At 5:00, the witch does NOT conform to the same deck building rules. You can have any combination of 0-3 cards. It explicitly states in the rules she takes 4 element cards and 3 non.
Actually, the rules only state that after the first encounter you can pick a mix of fire and water cards. They do not say that you can ignore the required battleflow numbers.
Each card/ability specifies any restrictions. I believe one of the starting ones can, and the other can't -- sorry I can't remember which way around it is. Every such ability I've seen so far does specify that the hex doesn't contain any hazards though. (I've only played a game with her once)
I know I'm the biggest broken record in your comments but, do you think you'll ever make anymore videos? Was enjoying your stuff and liked hearing your thoughts on Oathsworn. You were one of the reasons I suddenly had to go sneak out a copy from anyone selling it in my city. My group has only done the first two chapters and one member is away for 3 weeks so I'm currently trying to get as much painted as I can. Would love to hear your non spoiler thoughts for Chapter 6 onward!
Thanks Selby! Appreciate the shout out 👍 I will try to do some more, I have just acquired the Terrain Box and want to get that painted before doing any more chapters. Am currently up to chapter 10 but will try to do my thoughts on the chapters I have done soon 👍
@@flipz101 awesome! Jealous that you got the terrain pack. I couldn't find anyone selling it in my city so I had to resort to the 3D prints someone was selling on Etsy, they look good but would have preferred the real stuff.
@@selby2180 I actually missed the Kickstarter and bought my pledge from someone else, but was also on the ‘Waiting List’. A few weeks ago I was contacted by Shadowbourne games as was on the Waiting List and bought the Terrain Box and Art book. It wasn’t cheap though, then when I got the art book I realised I couldn’t look at much of it as it contains spoilers! 🤣
@@flipz101 Funny, I'm in the exact same situation. Saw your videos then found someone local selling their miniatures pledge so I grabbed it. Currently on the waiting list but I haven't heard anything at this point.
This is an amazing board game, I saw someone paint his pieces and it looks just unreal. I saw a video from developer saying they didnt do to well in sales due to inflation and price increases... Thats quite sad since this game looks brutal. I hope they start earning some money in future editions.
Would love to know how you are getting on. I am just about to do encounter 6 so am exactly where your videos left off. Was surprised that I was ambushed for this one. Do you know what I mean without giving anything away? Keep up the good work to C21.😁
Hi Selby, I plan on playing through entirely with just free company painted, then have a break and paint the monsters ready for a second play through 👍
@@flipz101 I hope someone puts out a guide using contrast paints for them. I'm terrible at choosing my own colours....being colourblind doesn't help ;)
Wow. Just finished chapter 2 and was not expecting what we have to face. Great story intro, great ambush and very challenging encounter. Very different to chapter 1. Can't wait to see what is next. Thanks for these videos.
Great overview of the first 5 chapters, nice paint job on the minis too! Looking forward to seeing what you think of the next 5 chapters, I've just started chapter 9 and the quality of this game so far is amazing, the variety in the story and encounters they've managed to get into one system is incredible, almost every fight feels unique.
Absolutely loving your journey through the Deepwood mate. Thank you so much for putting this together. Hopefully you'll retry the 3rd encounter again now that you know about that special rule. It is so awesome and funny when you get yourself out of that mess. :)
You said Chapters 1-4 was a complete story and Chapter 5 opens up to new stuff...oh I can't wait for you to see what's coming your way haha. You're in for an absolute treat. Chapters 1-4 laid a foundation for what's coming but their stories definitely aren't complete =) It sounds like you utilized the Harbinger very effectively given yourself a little breathing room. Even though the Avi may not have done much damage he certainly contributed to your survival which is arguably more important than raw damage output during some fights. Elemental Suffusion is incredible. Using Elemental Suffusion and the Witch's special ability as often as you can really gives you some near options in terms of how you play the Witch - both offensively and defensively. At some point, there are also equipment options that help with this resource management concern of yours - they might be worth looking into if you feel contained by lack of resources on the board.
