|
Now Growth Through Sacrifice I can understand. Hot take, you could put that in the majors deck unchanged and it'd still be a good pick.
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2023 23:34
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 16:52 |
|
|
Growth Through Sacrifice is a slam pick almost every time. Tipping Point sucks. I'm glad it's gone.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2023 01:03
|
|
|
Ragnar34 posted:I'm going to miss tipping point, is that weird? I'm usually a little relieved to see it. There are much worse things in that deck. It hits some spirits harder than others of course, so maybe the problem is that it can be unfair. Yeah, 80% of the time it's one of the easiest blight cards in the game, 15% of the time it's a bastard on par with other bastard blight cards, and 5% of the time it's an instant loss. That's not really great design overall.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2023 01:16
|
|
|
Okay yeah that isolate on Shroud is great. You're stopping one explore per turn, which in solo is fully half of them. I was at the 3 "slow and silent death" threshold only one turn in the whole game and I still did fine, which makes me think it'll be stronger when I get more of a feel for what I can get away with now. And the replacement for "mists shift and flow" is barely weaker at all, so the aspect feels like a pure buff. Like with Shadows Flicker, i dont see myself playing without an aspect anytime soon. Are the other aspects this good? Speaking of Shadow, dark fire looks nasty strong.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2023 04:47
|
|
|
Because I wanted to see it in action, I tried out the new Incarna version of Thunderspeaker (Warrior), with a placeholder for the Incarna token; low difficulty since it was just meant to be a first try. I liked it a lot; using Dahan movement to deal chip damage is nicely thematic and also really useful for removing single Explorers, and not having Manifestation of Power and Glory is a lot less bothersome than I expected, thanks to being able to stack Call to Bloodshed and the new Innate.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2023 00:53
|
|
|
I've played a few of the aspects on medium difficulty (5-7 or so converted on the ten point scale, usually adversary level 2-4) in true solo while I'm just feeling out how the new stuff works. Here's my thoughts: Transforming Wildfire: Extremely interesting aspect that doubles down on your offensive capabilities in exchange for a tighter tightrope walk with blight. I played this without the "likewise" rules modifier for true solo (you may do likewise text affects you on cards that you target yourself with, that could originally target another spirit.) Very fun, Transforming Wildfire loves to have +1 damage tokens lying around. It's very cute that you have to moderate both your blight creation and healing to keep yourself able to target problematic lands. It seems like a direct buff to Wildfire that also makes it a little more interesting to play, which is a huge win in my book. Spreading Hosility Keeper One thing that's interesting about this pack of aspects is that some of them are essentially direct nerfs to spirits that are a little too strong relative to everything else. Spreading Hostility is one of these. This one halves Keeper's Growth placement and also halves its energy gain. This is still not enough to bring the big boy down, though. Losing presence hurts really bad with this spirit, but misplacing it isn't nearly so problematic thanks to the new growth option. I think it's a solid pick for anyone who wants to play as this spirit but doesn't want to trivially outperform the rest of the table. I'm really impressed by how this is clearly a weaker version of the spirit that still feels fun to play. I don't feel like I've lost out on the Keeper Experience using this aspect. Dark Fire Shadows Flicker My new favorite way to play Shadows Flicker. Treating moon and fire as one gives you a ton of flexibility in what powers you pick, while also making it a lot easier to hit your innate often. You're in a lot more control of how builds work with a highly achievable innate, and getting Unquenchable Flames at the beginning of the game lets you go longer without reclaiming while giving you a helping hand against the harder to control factions like England. At the end of the day, you're still playing Shadows Flicker, and I don't find it the most compelling spirit to play - but I'd really like to see what a majors-focused build for this aspect could do. Stranded Shroud Probably the quietest aspect of all of them, but a really significant one for Shroud nevertheless. A barely-perceptible nerf to your movement capabilities in the late game in exchange for greatly increased movement in the early game and a free isolate every turn is a very good deal. I love shroud but I almost never played it with beginners because it tends to run into problems it needs other spirits to solve in the early game. This is not the case with Stranded, because the isolate does so much to make fear farming more sustainable. It's significantly easier to keep three lands going this aspect, and stretching up to 6 for the 2 energy per turn looks extremely possible on larger maps with more controlling spirits. Impermanent fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jun 29, 2023 |
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2023 20:46
|
|
|
Love to see more about the aspects, including a couple I didn't want to try yet. Doesn't Shroud have a max of five farms though? I tend to use Shadows as a majors spirit regardless. That growth track is great even if the growth options are kind of unhelpful. E: you know what, I looked again and thr growth options aren't the issue, it's just that the first couple turns always feel rough. vvv oh poo poo, didn't notice that. Ragnar34 fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Jun 29, 2023 |
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2023 22:09
|
|
|
The fear gain is capped at 5/turn but the energy gain still goes up at 6, 9, and 12 (good luck).
