Friday 6 September 2013

Mage Knight: Some Advice To My Fellow Beginners

Sir or Madam, I challenge you: can you look me in the eye and honestly state that there exists any game of the last few years to have received the universal acclaim of Mage Knight? It's ruleset may be dense, but the layers upon layers of strategy woven perfectly into the theme make it one of the most gloriously satisfying gaming experiences one can obtain, together or alone.

There is no denying, however, that it has a precipitously steep learning curve. I myself am no expert.
Picture by Gareth Lloyd
However, I have learned much in my dozen or so games (all successful, I am pleased to report, with the exception of one I quit two turns in after the most absurd starting hands imaginable). Since the discussion chambers of the automatic telegraph service are constantly filled with requests for tips for beginners, I will herewith provide my own humble suggestions.

1. Try to do something every turn

 Though this may seem outrageously patronising, I am making a point about how one should think about the options available to oneself. Even in the first turn, with a paltry five-card hand and no mana crystals, there exist a very large number of permutations of actions; it is a fool's errand to calculate the most effective way to use the cards together, then try to find a place to deliver this "killer combo" (just as it is pointless to build a seven-letter word in one's Scrabble rack when there is nowhere to place it). Instead, look to the board, and consider:
  1. What enemies are there that I might be able to reach? Is there the possibility of acquiring a Spell (from a mage tower) or an Artifact? If not, how about a keep? 
  2. If I have Influence rather than Attack cards, can I reach somewhere to recruit; if so, do I have space for a unit/a wounded unit to replace/a better unit available?
  3. If I can't realistically gain anything through combat or interaction, can I reach a glade/mine or explore a new tile?
First look at each potential target in order of priority (which may vary by current needs), then check your hand to see whether it is achievable (bearing in mind that some enemies may have random aspects). In short, just as with almost anything involving a hand of cards (or, again, Scrabble), consider the game state first, and how to exploit it in the current turn, rather than focusing on just getting "biggest play" from your current hand or waiting for the "perfect hand" that never comes. Advance planning is all well and good if you are very familiar with your deck, but is more the province of expert players; at first, focus on getting what you can get right now.

2. Don't be afraid to take Wounds

This is probably the single most frequently made suggestion from experts to beginners, and it works in support of the above. Beginners (myself included) tend to play safe in the early turns, trying to pick off rampaging monsters and being very wary of tougher, fortified enemies in keeps and mage towers. When considering which actions are achievable this round, your immediate question should be "can I produce enough movement and attack power to defeat the enemy?" If the answer to that question is "yes", you should probably take them on unless the cost is extremely high. Even at the beginning of the game, a Wound or two is not such a big problem - you will have ample opportunity to Heal. Even three wounds is worth considering in early rounds if you'll get a good Spell or Artifact out of it (and particularly if it is near end of round, so the Wounds won't stay in your hand long). It is entirely possible to storm a mage tower in the first turn or two, even without improving your deck in any way beforehand. Blocking is nice if you can pull it off, but if you wait for that perfect hand containing all the attack, block and movement you need, it will most likely never happen; better to take a Wound or two, enjoy the spoils of the battle, and heal up later. Linked to this point is the suggestion that you should...

Picture by Marco Martellucci

3. Use your Units as damage sinks

Probably the biggest mistake I made as a beginner was unwillingness to sacrifice my Units. Units are unquestionably one of the best assets you can acquire in the game; they effectively exist as cards outside of your hand, each providing multiple options. Even a level 1 unit is the equivalent of an unimproved basic action, and will have greater flexibility to boot. Since Units are so useful, it is easy to attach too much value to them. Remember, that Influence you used to buy them in the first place is going to come back into your hand later to buy new Units with, and the Unit offer may well be better when it does. If a Unit is already exhausted for the round, do not hesitate to drop a Wound on it. This is particularly relevant to cheap units available at Villages that provide Movement - use the Movement to get to a mage tower or keep, provide the attack power yourself, ignore block, and drop wounds on your exhausted Unit(s). It's much better to stop that Wound from clogging your hand. You can heal the Unit later if you really desire; and you can replace it later anyway (and most of the time, you probably should). By the same token, don't be afraid to use a weak hand to visit a village and buy a unit you don't really want, if that is the best option available to you right now (following point 1); that poor unit can soak up damage even if it's not good for much else.

