Peon's Not So Daily Deal

Juniper's Jumper
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Using the heavy armor slot for armor boosting like Enchanted Harness is less efficient in terms of having enough boost worthy armors and cuts you off from some of the better Harness targets altogether. It's better to use helmets and boots for Harnesses and heaver armor for triggered and high armor boost targets. You won't be able to fit as many Harnesses into a build this way but not drawing Harnesses is preferable to drawing too many. Would not purchase

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Investing in Harnesses isn't as effective as putting everything into weapons. You can get a bit of extra damage from triggered armors but the best ones are still in the heavy armor slot. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Quornic's Armor (E), Granwick's Ringmail (E)

 

Kazmir's Staff (P)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
While a completely reasonable staff in a vacuum, Kazmir's Staff isn't as appealing as some alternatives. If you're looking for Freeze, Forval's Teak Staff has a stronger set of cards for a control wizard and a cheaper token cost to boot. If you're looking for pure damage, True Silver hit much harder with higher consistency. To top it all off, Missile Block is often a dead card and not very impressive against Hard to Block spells when you do face off against wizards. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
If you're not using wizards for their offensive capabilities, you want to go all in on control. Having a couple strong attacks isn't worth having dead turns where you don't draw the cards you need. You either want something with cycling traits or a staff with more copies of cards you need like Gusting Feystaff. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
None

 

Kelharin's Clogs (N)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Team Walk is great but you need a good reason to replace movement cards with other stuff let alone low impact cards like Officer's Harness. Extra cards in hand sometimes even turn into a liability when you face cards like Punishing Bolt. What Kelharin's Clogs are good for is limiting your movement card pool and making dedicated Officer's Harness builds. By going down to a single movement card on boots, you are more likely to draw Step attacks like Vicious Thrust when you are playing Elven Maneuvers and Pathfinding. However, elves are the least likely to need Team Walk and there are tokenless options for single movement boots. Jamming a bunch of Officer's Harnesses in your deck also lets you Harness buff with cards like Enchanted Harness or use them as discard fodder to Leadership. Both these strategies are fairly weak but they are things you could do. Either way, only purchase Kelharin's Clogs if you have a specific plan in mind.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Movement is not a major priority unless you are chasing down ranged mobs in which case you'll need longer moves and more of it. Team Walk is still a fine card on support characters but you can make do with epic substitutes if you really want it. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Rhood's Boots (E) , Salazar's Sandals (E) , Sliding Boots (E)

 

Kelvim's Buckler
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
While not unplayable, Kelvim's Buckler is strictly worse than Wellington's Shield. Icy Block is a Wounded Block that is always turned on with a little Encumber thrown in for good measure. Wellington's Shield is by no means spectacular but Kelvim's Buckler is a straight up no go. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Don't buy legendary shields. This is doubly true for legendary shields that are inferior to other legendary shields. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Acrobat's Aegis (R) , Backflip Buckler (E) ,Jaguar Buckler (E) , Terror-Forged Shield (E) , Boggling Shield (R) , Shield Of The Tumbler (E)

 

Kelvin's Chunk Of Ice (P)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Cone Of Cold can be tricky to use if you care about encumbering your own characters but that wide range also makes it very hard to play around. Cone of Cold is also the only cold spell available on arcane items. Slowing down multiple characters on the opposing team is powerful but not something you want to draw multiples of. Add that to a major token cost and you have an item that a lot of wizards can't afford to run. Most people that want a few extra cold spells opt for one of the minor token double Cone of Cold items. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Encumber doesn't do anything against zombie hoards. Goblins have magic blocks for days. Oozes have long range attacks. Encumbering en masse is great in theory but there just aren't many good uses for Cone of Cold, especially once you factor in the major token cost. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Hasek's Icy Ring (E) , Hylithia's Wand (E) , Lich's Locket (E) , Xochu's Icy Circlet (E)

 

Klonox's Warper (N)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Accelerate Time is commonly paired with Volcano and Illusory Barrier is a decent way to clear up terrain attachments affecting your team. However, I'm not a fan of playing cards that are weak or off-plan if it can be avoided and Firestorm falls into those categories a bit too often. I would be more inclined to run an item with a stronger set of cards like Reality Warper and get Volcano failsafes from other items. While Volcano builds often have fewer arcane item slots to spare, you can rely on other slots for Volcano answers in team movement. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
You do not need Illusory Barrier in your Volcano builds. Stall until the AI is out of moves, play Volcano, and move off. It's nice to have insurance when there are a few hidden movement cards squirreled away but not at the legendary price point. Just get any old Accelerate Time item and call it a day. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Boiling Warper (R) , Disruptive Warp Pistol (R) , Warp Crystal Gun (R) , Caustic Warper (E) , Ethereal Crystal Gun (E) , Vogel's Confusotron (E) : Accelerate Time

