Spells are poorly balanced.

Spells, as a whole, are very weak right now. Across all factions, the spells that are most commonly used are ap gen spells, free attacks, invulnerabilities, and mass heals. Why? Because they scale with champion runes. Spells as an action class, are just really weak.

Now I know that simply buffing all spells to be hyper efficent is bad for the game. Making a spell too cheap causes very low skill games. I get that.

What we ACTUALLY need is more spells that are viable. This is a great change to gameplay, because if spells that are CLEARLY not viable became viable, it actually will benefit ALL viable spells. Why you are asking? Because if factions had more SERIOUS spell options, the threat of being able to change the board state at a whim would leave opponents VULNERABLE in other ways.

FW is really easy to see this in action.

Take ED for example. If you were afraid to commit to a fight because ED was a threat, that you stayed away FW would lose out because they couldn't cast ED. but what if you had to actually be afraid of SERKAN's touch? then your move away might actually be detrimental! What if oblivion hex costed 20, and you potentially just helped your opponent through a nora gain?

this theory is compoounding why otherwise useable spells are actually weak. you see, since so many spells are SO bad (over costed), it makes things like ED, which otherwise would be a decent option, unplayable.

Personally I would like to see spells buffed, and I would like to see this by taking unplayable spells become playable. This would be a great change for the game, at a very low effort / cost.

 

This makes sense. I would just leave it at that if I were you, before you say something to invalidate it.

Why the clickbait titles?

 

Fixed the clickbait title.

 

spells feel trash cuz game is trash. Nothing new here.

 

With some spells, a simple cost change isn't going to make them playable. I wouldn't run a 20 nora Valiant Sacrifice any more than I'd run a 30 nora Valiant Sacrifice. There may be some merit in changing the costs of spells that are on the bare edge of viability, such as Obelus or Holy Light. But some spells are just poorly designed and will never have a place in anyone's deck no matter how cheap they are. I can't think of a single UD player who would run Blood for Mortar, even if it was 10 nora.

It's also worth noting that Adaptive decks are already some of the strongest decks in the game, with FS Adaptive and IS Adaptive being tier 1 for weeks now. Buffing spells might give them even more options to fuel their brainless playstyle, and as someone who doesn't believe Adaptive should exist as a theme at all, I'd be strongly against bringing spells into the meta that would further raise their power level.

 

adaptive IS decks are the only decks IS are top.

Deplot champions, spend nora, try to win = fun

 

i disagree, but it doens't matter as none of my suggestions are added anyways. instead we have a 40 nora bone mine and an 87 fw angel with dread and hunter walker.

 

If you're advocating for making spells that don't deal damage like Serkans touch and oblivion hex more valuable then I'm with you. The cost is a bit off for those since removal is always king in these types of games. Though there are exceptions like murkwater weakness which are appropriately costed.

 

i'm not advocating lowering costs of doom or ED. I am referring to buffing things like oblivion hex, reflesh, serkan's touch, weaken, decay, anathema, etc, which are just too weak to ever consider seriously running. That being said, with the current state of healing, I don't think it's fair to say that removal, under certain circumstances, is too strong in these games. But, I do agree that it is too strong ; currently we have things like hyenid dream crusher that can wipe all arryo rift spirits off the board with one deploy, skeezick trigger for relics, arctic wail (i don't think anyone runs it anymore? was it nerfed?) . Then you have things like Arise, Maxx, Secluded Shrine, sacred shrine, jellibrium, etc etc etc.

Now let me be clear, i am not advocating the buffing of playable, i think it would lead to a worse balance state. I just am pointing out that the balance state is a joke anyways right now, so even if all removal was buffed to absurd levels, it wouldn't be any more absurd than it currently is, as we are at peak absurdity. As for removal, i run more NOW then when IceFang and VO were considered best runes in game. Let that sink in.

Honestly though, nothing good will ever come from the current "balance team", they just have the same problem as @Sokolov had, in that they don't play the game, (seriously sok, you should cave and admit I won that argument at least ) while also having the added detriment of only listening to their little echo chamber. I don't fore see this changing, and i'll probably make a sepearte topic to list out the blatant hypocrisy (but since I really am giving less and less effort into giving my valuable advice, here are some things that bother me :

• Secluded Shrine being 30 nora (but bone mine MUST be 40 nora, even though they can easily give the same HP in value; not that I think that bone mine should have existed at 30, to be clear, I just think that shoe boxing it and skeletons as a whole is just a way to get back at me for supporting trump and being a proud member of the CCP)
• Dark Rising being 55 nora while pygmy hypo stampede being 60. (mind you pygmy stampede is in a faction with adaptives and 6 nora per turn, while DR is a spell that can ONLY be used in FF with SKELETONS (well or consume, but that was never a real thing)
• sacred temple being 20 nora (again, faction has 6 nora per turn flat) while skull of decay nerfed to 25.
• demolisher receiving buffs to have AOE knockback + initiative, while bone slave nerfed to remove init + stun (plenty other examples, but I actually loled at this double standard)
• Being told that FW is better now, because other FW players say she is good (so not apologizing to me for being right, i am still waiting). Seriously that thing is so stupidly bad it's comical.
• making my favorite theme, skeletons unplayable (recieved more nerfs than ANY other theme) a theme with VERY few globals (xulous, graveyard), a theme that is PERFECT for beginners, and a theme that wasn't ever a tier 0 deck (as said by good players, you don't have to take my word for it). Then, buffing things like jellibrum, a theme that is the text book definition of anti-fun, scare new players away, overpowered BS, LOADED with globals (including best global nuke in game), with NO counter play or counter positioning available. Also, buffing things like stitched combo, which more or less is the same thing except less powerful then jelli .
• Murkwater Weakness being 35, while weaken being 30 (because no @wolfleet that rune isn't appropriately costed ) <- and too be fair tho, its not the only one that's out of whack
• Dreamblossom being 20, inhibit power being 30 zzz
• ETC ETC ( could go on for hours, its really easy to see the bias now adays, the liberals don't even try to hide their sick and disgusting agenda anymore)

Lastly, @jazzman if I was in charge of balance, I probably would start buffing spells for factions that can't run adaptive decks (aside from very very bad spells within those factions), only because if a faction is lynch pinning on that, they need to be monitored much more closely. A faction like UD or FW or SL could have minor adjustments to their spells because they don't have a solid way to gain exponential and safe value from those spells. My approach to balance wouldn't be a community based approach, I would balance for good gameplay and try to reward decsion making. In a lot of cases i wouldn't make the drastic changes that have been there for the past 4 months.

 

So let's be clear then: you WOULD run Valiant Sacrifice if it was 20 nora? And you WOULD run Blood for Mortar if it was 10 nora?

 

I don't really play anything but fw, but there isn't a single thing in fw I wouldn't run if it was cheaper that I can think of.

However, if things can only be lowered to 20 minimum cost, i wouldn't run drain the earth or darkweave or black ops. But that's literally it, ~ 3 spells

 

LOL

 

the argument that you never played the game when you were developing it (at least during the later stretch) you said you did, but i never really believed you.