# \[Not a Bug\] Ace of Wands spell working as intended? **URL:** \ **Category:** Bug Reports\ **Created:** [November 7, 2022, 9:29am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737 "2022-11-07T09:29:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fourdottwoone](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/fourdottwoone/32/66655_2.png) [@Fourdottwoone](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Fourdottwoone)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 9:29am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/1 "2022-11-07T09:29:44Z")
**Platform, device version and operating system:** PC/Mobile **Screenshot or image:** ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/gemsofwar/original/3X/7/f/7fac107f44a7d5e35b1ebf78a324e0bb4034539c.jpeg) **What you were expecting to happen, and what actually happened:** Is the spell really working as intended? Giving a fixed single point of magic to a single ally feels quite underwhelming, this would be bad even on a common rarity troop. ---
**Author:** ![sylverscale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@sylverscale](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/sylverscale)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 9:37am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/2 "2022-11-07T09:37:02Z")
Hopefully a bug because that’s extremely lame. That and getting an old pet plus lots of meh troops isn’t very enticing. ---
**Author:** ![OminousGMan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/ominousgman/32/70503_2.png) [@OminousGMan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/OminousGMan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 12:49am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/3 "2022-11-08T00:49:16Z")
Hey! I’ve asked the development team about this and the spell’s description is correct, as this is the intended design of the Ace of Wands troop. Thank you for your feedback. I have provided thoughts about the spell to the development team. OminousGMan - Support Human 🕵️‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![TheIdleOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@TheIdleOne](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/TheIdleOne)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 1:22am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/4 "2022-11-08T01:22:58Z")
> [@OminousGMan](#): > > as this is the intended design of the Ace of Wands troop. Your dev team’s design is to give a flat 1 magic? One? A legendary troop that gives 1 magic for a cast to 1 ally and that’s all it does. Does anybody there even play their own game anymore? Trait #3: Suit of Wands _Give 1 Magic to all Allies when matching 4 or more Gems._ Even the 3rd trait is more effective than casting the actual troop for its effect. Does that even sound right as a intended design? I have an extremely hard time not believing it wasn’t just a typo of {1}, which is often used as a placeholder data for Magic before its finalized with proper data. Considering the rush job on these Kingdom Pass Broken Spire troops, I seriously wouldn’t put it past that. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/gemsofwar/original/3X/5/1/51a0319fc4dbaf0d2f454e06b84b190121abf754.jpeg) as a reference point from Hellcrag. [(!) Spoiler Alert (!) -- [Any Details Provided are Subject to Change] (Part 2) - #649 by sylverscale](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/spoiler-alert-any-details-provided-are-subject-to-change-part-2/69968/649) Please check again. We really don’t need another [Not a Bug] Maze Banner issue where every actual player saw the issue for the longest of time that only got stealth fixed 2 years from release. Edit: 1 Magic isn’t even remotely SLIGHTLY close to game breaking, game balanced, anything. Its not even logical. We have RARE troops that give 2 magic to an ally. Wooooo boy. We even have a different Tarot card that already gives magic: **Draw The Star** [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/gemsofwar/original/3X/3/9/39aad0b552c5195961b457842e958f7dd6aa3687.png "Draw The Star Picture")](https://www.taransworld.com/GoW_graphics/Game/8595.png) _Give [(Magic / 2) + 1] Magic to a random Ally. There is a 7% chance of an extra turn for each Yellow Gem on the board. [7x]_ No shot we’re supposed to get “1” Magic. ---
**Author:** ![awryan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/awryan/32/74650_2.png) [@awryan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/awryan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 1:42am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/5 "2022-11-08T01:42:21Z")
> [@OminousGMan](#): > > Hey! > > I’ve asked the development team about this and the spell’s description is correct, as this is the intended design of the Ace of Wands troop. > > Thank you for your feedback. I have provided thoughts about the spell to the development team. I look forward to the ninja change of give an ally 10 magic (instead of 1) that will occur 2 years after this bug was reported as working as intended. No one will be aMAZEd. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/jonathan/32/66724_2.png) [@Jonathan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Jonathan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 2:22am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/6 "2022-11-08T02:22:08Z")
