by sigmazero13
buondiavolo wrote:
The new version changed some thing. Routed exagon now counts for tally strenght and they changed Vaal sorceress ability.
Yes, but neither changed the entire combat system on a fundamental level. Adding a damage for orbs does that for every unit.
The Routed Hexagon thing was more to make neutral Dragons and Giants less of a pushover (and to make Hexagon units a little stronger), and Word of Vaal was an important change to make the Sorceress a unit worth having (the old rules made them nearly worthless).
They didn't tune the entire combat system with those changes, just a few units.
Routing Hexagon units still needs to be done with care, because they are usually the last to fight, and thus if you rout them too early, you lose a lot of their combat power. Sure, they may contribute strength, but I think what you lose is far more.
Thematically routed unity that still give strenght is not very realistic.
This argument holds no water. Thematically, there are LOTS of things that aren't very realistic with the combat mechanics. It's a very abstract system.
Here's a breakdown of how each unit is affected by this. When I say a unit's ability is "unaffected", it means that their innate ability already does what this change would do, but maybe in a stronger way (IE, they would almost never opt to use the change).
DAQAN
Bowman - Unaffected
Footman - Unaffected
Novice Wizard - Greatly strengthened, go from being a support unit to a decent damage dealer. (I can't see using their innate ability very often anymore, as dealing damage is almost always better than forcing a card discard)
Knight - Could be used, but only rarely, as often if you want to win a battle, a rout is better than just one point of damage, and you get a tactics card to boot.
Seige Tower - Could go either way, but I think most players would opt to boost their own strength to win the battle than deal a single damage.
Roc Warrior - Could be used if you have less tactics, but then I think most people would opt to deal damage than just draw a card.
LATARI
Archer - Unaffected
Sorceress - Mostly Unaffected (retreating someone out of battle is going to ALWAYS be stronger than just one damage, unless you are really bent on killing a unit)
Pegasus Rider - Mostly unaffected unless the opponent only has circle or hexagon units (for similar reasons as the Knight)
Leonx Rider - Could be used, not sure it makes this unit any stronger, just a new option
Warrior - Unaffected
Forest Guardian - Unaffected
WAIQAR
Skeleton Archer - Unaffected, unless the opponent only has Hexagon units
Reanimate - Stronger with this change when alone, unaffected when with other reanimates.
Necormancer - Stronger, especially when Waiqar has all reanimates on the board already.
Vampire - Stronger
Dark Knight - Mostly unaffected, as you'll deal at least one rout, and like the Knight above, routs are usually better than damage.
Great Wyrm - Unaffected
UTHUK
Berserker - Stronger, because now you can use the orb to just deal a damage and not have to make the choice to sacrifice a unit to deal 2. The innate ability could still be used sometimes, but if the 2 damage is used to kill 2 units, the effect is a wash in terms of strength (because you kill 2 strength and lose 1 of your own, for a net change of 1).
Warlock - Slightly stronger, especially when the opponent has no Triangle or Rectangle units.
Blood Sister - Stronger; likely the 1 damage dealt will be more useful than their own ability.
Chaos Lord - Mostly unaffected; the routs/destroys are usually stronger.
Obscene - Hard to say, but the option of doing damage makes it at least slightly stronger for them.
NEUTRAL
Razorwing - Mostly unaffected, as routs are usually better than 1 damage, especially early on when you can keep units from fighting.
Beastman - Unaffected
Sorcerer - Stronger. Before, they were a support unit for absorbing damage, now they can also dish out a decent amount of damage.
Hellhound - Unaffected
Dragon - Stronger, especially if the enemy has no triangle units.
Giant - Slightly stronger (only if the present Giants have no damage)
Faction wise, the Evil races benefit MUCH more from this than the Good races. The Latari, especially, as most of their units wouldn't benefit much, if at all. The weaker Neutrals are not helped by this (except Sorcerer).
I don't think this change would improve battle, it would just mostly make the Evil races a little stronger, which tips the game balance. I don't really see an overall benefit to this rule change. It makes battles bloodier, but not in an even way.