Dude you make the best board game play throughs on RUclips. You really bring the play experience to life and keep it entertaining all the way through. Wish RUclips would remember to put these near the top of my recommendations when they come out!
Thanks for the kind words, friend! Hope to hop back to another video or two soon (work ramped up quite a but recently, but I'll certainly be back!!). What have you been playing lately :)?
@@fiveofclubs5043 loads of Oathsworn - up to chapter 10 now and it's living up to the hype. It has completely killed gloomhaven (combat feels very similar) for me but that's probably for the best - sold it off so I have a bit of space for AT:O when it arrives. Hope work calms down for you soon and you get abit of time free for some more games
Thanks for sharing! Love your play and commentary. One thought, if the mini's aren't worth the price tabletop RPG/mini painter folk play split a pledge. You get the game they get the minis kind of thing. That being said, the spread of games you mentioned at the beginning either on the shelf or on the way is very fulsome haha
Thanks for sharing that idea! I'll certainly give that option due consideration in the second episode when I'm generating final thoughts :)! Hope to be back with Ep. 2 soon :D!
You should try the second monster with the equipment that's slightly more complex, it makes the first dragon pale in comparison! Also be aware that the game has changed quite a bit since the TTS demo, I actually wish they would update it! Most importantly all hunters got differentiated even more from each other, the monster's HP is handled differently, all the characters also got a proper upgrade tree and each element has a special mechanic attached to it from what I understood. And finally I think the monsters have multiple decks in the final game? Either way, I believe that "knowing" the behaviour cards after killing the monster a few times might actually change future fights from a new discovery to a proper puzzle instead of simply getting boring; because the behaviours in play will be different, and you won't have the same cards/characters most likely so you'll have to interact with the monster in a different way. Add to that all of the monster specific mechanics that might interact with all that! It might be wishful thinking, but I think it will be okay :)
I remember the Devs mentioning an intention to update the TTS Mod to some degree once some rules updates and other changes were finalized, but without a specific ETA. Maybe if we're really lucky we'll even get the basic equipment and at least one element (like the current TTS Demo) to play around with for Karah and Heleren.
Thank you both for sharing that info! I'll definitely be taking on the second monster for sure :)! Interesting notes about the changes! Are those covered in the KS updates somewhere? Sounds really neat!
As a fan of boss battlers myself, I would love a video where you talk about your favourite boss battlers, or even rank them, comparing or scoring different aspects like boss uniqueness, gear and equipment, difficulty, etc. Have you had a chance to play Oathsworn? It's quite the hotness right now, and getting stellar reviews. 9.3 on BGG!
I certainly have :)! We're on the battle for chapter 3 right now - it's a very interesting and unique game! Have you had a chance to try Oathsworn yet? That's also an interesting idea for a video! Perhaps I'll give it a go - though I might want to wait 'til AT:O is here so I can include it in the rankings! Do you have a hands-down favorite boss-battler? Thanks!
@@fiveofclubs5043 That's a good idea, I'd love to see a video breakdown once you tried Aeon's Trespass as well! My hands down favourite is Kingdom Death Monster. I'm a sucker for the game and its unique theme. No other game for me managed to come close! ButbI must admit Oathsworn is truly unique as you mentioned as well. My wife actually said she prefers it over KDM, and I can totally see why. We've only done chapter 1... we decided we want to paint the characters and terrain first! But we can't wait to get back into it... I would like to still play Primal, Townsfolk Tussle and Aeons Trespass. But I agree with your concerns on Primal. The static board takes away alot of the tactical feel other games in the genre have.
@@kobusbrits3523 Awesome! Yes, I agree that KD:M is also my favorite, so it'd likely be at the top of my personal list! The rogue-like gameplay, the insane world, and the epic battles are all fantastic! I'm definitely curious to see how AT:O stacks up by comparison :) Good luck painting those mini's for Oathsworn! Which characters are you playing in that game? Townsfolk Tussle is a neat game for sure, my wife prefers it due to it being less R-rated and having a shorter playtime, and I can certainly see the benefits of that. I'll be uploading Episode 2 of my Primal series later today - curious to hear if it changes your mind of solidifies your stance on the game! It was a tough cookie to evaluate for sure, but I definitely think the extra terrain and gear effects helped me see the "bigger picture" the game is going for. Thanks for watching and commenting :D!
@@fiveofclubs5043 Anytime. I appreciate you taking the time to not only upload gameplay of my favourite genre of games, but also reply on everyone's comments :) And I love the memes you put in your videos. Makes it entertaining to watch! I watched all of your Aeon Trespass vids. Will check out Primal as well :) Oh, regarding Oathsworn, we want to do Chapter 2 with the Witch, Penitent, Priest and Exile. One full character and one companion each. How about you guys? Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the full Aeon Traspass once it arrives. One guy on BGG got it early and it looks amazing! Cheers
@@kobusbrits3523 Indeed! I'm veeeeeery jealous of Kev Lar's early copy of AT:O, but that user definitely deserves it :D! I try my best to respond to as many comments as I can. With a community of this size, it's still manageable to do so, and y'all are great :)!! Plus, it's on my favorite topic! My wife is playing the Warbear and the Archer, and I'm playing the Warden and the Penitent. I was playing the Priest at the start of the campaign, but.. something might have happened to him that rendered him unplayable now, hehehe. The Witch seems like a very interesting character, so I'll certainly give her a go before the end of the campaign for sure. We're playing 4 full characters, so battles can take a little while! I love the fact you can use cards, dice, or both - and how generous the game is with battle buff tokens. Even with the AI revealed each turn, you still wont always have what you need to outright neuter it! Really curious to see where the story takes us! Do you use the app for narration and story navigation? Just a few more minutes til Episode 2 is done...YT upload is going a bit slow this evening!
Thanks, excellent video. I backed this but with so many games coming I wanted to cancel this; and they wouldn’t refund even with late pledges still open, which is ridiculous…. It’s not bad! But got enough games already, I might resell it. Really looking forward your next playthrough and thoughts on the game. Thanks!
Thanks! Glad you liked it :), hoping to get another one or two in production sometime soon (I'm thinking Monster Hunter: World and Kingdoms Forlorn). Definitely looking forward to Primal's impending release!! Thanks again! Hope you enjoy Episode 2 :)
Great playthrought. I also did Vyraxen on TTS and that convinced me to instantly go late pledge all-in. Respect for paying attention to the rules and explaining them on the fly when they are needed. Regarding the rules 31:30 I believe "Reaction" keyword can only be used outside your turn ("can be triggered out of your turn beign played as a response to a specific situation"). Are you planning to do more Primal videos?
Yup! Working on Ep. 2 right now, actually :)! I missed a few rules, but got some great tips from another commenter on here, so the next one should hopefully go more smoothly. The new gear abilities look amazing!
Also - I had one thought about the Reaction rules. The Reaction text is indeed a bit vague as to whether its use of "can be triggered out of your turn being played as a response to a specific situation" is meant to mean "can only". When I look at a few other card examples of Reactions in the game, I'm led to think the use of "can be triggered out of your turn" here is meant to imply that its out-of-turn utility is a possibility not usually allowed for other card effects, not that you "can only" use its effect out-of-turn. If Reactions can only be triggered outside of your turn, the Reaction keyword on Wound cards in your deck would make them act a bit funny (From the rule book regarding Wounds - "when you draw a Wound card from your deck you immediately have to discard it (following its Reaction ability text)". Also, Dareon's Shield Gear item ability in the second battle wouldn't be very useful if he could only use it to defend attacks outside of his turn. Perhaps someone with more experience than me can help clear up this distinction!
