And it’s a level one card!
Definitely. But I am increasingly certain that my difficulties are due to bugs, although I would be interested in your reaction to this sequence:
Sunkeeper plays top half of Tactical Order: One ally within Range 3 may perform move 4. The game then allows me to highlight the Bear, who is adjacent, and then, with no option to move, I am directed to activate the alternate half of the remaining card… I think I should be able to move the Bear with this. It is an ally. But if not, the game should not allow me to highlight it.
Definitely sounds like a bug. You should be able to move the bear. Whether or not you can direct the move, though…
The bear should move by itself in that case, according to normal AI movement rules. So if it was stood next to an enemy or had no path to a space next to an enemy it wouldn’t move.
It’s only the Beast Tyrant’s cards with the Command keyword or anyone’s cards that say “with you controlling the action” that let you directly choose what summons do.
That’s a good point. I was assuming the bear had a valid, non-zero move to make according to monster AI rules. If it didn’t, or would sit still and burn the card. Which might not be a bug, technically, but certainly deserves a better UX.
Yeah, the thing that would improve the digital implementation most is an undo button (which shouldn’t let you undo past revealing hidden information such as attack card draws).
After that, I’d like a preview of what the monsters will do. It’s nice that the game handles the (admittedly complicated) monster AI rules, but it’s hugely important to good play to be able to understand what they will do in response to your actions. Anyone who hasn’t played the boardgame and run the AI by hand can’t help but be at a huge disadvantage there.
Mentioning which, one huge change from the tabletop implementation is what happens when there’s an ambiguous result from the monster AI (such as a choice of two spaces to move to). The players get to decide whatever’s best for them. In the digital version (presumably for simplicity), that isn’t the case.
I hadn’t considered players who haven’t had to manage the monster AI via the boardgame, that’s a really good point…
This might be a good resource for anyone struggling with the monster AI:
Honestly, every game needs this. (Well, not real-time ones, you know what I mean.) It’s implemented so well in Slipways it really makes you wonder why we should live without it. Don’t let misclicks ruin your game!
Wow, that’s a pretty huge change. I can see why they did it (for UI/UX simplicity, if nothing else) but, yikes. Given how often you can take advantage of that to have an earlier-moving monster box out a later-moving one, it must make the game noticeably harder.
@rho21 In this case, yes, it had a clear two hex path to the only remaining enemy unit.
Well, anyone who hasn’t played the boardgame correctly… As one who has found some glaring errors in his tabletop AI implementation. :)
I’m not convinced anyone has played the boardgame correctly.
That does definitely sound like a bug.
I have noticed a few AI pathing bugs recently, I think. The most common one is when the AI has a ranged attack and is quite far away, it sometimes just fails to move. I suspect the number of possibilities is too large and the code panics and just does nothing.
I haven’t even played the boardgame. I hear this talk about understanding how AI moves (which makes sense, since you the player have to move them) and what you can do with them… yeah, definitely makes me feel like I’m working at a disadvantage in the digital version. No wonder why this game is so hard for me. Well, that and I suck, probably. :)
The rules are relatively simple most of the time but have very complicated edge cases. The key thing is the AI likes to target enemies who are near to them, breaking ties towards lowest initiative. And it will never trigger a trap if there’s another route to where it wants to be (however long and even if it means it can’t move this turn).
The basis of exploiting the AI involves limiting the number of options it has so it is ineffective (usually by failing to get within range for its attack). Traps are most useful to prevent movement, rather than to actually be stepped on. This is one reason why ranged attackers are much more dangerous: it’s really hard to convince them not to attack you.
I’m close to taking the plunge. I enjoyed the board game for a while, but I never get it on the table any more. Other board games compete for the table space!
Has anyone tried the beta? Apparently it contains some (but not all) of the changes mentioned in the video above.
Haven’t tried the beta but I’m eagerly awaiting for it to release to the main branch!
So… I have had my 4th retirement, the Sun character. (Scoundrel, Brute, and a little-used Cragheart previously)
My current veterans are my original Mindthief, now level 6, accompanied by a level 5 Two Minis and a level 7 Music Note. Now I have to decide how to proceed.
I could go with three characters, which I tend to think is the ideal number. Except Music Note seems made for/built for a four member party. But still, that is a possibility.
Or I could add a Scoundrel, Brute, Cragheart, Spellweaver, Tinkerer (Ha! Ha!) or Triangles. Or a new Sun. Gloomhaven is at prosperity level 4, so I believe that any new character could start at level 4, including the Spellweaver who has a little experience and is at level 2. But sooo prone to exhaustion in long scenarios.
At least part of my decision rests upon how well Two Minis will work without Sun. That Bear deals unbelievable amounts of damage, but also runs some reckless risks, and without Sun to absorb a fair amount of the damage, I wonder whether that will work out so well. On the other hand, with Music Note filling the enemy deck chock full of curses by mid-mission, maybe it won’t matter.
My Mindthief-Two Minis-Music Note-Sun party did very well, but if there was a weakness, it was definitely ranged damage dealing. Particularly of an AOE sort.
Any thoughts from those of you with more experience in the game?
I did. It wrecked all my save games! Even when I uninstalled, my saved games were gone, and I had to start over. I when back to the main branch it because if their betas wreck havoc on saved games, this might happen again as they update the beta.
Oh my, that’s horrible! I’m glad I asked. Maybe I’ll just play the main branch for now. About to download it.
Game is so much fun, I really didn’t mind all that much. Even when replaying a mission.
I’m surprised by this. The spellweaver’s recover all cards ability should give her a bit longer than most characters, provided you don’t go spending loss cards too often (or worse have to lose cards to prevent damage). You should be able to level her up to 4 now anyway and she would certainly give you ranged and AoE damage.
Anyway, spellweaver would be my vote, but I’m probably a bit biased as she was my first character. Keeping the bear alive may be a problem though.