The Daily Deal

Almost had to pay gold for St. Voral's, (it was one of 2 epics I don't own,) and then last night in my last game of the night it drops!

 

After snapping up Wellington's Shield, I now need 6 legendary items to complete my set. They still refuse to drop as loot, nor have they appeared in my Randimar's during the last year and a half. I won't count upon mercy from Randimar, so I'm praying for confusion or bad judgement on his part to enable me to finish up before the expansion comes out. Of course, I'd also be happy with some amazingly lucky drops!

 

I have the same problem as you, except I think I'm going to have to pay for it. I should set up a Kickstarter.

 

Chartwell's Amulet

Spoiler: Previously reviewed

Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Chartwell's Amulet is a great item. Stone Spikes is the best paper quality card for wizards in multiplayer (aside from Squeamish but I'll leave that for another day). Short Perplexing Ray helps wizards out of jams while weakening people who have the audacity to try and get close. However, there is one thing holding Chartwell's Amulet back from getting the Peon seal of approval. It is basically a glorified Rod Of Palver Pree. You get two copies of damaging terrain and an arguably more versatile Telekinesis all for the price of an epic. In fact, I'm fairly certain that if you had access to both items you should be jamming with the Rod more often than not. Sure, Hot Spot folds to Resistant Hide and can't block up a single lane passage but it also does more damage and can be used to aid movement across difficult terrain. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Stone Spikes can do a lot of damage in the early levels but once you start facing endless hoards of zombies or slimes, even taking significant chunks out of a single target isn't enough anymore. Also, Rod of Palver Pree is again superior since using Telekinesis to move a mob back on to spikes is worth more than a single discard from what are likely to be bigger hands. Ditch the legendary and go with the cheapo all-star. Or better yet, invest in Firestorm. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Rod Of Palver Pree (E), Simin's Glowing Mirror (E)
The Daily Deal

Advanced Command- Between Advanced Command and plain old Command I prefer the latter. You usually want Sprint, Team! on support characters so extra team movement is better and Slowed isn't too bad. Advanced Command is better when you have 3 melee attackers that can't afford to be encumbered.
Bloodfoot Robes- Path Of Knives is easy enough to get that you usually won't want to use up the robes slot to get more copies. It's also a pretty big nonbo with Arcane Aura.
Cinetotl's Robes- Mystical Drakehide is not reliable enough at 50% triggering and Leaps are awful.

Notable Rares
Incense Of Roiled Air- Great option for Mass Frenzy.
Inspired Command- You get a huge burst of card advantage in exchange for playing a pair of mediocre though not useless cards.

 

Mordecai's Staff Of Magma
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
A lot of the time you can turn Volcano into a big rangeless Firestorm but obviously it's best when used in a one-sided fashion. The trick is playing in such a way that convinces your opponent that you aren't just passing to get them to waste move cards. Many a Volcano has been sniffed out by the infamous do nothing pass back. In fact, it's such a widely known phenomenon that I will sometimes fake pass with wizards holding mediocre cards that don't even run Volcano to see if my opponent will pass right back out of fear and allow me to craft a better hand. It works best when you can play a normal game of expending your visible move cards to encourage your opponent to do the same. That means running extra team moves, Telekinesis type spells, terrain overlays like Illusory Barrier, and traits like Dimensional Traveler. Priests complement the strategy well with cleanse effects and a few of their own terrain spells like Consecrate Ground. Now on to the bad news. Volcano sucks against highly mobile teams such as step attack warriors. Also, the higher your rating, the more likely your opponent will have a lot of experience playing around Volcanoes. Mordecai's Staff of Magma gives you access to a powerful strategy with huge potential but it's effectiveness is hinged upon what and how your opponents play. I can absolutely recommend it for certain leagues like Roll out the Barrels where you have tons of time to mess around and the rangeless nature of Volcano is invaluable. For top tier play, Volcano is more trouble than it's worth. Would purchase if you want to try the strategy out for yourself. Would not purchase expecting free wins.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Yes, it costs double major tokens so you can only use it in modules level 14 and up. No, that doesn't matter diddly squat. Volcano will single handedly win you games. The most obvious example is the second level of Black Plume Mountain. Lay down a Volcano and those annoying Lightning Idols are dead in two turns, no questions asked. Volcano is so powerful that most of my high level farming parties are built around spamming them. There are a lot of modules where the enemies are too far away for Firestorm or you can't afford to take too much self damage. Highly recommend purchasing.

Substitutes
Staff Of Blazing Sparks (E)

Armor Of Negation- Playable only if you're running Volcano but even then I'd still avoid Arrogant Armor.
Ephalia's Healing Ring- The total amount of healing you get from this is nearly wiped out by a Pulverizing Bludgeon.
Woodhome's Wound- Good for going through armor in low level modules but not worth getting.

