MTG: Mana Links
Sean
When and under what circumstances will a wizard give you a mana link with
his city? I've completed two quests for wizards and all they've offered me
is cards.
David Ripton
It appears to be random. Just turn down quests with lame rewards and try
again in a nearby village until you get one with a reward worth persuing
(mana links and white stones, basically).
Note that some quests are much easier than others. Carrying a letter to
a nearby village only takes a few seconds, while killing a tough creature
or delivering a spell you don't have is harder.
--
David Ripton dri...@netcom.com
spamgard(tm): To email me, put "geek" in your Subject line.
SEAN
I was given a mana link as a result of my first quest. Since then I've
completed five or six quests and have defeated five of the wizards
minions. How good a reputation do you need to dispose the villagers
favourably towards you? How much do creature quests improve it as
opposed to message quests? Any help would be appreciated.
No.19
>>How good a reputation do you need to dispose the villagers
favourably towards you?<<
You will only be given a mana link as a reward for completing a
quest if that's the stated reward. Rewards for completing quests
include mana stones, cards and mana links. So if you want additional
life points (and who doesn't?), you'll have to search for those
towns that give those quests. I tend to ignore the quests that don't
directly lead to something useful (such as a mana link or a type of
card that I need for my deck).
--
No.19
Spectrum HoloByte/MicroProse
Star Trek Generations designer's notes
www.microprose.com./gamesdesign/stgens/stgendesnotes.html
ReXX
> > When and under what circumstances will a wizard give you a mana link with
> >his city? I've completed two quests for wizards and all they've offered me
> >is cards.
>
> It appears to be random. Just turn down quests with lame rewards and try
> again in a nearby village until you get one with a reward worth persuing
> (mana links and white stones, basically).
Also, check the map for cities where you don't yet have a mana link.
Travel there and check the quest, they usually give you a link for
defeating someone.
-ReXX
[Reko Nokkanen - http://www.sci.fi/~rexx : NetRunner Archives - re...@sci.fi]
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/ ReXX on EFnet #netrunner & #mtg (occasionally) _/ This space for rent. _/
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Alan Beaudoin
On 26 Jul 1997, Zweldron wrote:
> Actually, mana links appear to be offered once your reputation gets good
> enough. Your rep improves faster by defeating creature quests than the
> others. Learn which creatures you can clobber and take those quests.
>
> --Matthew
Good advice. And don't shy away from random encounters. If you win
against the same creature type a set number of times (which varies with
skill level), they become fearful of you and will offer you rich rewards
when you meet them instead of fighting - such as gems, food, a spell from
their deck, or gold.
Jeffery Davidson
It's actually not a question of your reputation, per se. The quests
are randomly generated. Some will offer amulets, while others will
offer mana links. Quests for the larger cities will offer cards as
rewards.
Obviously, message quests have lees uncertainity in them than creature
quests. The more difficult the creature is to defeat, the more amulets
you'll be offered for successfully completing the quest. However,
don't forget that the AI adapts the creature's strategy to your deck
if you don't vary it periodically. Eventually, a Druid with 6 points
can kick the stuffing out of you if you always play the same deck.
Also, once you have accpeted the quest, you have to complete it.
Failure to do so causes the city or village to never offer you a quest
again. (I suppose they're thinking "Once burnt, twice shy" or some
such)
Where the reputation really kicks in is when you meet the various
minions. After you've defeated a certain kind of creature enough
times, say a Druid, for example, or a warlock, then future encounters
with that type of critter will cause the creature to offer you things
in return for not dueling with him/her/it.
The kinds of things that they will offer include gold, food, a card
from their deck, and clues about the Wizard's castles -- and so far,
this is the only way I've seen to really get any clues about the
castles.
Hope this helps
--
Jeffery Davidson
jad...@rgvtrn.vt.com
David Ripton
In article <33e24650...@news.vt.com>,
Jeffery Davidson <jad...@rgvtrn.vt.com> wrote:
>. However,
>don't forget that the AI adapts the creature's strategy to your deck
>if you don't vary it periodically. Eventually, a Druid with 6 points
>can kick the stuffing out of you if you always play the same deck.
Really? I seriously doubt it. What kind of amazing adaptation
could the CP pull off to actually start winning? Let alone with
the low-end decks?
I don't doubt that some adjustment is made (though I've completed
the game twice without seeing it; maybe I change decks too often)
but it would take a heck of an advantage for the CP to achieve more
than a 10% win percentage with the Druid deck. A free Hypnotic
Spectre at the beginning of each duel (the most annoying of the
castle disadvantages, other than the broken buggy Leviathan and Elder
Land Wurm that keep you from ever declaring an attack) wouldn't be
enough versus a decent player with a decent deck.
