An turn based combat adventure RPG with a unique combat system with no dice rolling ⚔️.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Update #34 - Boss Deep Dive
over 2 years ago
– Sun, Feb 27, 2022 at 11:31:56 PM
Hello fellow gamers!
We hope you're all having somewhat of a good weekend amongst the chaos.
Each day that passes brings Heroes of the Shire closer and closer to your tables. In the meantime, let's deep-dive again. This time we will look at one of our Earth scenario bosses, the Earthasaurus.
If you haven't caught up on our previous deep dives, you can find them all here.
It is no kidding that Earthasaurus, an Earth type dinosaur, is fortified by his very own platoon of baby goats.
Earthasaurus Static Ability
Carnage : During your Boss upkeep, you attack an enemy. Both the enemy and attack spell are chosen at random. Roll a D6 die to decide which spell is cast, with Root Snare as #1, Fierce Roar #2, Aggressive Bite #3, Tail Swipe #4 and Attack of the Goats as #5. Reroll with a 6. If a single target spell is used, randomly choose a target by nominating die numbers for your opponents and rolling a die. This ability does not place cooldown die.
Earthasaurus Boss Abilities
The Earthasaurus is immune to -Defence buffs, paralyze, confused and hex.
< 90 HP : Goatherd - During your hero upkeep add a baby goat card to your ability tab.
< 75 HP : Call Of The Warrior - Evolve all baby goat cards in play into warrior goats.
<65HP : One With Nature - You gain 1 HP during each players hero upkeep
<35 HP : UltimateCarnage - Your carnage ability now activates twice during your turn instead of once.
SupportSpells
Quick Thinking - You gain +4 HP regen and +4 AGI for 3 turns. A powerful heal of 12 over the 3 turns, whilst immediately taking the Earthasaurus agility value to 7, potentially making them go first next round to take advantage of that +4 HP regen.
Feed The Kids - You evolve x3 baby goat cards into x1 warrior goat. To evolve the baby goats, flip one card over revealing the warrior goat side and remove the other 2 goats from play. When the warrior goat gets added to your ability tab he would also get his turn that round. Hypothetically if there were no enemies the turn order would look like this : baby goat > baby goat > baby goat > earthasaurus : feed the kids > warrior goat > baby goat (new on created on earthasuarus upkeep if conditions met). If mount had no cooldown that's a potential +7 STR for 2 turns, making one deadly carnage next upkeep!
I've Goat The Power - You gain +1 defence for 3 turns, for each goat in play. Whilst this can be tricky to pull off if your enemies are smart enough to keep AOE'ing the baby goats, you will always have that 1 goat from your boss upkeep. The second part of this spell grants all your goats 4 HP.
GoatSummoner - Whilst you have a cooldown die on Goat Summoner, your Goatherd boss ability grants you an additional goat card, meaning each hero upkeep you'll be summoning x2 baby goats to your ability tab instead of 1 (if Goatherd has been activated).
Attack Spells
Root Snare - A ranged earth elemental type spell that deals 1 damage plus paralyzes your enemy for 2 turns.
Fierce Roar - This split spell gives all your enemies -2 defence for 2 turns and then follows up with a melee AOE attack that deals 0 DMG to all enemies. This spell adds a +STR attack modifier.
Aggressive Bite - A very powerful CD: 0 spell that deals 2 damage plus lacerate to a single target. This base attack of 2 adds a +STR modifier taking it to 10 damage without modifications, plus lacerate which is an additional 6 damage over 3 turns.
Tail Swipe - A ranged attack that deals 2 damage to all enemies, whilst granting you +2 HP regen for 3 turns. This spell is a great way to gain some HP when cast multiple times in a turn via your Carnage ability.
Attack Of The Goats - No Goat herding Earthasaurus boss would be complete without a spell named Attack of the Goats! This melee attack spell deals 5 DMG to a single target whilst allowing all of your goats to attack with you casting their only attack spell Head Bash.
Note : When pets attack with a hero or boss the damage is all dealt separately. For example, 12 DMG from the boss, which is defended, followed by 6 DMG from a pet which is defended. 12 DMG from the boss plus 6 DMG from a pet is not added up as 18 DMG.
