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Tekopo posted:Apparently I’m going to get NI in April now. Lmao, and might I add, lol I cancelled my pledge months ago and complained by mail since this is 100% their fault. I bought the game in retail at a lower price, got it months earlier than backers and I'm still getting the deluxe tokens for free as an apology, assuming they deliver to Europe before the heat death of the universe.
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Mar 12, 2024 18:59
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Eraflure posted:I cancelled my pledge months ago and complained by mail since this is 100% their fault. I bought the game in retail at a lower price, got it months earlier than backers and I'm still getting the deluxe tokens for free as an apology, assuming they deliver to Europe before the heat death of the universe. I should have done this too. Probably the last campaign - funded game I signed up for. With EU import taxes, the price difference is hardly worth it anyhow. And f*ck kickstarter exclusives.
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Mar 12, 2024 19:38
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Tekopo posted:Apparently I’m going to get NI in April now. Lmao, and might I add, lol Don't worry it's actually a terrible expansion with no redeeming factors. ok it's actually great and I'm sorry that it's never coming to your corner of the earth
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Mar 12, 2024 23:53
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Yeah I tried the stomping turtle spirit and it was so much fun to play around. I'm not even really pissed off any more, it is what it is and as long as it actually arrives in April so that I can bring it to the boardgaming weekends I have planned in May, I don't really care.
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Mar 13, 2024 00:07
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Behemoth and Breath of Darkness are probably my favorite arcana spirits and about as different as possible. Sometimes you want to plan out turns in advance, and sometimes you just want to turn brain off and turtle smash.
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Mar 13, 2024 00:29
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I skipped NI on crowdfunding and nothing has convinced me that that was a bad decision. How did the foils turn out incidentally?
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Mar 13, 2024 06:35
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I have foils because when my partner ordered the game it was paradoxically cheaper to buy them as an addon and get to a better threshold for shipping costs. They look good, some more than others (Wounded Waters and Wandering Voice look incredible, whereas Towering Roots' earthtones don't really translate to shininess well.) I think if you are obsessed with the game and have a specific spirit you really like it could be worth having them around as a display piece? But they don't feel as nice to play with because they don't have the solidity of the normal boards. Imagine if instead of placing your tokens on a nicely textured solid board you were trying to keep them from moving around on an oversized foil MtG card... It's just not practical.
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Mar 13, 2024 21:27
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I love the foils for the space savings...but I wish they'd let me buy a non-foil option (i.e. like the ones in Horizons). For my collection, just letting me condense all the spirit boards to one box would make the game portable again
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Mar 14, 2024 04:24
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Tekopo posted:Yeah I tried the stomping turtle spirit and it was so much fun to play around. I'm not even really pissed off any more, it is what it is and as long as it actually arrives in April so that I can bring it to the boardgaming weekends I have planned in May, I don't really care.
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Mar 14, 2024 04:49
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jivjov posted:I love the foils for the space savings...but I wish they'd let me buy a non-foil option (i.e. like the ones in Horizons). For my collection, just letting me condense all the spirit boards to one box would make the game portable again We made this https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6129527 organizer and it's great. It's heavy and the lid lift is like halfway up but absolutely everything is in ONE BOX. Setup and takedown is much faster which is nice when a big game takes 3 hours and you play often. Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:I've only played a couple in-person games of this but the turtle spirit was extremely fun. I assume he is not quite as strong at higher difficulties when two damage doesn't just solve a freshly built or explored region but I'll take victory where I can get it. The stomping turtle can scale decently! Just won a duo game against russia 6 where my partner was using him and it was fine at matching the game tempo. You can potentially spread a LOT of badlands around which will make you friends against matchups that are usually tough for damage spirits, like England.
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Mar 14, 2024 06:20
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Continuing my first time solo playthrough of all the Spirits up through JE, I played Fractured and Shifting Memory the other day. Fractured was not nearly as strange as I was expecting. The time mechanic was relatively straightforward and i didn’t even really end up spending that much time so after I acquired a few normal powers the game mostly played out like any other spirit, just with a bit more foresight. I suspect this could change in multi spirit games. Shifting Memory was an interesting game mostly because after getting both Paralyzing Fright and Terrifying Nightmares and easily being able to threshold them both with the extra elements, it was like “well clearly this is happening,” this of course being a terror win from generating 14 fear almost every turn. Only spirit left now is Finder, which must be incredibly odd to play solo, so maybe I will 2 hand that one.