>Where the reputation really kicks in is when you meet the various
>minions. After you've defeated a certain kind of creature enough
>times, say a Druid, for example, or a warlock, then future encounters
>with that type of critter will cause the creature to offer you things
>in return for not dueling with him/her/it.
>
>The kinds of things that they will offer include gold, food, a card
>from their deck, and clues about the Wizard's castles -- and so far,
>this is the only way I've seen to really get any clues about the
>castles.
Unfortunately, the thing you really want is often stones, and there's
a bug in 1.25 that causes tribute stones to be offered but not
actually awarded. The game gets ugly when you run out of white stones
and towns start falling faster than you can walk to them.
Nostromo
Can you post the banned/restricted cards available in the game here,
please? I don't have the latest tournament rules handy...
David Ripton
In article <5s7qig$4...@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com>,
Andrew Stefanski <stef...@ssd.comm.mot.com> wrote:
>In article <Pine.SGI.3.91.970730...@server.uwindsor.ca> Alan Beaudoin <bea...@server.uwindsor.ca> writes:
>>On 26 Jul 1997, Zweldron wrote:
>>
>>> Actually, mana links appear to be offered once your reputation gets good
>>> enough. Your rep improves faster by defeating creature quests than the
>>> others. Learn which creatures you can clobber and take those quests.
>>>
>>against the same creature type a set number of times (which varies with
>>skill level), they become fearful of you and will offer you rich rewards
>>when you meet them instead of fighting - such as gems, food, a spell from
>>their deck, or gold.
>
>before accepting tribute from them. Certain creatures are worth dueling for
>what you can get from them. Especially some of the blue ones and the
>Elementalist. They will often give you a duplicate of any card in your deck.
>You NEVER want to pass up this chance, especially when you start picking up
>some good cards. 2 Mox Ruby, 2 Mox Emerald, 2 Black Lotus, 2 Berserk in a G/R
>deck can make it a pretty effective weapon...
Too effective for the game to provide any challenge at all. :->
My second time through Shandalar, I restricted myself to using 60-card,
T1 legal decks. (No more than 4 of any card but basic land, no more than
1 of any restricted card.) And no save/restore cheating. I highly
recommend this to anyone who's already breezed through the game once and
is considering giving it another shot, as it makes things a bit more
challenging.
Claws
Nostromo <nost...@labyrinth.net.au> wrote in article
<33ebeab2...@news.labyrinth.net.au>...
| Can you post the banned/restricted cards available in the game here,
| please? I don't have the latest tournament rules handy...
|
Yes I can... This is Type I /Classic list
Effective July 1, 1997--The Restricted List for Classic tournaments is as
follows:
Ancestral Recall
Balance
Berserk
Black Lotus
Black Vise
Braingeyser
Candelabra of Tawnos (AQ)
Copy Artifact
Demonic Tutor
Fastbond
Feldon’s Cane (AQ)
Fork
Ivory Tower (AQ)
Library of Alexandria (AN)
Maze of Ith (DK)
Mirror Universe (LE)
Mishra’s Workshop (AQ)
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Recall (LE)
Regrowth
Sol Ring
Time Walk
Timetwister
Underworld Dreams (LE)
Wheel of Fortune
Zuran Orb (IA)
The Banned List for Classic tournaments is as follows:
Any ante card contained in any newly released card set
Amulet of Quoz (IA)
Bronze Tablet (AQ)
Channel
Chaos Orb
Contract from Below
Darkpact
Demonic Attorney
Divine Intervention (LE)
Falling Star (LE)
Jeweled Bird (AN)
Mind Twist
Rebirth (LE)
Shahrazad (AN)
Tempest Efreet (LE)
Timmerian Fiends (HM)
Ray Kerby
>
>
> Of course, if you prefer kicking the computer's butt with degenerate
> decks, that's fine too. (Try 60 Mishra's Factories. Try 30 Strip
> Mines and 30 Black Vises. Try 20 mountains and 40 Lightning Bolts.)
>
The most effective degenerate deck I have found is a landless
variant of the classic Channel-Fireball deck.
20 Black Lotus, 20 Wheel of Fortune, 10 Fireball, 10 Channel
Just use the WoFs to cycle through your deck until you complete
the Fireball/Channel combo, dropping all of the Lotuses for mana.
I played about 10 games with this deck to see if it ever took 2
turns to win (never did). You can simplify this deck by removing
the Channels (replace with 5 Lotus & 5 WoFs), but the Channels
allow for a quicker kill with fewer redraws with the WoFs.
The nice thing is that you never draw a land, so you are always
allowed to mulligan your first hand if you want. It makes you
understand why 3 of these 4 cards were banned.
Regards,
Ray Kerby