Boss Strategy
- When playing as the boss you will want to always keep a cooldown die on Goat Summoner which will more often than not force your enemies into attacking your goats rather than you. If the attacking party of heroes don't have many AOE (multiple target) spells, this strategy will stack even more in your favour. Use Fierce Roar as often as you can, as leaving your enemies with -2 defence for 2 turns can be devastating. Even more so if you get lucky and attack with it during your boss upkeep with Carnage, being able to leave your enemies with -4 defence for 2 turns. This will make your next turn huge! Try to time your Attack Of The Goats spell with having several goats on your ability tab to take full advantage of those extra attacks. The rest of the battle is relatively straight forward with the Earthasaurus, Hulk, Smash!
- When playing as the attacking heroes it's of utmost importance to kill the baby goats before they evolve, as once evolved into a warrior goat they become much tougher and will require more damage to defeat. If you struggle with AOE's and you become overrun with too many goats, it's best to ignore them and focus your attacks on the boss in hope that you can survive the onslaught. You know Carnage is going to happen each and every upkeep so having a healer or support type hero in your party will be valuable to grant protection or healing over time. Buffing your defence value goes a long way vs this boss when he is attacking twice per turn, alongside his goats attacking too.
And that's a wrap for now guys!
We hope you enjoyed learning more about our Earthasaurus boss that you'll be able to find in our Earth scenario contained within the Earth & Water and Collectors Edition of Heroes of the Shire. We will be back soon with another hero deep-dive alongside a general update, until then stay safe and enjoy board gaming!
- Heroes of the Shire
Update #33 - Hero Deep Dive
almost 3 years ago
– Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 04:04:10 PM
Hello all,
At Senior Games, we aim to be as inclusive as we can when it comes to Hero diversity, whilst still trying to maintain our fantasy feel within the game. Different cultures, races, shapes, sizes and genders can be found inside the Shire. In today's hero deep-dive we're proud to share with you our Scholar hero, the Shires first non-binary character. There's something truly special about starting to see pieces of your own identity in the epic stories our Heroes will come to tell. In the long run, our hope is to represent as many different experiences as we can, to give as many fans as possible out there the chance to see themselves in our Heroes.
Conjuring spells of a serious nature with the three elements of Light, Fire and Water, the Scholar first selects which element to specialise in, as combat commences.
Scholar Hero Ability
Pre-Game : Add all 4 elemental book cards to your ability tab in the following formation. Page 6 on the bottom, page 4 on top, page 2 on top of page 4 with the book cover card face up. All 4 cards form to create your study book.
Study Magic: During your first Hero upkeep choose which pages of your elemental book you would like to study. Choose from Fire, Water or Light. Once chosen, open the book to the appropriate pages. Pages 1-2 for Fire, pages 3-4 for Water and pages 5-6 for Light. During your first hero upkeep place a die on your elemental book. The value of this die represents how many turns you have studied for. The more you study in an art the more you learn (unlock). This die value increase by 1 during your hero upkeeps. Spells in your elemental book have a required number of turns that you must have studied for before you can unlock them.
Fire Pages
2 Turns Unlock : Ignite - A ranged fire elemental type spell that deals 3 damage to a single target.
3 Turns Unlock : Sea of Flames - An AOE that burns all players at the table, allies and enemies alike.
4 Turns Unlock : Warmth - An AOE heal for 4 HP that also grants a 4 HP shield.
6 Turns Unlock : Volcanic Ritual - Whilst there is a cooldown die on Volcanic Ritual your Pyroblast spell deals an additional 4 damage. You may now cast Pyroblast resetting its CD if there is one.
Note : Rule change, a CD die is placed on the spell as it is cast, before the effects of the spell resolve. This sequencing change effects hardly any spells.
Water Pages
2 Turns Unlock : Waterlog - A ranged water elemental type spell that deals 3 DMG to all enemies whilst reducing their agility by 1 for 3 turns.
3 Turns Unlock : Wet Through - All allies receive -1 Strength, Intellect, Defence and Agility for 3 turns. You may cast another spell now. Yes this is not a typo, continue reading on to Dilute :)
4 Turns Unlock : Dilute - Any negative buffs on an ally (allies always include you unless otherwise stated) may be transferred to an enemy target of their choice. Buffs are exchanged 1 at a time and last for the same duration.
