"Names are an essence of our power. They indicate our line, the power of the family. There is much strength in Strig names." - Oram the 444th Strigs. The theme that is not a theme, the race that is not a race (other than 2 of their units having Bravery). Maybe it's just me, but I wish Strigs, which have some of the coolest flavor text in the game in my opinion, had motivation to play as a race rather than just in flying bgs. Oh and there's this... "Having to aid Jakei and those brainless Cats rankles us to no end. However, we have no choice in the matter as the war has arrrived quite literally on our doorstep." - Rhinticent the 143rd. So why the heck do they have a racial that benefits other races as much as themselves? Doesn't make much sense when flavor places them as an family oriented, insular race with little desire to work with other races of the tundra other than due to necessity? I really wish a Strig bg were something worth playing, with some form of reference to their family bonds and universal hatred of all things non-Strig, and to that purpose, here is an idea for a racial they could have, based on the idea that Strig will recite their name and accomplishments mid-battle, emboldening each other and boring the heck out of anyone else: Litany of Names - 2 AP, 1 CD. Other Strig within 6 spaces become Enraged 1 (This unit has +3 Dmg) for 2 turns. Opposing champions within 6 spaces become Wearied 4 (This champion's DMG is reduced by 1 at the beginning if its owner's turn). The idea would be to have this replace Boon of the Winds on most Strig (On Windrider it could replace Bravery so that he could have the option of keeping having either Boon or Litany depending on where you're playing him), and therefore give them a racial identity and a reason to be used as a race. A few Strig would probably need a shoebox buff too (Battle Ward, Magebane), because there's not enough for some to be unplayable. P.S. I do know there's only 5 Strig. Maybe buff some obscure ST beasts with Strig synergy? *Cough* Snow Rhea, Wizened Wren *Cough*
I like the idea and concept but buffing runes outside a theme to enable a theme? And at that u wanna buff some ST beast huehue.
With Strig synergy. Like giving them Bulwark: Strig and new flavor text. I think it fits the Strig's flavor of egotistical jerks to have subservient beasts, especially if they look like birds also xD I would never suggest buffing the meta beasts, or even the non-meta ones in sheer power level.
I do think the wizened wren needs a refreshment maybe in art but definitely needs to just become some strig elder.
Adding Race: Strig to all of the current owl-riding champs is a great way to expand the theme with changing much. They would gain a bomb champ, a ranged detection/battle master and a ranged hero with Declare Target (what better Jakei to begrudgingly work with than a strong leader?). The affected champs would retain beast given that they are domesticated owls, but they wouldn't gain whatever Strig racial we do or don't shift to in the future. They would be the more logical bridge to a Strig Beast BG than giving all Strig Beast straight up. I have a number of possible changes in mind for the Strig, but I'm posting from phone and will need to follow up later.
I'm not a big fan of the multi-race fix, or the fix where all champions in a theme have to be a race. I stand by the idea there are Beasts that could be given Strig synergy (not race) to expand the theme while keeping the current Strig, as the idea of such a proud race letting others ride them is ... well ...
Characteristics are not bound to race. [PointlessRLExample] There are proud Humans out there who'd rather die than to bring shame onto themselves. And then there are others who are willing to get naked in the middle of the street and bark like a dog for a bit of money. [/PointlessRLExample] So I don't see a problem with Strig being the overrace of everything owlish.
what does overrace mean in that context?? Strig are already defined as a race, so yes this race is bound by characteristic. In-fact plenty of races are bound by characteristics(no RLExample Required).
I failed biology. I probably meant "Family" when I said "overrace". And I guess my statement about characteristics being independent of race wasn't entirely true. Very primitive animals are often closely tied to their stereotypical behavior. Meanwhile everything that has a notable brain doesn't follow that rule. Not every Pit Bull Terrier is aggressive and not every Poodle is the reincarnation of friendliness, even if their races suggest so. (I'm not denying the obvious tendency, though.) But if Strig would be the Family of everything owlish the stuff that I've written above wouldn't matter. Strig would be to everything owlish as Canis familiaris is to everything dogish. Dog = Pit Pull Terrier, Poodle, Chihuahua Strig = Grumpy Owlguy, Owl Being Ridden by Jakei, Gun Carrying Owl
I would compare it to the Elves of Menalaus vs the Elves of De'lim. One group hugs trees while the other happily burns them to the ground. Their opposing view points don't change the fact that they are, indeed, all Elves. In this manner, Strig represents the Owl form of creature. Some may be domesticated beasts and others an isolated culture of racist Owlfolk, but they are still all Strig. Use thematic abilities to reinforce their cultural views rather than tying up an entire race unnecessarily.
That's a decent argument, and if they did that I wouldn't be mad. I'm just careful to suggest overraces after seeing the Demon, Beast and Undead case, where a race being too widespread limits design rather than empowering it. If you create Strig/Beast/Jakei units, Strig bgs get several autoinclude meta units, and probably start running Boost: Beast because it is such a strong ability.
I don't know, I don't really get the vibe of sentiency from the Owls that the Jakei ride that I get from the Strig. As for the Strig being "rankled" by Jakei and Lonx those are both factions that are (primarily) earthbound whereas the Strig racial interacts with everything that flies.
