Make weather viable again!

[KapetanCvarak94]

So since the HC update I have played ~80 matches and I have not seen someone using bronze weather cards(fog,bitting frost and rain) most likely because they do not offer enough value for their provision cost and not offering synergy with units unlike in pre-HC GWENT where we had Foglets and Wild Hunt units synergies with weather which was a very good mechanic and also lore-friendly.

I think that they can make weather viable again if they added another interaction besides dealing damage to units for example ''Fog'' reducing ''Reach'' by 1 on a row that it's applied so for example you play a card with 2 reach upon placing it on that row the card's reach would be 1, also make weather Synergize with units(e.g. Wild Hunt with ''Bitting frost'').

 

[theogonist]

Cool idea. I like it. Make it happen cdpr

 

[DRK3]

Yeah, i've complained about this since HC launched (and i wasnt even a big fan of weather)

RagNarRoog can still provide decent value or great value on a 10 turn round, but Skellige storm is laughable compared to dragons dream or even a lacerate, and the bronze weathers... yeah, they're definitely terrible compared to so many other damage options. Their number of active turns should increase.

 

[devivre]

The thing with weather is that it's tricky to balance with the provision cost system as long as these cards are neutral.

For example, for certain SK decks using bronze weather can totally be worth it (Harald). But for most other factions these cards are too expensive due to the lack of synergy. I'm not sure adding more interactions is the best way to solve this.

I think weather cards simply shouldn't be neutral. I'd rather have faction specific weather cards. For me that's the easiest way to make weather viable again.

 

[SenbarFlay]

Yes i had the same idea. Why is Fog dealing damage anyway?

Make Fog reducing reach and synergies with foglets, assassins and spys?
Rain reducing points on armored units and working with drowners and some skellige stuff?
Frost synergies with wild hunt and working against artifacts like shield and spear? (locking their effect for exampel)
Skellige Storm working with Boats and other swimming units?
Ragh Nar Roog: Some synergies to ghosts and skellige cards like kambi?

Every weather just dealing damage is boring and either oppressive when overtuned or useless if too weak.

And please consider it working on both sides when played. So that i have to think about when to use and what units i should include in my deck.

Edit: Fog also could work well with ambush cards from st. Like making traps immune to removal until the fog is cleared or runs out.

 

[tyraeldw]

As an experiment I've been playing Henselt with trebuchets and lots of weather cards to herd my opponents' units into the ranged row. It's actually funny how often this works. I guess people overestimate the danger of weather effects a lot. Casual of course. So there is some use for weather effects even in their current laughable state. But could someone tell me how Vaedermakar ended up with +\- 1 round to row effects? Oh no no no, we can't have weather too powerful, no we could not have that. By the way enjoy your Xavier Lemmens, because it's TOTALLY FINE. xD

 

[FG15-ISH7EG]

I believe Fog is in a much better spot than it ever was. Even though it is not that strong on its own with 8 provisions for up to 8 damage, in the correct deck, it is really worth it, instead of being in a good spot in a lot of decks.
First of all, Fog has no destroyable body. Because Anti-Weather isn't run at all, Fog generates a safe damage over time effect. Also, without no body it has great synergy with (Monster) cards that profit from less units on your site, like Forktail, Ice Troll or Jotunn. Moreover, by damaging the highest enemy on the row it even synergizes with cards that require you to have the largest unit. And Fog can always be used to make the enemy stack his units on a row and use row punishment afterwards.

Therefore, I think Fog can stay the way it is, at most its provision might be reduced to 7 points.

Rain and Frost on the otherhand need a rework for sure. While you will get your value out of Fog, if you use it on a row with 8 points on it, or have some kind of movement, even with those tools it is much harder to get full value out of Rain and Frost. With less tutors and new artifacts, there are a lot less units in general, such that Rain will often be able to only target a single unit. And with the reduction of card strength, you will often get only 1 point per round out of Frost.

