JarodDempsey

Oracle mask used its' ability to make iteself invisible to buffs.
 
In all seriousness what do you think of the idea of removing the AOE power of Tower of Flames to make it a more DPS focused tower, while shifting that AOE power to oracle mask so it becomes a viable defense?

Infected Tower:
I would like to refute this absurd nerf, what purpose would you have for Infected Tower other than it being a defensive tower? Why on earth would I even use the twilight bug ability in the future? 
I am an avid Twilight bug deck user and have been using such deck in Battlegrounds for a long time but I have to say ever since the new update on battlegrounds, the deck has become even more lackluster to single unit clear + Infect/frenetic/disenchant, which brings up the point on why hasn't the team been revising changes on these kind of one man army strat since they obviously allow you to get top 10 in the speed run rankings every time? 
--------------------------------
Lets' dispel the myth the common opinion that everybody thinks is that the twilight bug deck strategy is easy and requires no skill when in fact: 
A)  Limited Air Counters:
A typical twilight bug deck (SSFN) has limited choices to Air counters, lost dragons, spitfires, and any other flying units do tend cause problems. Your choice of options are: 
   Soulshatter - Damage is not reliable and spread amongst other units within the vicinity     Thunderstorm - Decent but also faces the same problem with Soulshatter     Revenge and Sandstorm is unreliable and does little damage and DPS is dependent on variables    AOP, does the most damage out of all spells and is excellent but does not typically kill the unit     Frenetic is dependent on being lucky and hoping that there is a ranged unit able to target the flying units.   Bosses such as Lost dragon and Bandit Corsair relies heavily on your teammate being able to provide support OR the use of spamming tower of flames which is manageable but conflicts with the idea of the micro and macro-ing bug strategy - Which brings me along to the next point: 
B). A Twilight Bug deck requires you to be very Micro and Macro intensive:
This deck requires you to be efficient in spawning bugs as if you do not keep up with the reinforcement, your units will deplete faster than you can send the next army along the way.  This is why the strategy is so fun as it has similar elements to Dota (and in some sense is the only substance in Battleforge that is similar to Dota) which consists of: 
Micromanagement is intensive and requires good command input, the input consists of:  Selecting Cultist masters Input command ability to summon Nightcrawlers Selection of 2 Infected Towers  Input command ability for Infected Tower to activate ability (20 seconds) Drag selected units and select group Form new group (CTRL + Number)  Select new group and dispatch army  Repeat step 1 but also during this time, you would have to account for a ten second interval in order to reactivate Cultist Master ability, (however, this is also dependent on you having the power to activate Infected tower ability as most of the times you would be using spells to support your first/second dispatched army but this should is also leveled out during the mid game as you would have more inbound power and infinite void return)  Select and command first batch army to the next enemy base Repeat step 1-7  Drag to select and input new command to create a new group when one army joins the next and progress further on Repeat 1-11  Other variables to consider during theses steps:
Map awareness and movement, requires you to switch back and forth from enemy camp and Infected tower camp. Input of spells which requires more input commands and selection of what ever it may be - Usually consists of 10 spells (Also account for the 0.1 interval for next spell selection and activation) - This hinders and slows down the time on when you can switch back onto your own base and continue with the Twilight bug spawn Enemy anti magic zone - restricts your spell activation in some certain areas thus making you use more time to search out 'non-anti magic zones' in order to play out spells Splitting your army into two different locations, Incidences like these occur when you have killed the majority of an enemy base and have too many units hugged around a untouched flying unit(s) or boss unit(s). Units that are not attacking are inefficient and serve no purpose, this is why you should split and send your army to the next enemy base while the others are taking care of the former enemies.   Division of armies is even more difficult requiring even more micromanagement and map awareness.   Unit distribution is generally difficult and requires good map awareness. (In this instance, one should not rely on the card "tunnel" or "Portal Nexus" to channel such strategy but rather summon units from the tower and send them alongside to your other troops as this is the most effective and fastest method to build up your army.) 
C. Deck is impractical in Fire Rpve, pve and pvp;
Fire RPVE: The twilight bug strategy is inherently useless and almost impossible in Fire RPVE battlegrounds, enemy output and damage from the fire faction will kill all bug armies due to their mediocre health. Volcano, FIre dragons, batariels, Pyromaniacs and spitfires will melt through your bugs like butter leaving you with a non existent army. There are ways to defeating enemy fire camps but this consists of establishing a constant 300+ army but at that stage, your teammates would have already cleared 3/4 of the map (You would also have to take account of the time for your army to travel up to the latest enemy camp).  General PVE: I can't comment much on PVE maps but generally unless you are not looking to clear the map somewhat efficiently, then yes it is viable (but it will take hours). Otherwise, I guess the average user would be looking to complete the map in an orderly fashion. A majority of Expert Maps have time constraints and will not allow for you to perform such strategy making it unviable.  PVP: If you have enough time to set up 2 infected towers and a few cultist masters in order to summon a few twilight bugs then your opponent must be doing something wrong. The only time I can see it working is within a 3 vs 3 where your teammates can stall long enough for you to get the setup right but even still this would be farfetched.  D. Lag?: 
I've played enough twilight bug games in my time that I have received no complaints on lags or lag spikes from teammates, the general output of bugs that you produce at the end of the game is usually in-between 150-250 units. Generally there is not enough time for you to produce more as map clearage is very fast (especially if you have teammates on baterials). If you are spawning in 300+ units then you and your teammates must be doing something inefficient, it is not wrong to spawn more but additional units over 250+ serve no purpose as they have no attack targets and would not be soaking up damage either. All enemies have a hitbox to unit cap and it would be a waste of time to spend effort in spawning more bugs rather than using spells to eliminate them. 
E. Nobody plays the deck (except a few) 
Why kill off a unique game element when there is only a very few who play the deck anyway? its not like it's game breaking or super overpowered, the twilight bug deck has counters and can be entirely lackluster / killed off if not enough effort is spent. Most if not all strategies right now induces Tunnel vision to one location only, there is almost no effort needed in sending your army forwards and clicking a few spells. What other strategy requires you to be as intensive in Map awareness and switching back and forth on different locations? 
 
