Firemaw

Is Firemaw worth fielding at the moment?

He looks fun on paper, but every time I tried him, he just seemed to die really easily (along with his revival gem). And, of course, he's expensive and lost both speed and range.

Any tips for using him effectively, or is he just not worth the effort?

 

Too expensive and his threat range makes his death gem a joke.

 

I was really hoping I'd missed something.

Thanks anyway.

 

The only cool thing about Firemaw is that he lost Bloodless in the revamp. You can Retribution or Sacrifice him right after deploy and then wait for him to resurrect and then rinse and repeat -- but you'd better have a lot of support and a strategy to back that gambit up.

 

I posted about this below. Gillo tested, and it doesn't seem to work (even though he doesn't have bloodless).

 

Wow. So... then he's completely bad, then. Shame. Thanks to Gillo for testing, anyhow. :\

 

Wouldn`t it be fun if his on death ability was changed. Maybe more rounds until he respawns but the relic drops further away from his death? Maybe the relic should me movable, say have tunnel lava?

 

I don't like that self-synergy. I'd rather have a viable champ with relocate: relic.

 

To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen the relic survive till the end of the enemy turn - so I've never had a chance to relocate or protect it.

 

Then the relic should have something like Perserverance and more rounds? Will that be OP?

 

How about giving it Impervious, but not shielded, equal to half the time it takes to respawn? It's a suggestion

 

Instead of a 10hp gem, it could spawn an Orb of Protection.

 

As it stands, Fiery Death is a lot cheaper than the rider abilities -- 20 nora vs. 50-60 nora, to be exact.

The real problem:
Fiery Death is like a really, really good insurance policy on a 1992 Ford Festiva.

To elaborate: my problem with Firemaw is not his Fiery Death. I actually love the ability. My problem is that he has this ability that might let him sizzle his enemies and self-resurrect over and over, but the unit itself is not good. He doesn't do anything special, and his stats are just "good." I could deploy a really good champ for less nora -- one that survives longer and/or slaughters enough units for its death to be worth it. So, Firemaw is just an expensive gimmick.

84 - 96 nora for a flying Pit Dragon with some semi-useful lava / fire tie-ins... I just don't want that in my BG. Replace both sets of upgrades with actual strategical stuff, and we'll talk.

EDIT: something like a deep-lava form of Snowstrike (Lavastrike), Flame Armor, Lava-fall 2... something that makes him hardier and/or more actively supportive of Fire and Lava.

 

I imagine that's because rider abilities are effectively guaranteed. Outside of a few rare circumstances, you'll get your rider when the unit dies. With Firemaw it's the opposite - you'll only get him back once in a blue moon.

I do agree with what you're saying. I think there are issues with Fiery Death, but you're right - Firemaw himself is more of a problem. I think losing 1-2 range and 7 speed really hurt him. But, even with those, he's just not very interesting (or, at least, not as interesting as he should be).

Do you think perhaps that his abilities are focussed in the wrong place? I mean, currently, they're Larva-focussed. But, it seems a fire focus would suit him better. e.g. Fire Eater seems more appropriate - he's literally born of fire, after all. Likewise, perhaps Fire Breath instead of Larva Storm. Could also add Fire Acolyte, or something along those lines.

 

Lava is just a sub-theme of Fire, in my humble opinion -- like how Vashal are a sub-theme of Beasts. Nobody builds a BG around Vashal -- they build around Beasts and use Vashal that are really good and that support the BG overall.

Firemaw just doesn't... fit. Even now that he's sort've cheap-ish (I guess), he still doesn't do anything crucial, and he still won't survive melee engagement.

Honestly, I don't see a problem with giving him 4-5 range. It would really make up for his SPD and lack of survival. That alone could make him worth including in Fire BGs.

 

A sub-theme indeed, but not necessarily a warranted one on Firemaw.

That would be nice.

Hell, I'd settle for 1-3 range.

 

I love the flavor of this champ, would love to see him put in a playable position

 

All of the dragons had so much flavor. The Exile, Akakios, and Firemaw, in particular, are worthy of an entire expansion's worth of material. I was really sad to see them fall so quickly into obscurity, and to see the revere champs follow suit.

 

Revere: firemaw is a bad ability on the wrong champion, that also helps.

 

Can Rite of Destruction be used on Bloodless champs? I can't remember... I know Blood Offering can be.