Facing teams that are built around Extra Turn spamming is obnoxious (specifically, builds that create/convert gems to get a lot of 4-of-a-kinds). In a turn-based game, not getting to take your turn for one or two turn cycles is acceptable, but not getting to take your turn for 5 or 6+ cycles is absurd.
My suggestion would be to reduce the chance of getting an Extra Turn from 4-of-a-kinds from 100% to 50%. 5-of-a-kind can stay at 100%, as can spells that specifically grant an Extra Turn.
Alternatively, have diminishing returns on Extra Turn chances (from 4 or 5-of-a-kinds) that reset at the start of each turn. 100% chance for the first match; then 75%; then 50%; 25%; 0% (or stay at 25%?). Maybe even stagger the 4-match and 5-match so that 5-matches have a 25% higher chance than 4.
Before the comments recommend the Freeze status effect, I just lost a match with a team full of Freeze status spells because the enemy got 8 turns in a row. I cannot freeze an enemy if I cannot take my turn.
Traits that have a 25% chance to Freeze an enemy at the start of my turn are also useless if I never get to start my turn. Even if that trait triggered from the start of every enemy turn it would still be useless because 4-of-a-kinds grant an extra move, not an extra turn (start of turn trigger does not re-apply).
This is fair balance Iām after. If youāre against this itās likely because youāre exploiting this crutch mechanic and donāt want to have to think of a new one. I get it; I spent months farming up ClassXP and Diamonds (for a specific Mythic troop) for a build around the Dragonās Eye only for Dragonās Eye to be nerfed a week after I finished the build.
You can argue that ālifeās not fair,ā and I can argue that it works both ways; it can either remain unfair for players who are sick of not getting a turn, or be unfair to those who rely on the mechanic.
If 5+ ofs were still guaranteed, wouldnāt that just entrench the sorts of teams you donāt want to seeāthe kinds of teams that convert the whole board turn after turn (Gobtruffle for instance, who often makes 5s [and who gets extra turns as a goblin anyway])?
If there wasnāt a guarantee that a 4-of worked, it would completely take away a personās ability to maintain board control, too, unless he or she reduced all his or her teams to being those who convert the boards into 5-ofs, too.
I would also hate having to take every 4 skull opportunity just because Iād be taking damage otherwise, only to lose my turn and give the mana I actually want to the opponent.
And how do you maintain the board without an empowered converter? Pray thereās a 5-of on the starting board? Thatās a lot less likely than being able to make a 4-of.
What happens when human 4-ofs fail time after time, and CPU 4-ofs donāt? Aw, shucksājust bad luck? Iām not for that at all.
The less luck involved with whether the board is mine or the computerās, the better, in my book.
The AI is āsupposedā to occasionally make a 3 match instead of a āsmart moveā, thus breaking the huge extra turn spam. Iām sure the devs tweaked that setting to āsuper annoying loopy bastard never-missā setting by accident
How about this: 4 & 5 matches can grant extra moves all day, BUT the turn ends when a spell is cast (unless the spell grants an extra turn). If the spell creates/converts gems and causes 4 or 5 matches, the mana is awarded but not an extra move/turn.
This way, mana can be farmed up, 4 & 5 skulls can be used up, and you still get to finish your turn by casting, but the game isnāt taken hostage.
Yet, for the current Tower of Doom, Iāve been using:
Forest Troll
King Gobtruffle
Queen Beetrix
(Anything Else)
The reason for the āAnything Elseā in fourth place is that, frankly, by the time the first three have got going, they can loop almost indefinitely unless you get very unlucky on the gem falls.
Iāve gone through high level ToD rooms without the opposition even getting one turn.
Now, of course, were I to be facing that, Iād probably be yelling āOh come ON!ā and then chucking the phone down until, eventually, they stop spamming the extra turns or I die.
Iād then start using a team with Freeze Traits to stop it happening again.
So, unless you want to cripple teams like that for yourself, you canāt expect the Devs to cripple the opposition when it happens to you.