My suggestion would be the following:
Give the current Fog effect to Frost and reduce the provision to 7. It will synergize again with Wild Hunt units, because the highest enemy gets damaged.
Fog will, as the OT suggested, reduce the Range of units by 1, but will only deal 1 damage. This effect can be really strong, but because Bronze weather lasts only for 4 turns, it can be played around.
I think for Rain, it would be nice, if it damaged a unit on the row by 1, whenever its Deploy or Order is triggered. As a lore reasoning I'd say, that because of all the mud, moving yourself or using heavy engines becomes pretty dangerous.

 

[Pruny]

Yesterday I played all day trying to make a francesca weather deck but i mostly got rekt.
Its not consistent because of low tempo and braindead agility. i would rather play spears
At least make it 5turns.

 

[kAiSeR007]

Problem with weather is directly related to how card draws and rounds work now. Without being able to call weather with a usefull body, you need certain amount of turns for getting anything out of it, and if you consider that your opponent may not have enough cards in place, that the passing limit can be close (4 cards R1, 7 R2), it is very hard to place weather effects with a reasonable effectiveness. Also, the provision cost is just too high, imo.

 

[BoYoDes]

With all the Artifacts around, what this game needs is something like Weather to make a comeback, sure.

 

[imSkry]

my hope is that they are planning a new expansion/faction that has at least one archetype revolved around weathers, after all they removed Dagon and said they're going to bring him later on.

 

[sfruzz]

+1 to this thread!

 

[StrykerxS77x]

IMO weather can not be strong while artifacts are strong. Who is going to want to tech against both weather and artifacts? That's just too much.

 

[Pruny]

You can dodge weather with agility, and its low tempo.

 

[SenbarFlay]

In my opinion Weather should:

- Affect both sides of the battlefield.
- Not do damage but have effects like, frost = no movement, fog = less range, rain higher cooldowntimer
- To make them viable they should be summoned or played from the deck with other cards. Like the old Wild Hunt Hound and Frost
- Synergize with a lot of different cards. Wild Hunt Units played into frost get stronger and so on.

Next suggestion:
Make the three rounds a day and night circle. For example Day, Night, Day. And then units that are better at night/day und for example a Monster Leader that turns the circle into Night, Day, Night.

We need crazy effects to play around and build a deck around. This dealing damage and pointslam thing is really boring and makes ppl quit the game. Because a boring game is worse than a fun but imbalanced game.

 

[Marginal0]

for example ''Fog'' reducing ''Reach'' by 1 on a row.

That is a great idea. Don't know about the power of this though. But it makes a lot of sense.

 

[DRK3]

Weather is certainly a much more interesting mechanic than artefacts, i hope they bring it back PROPERLY, with at least one leader dedicated to it, and moonlight coming back wouldnt be bad either... Those effects were amazing, better than anything on this thing we have now.

 

[Battlebop]

Yeah its a real shame that row effects are like they are now. in the beta they where good, they where their own thing, a game mechanic. now they are but a side thing, and the weather cards are all the same.

where is the creativity at? bloodmoon used to be its own archetype but with vampire cards and werewolves doing things under the blood moon but now, its just a boring thing, its just so sad. wasted opportunities

 

[williamr1024]

That is a great idea. Fog obscures vision so reducing reach by 1 is a great idea. I was just thinking the same thing the other day about weather not being used. I can't recall seeing a weather card played in a LONG time. They have a lot of weather cards and units that do stuff regarding weather, just more cards seeing no play in this version of Gwent.

 

[hachri80]

Foglets emerging when fog was played was one of my favorite mechanics. Too bad that crimson curse is not worth playing because it is so slow and also tricky to play. I would love to see more interactions with bleeding or vampires like spawning ekimaras when there is blood moon on bleeding enemies or stuff like that. Or turn bleeding enemies into ekimaras that join your side. Fog could reduce damage or making your units imune to seizing or something like that. I also like the ideas mentioned before.

I really hope we are going to see Dagon and this vodyanoi cult sometime in the future. They could have great synergies with water, mist or rain.