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2023 22:11
|
|
|
The Horizons of Spirit Island DLC spirits are up for sale on the steam app now, we tried some four player last night and finished one game then ran into a ton of unfixable desync issues in games 2 and 3 we thought they'd worked out. Things had been pretty stable the last few months until this DLC. The new spirits are fun, the loud sound effects when you open the spirit window and do stuff is certainly a choice. Sun Bright Whirlwind really bugged me, the watching eyes in the trees one wasn't as bad. I don't think the older spirits' sounds were as intrusive but maybe I've just played enough that I've tuned them out.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2023 16:16
|
|
|
bagrada posted:The Horizons of Spirit Island DLC spirits are up for sale on the steam app now, we tried some four player last night and finished one game then ran into a ton of unfixable desync issues in games 2 and 3 we thought they'd worked out. Things had been pretty stable the last few months until this DLC. There's a few game-breaking bugs introduced in the patch. Give it a week.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2023 16:21
|
|
|
Yeah sorry I worded it badly but just meant to warn people to expect it. We probably wouldn't have run into so much but we're teaching a new player new spirits and one of the guys was really out of it so we were rewinding more than usual.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2023 16:33
|
|
|
Gave up fiddling with the little bags for the tokens with solo play, invested in local dollar store tubs and plano.  Spirit boards + cards in the core box, everything pictured in the Jagged Earth one. Nature Incarnate needs 4 storage tubs to neatly store its stuff so gonna merge the 1+3 energy tokens into a single tub and the same for the two sets of scenario markers. No idea how to handle the 8 new spirit boards from NI and 
Molrok fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Jun 30, 2023 |
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2023 22:43
|
|
|
Molnija posted:Gave up fiddling with the little bags for the tokens with solo play, invested in local dollar store tubs and plano. The 5 from horizons are at least thin. Unless you're the kind of weirdo who's bothered enough by them being different to spend $10 to order the full thickness boards.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2023 22:54
|
|
|
Plano 3700 is always the answer to board game storage
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2023 23:03
|
|
|
Nature Incarnate arrived today, very excited to play Spirit Island tomorrow as the classic Mario Bros. character, Poopy Palpy posted:Unless you're the kind of weirdo who's bothered enough by them being different to spend $10 to order the full thickness boards. Excuse me it was $10 + shipping and worth every single cent.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2023 10:14
|
|
|
[Cautiously] well at least you didn't pay extra for a thin sheen of shiny
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2023 14:16
|
|
|
Yeah my OCD can't handle mixed types of boards, either all thicc or thin and they're not selling a kit for the previous spirits to come in the Horizons size.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2023 16:49
|
|
|
The spirit board stack is now over 3 inches tall. The two-box dream is imperiled. e: Just barely managed to fit all expansion content in the JE box. It's beautiful. The densest I've ever packed a board game box without lid lift, something like 95% of the box's volume is solidly occupied. Ojetor fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Jul 1, 2023 |
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2023 19:41
|
|
|
Just got Incarnate in the mail which was a nice surprise (I didn't see a shipping notification). I didn't really follow what was going to be in it, but I'm surprised by how few major/minor powers there are and just how many aspects were added. Ojetor posted:The spirit board stack is now over 3 inches tall. The two-box dream is imperiled. I got the foil panels for the new spirits with my Incarnate order to see how they were; I'm not really a fan of the foiling, but I just ordered the rest of them anyway for the massive space savings.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2023 21:02
|
|
|
Wallet posted:I'm surprised by how few major/minor powers there are and just how many aspects were added.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2023 23:56
|
|
|
Eric Reuss mentioned after JE that big power deck expansions were unlikely; the decks are already getting pretty unwieldy, and draws get streakier and higher variance as the decks get bigger, even if the proportions of elements and effects remains the same.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2023 00:13
|
|
|
The only way we'll get a bunch of new power cards at this point is we do a huge rebalancing /revamping 2nd edition, gloomhaven style. Which I'd welcome but a lot of people don't like.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2023 01:29
|
|
|
I wish I would get my shipping notification. I live IN St. Louis! The GTG warehouse is on my way to work!
