Since I am new I would like to have some information around this, as well how to clever use them!
Cheers.
Carnex is the best.
Carnex + Gorgotha is the old legendary combo.
Herdmaster + Ragnagord is the newer epic combo.
Both have good color coverage; blue and green lack decent exploders AFAIK. The epics have Divinion FIelds and Wildfolk bonuses but they’re both more fragile than the legendaries.
With the nerf to exploders’ mana gains, generators and transformers are typically seen more. That and the potential for things to suddenly go horribly wrong.
1 Like
Thanks, but is it wrong to build a team around one? Not so hip on any combos.
You would be better off building a team for another purpose and using an exploder to fill a gap (if no transformer is available or you want more coverage).
One exception is Hunter’s Mark. Because exploding skulls count for double damage on marked troops just like skull matches. So a Carnex can do 14-20 damage that way on top of its normal uses.
I said a bit round, the one I am using is filling a gap. Would you say that Ragnarod 2nd trait(start battle with half mana) is quite good to have if one doesnt have any brown/red gem creator in the team?
My old school defense team had Carnex/Gorgontha and it served me well until 1.08 hit. Played them solid for over six months leveling thru the ranks. My personal favorites from long, long ago were:
Hero - Winters Woe or Arrow of Slaying
Carnex
Gorgontha
Orion
And before that was:
Webspinner
Carnex
Gorgontha
Hero - Eye of Xanthos, then Arrow of Slaying
These teams are obsolete now because board control in the era of true shot and skull damage is critical, the margin of error with exploders is just too great now. That said, I loved my Carnex/Gorg tag-team and hope I can use them again in the future.
If you have that many Arcane Lave Traitstones laying around, you probably want to see which other troops they are much more useful on. Yes, his +50% mana is good, but Jarl or Sheggra are, in my opinion, better spends for Arcane Lavas.
Just having like 5 lava stones, and my Sheggra is my priotity with her 2nd trait. Needs 10 Lava stones tho…
I really hope Carnex + Gorgotha combo never makes a comeback. That was basically the 4x marauder of its time - back a year ago.
My favorite exploder with all factors considered would have to be Herd Master. Not exactly for having the best explosion, but for having:
- A predictable explosion. If his explosion number is higher than the number of yellows on the board, you will know exactly where all visible gems will drop.
- Lowest rarity of any mass exploder, making him the cheapest for souls and traits.
- Cheapest mana cost “cleanse all” in the game.
- Full immunity trait
Carnex is also my alternative favorite exploder for many of the same reasons. Between Ragnagord and Gorgotha, Ragnagord is much better. He has better traits, targeting, and lower cost.
Aint Ragnarod better than Herdmaster?
I find exploders useful as mana battery to quickly charge up the rest of the team.
Pretty much all my team combos either have an exploder or one of the gem-spawning creatures.
Damage-wise, exploders really aren’t that swell.
Also, for the purpose of mana-accumulation, I think Gorgotha is better than Carnex.
Carnex’s effectiveness is limited by the number of Skulls on board, but Gorgotha doesn’t have any restrictions.
At mythic Ragnarod will originally do 10 gem explosions of a choosen color. Then if you have the last trait he get 1+ magic for himself + other allies that use red mana. With his 2nd trait he starts with half mana, just need 7 to get him going. Has to be the best?
Really disagree with that… I don’t recall them being used that often, especially as a pair, and beating them was easy enough, if unpredictable… Exploders were strong and got a justified balancing nerf, but were viable, fun and pretty balanced until 108 hit and made letting the enemy get a skull match too dangerous… and even before the nerf they were far from ubiquitous…
2 Likes
Hmm, didn’t notice Ragnarod’s traits.
Looks good so far.
I also like him because you can control the main color you wish to explode.
Yeah, 7 mana if you have his 2nd trait, in a fast kill team, you probably just gonna use him once, if you really need.
Carnex’s dependence on skulls also means you can predict the explosion a bit better - use it when they’re scattered - and lacks Gorgotha’s potential to blow up a bunch of gems all in, say, one quarter of the board.
So that evens out the dependence in my opinion. And then you get the +3 armor that Gorgotha doesn’t get.
Carnex also quite handily beats Gorgotha in terms of traits, not that this matters.
Did you forget about Carnex - Gorgotha - Silent One, as just one of many builds, that would completely decimate the other team. This was back during a time when The Silent One had higher stats, did not silence self, and no silence immunity.
I’m a huge fan of exploders, with a tie between ragnagord and gorgotha as my favorites. Carnex is great also, but I LOVE the targetability of rag, and the sheer number from gorgotha.
Barbearius is easily the best exploder. It’s a giant bear with a giant mace, hello?
1 Like
Right, where the issue was that Silent One was broken, not the exploders!