The Northern realm change revealed so far...

[ResoundingBuahaha]

The Northern realm change revealed so far...

So there are two major nerf I noticed for Northern Realm upcoming patch. Though the full detail is not coming out I can already say this patch shows no mercy on Northern Realm.

https://i.redd.it/jy8lyhbb5bhz.jpg

Let's start with Keira Metz. Her ability is changed to aeromancy, epidemic and tb potion. The potion is most used ability I think and it has been nerfed 3 power but given extra armor like current immune boost. If NR is not playing armor archetype I think it's safe to assume it's a 3 power nerf on Keira.

Epidemic now probably can kill gold so she cannot target unit higher than 5 or otherwise it's suicide.

Aeromancy has no synergy in NR archetype except Aretuza adept (which is also arguable since nothing in NR benefit directly from weather effect like axeman or foglet). To achieve a reasonable value it should be coupled with Skellige storm or white frost which is taking up valuable silver slot,

So overall Keira is at least 3 power nerfed and all of her ability is nerfed to a somehow questionable situation. I see no reason she can be used in any archetype but armor.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DH2QoOeXkAMsDrg.jpg
Secondly Reinforcement can only target bronze or silver soldier, officer and machine. Which means mages, healer, spy are out of target. This affects key cards that every NR archetype needed including but not limited to, Margarita, Dethmond, Thaler, Operator, Sile, Nenneke, field medic, aretuza adept, witcher combo etc. Basically the majority of useful silver is excluded from the range and only Stennis ,Ves and Odrin are within the range I suppose. I cannot emphasize more on how drastic this change is, all I can say is current NR archetype apart from armor will be seriously affected in terms of power swing and consistency (which is not even top tier in current patch).



With these two vital nerf I do expect Northern Realm been butchered in next patch since it's really some nerf that hit right in the eye.

Upon that we have Pricilla now is completely useless AGAIN, Gold crewman Radovid that can be easily destroyed, I just don't know what else NR have to offer.

The other changes like Stennis rework kinda making me feel CDPR really want to force NR players to use armor archetype though.....

The question is, which faction should I play next?

 

[Nammu2]

Totally agree... it took a lot of time for me to make a rank 18 siege (fun) deck, with Reinforcement and a couple of mages (including Yen) as central cards... but now all hope is lost unless you play a Reaver's deck. ((( a bold cookie mold effect ))).

Im preparing myself to migrate to ScoiaTael to repeat jade figurine again and again.

 

[bojerbela]

My favourite faction...and after the patch I can forget it if I want to climb. And Reaver Hunters nert coming...I'm 100% sure.

 

[rogeriofi]

Agree with everyone. NR decks are over in the next patch. They simply gave no thought to it. Even NR control tahat is centered in Bloody Baron is over cause EVERYONE will use scorch.

 

[Nammu2]

Queensguard Skellige deck will be unstoppable....

 

[ResoundingBuahaha]

Totally agree... it took a lot of time for me to make a rank 18 siege (fun) deck, with Reinforcement and a couple of mages (including Yen) as central cards... but now all hope is lost unless you play a Reaver's deck. ((( a bold cookie mold effect ))).

Im preparing myself to migrate to ScoiaTael to repeat jade figurine again and again.

I don't know about reaver since reinforcement can no longer target Nenneke and Operator, while Keira is unable to Quen or give a 17 tempo. Now I'm also pessimistic on reaver hunter since this is not simple power swing nerf but a overall mechanic nerf, it aims on altering how people pilot and construct their deck in a really unfavorable way, reducing the consistency and hand over the win condition to the starting hand instead of play style.

Machines are practically unplayable as mages cannot control the war longship consistently which in turn we can never setup crewman, and machine without crewman is... meh.....shit...

The released info so far really makes me think CDPR want to make armor archetype a thing but there's a reason why even new player switch away once they have alternative...it's less interactive than dwarf deck and the power swing is low as mulligan ST, with even less consistency D:

 

[idomyownstunts]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, just scrap the whole dogshit faction and start again.

 

[ResoundingBuahaha]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, just scrap the whole dogshit faction and start again.

I'm going to do so, but sadly I don't even think CDPR consider Keira metz is nerfed so not even able to get my scrap back.

 

[AmiboshiMK]

And here we are again. People whining because their favorite OP finisher combo crumbles to dust (even not so quite in this case) and they´ve to actually think about their endgame. Completelly same cries have been heard from monster players after weather patch. "Boohoo, monsters are dead... they destroyed entire faction...they can delete it now, no one will play it". And guess what? Monsters are played, with weather and quite successfully! There is one fact - if your win condition depends on one card, you´re generally screwed. You have to make some contingency plan. Yes, CDPR wants to disrupt consistency and predicability to reduce 25-card autopilot net-decks that makes every meta stagnant until next patch. You will just have to play bigger decks with multiple viable strategies or slim deck built around one concept (soldiers, officers, spies, armor etc.) not around one card.

