Hi guys, I'm a long time player of Poxnora from way back when Octopi released K'lzik. I've been playing on and off during SOE's debacle of a management. I am glad Desert Owl took over and revamped the game and took away most of the "OP GG" power creep things. I would like to make a similar thread to IMAGIRL's UD Rune Review except with a different spin. I'm not asking you what to vote for, because I'm going to try to suggest what I consider to be underrated and UD runes that are "budget" ... where budget means it is a Common, Uncommon, or Rare. I've always enjoyed a good challenge such as building a BG with only Commons and Uncommons, or playing Highlander, and seeing as how now the powercreep issue has been significantly reduced, there is little to no reason at all to stick to playing only meta runes. The idea is for me to encourage diversity in our UD Bg's by suggesting very solid and viable alternative choices that are Commons, Uncommons, or Rares. Week 1: Goblin Archer My thoughts on this lil guy: He's pretty much the same as a Jakei Shardmaster. The only difference is he is actually easier to ramp up than the ST counterpart. Encouraged is SO STRONG on this guy, and at 68 nora I think he's a total steal. I run two of him in my "meta" bg, and I think he's waaay better than a Pox Harbinger. His multiattack makes him be able to attack twice per turn and he can do more damage if you attack with him last... I've had him hit for 17 damage before, and with two of them out, one ramps the damage for the other. Tons of pew pew, and the only slight problem is his HP. With banner out he has 37 HP, not great, but he's not built to trade hits with enemy ranged, he's there to support your melee champs in chomping through enemy melee units. Play him as far in the back as his range would allow, and he'll do just fine. As for usability I definitely like using him and he's won me lots of games. I think people need to give this guy a try and see some play with him before deeming him unplayable. HE IS A COMMON!! And if you like him, it's easy to get 2 goblin archers and be well on your way to some nice pew pew action.
My rune discussion are more on the topic of design. Instead of naming this UD Budget Review. It should be named Rune Reviews where you look at the rune as a whole. Who knows. I might get ideas from this to start a design discussion on it. A few things to note. You don't run the Harbingers for their ranged dmg. You run them for their Initiative. Being a common makes no difference. The whole Rarity = Power thing is gone for the better part of any discussion on the topic.
I would agree with you that Harbingers have initiative advantage That said, The reason and value for having a Budget Review is that there are newer players and players who don't spend much money in this game who also want to play competitively and this might help them. I know there's no Rarity = Power anymore, which is WHY I chose to do this, to show people that even commons, uncommons, and rares are STRONG nowadays.
