Agreed. Walls can absolutely dominate the game, and that's equally true with the similar pair of "wall" powers in Stargrave. Not only the best Elementalist spell, but arguably one of the top five spells in the game, period.
Top five spells… sounds like an idea for a future video… : ) I’ve found the walls in Stargrave to be a little more tame since grenades can be lobbed over them and the transparent ones can be seen through, but yes, still very good!
@@bricksblocksgaming8017 Stargrave walls can't be climbed, which is a real plus most of the time. Wall of Force lasts forever unless battered down by shooting (with a whopping 10% chance per action wasted) and as you said, can be seen through so you can use your own LoS powers through it - including dropping more walls to sandwich or outright cage an enemy. Being invisible also lets you pull off some silly shenanigans with NPC AI, where they can be lured off by a figure they can see but not reach. They're also part of the Psionic power set, which contains the lion's share of awesome movement powers and almost guarantees you the edge on maneuverability during the game. Holographic Walls have that irritating failure chance (although they can't be knocked down except with Cancel Power) and don't block movement - but the power isn't armor dependent, so you can still use it while wearing real armor and that makes the power easier to splash into non-Tekker builds than force wall is for non-Psionics. They still offer some potential trickery with NPCs, and they're just great for setting up flamethrower attacks, which are more reliable and far harder-hitting than grenades are. I'll admit they're generally weaker than the force walls are, but mostly because you can get some of their benefits from smoke grenades off soldiers.
@@richmcgee434 you make some good points. I’d forgotten Walls of Force can’t be climbed. I also read it wrong - I thought you made a regular shooting attack and applied your Shoot modifier to destroy it. But looking closer it looks like it implies no modifier, and you have to roll a natural 19 or 20. So that is hard to take down! It is pretty handy against AI who just stand there and stare. I think you’ve changed my mind on that spell being tamed down. It is probably a good thing it has Armour Interference to keep it from being an auto-include for every crew in the galaxy. It’s handy that Holographic Walls allows you to that fire flamethrowers through them with no penalty while still blocking guns from shooting through.
@@bricksblocksgaming8017 Honestly the Wall of Force may be a little too good even with armor interference and strain 1, but only a little. If you find it feels too strong after some play with it, try adding the weapon's damage modifier (if any) to the d20 roll when you shoot to down it. That way basic shotguns (or advanced weapons with +1 dam) work on 18+ and rapid fires/flamethrowers on a 17+ so at least the heavy hitters don't feel as wasted against it as they do RAW. Has the minor side effect of making Power Spike and that one advanced tech that gives +2 Dam for -1 Shoot marginally better, which is probably a good thing since I think are pretty lousy as-is.
Utility wins all the time, every time (so yeah, I agree with you, and would argue quite strenously if you were wrong here ;) ). Blasty stuff is useful and all that (and lets admit it, that's why we'd go for an elementalist), but doesn't really help you "win"...
I think the simplicity of Bolt is easy for new players to grasp, but after understanding the tactics of the game you learn the strength of Wall. Almost like a young Wizard starting out focusing on attack, but later realizing the wisdom of a good defense.
@@MonsterPainter Almost anything that makes terrain (or moves it around, as you see with some Wardens in Ghost Archipelago) is going to have plenty of creative applications. Think it might be why I like GA so much, it has quite a lot of those tricks relative to the other McCullough games.
It looks as though everyone agrees with you about Wall. I find myself torn between elemental ball and elemental bolt. Whilst grenade is better than elemental ball, if I am not in a position to get grenade, I’d pick ball over bolt, just because the threat of area damage is often more effective as a deterrent than the reality, but the reality can sometimes be devastating.
Yeah Wall is so versatile. I took Ball with a Wizard once, and while he cast the spell a lot, the other team was almost always able to keep his guys spread enough to keep the spell firing at just a single target. I do really like Ball with more than 2 players in a game as it can be really strong against Combats that only the other players are involved with. The +7 from Bolt is so strong.
It can be pretty powerful - especially on a table crowded with terrain. I can see where it could be boring...it's not doing anything flashy and can allow a player to kind of cheese the game.
Agreed. Walls can absolutely dominate the game, and that's equally true with the similar pair of "wall" powers in Stargrave. Not only the best Elementalist spell, but arguably one of the top five spells in the game, period.
Top five spells… sounds like an idea for a future video… : ) I’ve found the walls in Stargrave to be a little more tame since grenades can be lobbed over them and the transparent ones can be seen through, but yes, still very good!
@@bricksblocksgaming8017 Stargrave walls can't be climbed, which is a real plus most of the time.