This is a bit of a long one, but I'll just point out a few foibles, ignoring the ones you caught after the fact: (You already caught it, but Stun Damage missed = 2, 2, 1, 1 = 6 Missed damage from Thoreg's Massive Blow Mastery when playing a Maneuver card = 3) Round 2: Mirah: Should have triggered Volley after Heavy Shot, which would have been before the Behavior triggered. Per your drawn cards at the end of the Turn lacking Attack cards, it wouldn't have dealt any damage, but it would have cycled your deck further. When the End-of-Round Behavior Card "Assault" triggered, it would have paid 1 Struggle for the increased effect, bringing the Vyraxen down to 7 Struggle, thus not actually reaching 10 and Unleashing as you did at the start of Round 3 when you added 2 more Struggle. Also, Unleash triggers when you would go beyond 10, not when you reach 10. "When the Monster would gain Struggle tokens, but it already has 10 or more, the Unleash ability is triggered." Round 3: Mirah "I really probably shouldn't have resolved Volley 2," unfortunately doesn't apply, as it's not optional. The Weapon's Volley 2 trait is automatically triggered when playing an Attack card. The same is true for the Burst Mastery automatically triggering Volley, as well. Of course, it doesn't matter, since you got lucky, regardless. Round 4: Thoreg: Not just missing the weapon damage and Struggle token removal for playing Concussion, as you yourself acknowledged, but also your Weapon passive to remove 1 additional Struggle token for playing a Maneuver card from the Front sector of the Monster. Note: You fully resolve a card, and any related triggers, including the Stun on your Massive Blow Mastery due to playing Heavy Smash after Concussion, before any Behavior cards are turned over. This is from page 34 of the Prototype Rule Book. As far as triggers are concerned, technically the Simultaneous Triggers rule from page 28, states that, when applicable , the active character can choose the timing of all triggers related to the attack. An example of this might be choosing to apply Vulnerable due to meeting the trigger requirements, before applying the damage caused by the played card. If you really wanted to push it, page 25 says "When you play a card in your Sequence you apply the ability text of that card. Then, also resolve a specific effect depending on the card type." This could be interpreted as reading that the ability text, and any related triggers, including triggering a Stun via the Mastery card, would in order be applied before the damage that came from playing an Attack card. The only thing that might interrupt this, per page 26, would be dealing damage (all bonuses will at least add together first) that transitions the Monster to the next Stance, and triggering any appropriate "When Revealed" effects related to that, prior to resuming the turn. I admit the timing of that is not entirely clear as written. For what it's worth, you could have (possibly should have, see above) Stunned first, done 2 damage from Mirah's one Attack card, then followed up with your actual Attack's damage. I believe page 34 also might suggest immediately replacing the Behavior after resolving it, but I believe the devs have confirmed the intent is to turn all applicable cards face up one by one and resolve them, before discarding any of them. That way it's clear that only up to 3 Behaviors can trigger from a single card, barring something that might tell you to draw and trigger an additional Behavior card, or something, but that's a special case. And, of course, the Monster would turn towards Thoreg before Mirah's turn, not that it would have changed anything in this case. Round 5: Thoreg: As mentioned above, Vulnerable could have applied before the 5 damage, resulting in 10 damage dealt. Or more accurately, a dead Monster, due to the 9 missed damage so far. Then again, due to a couple of other timing matters, it's possible you may have played different cards earlier, so who really knows? He would have lived, alas. Technically, Thoreg would have drawn the 2 for Atrition, then shuffled and dealt a second card, due to being Threatened, but that wouldn't have changed him taking the Attrition and getting KO'd, regardless. The Prototype Rule Book doesn't have anything in the Aggro token or player KO sections regarding passing on the token aside from playing Aggro cards... but I do agree that logically it should pass to the next player in clockwise order (as that's the standard turn sequence), if nothing else. Rules As Written, though, if your other Hunter(s) can actually go without playing an Aggro card until the KO'd Hunter with the Aggro token stands back up, then they won't gain the Aggro token. Mirah: Again, Volley is not an option, but I mentioned that before. Alas! You missed the +1 Experience reward for completing the encounter within 4 rounds. You would have gained the Story Achievement (not sure what it does) "Scarred by Fire" for having a character KO'd, though. You also would have gained +1 Experience for completing the "Let's Hit the Tail!" objective. Of course, the leveling system has completely changed to a Milestone system, rather than Experience based, so after-encounter rewards will change, too. ----- Anyway, while I do strongly recommend trying it out with the more advanced elemental equipment, keep a few things in mind. 1. Mirah and Thoreg have 2 elements worth of equipment, Dareon has 3, and Ljonar has 1. You only get access to an Elemental Forge after defeating an enemy, so keep that in mind. You also don't get more resources off the Vyraxen in the Prototype rewards than it takes to craft more than 1 piece of equipment per character. Side Quests can potentially give resources, as well, but I don't really have information about that. So, really, each of these characters would be a minimum of 2 successful fights in, if not more, to be as equipped as they are. If they're on their fourth fight, then they would likely be fighting a Tier 2 Toramat, which would be at least Challenge rating 4, rather than 1. Changing the stats, and modifying the Behavior deck. 2. You're probably already planning this, but you should probably play Dareon and Ljonar, to try something different. The TTS mod only adds 1 or 2 new Level 2 card to the 'advanced' decks (Mirah and Ljonar have 2 Level 2 cards, while Dareon and Thoreg each have 1), so Mirah and Thoreg's decks will be different, and Mirah has a different Mastery, but not significantly so. Their new equipment would likely change your playstyle, though. 3. Also, if you're playing with the Prototype rules for Elemental Strengths and Weaknesses, Mirah's bow will deal +1 weapon damage, and absolutely shred the Toramat. Then again, the Fire Helmet on Dareon and Thoreg would cause either of them to take +1 damage from every Horn-type Behavior of the Toramat. Which is several of them, but not all. The Elemental resistances may have changed significantly in how they work with the updated rules, though. Be aware the TTS fight for Toramat might be easier than you expect because of the above. p.s. Try to use Assist more, particularly Quick Assist, which Mirah and Ljonar's decks both have, which allows the person Assisting to also draw a card, replacing the discarded card. Spending a card you care about less, to give the other player an additional card on their turn can be clutch. Oh, and you can still Assist while in a sector with Fire, in case you were curious, as discarding a card doesn't count as playing it, which only counts playing cards into a Sequence. p.p.s. As I said in another comment below, the Devs did state they intended to update the TTS mod to match the updated rules, once they are ready to do so. If we're lucky, they will also provide some other sample fights. If we're really lucky, they might even let us try out Karah and Heleren's basic decks, and an advanced card or two. I'm really looking forward to Karah's combo-heavy playstyle. p.p.p.s. Yes, I have played the TTS Mod Demo over half a dozen times (multiple times with each fight, and at different player counts, mostly 2, but 3 and 4 once each, with different people).