 

Knife Of St. Blenko (P)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Inspiring Presence is a risky card but if you are a master at positioning its power level is off the charts. Healing for 5 is the baseline for a good heal so the possibility for healing multiple characters and sometimes drawing cards is well worth the additional planning. Leave your priest in the back ranks, rotate injured and healthy character when you need to, and profit. If you're facing a wizard team, Inspiring Presence virtually has no drawback. Sometimes an enemy character sneaks past your offense but don't be afraid to fire it off if you need to as you'll likely net more heals and cards out of the deal than your opponent. Knife of St. Blenko is the best way to get Inspiring Presence should you choose to try it out. Divine weapons often have a poor buff/heal to token ratio when compared to divine items. Knife of St. Blenko gives you a 1:1 return on your token investment and you can't get more than one Inspiring Presence on a divine item. This frees up divine item slots for cards with less cost effective divine weapon options. If you are confidant in your positional game or you'd like to improve it, Knife of St. Blenko is worth considering.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Inspiring Presence is especially good against ranged mobs but it's really hard to say no to Impenetrable Nimbus. Suiting up a single party member and sending it in will net you more health and card advantage than Inspiring Presence more often than not. Inspiring Presence is also a lot harder to use profitably when you are outnumbered by melee mobs. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Inkdark Halberd (E) , Godtouched Spear (E)

 

Korenchkin's Tactical Tunic (U)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
While warriors and priests have a wide range of great armor cards available to them, Adaptable is as good as it gets for a wizard. They have access to Sparkling Cloth Armor against melee, Resistant Hide against wizards, the occasional Reliable Mail, and that's about it. Adaptable is usually worse than the alternatives in their preferred situations but it is good all of the time. Wizards often focus on a single damage type so temporary immunity throws a huge wrench in their plans. Melee characters are more of a grab bag when it comes to damage types but Adaptable still buys you a lot of time when you're otherwise defenseless. The real issue with Korenchkin's Tactical Tunic is the token cost. You are often better served investing the major token elsewhere, particularly if you're a dwarf with access to Toughness. However, if you have the token to spare, Korenchkin's Tactical Tunic is definitely worth considering.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Mobs often have one damage type so Adaptable theoretically does a ton of work. However, only having access to a single copy makes it much less reliable than running an Impenetrable Nimbus strategy. Korenchkin's Tactical Tunic is nice to have access to but not worth investing in when Impenetrable Nimbus is so much cheaper. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
None

 

Kreevian Radcannon (N)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Kreevian Radcannon is one of the better divine weapons for dishing out handicaps but it just isn't the most efficient way of going about it. You get more bang for your token by going with divine items like The Irradiator. Genetic Engineering is going to be used as an unreliable Purge more often than not so just pack a Purging Mace and you've cobbled together a makeshift Kreevian Radcannon that doesn't suck as much. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Radioactive Spray is slow, low damage strategy with unreliable outcomes. Those are big farming no nos. Add to the fact that Kreevian Radcannon costs double major token limiting it to the most difficult and grindiest modules and you've got a recipe for disaster. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Blessed Radcannon (E) , St. Well's Powermace (E)

 

Kristoph's Skull (P)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Cause Fumble is a narrow card that requires a lot of commitment. You lose slots normally reserved for buffs or vamp attacks and give up some win percentage against wizards in exchange for melee blocks for the whole party. Kristoph's Skull is decent but doesn't fit well in a Cause Fumble deck and vampires who want extra defense have Relic Of The First Vampire. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Cause Fumble is pretty much inferior in most situations to Impenetrable Nimbus. There are few Purge effects in the campaign so you only need to worry about it getting knocked off with multiple attachments. Move the Nimbused character into the middle of the fray and the rest of the party can wait for the AI to exhaust its attacks before moving in. If you're in the market for vamp attacks there are better items for those as well. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Crespin's Shroud (E) , Static Interference (E) : Cause Fumble
Flax's Thirsty Vial (E), Wuuna's Vampiric Shroud (E): vamp attacks

 