> [@TheIdleOne](#): > > Trait #3: Suit of Wands > _Give 1 Magic to all Allies when matching 4 or more Gems._ > > Even the 3rd trait is more effective than casting the actual troop for its effect. Does that even sound right as a intended design? This was essentially The Possessed King, though (but the spell can be useful as Transform or extra damage); and the other Tarot (The Star) that already gives Magic probably doesn’t have as good a third trait: > [@TheIdleOne](#): > > We even have a different Tarot card that already gives magic: > > **Draw The Star** > [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/gemsofwar/original/3X/3/9/39aad0b552c5195961b457842e958f7dd6aa3687.png "Draw The Star Picture") ](https://www.taransworld.com/GoW_graphics/Game/8595.png) > _Give [(Magic / 2) + 1] Magic to a random Ally. There is a 7% chance of an extra turn for each Yellow Gem on the board. [7x]_ All that being said, a flat 1 Magic still baffles. +1 Magic on 4+ matches isn’t that incredible to warrant a blank spell slot. Emperinazara is also Legendary, giving twice the effect of Ace of Wand’s third trait (i.e. 2 Magic on 4+ matches), while also having a useful spell. Ace of Wand’s spell essentially translates to a percent chance to pass the turn without affecting the board, but even that’s not guaranteed 🤔. 1 Magic as a Spell might help the very newest of players in battle, albeit very slowly, but the overlapping Venn diagram with those who are also likely to obtain this card seems pretty small (i.e. close to, if not zero). ---
**Author:** ![foxdvd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/0ea827/32.png) [@foxdvd](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/foxdvd)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 2:58am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/7 "2022-11-08T02:58:24Z")
The legendary construct troops sole purpose is to get those who don’t want to spend money to spend money since they are very difficult to get as more get added to the vault…they have given up even trying to make them seem like they do something at this point … ---
**Author:** ![danac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ab097/32.png) [@danac](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/danac)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 4:16am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/8 "2022-11-08T04:16:59Z")
> [@OminousGMan](#): > > I’ve asked the development team about this and the spell’s description is correct, as this is the intended design of the Ace of Wands troop. next mythic’s spell: do 10 damage to any single enemy. ---
**Author:** ![XLS78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/b2d939/32.png) [@XLS78](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/XLS78)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 4:27am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/9 "2022-11-08T04:27:07Z")
If the spell is truly functioning as intended, they should probably change its name to **Eat a Bag of Wands**. ---
**Author:** ![overthinker](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/overthinker/32/86337_2.png) [@overthinker](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/overthinker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 5:52am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/10 "2022-11-08T05:52:34Z")
I suspect there will be more “give 1 (armor/life/attack)” tarots. Pathetic. P.S. I feel the right name for the spell is “Shut up and pay” ---
**Author:** ![KYLENATOR001](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/kylenator001/32/33983_2.png) [@KYLENATOR001](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/KYLENATOR001)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 6:22am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/11 "2022-11-08T06:22:31Z")
This is just sad. You might as well just ask people $10 to upgrade their kingdom level, as that is blatantly all this troop is currently “good” for. That alone is a stretch. Copying legendary/mythic traits due to laziness is one thing, but we have a vault troop that is infinitely better and another few legendary troops that already have that trait and don’t suck. Hopefully the Xerox behind troop design gets a raise for a performance. ---
**Author:** ![sylverscale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@sylverscale](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/sylverscale)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 7:35am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/12 "2022-11-08T07:35:40Z")
> [@TheIdleOne](#): > > Does anybody there even play their own game anymore? We all know the answer to that is no. ---
**Author:** ![Stratelier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Stratelier](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Stratelier)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 7:36am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/13 "2022-11-08T07:36:53Z")
> [@TheIdleOne](#): > > I have an extremely hard time not believing it wasn’t just a typo of {1}, which is often used as a placeholder data for Magic before its finalized with proper data. This sounds like a legitimate explanation. Part of what makes a good placeholder is that it CANNOT be confused for legitimate data (though this is also limited the by game engine involved, e.g. if your sprintf() -like function uses {} for placeholders then you can’t do anything to change it) But yeah, the spell effect and 3rd trait seem really underpowered. Compare just these that I can name off the top of my head: Dragonguard (Hero Class) - +1 Life/Magic per match of 4 - Dragon allies only (including self) Emperinazara (faction Legendary) - +2 Life/Magic per match of 4 - All allies Dervish (Hero Class) - +2 All Stats per match of 4 - Monster allies only (includes self) Troop-Type Guild Guardians (Cunning, Persistence, etc.) - +4 All Stats per match of 4 - Matching allies only (includes self) (Aside: Bullygnoll makes a fun combo with Persistence AND Ferocity because of its dual typing) ---