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Mar 14, 2024 14:54
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Elysium posted:Continuing my first time solo playthrough of all the Spirits up through JE, I played Fractured and Shifting Memory the other day. This inspired me to try solo Finder. It wasn't that bad! Won a Terror 1 victory against Sweden 6 on turn 9. Only took one ravage for 2 blight. I was so unused to the idea of a terror level one win that I started packing up with explorers still on the board before realizing I had to deal with them too... Only made 8 fear the entire game, most of that was from random events, which treated me pretty well. Got Call to Guard early which was a godsend, then had a few unusable drafts of majors before finding what I wanted. Just gradually corralled up the invaders into two lands, isolated constantly, eventually drew Vanish Softly which I used twice to remove all the remaining towns/cities I couldn't get through dahan counterattacks, then pulled Fragments of Yesteryear to remove the one giant stack of corralled explorers I had left. GG. Probably could have won faster if I hadn't rejected damage majors but I wanted to respect Responsibilities to the Dead and do a true pacifist run. Growth track order was Earth > +1 Card Play > 1e/Moon > 2e/Water > 2nd +1 Card Play. Took the power card G3 whenever possible except for the last turn when I took G4 for energy to afford Fragments.
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Mar 17, 2024 07:01
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  I know, I know, I just thought it was funny
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Mar 20, 2024 23:45
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Anyone got tips for figuring out openings without looking them up every time? I feel like I've got an okay grasp on maximizing inmates, but don't really have a good one on major focused openings never mind being able to distinguish between them. I also probably overlook playing just one t1 too much
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Mar 21, 2024 19:42
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StashAugustine posted:Anyone got tips for figuring out openings without looking them up every time? I feel like I've got an okay grasp on maximizing inmates, but don't really have a good one on major focused openings never mind being able to distinguish between them. I also probably overlook playing just one t1 too much I kinda just play the first four turns 1 spirit/1 board and see how I'm doing against blight, energy pool, invader count, and vibes. I will also fast forward/rewind full turns to see if I had a better growth choice available when things go south. That said, this has made me a solidly mediocre player so maybe there's a better way. ETA: If I had duplicate island boards and spirit printings, I might consider laying out two or three copies of the same island board with their own blight and fear pools, and distinct copies of the same spirit across all of them. Then, I could play through different starting position choices, growth choices, and card selections on the instances while applying the same invader deck and event flops to all of them at once. You'd need to figure out how to handle divergent fear decks and blight cards, but that seems relatively trivial one way or the other. 1secondpersecond fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Mar 21, 2024 |
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Mar 21, 2024 19:46
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StashAugustine posted:Anyone got tips for figuring out openings without looking them up every time? I feel like I've got an okay grasp on maximizing inmates, but don't really have a good one on major focused openings never mind being able to distinguish between them. I also probably overlook playing just one t1 too much https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2512536/openings-stones-unyielding-defiance https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1967085/openings-river-surges-sunlight These two links lead to compendia of openings for core and JE spirits. “But, Admiralty Flag, I said I didn’t want to look up openings!” I would suggest you study the reasoning and especially the forward-looking strategies these authors use and incorporate in their openings. Reading these opened my mind to options beyond the obvious for basic openings.
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Mar 21, 2024 21:47
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Also how do people like scenarios? I don't like stuff that changes up the base experience too much but maybe I'm just being stubborn for no reason
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Mar 26, 2024 20:20
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I love the scenarios. Well, some are more fun than others. I don’t really care for adversaries actually. I get that they are needed to increase difficulty, but I wish they were more like scenarios with the way they fundamentally change the game rather than just like “well now 3 towns fly out of their rear end” at THIS level. Blitz is fun, playing second waves (or higher), Guard the Isles heart I find really fun to play with the jump start it gives you but it usually makes the game way easier. Ward the shores and dahan inurrection are both decent. I don’t care much for the two Rituals ones. Powers long forgotten is just super swingy.
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Mar 26, 2024 20:31
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I play a Blitz a lot at level 0 for fun. It's a good way to to mess around with minor power strats. Guard the Island's Heart is a breezy way to take on higher difficulty adversaries and I use it to familiarize myself with their multiple rule sets. Dahan Insurrection rules. It's challenging, but using your buddies as more active participants in freeing their island is good as hell.