Wowzers! Thanks for the detailed comment here - it definitely has some super helpful tips and clarifications that will improve my gameplay going forward (assuming I remember them, hahaha), so I really appreciate you taking the time to compile them! I'm glad you were able to clear up whether or not I got to resolve all my "helpful" triggers on other cards before resolving monster reactions - I did think it was a little silly that I'd resolve the card itself, then the enemy card, then the other triggers like Volley and/or Thoreg's damage/stun from his Mastery (especially since Stunning may have helped ward off reactions here and there). Also, thanks for clarifying that effects like Volley and so on are mandatory unless otherwise stated on the cards - that's very good to know! That note about Unleash happening after it adds tokens when it has 10 or more is a great catch - same with being able to determine the order in which Vulnerable is applied! Those tips will help a TON!! Interesting notes about the Experience points and campaign structure! I hadn't read much in the Campaign rules yet since this was an intro scenario - I'm guessing that information is covered in the Campaign rulebook? As far as this TTS demo appears, it doesn't look like it currently accommodates campaign play (or if it does, I don't see the campaign sheets, monster material cards, or crafting tables). I'm also really interested in what you said regarding the changes referenced in Elzheiz's comment below - do you know what kind of changes to monster HP, characters, and/or element mechanics have been made? Thank you VERY much for these great tips! They'll certainly help me in the next fight for sure :)! For some reason, my Ljonar cards keep loading in bugged/warped and I can't figure out why. I've tried de-selecting Mod Caching to load fresh assets, and they still come in funky. As such, I was thinking it might be neat to sorta go half-and-half, meaning keep Mirah (to compare a familiar character with gear to how she operated in the prologue) and add Dareon (for a full new character). This also affords me some level of continuity since Thoreg was KO'ed in the last battle, hehe. Do you have any tips for trying to get Ljonar's deck to load in right? It's weird that it's the only deck in the mod that's bugged this way. Thanks again, friend!
@@fiveofclubs5043 I'm glad I could provide some helpful clarification. My only real recommendation for fixing Ljonar's cards is to uninstall and reinstall the TTS Mod. The Prototype Rule Book link also has the Prototype Campaign Rules as a separate pdf from the Learn To Play. That being said, with some of the changes, I expect some semi-significant adjustments. Experience in particular, as I mentioned, will be changing to a Milestone system, rather than incremental, with players selecting unlock packages that are thematically linked. Update #29 shows a sample of what Dareon's level up tree might look like. Five branching paths, with each path having two nodes, granting two cards for the deck. The outer node additionally granting a new Mastery thematically linked to the cards in the two nodes leading to it. While they didn't say how many upgrade picks one might get in a single campaign run, I'm estimating no less than 4 and no more than 6. 4 lets you unlock 2 additional Masteries, if you want, which sounds (to me) like a good minimum number, and 6 means that, at most, you can only unlock 60% of what's available. Still leaving some mystery for another run. For what it's worth, regardless of the number of unlocks, you still have the choice between going shallow or deep in your selections. You can only equip a single Mastery at a time after all, and if you already have the one you want to build around, then you don't ~really~ need to get more. Some versatility of choice wouldn't hurt, though, depending on your semi-random Monster opponents, so that's up to you. Of course, any combination can lead to wildly different deck setups, particularly when one factors the access to different Elemental Forge equipment based on the semi-random (I believe I remember reading you will pick between at least 2 to 3 choices for every encounter) Monster selections over the course of a campaign... ----- Anyway, to summarize: (And yes, this ~is~ a summary. Read the Updates for more information) Update #29 shows: -- the significant change to Monster Wound tracking. All Monsters have 10 Wounds, but each Stance will now show the scaling Damage-per-Hunter required to advance the Wound Track, and how many Wounds it takes to advance to the next Stance. Mostly, it's to prevent the need to potentially track as many damage tokens per Stance compared to the Prototype. Particularly for later stage Monsters in the game which will almost certainly have significantly more health. -- the aforementioned adjustments to character advancement. Rather than specific cards unlocking based on level. This may also allow them to keep the balance more tight, rather than the concept that later-unlocked cards should possibly by necessity be more powerful. -- a greater emphasis on unique Keywords/Mechanics per Hunter: (As you'll see by the examples below from the update, the keywords are not necessarily truly unique, but rather something special for the Hunter, and also not an exhaustive list of the Hunter's keywords.) Dareon: - Berserk: "Everytime you deal damage, you may reveal a card with the Berserk keyword from your hand to draw 1." I imagine the Berserk keyword is primarily limited to Attack cards already, which is an inherent limitation, but it is a source of a card draw engine, of sorts. Particularly if you can arrange for non-Attack sources of damage output while holding Berserk cards. As they point out, though, card draw also leads to deck cycling, which leads to self-damaging. - Resilience: "Everytime you suffer damage you may reveal a card with the Resilience keyword from your hand to draw 1." Basically the defensive version of Berserk. I'm half-surprised they didn't just call it "Enrage" or "Fury", or something similar. This may be more likely to cycle into multiple draws a turn than Berserk, and is certainly more likely to lead to card draw outside of your turn. You will have to choose wisely about discarding or playing Resilience cards, such that they're no longer in your hand. Mirah: - Volley: More synergy around the mechanic. I'll admit that while I really liked Mirah, Volley wasn't the reason why (Stealth and Blind were what I liked more, as they thematically emphasized her long range and precision). Well, gaining value from discarded Attack Cards is nice, and the Burst Mastery can do a lot of free damage, but the deck-cycling exertion/self-harm playstyle seemed a bit odd for an Archer. Still, I won't deny that Mirah was almost consistently my highest damage dealer in my multiple plays. I even had her deal upwards of 50~60 in a single round once against the TTS Toramat, thanks to a combination of her Coral Elemental weapon, seemingly perfect card draw RNG, and the Vulnerable from her Crystal Spear. - Blind: More synergy around the mechanic. As mentioned, this is one I liked, but I also tend to appreciate unique control mechanics more so than overwhelming raw damage. Thoreg: - Stun: Nothing really new here.They just extolled the virtues of it. Although, Ljonar also has some Stuns for offensive support, they are less common. - Confuse: Rotate a monster to a direction of your choice, and negate the effects of Struggle-Boosts on Behavior cards for the round, but the Monster still spends the Struggle for the Boost. Contrary to what I just said with Mirah, I do have some reservations about what ~too much~ in the way of control mechanics might look like, but this doesn't actually stop Behaviors, just lessens their potential. - Impetus: Not actually discussed, but you can see the keyword on some of the shown cards, as a form of momentum-based deck mechanic. Ljonar: - Taunt: Functions like Assist in that it provides card draw, but it also rotates the Monster to face the user. I can see that it's actually replaced the Assist keyword on Rapid Dash. - Retaliate: Fairly standard, but essentially, "When taking damage, you may reveal [Cards] and deal damage (probably Weapon damage) to the Monster." - Resilience and Confuse: Can also be seen on a couple of the shown cards for Ljonar. Resilience makes complete sense to be common on a Shield user, but I've already expressed my reservations about too many control mechanics, which Taunt also exacerbates. Then again, focusing on control mechanics tends to draw out fights rather than finish them quickly, and for some Primordials, that's exactly what they want you to do. Update #33 (I'll get to #31 and #32 momentarily) shows Karah (Dual Blades) and Heleren (Heavy Gun): Heleren: - Bullet Track: 3 Bullet slots, which can be spent in various ways on cards to boost their effects, and are only Reloaded by playing cards with the Reload keyword. - While a primarily offensively focused character, she does have some useful defensive cards to protect herself and allies... but wow, the damage she can put out based upon the shown cards. Keep in mind the weapons shown are all Level 3, though. Which might also tell you something of what the enemies might be like, too. Karah: - Battle Dance Track: Deal 2x/4x/6x Weapon Level bonus damage after playing 2/4/6 Offensive (Attack and Maneuver, not just Attack) cards in your sequence. - Chain: "A card with the keyword Chain [Color] can be played for free (no stamina cost) if it is played after a card of that matches [Color]." - Multiple cards with "Your sequence limit this turn is increased by 1." Notably, Karah does not get many +damage effects on her cards, mostly gaining it through her Battle Dance, instead. So she has to figure out how to properly play enough cards without triggering Monster Behaviors which might prevent further Attacks and Maneuvers for her Battle Dance. - Overrun: Cards with Overrun allow you to jump to the opposite side of the Monster, and will also count as a move for the purpose of removing the Threatened status. There are also several effects which can trigger off of using Overrun, as well. - I thought I would love Karah's mechanics just on her visual theme, and this update proved it to me. High mobility, precision combo characters are typically my favorite, and she exemplifies this style wonderfully.
