Cockatrice might need changes

Gameplay Chat (PC/Mobile)
1

Is it me or does this troop seem far stronger than ANY of the other loopers like Nyx or Florian? Everytime I see that troop, I have a migraine (Like Dragon’s Eye!) because it has a guaranteed gem spawn (Unlike Nyx or Florian).

Cockatrice needs 10 mana which is 2 less than other loopers that drain mana and sure, it’s 3 less gems on board than others at max (12 mana for both sides that got drained) but here’s the thing, Cockatrice entangles the enemy as well AND it gets his own mana back (and feeds Rock worms… oh yeah, THAT delve room). Just… I think the troop needs changes so it can’t infinitely loop itself otherwise let Nyx or Florian loop themselves since it’s the same principle.

3

Just a side note: cockatrice - the most bugged unit since Warlords III: RoH.

And yes, it’s really annoying.

4

All these troops only become annoying with bloated stats. Frost Lizard is deathly annoyance above level 200 (if i correctly recall) in Tower of Doom and it generates only seven manas as well as having random targeting. The issue might be less perceptive in Delves because we have some support from the Hoard, but the point is those troops are not incredibly strong by themselves, it’s all about the huge stats allowing them to survive and drag the battle longer than we’d like.

5 Likes
5

I had completely forgotten about Frost Lizard… though that was very problematic in Raid whenever it shows up. Still, a mana generator who gets their own color back for such a low cost is stupid. I know someone like Pharos’Ra can get their mana back as well but it’s a color change not spawning meaning that, if he does get refilled right away, he won’t get it back immediately a second time.

6

Cockatrice is an excellent and underrated troop. If you aren’t considering him as a defence stalwart you are missing a trick. My uba killer team demonstrates that. Get the thinking cap on and make hay

7

The trick with Cockatrice is, like Nyx, it can only get its own mana back so many times. In theory, a maximum of 4 times. Then the opponent’s been completely drained of mana and there’s no way to boost beyond the 6.

In practice, I don’t think it works like that. Usually there’s another brown generator that can generate cascades/free turns. I’ve seen Cockatrice used to great effect on Dragon’s Eye teams, which we’ve already discussed to death.

In general, I think @Razzagor’s right: while this is a dreadful nuisance within the bounds of “normal” stats, it’s no more powerful than “any other looping team” and not exactly an argument for a nerf. Many of the teams I field tend to have something immune to mana drain, so it’s more “a reason I might switch teams” than “something I fear”.

But when you pair it with something that can generate/explode brown in a scaling fashion…

The nightmare scenario is the generator gets an extra turn and leaves the board with 14+ brown. Then Cockatrice goes off. Even if there’s no mana to drain, Cockatrice is super likely to create some 4/5 matches there. That refills the generator and maybe some of Cockatrice. Generator goes off, 4/5 match. Cockatrice casts again. This can go on and on so long as the magic’s scaled high enough.

Does a combination like that exist? I’m not sure. I don’t have a perfect memory of the game. But I’d sure respect a Ragnagord / Cockatrice combo, and it doesn’t take much of a boost for Rag to keep a team fed. Gorgotha also comes to mind. Stick a duststorm in the mix and you’ve got issues.

It doesn’t help that depending on weaponry and team makeup, you might’ve summoned the duststorm yourself. I’ve observed, many times, my game is miserable and the AI gets a ton of free turns because I accidentally tilted luck in its favor.

And it’s really hard to talk about making scaling troops unfair. In some events, the design intent is to make it unlikely you will win at some point. That doesn’t make it any more fun as a player. Like, old arcade games did that, but every time you reached the inhumanly hard level and lost you got to start over at the easy levels again. Here you only get to keep banging your head against a wall until the RNG blesses you.

