[Theory] Movement/placement control after the rebalance

Discussion in 'Card Hunter General Chat' started by Ector, Aug 29, 2014.

  1. Ector

    Ector Hydra

    I'd like to discuss the future of movement/placement control (slowing or placing opposing characters, preventing their movement and so on), in the MP games. This part of the game was changed most, and understanding the future options is crucial for proper evaluating cards and items and building the strong characters.
    I'd like to keep this thread theoretical, since I generally don't accept the flawed arguments like "I've reached XXX rating with YYY deck, and this means it's good". This actually can mean a lot of things: you're the great player, the current map set favors your strategy, the metagame wasn't ready to counter your tactics, you've just got lucky and many more. Yes, this may also mean that your deck is the strongest, but if you don't bother to explain why, people aren't going to understand it.

    The move/place control obviously became much weaker, which was a primary goal for the rebalance. Wizards cannot hope to completely freeze the enemies now, or even to reliably prohibit the enemy warriors to reach the wizards. What we're going to see now is a good old "guns versus armor fight", where every measure can be countermeasured, and we'll have to find the most efficient measures in terms of cards and actions.

    Direct Placement
    While WW/WWE got annihilated, we still have some wizard cards for this. Force Cone, Gusts Of War, Telekinesis, Force Blast, Force Cannon. All these cards can be very annoying, but they aren't strong enough to reliably keep all the enemies away, even combined with encumbrance cards (see below). Looks like the direct placement cards are going just to place the enemies from the victory areas or on the harmful terrain. Funny enough, the warriors possess the most powerful fine-placement cards now (Violent Spin and Disorienting Block), though they cannot have a lot of these cards. They can have a lot of bashes though, which got buffed, but still not enough IMHO. Eixocl's Hammer looks like quite playable though, and don't forget about Barge, which just appeared from the void.

    Encumbrance
    This is the most unclear part for me. Initially, when BM restricted encumbrance to "minimum 1", I've thought that it made encumbrance completely unplayable - but at that time warriors could stack Enchanted Harnesses, Team Run pushed the teammates, and Dodge was unaffected by encumbrance. A wizard couldn't hope to defeat the armored warrior packed with step attacks, couldn't slow the Team Run or prevent Dodge - and now all this is possible, so encumbrance will have its niche. How big will the niche be - this is a question! Freeze, a dedicated zero-movement card, is obviously destroyed, and the Sub-Zero Staves are going directly to the void. But what about the rest?
    Well, Frost Jolt is still a nice long-ranged card with some damage, so it is unlikely to leave play even though its encumbrance won't be as powerful as before. I vote for Cone Of Cold too, though it will need Savage Curse or some other buff to deal the decent damage. You can have some Cones from the arcane items, while the Frost Jolts will require a staff.
    Looks like the encumbrance would become a "strawman horror" now. I mean, it can be really scary only for the unprepared opponents having not enough step attacks/mass moves, or a lot of Dodges. Nobody is going to play a lot of encumbrance cards now, but many wizards will have some, just in case. Funny enough, the encumbrance is most dangerous for the humans now, not for the dwarves, since the humans will be reduced from 3 to 1 move, while the dwarves just from 2 to 1, and the humans won't get compensated by more HPs or better skills.

    Movement prevention/restriction (The Walls)
    Walls are nothing new in the game, but they are coming at the front now, as the more powerful control got destroyed. A good old Acid Spray can force the enemies to move 1 square per move (just as the encumbrance does), plus it deals damage and can dissolve armor. Acid Blast and Stone Spikes can block a narrow passage. Plus, the wizards have a wall of illusion and the new Flash Flood.
    Looks like the developers are trying to create a new field of struggle here, since there are also new countermeasures to the walls (flying and cleansing got buffed), so we're going to see a lot of interesting things in this area.

    As always, your opinion is welcome!
     
    neoncat likes this.
  2. neoncat

    neoncat Feline Outline

    I've tried playing lots of bashes (primarily Lunging Bash, since that gives you the most placement control), and also some amount of barge. Unfortunately, neither are actually useful, because wizards stay at a distance, and any decent warrior will have enough step/stab/block to still hit you for serious damage.


    Actually, it's even more dangerous for elves, because they have so relatively little HP. When I use encumbrance, it's so that I can hold off the elves and whittle them down before they get close enough to attack. A well-timed flank move + frost jolt can keep an elf warrior out of the match for a couple rounds.
     
  3. Ector

    Ector Hydra

    Looks like these cards are going to be used just to move opponents from the victory area or onto the harmful terrain, alas. It would be great if there were chasms or traps to place the enemies into :)

    Hmm... I've always thought that the elves realize their frailty and use good armor to compensate. Looks like Elven Trickery was too good, and people started to play elves just for this card. Things are going to change soon.
     
  4. Sir Knight

    Sir Knight Sir-ulean Dragon

    I've adored Lunging Bash, using it as part of a Bash-and-Stab setup. Not just to enforce distance (which the enemy has ways to counter as discussed) but to do all that fine maneuvering. (I do so love maneuvering.) But now we have Pressing Bash, like on that Eixocl's Hammer. The change in order of movement has gotta be good for driving the enemy batty. How do you feel about it?
     
  5. Phaselock

    Phaselock Bugblatter

    I find bashes have more of a place in SP than MP. Their disadvantage is the stacked bash card reveal means the human player can play around it but mobs don't. And in MP, warriors want to close the distance to deliver their bombs while in SP, you want to keep powerful melee mobs away and whittle them down. While encumber took a hit, they still have decent damage, push off an attachment (like MF/trait) and slow advance. Freeze is an easy rework, stun + halt and boom ! insta-powerful disabler. Elves have gotten much better, they went from little use to having at least 1 in party. 1 trick ponies they may be, in the hands of experts even ponies win you games.
     

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