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2023 04:05
|
|
|
I forgot I ordered the newest expansion and was pleasantly surprised to see it when I got home last night.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2023 12:32
|
|
|
I was able to win our game with a friend. I plaued earth vital spirit and he played thunderspeaker. Granted he wasn't the best but thanks to his help and me getting massive amounts of fear a turn we were able to drive everyone off the island despite us not being able to keep them out.
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2023 05:09
|
|
|
I broke down and paid for the pre-order. Do I need to wait for an official release date or are they just sending it when they can?
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2023 20:30
|
|
|
Soontm, then. I bought Horizons on PC and the cocoa otter is everything I dreamed of. I'm sure a lot of people don't like jack of all trades spirits, but to me it just feels like I'm good at whatever I want to be good at from game to game. It does feel a little self-contained, since the 1/2/1 growth track and somewhat mobile presence means it's easy to get a reclaim loop going and you've got a nice combo of three uniques from the very start that you can ride to victory, but I don't hate having a failsafe when the power decks don't cooperate. Oh and there were some other spirits too. Big fan of Eyes! Defensive fear spirits are rad and there aren't enough of them. It took a bit for one to come out, so I'm wondering if RER was worried it'd be too good of a combination, as opposed to fear+control or fear+offense.
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2023 20:17
|
|
|
Mud and Eyes are the two best Horizons spirits 
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2023 20:25
|
|
|
I haven't had a chance to sit down with Eyes, but yeah, combining defense + Dahan movement tends to just be insanely efficient, and you're getting fear too.
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2023 20:40
|
|
|
I got to play Spirit Island with actual other people on the 4th and I grabbed Mud because Mud is great and I felt confident I would be able to take my goddamn turn.
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2023 21:06
|
|
|
"Can't build in the swamp, idiot" is my favorite thing to say to the invaders.
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2023 21:09
|
|
|
Eyes can conceivably win the game only on the back of cheap defense card, they are very good.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2023 13:57
|
|
|
Been messing around trying out the new spirits and aspects—only disappointment so far has been a game with Lure of the Deep Wildness using Lair and Wandering Voice Keens Delirium vs Habsburg Monarchy level 4. Lair was a lot of fun, but Delirium felt like purestrain durdle. I'm sure mediocre power draws didn't help and maybe I'm missing something, but yikes. It seems like the abduction innate would be a good fear generation engine on low difficulty games but it really falls apart against adversaries that dump a lot of invaders on the board.
Wallet fucked around with this message at 14:29 on Jul 7, 2023 |
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2023 14:26
|
|
|
Abduction mechanic, do you mean for Darkness down your Spine or Wandering Voice?
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2023 19:59
|
|
|
The abduction mechanic of breath of darkness down your spine is very strong but tippy. If you can't clean cruft you can't use it to fix problems. If you can you can zoop up whole cities with single damage pings. Otoh wandering voice keens delirium is extremely strong at wading through otherwise heavily sieged zones and sweeping all of your problems onto a corner to later nuke down into oblivion. So I guess we need more info or a clarification on what mechanic you're referring to here.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2023 20:48
|
|
|
Driving around town for work muttering "the junger hungles" to myself
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2023 21:15
|
|
|
I was apparently half asleep this morning and conflated two spirits/games, but yeah—Darkness's abduction mechanic felt pretty mediocre with reasonably high level adversaries, though I felt like the spirit played okay anyway. Delirium felt like a whole lot of pushing invaders/strife around the board with very little payoff. Mind-Shattering song is okay, but doesn't really make up for proximity to its incarna keeping Dahan out of the fight. Without Dahan fighting back, Strife is mostly just an extremely inefficient way to skip actions. There's a few majors that could pay it off, but if you don't draw them  . I'll have to give it another game.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2023 23:06
|
|
|
Hell yeah I got my delivery today. Time to lose my weekend to some board gaming.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2023 23:08
|
|
|
Wallet posted:I was apparently half asleep this morning and conflated two spirits/games, but yeah—Darkness's abduction mechanic felt pretty mediocre with reasonably high level adversaries, though I felt like the spirit played okay anyway.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2023 01:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 16:52 |
|
|
Ragnar34 posted:They both look like my kind of thing but we'll see. What was the adversary? Habsburg Monarchy 4. Might be better against Russia or something.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2023 02:10
|
|