My complaints about the nerf: 
What is the sole point in capping the twilight spawn at 40 bugs when I have invested time and power in creating a few cultist masters and a few infected towers. Why should I even use the infected tower ability in the first place? 
Hypothetical t2 usage; problems and queries:  Induce me the idea that I would use the infected tower ability at t2? which Fire Nature or 'Fire' or 'Nature' unit would I use to invest in making a 40 bug army? How long will it take me to get a 40 bug army assuming you are not using free generated units such as Nightcrawlers from Cultist masters?  And at what point do I want to kill off my units to make a twilight bug? e.g. Is investing in a sunstrider enough rationale to make a twilight bug?  Seeing how Sunstriders are the cheapest unit, would I want to spend power on 40 Sunstriders to make an army = 2000 power + 60 (Infected tower ability) to make any army?       Hypothetical t3 usage; problems and queries The same po,ints from "t2 usage" applies to "t3 usage"  On presumption on not using Cultist Masters (due to lack of t4 orb), It makes no sense on why I would I use such strategy when I can summon twilight minions/bandit stalkers (60 Power) which is much stronger than the twilight bug itself which costs more power invest in?  At this point, there are far more efficient/stronger cards in the game in order to make an army with.  Hypothetical t4 usage; problems and queries  Now please really do tell me on why I would cap myself with 40 bug units at t4 when I can summon 4 bloodhorns and 2 giant wyrms?  
The case for Tower Defense? What about willzapper?
If the case is to situate Fire Nature with a tower which can defend then why are you not changing Willzapper, a card which is relatively unused in PVP and PVE? You have to acknowledge that WIllzapper is a relatively underused card which serves no purpose in PVE. Although it might be situational in PVP, I assume that there are very few players that use it when there are other favorable strategies on the market. If you are counterweighing changes for the increase in Tower defense in exchange for Nerfing the ability then you have to revise on what Fire-nature/twilight faction is about. 
TLDR: 
Please do not kill the most unique strategy in all of battleforge, my overall opinion on unit cap is that it is illogical and you would be changing Infected tower for the worse, if anything, the changes you are making would make it similar to that of incubator. There is no point in using the infected tower ability anymore because you would be rendering it with a useless ability. Like @JarodDempsey said: The buff is not enough to make it worth using anymore. 

why is lifestealer getting no buffs?! it takes like 15 attacks to kill a single t1 s squad. Using your fire rate thats 43 seconds to kill a single s squad at t1 which means the tower will regen 215 health but will lose 750 from its own attacks which means vs a t1 s squad the tower has an effective health of 1200-750+215= 665 which is abysmal. it suffers from the same problem that snapjaws does which makes it extremely ineffective against squads of enemies. Considering lifestealer is supposed to be a cc tower to counter s units this is a major problem. Look at how it does vs 1 squad of stonekin shards and then try makeshift tower and see how obviously broken lifestealer is. makeshift has 41% of lifestealers damage and a slower fire rate and yet it kills a squad of shards taking 10-25% of its hp in damage while lifestealer cant even reliably kill a single squad. Furthermore the self damage entirely defeats the purpose of a cc tower which is to lower overall damage to your defensive installation. Even if shadows best t1 def strategy via splicer didnt exist, current lifestealer would still be useless because phase tower completely outclasses it even though phase tower has been nerfed and is balanced with weaker stats to make up for its ability to move. Lifestealer needs at least 10m splash range to even see if the damage can properly distribute to squad members and after that its self damage mechanic will still likely need work or removal. 