Update #31 shows some of their thought process around different elemental themes: (Note that each Monster sharing an elemental theme will interact differently within the various effects, and have their own unique traits beyond those listed below, as well.) Fire: Monsters: might thematically burn through your deck by forcing discards, causing deck-cycling damage, and inhibiting your ability to draw the cards you want. Hunter Equipment: includes self damage for bonus effects (usually bonuses when playing Attacks), and discarding cards from your deck for bonuses. Coral: (Water) Monsters: control the amount of cards players can have in their sequence (the Water terrain effect in particular does this, and can stack), and can advance the round turn tracker, accelerating their victory. Also regeneration/self-healing. Hunter Equipment: Healing, and cycling cards from your discard back into your deck, extending your deck's length before a deck cycle. Horn: Monsters: can potentially become immune to status effects, and ignore overflow damage dealt against their toughness rating (i.e. the new Wound system, and excess damage beyond the current Wound would be ignored). This is tied to a new Harden mechanic, that can go up and down based upon certain interactions. Hunter Equipment: manipulates Stamina economy. Crystal: (Prismatic) Monsters: can force players to reveal the top card of their deck, and use them to then trigger other effects based upon the revealed card's color. This can then combo to enhance and/or trigger other Behaviors. Hunter Equipment: also interacts with revealing the top of your deck, and card color based triggered effects. Thunder: (Lightning) Monsters: control players hands through forced discard and recycle effects, and to represent the unpredictability of storms, can have random discard and targeting, rather than specific cards or targets. They also have Charge counters to track building up energy for a big attack, albeit with different mechanics for generating said counters. Hunter Equipment: can have counters for building up damage, and even built in access to Stun. Metal: Monsters: can have damage reduction (against all hits, rather than only against overflow, per the Horn Monsters), and can even 'Blank' out all effects on Action Cards, preventing additional effects. They also interact more so than most monsters with special Attrition mechanics. Hunter Equipment: interacts with the Attrition mechanic, and can reduce damage taken from Monsters. Update #32 continued with the Expansion elements: Feather: Monsters: have a high amount of reactions that can trigger mid-sequence (including "on discard"), and positioning and timing will also be key. Control mechanics are strongly recommended. Like the colorful nature of feathered creatures, they can also interact with color combos, albeit differently from how Crystal was doing so, earlier. Such as bonus effects for different colors of Behaviors in play. Hunter Equipment: a lot of positioning and card color related effects. Frost: (Ice) Monsters: can exile cards from a Hunter's deck via Frostbite, but to quote the update, there will be some "opportunity to "warm up" through specific actions (that cost resources and require tough decisions) that allow to regain the exiled cards during the game." I believe the Mamuraak is also notable for being a slow, but powerful enemy, with a lot of End-of-Round Behaviors. Hunter Equipment: interact with Struggle, particularly by the Slow condition (reduces the per-round Struggle gained by 1), and the armor can even recover OR exile cards from your deck or discard pile. Venom: Monsters: add special Poison Wound cards to your decks, which can only be discarded to pay for 1 Stamina, but deal damage based upon the Monster's level when doing so. They also have Behaviors which scale off of the number of Poison cards the target has. Oh, and if you're in a sector with Swamp terrain, it increases the cost of playing Defensive (Dodge/Parry) cards by 1 Stamina. So, yeah, they clog your deck, and make it harder to defense against their Attrition damage by playing Defense cards. Hunter Equipment: can provide effects such as dealing bonus damage based on cards in your Discard pile, and interact with Wounding the Monsters. So, yeah. That's, uh, about it.
@@Fenraellis Woah - thanks for all this excellent information! I'll definitely make a mention of this information when I go over my final thoughts about the game, as these changes sound like interesting boosts to the game's complexity for anyone thinking the game is a bit lean on depth. I appreciate your time in sharing this and will credit you accordingly in the episode :)!
@@Fenraellis Thanks for the tip about reinstalling the mod - I'll give it a shot when I get home to see if it works. Presumably, it loads in correctly for you? If that doesn't work, do you suppose it's possible that your TTS mod may have been cached a while ago when the asset was working properly and the current assets link is the issue? Maybe we'll get lucky with their next TTS update (whenever it comes) and I'll get fresh assets anyway, haha! Also, as referenced earlier, I'll definitely touch on these items when I'm sharing my final thoughts on the game! These are some interesting changes to be sure, so I agree it would be nice to have them updated in the TTS mod! Might be a good excuse to get another episode or two for the channel as well, especially if we get a new monster to fight :)! Seriously - thanks a TON for compiling all this info for me! I hope it didn't take too long to string it all together, I certainly wasn't expecting you to spend too long on that, but the efforts are appreciated :D! Thanks again, friend!
Thanks, friend! What do you think about the game so far? Does it seem like your kind of game? Or did you have similar reservations about it like we did? Hopefully the next episode will show the game "in full swing" so I can make a final determination for my group, but how about you :)?
@@fiveofclubs5043 I'm iffy on the lack of boss movement as well. It feels more like a card based game than a boss battler. I didnt get I on KS because of this. Instead I got KDM, AT:O and Oathsworn. I also have Wild Assent and stormsunder coming in. Would love to see those.
@@jonathanshea4072 Hehe, well at least it makes for a decent show :)! I'm working through my own final thoughts on the game after the second battle playthrough (hope to post later this week!), as it most certainly would have been a fantastic and respectable card game, if it didn't have a board game's price tag ;P! The second battle is most definitely a few degrees higher on the complexity scale, and it makes me optimistic about the potential depth and strategy involved in standard combat encounters. Thanks as always for watching and commenting, friend :)! PS: Ohhh, Wild Assent, I've got that one. I sometimes forget it exists, admittedly! I wonder if there's a TTS mod for it... If so, it may or may not be end up on the channel soon ;D!
Dude you make the best board game play throughs on RUclips. You really bring the play experience to life and keep it entertaining all the way through. Wish RUclips would remember to put these near the top of my recommendations when they come out!
Thanks for the kind words, friend! Hope to hop back to another video or two soon (work ramped up quite a but recently, but I'll certainly be back!!). What have you been playing lately :)?