8

Lets not forget that cockatrice is a low rarity troop. I completely endorse such troops and their availability when discussing team builds with newer players. All complaints and forum acrimony are predominantly voiced by higher players who have clearly forgotten the fun element of the game and expect entitlement cos they haven’t left the house for 12 months

2 Likes
9

Yeah no… not buying that for one second. I always hated Cockatrice even as a new player due to the entangle more than anything but on the late game side, it’s also the mana drain and gem spawn as well. You could argue Rock Worms and Ice Worms but again, on their own they aren’t bad but if they infinitely loop without you doing anything? Not fun (Looking at Rock Tunnels).

Now Draakulis on the other hand, he was ALSO annoying as a new player but here’s the thing… I was still new, with an incomplete team (Not even max levels for them) trying to go against him and 3 other strong troops (One being Spooky Imp) but I found that fair due to the fact, you know, mythic and was a hard but manageable fight even if Draakulis casted his ability. Cockatrice on the other hand… never a fun time.

10

When all you’ve got left is personal attacks you don’t have an argument.

2 Likes
11

I don’t think Cockatrice can reliably loop itself without other supporting troops or particular board setups (lots of brown on the board), which makes it more part of a good combo than a broken troop.

Is this specifically about Cockatrice in Delves?

12

Lol okay. I don’t believe I personalised or targeted anyone. Or maybe I misunderstood the context and potential for misinterpretation of my own contribution.

13

You can’t hate a troop because he somehow conflicts with your game plan. Troop diversity and build interaction is the point of the game and your capability as a player surely.

14

AI tends to create one color gems around existing gems of that color, so that it’s obviously easier for AI to loop.
Once I left 3 brown gems on the board and still got looped by Cockatrice. THREE BROWN GEMS
Players have the first turn is clearly an advantage, but this advantage can be eliminated with no match 4/5 on starting board, and frequently this IS the case.
But AI’s ability to loop with a nearly impossible scenario isn’t about fun anymore, it’s just cheating and not fair.
If something needs to be changed, Cockatrice isn’t this thing, the AI controlled gem creating mechanism is.

3 Likes
15

Indeed, today on explore the last troop left selflooped 3 times in a row and was a fking TREANT lmao

16

Cockatrice is a low rarity troop that can be very destructive. I wholeheartedly embrace that capability in view of the fact it can give new players a fighting chance and a joyous win. Nearly every complaint in this or any forum is by a wannabe end gamer whining like a dog cos he feels like his investment does not promote guaranteed victory. That’s hilarious. You can’t buy game ability. You’ve either got it other you don’t.

17

Skill and quite a lot of luck so things don’t go wrong. Like, it’s amazing luck to FAIL a 3 or 4 gem match when there is over 25 of the same color on the board. It’s also luck if Lady Morana fails to kill at 40% plus all the time while the enemies works at 10%.

Cockatrice is no exception except, him and the Rock/Ice Worm (And frost lizard), can easily loop themselves but Cockatrice is worse since it drains all mana and entangles and feeds it’s own mana back. That would be like saying for Famine “If I drain 20 mana (from all), instant kill the targeted enemy and gain all mana back” which is absurd.

I don’t even need to bring up why Cockatrice is a problem with Dragon’s Eye now do I? Before that rant that (Dragon’s Eye helps new players) situation, Dragon’s Claw is atrocious for new players on the sheer difficulty of the place. Most players will have a lot more experience by the time they do clear the place, unlock the Dragon Guard class and get the 250 wins for the weapon. Cockatrice? Just a gold key away and there you go.

While there are counters, just being infinitely looped isn’t fun at all. That’s for regular PvP. In the event of delves… well, the delves discussion says plenty of how many people are struggling like Hall of Guardians but that’s for another time (By the way, no Hall faction troops are immune to mana drain or entangle…)

18

Please do. Last time I checked, my baby dragons had no mana worth stealing by Cockatrice :slight_smile:

19

Ya please nerf everything i have trouble beating. I want easy games and 100% win rate

3 Likes
20

Nerf jewel gnome

21

See if that applies next week lol

1 Like