Lance Of Overflowing Light (N)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Daylight is basically an overcosted conditional Team Heal so you really need the damage to forms for it to be worthwhile. Other than the occasional werewolf form, you won't be facing a significant amount of forms. That means you'll have to pack some Walpurgis Nights or Spark Of Undeaths to compensate. When looking into niche builds, it's important to look at the card to token ratios when choosing gear. You can get a better deal on Daylight from Radiant Goblet. However, both Walpurgis Night and Spark of Undeath have poor availability on divine weapons and enablers are far more important to have enough of than payoff cards like Daylight. In fact, Daylight isn't necessary for Walpurgis Night or Spark of Undeath builds at all but if you want a bunch of them and aren't using St. Elar's Opposite Droplets, freeing up divine item slots with Lance of Overflowing Light is the way to go.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
You have to jump through a bunch of hoops to make Daylight half decent and the payoff isn't really worth it. I wouldn't fault anyone for trying to Spark of Undeath a boss or two but there are plenty of more useful cards to pair with it. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Dusk And Dawn (E)

 

Larkin's Orb (P)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Both Short Perplexing Ray and Cone Of Cold are great control cards against melee characters. Opposing wizards are less susceptible since they can keep out of range of Short Perplexing Ray and can continue attacking through encumber effects. What it really comes down to is how often you will use both cards on the same wizard. If you regularly add some cold spells to your Short Perplexing Rays then I see no reason to pass Larkin's Orb up. However, you can get more focused items for both effects that allow you to create more types of wizards. Would not purchase unless you see yourself equipping it often.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
There are much better things to spend a major token on than control spells. In fact, just don't play control spells if possible. Short Perplexing Ray and Cone of Cold are particularly bad since they don't have a secondary use of moving your team around. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Farzil's Perplexing Horn (E) - Short Perplexing Ray
Hasek's Icy Ring (E) , Hylithia's Wand (E) , Lich's Locket (E) , Xochu's Icy Circlet (E) - Cone Of Cold

 

Laser Rapier (P)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Laser Rapier is a fine weapon but there is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to Laser Thrust weapons. It comes down to personal preference but I'd run any of the other double Laser Thrust weapons over Laser Rapier and they are all only epic too. Even more appealing is Slice And Dice which trades a Laser Thrust for a Vicious Thrust but gives you a welcome token and rarity discount in return. Laser Rapier just doesn't stand out much from the crowd and charges you extra at the same time. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Double major token weapons have to something special to be better than perennial all-star Bejeweled Shortsword. Laser Rapier gives you a Disorienting Block and that isn't anything to write home about. Just stick with the Bejeweled Shortsword and you won't be disappointed. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Slice And Dice (E) , Nova Axe (E) , Starknife (E)

 

Lenora's Prayer Beads (N)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
There isn't enough terrain attachments going around to warrant playing Cleansing Ray if you're not relying on them yourself. Lenora's Prayer Beads is decent for terrain attachment builds but Cause Fumble is mediocre if you aren't building around it. Alternatives like Fulg's Cleansing Pot and St. Pascal's Torch are more consistent and powerful. There are even better budget options like Cleansing Diamond when it comes to Cleansing Ray. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
There is less of a need to clearing your own terrain attachments in singleplayer and there aren't many modules where they are a factor. Plus, there are plenty of good substitutes if you want Cleansing Rays. The options for Cleansing effects get even cheaper if you're willing to give up the card draw. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Cleansing Diamond (E) , Noral's Cleansing Relic (E) , St. Ulrich's Bones (E)

 

Leomunk's Kickin' Boots (P)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Energizing Move is incredible for getting you where you want to go. Even the slowest dwarf gets to move like an elf and cobble together a Sprint should the need arise. It's a bit overkill for non-dwarves on most maps but too much movement is never a bad thing. Until it is. The reason why a card with so much potential see so little play is that rushing in with one character is tantamount to sending a sheep to slaughter. Rather, Energizing Move is something that you should build around if you're going to invest a token into it. It is useful as a way to reach victory squares before your opponent on a more defensive character that can stave off attacks. Alternatively, just make sure you have the proper support either through another long movement character or a wizard firing from long range. Should you choose to run Energizing Move, you will need to decide between Leomunk's Kickin' Boots and Pwindle's Boots. Both have their merits but I like having Lunging Bash as an additional way to prevent getting ganged up on. Either way, would not purchase unless you're building around Energizing Move or looking to give your dwarves a boost.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Energizing Move really helps when you're chasing down ranged mobs but Japper's Energy Boots are a good enough substitute. For those on a tighter budget, I would try Quickness Aura. It can't be used as a move in a pinch but you can get it from non-boot items like Necalli Cap on warriors. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Japper's Energy Boots (E)

