I run it with mentality. I had to think about which I'd do when the revamp hit as well, but it seems to make more sense this way. I'm not sure exactly how to explain it, but basically, the bigger, more expensive kanen all have pack leader, and the cheap little kanen have pack mentality, so having mentality on a bigger kanen like slipped offers more versatility in the battlegroup as a whole.
So all you Kanen boys and girls out there, are you running 2x Trackers, 1x or none now that the price has jumped up to 71? EDIT: Especially considering now all the alphas got a lot cheaper
Man, I'm booted out of limited cause I just keep on getting killed on the big 4 font maps, like K'thir where there's at least two divided battles going on. How do you guys handle this as Kanen who do so much better together? I'm being divided and conquered!
Losing every big, strong solo champ is the reason. Now if you need to split up, it takes away the only strength you have. Those big champs that could own solo were important. Edit: I just started running a treefolk deck after getting exasperated with Kanen because I realized I had most of the pricey cards, and it's so much easier to actually contest multiple fonts with them despite the fact that they have lumbering. Kanen get blown up too easily if you don't have a specific mix of champs, which causes a huge problem on maps where you have to split your forces.
I suppose we just have to change strategy, like focused rush on one font and try not to fight a battle of attrition by spreading out to the other fonts.
Lots of decks can do that and better, so why bother playing Kanen? Kanen are also no longer as cheap as one might think after the re-costing. Edit: I'd rather some Kanen runes cost more and be returned to their former function than remain as they are (although just replacing useless abilities with the old useful abilities would be ideal.) Too many important Kanen champs lost their purpose. Edit: Speaking of cost, some runes are silly. Kanen Cultist's cost is laughable for example. What a powerhouse rune for 80+ nora.
I think you're right on both points. Cultist is a lost cause. Furthermore, I think Kanen have fallen even further down the meta-tree with this recent recosting (pt 2 of the revamp, not the original one) simply because while we have a super cheap Slipped (which is the only way we really benefitted) everyone else got super powerful titans like the Ancestral Avenger (mid 80s nora cost) at super cheap. Such is life. EDIT: Btw Jib, you seem to be a lot more active on the forums than you are on the client itself. How come I never see you in-game?
I'd rather have a slightly more expensive Slipped and have him fill his old role. (Which for me was bullrushing onto a font, getting big, then dropping a Bloodthirsty Blade on him if it got hairy) Kanen have more problems than that, though. Even back when I was active and Kanen worked, people thought Slipped was questionable -- which makes him getting heavily nerfed all the more confusing. Edit: I feel like in the re-costing maybe the Pack X abilities are worth too much? I haven't really been checking out the algorithm threads, but Kanen are no longer cheap, but are still relatively weak even in a pack when you think of other synergies.
To be honest I think Slipped is pretty meta-worthy with the recent recosting. He's at 66 nora without thirst for battle , which I believe was the major nerf to him pre-revamp. He has charge 3 and manic, and it's pretty easy with a couple of smaller Kanen around him to get 3 attacks off in one round (with manic) and get a kill on a champ that people didn't see coming. I think he's very powerful (especially in conjunction with tempest crown, not so much bloodthristy blade now). As you said, there are other issues with a lot of the other Kanens pricing, but I can't speak on that because I haven't done my research.
Slipped used to force a choice. Stay on him granting bonus damage and eating the attack, or take damage disengaging. He was a distraction as I saw it, but one that could get out of hand. Some barbarian does the same thing now and costs around the same. But yeah, Slipped isn't really the crux of it. I just always had a soft spot for him because he didn't get much love. I think he does exemplify how a lot of champs had their basic concept obliterated, however. Edit: Full disclosure: Rupture Alpha is a new rune to me because I stopped playing before it was released (Howler used to be ranged, right?). But the more I think of it, Kanen in general were about forcing a choice as I played them. Losing escalation, Kierg, and Slipped in general means the opponent can now focus on just killing dogs. It used to be you had to stop the big Kanen from getting crazy or stop the dogs from becoming a huge pack, now just blow away the dogs because the big champs don't gain anything from holding out. Edit 2: Which might be the intent, to force them to operate as a pack. But as it is, it doesn't work.
I agree on all accounts. And as a result there aren't really any Kanen out there that can solo efficiently, making us even weaker than we are in split font maps, like the 4 font K'thir Hill. I've noticed that on maps with a central font, we are extremely strong (as one would expect with a pack BG like Kanen) and can compete with the most meta BGs and players. I think the issue arises in light of these recent nerfs to the stronger Kanen leaders in the bigger maps where we simply can't hold our own anymore. We have no options or leverage on the opponent except to get split up and get conquered or lose the battle of attrition by focusing on one font. EDIT: Aside from the rant, some questions for you guys. With Garin, how does defensive strike work? If I activate it with a champ that's already in my range, if it makes between it (let's say from 2 spaces away to 3) will the defensive strike still proc? Or will it have to be a champion moving from 4 spaces into Garin's range of 3 spaces away. Furthermore, would you guys keep combat awareness on him? I'm inclined to not bother at all with defensive strike.
Don't play as much. In fact, haven't played seriously in years. Still mess around with some alts that shall remain nameless but you won't see my name blue anytime soon (not like you would anyway, made top50 once in my career). That's why I don't speak out much on balance issues, not my place. I feel like the stuff I learned in my days still applies for the most part, here to help. I also gave away all my exo/LEG/etc when SOE pretty much abandoned the game, just a couple of weeks before DOG announced that they were picking up the game. That was a fun thread. Managed to recoup a sizeable chunk of it with the forge but will never be as invested as I was. Oh and 300 posts in 5 months isn't what I would call active anyway, well if you consider the fact that half of those were in the last month. When you rattle the cage, the old bones show up.
Well it's good to have you back. Hopefully the game starts to have get its old allure back each day the revamp progresses.
Hey, me too. I'll always love them, but viewing them objectively they aren't as strong as most of the meta these days. I feel like my Kanen are definitely carried by stuff like 2x Whispers of the Mind and VP a lot of the time.