Awesome! Thanks Anthony! Always appreciate your feedback! And some great comments… and can’t wait to see what lies ahead!!! 👍 Am looking forward to my next encounter where I will dedicate the witch to have a couple of turns where she “lights the whole board up!” 🤣🤣
Another interesting video, thank you. Am only just doing the first encounter at the moment. A question on paints used for armour, which colours did you go for on the war bear and Penitent. Also which wash did you use for the armour, still think you have done a great paint job with so little experience.
Thanks Kymfre01! Warbear and Penitent were both the same; Base of Leadbelcher Wash if Nuln Oil Highlighted with IronBreaker. Then for the Penitent I added some Ryza Rust for effect on the shield.
Awesome! Thanks for another great vid! We enjoy following along. How was using the witch without the warden present? I know you said you didn't really get to do much with her, but did it feel like it was going to be a bit dangerous? While my group is waiting for arrival, we are discussing using the witch, and who (if anyone) would need to be warden if witch is in group. Also, how did it feel using warbear and penitent? Was curious if it could be too much tank and lacking on dps, as another in my group wants to be bear and our concerns about witch/warden combo if it'd be too much tanking. Cheers!
Thanks Kream! I would definitely have the witch as she is so much fun to play and lots of options. The issue I had was just around not generating enough fire/water and the warden wouldn’t have helped with that. I just need to be more patient and spend a round or two generating fire/water (without spending it in the same round). The warden inparticular helps with the witches chain lightening attack and I believe is immune to the witches attacks which helps against ‘friendly fire’. There could be more abilities unlocked at the higher level but you definitely don’t need to have both together. Penitent is tough.. highest defence (which you will need when you are getting used to the game!), and has similar damage mitigation cards to the warden (if I remember rightly). Warbear probably does more damage than the Penitent and she has some cool thematic cards (Toss, Feral Roar etc). Remember that you can swap out characters at the start of any new chapter anyway, plus there could be some story elements that give you opportunities… (remember I started with the Priest not the Witch…) I would recommend having a character in your group though that can heal as not many characters can and health is a scarce commodity in this game! Priest is obvious example but others like the Harbringer also heal.
@@kream5429 I'm one of the play testers for Oathsworn, so take this perspective with a grain of salt. You can play the entire game with any configuration of characters. How wisely you play will have a greater impact on your survivability than what armor you have. Here is an example of what I mean, if you do not properly utilize defense cards and interrupt cards then you will be worse off than a party who does use those elements properly. If you learn to play wisely you can enjoy literally any combination of characters and any combination of full characters+companions without limitation. The Witch/Warden combo isn't necessary at all. Thematically, it is a really cool combo and to @Flipz point there are some relatively small benefits you gain from having the two of them together but they are designed to be fully functional without each other and provide small synergy if both are present. The Witch and Warden combo will effect your story mode in more meaningful ways than trying to reap the benefits of the synergies in combat. We ensured during our testing that no single element of the game (e.g. armor type, chain attacks, healing, AoEs, etc.) would make or break your experience or your ability to progress in the game. Play what appeals to you and understand the game will be tough no matter what path you take haha.
The minis look really good, i am just getting back into painting and I would say that you have done an excellent job. It is so good to see Toby commenting on your videos. Am enjoying your content for Oathsworn, have only completed the first story part as yet. Keep up the good work
Yes that is correct. I actually find it very manageable, and would say the only drawbacks are; 1) The amount of table space required for battleflowing 4 characters. 2) Running 4 characters, I don’t have much mental capacity to ‘count the cards’ in the might decks, so am not taking advantage of that. Otherwise it is a lot of fun having access to all the characters abilities and starting to think how characters abilities can work together (I.e. Witch spreading fire so the Penitent can ‘knock back’ opponents through multiple squares of fire).
