In a previous column, I mentioned that positive AND negative charms can be stolen, cleansed, broken, and otherwise disappoint wizards. Here are some basics on how carefully placed charms can cause a second round of dismay – or joy – after they are initially cast.
- Steal Charm. Fire school. One pip, 80% accuracy. Pyromancers cast this in hopes of stealing a beneficial charm from an enemy and gaining it for themselves. With my fire wizard, Calamity, I’ve cast it many times on enemies even if the charm I steal won’t boost one of my spells … because if I have it, it can’t boost their spells!
- Cleanse Charm. Storm school. Zero pips, 100% accuracy. Removes one negative charm. Diviners cast this charm on a friends to clear a pesky charms that reduce damage or accuracy. StormyWiz is particularly handy with this charm when he and I are saving The Spiral together!
- Disarm. Storm School. One pip, 100% accuracy. Removes one positive charm. Diviners cast this on enemies to eliminate charms that boost accuracy or damage.
- Smoke Screen. Fire school. One pip, 100% accuracy. Pyromancers cast this charm to reduce the accuracy of the next spell cast by all enemies by 40%. Unlike Steal Charm, Cleanse Charm, and Disarm, Smoke Screen does not specifically target other charms but it can lead to any spell fizzling. If you’ve carefully set up a hit, spending numerous rounds and pips casting charms, and the related damage spell fizzles thanks to Smoke Screen, you’ll be cursing the fire gods.
- Black Mantle. Balance school. Zero pips, 100% accuracy. Sorcerers cast this spell on an enemy to reduce the accuracy of the next spell by 45%. Again, this doesn’t specifically manipulate charms but it can ruin your best-laid, charm-ing plan to one-shot Malistaire (and then take him out for a root beer float).
- Plague. Death school. One pip, 100% accuracy. This is a nasty little charm that reduces the next damage spell of all enemies by 20%. Will put a big dent in any boost you’re wearing (charm or equipment). Any charm that reduces the damage I was hoping to inflict is not charming.
- Earthquake! Myth school. Six pips, 80% accuracy. Conjurers cast this spell to wreak lots of havoc in The Spiral. It’s a very delicious sensation to successfully cast this spell and a very depressing sensation to have this spell cast upon you. FIRST, it does 310 damage. THEN it removes ALL charms and wards (shields and traps) from all enemies. Or from you and all of your friends/minions.
- Earthquake!! This spell is so evil it deserves three entries. The good news is, if you cast it on your enemies (i.e., it doesn’t fizzle) it does some damage and removes all of the charms they have been stacking up while plotting your demise. Bonus: is also removes all of the shields they have put up to protect themselves (including Absorb, woot!). The bad news is, it also removes all of the traps you and your friends have set to boost damage spells. And all of the charms you’ve cast to reduce damage or accuracy. Govern yourself accordingly.
- Earthquake!!! This truly is a complicated spell. Because this series of columns focuses on PvP, I won’t get into the prism issue at this point (trust me, there is going to be an immersion seminar in prisms in the future). If you cast Earthquake, any Myth traps or shields WILL be triggered and the 310 damage posted on the face of the card will be accordingly adjusted. AFTER the health damage is done, all charms and other wards will fall into the gap. If your friend has been waiting on pips after carefully setting up a major Death hit, and you make his Death Trap, Feint, and Curse disappear, he might not be too happy. In PvP, Earthquake might best be cast only after checking with your teammates.
- Defeat. Who else out there thinks that ringing sound that signaling the defeat of a Ravenwood student harks back to “The Gong Show”? Even if you haven’t seen the show, I’m pretty sure Simon Cowell has. It’s the model for humiliating talent show contestants. At any rate, being defeated is sad. Being brought back to life in battle by a friend is happy! Except that all of the charms that were spinning about your head (before your head started spinning) will be gone. And all of your shields. Happily, all traps will be gone too. At any rate, defeat is another way that your charms can be taken from you.
Phew! We’ve covered a lot of ground in the past few days. I hope you’re enjoying the bite-sized pieces of information. Before you go check your spell deck, please Google “The Gong Show” and let me know what you think about the “defeat” sound.
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