Notable Rares
Infused Greatclub- Despite not having anything special other than good old fashioned damage, Infused Greatclub is still one of the better double minor token weapons.

 

I've got it in DD, Randi, and my current inventory. Do I need three? I'd totally use three if I had them, but I'm trying to save my money for stuff I don't own yet.

 

I would say you need at least 2 so you're good. I have 4 myself but I got around just fine with 2 and a pair of Wym's Lavastaff.

 

Mordecai's Staff Of Magma 5!?/5! This is the only staff with four Volcano in the game, there are only six items with this card in the game, and none of them has more than two copies except for this staff. As long as the Volcano's effectiveness directly depends on their number, you need two Mordecai's Staves if you ever want to create a Volcano-based wizard. You spend your moves, wait until your opponent spends his moves, then play a Volcano. He will do his best to avoid being damaged, including spending all his step attacks... and then you should play another Volcano If you have only one, it would be very hard to catch somebody, but if you have two, you will really have good chances. My personal favorite combo with Volcano is Bless, which replaces lava for your characters with healing and card advantage. If you manage to play two Volcanoes and Bless on turn one, you'd be definitely on a road to victory. Another good combo are bashing attacks and Violent Spins that allow you to push the enemies on lava pits.
Buy it immediately unless you have two copies already.

Armor Of Negation 2/4? If you want Arrogant Armor, you generally want two copies (or even three for the warriors), so this armor is bad in MP. You cannot build a party with attachments, and you cannot rely on the single copy to build an Arrogant party. But in SP it can serve you well if you're playing Volcanoes.
Elphala's Healing Ring 3/3. Worse than Jygpin's Healing Ring for the same token.
Woodhome's Wound 3/4? The damage is too low, but all cards are Penetrating, so you can combine this with Impaler and have good results in the low-level SP modules.

Notable rare: Infused Greatclub. Recently nerfed, it's still a nice weapon for the new players.

My rating shows only the power/cost ratio of the item in the right build (not necessary in yours!) '?' means the need of a special build (or a special map). '!' means the best item for its cost, in its category or essential for the build.

 

Basically worse than Silver Healing Ring, , 5 gp. and readily available at The Goblin Bazaar.

 

The Pulper
Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Barge is the card Bash wishes it could be. The difference between Push and Slide Back is massive. With Bash, a wall behind your target will allow them to stand their ground while Barge lets you move targets from anywhere to 2 squares anywhere they could naturally move. This includes forcing them to stay in place in case you just want to continue beating them up. So why are Barge warriors nearly non-existent? Bruiser skills are cheaper to equip than Crusher skills, there are a lot more Bash focused weapons, and most importantly you can fit more Bash cards into a deck than Barges. I still think Barge in enough better that I'd be more willing to run a warrior with 9-10 Barges than a full on Bash warrior. That said, The Pulper is probably not the item you want. Enormous Tree Branch gives you the same amount of Barges plus a Blind Rage to cycle in exchange for damage. If you're playing Barges in the first place damage output is likely a secondary concern. Would not purchase.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Barge is neat but it is far better to do a high damage attack and take your punches than continually push mobs away for 5 damage a pop turn after turn. A lot of modules don't even have victory squares so Barge loses half of it's functionality. Would not purchase.

Substitutes
Enormous Tree Branch (E)

Basher's Delight- Speaking of Bash focused weapons, here is one of the better ones.
Staff Of Burning Ice- Not bad but the dual spell types make it hard to build around.
Vira's Chain- This is the best Teleport Self arcane item. However, since most wizards are dwarves, the movement buff doesn't really do anything so it works best as a one shot teleport for certain leagues.

Notable Rares
Focused Pyromancy- Usually an auto-include for burning wizards.
Gauntlets Of The Giant- For those that like Cuirass Of Froth but don't want to be encumbered.
Skipping Boots- Decent option if you have a limited collection.

 

The Pulper 3/3. Peonprop is absolutely right that Enormous Tree Branch is better, and his "would not purchase" is the right verdict. I've enjoyed his comparison of Barge and Bash, though I just think that both cards are underpowered, so there is no sense in comparing them. To be playable in MP, an attack should either deal a lot of damage or offer a good tech, preferably both. Bash was designed as a card that should be used in large quantities to increase damage, but the damage-pumping effect proved to be too weak. How many Bashes can you have in your hand? Usually not more than three, even if you pack a lot of them, so you deal 9 damage, which isn't worth building a Bash-only deck. Barge is currently quite a decent card now, but it lacks the key tech needed for a warrior: mobility. Lunging Bash is so good because it offers damage, bashing and mobility in one package. If we would ever get a weapon with three Barges and three Lunging Bashes for , it would be better than The Lunginator. Unfortunately, the blunt techless crushing attacks make The Pulper unattractive.

