Hello, I have tried some items with drawbacks, and so far I think most of them are not worth it. An item with 1 drawback out of 3 cards should have 2 amazing cards to go with the drawback, since 1/3 of the times you will get the drawback first (and sometimes you will *only* get the drawback). So if I have an item that has 3 cards that deal 1 point of damage and another (of similar level) that has one drawback and 2 cards that deal damage, they can't just deal 2 damage - that won't cut it. The cards that go together with drawbacks must be much better than average - otherwise players will stick to items that will never backfire in their hands... Does anyone think otherwise (and think drawback items are good enough as they are)? Cheers!
I find it depends on the drawback and what my character/build is. Most drawbacks are traits and are great for effectively reducing the number of cards in your deck since they are immediately replaced when played. This can be very powerful since most drawbacks are accompanied by higher damage attacks or more powerful cards, generally. Traits, even bad ones, mean that you will draw your powerful attacks more often and won't have a deck filled with a few powerful cards and a bunch of weanie cards. Along with that, it all depends on build. Combustible on someone who will never get hit by fire doesn't matter. Fright on a healer doesn't matter. Vulnerable on an elf is killer but on a dwarf is not so bad. Obvious Maneuver has no drawback but as a wasted draw against the AI. Slowed, Demonic Miasma, Arcane Curse, . . . all (most) drawbacks can be made almost non-effective or a benefit if you build to accommodate them.
I agree that it is much better if the drawback replaces itself - a lost draw is painful enough by itself. But I'm not saying that I think the drawbacks are too punishing - just that the cards that come with them usually are not powerful enough to replace the 'slot' that you lost with the drawback... Cheers!
It all depends on item level, rarity, and the drawback itself. Some items with drawbacks might have good cards for their level, but if they are low level items it's easy to dismiss them as being terrible items because the same or better cards can be found on higher level items without the drawbacks.
There are some items with drawbacks that I think are quite powerful, for example Staff Of The Inferno, and the infamous Rageblood Dagger (which perhaps even deserves a nerf of some kind). And as xophnog described, there are a bunch of drawback cards that either don't have much effect or which can be worked around. However, I generally agree that most drawback items are pretty weak. For example there are a heap of different wizard items with Defensiveness - but that card is such a liability that I wouldn't dare have it in my deck without some exceptional reason. I generally try to avoid Fumble and Trip as well, because I'm worried that they'll come up bad time and cost me the game.
Well, with the dagger, none of those are full drawbacks, and most of the downsides are completely avoidable. Trust me, Blind Rage is one of my favorite traits for a reason. As for Raging Strike, use it first, and it's just a 7 piercing attack. The nerf here would have to be replacing those two with REAL drawbacks.
You do have to take item level into account when looking at drawbacks. Some items have drawbacks because they have cards that are more powerful than those generally found on items of that level. Actually, Fumble is one of my favorite drawbacks. It almost never matters for me since my warrior is never dependent on keeping one specific card. Trip is annoying and Ouch would probably kill me, but that is the price to pay to get the cards at the level (or rarity) of the item. Higher levels have better cards. Higher rarities have fewer drawbacks.
Nevertheless, that dagger is allowed for the "equip only items with a drawback card" quests - so I figure it counts for this thread too.