Don´t get me wrong, I´m almost exclusivelly NR player but I have trust in CDPR that they know what they´re doing because they have so far. And by the way, armor is not going to be a thing. It is a thing already. My 30card armor deck has got me to rank 15 a I regulary defeat masters with it in casual. I have also 25card RH deck of course but it´s not my most favorite and I play it only when I´m lazy and want a easy win.

 

[Exoclyps]

They have already mentioned that they are reworking golds that used to be "big body" golds. So I'm sure things will be fine. Besides, I have to agree on not depending on one card for win con. It's what I dislike most about my Nilfgaard deck. Gotta have to pull of a neat combo relying on having a combination of one or more cards to work out.
​​​​​

 

[ResoundingBuahaha]

And here we are again. People whining because their favorite OP finisher combo crumbles to dust (even not so quite in this case) and they´ve to actually think about their endgame. Completelly same cries have been heard from monster players after weather patch. "Boohoo, monsters are dead... they destroyed entire faction...they can delete it now, no one will play it". And guess what? Monsters are played, with weather and quite successfully! There is one fact - if your win condition depends on one card, you´re generally screwed. You have to make some contingency plan. Yes, CDPR wants to disrupt consistency and predicability to reduce 25-card autopilot net-decks that makes every meta stagnant until next patch. You will just have to play bigger decks with multiple viable strategies or slim deck built around one concept (soldiers, officers, spies, armor etc.) not around one card.

Don´t get me wrong, I´m almost exclusivelly NR player but I have trust in CDPR that they know what they´re doing because they have so far. And by the way, armor is not going to be a thing. It is a thing already. My 30card armor deck has got me to rank 15 a I regulary defeat masters with it in casual. I have also 25card RH deck of course but it´s not my most favorite and I play it only when I´m lazy and want a easy win.

Not sure why you bring up rank, I don't know if it's relevant but shouldn't surprise me if you are rank 18 or above, it feels the same to me unless you are top 100 or something. I never complained about weather nerf and actually quite support the nerf throughout the whole thing. A big difference is weather damage nerf does not alter the overall synergy of monster and it's the absence of savage bear made monster the top tier faction instead of anything else.

The nerf is not a nerf unless it hit right in what people use that card for. For example, they nerfed C-harpy twice but still it's awfully strong, because people run harpy for it's egg and carryover instead of it's body. Weather nerf on the other hand did completely wipe out spell'tael since it's the damage they use weather for, while Skellige and Monster run weather for synergy (axeman and foglet) so it's still strong with those faction. Other example can also be find for those nerf hit right in the spot such as Tibor or Haljmar, people run them for power and once their power is nerfed they suddenly lose their position, Trebuchet is used for row damage and once the damage is gone there is no point to use it. I can think of more examples to explain why some nerf isn't nerf at all but I think there're already enough examples to justify my point.

In this upcoming patch however we can see Northern Realm got hit right in the spot, you need crewman to be alive while even the gold crewman can be destroyed, good luck setting up in front of war longship. You need Keira for her ability and consistency and she is neither consistent nor ability wise useful anymore. You need Reinforcement to increase consistency of the deck and it can no longer search for majority of what you need. You need Pricilla to stay alive and again gold is vulnerable. Even you stay with reaver hunter , and let's assume they don't nerf reaver hunter anymore, I would say the whole mechanic supporting reaver hunter is interrupted (no longer reinforcement- Operator or Nenneke, no Quen by Keira, your win condition depend on your hand card draw more than ever)

As a Northern Realm player you should've noticed any win condition of NR is dependent on a combination of cards whether it's crewman with machine, Armor with heavy cavalry, or reaver hunter with Nenneke & operator. The link between those combination are exactly Reinforcement and Keira (or you need some immediate solution but not in hand)

I do not want to comment on armor archetype since A it's less interactive than dwarf so really boring to use B the synergy is somewhat meh and those cards are disappointing when used alone. Since last patch when they nerfed machine archetype just because Reddit cried for it I have to say I'm kinda disappointed, current information released does suggest anything but Northern realm would be good.

 

[GenLiu]

I might be completely wrong but I think CDPR are thinking of a new way of playing this faction. As you said, the armor archetype has been highlighted recently, it's entirely possible that they make this deck more powerful now.

With that being said, you're right, Keira and Reinforcement got flat out nerfed.
Since damage can now hit Golds (if CDPR decides to do so at the end of the day) it's safe to assume that she can be destroyed by her own epidemic, which is my biggest disappointment about this card. Aeromancy can be useful in Radovid control but it's kinda strange because she seem to have abilities for different archetype and not being suitable for one in particular.
As she is right now, I see her more suited for Radovid control.

As surprising as it might sound, I'm agree with the nerf of Reinforcement though. I know it's an iconic spell for NR but I never understood why this spell can target anything at all when monster nest, which is a silver as well, is limited to fewer targets (in fact much fewer targets). Not that monster has any reason to complain but still, it's not really fair when you think about it. So, I'm agree with you, it sucks because it's a nerf but at the same time, I think it's a necessary nerf and I think Reinforcement will still be a strong card.