Haha, you said you can't imagine the board being more full...just wait =) As far as the cards vs dice go: Right now I hold the record for largest single hit with 104 during our testing. I hope people break it soon, but the likelihood that it is broken by people using dice is pretty close to 0. The thing about the cards is that you can really set up massive attacks if you need to. Perhaps this is just my play style, but I enjoy being able to control the monsters transition between the phases and knowing how to setup the might decks in your favor and then break a series of the dice and transition phases on your terms is something to consider. Nothing is wrong with the dice, but there is a degree of strategy that you miss out on - Same thing with the monster attacks but in reverse. You can really figure out how to spread the damage around if you can count the cards rather than just using dice. Fireflies is an incredible ability...especially if you know how to stack the might deck in your favor before using it. It's one of the few abilities that you actually want the deck leaning towards failure when you use it. You have a good party configuration of characters, and you're going to really maximize their potency by remembering to use those interrupts - so keep at it! Defense + interruption cards really make a huge difference in survivability. We tuned the fights so that the fights should take down 1-2 Oathsworn by the end but that tuning also presumes that defense and interruptions are being played to keep everyone alive. Another way you can build out your Avi is to have him setup as an AoE character - though this is likely later in the game. The Avi can dish out some crazy damage...especially to hoards. Primal Rage - glad you caught onto that idea. It is a good example of one of the cards that really benefits from having your first attack intentionally eat up bad cards and then use the 2nd attack to land a massive hit.
Thanks Anthony! Appreciate the reply! Wow… so the board can be fuller! Can’t wait for that! That is really useful to know about the tuning of the game and makes me understand the difficulty. Thanks for the info on the cards versus dice, 104 on a single hit! WOW!!! Bet that monster had a sore head after that! Am starting to think how to combo some of the abilities between the characters and can’t wait to unlock the Level 5 cards! Appreciate the advice!
Seen all of your videos so far and really enjoying seeing your take on the game, looking forward to the next one. I did also notice you said that you weren't able to battle flow cards for the Harbringer and was stuck with just the 0 cooldown card for several rounds, which shouldn't be possible within the games mechanics. Do you have a deck of 1x0, 2x1, 2x2 and 2x3 cold down value cards to make up the deck or are you battle flowing cards when you use them for the defence value?
Thanks Tristan! I did have the right configuration of cards, but I see what you mean about that should t happen? I.e. playing the second level 1 would battle flow the already played level 1 card to position 0? So am not sure what happened? I must have forgotten to battleflow for the Avi at some point? That’s my fault for playing. 4 handed! I think that handicap I accidentally gave myself though made up for my misuse of the Fireflies card though! 😂 Cheers John
You've been painting for a year and a half? Jesus dude. You're amazing. I haven't painted for like 5-6 years due to... Life.. But you're better than me at my best. Certainly Ka-Pow :)
Absolutely brilliant paint job, mate! Love the choices you made. The purple and gold on the Avi really looks fantastic. And you hit the Penitent perfectly with the sin scrolls he wears. The shield is absolute perfection. One thing that may sound counter intuitive - I am actually glad that you could not use the app for the Chapter 4 story. In fact, I would recommend to people that you do not use the app for Chapter 4. Or at least only use it in tandem. Because you would lose the tactile aspect of the story mode for that chapter. I remember when we developed that mechanic and loved the idea of what you were doing to get through the story. And at the end you had a visual representation of the struggle you just went through. Don't you think?
This is a good point. It isn't just Chapter 4 though. There are several chapters that technically would fall into this same entrapment if they purely use the app. Not just the deepwood stuff but some of the other clever things in the story in those envelopes.
Thanks Toby/Ant 👍 Yes I see what you mean about not using the app, I didn’t realise that you would lose that Secret box Z tactile aspect! As that was very cool and like you say portrays the struggle you go through!
@@Florian_Schaefer That's correct. Some of the story elements are handled for you within the app rather than needing the tactile pieces. Personally, when i was doing testing on the app I still used the physical pieces because I liked looking at everything in front of me.
@@anthonynelson8397 So do you use the app and the story book simultaneously or how do you know if the story book gives you some additional material? I would prefer the app because of the audio but would hate to miss some cool stuff from a secret box.
Great job on the painted minis. As someone that has painted for a long time, I would never had guessed you’ve only been painting for a year. Well done sir!
