Hardest story-mode cepter (spoilers)

[TheTampaCepter]

For some reason I had major trouble with those the fire and water team. They had some high power element specific cards. I had to re-configure my deck to hurt most of their cards. Thank god I had a willow and dagon Anyone else have problems with this duo?

[Captain Garak]

The biggest problem I had (in the distant past) was with Zagol in Dombwood (Forest of the Thieves). It took me three or four attempts before I could beat him, and that might have been because I went to Dombwood directly after winning my first match in Dunnan (the first map), instead of taking the path to Malthessburg (against Selena).

Now, my difficulty is in beating Zeneth, the Cepter that has replaced Goligan on the Story-mode Dunnan map. I've tried him five or six times, and I've only beaten him twice. Interestingly enough, having played several dozen matches since those early Culdcept days, I went back to try Zagol in Dombwood, and he was a pushover. I guess that the card selection in my deck has improved since then...

[OWell]

EnsignGarak said:

Now, my difficulty is in beating Zeneth, the Cepter that has replaced Goligan on the Story-mode Dunnan map.

You can fight with Zeneth further in Story-mode.

[ferricide]

i'm having a little trouble with kazatega right now. i fought twice, the first time some bad luck (and ryvern using the wrong card at the right time) caused me to lose to whirlwind. the second time was a more normal match -- generally neck-and-neck.

i think kazatega would be a great map for versus play if it didn't have that patch in the top right ... unfortunately, that kind of ruins it. i don't recommend putting any creatures there because they're so easily avoided.

[dtcarson]

CommanderGarak said:

The biggest problem I had (in the distant past) was with Zagol in Dombwood (Forest of the Thieves). It took me three or four attempts before I could beat him, and that might have been because I went to Dombwood directly after winning my first match in Dunnan (the first map), instead of taking the path to Malthessburg (against Selena).

Okay, I don't feel so bad then : )
I was never very good at Magic-type games, but I like them a lot [especially when you don't have to keep buying cards ; )]
But Zagol is tearing me up. I did that too, went to him first instead of Selena, so now I've beaten Selena, done a practice match with Goligan, and am trying to figure out a good layout for my deck. The good news is, I like that the game doesn't actually end if you lose; you always get something so it's not like you're ever at a point where you're better off starting over [of course, I'm not that far in yet, so..]

[TheTampaCepter]

Zagol is tough if you dont have the right deckl for him.

[dtcarson]

I must just suck.
I'm playing the story mode battle with Luthien and Ryvern at the Temple of the Medium.
I think I finished my third time yesterday. And ironically, I'm doing *worse* each time. Last time Ryvern won ~12000, Luthien had like 3500, and I had a whopping 2000. I don't think I collected toll more than five times, and Ryvern somehow always had like 1500 cash.
I've some decent cards, I guess; I guess I just don't know how to strategically build the deck. If I weight it toward heavy/strong monsters, then I can rarely afford to summon any of them, especially early in the game. But if I have the cheaper creatures, they die instantaneously. Plus, it seems like the die just doesn't like me sometimes.

[BWRyan]

A few tips for you:

I used to curse the die alot, too. The trick is, to take the die out of the equation.

I am now in the 'new school' of thought, where I play 40% creatures, 20% items, and 40% spells. Before I played with very few spells. Now, I'm loaded with them, mostly with manna gaining spells and especially movement cards. I play with 3 Hastes and 3 Power Word 10's, along a couple Foresights so I can find those cards in my next 6 cards if I need them.

I also play single-color green, and use one Influence and one Wild Growth. Then, you're not so dependent to land exactly on the right color to drop your creature.

I also use 1 Blink and 1 Sprite. I'm a big fan of the creatures that allow you to move them to any open square on the map. That way, in a pinch you can just drop them anywhere, and then when you land on a tower or the castle, or you just pass over them and can use the Territory command, you can move them to that green square that you covet most. Then, you can exchange the weak Blink card with your nasty Vampire!!!

Hope that helps. The die can really suck sometimes, but there are ways to make it's influence as small as possible.