@@fiveofclubs5043 loads of Oathsworn - up to chapter 10 now and it's living up to the hype. It has completely killed gloomhaven (combat feels very similar) for me but that's probably for the best - sold it off so I have a bit of space for AT:O when it arrives.
Hope work calms down for you soon and you get abit of time free for some more games
Thanks for sharing! Love your play and commentary. One thought, if the mini's aren't worth the price tabletop RPG/mini painter folk play split a pledge. You get the game they get the minis kind of thing. That being said, the spread of games you mentioned at the beginning either on the shelf or on the way is very fulsome haha
Thanks for sharing that idea! I'll certainly give that option due consideration in the second episode when I'm generating final thoughts :)!
Hope to be back with Ep. 2 soon :D!
You should try the second monster with the equipment that's slightly more complex, it makes the first dragon pale in comparison!
Also be aware that the game has changed quite a bit since the TTS demo, I actually wish they would update it! Most importantly all hunters got differentiated even more from each other, the monster's HP is handled differently, all the characters also got a proper upgrade tree and each element has a special mechanic attached to it from what I understood.
And finally I think the monsters have multiple decks in the final game? Either way, I believe that "knowing" the behaviour cards after killing the monster a few times might actually change future fights from a new discovery to a proper puzzle instead of simply getting boring; because the behaviours in play will be different, and you won't have the same cards/characters most likely so you'll have to interact with the monster in a different way. Add to that all of the monster specific mechanics that might interact with all that!
It might be wishful thinking, but I think it will be okay :)
I remember the Devs mentioning an intention to update the TTS Mod to some degree once some rules updates and other changes were finalized, but without a specific ETA. Maybe if we're really lucky we'll even get the basic equipment and at least one element (like the current TTS Demo) to play around with for Karah and Heleren.
Thank you both for sharing that info! I'll definitely be taking on the second monster for sure :)!
Interesting notes about the changes! Are those covered in the KS updates somewhere? Sounds really neat!
As a fan of boss battlers myself, I would love a video where you talk about your favourite boss battlers, or even rank them, comparing or scoring different aspects like boss uniqueness, gear and equipment, difficulty, etc.
Have you had a chance to play Oathsworn? It's quite the hotness right now, and getting stellar reviews. 9.3 on BGG!
I certainly have :)! We're on the battle for chapter 3 right now - it's a very interesting and unique game! Have you had a chance to try Oathsworn yet?
That's also an interesting idea for a video! Perhaps I'll give it a go - though I might want to wait 'til AT:O is here so I can include it in the rankings! Do you have a hands-down favorite boss-battler?
Thanks!
@@fiveofclubs5043 That's a good idea, I'd love to see a video breakdown once you tried Aeon's Trespass as well!
My hands down favourite is Kingdom Death Monster. I'm a sucker for the game and its unique theme. No other game for me managed to come close! ButbI must admit Oathsworn is truly unique as you mentioned as well. My wife actually said she prefers it over KDM, and I can totally see why.
We've only done chapter 1... we decided we want to paint the characters and terrain first! But we can't wait to get back into it...
I would like to still play Primal, Townsfolk Tussle and Aeons Trespass. But I agree with your concerns on Primal. The static board takes away alot of the tactical feel other games in the genre have.
@@kobusbrits3523 Awesome! Yes, I agree that KD:M is also my favorite, so it'd likely be at the top of my personal list! The rogue-like gameplay, the insane world, and the epic battles are all fantastic! I'm definitely curious to see how AT:O stacks up by comparison :)
Good luck painting those mini's for Oathsworn! Which characters are you playing in that game? Townsfolk Tussle is a neat game for sure, my wife prefers it due to it being less R-rated and having a shorter playtime, and I can certainly see the benefits of that.
I'll be uploading Episode 2 of my Primal series later today - curious to hear if it changes your mind of solidifies your stance on the game! It was a tough cookie to evaluate for sure, but I definitely think the extra terrain and gear effects helped me see the "bigger picture" the game is going for.
Thanks for watching and commenting :D!
@@fiveofclubs5043 Anytime. I appreciate you taking the time to not only upload gameplay of my favourite genre of games, but also reply on everyone's comments :) And I love the memes you put in your videos. Makes it entertaining to watch! I watched all of your Aeon Trespass vids. Will check out Primal as well :)
Oh, regarding Oathsworn, we want to do Chapter 2 with the Witch, Penitent, Priest and Exile. One full character and one companion each. How about you guys?
Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the full Aeon Traspass once it arrives. One guy on BGG got it early and it looks amazing!
Cheers
@@kobusbrits3523 Indeed! I'm veeeeeery jealous of Kev Lar's early copy of AT:O, but that user definitely deserves it :D!
I try my best to respond to as many comments as I can. With a community of this size, it's still manageable to do so, and y'all are great :)!! Plus, it's on my favorite topic!
My wife is playing the Warbear and the Archer, and I'm playing the Warden and the Penitent. I was playing the Priest at the start of the campaign, but.. something might have happened to him that rendered him unplayable now, hehehe. The Witch seems like a very interesting character, so I'll certainly give her a go before the end of the campaign for sure. We're playing 4 full characters, so battles can take a little while! I love the fact you can use cards, dice, or both - and how generous the game is with battle buff tokens. Even with the AI revealed each turn, you still wont always have what you need to outright neuter it! Really curious to see where the story takes us! Do you use the app for narration and story navigation?
Just a few more minutes til Episode 2 is done...YT upload is going a bit slow this evening!
Thanks, excellent video. I backed this but with so many games coming I wanted to cancel this; and they wouldn’t refund even with late pledges still open, which is ridiculous…. It’s not bad! But got enough games already, I might resell it.
Really looking forward your next playthrough and thoughts on the game. Thanks!
Ah, I'm surprised to hear that! Not sure why they wouldn't honor a refund like that - but I'm sure you can indeed resell it.
Thanks for watching!
Awesome Video. You got my sub.
Thanks! Glad you liked it :), hoping to get another one or two in production sometime soon (I'm thinking Monster Hunter: World and Kingdoms Forlorn). Definitely looking forward to Primal's impending release!!
Thanks again! Hope you enjoy Episode 2 :)
Great playthrought. I also did Vyraxen on TTS and that convinced me to instantly go late pledge all-in.
Respect for paying attention to the rules and explaining them on the fly when they are needed.
Regarding the rules 31:30 I believe "Reaction" keyword can only be used outside your turn ("can be triggered out of your turn beign played as a response to a specific situation"). Are you planning to do more Primal videos?
Yup! Working on Ep. 2 right now, actually :)! I missed a few rules, but got some great tips from another commenter on here, so the next one should hopefully go more smoothly. The new gear abilities look amazing!
Also - I had one thought about the Reaction rules. The Reaction text is indeed a bit vague as to whether its use of "can be triggered out of your turn being played as a response to a specific situation" is meant to mean "can only". When I look at a few other card examples of Reactions in the game, I'm led to think the use of "can be triggered out of your turn" here is meant to imply that its out-of-turn utility is a possibility not usually allowed for other card effects, not that you "can only" use its effect out-of-turn. If Reactions can only be triggered outside of your turn, the Reaction keyword on Wound cards in your deck would make them act a bit funny (From the rule book regarding Wounds - "when you draw a Wound card from your deck you immediately have to discard it (following its Reaction ability text)". Also, Dareon's Shield Gear item ability in the second battle wouldn't be very useful if he could only use it to defend attacks outside of his turn.