I had a very similar party composition to yourself, and in my case it was the Penitent who left the group, which also seemed very thematic to me. He was replaced by the Cur. I didn't expect to enjoy the story this much but so far it is at least equal to the encounter part of the game for me. I'm up to chapter four now, but after using the app I've had to resort to the story book as, like you, I'm using an ios device. Hoping the app will be updated soon!
Yes I also thought the Penitent would have been the right choice… but I didn’t want to lose him! 🤣 Halfway through chapter 4 without the app… so far I think this is the chapter that really needs the app!
Nice overview. Good tip on the "weightiness" of the game. (Four player needed, minimum, for solo play. And 4 players are equivalent to playing solo with 3 players on JoTL). Thanks!!
Thank you! Probably to clarify that part, I use the Gloomhaven helper app when plying JoTL 4 player and that experience is what I am relating this to (I.e. it is the same as playing JoTL 3 player with the Gloomhaven helper app). Cheers John
Hi Ray, yes the Helper App for Gloomhaven was a real game changer and allowed you to concentrate more on your moves and less on the admin. Oathsworn just doesn’t have that type of admin (no turn order, status markers etc to upkeep). I have switched to playing four characters in ‘full mode’ and it really didn’t seem much more effort! Infact the fun of having all the characters abilities outweighed the additional work of managing them all fully.
Sorry Elqor, ramblings is what it is supposed to be I am afraid. I am just an ordinary backer giving initial opinions and thoughts. Probably best watching the professional boardgame reviewers if you want something comprehensive.
The Witch is a great character. Fun to play once you get the hang of her and she dishes out a bunch of damage. The hardest part about her is learning how to seed the field with water and fire in preparation for what you will do. Just remember that fire goes away as enemies run through them so you can use this to your advantage to dish out extra damage outside of your attacks but it is also something that can work against you if your planning isn't done properly. The Witch gets an ability that lets you enhance other people's attack and that move in combination with the Cur has allowed me to pull off a 100+ damage attack during our testing. She is a challenging character but one that is worth figuring out how to use...especially as you continue to navigate the story further.
Thanks for the great advice Anthony! My initial experience with the witch discovered that she can ‘lure’ enemies into here fire quite well and all those 1 HP damage does add up! Am looking forward to using her more!
Lovely. And the minimum pledge was just the first box? I’m guessing that box 2 holds the miniatures for the bosses. And the envelopes hold health trackers for bosses. Box 1 is really big.
I played the Priest a huge amount during the testing. Desparate Prayer changes everything once you get it. I'm not sure if you are a dice roller or if you use the cards but I'd encourage you to use the cards. For Desparate Prayer you heal 1 HP for each success, so the ideal thing to do is have the other 3 characters go and get the white deck primed for you to do a big pull (meaning get those blanks into the discard pile). This will let you do a big heal and only take 1 damage in return for it. The Avi is an incredible character if you are good at card counting. He is really potent once you start using his chain attacks and his ranged unarmed attacks to destroy minions. The Avi can certainly dish out some damage so just continue to tinker around with him. You've yet to experience some of the fights where his character is the MVP but they are coming. Killing hoards of minons and moving around the board quickly using Chain Attacks are a part of his build for a reason =) The Pentitent is a great DPS tank kind of character and does well protecting the other characters. The Ursus can soak up damage and has some good group mobility moves. I also saw your other video where you talk about switching the Priest to the Cur. The Cur is an incredible assassin type of character and is going to be one of your go-to choices for taking an enemy dice form 6 to 0 in a single attack. However, you've got to plan his moves carefully since he is quite squishy and can easily cause those break reactions to trigger. If you plan things well you can use the Cur to control the speed of when the boss transitions between phases on your terms.
Thanks Ant! I was going to give ‘Desperate Prayer’ a good run out… but then story events turned against me so I didn’t get that chance! Am looking forward to honing the Avi’s talents for sure. Hopefully I will become a bit more experienced in using him before those fights come up that you mention!
