Spotlight: Emerald Orb Wizard

Looking over the card for the Emerald Orb Wizard, he seems to be something of a paradox. He has decent speed but shouldn't be out front. His Sudden Spikes area attack does more damage to enemies in difficult terrain, but it requires that you target your nearest enemy, so a wise opponent would be careful to place his nearest figures away from difficult terrain. His Orb Ward ability means you want your opponent to go after him with melee attacks, but his low AC and hp mean it's more likely that he'll get hit than that the ability will be triggered, which means you'll probably want him fighting from further away to use his area attacks. So, how do you use this wizard?

He does have a few sparkling facets. Orb Blast affects only adjacent enemies and has unlimited uses, so allies can stand adjacent to him to double-team the bad guys. Sudden Spikes, an are attack, is also unlimited, and the potential for 20 or even 30 damage to everything in a 5x5-square area is joyous. Shard Storm has the nice side effect of creating a square of difficult terrain even if it causes no damage. Being able to throw obstacles in your opponent's path or create a space that's dangerous for him to stand in (thanks to the 10 extra damage Sudden Spikes does to creatures in difficult terrain) is a useful tactical option.

Synergies

With the right allies and the right map, this orb-wielding, spike-shooting wizard might surprise you. First, he needs a solid champion to get a map with plenty of difficult terrain such as the Flooded River or the Dwarven Outpost. The Mercenary General and the Cleric of Pelor would be ideal choices.

If you intend to let your opponent get near the Emerald Orb Wizard, you definitely want some bodyguards to protect him. He needs to last long enough to get numerous uses his area effect, and that's not easy with only 40 hp when the enemy is stabbing you. The Merchant Guard, especially as a cohort of the Mercenary General, or the Kalashtar Bodyguard can provide some of that protection and allow the Wizard to strike back with well-timed Orb Blasts against all adjacent enemies. The Champion of Dol Dorn is also useful, because he gets to attack an opponent before the opponent attacks the Wizard. Shrieking Harpies can also be a great way to force an opponent onto difficult terrain or to a square where they are the nearest opponent to the Emerald Orb Wizard.

500-Point Play

This Wizard probably is not the most effective use of 33 points against enemies that are hard to hit and who might be able to dish out a one-shot kill against him. Those radius-2 attacks, however, could do real damage to your opponent's screening fighters, and with luck and careful positioning, he might do enough automatic damage with Orb Blast to repay your investment.

Bicho...essa peça não é ruim. Mas também não é boa...

Eu gostei do carinha, principalmente do poder especial, verdaeiro mata buchas.

grande problema dele são os poucos pvs.

mas qualquer peça capaz de fazer dano nos adversarios sem rolar dados não deve ser desmerecida.

pensei em 3 deles com dois shadows dragons. Os dragões dando conceal a eles, podem fazer com q eles sobrevivam mais e ainda fazer os adversarios q errarem o conceal levar os 15 de dano!

são de fato muito fortes. e os pvs baixos são para equilibrar a peça, pois se ela tivesse 60 de vida ia ser forte demais.

Falta vida no garoto...

Pra mim uns 45 ou 50 de vida não desequilibravam...

Compare-se com o Raistlin...

Lembrando que o Wand Expert também tinha pouca vida e jogava muito, ganhei muito torneio com a ajuda dele e acredito que esse Emerald Orb vai no mesmo caminho como peça estratégica para finalizar ou eliminar buchas.