ring Armorbane Pendant Runestone Firehide Robes Ulalia's Boots Solid Rock Superb Electromancy 1 x Slowed 2 x Pushback Parry 1 x Arcane Aura 1 x Toughness 2 x Flanking Move 2 x Wall Of Fire 1 x Gusts Of War 2 x Spark Generator 1 x Parry 1 x Obliterating Spark 6 x Arcane Burst 2 x Winds Of War 1 x Combustible 1 x Memory Loss 1 x Little Zap 3 x Punishing Bolt 1 x Resistant Hide 3 x Squeamish 2 x Firestorm 1 x Immovable 1 x Dissolve Armor Gwinaeden Level 18 Elf Wizard Ironwood Staff Of The Magus Ironwood Staff Of The Magus Rod Of Palver Pree Ring Of Appropriation Ring Of Appropriation Sensate's Ring Lightfoot Robes Ulalia's Boots Cautious Mobility Electroporter Novice 2 x Nimble Strike 1 x Stone Spikes 2 x Elven Maneuvers 2 x Desperate Block 1 x Spark Generator 2 x Parry 1 x Scouting Run 4 x Flanking Move 1 x Dimensional Traveller 3 x Gusts Of War 1 x Arcane Aura 2 x Obliterating Spark 1 x Spark Inductor 1 x Squeamish 2 x Surging Bolt 1 x Little Zap 1 x Hardy Mail 1 x Hot Spot 2 x Penetrating Bolt 5 x Telekinesis I'd tried swapping out Lightfoot Robes for Cotton Wizard's Robes, but I found that left me without enough movement cards for the Manuevers to pull if I got hit. I also found that Nimble Strike without Mass Frenzy boosting it doesn't hit hard, but it's very useful -- no one expects that extra damage, and flying can get you out of some tight quarters. If the dwarf dies early, I was often in a really bad position -- my elf buddy lacks firepower if those Obliterating Sparks don't show up, and then I'm limited to bouncing around the map. Still, I had fun, and I'd love to incorporate the staff in a more serious build sometime.
Would it not be better on a dwarf wiz. They benifit more from extra movement and you can add blind rages for extra dps . I don't like the idea of cautious mobility on elf wiz as you never want to get hit and that card rewards you for doing what you got to avoid and if you play well you won't get hit and that causes conflict in the way you should be playing
Might be worth trying with DWiz, yeah. I viewed getting hit as an inevitability, and Elven Manuevers as just something to buy me a card to get me out of range. So I definitely wasn't using it to its full potential, like an Elf Warrior would.
I LOVE this. Back in the long-long-ago, when I didn't have a good collection, I ran an elf wizard with two Ironwood. Just picturing the look on my opponent's face when they got blocked twice in a row was worth the many losses.
They benifit more from extra movement and you can add blind rages for extra dps . I don't like the idea of cautious mobility on elf wiz as you never want to get hit and that card rewards
You could always pair the Ironwood with a Cottonwood Staff (which happens to be the Daily Deal) to gain more of a surprise of people, because who expects a wizard (an elf wizard, at that!) to have....Barge? If you work it right, you NS behind them and then Barge them away....and then they aren't so confident about running right up to you. Just an idea.