Again, this is not relevant to the point I'm making. Bestial Owls and Sentient Owls are still both Owls (Strig). It would be an entirely different situation if the Sentient Owls had humanoid appendages or were simple humanoids with Owl-like features. Instead, they are clearly giant Owls just like the previously existing giant Owls. I completely agree that Boost: Beast is strong, but I don't want to fall into the trap of avoiding changes to anything related to it when we know that it's already being looked at and is likely to be toned down at some point in the future. With regards to becoming auto, that is already the case in a Strig BG because there are so few of them. We can't really avoid that without increasing their numbers. Pulling in three more Strig is a step in that direction. I don't have a problem with switching from Beast/Jakei to Jakei/Strig, by the way, I just know that several ST Beast BGs currently enjoy their use. I try to avoid nerfing one theme to buff another whenever possible. In this case, we could probably get away with it, but I'm not sure it's entirely necessary.
Who's to say that Owls and Strig are synonymous? My understanding is that the Strig are a subfaction of sentient Owls. I'm not aware of any lore that actually says that the Owls that the Jakei ride are Strig in any way.
Their basic physiology and the fact a subfaction is not a race. So long as Strig are restricted to Owls with brainz, the theme will suffer for it. Any time they release an Owl champion, they'll have to decide whether it is specifically intended for Strig or is just another Beast. It is less prohibitive to use a thematic ability to establish their distinction from other Owls like every other subgroup. As far as I'm concerned, hating Jakei for domesticating their non-sentient kin is entirely within the logical reasoning of their cultural isolation. I'm all for supporting Pox lore, but I don't agree with strictly adhering to lore when it negatively impacts those affected.
True, but motivating players to run Jakei riding domesticated owls along with Strig (which they don't approve of) seems like a flavor fail to me. I do understand your point though, without that they probably wouldn't be runnable: They need some meta pieces to be playable, and several owl riders happen to be that missing link. It's one way to go about it, it's just not my preferred way. One of the reasons I love Strig is that their flavor text is some of the best the game has to offer, up there with far more developed themes in the kind of feel it gives to a race. The fact they pulled that off with only 5 or so cases of it is rather impressive, so going against flavor to make them playable feels wrong to me (again, just personal opinion. If the devs decided that was the best way to make Strig work, I would accept it).
An Idea of How Strig could be Turned into a Theme Yes, I was bored and this entertains me 1. New ability - Litany of Names - 2 AP, 1 CD. Other Strig within 6 spaces become Enraged 1 (This unit has +3 Dmg) for 2 turns. Opposing champions within 6 spaces become Wearied 4 (This champion's DMG is reduced by 1 at the beginning if its owner's turn). 4 Nora. This is meant to be a racial that gives a real reason to run Strig as opposed to just meta Flyers, and will only be present on certain Strig. 2. Strig Magebane - Base abilities changed to Arctic Flight, Attack: Magical, Litany of Names, Wizard Foe. Upgrades to Guiding Spirit (-4 Nora)/Illuminate (default)/Magic Bomb 3 (+6 Nora) and Archer Foe (default)/Rogue Foe (+0 Nora). Cost to 80 Nora*. Gives Strig their support unit, high speed allows ap for use of Litany, low damage balances a kit made to set up other Strig. 3. Snow Rhea - Base abilities changed to Arctic, Arctic Camouflage, Attack: Physical, Strig Bound. Upgrades to Enrage 1 (-4 Nora), Mobility (-2 Nora), Boon of the Wind (default) and Initiative 1 (default)/Initiative 2 (+3 Nora). Cost to 61 Nora*. New Flavor Text: Unlike other races, the Strig would not adopt the beasts of the north as equals, but as pack animals, broken and trained to take no other master. The once proud Rheas now carry supplies, messages, and runes of blessing over distances too long to fly comfortably. 4. Wizened Wren - Base abilities changed to Arctic Flight, Attack: Physical, Litany of Names, Strig Bound. Upgrades to Spellswallower (-2 Nora), Council: Spells (+0 Nora), Favor (default) and Spell Resistance (default)/Immunity: Magical (+3 Nora). Cost to 64 Nora*. New Flavor Text: They are our name pages, though lesser races would not understand. We found them in the wild, where they but babbled mystical nonsense, and tought them just enough of our speech. Now page! Pronounce my great name to our foes! - Indard the 374th 5. Strig Battle Ward - Base abilities changed to Arctic Flight, Attack: Physical, Bravery, Warding. Upgrades to Rend 1 (-2 Nora), Melee Specialist 2 (default), Boon of the Wind (+1 Nora) and Tough 1 (-3 Nora)/Tough 2 (default)/Tough 3 (+3 Nora). Cost to 73 Nora*. Needless to say, the tank. Just streamlined his kit a little, and took away the godmode enabling Melee Specialist 3. 6. Strig Warlock - Boon of the Wind changed to Litany of Names on Base. This is prettymuch a nerf for this guy in beast bgs. He's way too expensive ($$$ wise) to be a bg mainstay, but for those that have him he would be a nice option. *All costs calculated with PoxBox ability prices.
