Difference between revisions of "Strategy Guide"

Revision as of 04:07, 26 August 2009

I write this article not as an expert, but as an avid player and fan of The Far Wilds. The purpose of this article is to give a beginning introductory strategy guide for the newer players.

Three Approaches

First, let’s take a look at the general strategy options you have. At the beginning of the game, you can either rush your opponents base, attempt to expand to a second flux well, or sit back and protect your base, waiting to increase domain and cast higher spells.

“Run, Forrest! Run!”

If you choose to rush your opponent, your idea is to play a lot of small creatures with high speed, or play creatures that you can spawn near your opponent’s base, such as Saplings, Treeherds, Trunk Hermits, Lightning Elementals, and even water –spawned creatures such as Ghost Ship or Alearwyn Barque.

Your idea with this sort of rush is twofold: 1) kill their creatures before they can kill you and 2) keep their domain down. You accomplish the first goal by planting your creatures just outside of their base, usually in area they can’t see. When they play a creature, it comes into play dimmed, and you attack it before it ever has a chance to attack you. The second goal is accomplished by attacking buildings. A word of caution: most base buildings come with “salvage” which means that your opponent will get a portion of flux back if the building is destroyed soon after coming into play. You must weigh the pros and cons of allowing your opponent to have two or three domains against the salvage flux. Sometimes it is better to kill the buildings, as many of the better cards in this game require control of two or more domains.

It is often a good idea to place a building construction site around a flux well so that it builds while your opponent is dealing with your rush attack. If you keep your opponent occupied for four turns, your construction site completes, and you now have the control of more wells than your opponent does.

“World Domination”

If you choose to expand, your goal is to control an extra flux well early. You send out a creature with high vision and/or speed to find a new flux well and place a construction site, or you play a couple two vision buildings to expand from your base to the center well. Remember, buildings placed on a hex you control build instantly, but those placed in area you don’t control require 4 turns to construct. If the building is damaged, it doesn't construct that turn.

Placing a construction site must be done with extreme caution. The site will only have 3 health until it is finished constructing. Try to place construction sites in areas that your opponent can't see and will have problems getting to quickly due to terrain. A Thistle Falcon or a Scout can single handedly destroy your hopes of expansion. Be wary of building destruction spells. Your opponent doesn't have to be next to the site to Tremor or Volcano it; he just has to be able to see it. It is recommended to construct with low flux cost buildings rather than a 7 flux base.

Expanding by way of construction is risky, though Hill Giant Contractors can turn this into an extremely viable strategy.

Mountain Folk often uses Galom's Prospectors to find a hill or mountain near a flux well, control it for a turn, and insta-build a building on that spot. Sylvan and Dark Legion can see the other wells with fast creatures such as Scouts or Hell Cats or high vision creatures such as Thistle Falcon.

Expanding towards the center can be accomplished by placing your first building one space towards the middle from a flux well and placing two two vision buildings towards the center, such as Earthworks, Foul Obelisk, Great Oaks, Beacons of Celador, Bamboo Watchtowers, etc.

When expanding, you must be able to defend your buildings. Expanding in a way that allows your opponent to kill your buildings before you can kill their creatures means you are a huge disadvantage, especially because most buildings cost five or more flux.

“Xenophobia”

If your deck is one that needs three or so domains in order to play your key cards, you will want to protect your base rather than sending out a rush. You will protect your buildings and territory with creatures , spells, and enchantments until you have the two or three domains needed to play your cards.

Once these cards are played, you carry out your strategy, whatever it may be. You may want to cast a Barkskin Dragon with Energy, a Blind Assassin or Tortured Ghost, a Bilgrim’s First Prototype or a Dag Cannon and then wreak havoc. You may want to use Charm on your opponents creature. You may want to have a solid protected base and cast a Bronze Statue.

The possibilities are almost endless, but remember that this strategy is susceptible to building and/or mass destruction cards (Tremor, Sink Hole, Volcano, etc). Your 3 domain creatures are also susceptible to removal spells (Lysis, Sunburst, Fissure, etc)

“Mix it up”

Of course, you can mix and match the above strategies. My suggestion is to see which one best fits your personality, and give it a shot. See what happens. Try out each of the strategies above with the various default armies, play several games, and then mix and match the strategies. You may want to rush at first, and then sit back and protect your base. You may want to expand and then rush. You may want to try doing all three at once (yeah, good luck with that). But most importantly of all: have fun.

Things to Consider

“Turning Points”

This is a turn based game. You don’t play all your creatures, spells, buildings, enchantments, at once, and then see what your opponent does. Rather, you have an action, then your opponent gets an action, then you get one, then they get one,..until both of you have passed.

