For mine, I think that the best roll is either 5-4 (giving 9PD to 5DD) or 4-4 (giving 8 PD to 4DD).
A lot of people might instinctively think that 6-6 would be the best as it gives the most PD and it gives the greatest range between PD and DD. However I don’t think it is the most effective.
Why? Well your opponent has a lot of dice in his hand and so can keep them to stop the spell that he has identified as your most critical. The more dice he has to throw the greater the chance that he can get a double “6” which automatically dispels. Obviously you have the opportunity as well to throw six dice to try and achieve “Irresistible Force” but your result comes with some downside (the roll on the “Loss of Control” table) whereas his doesn’t.
Generally I am most happy with the 5-4 or 4-4 roll as it really pressures the other player. He cannot afford to use dice on your lower level spells if you have a clear follow-up. It is the one set of rolls where I am generally pretty confident of getting two spells off – a 2-3 dice spell and a big one.
So if you are on the other side of it how do you protect against it? Well a lot depends on whether you have a scroll or not. If you do then the best option is to use all your dice against the lower level spell(s). You then hold your scroll against your opponent’s big spell – knowing your dice were useless if he rolled six dice and got Irresistible Force anyway. However because you are holding a scroll you are forcing him to roll six dice to get the IF he needs. Either way it is win-win – he doesn’t and you use your scroll if needed. He does and you watch him roll on the miscast table (always fun especially if you are a WoC with the ubiquitous Infernal Puppet).
If you don’t have a scroll then you need to determine whether he can get the “must have” spell off relatively risk-free. I generally view a score of <16 (including Caster Level) as easy to achieve without risk i.e. caster throws 4 dice. You need to make a judgement call….but then that’s part of the fun.
I agree with you, 4-4 is a good result. Also 2-2 can be excellent if you bring a power stone and makes your opponent feel really exposed.
ReplyDeleteAlso agree with 6-6 not being optimal at all. Another downside to is that your opponent is the only one allowed to channel for additional dice, something that you always want to at least have a chance for as well.
Yep 2-2 is good as well....but we play where the Power Stone is largely outlawed and with out it 4 dice doesn't give you the ability to get the big spell off (in my case it is 13th Spell for other armies it might be Dwellers or similar).
ReplyDeletebut your points are valid. Cheers!
Power stone =/= Power scroll!
ReplyDeleteI like 3-3 and 4-4 especially. Anything that gives the opponent more than 3-4 dispel dice starts to run into trouble, as they can simply pick to stop your best spells. It's unlikely to have enough must-stop spells to use up 10 or more dice.
Take my first game at Equinox. I had 10-12 dice for the first four turns, but only 2 spells worth casting. Since he got 6 dispel dice, he could stop those spells, knowing my other two spells were no good, so we were effectively playing 6-7 PD vs 6 DD
Power stone =/= Power scroll!
ReplyDeleteDoh!!!!!!
Sorry