**Author:** ![Fourdottwoone](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/fourdottwoone/32/66655_2.png) [@Fourdottwoone](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Fourdottwoone)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/14 "2022-11-08T19:27:12Z")
> [@OminousGMan](#): > > I’ve asked the development team about this and the spell’s description is correct, as this is the intended design of the Ace of Wands troop. Well, I have to admit that it really is a very novel idea to make the key incentive for purchasing the kingdom pass an intentionally useless troop without a real spell. Then again, other games also restrict their cash offers to cosmetics only, it’s good to see that Gems of War is finally beginning to tag along. Seriously though, someone forgot to add magic scaling to the spell template, it’s probably supposed to be something like [magic / 2] + 1, similar to other tarot cards. I’m sure that the current description matches what the spell currently does, that’s not what this bug report is about though. ---
**Author:** ![sylverscale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@sylverscale](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/sylverscale)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/15 "2022-11-08T19:36:38Z")
> [@Fourdottwoone](#): > > Well, I have to admit that it really is a very novel idea to make the key incentive for purchasing the kingdom pass an intentionally useless troop without a real spell. To make it even more enticing, they also added an old pet. Marketing! ---
**Author:** ![JamesDurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@JamesDurning](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/JamesDurning)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 9:07pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/16 "2022-11-08T21:07:39Z")
I figured this was one of those starter troops that you’d only use in the first few kingdoms. If you spent money to buy traitstones for the 3rd trait, it would give a significant boost to a starting player. ---
**Author:** ![Stratelier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Stratelier](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Stratelier)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/17 "2022-11-09T00:07:05Z")
> [@Fourdottwoone](#): > > I’m sure that the current description matches what the spell currently does, Which is technically enough to mark the entire report as not a “bug”, depending on the precise definition of “bug”. FUN. ---
**Author:** ![ctenn2ls](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/ctenn2ls/32/69996_2.png) [@ctenn2ls](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/ctenn2ls)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 1:17pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/18 "2022-11-09T13:17:52Z")
This 100% seems like just the latest reiteration of the same communications problems that pop up over and over again between the Community team and the programmers. Players find an issue that is obviously an oversight (in this case a spell placeholder “1” that was accidentally left in instead of updated to be 1 x Magic level like every other spell ever), reports to the Community team. Community team takes it at face value to the programmers. Programmers either look at their code and continue to miss the same mistake that was pointed out, or don’t even look at the code and say “looks right to me” and it gets rejected as “Not a Bug”. However, anyone who has any history of playing the game can tell you immediately how underpowered and unrealistic that spell is for the rarity of troop, value of troop in paid content, and consistency with other similar troops. It comes down to someone in the IP2 chain either never actually checked the spell code/description critically, fundamentally misunderstanding the reason it was flagged as a bug and didn’t communicate it correctly (just presented it without context or comment), didn’t want to admit they made a mistake and are memoryholing it away like so many other things, or put it in the “Too Hard/Not a Priority” file and said this isn’t worth the time to fix. ---
**Author:** ![Stratelier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Stratelier](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Stratelier)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/19 "2023-05-11T19:00:56Z")
When Ace of Wands popped up in my list of “upgradable” troops the other day, I started thinking … _were we maybe too hard on Ace of Wands?_ It’s super obvious that a fixed +1 Magic to a troop of your choice is categorically the weakest possible Magic buff in the game, BUT – it’s something you can cast for just 6 Mana, which (with the right combination of Banners and passive Traits) can theoretically be charged in a single turn even without a Mana Surge. And such low Mana costs are _always_ tied to relatively weak effects… > **some examples** > > - Teamwide Armor buff? True Damage. Mang/Rope Dart. > - Create ONE Gargoyle Gem? Eternal Sentinel/Tears of the Sisters get to create _three_ and their Extra Turn is _guaranteed._ > - Curse 2 enemies? Curse does _literally nothing_ when not combined with other status ailments/buffs. > - Jumble the board? Without a guaranteed extra turn? And because the Ace of Wands provides a buff to a troop _of your choice_, it seems like nobody asked the obvious question of: What happens if Ace of Wands buffs itself? If Ace of Wands granted, say, (1+Magic) Magic buff to a selected ally, then in theory you can: > **armchair analysis and math** > > - Cast on itself (with 0 Magic) = +1 buff > - Cast on itself (with 1 Magic) = +2 buff > - Cast on itself (with 3 Magic) = +4 buff > - Cast on itself (with 7 Magic) = +8 buff > - Cast on itself (with 15 Magic) = +16 buff > - Cast on itself (with 31 Magic) = +32 buff > - Cast on itself (with 63 Magic) = +64 buff > - Cast on itself (with 127 Magic) = +128 buff > - Cast on itself (with 255 Magic) = +256 buff > - Cast on itself (with 511 Magic) = +512 buff > - Cast on itself (with 1000+ Magic) = +1000 buff > - Total: 11 casts or less until max Magic > - Then cast on your favorite ally = +1000 Magic buff > Imagine buffing The Archduke by even +30 Magic (let alone 1000!) - truly a “discount Zuul” or your Mana back, right? So, suddenly the worst Magic buff in the game can be exploited into the BEST Magic buff in the game … _for just 6 Red Mana_ (to say nothing of its occasional Extra Turn). And don’t forget that a higher-level Player has as global Magic bonus which would quicken the cycle accordingly – for example, I have a global buff of about +10 Magic which ALONE would make it the single strongest Magic buff in the game (again, and for just 6 Red Mana), to say nothing of how it could still exponentially loop by casting on itself (i.e. max Magic in 7 casts or less) _What if Ace of Wands was limited to an “other” Ally?_ Sorry, that doesn’t address the underlying problem – a player could simply utilize an ancient magic called “having two of them”. Yes, this would slow the loop down by half and probably nobody wants a duplicate Troop on their team _ever,_ but it would still be the single most potentially exploitable Magic buff in the game. _What if Ace of Wands scaled by less than 1:1 of its Magic stat?_ That’s a nice thought (and this is common in many Troops already), but again it doesn’t actually change the underlying problem, it only slows it down: > **If the buff was (1 + Magic/2)** > > - Cast on self with 0 Magic = +1 buff > - Cast on self with 1 Magic = +1 buff > - Cast on self with 2 Magic = +2 buff > - Cast on self with 4 Magic = +3 buff > - Cast on self with 7 Magic = +4 buff > - Cast on self with 11 Magic = +6 buff > - Cast on self with 17 Magic = +9 buff > - Cast on self with 36 Magic = +19 buff > - Cast on self with 55 Magic = +28 buff > - Cast on self with 83 Magic = +42 buff > - Cast on self with 125 Magic = +63 buff > - Cast on self with 188 Magic = +95 buff > - Cast on self with 283 Magic = +142 buff > - Cast on self with 425 Magic = +213 buff > - Cast on self with 638 Magic = +320 buff > - Cast on self with 1000 Magic = +500 buff > - Total: 16 casts or less until max Magic _Then why does The Emperor get a scalable buff to ALL STATS, when Ace of Wands does not?_ Maybe because The Emperor only buffs a fixed target? If the Emperor is in last position then obviously it _can_ buff itself (by 1 + Magic/2) but its other stats (Armor, Life, and especially Attack) are all but useless while in last position. And yes, while it _can_ somewhat synergize with Troops such as Gargoyle (Attack), Tesla (Armor), or Sehkma (Magic) that’s hardly a noteworthy combo on its own. You’d have to shuffle The Emperor _out_ of last position before it can buff something other than itself, and most shuffling options apply to the enemy team, not yours. _Then why does The Star get a scalable MAGIC buff when Ace of Wands does not?_ Probably because The Star buffs a RANDOM target? (Compare Fallen Hero, Princess Fizzbang, etc) With a full team of 4 Troops, there’s only a 25% chance of The Star buffing itself, where on the other end, if The Star is by itself then yes it is guaranteed to buff itself but it has literally NO other use for its Magic stat. If the Ace of Wands had a scalable buff then The Star would be entirely obsolete. So what’s the verdict? Obviously we all agree that the effect is super weak, but I actually have to agree that the alternative (a buff scaled by Magic stat) is actually worse design. (Not that it would be the first example of such … but still) Maybe it could instead have a useful Boost Ratio (e.g. “+1 for each Tarot ally”), but that’s just me spitballing random ideas. Yeah, Tarot troops are mostly vanity Troops, but at least they’re not Treasure Troops (or Hoard Mimic). ---
**Author:** ![TheIdleOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@TheIdleOne](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/TheIdleOne)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 3:26am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737/20 "2023-05-12T03:26:38Z")
> [@Stratelier](#): > > were we maybe too hard on Ace of Wands? No… just… no. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/gemsofwar/original/3X/2/a/2a71f851effdfcf78a46160d32ac2584e9c3f832.jpeg) Our newest troop can give 8-10 magic to all other allies on average for 12 mana, yet I’m supposed to think 1 magic for 1 ally at 6 mana is a good rate? I’d have to cast 24 times to match 8 magic to 3 allies that Fallen Satyr does in 1 cast. > [@Stratelier](#): > > What happens if Ace of Wands buffs itself? ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/gemsofwar/original/3X/8/4/843a922916931049fb1de6ee8f17468b6a322553.jpeg) We already have Fakyr which can target itself and buff its own magic (in theory) 50% of the time and can also summon for the fun of it. Comparably, Ace of Wands does 1 magic. Even if it targeted itself, it would take so long to mean anything that it’s pointless. > [@Stratelier](#): > > So, suddenly the worst Magic buff in the game can be exploited into the BEST Magic buff in the game … _for just 6 Red Mana_ (to say nothing of its occasional Extra Turn). Fakyr would still be better since it can do more than just Magic gain. Then bring in other troops like The Empress for one troop or Shahbanu Vespera for stat gain looping and Ace of Wands just doesn’t matter. Casting 11 times to get max Magic is pointless when in most game modes, the match would already be over before that even mattered. [Next page](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/not-a-bug-ace-of-wands-spell-working-as-intended/77737.md?page=2)