6 Turns Unlock : Hydration - Whilst you have a cooldown die on Hydration anytime a negative buff is placed on an enemy you gain 2 HP.
Light Pages
1 Turn Unlock : Gleam - A ranged light elemental type attack that deals 5 damage to a single target. This spell has a low cooldown.
3 Turns Unlock : Inner Light - All allies may cast their CD:0 spell now. Very effective in certain situations
4 Turns Unlock : Inner Flame - The next time you cast Holy Flame you gain 8 HP instead of 4. You may now cast Holy Flame resetting its cooldown die. Holy Flame is a powerful spell, try casting it, then casting Inner Flame right after to take advantage of x2 Holy Flames in a row.
5 Turns Unlock : Light Pulse - A favourite spell of mine! This ranged light elemental type attack deals 3 damage to all enemies. When the cooldown die on Light Pulse changes value, the spell casts again, leaving the cooldown die on its current value. Meaning that this spell will cast automatically during your dice upkeep when the value of the die changes, creating amazing value should the battle last that long to take advantage of. This spell also will recast should an enemy or ally manipulate its cooldown die.
That's 12 spells we've just got through before even looking at the Scholars Hero Board or Spell Mastery.
SupportSpells
Penance - All allies gain +2 light damage.
Condemnation - You may increase the cooldown dice of 3 spells from the last enemy to have attacked you. You may pick which of their spells, with 1 spell increasing by a value of 3, another spell increasing by a value of 2 and the last spell increasing by a value of 1.
Incognito - You gain +3 temporary buff points to spend anywhere you like, these last for 3 turns. Need a little more firepower? Grant yourself +3 Intellect. If you're feeling the heat of battle grant yourself +3 defence, or mix and match granting yourself +1 Int, +1 Def & +1Agi, the choice is yours in your given situation.
Cone Of Light - You may only cast this spell on an enemies turn after receiving damage. The attacking enemy receives a glowing condition for 3 turns.
Damage Resistance - Target ally receives +2 Int & becomes immune to damage for 2 turns.
Attack Spells
Light Storm - A ranged light elemental type spell that deals 2 damage to all enemies. This spell deals an additional 2 damage if the enemy is glowing. Combined with Cone of Light, Light Storm will always deal that additional 2 damage.
Vaporise - A ranged fire elemental type spell that deals 1 damage, plus 100% more damage if target enemy is burning. Look to your fire book for spells that grant burn.
Scalding Water - A melee fire and water elemental type spell that deals 2 damage to a single target. With a mix and match spell mastery, the Scholar can increase the damage of this spell by 2 points due to it having both Fire and Water elemental types.
Rain Burst - A melee water elemental type spell that deals 7 damage to all enemies. A strong spell indeed.
Holy Flame - A ranged light elemental type spell that deals 4 damage to a single target plus grants you 4 HP. Having both +Str and +Int modifiers makes this spell very powerful. Combine this with +3 Int from Incognito and your holy flames will burn bright!
Scholar Spell Mastery
The Scholar has 3 paths to follow, but each path is typically played best when combined with those pages of the Elemental Book via your Hero ability. See Bookworm down the left, HydroStudies in the middle and Pyromancer on the right. Each path gives the Scholar a completely different play style, almost like playing x3 separate heroes.
Bookworm
Whilst this path is the most universal of all the paths the Scholar can take, to take advantage of this paths first ability, Higher Intellect, you'll want to be studying pages 5-6 in your elemental book, the Light Pages. This path offers some amazing spells like Librarian, which removes a buff or condition from an enemy after you deal damage to them. Improvement removes a cooldown die entirely from a spell, with the downside of falling asleep for 2 turns.
Hydro Studies
The path of regeneration. Combine this path with your Water pages (3-4) and you'll be topping up your own HP throughout combat with Drenched and Hydration. Drenched needs you to have a drenched condition to take full advantage of, which is where Irrigation comes in handy granting you +3 Intellect, plus drenched. Turning a negative effect into a positive one, the life of a Scholar. Hydroblast is a power house dealing lots of damage and pumping your water elemental type spells even further.
