# Devour Skill / Bad for the Game **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [June 10, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239 "2016-06-10T16:58:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Personette](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/personette/32/3845_2.png) [@Personette](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Personette)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/21 "2016-06-10T20:37:41Z")
The problem with silence is that you have no idea how long it will last. Say you have a troop that silences. You fire up your spell and silence Maw before it strikes–it has 23 mana but you got it, whew. Then, on the very next turn, the silence clears & the Maw still has 23 mana but your silence-casting troop is still empty and unable to counter. You get devoured. This is why the mana drain is better. If you drain the mana it’s actually gone, not just on hold. ---
**Author:** ![ForsakenM](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/forsakenm/32/4900_2.png) [@ForsakenM](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/ForsakenM)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/22 "2016-06-10T20:38:32Z")
Silence prevents casting and drains the mana, did they change than on PC/Mobile? ← Console Player ---
**Author:** ![Koolbiird](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/koolbiird/32/5099_2.png) [@Koolbiird](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Koolbiird)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/23 "2016-06-10T20:39:58Z")
Yes. A troop is silenced, and they retain their mana. ---
**Author:** ![ForsakenM](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/forsakenm/32/4900_2.png) [@ForsakenM](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/ForsakenM)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/24 "2016-06-10T20:40:16Z")
I had a troop Entangled and tried to buff them with Sparkgrinder, but the attack stayed at 0. What is this Frenzy magic you speak off that is somehow better? ---
**Author:** ![Lyya](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/lyya/32/3650_2.png) [@Lyya](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Lyya)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/25 "2016-06-10T20:41:57Z")
Frenzy (the trait, not Anointed One’s spell) will give a troop 1 attack whenever it takes damage. This increase in attack has the side effect of clearing Entangled. Maw happens to have Frenzy. ---
**Author:** ![AeroCloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@AeroCloud](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/AeroCloud)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/26 "2016-06-10T20:42:31Z")
I’ll tell you about my last match against maw/mercy. I went against the lowest person it was level 12 account with all 3 traits vs maw/mercy/valk and another card. I first match 3 green gems, because my team consists of 2 summer imps (entangle), emperina and goblin shamen. No skulls setup, AI goes, matches 3 yellows, random drop from the sky is 3 skulls, my first troop is devoured. I go ok… well I’m still alive… I matched 3 brown because nothing better available. AI matches 3, some lucky drop comes down 4 match, go again… repeat and repeat, and by my 3rd turn both of my summer imps are devoured and maw now has 56 attack and 120+ life. Needless to say, I lost in 2 moves of the game and its unrecoverable. I could not even hit them once. I could not build enough mana to cast even 1 spell before my whole team was devoured. I will refuse to keep playing this game if this is the case for Player/AI can in 1 turn basically destroy the entire team. The fun of the game is in matches were skill is involved. Not luck. This skill is broken. Either play it yourself against it or avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Koolbiird](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/koolbiird/32/5099_2.png) [@Koolbiird](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Koolbiird)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/27 "2016-06-10T20:42:40Z")
Concerning Great Maw, Frenzy breaks Entangled, which is his first trait. His third trait is bugged, and that’s why there is an outcry to adjust the troop. ---
**Author:** ![Shiratori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shiratori](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Shiratori)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/28 "2016-06-10T20:43:59Z")
Side note: On consoles, Frenzy and all other +Attack skills do not break Entangled and in fact does not add it after Entangle ends either. ---
**Author:** ![Personette](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/personette/32/3845_2.png) [@Personette](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Personette)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/29 "2016-06-10T20:44:52Z")
One reason why people keep mentioning Mab is because mana burn + extra turns are pretty brutal for Maw. You can set it up to cast Mab 2 or 3 times in a single turn. If the Maw is close to full (20 mana, say), you can do 30 damage per cast. 60 damage in a turn. Add in a skull match or two and the Maw is very dead. ---
**Author:** ![ForsakenM](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/forsakenm/32/4900_2.png) [@ForsakenM](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/ForsakenM)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/30 "2016-06-10T21:08:49Z")
That, my good sir, is less about the team and more about you not offering proper sacrifice to RNGesus. You have apparently made him as angry as I have…no, not as angry as I have, but close. Welcome to the club! 😥 ---