[dtcarson]

I'll have to try some of that--I do have a few free-manna cards in my deck, and a couple Holy Words, but I think my deck is something like 60/20/20 creature/item/spells. I think the fastest movement spell i have is Fly. I don't have a lot of the cards you mention, but I'll try editing my deck; I don't know if I have enough good cards of one color, but I can at least go two.
I'll tweak it, and try, try again. Even if I lose, I'm still getting between 2 and 5 'New' cards a match, so that's nice.

[BWRyan]

Yeah, it does take a while to get a few of the key cards.

If you don't have Haste and x10, just use Fly and x6. They're almost as good, and the maps early in the game are smaller anyway. I still use a few Flys in my deck, too.

Oh, I may as well answer the question of the thread. I had the hardest time with... um... that damn gerbil guy. Can't remember his name. I also think Leo is pretty tough, even now he gives me some trouble.

The rest were basically pushovers. The only other time I lost during the first time through the story against Zagol on the Dombwood map. Like others, I tackled that guy before whipping up on the girl.

[Captain Garak]

ferricide said:

i'm having a little trouble with kazatega right now.

Don't feel bad, ferricide. As you see above, I had the same difficulty with this map... that is, until I came up with my patented Kazatega Deck design!

Actually, it's not patented at all, but it has worked quite successfully for me. If you want more details, check out my deck listing here:

- culdcept.proboards27.com/index.cgi?board=dl&action=display&thread=1075845698

[WhoseYerLilith]

Oddly enough I tackled Zagol first and didn't have a problem, Serena took two battles. I actually had a lot of difficulty with Adhla and Leo- though Adhla is typically a more defensive player- both he and Leo loved to invade my lands continuously and they both aimed all spells towards me. Fortunately, that was the last real tough battle I've had. I had a lot of great battles that were really intense, but a hell of a lotta fun- you know what I mean. Anyway, Im totally with Captain Garak about Zeneth. Ive played him 5 times and won twice- three times Ive just shut off the power in frustration at how ridiculously and absurdly offensive he is- I hate the idea of trying to design a deck against a single opponent, but I may be running out of options. The worst part about Zeneth is that he doesnt have outrageous cards...hes just damned lucky and supremely aggresive- I finally thought I had him for my third match. I had Old Willow out on a LV 4 land with a Plate Mail in my hand, He had a cerberus, a haste and a claymore- he was three spaces away from the Willow and rolled a two, I sighed because of how predicatable it was- I happily drew another card and went my turn, his next card? A Storm Giant- Armed with the Claymore, critical hit against red---sigh.

[rwilso7]

Zeneth for sure. The maddening thing is that by the time you get to him, you have most (probably all) of the same cards he has, but he's supremely gifted at chaining, knowing exactly what weaknesses he can exploit, and--I'm suspect this--given an advantage with the die. But don't feel bad. I've battled him at least 30 times and just won my third time today. I went cheap and used Cornfolk and Bandits, with all defensive creatures for the Bandits' support. I figured with the Cornfolk, if I got killed I'd still get 200 mana for leveling up my Bandits. And with the exception of the defensive creatures, I had no land dependency. This time, however, I got lucky--his initial draw was all land-dependent (Forest), and he couldn't play anything; he then drew only items. Off the bat I rolled a 1 and a 1, so instantly had a two-chain. Believe it or not, that just about did him in.

[Strahd]

I've been playing Zagol for cards lately as i'm stuck getting past the next map. I forget the name its the one after you fight that little furry creature and the guy you fight in your very first duel. (heh I'm at work wish I could look this stuff up).
I either will Crush Zagol or he'll kick my butt. I either use a green/yellow deck which I do pretty well or an all red deck since I have a bunch of red cards and an old willow.

I'm still learning what cards work well together but lately i've been using lots of holy word 6's, fly's and 10's (only have one though)

[MisterScratch]

The only character I had any real problems with was Zeneth. I cruised through the story fairly easily with just a jumbled deck - adding a card or two each time I won(which may have helped me at the end battle ). I lost once in the tournament near the beginning and that was it. When I went back and played against Zeneth the first time it was a different story. He crushed me easily, and I ended up having to create a streamlined one-colour book (blue since I had Dagon and a Kelpie) in order to beat him.