Pyromancer
Fire mage and Pyromancer fans out there rest assured you'll see burst damage and lots of flames in this path. Pyroblast comes in handy with its high damage output and stunning effect. Combine this with Intense Heat and you can cast a chain of Pyroblasts on your enemies turning them into ash. Don't forget that Volcanic Ritual from your Fire pages too, increasing the damage of each Pyroblast by 4. You'll need to keep yourself burning to take full advantage of Intense Heat which is where Sea of Flames from your fire pages 1-2 comes in handy. If you can't burn yourself, why not ask your trusty best friend the Dragon Knight to help.
And that's a wrap for now guys!
We will be back soon with more updates and deep-dives. We'll cover our Earthasaurus boss next in a boss deep-dive, followed by our Alchemist hero. We've had around 65% of all our backers complete their pledge manager surveys, so thank you to everyone that has completed theirs. If anybody has an issues or questions, please don't hesitate to reach out and we will do our best to assist you. Until we meet again in another update, have a great weekend and we look forward to sharing more games progress as and when it happens.
- Heroes of the Shire
Update #32 - Pledge Manager Opens
almost 3 years ago
– Wed, Feb 09, 2022 at 10:06:41 PM
Howdy!
Thank you all kindly for your patience as we worked on the pledge manager over the last month. We can confirm that the pledge manager is now open, but surveys have only been sent to 65 backers, as what Backerkit call a 'smoke test'. Once we can confirm the first few backers have a smooth experience, we will send surveys to the rest of the backers which will be in around 24hrs from the time of this email.
What is a Backerkit Survey?
We are using a company called Backerkit who offer a third party system to help us to streamline the way that we do fulfilment and post-Kickstarter pledges. This tool will import your pledge data from Kickstarter and allow you to confirm your shipping address, purchase any add-ons, add additional copies of the game, pay for your shipping and possibly taxes depending on where you live. We can then export this data and send it to our fulfilment partners to fulfil your orders.
Allbackers who wish to receive their Heroes of the Shire pledge from Kickstarter MUST follow the unique link that has been emailed out to you. This link will take you to a Backerkit survey where you must select the rewards you wish to receive, enter your physical addresses, and check out by paying the shipping and any tax costs associated with your region. If you do not do this, you will not receive a game from us as we'll have no way to pay for your shipping costsand we won't actually know where to send your game.
Sample survey
The pledge manager will be open for a couple of months, so your immediate attention is not required, but the sooner you are able to complete it, the better. We will also have limited supplies of extra games, so if you're interested in those, please try to get your order in as soon as possible.
We have some frequently asked questions about the pledge manager below, so if you have questions, please read these first and then feel free to reach out to us via Discord or a Kickstarter Message and we'll make sure we help you out!
Sample survey - Addon store
Pledge Manager FAQ
I don't see the email from Backerkit
There are a few common issues that causes this :
Firstly, it may be that your email client has categorised our survey as junk or spam, we please ask you to check all of your inboxes. Try searching your inbox for Senior Games or Heroes of the Shire. The email is typically sent from this address : [email protected]
Secondly, make sure you are checking the email address that you have registered with Kickstarter as this is the email address we have sent your survey too. If you can't access the email address used in your Kickstarter profile, contact us with your details and we will manually set you up as a new account on the pledge manager and transfer your credit across, which may take a few days.
How long will the pledge manager be open?
We will make a decision on when to close the pledge manager once we get more information on when the games will finish mass production, but for now, we can say that the pledge manager will be open for a couple of months. We will keep you updated along the way and give you notice before we close the pledge manager and lock in the addresses.
I gave my bank details, why has no payment been taken from my account?
During the survey you will be asked to provide card details to pay for your remaining order, but this is not an immediate payment. The card details are stored on Stripe who are the payment processing company integrated with Backerkit. Behind the scenes we have a button that allows us to charge cards. We don't want to do this often so we allow time for everyone to complete their survey and then we charge cards later down the line. We will give you prior notice before we charge your cards, so you have ample of time to ensure the funds are there.
I am moving. What should I do?
You can always modify your address on your order until we lock in the addresses - we will wait to do this until just before we ship your game. Please do this directly yourself on the Backerkit survey, rather than reaching out to us since we will not be able to change it for you. If you can't find where to edit your address on the Backerkit survey, find your Backerkit survey confirmation email and there you will see a link to edit your address. If you are moving right around the time of fulfilment, before we lock in the addresses, your best bet is to have the game sent to a friend or family member where you can pick up the game, just to be safe.
