Empowered, especially for Guild Wars, sucks all the fun out of the game. Basically, you must Freeze at least one of your opponents on the first turn or it’s likely you will not get a second turn. Way too many teams that go off on the first turn because Empowered gem transformers allow an almost guaranteed team member kill if not a full loop.
Please switch Empowered to Fast or Quick (75% or 50%). I would prefer no more than 50% myself. Otherwise, it’s face one of the 20 or so variants of “no more turns for you until at least half your team is dead, and the rest are frozen/entangled/webbed/silenced”.
Currently, I have to use Frostmage for my hero for most teams to have any chance of surviving the first turn. Or I have to try for the 1st turn kill. No other teams need apply.
Empowered is terribly useful outside of Guild Wars. I wouldn’t want to eliminate it completely (even though high-level Spirit Foxes terrify me when they appear in the Tower of Doom). I think I would prefer a battle effect in Guild Wars that drains one mana from all troops at the start of battle.
Or you could counter by using an empowered troop of your own, thus rendering the opposition troop useless. Or some kind of mana drain troop that starts with empowered too (naming no names).
The main problem with empowered is when it was designed, there was nothing that froze the starting board for the AI.
Since the addition of ‘Snap Freeze’ it’s made them all the more powerful. Add in you can use two empowereds converting to the same colour, it’s made it even more obtuse. Also, storms weren’t even available when Mercy was introduced I think.
There’s also an imbalance with colours.
Blue - 4 empowered gem converters ( you could also add that Elspeth I suppose as a 5th if being technical)
Green - 5 + Leprechaun
Red - 6, plus 2 empowered to skulls
Yellow - 6 + Elspeth + 1 to skulls
Purple 4 + Leprechaun + 1 to skulls
Brown 2 - say no more. Additionally both brown converters can be countered by Mercy and Moon Rabbit.
You could argue Siren is a sort of gem converter, which gives green and purple another troop to assist.
I would suggest that brown needs some help to catch up before there’s any call to change.
I don’t have a problem with Empowered.
I do however have a problem with the damn Doomed Books that once they start looping will destroy all/most of your team before stopping their loop. Throw in a Stealthy and good luck to us all.
You know what might have been cool for the current campaign? Given the upcoming campaign mythic’s spell and him seeming the inverse of Shahbanu Vespera?
How about a “Medal of Dao” that’s the reverse of the Medal of Anu? A medal that drains the other team’s mana by 20% at the start of the fight, coded to apply only after all other effects have been accounted for (traits, medals, et cetera?
Something that would simply blunt the effect of Empowered without making it a completely useless trait, assuming the player is willing to make the necessary trade-off, namely a reduced ability to amp his own team’s stats through other medals on account of having fewer medal slots to apply stat boosts to one’s own team.
One of the best suggestions I’ve seen on here. Personally hate empowered troops and I hate double empowered defence teams even more. I have always thought that all empowered traits could be changed to swift and the game would not suffer much. I know that would mess up some player’s style of playing (lots of easy battles) but the medal idea would still let that happen - in explore mode anyway.
I don’t find it that much an issue in GW honestly. You could also use empowered troops, or structure your team around whatever defense team you’re fighting. Maybe top notch defense teams are actually OP? I wouldn’t know; GW brackets are broken so I’ll never get there to find out.
I agree that empowered troops make the game too one-sided.
Your attack team have to have freeze and one or two empowered troops. Not much space for creativity.
Removal of empowered converters would only hurt during farming low level explore or mindless pvp. While I can counter them in GW I could live without them.
I like empowered troops, even in guild wars. We’ve all been pummelled because of an empowered or even two got a team rolling on the first turn, especially in high brackets but for the most part they’re fairly easy to counter with your own empowereds and some concentration/board control. I wouldn’t like to see them removed from the game or guild wars, if anything I’d like to see more added so we have more variety to choose from! Bring on the empowereds
It’s no different than the removal of Dawnbringer in Arena for a while - it basically was a required weapon to have any chance. The counter was “use your own Dawnbringer”. Basically, ignore every other weapon and draft given you must use Dawnbringer.
Same issue I have with Empowered in GW. Your counter is “Use your own empowered”. So basically, 2 empowered, 1 hero, and 1 24+ troop (Zuul, etc) is what you are recommending as the only viable options for attack - or use Frostmage and hope they aren’t immune/running or running 3 medals and break it on the first turn.
Thus my statement - Empowered is sucking the fun out of GW. No option to be creative or try anything but the optimal teams.
We can ask them to change the troop or just say deal with it. Like “devour on match 4 or 5” - you had one option for a team, period until they fixed that. It wasn’t by accident or a mistake - it worked they way they wanted it to, just didn’t think it through.
You can use empowered on attack as well. Nothing wrong with empowered as long as you use your noggin and don’t expect 5/0 every single day. It’s kind of the equalizer over just having the person with most stats win every match. If they dumb down Guild Wars I will look for a new game.
Again, I appreciate the suggestion. It’s not like I don’t go 4-1 or better most days.
But your suggestion basically is “join them because there really is no option to beat them” - basically, you are making my point for me.
No, my suggestion in direct terms is use your brain. You say it’s no fun because you are losing. The people that want a challenge like the empowered troops. On my purple day for instance I faced double or triple converts every single battle. I hit them with a 5/0. 9643! Took me maybe 15 min tops. Rank number 2 guild war guild on B1 so they no slouch