All in all I think NR as we play it now is dead but other archetypes will probably emerge.

Again, the armor archetype seem very interesting considering what has been revealed so far. I would wait and see before deciding if I play another faction if I were you.

PS : Did I miss something? They revealed what Priscilla will be after the patch?

 

[ResoundingBuahaha]

PS : Did I miss something? They revealed what Priscilla will be after the patch?

Not yet but I don't have high expectation, I just found how to use her properly in this patch but meh...

For reinforcement I rather it only search mage and healer, I can't think of it's application when my hand card (as well as deck) is typically choking with soldier, officer and machine while there's a rot tosser on my board.

 

[ResoundingBuahaha]

They have already mentioned that they are reworking golds that used to be "big body" golds. So I'm sure things will be fine. Besides, I have to agree on not depending on one card for win con. It's what I dislike most about my Nilfgaard deck. Gotta have to pull of a neat combo relying on having a combination of one or more cards to work out.
​​​​​

I'm sure Northern realm would at least need a couple cards to achieve win condition and a lot other stuff to support that. One card win con is more close to what Coral or woodland spirit now, but never Keira, she is secondary win con at best but first class consistency, can't win a match on her own ever.

 

[AmiboshiMK]

Now something occured to me. Quen was removed from Ida Emean too. What if they plan to change quen to something that shouldn´d be accessible by mages. Story-wise it makes sense. Maybe they´re preparing ground for future cards with "sign" tag and there will be some gold witcher who can draw such cards?

 

[Exoclyps]

I'm sure Northern realm would at least need a couple cards to achieve win condition and a lot other stuff to support that. One card win con is more close to what Coral or woodland spirit now, but never Keira, she is secondary win con at best but first class consistency, can't win a match on her own ever.

That was more in reference to the Bloody Baron being indirectly nerfed due to gold bodies being targetable. Keira is (pre-patch) a great card and Quen is the spell I use with her 90% of the time I'd imagine in my Reaver Hunter deck. Really great card to use turn two if you have a spy, allowing you to milk the opponent.

I honestly though can't imagine that they will leave Keira as is with the Epidemic since it will make her really weak. And yeah, can't phantom the reason to why they gave her weather... (eventhough I did recently have a conversation with an NPC in Witcher 2 about all mages messing with the weather), it doesn't really fit. Maybe they wanted to make her a gold version of the adepts... but still, means you have to also pack a specific silver card to make her viable (silver weather). Would rather they'd just given her the weather straight out instead.

 

[ResoundingBuahaha]

Would rather they'd just given her the weather straight out instead.

I personally hate Rado control both playing and playing against it so I rather not care about Baron, before swarm is a thing baron was literally nothing.

Giving a weather sure makes more sense. On the other hand I cast potion most of time...really want them give that 3 point back either on body or on potion, this is just a straight 3 power nerf to me and just not good.

 

[Restlessdingo32]

I honestly though can't imagine that they will leave Keira as is with the Epidemic since it will make her really weak. And yeah, can't phantom the reason to why they gave her weather... (eventhough I did recently have a conversation with an NPC in Witcher 2 about all mages messing with the weather), it doesn't really fit. Maybe they wanted to make her a gold version of the adepts... but still, means you have to also pack a specific silver card to make her viable (silver weather). Would rather they'd just given her the weather straight out instead.

I think the issue with Aeromancy is it forces carrying weather and having it in your deck when using Keira. Otherwise she is a two spell mage.

I can understand the concern with Epidemic. Perhaps they intend to raise her above the existing 5 point body though. Or make it so she can't kill herself... Or any number of other changes.

I personally hate Rado control both playing and playing against it so I rather not care about Baron, before swarm is a thing baron was literally nothing.

Giving a weather sure makes more sense. On the other hand I cast potion most of time...really want them give that 3 point back either on body or on potion, this is just a straight 3 power nerf to me and just not good.

Forgive me but you're making a convenient assumption here. The leaked info indicates TBolt is 9 + 6 armor. Why are we assuming none of that armor is going to get value?

 

[Guest 4021160]

Can you stop writing damn novels. You're just making moderators hate you.

 

[ResoundingBuahaha]

I think the issue with Aeromancy is it forces carrying weather and having it in your deck when using Keira. Otherwise she is a two spell mage.

I can understand the concern with Epidemic. Perhaps they intend to raise her above the existing 5 point body though. Or make it so she can't kill herself... Or any number of other changes.



Forgive me but you're making a convenient assumption here. The leaked info indicates TBolt is 9 + 6 armor. Why are we assuming none of that armor is going to get value?

The same reason why dwarf deck run 3 tb potion 1 immune boost instead of 3 immune boost 1 tb potion. Or should I put it this way, it's equivalent to nerfing Keira for 3 and give her the deploy ability of siege tower.