If you have any other questions about the pledge manager, please contact us via Discord chat or a Kickstarter Message. We'll do our best to get back to you and resolve your issue as soon as we can!
Pre-Order Store
If you know anyone who missed the Heroes of the Shire campaign and would like to get a copy of Heroes of the Shire, please direct them to our store and help spread the word: https://heroes-of-the-shire.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
Thank You
That's a wrap for now. Hopefully the pledge manager will run smoothly for everybody. If you do have any questions regarding how to use it, please get in touch with us via a direct message on Kickstarter or Discord. Have a great week and we look forward to bringing Heroes of the Shire to your table.
- Heroes of the Shire
Update #31 - Boss Deep Dive & General Game Update
almost 3 years ago
– Sat, Feb 05, 2022 at 04:52:20 AM
Hello all.
We hope you're having a great start to the weekend.
We're just wrapping up the last few checks with the pledge manager and our Backerkit consultant is also doing her final checks. Once the final checks are complete our surveys will be going out, so expect to see aHOTSsurvey in your inbox within the next few day. Don't worry we will do another post about this the day we send them out to remind everyone. Earlier today we also opened up our pre-order store, so if you know anyone that missed the campaign please direct them our way.
General Update
The weight of all our boxes have increases slightly, bringing the collectors edition in at 5kg or 11lb, with the collectors edition box also increasing in size. We've been working around the clock to implement and test all the stretch goals you guys unlocked through the campaign. Whilst some of these we had already tested back in 2020 like the elemental table, others like the quest cards were completely new. So here's an update on what we've added so far :
As well as our stretch goals we've been making lots of other adjustments too, for example we've reworked our save game sheet to accommodate level 12 and NEW misc items. We have added 2 new slots on the edges of our equipment boards to facilitate quest item rewards (misc items) from the newly added quest cards . These quest rewards will give you a taste of what other types of loot items we plan to introduce in future expansions. We've also had to adjust action cards to incorporate the new Wandering Merchant alongside adjustments to incorporate the Event cards (Stretch Goals). Instead of talking about what we've been up to, why don't we show you.
And then there were 3...
It's been a tough few days with the loss of our beloved Standee Destroyer and Unhelpful Playtester Bliss. Whilst we're doing our best to plod on with things it's always hard sitting down to play Heroes of the Shire and wondering when she'll be sneaking in to come play with the dice or sit in the box. So to commemorate her playfulness we've made a couple of small changes. Our artist is currently drawing Bliss and we're implementing her into the game by putting her onto a quest card. We'll share the artwork with you in our next update, until then see the quest card and loot item placeholder.
That's a quick overview of what we've been up to in-between setting up the pledge manager. We will report back with more updates as and when.
In the meantime, lets jump into another boss deep-dive with our White Widow from the Ice scenario, asked for by Brian Eidsness.
If you haven't caught up on our previous deep dives, you can find them all here.
Forever weaving deadly plots to assassinate her enemies in her imagination, the White Widow spider is a frosty character with a poisonous bite.
White Widow Static Ability
WebbedCave : During each players Hero upkeep they have the option to enter your webbed cave. Once inside they must stay there for the duration of their turn and can't cast any spells. Enemies who brave your webbed cave receive x1 Antivenom card and suffer 6 un-defendable damage which can't be prevented.
White Widow Boss Abilities
During this battle no spells or abilities are able to remove poison conditions.
Pre-battle : Death by Poison - If a poison condition leaves an enemy without them holding an Antivenom card, they are immediately killed. If a Hero holds an Antivenom card when a poison condition leaves them, they may discard their Antivenom card in order to live another day.
<60HP : Invitation - You gain 2 HP each time an enemy enters the webbed cave.
<35 HP : Taking Shelter - When an enemy enters your webbed cave you may attack them right away by casting an attack spell during their turn.
SupportSpells
SpiderHatchlings - Summon x4 Spider Hatchlings to fight by your side, unless your hungry.
Hungry Mother - Devour (destroy) your baby hatchlings and gain 8 HP for each one destroyed.
