Clickbait-y title, I know. But there is one thing worse than Bone Dragon right now. “Is it Khorvash?” You know what, yes. Khorvash is worse than Bone Dragon imo, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
After a month and change in one of the best guilds in the game (Rank six and climbing), I have encountered a problem. And it is not a problem that many people seem to be talking about. Probably because it effects what I estimate to be a percentage of players lower than what the Guild Update nerfed. Probably a fraction of a fraction of a percent.
Bone Dragon is the big bad right now. Everyone is worried about it, and I laughed at first. How could people be having trouble with something that I don’t even consider a trivial threat?
Then I realized… Mab… Khorvash… Bone Dragon… Manticore… None of it matters any more. Not to me, anyway. Two months ago, I was a scared level 275 with no idea what to do about these horrifying teams I saw. Khorvash dealing fifty true damage for fourteen mana, stunning two enemies, and draining out half of my team. It was terrifying.
But it stopped mattering.
I realized this shortly after Tacet started having trouble with his Bombots. I thought it was funny how Bone Dragon countered the troop completely and had a bit of a chuckle at what I considered good counterplay to a team that, imo, should only be used for farming.
I enjoyed watching this. And then people started having trouble with it with other teams and it made me think “Oh, these people must have some sort of problem being matched against higher level people”.
Then I saw more and more people and… Bone Dragon really looks like a problem, now. Not as bad as Khorvash was, but still. So I sat and thank, and sat and thunk, trying to figure out why this wasn’t effecting me.
Then this thread appeared:
I responded and tried to come up with a defense team that might actually prove difficult to fight for me. I came up with this, and tested with the help of @ZooKeeper
(Mechanist class on hero)
I found that this gave me a bit of a challenge, but even a team that I specifically designed, knowing the potential weaknesses of my team, could not stop the invasion team that I use.
If all else fails… If everyone else is experiencing the same things and I am not… Then this must be a problem. And so it is.
I will not comment on the problem of Bone Dragon from experience. I cannot. My commentary on it is sheer speculation and what I think should be done from a design perspective. But it is not a threat to me. And the fact that it is not a threat is, in itself, a problem.
I won’t say that there is no problem with Bone Dragon, or you can counter it with X, Y, and Z. Enough people are having trouble for it to be a problem, therefore it is. But I am here today to look at another problem.
The invade meta. If you play correctly, barring any major bad luck, it is entirely possible to win on your first or second turn in a majority of your games. There are teams that slow this down to them being able to take three or four turns from you, but in doing so, they lack the teeth needed to be a threat at all.
I will not share what the team that I use is. I will not share how to use it. And I recommend anyone that knows what it is does the same out of courtesy for our fellow forum-goers. The truth is, I am starting to get burnt out because of this team. It is so ruthlessly efficient and ludicrously overpowered that games just breeze by. The only difference the enemy team makes to me is what art I see and what death cries I hear as I mow through another and another match.
This needs to be addressed, but for once, I have no idea how to do so. I am normally fairly clever when it comes to finding ways to balance things, even things out, or suggest unorthodox ideas to curb the maximum potential of a game element. I take pride in offering my opinions and ideas to the developers of various games that I play. But… I have nothing.
What needs to be addressed here is the teams that can win invades in one or two turns. Yes. This will hurt end/post game players. A lot. Heavily. This will be wildly unpopular, but this is a ticking time bomb. I’m already considering calling it quits because of how repetitive this game has gotten, and I salute those on the leaderboards for their drive and ability to do the same thing over and over again. But the challenge is gone for me.
I get no joy out of hurling massive metaphorical fireballs at the equivalent of a single twig. Getting faster, more efficient, and whatnot is not a drive for me. I need something to play against. Not a routine series of steps to execute in order, again and again, ad infinitum.
Please address the invade team meta. Yes, Bone Dragon and balance there is important too. But I wish for at least some word, some faint hope, that you will get around to bringing down the power scale of true end/post game invasion teams.
I am not talking about the level 1000 that has trouble with BD. I am talking about the level three hundred and sixty two sitting before you, burning herself out from doing the same thing over and over again like a machine because Bone Dragon doesn’t even cross her mind when she blows through another team like a bitter Glacial Peaks breeze through a scantily-clad Leonian Devoted.
Editing to add some additional points to this discussion:
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This is not just me. There are other people who breeze through BD teams as well. And they will hate to read this. To them, I apologize. But this needs to be addressed.
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“Just use another team” Oh yes, you try using butter to lube your mechanics. Tell me how well that works. Other teams just don’t do this job well, and I feel that one should not have to nerf themselves to enjoy the game
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“You didn’t specify which troops need to be nerfed.” Nerfing will not work due to how things like this work mechanically. No, there probably needs to be an overhaul here. If the devs need somewhere to look, I will point them in the direction of Hellcat/Alchemist/Goblin Rocket/Goblin Rocket. That is the simplest and honestly weakest one of these teams that I can think of. There are more synergies like that. And I’m not just talking about mana loop teams. But that style of thing. If they want to know specifically the team that I am having issues with (not troubles. Issues. Worded carefully), then I will create a video for them and make it unlisted, of this specific team in action.
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“You’re not a dev, you don’t do this for a living, what do you know?” You’re right. I’m not. I do not specialize in this, but it is a thing that I take great interest in and enjoy observing and dissecting. Most of the playerbase hasn’t caught onto this and it is something executed by only a handful of players. It is not something I would expect anyone to come up with on their own or see coming in a million years. The only way something like this could come out of the woodwork is with a great deal of loyal and dedicated fans all trying to find the most optimal invade team. One person was bound to find something like this, no matter how well a game is balanced. Especially with a following so large as this one’s. tl;dr on this point: The devs are wonderful, and do an amazing job, and this is not their fault in any way. I’m actually impressed that this took so long to happen and that only a handful of players are catching on to such a thing
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“Your thread is too long, and I didn’t read it!” Tl;dr: Whole topic in four words: “Please nerf invade teams”
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“Really though what’s the teaaaaaaaaam?” No. You might think you want it, but you might also think that an unlimited supply of candy is a good thing too, until you overeat. It would be unhealthy for the longevity of the game.