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Mar 26, 2024 21:05
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Elysium posted:I love the scenarios. Well, some are more fun than others. I don’t really care for adversaries actually. I get that they are needed to increase difficulty, but I wish they were more like scenarios with the way they fundamentally change the game rather than just like “well now 3 towns fly out of their rear end” at THIS level. Adversaries do fundamentally change the game though, you just need to think of them as a complete package at level 5/6. The towns fly out their rear end rules levels are there to empower their unique mechanics. Habsburg Livestock 2 and 5 exist to enable the absolutely wild migratory herders mechanics that totally change how you need to think about the game, not just because "more towns is more harder" but because they give the adversary something to migrate with in those early turns and it prevents them from being completely shut down by lucky land draws making huge isolation pockets. England's extra starting buildings enable their explorerless build cheating and High Immigration puts pressure on the loss condition. Habsburg Mining shoots a billion explorers at you specifically to turn your brain inside out thinking about Mining Lands and those drat salt mines, etc. I mostly don't use Scenarios because on their own they aren't hard enough for my table which usually plays level 6 adversaries, and combining scenarios with adversaries tends to make for weird unpredictable difficulty shifts. I'm aware of the difficulty randomizer and I'd love to use it but we like to pick our spirits based on the adversary/scenario and as far as I can tell it doesn't really support that? The Great River is a gloriously chaotic clusterfuck though, I like that one a lot!
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Mar 27, 2024 18:29
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Heads up for anyone interested: Spirit Island for Steam is 50% off until the 1st.
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Mar 29, 2024 05:51
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How do folks strategize for top track/majors builds? I gravitate towards bottom track play and spirits but for some matchups it's definitely ideal to grab majors early, examining my games I always find that even when I planned to grab majors I still should have gone for the first one 1-2 turns sooner than I did. Pretty much the only time I'm confident with early majors is slamming a first turn pick on Starlight or BODAN. I just find it too punishing to grab a major draft and find crap I have no chance of thresholding, whereas even a weak minor can always be used as chaff for events or major drafts.
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Apr 2, 2024 23:10
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If I know my gameplan is to try to play majors I usually want to pick at least one up in the first 2 or 3 turns. If you end up with an off element major then seeing it early can help inform your later drafts, and if you completely miss and still can't threshold it then you can always forget it for the next major. More generally if I have 4+ energy and a card in my discard pile that I don't mind forgetting I'll usually at least consider it.
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Apr 3, 2024 00:31
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God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title
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My top track Fangs strat is: Turn 1: G2 + G4, usually with Too Near the Jungle and Teeth Gleam From Darkness. This lets me get Ranging Hunt online and thwart a build while setting up RH for the land that got the build in turn 2. Turn 2: G1 + G2. Choose Major and look for your good options (Tigers Hunting, Angry Bears, Settle into the Hunting Grounds, Flocking Red Talons, Infestation of Venomous Spiders all synergize with Sharp Fangs really well, but strong defense cards are also helpful). Chuck Terrifying Chase 99% of the time. You can already do so much with just your other three starting cards. Speaking of which, if you get dealt bad options, don't be afraid to chuck the major you just got instead. Fangs has a pretty big head start and you can leverage it to dig through the majors til you get what you want.
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Apr 3, 2024 00:40
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In preparation for whenever they get around to adding aspects to digital, which of the original JE aspects do people like? I feel like River and Shadows are both fun by mediocre, and Lightning is just kinda janky while Vital Strength just kinda sucks afaict- I like the concept of a very major focused spirit but it just doesn't do enough, especially if you don't get a good major to start
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Apr 3, 2024 17:13
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Doesn’t seem like any of the JE aspects are well regarded. F&F has a couple decent ones, but NI seems to be where the meat is for aspects. Also lol how many times they’ve tried to make Shadows not suck.
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Apr 3, 2024 19:27
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For reference: https://spiritislandwiki.com/index.php?title=List_of_Aspect_Cards They were pretty conservative with the first round of aspects, the JE ones are pretty bad both from a power level and a fun standpoint. Pandemonium Lightning is the only one I would say works well. If you're counting the promo ones that were part of the same kickstarter, then I think Travel River, Immense Lightning and Might Earth are all good.
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Apr 3, 2024 19:32
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"Once per round, ignore range" is nice just for being an ultra-simple bandaid patch to Shadows. It's not enough to make Shadows strong, but it keeps the feel of the special rule the same except removing the energy tax makes it no longer feel horribly to use? Feather and Flame has sweet aspects. All the non-Shadows ones are really fun, especially Immense.
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Apr 3, 2024 19:37
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Yeah unfortunately I don't think feather & flame is due for another year. At least Memory is basically a fixed Vital Strength lol
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Apr 3, 2024 20:09
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Yeah, I like Reach as a quick and dirty fix to Shadows. It's still on the weaker end of the scale, but it's in line with other mediocre spirits instead of being its own class of garbage, and it has a fun gameplay hook when you draw something super short range like Quicken the Earth's Struggles and get to go  mode
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Apr 3, 2024 21:18
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Pandemonium is excellent but I also like Wind, it's a tasty smidge of extra team support and things to do on your turn on a spirit that otherwise quickly feels "solved" and boring after a couple plays. Those explorer pushes can do a lot of heavy lifting vs Russia or HME even into the late game! Sunshine is an impossibly awful mistake that they probably shouldn't even bother coding. The others are too basic to really have a strong opinion about.