**Author:** ![Personette](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/personette/32/3845_2.png) [@Personette](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Personette)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/31 "2016-06-10T21:26:34Z")
> [@AeroCloud](#): > > my team consists of 2 summer imps (entangle), emperina and goblin shamen. There’s your problem, dude. Summer Imp: 12 yellow to fill Goblin Shaman: 10 purple/brown, creates GREEN Emperina: 14 red/brown You have a team where only two of your cards do damage and they’re mono-yellow copies of one another. That could work if the other two cards on your team are collecting all the other colors & transforming/creating to feed your imps the yellow gems they need, but instead you’ve got two healers. Those two healers share a color, so your total board coverage is three colors out of six–really poor. And what’s more, one of your healers is generating _green_ gems, which none of your troops use! There are lots of valid complaints to be made about The Great Maw–it can be tough to win a match against TGM even with a good team. But this team you’re using… um… it really, really needs some work. By which I mean you should start from scratch. ---
**Author:** ![TaliaParks](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/taliaparks/32/11738_2.png) [@TaliaParks](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/TaliaParks)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/32 "2016-06-10T22:01:52Z")
Honestly what needs changing is 3 things right now; The Great Maw - 3rd Trait needs to actually be 15% for BOTH player and AI. Watching friends play (well over 300 battles), player procs 16.2% and the AI procs 28.2%. Mercy - Empowered changed to Fast Queen Mab - The extra turn needs to be removed. Getting infinite turns while completely preventing the opponent from getting extra turns is borderline game-breaking. If Queen Mab was a Goblin, people would be (online) rioting. ---
**Author:** ![Larohar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/larohar/32/2685_2.png) [@Larohar](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Larohar)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/33 "2016-06-10T22:05:04Z")
Cool! Another anti-devour thread, just what i wanted! 😋 Ok, lets have a look… This season I have 3 losses in 238 Invades. - 1 was an app-crash on my phone - 2 were legit losses against Maw teams 🍴 - I never skip Maw teams, the only reason to not pick the hard enemy is a revenge in another slot So clearly Maw is infinitely stronger than all other defense teams. Is this a reason to nerf Maw? **NO** If anything we need _more_ challenge. 99% winrate is ridiculous. But my concern remains: The “easiest” way that I see to increase the difficulty is to rework the old difficulty settings into the ladder. But wait, the old difficulty settings were already ineffective because of Maws presence. This is my real problem with devour (_broken record_). It can not (or at least only with MUCH more difficulty) be outscaled! Even though I am currently not using Maw in my attacking team because of Mab (just to broken! 😍), at least Mab could theoretically be stopped/properly slowed down by buffed defenses… Yeah, so this remains my point of view. And the only thing that can change it is some new implementation of “challenge” to the matches. One that can not be bypassed by devour. Closing words: Balancing should not be done solely because of annoying defense lineups (and as far as I can remember has only been done so very rarely in this game). Balancing should be done to provide more (equal) options for the player. Currently there are a hand full of very competitive offensive builds (that I know of) - and very few defensive ones (that I know of…). The problem for offensive builds is: Maw gets (too far) ahead when the enemy stats get scaled. Oh, and btw: > [@zachraziel](#): > > […], entangle, […] Frenzy aside… Am I the only one that doesn’t believe entangle stops Maws third trait? It is so rare to see entangle, but I am 99% positive I have seen Maw devour via 3-skull hit while entangled. > [@ForsakenM](#): > > Freezing Maw will prevent Mercy from getting an extra turn from a crazy yellow match. How does freeze stop anything Mercy does? She cleanses with her skill… ---
**Author:** ![Personette](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/personette/32/3845_2.png) [@Personette](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Personette)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/34 "2016-06-10T22:05:13Z")
> [@TaliaParks](#): > > Queen Mab - The extra turn needs to be removed. Getting infinite turns while completely preventing the opponent from getting extra turns is borderline game-breaking. If Queen Mab was a Goblin, people would be (online) rioting. The delightful thing about Mab is that the AI will keep making 4 and 5 matches until there are none left, making the loop much less likely with the AI. For a player to generate a chain, you have to set it up & carry it out in the right order. I mean, I have yet to see an AI-controlled Mab chain in a way I found even _annoying_, let alone rage-inducing. ---
**Author:** ![TaliaParks](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/taliaparks/32/11738_2.png) [@TaliaParks](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/TaliaParks)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 10:11pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/35 "2016-06-10T22:11:53Z")
Not counting Defense because the AI is retarded. The fact you can win 98% on offense is game-breaking because of how PvP is now. Everyone and their mother wins 98% on offense and now it’s rare to get a Defense win. Might as well remove battles altogether and just let players click on an opponent for instant rewards, because that’s exactly how PvP is working as we speak ---