This means that the order in which you do things is of great importance. The life of your creatures and buildings depends on this order. You must be aware of what actions the opponent has, what cards are in play, what you can see and even more importantly, what is happening in the areas of the map you can’t see. Is his Elven Scout near enough to attack your Prospector if you move him into new territory ? If your opponent has just one creature in play, wait for him to move it, and then move your Prospector knowing he can’t be attacked.

If you have a Hypnotic Banshee or Apprentice Timesap in play, using their ability should be one of the first things you do. Dim his creature before he can attack with it. Otherwise, he will attack, kill your creature, and dimming his creature will now be a mute point.

Playing cards such as Blindweed Poultice, Telda Bloom, or Reform should be done after your opponent has attacked your creatures. If you heal a creature before it takes damage, then casting the heal was somewhat useless. A card like Telda Bloom should be played after your opponent has attacked your creatures but before you attack his. You don’t want to heal his damaged creatures, too!

Some cards should be played after your opponent has moved or attacked with his creatures. If a creature is dimmed, it can’t move of it’s own accord, so casting Cloudburst or Teleporting a dimmed creature into water is a great way to kill creatures with 2 or less health.

Be on the lookout for your opponent doing things like that. If you have a Beacon in play, you could save your creature over water if you haven’t already used the Beacon’s ability that turn. “Know when to hold ‘em. Know when to fold’em. Know when to pass”

A round ends when both players pass. The player that passed last will play second the next round. This means, that passing first and making sure you play first next round, can be extremely important. You can move a creature out of range of your opponents newly played threat. You might be able to dim or remove this threat with a Lysis. You might be able to use that first critical move to save your creature or destroy his. Knowing when to pass can make the difference between winning and losing.

“Know thy Flux”

Pay attention to the flux and domains that your opponent has. If he seems t be holding off playing something, it may be because he needs that flux to cast something, such as a Cloudburst or Teleport. When I’m playing against an Elemental deck, I’m wary to move my creatures into areas he can see as he might have a Cloudburst in hand waiting to destroy my dimmed creature. However, if I see that he just spent all of his Flux, then I have no fear of him being able to cast a Cloudburst, and I can send my Scout in to attack his Vapor Mahal.

Sometimes, it’s better to keep flux open rather than play a creature. If I’m being rushed, I might keep one flux available rather than playing a creature so that my opponent is scared of a Cloudburst, even if I don’t have one in hand. He has no way of knowing that. He might be afraid to move or attack with his creature if he thinks I’ll kill it once it’s dimmed.

When you see an opponent with two Mountain Folk domains and 4 flux, you better make sure your creatures are not clumped together, because a Volcano is most likely smoking its way towards you.

Don't Get Caught Off Guard

Here is a list of some of the more common cards you'll play against. Be on the look out for them and find the best ways to use them yourself.

Creature Removal: Sunburst (Ele), Cloudburst (Ele), Icy Encasement (Ele), Volcano (MF), Fissure (MF), Lysis (DL), Possession (DL) <often combined with Crypt Doctor or Alter of Ix>, Teleport (Syl), Ascent (Syl), Entangle (Syl)

Creatures to scout and expand with: Craig Scout (MF), Galom's Prospectors (MF), Elven Scout (Syl), Thistle Falcon (Syl), Hell Cat (DL), Red Imps (DL)

Buildings with two or more vision: Vapor Mahal (Ele), Bamboo Watchtower (Syl), Great Oak (Syl), Beacon of Celador (Syl), Ivory Tower (Syl) Earthworks (MF), Hadarck's Fort (MF), Foul Obelisk (DL), Bone Fortress (DL), Eye of Varexes (DL)

Building damage cards: Tremor (Ele), Fissure (MF), Volcano (MF), Sink Hole (MF)

Creatures that come into play undimmed: Cinder Mogi (Ele), Lightning Elemental (Ele)

All purpose cards: Negate (MF), Ord Beast (Un)

You must know these cards. You must know their domain requirements and their flux cost. If your Elemental opponent only has 1 domain, you are mostly safe from Elemental destruction cards. However, if he has 6 flux, he could be waiting for your to dim your creature so he can cast a Vapor Mahal and a Coudburst. When your Mountain Folk opponent has 4 flux and two MF domains, be wary of a Volcano. A Dark Legion opponent with 4 flux and two domain is likely to cast a Lysis.

Famous Last Words

I should conclude this with something witty or inspiring or, if I'm lucky and smart, something that's both. Unfortunately, my creative juices are on empty, so I leave you with these final words:

Go forth and Morph. Live long and Prospector. May the Flux be with you always.

-Respectfully submitted 8.19.2009 by Keyser