Basher's Delight 4/4. This is the best bashing weapon in the game (I mean, a weapon full of Bashing attacks that are pumped by Bruiser), and it's still overcosted to be popular in MP. Nobody knows why the developers decided than bashes are very powerful and should cost that much, but it's a pity. You cannot play more than two Delights, and if you do, you'll have less useful tech than many Tier 1 weapons offer, since the high-damage bashes offer only Slide Back and nothing else. For this weapon could compete with The Lunginator, but two yellow tokens are simply too much.

 

Wow, what a wonderful day!
Skull Of The Savage Iljin 5!/5! This item has immense power, and it's tokenless, which is extremely rare in this game. Savage Curse pumps damage dealt to every target, so it's wonderful with the area attacks like Firestorm/Cone Of Cold or "affect everybody" attacks like Flash Of Agony. Inspiring Presence is a wonderful card that heals your wizards and brings them more cards - all in a single action. Nothing can replace this Skull, so buy it immediately unless you have three copies already. Yes, three copies. I have two and will buy my 3rd copy myself. Three Skulls and two Healing Hand Maces is a great setup for a priest supporting two wizards... two Mighty Bludgeons can be a nasty surprise to an enemy warrior trying to reach your chars

Granwick's Ringmail 2/2. Crap. Don't wear armor with armor-pumping cards, since you'll have nothing to pump.
Ring Of Hot Spikes 2/3. It's probably nice to have Glob Of Flame on a tokenless item, but Ember Spray is simply bad. Can be used at low SP levels, where every token is precious.
St. Amarack's Cudgel 3/4. Nice tokenless weapon with Mass Frenzy. The attacks are weak, as well as the healing, but you are going to enjoy it if you're playing priest and two warriors at low SP levels.

 

Yep, bought the skull straight away, it's a perfect fit for burrft builds and frees up tokens for a variety of powerful divine weapons.

 

Skull Of Savage Iljin

Spoiler: Previously Reviewed

Peon's Prescription for Prodigious Multiplayers
Now this is a skull worthy of bringing to the battlefield. Savage Curse is currently best suited for burst spells. Anything that allows you to hit multiple targets will ease the pain of of the discard clause. It does go with pretty much anything from a wizard though. They have the least number of cards to carry over turns and the 4 extra damage represents a huge increase percentage wise. Be careful what order you use spells in, whether or not you'll need that movement card, or even whether buffing straight away will yield the most damage. Nothing else comes close for buffing magic attacks and Skull of Savage Iljin is even tokenless. I can't recommend this highly enough for anyone who plays any sort of offensive wizard and buff priest team. I will be picking a second copy up myself.

Peon's Perspective for Penny-Pinching Singleplayers
Savage Curse is obviously nuts with Firestorm. I can't say that I run it myself because I find that you really need Impenetrable Nimbus to stay alive in the higher levels and I've switched to primarily Volcano farming them. I'm also lucky enough to have items for 3 Firestorm wizards for lower levels. If you are still building up a collection Savage Curse is a great way to effectively double the Firestorms on a wizard for a few rounds. Throw in a couple of other buffs like Unholy Wellspring and you won't miss that third wizard at all. Even if you do Savage Curse higher levels I would recommend packing a few Impenetrable Nimbus to exploit the heck out of. Would purchase for anyone that wants to boost their wizard's damage power 1.21 gigawatts.

Substitutes
none
The Daily Deal

Granwick's Ringmail- If you're going to play Harnesses, you want the heavy armor slot for good armors to buff and not crappy Chain Harnesses.
Ring Of Hot Spikes- Ember Spray is awful.
St. Amarack's Cudgel- Getting a Mass Frenzy for no tokens is great but the other cards are weak enough that you'll usually want an Unholy Frenzy weapon instead.

Notable Rares
Focused Electromancy- Electroporter Novice usually gets the nod but this is a consideration for spark or arcane heavy wizard with an extra token.
Inspired Command- Best Inspirational Thinking skill.
Marmot Boots- Good pair of tokenless boots for movement.

 

How many of these Skulls do we really need? - because i dont think its worth me buying it.

 

How many do you have?

 

I have 2 - both of them from league chest wins.

 

That's probably enough if you're short on gold.

 

But how are they for drinking wine from?

 

Hmm. Maybe I should use the two I've got through League chests and build a party around them. Assuming would go 1 Priest and 2 Wizards? (1 control and one cannon/damage dealer).