4. Mana is key

This was probably my other biggest flaw when starting this game. As a beginner, I tended to consider powering cards with mana as a "nice bonus"; in fact, it is the key to success with the game. A quick check of the various play-by-forum records on boardgamegeek.com will show just how much expert players utilise mana. Even in the first round, one should attempt to use at least one mana every turn. Those cards and (particularly) skills which provide mana tokens and crystals may seem boring by comparison with alternatives, but they are absolutely essential to success; if one is going to storm a City, one will need several mana-powered cards (crucially, including Spells) to have any realistic chance of success. Mana management is an essential skill to master. Take mana-granting skills that complement the cards in your deck; select cards to add to your deck which complement the mana sources you have available.
For example, when selecting a Spell from the offer, consider the crystals and skills (and possibly Source dice) you have available right now. Since any given card will only be played a small number of times over the course of a game, if you know you can power a Spell you are about to acquire in the following turn (and benefit from its effects), it may be better take take that Spell rather than a (possibly more exciting) Spell that you may not be able to fully exploit next turn.
Picture by Jaroslaw Czaja

Other points

The above four points are definitely my "take-home" messages; they are some of the most common tips given by experts, they are the mistakes I made the most as a beginner, and they are the suggestions that will probably improve your game the most. Following are a number of suggestions which, while of lesser magnitude, could improve your game.
  • Try to use most of your hand each turn: even playing solo against a dummy player, that player will be averaging more than three cards per turn. That means you need to be averaging around four of your starting hand of five to keep pace (as you will most likely increase deck size faster than the dummy player). Point 1 above remains the priority - if the best target right now only needs one or two cards, then do that rather than emptying your hand for the sake of it - but in general, "churn" your hand, playing cards sideways if helpful this turn, rather than clinging onto a lot of cards and hoping for the perfect combo in a later turn (unless you really know your deck well and are pretty sure what's going to arrive next turn).
  • Don't over-value Advanced Actions: a big error I made as a beginner was hogging Monasteries and buying up Advanced Actions, with the logic that they were better than the basic actions, and hence I could only be improving my deck. In fact, I was just fattening it, and I ended up having trouble keeping pace. While it's not wrong to pick up a bonus Advanced Action if a monastery provides something you really want, it's better to have a slimmer deck filled with Spells and Artifacts. 
  • Don't under-value Keeps: they seem weak at first, particularly compared to mage towers which provide a Spell for one's deck rather than a mere temporary hand-size boost. However, a canny player can get a fair bit of use out of a Keep. For one, the extra card in the following round softens the impact of any Wound taken in the attack. For another, you can often utilise the bonus for two turns running, by using one turn to move one step outside the keep and attacking a local rampaging monster, and benefiting from the bonus in the following turn. Finally, remember the effect of Keeps is cumulative; a two-card bonus from a second Keep is huge, particularly as a prelude to a City assault. Keeps are still, on average, less useful than mage towers, but they are nonetheless a good option and should not be overlooked.
  • Ranged attack isn't as useful as it looks: because more often than not, the enemies you are attacking will be fortified, either by their site or their own abilities. Reading the manuals makes it look amazing - you can kill an enemy without worrying about blocking or taking Wounds - but in practice, it's rarely an option, particularly in the early game. Even when not fortified, most enemies have more than 3 armour, so a single mana-powered Swiftness won't be enough, and it's highly unlikely you'll have both Swiftness cards and the ability to power them in the same turn at the beginning of the game. Since ranged can't be improved with normal attack (though normal attack can be improved with ranged attack), you need a lot of ranged (and/or siege) attack to kill anything worth fighting. I did once play an extremely successful game with a ranged-based deck, but I had acquired two separate powers which nullified fortification early in the game. In summary, unless you can remove fortification (or improve ranged attack to siege) AND have a lot of ranged/siege in your deck, don't expect to get much value out of ranged attack. Attempting to hold on to a ranged attack card and hope to combo it later is one of the easiest traps to fall into; better to use it as part of a normal attack unless you are sure you will be able to exploit it soon.

1 comment:

  1. Very Nice! I will be keeping any eye out for more advanced tips in the future!

    ReplyDelete