infected tower is getting a useless 8.7% damage buff and you are deleting its only use case by removing its ability to bypass the unit cap. The damage buff (and splash radius increase) is not enough to make it worth using and considering youre also removing its only use case, this ends up being a massive nerf. Why was infected tower given such a useless change and are there plants to rework towers such as this that will still be useless?

tower of flames looks interesting. it will finally have competitive damage however the increased health rather than ability to knock is very puzzling. i get that fire does have access to some cc at t2 via rocket but really that theme should carry through to t3. tower of flames has no knock currently but really should be knocking L to maintain parity with the lower tiers. 

similarly for volcano it would be nice to see it knock xl,

idk what to say about howling shrine. this falls squarly in the still garbage tier category with infected tower. it will literally have less health than the t3 frost fortress. This is a prime example of how unhealthy the current root system is. this card is completely awful by itself or in any standard defensive installation. the only time it becomes worth using is when you have power bound to useless entities who do nothing but provide battery support. But whats weird is that youre also encouraging players to instead use howling as a battery due to its superior support per power ratio. This in itself just shows how poorly howling shrine is treated despite being what should be the keystone structure in all of nature. The root network needs to be completely reworked so atrocities like this (and treespirits) dont continue to take the place of what should be great cards for nature. 


would also be nice to see trap structures get buffs somehow before drpve

also dont forget church of negation is still unusable in shadow and needs a practical source of healing to be added

I can see the direction this is going and mostly agree... although i think some tweaking will be needed for the upgrades.  The base card should not shoot out only one rocket. You are forgetting about the new players who dont have tons of gold and i bet they will use this tower once and never use it again because 1 rocket is so pitiful. I recommend something like 2/3/3/4 or even 2/3/4/4 for the upgrades and give it slightly more health in one of the upgrades. 

As part of our upcoming tower rebalance, Rocket Tower will be receiving the following proposed changes. Please note that all changes proposed here are provisional and as such as subject to change:
Iteration 1
1. Orb cost: 2 Fire --> 1 Fire, 1 Neutral
2. Power cost: 80p --> 70p
3. Life points: 2000 --> 1480
4. Reduce collision box to match model size
5. Rocket Barrage: 
   (a) Total rockets: 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 --> 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
   (b) Attack speed: Every 5 seconds --> every 4 seconds
   (c) Damage per rocket: 85 --> 90
   (d) Bugfix: Fix target homing to prevent rocket from missing
Iteration 1 Goals
Fire T2 currently lacks a splash tower, while Pure Fire T2 has 2 towers. We think Pyromaniac sufficiently fills the slot of T2 tower for Pure Fire, so we are transitioning Rocket Tower into a splash card. As part of this change, we will be cutting down on its large pool of life points while otherwise increasing the consistency of Rocket Tower, both in terms of knockback and damage dealing. Even with the cost decrease, this change will make Rocket Tower mildly less stat against large groups in exchange for a lower start up cost and the ability to consistently knockback multiple enemies due to the fixed targeting and increased rate of fire. These changes should allow Rocket Tower to fulfill its role as a knockback-centric tower while its high damage allies provide the necessary fire power. 

As part of our upcoming tower rebalance, Lost Launcher will be receiving the following proposed changes. Please note that all changes proposed here are provisional and as such as subject to change:
Iteration 1
1. Lost Launcher (r), Infused Rage
   A. Number of attacks required per stage of rage: 4 attacks --> 3 attacks
2. Lost Launcher (b), Blessed Ice Shield
   A. Ice Shield now refreshes every 40 seconds
   B. Ice Shield strength: 600 life points --> 500 life points
   C. New Description - "Every 40 seconds, tower is endowed with an Ice Shield that absorbs up to 500 damage and may restore its absorption capacity by 5 every second."

Iteration 1 Goal
A minor buff to Lost Launcher. As-is Lost Launcher(r) takes a very long time of 26.67 seconds to reach its maximum damage output. With this change, Lost Launcher(r) will reach its first rage stage of +25% in 10 seconds and its maximum rage buff of +50% (2025 dp20) after 20 seconds. Overall, this should allow Lost Launcher(r) to better fulfill its role as the damage affinity.
Lost Launcher (b) spawns with an Ice Shield but if it is lost it never returns. We have slightly reduced the total strength of the Ice Shield in exchange for allowing the Ice Shield to refresh itself every 40 seconds. While this is a long cooldown, towers are not always in combat. The result of this change should be to make Lost Launcher (b) slightly weaker if used for a single engagement but much stronger when used to defend a location over a long period of time. 

