I'm aware there are many topics discussing artifact balance and are not bad ideas, however i'd like to also present my take on it. While some suggestions may deal with the power of artifacts the focus is more on the design and functionality.
1) Remove order (and Zeal) from Artifacts, instead have a simple "Use" keyword, which is pretty straightforward in what it does. Artifacts are inanimate objects you can't really order around and the presence of Zeal on every single artifact card is rather redundant.
2) Give all artifacts a limited number of charges, which should appear as the main and only number indicator on the card (maybe in a circle to distinguish from the unit power which is a diamond). You made weather last a limited amount of turns which required a special battlefield indicator, i don't know why you allow artifacts to last forever.
3) Make all artifacts have a 1 turn cooldown by default. This is already intersecting with balance changes, specifically one the recent one for Sihil but i think this card would be better balanced with a limited number of chargers rather than a longer CD. We already have a card with 2 round cd and nobody plays it.
On the other end of the spectrum you have Thunderbolt which can dump all charges instantly, making removals irrelevant and having the same effect of another existing card.
Overall all artifacts could be used a limited number of times, once per turn, with a much simpler description. This would enable the use of more creative artifacts, like Deathwish or units that can provide extra charges to artifacts or some mixed effects.
Example:
Vandergrift's Blade
5 charges
9 provisions
Use: Damage a unit by 1.
Whenever you play a soldier on this row, boost it by 2 and lose 1 charge.
So this could be used as a more expensive spear with fewer charges or have its charges used to boost soldiers as it does now.
***Traps
There is a special case to be made for traps, which currently count as artifacts, however i understand the dev team is no happy with how they work atm.
I have a suggestion for them aswell:
- Make them units again and give all units the same power
- The unit power counts on the board from the moment the card is played
- while facedown the units could be immune, or can have X amount of armor which, when removed, causes the card to flip without triggering the ambush
Lastly another sort of balance change i'd like to put out there is an artifact limit on the battlefield. For example 1 artifact can be present on a row at a time, this would limit the ability of artifact focused decks to be annoyingly noninteractive. You could even make some sort of altars or elevated ground opposite of the leaders where the artifacts will be placed, making it obvious and intuitive there's only room for 1. For balance purposes going further if some artifacts are too strong they can even have the same row designation so they can't be used at the same time. It also makes more sense to me in a world where artifacts have limited charges.
Also i'd like to add that some artifacts make no sense. Why is Thunderbolt an artifact but swallow is an alchemy special? or why Mahakam Ale is alchemy special but Expired Ale is an artifact.
1) Remove order (and Zeal) from Artifacts, instead have a simple "Use" keyword, which is pretty straightforward in what it does. Artifacts are inanimate objects you can't really order around and the presence of Zeal on every single artifact card is rather redundant.
2) Give all artifacts a limited number of charges, which should appear as the main and only number indicator on the card (maybe in a circle to distinguish from the unit power which is a diamond). You made weather last a limited amount of turns which required a special battlefield indicator, i don't know why you allow artifacts to last forever.
3) Make all artifacts have a 1 turn cooldown by default. This is already intersecting with balance changes, specifically one the recent one for Sihil but i think this card would be better balanced with a limited number of chargers rather than a longer CD. We already have a card with 2 round cd and nobody plays it.
On the other end of the spectrum you have Thunderbolt which can dump all charges instantly, making removals irrelevant and having the same effect of another existing card.
Overall all artifacts could be used a limited number of times, once per turn, with a much simpler description. This would enable the use of more creative artifacts, like Deathwish or units that can provide extra charges to artifacts or some mixed effects.
Example:
Vandergrift's Blade
5 charges
9 provisions
Use: Damage a unit by 1.
Whenever you play a soldier on this row, boost it by 2 and lose 1 charge.
So this could be used as a more expensive spear with fewer charges or have its charges used to boost soldiers as it does now.
***Traps
There is a special case to be made for traps, which currently count as artifacts, however i understand the dev team is no happy with how they work atm.
I have a suggestion for them aswell:
- Make them units again and give all units the same power
- The unit power counts on the board from the moment the card is played
- while facedown the units could be immune, or can have X amount of armor which, when removed, causes the card to flip without triggering the ambush
Lastly another sort of balance change i'd like to put out there is an artifact limit on the battlefield. For example 1 artifact can be present on a row at a time, this would limit the ability of artifact focused decks to be annoyingly noninteractive. You could even make some sort of altars or elevated ground opposite of the leaders where the artifacts will be placed, making it obvious and intuitive there's only room for 1. For balance purposes going further if some artifacts are too strong they can even have the same row designation so they can't be used at the same time. It also makes more sense to me in a world where artifacts have limited charges.
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Also i'd like to add that some artifacts make no sense. Why is Thunderbolt an artifact but swallow is an alchemy special? or why Mahakam Ale is alchemy special but Expired Ale is an artifact.
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