Perhaps someone with more experience than me can help clear up this distinction!
This is a bit of a long one, but I'll just point out a few foibles, ignoring the ones you caught after the fact:
(You already caught it, but Stun Damage missed = 2, 2, 1, 1 = 6
Missed damage from Thoreg's Massive Blow Mastery when playing a Maneuver card = 3)
Round 2:
Mirah:
Should have triggered Volley after Heavy Shot, which would have been before the Behavior triggered. Per your drawn cards at the end of the Turn lacking Attack cards, it wouldn't have dealt any damage, but it would have cycled your deck further.
When the End-of-Round Behavior Card "Assault" triggered, it would have paid 1 Struggle for the increased effect, bringing the Vyraxen down to 7 Struggle, thus not actually reaching 10 and Unleashing as you did at the start of Round 3 when you added 2 more Struggle.
Also, Unleash triggers when you would go beyond 10, not when you reach 10. "When the Monster would gain Struggle tokens, but it already has 10 or more, the Unleash ability is triggered."
Round 3:
Mirah
"I really probably shouldn't have resolved Volley 2," unfortunately doesn't apply, as it's not optional. The Weapon's Volley 2 trait is automatically triggered when playing an Attack card. The same is true for the Burst Mastery automatically triggering Volley, as well.
Of course, it doesn't matter, since you got lucky, regardless.
Round 4:
Thoreg:
Not just missing the weapon damage and Struggle token removal for playing Concussion, as you yourself acknowledged, but also your Weapon passive to remove 1 additional Struggle token for playing a Maneuver card from the Front sector of the Monster.
Note: You fully resolve a card, and any related triggers, including the Stun on your Massive Blow Mastery due to playing Heavy Smash after Concussion, before any Behavior cards are turned over.
This is from page 34 of the Prototype Rule Book.
As far as triggers are concerned, technically the Simultaneous Triggers rule from page 28, states that, when applicable , the active character can choose the timing of all triggers related to the attack. An example of this might be choosing to apply Vulnerable due to meeting the trigger requirements, before applying the damage caused by the played card.
If you really wanted to push it, page 25 says "When you play a card in your Sequence you apply the ability text of that card. Then, also resolve a specific effect depending on the card type." This could be interpreted as reading that the ability text, and any related triggers, including triggering a Stun via the Mastery card, would in order be applied before the damage that came from playing an Attack card.
The only thing that might interrupt this, per page 26, would be dealing damage (all bonuses will at least add together first) that transitions the Monster to the next Stance, and triggering any appropriate "When Revealed" effects related to that, prior to resuming the turn. I admit the timing of that is not entirely clear as written.
For what it's worth, you could have (possibly should have, see above) Stunned first, done 2 damage from Mirah's one Attack card, then followed up with your actual Attack's damage.
I believe page 34 also might suggest immediately replacing the Behavior after resolving it, but I believe the devs have confirmed the intent is to turn all applicable cards face up one by one and resolve them, before discarding any of them. That way it's clear that only up to 3 Behaviors can trigger from a single card, barring something that might tell you to draw and trigger an additional Behavior card, or something, but that's a special case.
And, of course, the Monster would turn towards Thoreg before Mirah's turn, not that it would have changed anything in this case.
Round 5:
Thoreg:
As mentioned above, Vulnerable could have applied before the 5 damage, resulting in 10 damage dealt. Or more accurately, a dead Monster, due to the 9 missed damage so far. Then again, due to a couple of other timing matters, it's possible you may have played different cards earlier, so who really knows? He would have lived, alas.
Technically, Thoreg would have drawn the 2 for Atrition, then shuffled and dealt a second card, due to being Threatened, but that wouldn't have changed him taking the Attrition and getting KO'd, regardless.
The Prototype Rule Book doesn't have anything in the Aggro token or player KO sections regarding passing on the token aside from playing Aggro cards... but I do agree that logically it should pass to the next player in clockwise order (as that's the standard turn sequence), if nothing else. Rules As Written, though, if your other Hunter(s) can actually go without playing an Aggro card until the KO'd Hunter with the Aggro token stands back up, then they won't gain the Aggro token.
Mirah:
Again, Volley is not an option, but I mentioned that before.
Alas! You missed the +1 Experience reward for completing the encounter within 4 rounds. You would have gained the Story Achievement (not sure what it does) "Scarred by Fire" for having a character KO'd, though. You also would have gained +1 Experience for completing the "Let's Hit the Tail!" objective.
Of course, the leveling system has completely changed to a Milestone system, rather than Experience based, so after-encounter rewards will change, too.
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Anyway, while I do strongly recommend trying it out with the more advanced elemental equipment, keep a few things in mind.
1. Mirah and Thoreg have 2 elements worth of equipment, Dareon has 3, and Ljonar has 1. You only get access to an Elemental Forge after defeating an enemy, so keep that in mind. You also don't get more resources off the Vyraxen in the Prototype rewards than it takes to craft more than 1 piece of equipment per character. Side Quests can potentially give resources, as well, but I don't really have information about that.
So, really, each of these characters would be a minimum of 2 successful fights in, if not more, to be as equipped as they are. If they're on their fourth fight, then they would likely be fighting a Tier 2 Toramat, which would be at least Challenge rating 4, rather than 1. Changing the stats, and modifying the Behavior deck.
2. You're probably already planning this, but you should probably play Dareon and Ljonar, to try something different. The TTS mod only adds 1 or 2 new Level 2 card to the 'advanced' decks (Mirah and Ljonar have 2 Level 2 cards, while Dareon and Thoreg each have 1), so Mirah and Thoreg's decks will be different, and Mirah has a different Mastery, but not significantly so. Their new equipment would likely change your playstyle, though.
3. Also, if you're playing with the Prototype rules for Elemental Strengths and Weaknesses, Mirah's bow will deal +1 weapon damage, and absolutely shred the Toramat.
Then again, the Fire Helmet on Dareon and Thoreg would cause either of them to take +1 damage from every Horn-type Behavior of the Toramat. Which is several of them, but not all.
The Elemental resistances may have changed significantly in how they work with the updated rules, though.
Be aware the TTS fight for Toramat might be easier than you expect because of the above.
p.s. Try to use Assist more, particularly Quick Assist, which Mirah and Ljonar's decks both have, which allows the person Assisting to also draw a card, replacing the discarded card. Spending a card you care about less, to give the other player an additional card on their turn can be clutch.
Oh, and you can still Assist while in a sector with Fire, in case you were curious, as discarding a card doesn't count as playing it, which only counts playing cards into a Sequence.
p.p.s. As I said in another comment below, the Devs did state they intended to update the TTS mod to match the updated rules, once they are ready to do so. If we're lucky, they will also provide some other sample fights. If we're really lucky, they might even let us try out Karah and Heleren's basic decks, and an advanced card or two. I'm really looking forward to Karah's combo-heavy playstyle.
p.p.p.s. Yes, I have played the TTS Mod Demo over half a dozen times (multiple times with each fight, and at different player counts, mostly 2, but 3 and 4 once each, with different people).