LureThem In - Force an enemy into your webbed cave. As the White Widows HP drops and she enters phase 2 and phase 3 of combat this spell becomes more and more appealing.
Snow Burrow - White widow grants herself +3 Defence and 2 HP regen for 3 turns.
Attack Spells
Poisonous Snow - A ranged poison and ice elemental type spell that deals 3 damage plus intellect to a single enemy. This spell also grants the White Widow +1 poison and ice damage for 3 turns.
Snow Pierce - A melee ice elemental type attack that deals 3 damage plus pierce to a single enemy. Piercing right through an enemies defence value can cause some terrifying damage. This powerful attack add a strength attack modifier with a chance to freeze the enemy via a dice roll.
Spider Fang - Another melee attack, this time a poison and ice elemental type attack that deals 3 damage plus poison to a single enemy. Remember how vital poison is to this battle, keeping your enemies poisoned so they are forced into your webbed cave is certainly a strong way to play out this boss battle.
Sticky Web - A split spell, with the first half of this spell deals 3 damage and paralyzes all enemies for 2 turn. The second half of this spell hence the name sticky web, forces the next Hero to enter the webbed cave to stay there for 2 turns instead of 1.
Poison Blast - A ranged poison elemental type spell that deals 5 damage to all enemies and poison. This attack also adds a strength modifier.
Boss Strategy
When playing as the boss you'll want to keep your enemies poisoned as often as possible, but don't keep reapplying the poison. To take advantage of your webbed cave ability, you need to let the poison finish it's 3 turns courses on an enemy, forcing them to find an Antivenom. As your HP drops below 35HP you'll want to use your Lure Them In spell as often as possible, combined with Sticky Web makes a nice combo. Forcing an enemy to stay 2 turns in your web when they next enter and then luring them into your web the turn after. Not only will you gain 2 HP from your invitation ability, but your enemy will be taking 12 un-defendable damage over the 2 turns from being in the cave, alongside you being able to attack them right away as they enter. Support heroes struggle against this wicked White Widow so focus your attacks on the enemy attackers first.
When playing as the Heroes you'll want to strategically grab some Antivenom cards even if you are not poisoned. Having to keep finding the Antivenom cards in the cave can ruin combos that require several turns to setup, so maybe entering the cave to grab yourself an Antivenom several turns in a row can prove to be useful. Heroes should save their AOE spells for when the boss summons her Spider Hatchlings, as with most bosses if their pets are not dealt with fast the tides of battle can turn very quickly.
And that's a wrap for now guys!
We hope you enjoyed learning more about our White Widow boss that you'll be able to find in our Ice scenario contained within the Fire & Ice and Collectors Edition of Heroes of the Shire. We will be back soon with more updates and deep-dives, until then stay safe and enjoy board gaming!
- Heroes of the Shire
Update #30 - Hero Deep Dive
almost 3 years ago
– Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 01:57:47 AM
Hello all.
Thank you for your patience whilst we work on opening up the pledge manager. We're in the process of settling all of our shipping and fulfilment estimating and making sure that we've covered everything when it comes to taxes and international trade regulations. Since there have been changes in recent years, this is taking us some time, but we plan to launch the pledge manager as soon as we can, we're estimatinglate January, but this could run into early February.
In the meantime we'll continue to keep you updated alongside finishing off our Boss and Hero deep-dives, like the one we've lined up for todays update.
This rotund dwarf is a curious character who is useful to have by your side. The Runesmith can often be found sitting on his anvil after expertly blending metal and magic, embedding weapons with runes to give them the edge. Whilst heavily focused on being a support type Hero don't turn your nose up at this little fella's damage output as his unique rune spells can leave you gravely wounded.
Runesmith Hero Ability
Runic Power : During your first turn you must select a runic path to follow, choosing from Protection, Strength or Elemental. Blending metal and magic is mighty hard work for our Dwarven hero, so choose your path wisely as you can't change your runic path during combat. Once you've selected your path you'll place the associated token on the Runesmith's hero ability. In the bottom right of the Runesmith's hero board you'll see 4 spells labelled Rune Spells. These are Rune of Strength, Rune of Protection, Frost Rune and Rune of Steel. Similar to the Dragon Knight, anytime you cast one of these Rune spells (you can unlock more Rune spells in the spell mastery) you will be granted with additional effects. Let's see below what effects are added to your Rune spells, which should help you chose which runic path to follow.