**Author:** ![Razzagor](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/razzagor/32/50037_2.png) [@Razzagor](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Razzagor)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/36 "2016-06-11T00:46:19Z")
I think i can’t share the link of some posts i’ve made before because they are at a very-super-duper-exclusive-and-secretive-place wich not everyone can visit: But some quotes will do the work i guess to express some views both mine and from others: > [@(!) Spoiler Alert (!) -- \[Any Details Provided are Subject to Change\] (Part 1)](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/spoiler-alert-any-details-provided-are-subject-to-change-part-1/1280/231): > > On Great Maw: Devour makes me wonder when and how this mechanic will finally be looked at. Personally i find a little irreal as the devouring troop gains all status, except magic and buffs, from it’s meal. And all of that while removing an enemy troop and adding the points to your own. That’s why it’s so popular, because it has a great value, it’s reliable even with a single cast and it gets much more value out of stronger troops.Devouring a troop and gaining half of status seems to me as a sensible balance change, you still reomves a troop in a single cast and possibly in a skull match and the advantage gained is great, not overwhelming. > [@(!) Spoiler Alert (!) -- \[Any Details Provided are Subject to Change\] (Part 1)](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/spoiler-alert-any-details-provided-are-subject-to-change-part-1/1280/235): > > What makes devour cross the line when it is only mentioned with maw but not sand shark ot the hard counters? > [@(!) Spoiler Alert (!) -- \[Any Details Provided are Subject to Change\] (Part 1)](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/spoiler-alert-any-details-provided-are-subject-to-change-part-1/1280/245): > > Because the other troops sometimes will “miss” the devour and have a lesser body that is much more “killable” in a proper set of moves. Despite the glitch with skulls spam a troop that can remove another troop with 100% chance, even on a single cast, and also receive the life, attack and armor of the destroyed troop is insanely strong.“Oh, but i can lure the A.I with skulls.”- Yep, and if the trait triggers you are even more screwed. > > “But even with three troops you can still manage to win the battle.”- Sure, but you are facing a much bigger threat, the stronger the lost troop was the stronger will be the enemy’s Maw, and with any luck cascade things will scalate into a onslaught easily because you will have to handle a bigger Maw while the A.I can keep collecting mana because it still have other three playable troops. > > “You can counter Maw, with your own Maw”- More proof that Devour as mechanic is plainly broken… If the best you can do to beat it is join the club then something is clearly wrong. > > My approach to limit devouring enemies to 50% bonus, IMHO, would help to keep more diversity in teams, Maw would still work well when you use it because you can still remove a key/troublesome troop and get a boost to Maw’s raw status. It would just not be so prevalent in almost every team composition of anyone who has this troop. > [@(!) Spoiler Alert (!) -- \[Any Details Provided are Subject to Change\] (Part 1)](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/spoiler-alert-any-details-provided-are-subject-to-change-part-1/1280/246): > > I also must add that the Mercy/Maw and Mercy/Infernal King are the only combos in the game that will give a high level player any sort of chance of gaining traction on the leaderboard. > [@(!) Spoiler Alert (!) -- \[Any Details Provided are Subject to Change\] (Part 1)](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/spoiler-alert-any-details-provided-are-subject-to-change-part-1/1280/252): > > I see this more as a symptom than a cure. We have Maw making battles simply too fast because of the overwhelming status after devouring something, hence why people can just beat anyone as long as they have Maw. “Oh look, Gorgotha fully traited ahead… Nomnomnom…” > > And we have Infernal King being just annoying by ressurrecting over and over, the highest number of ressurrections i faced were three in a battle i’ve won and five on one i’ve lost, since then i’m avoiding him… > > I hope that i’m not sounding rude, but that’s just how i see things. No, i still don’t have an answer to how pvp can be improved without resorting to Maw/Mercy/Infernal King/“Metaish” teams. ---
**Author:** ![Raffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@Raffa](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Raffa)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/37 "2016-06-11T02:29:58Z")
Took me a while to remember about The Great Gob! Didn’t really use it that much in thr past. Gorgotha\*\*\* Bat\*\*\* Gob\*\*\* Gob Haven’t lost a single match (about 30ish so far) with the above team against any deck with the poor maw. ---
**Author:** ![Kharybdys](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/kharybdys/32/2023_2.png) [@Kharybdys](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Kharybdys)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 8:14am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/38 "2016-06-11T08:14:45Z")
I believe Entangle wont stop maw’s third trait. I can confirm getting a bullseye (archer 3rd trait) proc of while entangled, that’s also an “on skulls, do x” trait ---
**Author:** ![Hairyskinback](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/hairyskinback/32/3566_2.png) [@Hairyskinback](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Hairyskinback)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 8:42am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/39 "2016-06-11T08:42:39Z")
In a game where most players win rate is 90% plus I laugh myself silly when these posts complain that something that the AI can actually use effectively to beat you 1 in 10 games at best is game breaking…listen to yourselves…“WAH i can’t win 100% I am gonna go play something easier”…geeze. As always I am a firm believer that only a small percent of the player base spends time posting on the forum and sadly those that like to moan make up about 80% of that number. In all the games I have played the only real thing I would have loved to see nerfed is the forum whiner…case closed. ---
**Author:** ![killerman3333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/killerman3333/32/4068_2.png) [@killerman3333](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/killerman3333)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2016, 8:50am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239/40 "2016-06-11T08:50:21Z")
Considering the fantasy series i think maw is toast. [Previous page](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239.md?page=1) [Next page](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/devour-skill-bad-for-the-game/8239.md?page=3)