Wowzers! Thanks for the detailed comment here - it definitely has some super helpful tips and clarifications that will improve my gameplay going forward (assuming I remember them, hahaha), so I really appreciate you taking the time to compile them! I'm glad you were able to clear up whether or not I got to resolve all my "helpful" triggers on other cards before resolving monster reactions - I did think it was a little silly that I'd resolve the card itself, then the enemy card, then the other triggers like Volley and/or Thoreg's damage/stun from his Mastery (especially since Stunning may have helped ward off reactions here and there). Also, thanks for clarifying that effects like Volley and so on are mandatory unless otherwise stated on the cards - that's very good to know!
That note about Unleash happening after it adds tokens when it has 10 or more is a great catch - same with being able to determine the order in which Vulnerable is applied! Those tips will help a TON!!
Interesting notes about the Experience points and campaign structure! I hadn't read much in the Campaign rules yet since this was an intro scenario - I'm guessing that information is covered in the Campaign rulebook? As far as this TTS demo appears, it doesn't look like it currently accommodates campaign play (or if it does, I don't see the campaign sheets, monster material cards, or crafting tables). I'm also really interested in what you said regarding the changes referenced in Elzheiz's comment below - do you know what kind of changes to monster HP, characters, and/or element mechanics have been made?
Thank you VERY much for these great tips! They'll certainly help me in the next fight for sure :)! For some reason, my Ljonar cards keep loading in bugged/warped and I can't figure out why. I've tried de-selecting Mod Caching to load fresh assets, and they still come in funky. As such, I was thinking it might be neat to sorta go half-and-half, meaning keep Mirah (to compare a familiar character with gear to how she operated in the prologue) and add Dareon (for a full new character). This also affords me some level of continuity since Thoreg was KO'ed in the last battle, hehe. Do you have any tips for trying to get Ljonar's deck to load in right? It's weird that it's the only deck in the mod that's bugged this way.
Thanks again, friend!
@@fiveofclubs5043 I'm glad I could provide some helpful clarification. My only real recommendation for fixing Ljonar's cards is to uninstall and reinstall the TTS Mod.
The Prototype Rule Book link also has the Prototype Campaign Rules as a separate pdf from the Learn To Play. That being said, with some of the changes, I expect some semi-significant adjustments. Experience in particular, as I mentioned, will be changing to a Milestone system, rather than incremental, with players selecting unlock packages that are thematically linked.
Update #29 shows a sample of what Dareon's level up tree might look like. Five branching paths, with each path having two nodes, granting two cards for the deck. The outer node additionally granting a new Mastery thematically linked to the cards in the two nodes leading to it. While they didn't say how many upgrade picks one might get in a single campaign run, I'm estimating no less than 4 and no more than 6. 4 lets you unlock 2 additional Masteries, if you want, which sounds (to me) like a good minimum number, and 6 means that, at most, you can only unlock 60% of what's available. Still leaving some mystery for another run.
For what it's worth, regardless of the number of unlocks, you still have the choice between going shallow or deep in your selections. You can only equip a single Mastery at a time after all, and if you already have the one you want to build around, then you don't ~really~ need to get more. Some versatility of choice wouldn't hurt, though, depending on your semi-random Monster opponents, so that's up to you.
Of course, any combination can lead to wildly different deck setups, particularly when one factors the access to different Elemental Forge equipment based on the semi-random (I believe I remember reading you will pick between at least 2 to 3 choices for every encounter) Monster selections over the course of a campaign...
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Anyway, to summarize: (And yes, this ~is~ a summary. Read the Updates for more information)
Update #29 shows:
-- the significant change to Monster Wound tracking. All Monsters have 10 Wounds, but each Stance will now show the scaling Damage-per-Hunter required to advance the Wound Track, and how many Wounds it takes to advance to the next Stance. Mostly, it's to prevent the need to potentially track as many damage tokens per Stance compared to the Prototype. Particularly for later stage Monsters in the game which will almost certainly have significantly more health.
-- the aforementioned adjustments to character advancement. Rather than specific cards unlocking based on level. This may also allow them to keep the balance more tight, rather than the concept that later-unlocked cards should possibly by necessity be more powerful.
-- a greater emphasis on unique Keywords/Mechanics per Hunter: (As you'll see by the examples below from the update, the keywords are not necessarily truly unique, but rather something special for the Hunter, and also not an exhaustive list of the Hunter's keywords.)
Dareon:
- Berserk: "Everytime you deal damage, you may reveal a card with the Berserk keyword from your hand to draw 1."
I imagine the Berserk keyword is primarily limited to Attack cards already, which is an inherent limitation, but it is a source of a card draw engine, of sorts. Particularly if you can arrange for non-Attack sources of damage output while holding Berserk cards. As they point out, though, card draw also leads to deck cycling, which leads to self-damaging.
- Resilience: "Everytime you suffer damage you may reveal a card with the Resilience keyword from your hand to draw 1."
Basically the defensive version of Berserk. I'm half-surprised they didn't just call it "Enrage" or "Fury", or something similar. This may be more likely to cycle into multiple draws a turn than Berserk, and is certainly more likely to lead to card draw outside of your turn. You will have to choose wisely about discarding or playing Resilience cards, such that they're no longer in your hand.
Mirah:
- Volley: More synergy around the mechanic. I'll admit that while I really liked Mirah, Volley wasn't the reason why (Stealth and Blind were what I liked more, as they thematically emphasized her long range and precision). Well, gaining value from discarded Attack Cards is nice, and the Burst Mastery can do a lot of free damage, but the deck-cycling exertion/self-harm playstyle seemed a bit odd for an Archer. Still, I won't deny that Mirah was almost consistently my highest damage dealer in my multiple plays. I even had her deal upwards of 50~60 in a single round once against the TTS Toramat, thanks to a combination of her Coral Elemental weapon, seemingly perfect card draw RNG, and the Vulnerable from her Crystal Spear.
- Blind: More synergy around the mechanic. As mentioned, this is one I liked, but I also tend to appreciate unique control mechanics more so than overwhelming raw damage.
Thoreg:
- Stun: Nothing really new here.They just extolled the virtues of it. Although, Ljonar also has some Stuns for offensive support, they are less common.
- Confuse: Rotate a monster to a direction of your choice, and negate the effects of Struggle-Boosts on Behavior cards for the round, but the Monster still spends the Struggle for the Boost. Contrary to what I just said with Mirah, I do have some reservations about what ~too much~ in the way of control mechanics might look like, but this doesn't actually stop Behaviors, just lessens their potential.
- Impetus: Not actually discussed, but you can see the keyword on some of the shown cards, as a form of momentum-based deck mechanic.
Ljonar:
- Taunt: Functions like Assist in that it provides card draw, but it also rotates the Monster to face the user. I can see that it's actually replaced the Assist keyword on Rapid Dash.
- Retaliate: Fairly standard, but essentially, "When taking damage, you may reveal [Cards] and deal damage (probably Weapon damage) to the Monster."
- Resilience and Confuse: Can also be seen on a couple of the shown cards for Ljonar. Resilience makes complete sense to be common on a Shield user, but I've already expressed my reservations about too many control mechanics, which Taunt also exacerbates. Then again, focusing on control mechanics tends to draw out fights rather than finish them quickly, and for some Primordials, that's exactly what they want you to do.
Update #33 (I'll get to #31 and #32 momentarily) shows Karah (Dual Blades) and Heleren (Heavy Gun):
Heleren:
- Bullet Track: 3 Bullet slots, which can be spent in various ways on cards to boost their effects, and are only Reloaded by playing cards with the Reload keyword.