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Apr 3, 2024 21:41
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I have played Stone's Unyielding Defiance for the first time and have only one question: Who thought that was a good idea?
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Apr 4, 2024 02:15
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Hellioning posted:I have played Stone's Unyielding Defiance for the first time and have only one question: Who thought that was a good idea? You mean how some spirits get absolutely hosed the moment some blight appears on the board, and then they were like “What it we make a spirit that can just take literally infinite blight and not give a poo poo?”
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Apr 4, 2024 02:26
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You could just straight up redact any one part of Stone's kit (the blight negation, the retaliations, the "top track is also bottom track oh and also you get free minors because idk") and it would still be very strong. I don't think it's unfun or that its existence ruins the game or anything but for me I think it's the most egregious offender for "this spirit is obviously too strong," way more than all the fingers that get pointed at Rampant Green and company (not saying Green's proliferation isn't a problem ofc.) Dances Up Earthquakes for example, can be played totally busted, but you *can* play normally to the game tempo instead of building up for that silly turn 4/5 megaquake and of course it'll be less strong but it's still a cool spirit with a fun playstyle. Fractured Days may be capable of insane game warping combo play but you've gotta really burn brainpower to work it. Whereas Stone is just... Stone.
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Apr 4, 2024 02:45
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It was really funny taking Stone up against Swedem, getting really overconfident because Sweden is a pushover, and then doing the math on how double blight interacts with its special rules too late
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Apr 4, 2024 03:04
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I’m fine with there being OP spirits, it’s a co-op game and what spirits you take is part of tailoring the difficulty and experience. Sometimes you just want to stomp the AI or try a difficulty out of your comfort zone with some support. Now if you had a friend who only wanted to play Stone’s Unyielding Defiance every time because it’s the strongest… that’s an annoying issue but more of a social one. I’d prefer the spirits to have similar power levels of course, but erring on the side of strength feels much better than being Shadows Flicker Like Flame and its numerous aspects, or Shroud of Silent Mist, which to me are just frustrating to play effectively. Its a different gamefeel than spirits like Revengeance as a Burning Plague or Fractured Days Split the Skies, which I feel are very effective, but challenging to play. E: I’ve been playing a lot of Grinning Trikcster Sitrs Up Truoble and I just love the constant power card swaps and flexibility/adaptability you need to respond to the board state, and trying to engineer lands to See What Happens in and have a greater number of positive hits (testing your card knowledge somewhat). Strife is a neat mechanic that not a lot of spirits interact with so directly, and if you can get ahead of Trickster’s energy problems, it can be extremely strong at controlling the ravages. Fellis fucked around with this message at 11:24 on Apr 4, 2024 |
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Apr 4, 2024 11:18
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Fellis posted:I’m fine with there being OP spirits, it’s a co-op game and what spirits you take is part of tailoring the difficulty and experience. Sometimes you just want to stomp the AI or try a difficulty out of your comfort zone with some support. Now if you had a friend who only wanted to play Stone’s Unyielding Defiance every time because it’s the strongest… that’s an annoying issue but more of a social one. Agreed, the game gives you a great toolkit of different factors to make it as hard as you want with enough complexity and variance that you're never *exactly* sure how hard a matchup is going to be. It's so good! Balance is only a problem if it becomes a matter of the power difference being unfun. A lot of people really like playing Shroud of Silent Mist even though they know it's on the weaker side, they still enjoy the theme and gameplay puzzle the spirit gives you. Whereas with base Shadows Flicker... I do not see people saying that lol. It's weak in a way that isn't fun.
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Apr 4, 2024 19:26
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I'm not a fan of fear spirits in general, but Shadow just feels so bad to play. The newest aspect helps a bit but at this point it's just a cursed spirit.
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Apr 6, 2024 04:29
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Synthesis: any game featuring stone must also have a shadows player to balance it out.
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Apr 8, 2024 21:22
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mila kunis posted:Synthesis: any game featuring stone must also have a shadows player to balance it out. And the stone player has to play both. This way nobody has to be stuck with shadow except the player who's also carrying it, and it's not like either spirit takes that much brainpower.
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Apr 13, 2024 01:04
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