Protection : All your Rune Spells grant all allies +2 HP shield.
Strength : One ally gains a +1 buff of their choice for 2 turns.
Elemental : You gain +2 frost damage for 2 turns.
Note : These added bonuses to your Rune Spells are all added immediately as the spell is cast, before any damage is dealt. This hero ability is a combination of our Huntress hero and our Dragon Knightabilities.
SupportSpells
Runic Seal - All enemies receive -2 Defence for 3 turns.
Dampen Damage - One ally receives protection for 3 turns. Protection decreasing incoming damage by 50%.
Dampen Magic - Whilst there is a cooldown die on dampen magic any damage received by elemental type spells is reduced by a value of 1.
Rune of Strength - One ally receives +3 Strength & -1 Defence for 3 turns
Rune of Protection - All allies gain a 4 HP shield
Attack Spells
Iron Strike - A melee attack that targets one enemy, dealing 6 damage plus stunning them for 2 turns. (Stun forces your enemy to skip their dice upkeep phase, a great way to slow them down).
Frost Blast - A ranged frost elemental type spell that targets one enemy, dealing 4 damage plus a can't be healed condition for 3 turns. This mighty blast can be a fantastic way to stop your enemies from healing.
Dwarven Might - A melee attack that targets one enemy, dealing 1 damage. This spell deals an additional 1 damage if you have an active shield value, alongside adding your defence modifier.
Frost Rune - A split spell with the first half granting a target ally +2 frost damage for 3 turns. The second half of this spell is a melee attack that targets one enemy, dealing 2 damage.
Rune of Steel - A melee attack that targets one enemy, dealing 4 damage plus an additional 3 damage if the enemy has a shield of their own.
Runesmith Spell Mastery
The Runesmith has 3 paths to follow. Bodyguard down the left, RuneAuthority in the middle and Battlesmith on the right. Each path gives the Runesmith a different set of spells and abilities as you'll see below in our summaries for each path.
Bodyguard
This is the path of protection, allowing the Runesmith to taunt up after casting Dampen Damage. This path unlocks Runic Cleanse, a great spell to remove all buffs and conditions from a single ally. A new unlockable spell called Rune Shield is a mighty way to keep your enemies at bay, allowing the Runesmith to cast his Rune of Protection spell when an enemy attacks him. Casting spells on an enemies turn is a powerful effect as when the turn order comes back round to your play, your cooldown die immediately reduce. Damage prevention is a neat way to help buff your allies defence, pair this with the War Drummer or Bard who love to give out buffs and your team will soon be swamped in great defence values. Following the Protection or Strength runic path is typically the play style of this path.
Rune Authority
This path is in between the Bodyguard and Battlesmith paths for a reason, as it pulls traits from both paths. The Rune Authority path grants the Runesmith some healing with an ability called Enchanted, alongside a spell called Restoration Rune. Brotherhood whilst it looks like a heal, and heal it does, is typically a DPS spell by allowing an ally to cast a spell now. This allows heroes to take advantage of buffs or conditions that might be expiring on their next Hero upkeep. Rune of Speed permanently increases the Runesmith's agility value from 3 > 6. This increase in speed and the Runic Cleanse in the bodyguard path make for great Hybrid builds of the Runesmith. Following the Strength or Protection runic path is typically the play style of this path.
Battlesmith
The Runesmith turns into somewhat of a melee DPS class, coating his weapons in frost magic when following this path. With the Double Efficiency ability unlocked, the Runesmith in this path has the ability to follow 2 runic paths with his hero ability. Creating a great DPS hero who can offer support for his fellow comrades. Following the Elemental or Protection (maybe both) path is typically the play style of this path. The Protection runic path keeps the Dwarven Axe ability almost always active.
And that's a wrap for now guys!
We will be back soon with more updates and deep-dives. We'll cover our White Widow spider boss next in a boss deep-dive, followed by our non-binary hero the Scholar. We will also be opening up the pledge manager soon so stay tuned for more on that. Until then, have a great week or two and we look forward to a fantastic year with you all.