- While a primarily offensively focused character, she does have some useful defensive cards to protect herself and allies... but wow, the damage she can put out based upon the shown cards. Keep in mind the weapons shown are all Level 3, though. Which might also tell you something of what the enemies might be like, too.
Karah:
- Battle Dance Track: Deal 2x/4x/6x Weapon Level bonus damage after playing 2/4/6 Offensive (Attack and Maneuver, not just Attack) cards in your sequence.
- Chain: "A card with the keyword Chain [Color] can be played for free (no stamina cost) if it is played after a card of that matches [Color]."
- Multiple cards with "Your sequence limit this turn is increased by 1." Notably, Karah does not get many +damage effects on her cards, mostly gaining it through her Battle Dance, instead. So she has to figure out how to properly play enough cards without triggering Monster Behaviors which might prevent further Attacks and Maneuvers for her Battle Dance.
- Overrun: Cards with Overrun allow you to jump to the opposite side of the Monster, and will also count as a move for the purpose of removing the Threatened status. There are also several effects which can trigger off of using Overrun, as well.
- I thought I would love Karah's mechanics just on her visual theme, and this update proved it to me. High mobility, precision combo characters are typically my favorite, and she exemplifies this style wonderfully.
Update #31 shows some of their thought process around different elemental themes:
(Note that each Monster sharing an elemental theme will interact differently within the various effects, and have their own unique traits beyond those listed below, as well.)
Fire:
Monsters: might thematically burn through your deck by forcing discards, causing deck-cycling damage, and inhibiting your ability to draw the cards you want.
Hunter Equipment: includes self damage for bonus effects (usually bonuses when playing Attacks), and discarding cards from your deck for bonuses.
Coral: (Water)
Monsters: control the amount of cards players can have in their sequence (the Water terrain effect in particular does this, and can stack), and can advance the round turn tracker, accelerating their victory. Also regeneration/self-healing.
Hunter Equipment: Healing, and cycling cards from your discard back into your deck, extending your deck's length before a deck cycle.
Horn:
Monsters: can potentially become immune to status effects, and ignore overflow damage dealt against their toughness rating (i.e. the new Wound system, and excess damage beyond the current Wound would be ignored). This is tied to a new Harden mechanic, that can go up and down based upon certain interactions.
Hunter Equipment: manipulates Stamina economy.
Crystal: (Prismatic)
Monsters: can force players to reveal the top card of their deck, and use them to then trigger other effects based upon the revealed card's color. This can then combo to enhance and/or trigger other Behaviors.
Hunter Equipment: also interacts with revealing the top of your deck, and card color based triggered effects.
Thunder: (Lightning)
Monsters: control players hands through forced discard and recycle effects, and to represent the unpredictability of storms, can have random discard and targeting, rather than specific cards or targets. They also have Charge counters to track building up energy for a big attack, albeit with different mechanics for generating said counters.
Hunter Equipment: can have counters for building up damage, and even built in access to Stun.
Metal:
Monsters: can have damage reduction (against all hits, rather than only against overflow, per the Horn Monsters), and can even 'Blank' out all effects on Action Cards, preventing additional effects. They also interact more so than most monsters with special Attrition mechanics.
Hunter Equipment: interacts with the Attrition mechanic, and can reduce damage taken from Monsters.
Update #32 continued with the Expansion elements:
Feather:
Monsters: have a high amount of reactions that can trigger mid-sequence (including "on discard"), and positioning and timing will also be key. Control mechanics are strongly recommended. Like the colorful nature of feathered creatures, they can also interact with color combos, albeit differently from how Crystal was doing so, earlier. Such as bonus effects for different colors of Behaviors in play.
Hunter Equipment: a lot of positioning and card color related effects.
Frost: (Ice)
Monsters: can exile cards from a Hunter's deck via Frostbite, but to quote the update, there will be some "opportunity to "warm up" through specific actions (that cost resources and require tough decisions) that allow to regain the exiled cards during the game." I believe the Mamuraak is also notable for being a slow, but powerful enemy, with a lot of End-of-Round Behaviors.
Hunter Equipment: interact with Struggle, particularly by the Slow condition (reduces the per-round Struggle gained by 1), and the armor can even recover OR exile cards from your deck or discard pile.
Venom:
Monsters: add special Poison Wound cards to your decks, which can only be discarded to pay for 1 Stamina, but deal damage based upon the Monster's level when doing so. They also have Behaviors which scale off of the number of Poison cards the target has. Oh, and if you're in a sector with Swamp terrain, it increases the cost of playing Defensive (Dodge/Parry) cards by 1 Stamina. So, yeah, they clog your deck, and make it harder to defense against their Attrition damage by playing Defense cards.
Hunter Equipment: can provide effects such as dealing bonus damage based on cards in your Discard pile, and interact with Wounding the Monsters.
So, yeah. That's, uh, about it.
@@Fenraellis Woah - thanks for all this excellent information! I'll definitely make a mention of this information when I go over my final thoughts about the game, as these changes sound like interesting boosts to the game's complexity for anyone thinking the game is a bit lean on depth. I appreciate your time in sharing this and will credit you accordingly in the episode :)!
@@Fenraellis Thanks for the tip about reinstalling the mod - I'll give it a shot when I get home to see if it works. Presumably, it loads in correctly for you? If that doesn't work, do you suppose it's possible that your TTS mod may have been cached a while ago when the asset was working properly and the current assets link is the issue? Maybe we'll get lucky with their next TTS update (whenever it comes) and I'll get fresh assets anyway, haha!
Also, as referenced earlier, I'll definitely touch on these items when I'm sharing my final thoughts on the game! These are some interesting changes to be sure, so I agree it would be nice to have them updated in the TTS mod! Might be a good excuse to get another episode or two for the channel as well, especially if we get a new monster to fight :)!
Seriously - thanks a TON for compiling all this info for me! I hope it didn't take too long to string it all together, I certainly wasn't expecting you to spend too long on that, but the efforts are appreciated :D!
Thanks again, friend!
Yay yay!!
Thanks, friend! What do you think about the game so far? Does it seem like your kind of game? Or did you have similar reservations about it like we did? Hopefully the next episode will show the game "in full swing" so I can make a final determination for my group, but how about you :)?
@@fiveofclubs5043 I'm iffy on the lack of boss movement as well. It feels more like a card based game than a boss battler. I didnt get I on KS because of this. Instead I got KDM, AT:O and Oathsworn. I also have Wild Assent and stormsunder coming in. Would love to see those.
But I am always up to watch some five of clubs :) I am always impressed with your cinematography effort. Makes it 10x more enjoyable to watch
@@jonathanshea4072 Hehe, well at least it makes for a decent show :)! I'm working through my own final thoughts on the game after the second battle playthrough (hope to post later this week!), as it most certainly would have been a fantastic and respectable card game, if it didn't have a board game's price tag ;P! The second battle is most definitely a few degrees higher on the complexity scale, and it makes me optimistic about the potential depth and strategy involved in standard combat encounters.
Thanks as always for watching and commenting, friend :)!
PS: Ohhh, Wild Assent, I've got that one. I sometimes forget it exists, admittedly! I wonder if there's a TTS mod for it... If so, it may or may not be end up on the channel soon ;D!