Wall of Force lasts forever unless battered down by shooting (with a whopping 10% chance per action wasted) and as you said, can be seen through so you can use your own LoS powers through it - including dropping more walls to sandwich or outright cage an enemy. Being invisible also lets you pull off some silly shenanigans with NPC AI, where they can be lured off by a figure they can see but not reach. They're also part of the Psionic power set, which contains the lion's share of awesome movement powers and almost guarantees you the edge on maneuverability during the game.
Holographic Walls have that irritating failure chance (although they can't be knocked down except with Cancel Power) and don't block movement - but the power isn't armor dependent, so you can still use it while wearing real armor and that makes the power easier to splash into non-Tekker builds than force wall is for non-Psionics. They still offer some potential trickery with NPCs, and they're just great for setting up flamethrower attacks, which are more reliable and far harder-hitting than grenades are. I'll admit they're generally weaker than the force walls are, but mostly because you can get some of their benefits from smoke grenades off soldiers.
@@richmcgee434 you make some good points. I’d forgotten Walls of Force can’t be climbed. I also read it wrong - I thought you made a regular shooting attack and applied your Shoot modifier to destroy it. But looking closer it looks like it implies no modifier, and you have to roll a natural 19 or 20. So that is hard to take down! It is pretty handy against AI who just stand there and stare. I think you’ve changed my mind on that spell being tamed down. It is probably a good thing it has Armour Interference to keep it from being an auto-include for every crew in the galaxy. It’s handy that Holographic Walls allows you to that fire flamethrowers through them with no penalty while still blocking guns from shooting through.
@@bricksblocksgaming8017 Honestly the Wall of Force may be a little too good even with armor interference and strain 1, but only a little. If you find it feels too strong after some play with it, try adding the weapon's damage modifier (if any) to the d20 roll when you shoot to down it. That way basic shotguns (or advanced weapons with +1 dam) work on 18+ and rapid fires/flamethrowers on a 17+ so at least the heavy hitters don't feel as wasted against it as they do RAW. Has the minor side effect of making Power Spike and that one advanced tech that gives +2 Dam for -1 Shoot marginally better, which is probably a good thing since I think are pretty lousy as-is.
@@richmcgee434 sounds like a decent house rule. I always like things that give a boost to underplayed items and powers.
Thanks 👍
You’re welcome!
Wall is a very powerful spell. GMG showed the power of it in their 1 e games.
Yeah, Owen’s strategy to essentially cage in Ash’s team, then teleport in a powered-up spellcaster was pretty brutal.
Utility wins all the time, every time (so yeah, I agree with you, and would argue quite strenously if you were wrong here ;) ). Blasty stuff is useful and all that (and lets admit it, that's why we'd go for an elementalist), but doesn't really help you "win"...
I think the simplicity of Bolt is easy for new players to grasp, but after understanding the tactics of the game you learn the strength of Wall. Almost like a young Wizard starting out focusing on attack, but later realizing the wisdom of a good defense.
@@bricksblocksgaming8017 That is... quite insightsful of you, and I can't really dispute it. Almost like you're a master wizard yourself ;)
@@andreaspersson5639 😂🧙♂️
I am with you on wall.
I was expecting more controversy over Wall vs Bolt, but it seems like Wall is getting all the love.
@@bricksblocksgaming8017 naw, wall is one of the best spells in the game.
@@MonsterPainter Almost anything that makes terrain (or moves it around, as you see with some Wardens in Ghost Archipelago) is going to have plenty of creative applications. Think it might be why I like GA so much, it has quite a lot of those tricks relative to the other McCullough games.
It looks as though everyone agrees with you about Wall. I find myself torn between elemental ball and elemental bolt. Whilst grenade is better than elemental ball, if I am not in a position to get grenade, I’d pick ball over bolt, just because the threat of area damage is often more effective as a deterrent than the reality, but the reality can sometimes be devastating.
Yeah Wall is so versatile. I took Ball with a Wizard once, and while he cast the spell a lot, the other team was almost always able to keep his guys spread enough to keep the spell firing at just a single target. I do really like Ball with more than 2 players in a game as it can be really strong against Combats that only the other players are involved with. The +7 from Bolt is so strong.
Always take wall. That's a good rule of thumb
It seems like you can’t go wrong with it - lots of different options with it.
My only complaint about this channel is that you don’t produce content faster than I watch it.
😂 That’s my complaint as well! I have SO much I want to cover, but not enough time. Thanks for watching!
Wall is too good. And boring
It can be pretty powerful - especially on a table crowded with terrain. I can see where it could be boring...it's not doing anything flashy and can allow a player to kind of cheese the game.