Elements 1.29

[Xenocidius]

*leaves*

You can not leave Napalm: Elements needs you; besides,  if you leave you are going to miss the creation of the next fire card and that is the first item in my "to do" list after I am done with the shards.

A new Fire card? I suppose they do have few cards compared to other elements ... will Aether be next?

[Rember]

Obligatory SoSa is still overpowered.

[The_Mormegil]

First things first: I love this.

Now.

I am uploading a new beta version with several new things to try, mainly about balance:
1. Shard of gratitude heals 3 (5 if  mark) both for upped and unupped(cost 5)
2. Shard of Divinity adds 16 (24 if  mark) both for upped and unupped(cost 5)
3. Shard of Patience non  creatures gain +1/+0
4. Shard of sacrifice HP cost increased to 40/32 if upped
5. Shard of readiness lets  creatures use their skill immediately and twice (instead of adrenaline)

5. Explosion cost increased to 3/2
6. Ash stats decreased to 0/5
7. Shroedinger cat skill cost reduced to 1
8. Immolation  gain reduced to 6(8upped)
9. Quanta pool capped at 50 quanta per element

Please test it, have fun, and give me some feedback.

1. SoG at 3/5 is pretty much perfect. Still enables unupped Firestall with Life mark, but with the Firestall nerfing below, it's not a major problem. It allows healing in every deck, but it's not major healing: that's restricted to Life and that's pretty much as perfect as it may get. I also love how it costs 5 unupped: unless you go rainbow, you have to pay more than a Sanctuary. Perfect.

2. SoD at 16/24 for both upped and unupped is very nice too, a real reason to use it with Light mark, and also a very valuable card overall. It also doesn't step on the toes of Heal, as it has slightly higher costs.

3. Gets rid of the only real issue I had with SoP (Fractal BL), so like it! The card is pretty good now, in my opinion.

4. Well, this is intresting. Instead of sacrificing max hp you chose to increase hp reduction even more. I suppose the reasoning is trying to set it at a cost where smart playing and/or initial fast rushing can counter it. It might work, I don't know, needs testing. I'll try it against FGs too.

5. <3

5b. Yay!

6. Noticed the idea a while ago, it's intresting. It's a small nerf to phoenix, and it's not a nerf to it offensively, but rather defensively, allowing a heavy CC deck to get rid of it without wasting 3 cards. I'm not just thinking about Rage Potion and Lightning, but rather about upped Otyughs killing a phoenix at the first go, flying OEs killing phoenixes without too much of a problem, Pandemonium having a chance... It's nice.

7. Buff was deserved.

8. Immolation nerfed so that it's one quanta short of a phoenix? I like. Now it's still powerful, but cannot be exploited so that you "avoid" the card disadvantage. Still works perfectly if upped or with Minor Phoenixes. I like it!

9. This is perhaps the most strange one. I never thought about it this way. Quanta cap is very nice, I can see oh so many card ideas starting from this... [Gravity Well: quanta cap for both players is at 10. Demon's Bargain: your quanta cap is lowered by 20. You gain 5 . Just off the top of my head, need tweaking and all but is FUN]

I personally think 75 is a better cap, but I'm not so sure. With the new SoD out, StoneSkin might fall in usefulness a lot. I can't see any other problem with this, though, as Fahrenheit capping at 15 is ok for me (still more than a Dragon...) and Bolts capping at 93 damage is kinda perfect. Stall Faster still works, Firestall needs more time to load up the damage, but they still work. I like it. I don't know if it will need more tweaking.

For now, I'll throw out an idea for StoneSkin that might be taken into consideration: double the HP increase (75 hp cap still there), increase the cost a bit (5|4?). It might be a bit too strong, I don't know, but it would buff Stone Skin alright, both in respect to SoD (still needs 12 quanta to be equal, also since it takes it into consideration AFTER the cost IIRC, it would mean 17 quanta to be equal... but gives 75 hp at 43 quanta).

[Xenocidius]

Interesting how many changes have come from exact player suggestions and feedback. The Shard of Gratitude, Shard of Readiness, Explosion and Ash changes were all suggested in the very manner in which Zanz has changed them.

Thanks for listening to us, Zanz.

[ralouf]

Btw I just can't wait it to be available all those updates are very good !

[Atico]

This update was neccesary. Thanks Zanz After this nerfs fire this game is fair!
75 quantum for FireLance is still too much. 50 is ok and acceptable. Stone Skin isn't a problem. 75 health was too much. SS gives often more HP than Heal (it isn't difficult to having more than 20HP) and it is cheaper than Heal, so this change was very important.

Thanks also for buff for Light and Life This is very important to promote the weakness elements.

SoR - this is very good change! This shard now has got fantastic synergy with Time.

