Monday, August 9, 2010

Do we need multiple wands?

Blaze Stormthief (formerly noob on the tube) has a question:
why do you need more than one wand? and why would somebody need a balance wand?

I've gotten through most of the Spiral (in the Drake hatchery now, thanks to your blog) with only one item in each equipment slot for my main, a Death/Myth, i even kept wearing my wizard city robe all through mooshu, and just handed it down to my storm (well, Jacket of Withstanding did have awesome health and a Tower Shield card, and i did get it while a free player on my first try on Nightshade). But i;ve just kept one wand in my bag, my death staff (haven't found that blade yet... Tomugawa, just give me the death blade. Or no cookies.) and done pretty well, somehow using pure luck and awesome friends to get to this point. But i'm just wondering, should i spend my hard earned gold on the different school staves or farm for blades, cuz in my whole run, i haven't see it Death boss cast a life shield.

So, i'm just wondering if that's normal, and all. Thanks for reading that really long paragraph.

The answer is . . . no, there's no reason to collect wands and staves, currently.

I keep a big collection myself though. Why? Well, I keep hoping Kingsisle will do something more with them. I mean, pet collecting seemed pretty lame at one time, but look at it now! It's become HUGE in this game. Not only are they awesome decorations, but they're also full of esoteric talents and unusual possibilities.

Who knows, perhaps in the future we will find a blacksmith in the game that could combine swords and staffs into new items all together. Maybe at some point they'll let us break these items down into more base components. Or perhaps they will become awesome wall decorations. I'd love to fill a wall with different looking weapons!

In PvE you'll usually want to wield a staff or wand that is opposite your school's magic (you know, unless you're a balance player . . . then you'll want to wield a wand that's opposite your secondary OR opposite your friend's primary). In PvP I hear it's good to wield a staff or wand that is the same as your school's magic (to take care of debuffs).

The only reason I could see to wield a balance wand is that it does unresistable damage, but it does so little damage that it's debatable whether it's worth it. And yes, death mobs seem to have forgotten how to cast life shields, but using any class wand in PvE besides death would be a good idea for death peeps. Maybe wield the same wand as your secondary to break shields. /shrug

The other thing to remember about wands, of course, is the +pip and +power pip factor behind them AND the number of cards they add to your deck.

The new Celestia sword is an interesting beast, isn't it?


Notice there's only one card on it. One of the big complaints I hear about swords and wands is that they throw off really short, specialized decks by giving too many cards, yet the extra power pip is so valuable that it's worth it.

Uber wife had an interesting suggestion as I was typing about wands here. Bailey's idea was, why can't KI offer customized sword/wand builds in the crown shop? Imagine this, the ability to choose a look of a sword, the type of damage it deals, the power pip percentage, and the number of cards it will give you. After you make your selection, it calculates a price, and boom . . . custom wand, just for you. I like the way she's thinkin'!

However you do it though, you really don't need a backpack full of wands. Some people just like collecting them for fun and . . . you know . . . that gigantic awesome blade might just go well with some particular shoes and robe . . . FASHION JUNKIES!

Happy Dueling!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like this sword. I like to run a really tight, small deck as a Balance Wiz. I often debate with myself is I should use a wand or not. 5 wand cards is a ton when you run a 3-6 card deck. I love the idea. Now I can have my Ppip in round one and not have to discard so much!

Kevin BattleBlood said...

In agreement with the first Anonymous, this Celestian sword allows consistency with tiny decks like full blade/AOEs, or Coven Rushes. I admit I was disappointed and put off by the small number of hits from this Sword (PVP mindset), but saw its usefulness in PVE.

Alia Ghostweaver said...

First time poster, so ... Hi everyone :)

Secondly, I must admit that I prefer carrying a wand that is the same school, not the oposite. Now, I understand the argument for carrying a wand of the opposite school(you won't take off traps and blades), but I think the possibility of removing shields is better. Getting rid of that pesky school-specifik shield is worth it IMHO. Granted, it does take some timing, and at times you have to live with a weakness or two.

Am I missing something here? Something I am not seeing? (And yes, I have taken more than one character to Grandmaster, so I have played through most everything in the game except Briskbreeze and the warehouse)

Blaze Deathcaster said...

I think part of Blaze's question comes from his being a necromancer. Since only life opponents typically put up death shields in PvE, you really don't worry as much about shield breaking and any school's wand will do. When I moved from death to storm, I was surprised how often opponents put up storm shields, typically myth AND balance so I started carrying a storm wand against. (Yes, I know balance can put up spirit shields but it's less common.) I also started carrying a myth sword when facing storm opponents to break any myth shields that might block my storm prism. So I think when Blaze tries another school, he may get a different perspective on this. And of course, that's the fun of trying more than one school.

As for the balance wands, I'm a big fan. I like the animation for them, especially in the mid-levels, plus it lessens the chance I'll blow up one of my friends' traps.


Blaze Deathcaster (Death level 50)
Blaze Windrunner (Storm level 50)
Blaze Shadowblade (Balance level 22)

Sierra Starsong said...

I usually carry a level-appropriate wand of my wizard's opposite school, both for getting rid of the occasional Weakness (though I usually ignore those) and as a shield breaker under a prism. My storm wiz, for instance, carries a Myth wand so if a Storm boss gets a Myth shield up before my Storm prism goes on, I can use the wand to get rid of that shield and leave the prism & my other blades & traps intact.

My balance wizard does carry a balance wand (since balance doesn't have an opposite) but it's for the extra power pip, I usually end up discarding all her wand strikes. The one-card sword would be a good one for her to carry if I could get it as a drop somewhere but it's not worth Crowns to me.

The Strong Sorcerer said...

I've also said to my friends that there should be wand stitching wands and wand decorations like wall hangings or weapon racks. I hope they add this to the game so then I can have the stats of my insightful spyglass and my sword of the steward appearence.