 

Lewin's Boots (P)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Lewin's Boots are fine but there are better options. For an offensive melee character, Hawkwind's Moccasins blow them out of the water. Spending a minor token upgrades an Escaping Run to a Violent Spin. Your average melee character who just wants to run in and smash faces in. Violent Spin is usually just a Run that sometimes Team Walks given the right setup. Not anything to write home about. If you're looking to use Violent Spin defensively, you are better off with Vinorkin's Boots which also gives you a Jump Back. More likely, you'd want to invest more into Violent Spin and get Pergop's Slippers instead. In any case, Lewin's Boots just don't measure up to other boots. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Violent Spin is never a dud but there are a ton of cheaper ways to get it. You're almost always looking to use if defensively so you don't really care what other cards come along for the ride. I particularly like Infernal Boots for the all powerful albeit painful trait cycling. Heck, I wouldn't be above using the god awful but tokenless Naugus Hide Boots either. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Foley's Footwear (E)

 

LoPiccolo's Lash (N)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Laser Whip is the highest damage range 2 attack available but it requires support to land attacks. Violent Spin is a nice start but the rest of LoPiccolo's Lash is filler. Zoltan's Laser Scourge on the other hand is dripping with synergy. Lunging Bash gets enemies into position when you need it and acts as Lunging Strike when you don't. Violent Spin is a heck of a lot more powerful than Lunging Bash but not at a 1 to 4 exchange rate. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Double major token weapons need to offer something special to replace Bejeweled Shortsword. Does LoPiccolo's Lash pass the Bejeweled Shortsword test? A little but not really. While you do get a little damage prevention from playing a Stab strategy, it takes a lot of resources to stay in Stab range. Having to forgo 3 attacks slows you down even further. It's better to go for all out damage and shore up defense through other means. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Scourge Of The Overmind (E)

 

Lt. Buckwell's Boots (P)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Officer's Harness is a weak card that, unless you're specifically trying to build around it, should be treated as replaceable filler. There are several similar Flanking Move boots that are better than Lt. Buckwell's Boots, with Mouse Boots at the top of the pile. If you are building around Officer's Harness, Corian's Boots has you covered. Triple movement boots are the default when choosing boots and if you need to replace movement cards you better be getting something meaningful out of the deal. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Cantrip moves are useful for retaining priority at end of turn for quests but Mouse Boots are still better and cheaper. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Mouse Boots (E), Red Jon's Boots (E), Naradoc's Boots (E)

 

Lt. Buckwell's Strapping (N)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
The helmet slot is the best source of Harnesses like Chain Harness for armor boosting builds. You need the heavy armor slot for most of the good armors to boost and the movement cards on boots are more important than nearly everything found on helmets. Lt. Buckwell's Strapping the only tokenless helmet for Harness builds. Most armor boosting builds will downgrade weapons in order to allocate tokens towards Enchanted Harness items but if you have a build that needs the helmet token elsewhere, Lt. Buckwell's Strappings are the way to go. Otherwise, would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Armor boosting isn't necessary, especially in the early levels where you would need a tokenless helmet. If you've managed to loot a Lt. Buckwell's Strapping during your travels, feel free to combo it with Spiked Tlahuiztli for a bit of extra damage against melee mobs. Everyone else should save their gold for more important stuff. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Howling Hood (E) , Quigley's Cap (E)

 

Luke's Iron Hand (P)
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Telekinesis is the bread and butter of control wizards so there's no question Luke's Iron Hand is a fantastic item. However, it is ridiculously close to and not necessarily better than Ring Of Appropriation. There are difficult terrain and wall laden maps where the Fly part of Telekinesis is extra useful but Gusts Of War is simply twice as good in most other situations. The damage from Gusts of War is worse against cards like Martyr Blessing and it isn't usable with Fright attached but the versatility it provides often outweigh any drawbacks in those corner cases. The ability to move 2 characters will get you out of ambushes that single target spells like Telekinesis would not and turning into a pseudo Walk, Team! at a moment's notice is no joke. Luke's Iron Hand is a great purchase if you have extra gold but it's far more important to seek out the tokenless control all-star Asmod's Telekinetic Chain.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Ring of Appropriation is simply better in most modules. There are going to be more enemies to target and they move in groups making it much easier to get surrounded. The campaign maps also tend to be much more forgiving to navigate than multiplayer maps rendering Fly relatively useless. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Ring Of Force (R) , Ring Of Appropriation (E)