Now I belive that this game has got sense. Now we are waiting for really good Shard for Air and maybe Earth.

[burne]

Hooray for the balance !

Can't wait also for discovering next shards !

I still find SoSacrifice too powerfull against False Gods.
Along with sundials and poisoning, it's damn effective.

[gumbeh]

I am uploading a new beta version with several new things to try, mainly about balance:
1. Shard of gratitude heals 3 (5 if  mark) both for upped and unupped(cost 5)
2. Shard of Divinity adds 16 (24 if  mark) both for upped and unupped(cost 5)
3. Shard of Patience non  creatures gain +1/+0
4. Shard of sacrifice HP cost increased to 40/32 if upped
5. Shard of readiness lets  creatures use their skill immediately and twice (instead of adrenaline)

Not a fan of Fractal Growing Sparks?

6. Explosion cost increased to 3/2
7. Ash stats decreased to 0/5
9. Immolation  gain reduced to 6(8upped)

The problem with instant quanta generation isn't the amount, it's the fact that it's instant. Rainbows and immorushes will always have a massive turn 1 advantage unless their quanta generation happens at end of turn like the rest of us. Hooray for fire nerfs, though, overall. Beta trainer can't tell us much, though, we'll need to see its effect on PVP and Arena.

10. Quanta pool capped at 50 quanta per element

What's this for? An indirect nerf to decks that fractal big, expensive creatures?

[Tiko]

Though I  love the currrent changes (Fire, Flooding, SoaP), my concern with the quanta cap is mainly with Ice Bolt, that there is no guaranteed freeze anymore. Its damage now peaks at the maximum of 12 with the freeze chance of 90%(?) at 50 , and while it is still a useful spell this way, it has been rather weakened. Same goes for Drain Life with a 12 HP drain, but both Darkness and Fire has their means for quanta 'accelerating'.

Just noting, yet I'll test it more and in other settings, but it seems that the classic Water/Light stall is almost completely destroyed this way - can't decide if that's a good thing or not.

The game seems to get more and more fast-paced..

[gumbeh]

The game seems to get more and more fast-paced..

AKA "stall gameplay is being removed as an option"? So that's what the cap of 50 is for!

Good for the arena, slightly diminishes the meta... worthwhile I guess.

[The_Mormegil]

Though I  love the currrent changes (Fire, Flooding, SoaP), my concern with the quanta cap is mainly with Ice Bolt, that there is no guaranteed freeze anymore. Its damage now peaks at the maximum of 12 with the freeze chance of 90%(?) at 50 , and while it is still a useful spell this way, it has been rather weakened. Same goes for Drain Life with a 12 HP drain, but both Darkness and Fire has their means for quanta 'accelerating'.

Just noting, yet I'll test it more and in other settings, but it seems that the classic Water/Light stall is almost completely destroyed this way - can't decide if that's a good thing or not.

The game seems to get more and more fast-paced..

Bolts cap at 12/18 now. With 10 more quanta in the quanta cap, they will deal 14/21, with 6 Fire Bolts dealing 105 damages and Ice Bolt having a guaranteed freeze. Stone Skin would then cap at 58 hp (calculated after quanta subtraction), meaning 6 stoneskins will net you 448 hps at BEST.

As it is, the numbers would allow for bolt OTK at the exact same time as they would allow for assured weapon freezing. However, Firestall decks don't quite need to be able to OTK thanks to Fahrenheit. The quanta cap reduces Fire's weapon efficacy, but slightly so if you consider most Firestalls have already got the game when they reach about 50 quanta. They just need to stall a bit longer (which is nice, of course) but they will eventually get you into OTK range. It's still a pretty good nerf, nay, a VERY good one, because although it doesn't affect Firestall's effectiveness in many matchups, it DOES allow for some good counters: Shard of Divinity comes to mind, if you don't want to play with stoneskins. Paired with good healing assures to be always away from OTK range.

Suggestions: cap quanta at 50, increase Ice Bolt's chance of freezing by 10%, change StoneSkin so that it gives more hp for a lower quanta (ideas: double the hp gain and increase starting cost, or increase the cost but grant a starting hp increase - for instance, make it cost 6|5 with a start of 15 hp increase, plus quanta calculated BEFORE casting cost, like bolts: gives between 20-21 and 65 hp increase, it's practically as good as the old one as 6 will net you 494 hp (almost the maximum) and it's a bit faster than before; I personally like the second idea best, but they both have the same kind of impact, and there are many other ways to do this). Siphon Life is still less useful, maybe increase the starting damage a bit? It would differentiate it from the other ones and give it a bit more use as fast CC rather than late game bolt spell... It's not really that important, though.

[Zaealix]

Nice to see that  stall will actually take skill to create and use. No offense, but it seemed like you could fly by the seat of your pants with immo rush/firestall deck builds.