As part of our upcoming tower rebalance, Deepgorge will be receiving the following proposed changes. Please note that all changes proposed here are provisional and as such as subject to change:
Iteration 1
1. Power cost: 225p --> 200p
2. Ether Eruption damage: 480, up to 720 (2700 dp20) --> 675, up to 1015 (3800 dp20)
3. Cold Clutch radius: 20m --> 25m
Iteration 1 Goals
Deepgorge is one of the worst towers in the game with a stat efficiency comparable to a T2 tower. "Cold Clutch" seems intended to make up for the low combat stats by giving Deepgorge a built-in crowd control. Unfortunately, even this ability is lackluster. Deepgorge has a 5m radius which means its actual effective ability radius against melee units and behind walls is only 15m. When behind certain walls "Cold Clutch" lacks sufficient range to freeze XL units, meaning they can destroy the walls unimpeded as Deepgorge otherwise lacks enough damage to stop them (It will take 1 Deepgorge 40 seconds to kill an NPC Abomination).  
To rectify these issues, we have decided to institute major buffs to Deepgorge. We are increasing the Stonekin fortress's damage by 40% and decreasing its power cost by 25p. This will constitute a 78% increase in total stat efficiency. Even with these buffs, its stat efficiency remains well below all other T4 towers except an unsupported Howling Shrine. This is then rectified by an improved "Cold Clutch", whose increased radius should allow Deepgorge to properly fulfill its role as a damage/crowd control hybrid tower. 

Hello Skylords, Skyladies and other Skybeings; and welcome to CCC #3 – the third Crappy Community Contest!
 
THE CONTEST HAS ENDED.
The jury is meeting in the next days to decide the winners.
If you are just here to grab the booster code, there you go: CCCP-RETT-YPIC-TURE
     
What are “Crappy Community Contests”?
This and future CCC's are meant to be small-scale contests with weird challenges, hopefully luring you away from well-trodden paths. They are small-scale on the organizers side too: there will not be a stream, video or event announcing the winners. What's special about these contests is a participation price for the whole community.
     
What, when, where, how?
Every CCC tries to provide something new – CCC#3 offers a competition of a totally different kind. The plan is to move this time away from speedrunning, away from maps, even away from playing…let's smash some preconceptions of what a Community Contest can be about, shall we?
 
You think this game looks good?
 

    Painters and sculptors praise Nyn for its beauty,
poets and sages tell stories of ancient wars and their heroes.

For this challenge, submit an in-game screenshot of Skylords Reborn
that shows how awesome our beloved game is. 

There is no theme or motive given – you can submit something with action, something funny, an impressing landscape, something beautiful or anything else. A jury will judge the most impressive works through a point-system and discussion to determine the winners. There are some rules:
Entries must be in a commonly known file format, like JPG or PNG. You may only submit one entry (You may submit a new entry within the time-limit, but make sure to delete the old one. If you do not, the oldest one will count.) Your picture must be a screenshot from within the normal game content (no drawings, map editor, modded content, animations etc.; but the test server is allowed) You may crop the image, but any other image manipulation is not permitted Screenshots should not show inappropriate content or chat messages  “Zero-Thought-Screenshots” of the empty Forge to drive up the participant count may be disqualified 😉  
The contest has already started – submit your screenshot to through Discord (DM to Kapo#0116) or the Skylords Forum (DM to @Kapo) until 08 MAR 2022, 23:59 CET  (= 14 days time total). To reduce my workload, you may rename your file to CCC3_<<IGN>.jpg (e.g. CCC3_Kapo.jpg).
A diverse jury of a staff member, an art-critique member and me will judge the entries and determine the winners. Please note: with entering the contest, you agree that the Skylords Team may use your Screenshot for promotional purposes, and that your entry will be displayed in a gallery when announcing the winners.
 
What's the prize pool?
Since this is not just a Crappy Contest, but a Crappy Community Contest, you may earn a price for the whole Community. If we reach more than 35 participants (unique players, not entries), you will unlock a Mini-Booster code for the entire Skylords Community. If more than 50 participants enter, it will be upgraded to a General Booster instead of a Mini-Booster. So tell your fellow Skylords to participate – it raises our chances to hand out a code for everybody. 
This Prize Pool is organized very differently from CCC #1 and #2 because of the nature of an artistic competition and the high number of cards I already received from generous sponsors (see below). Though the prize pool seems a little vague, rest assured this will be the contest with the most (valuable) prizes on a CCC so far.
The Skylords with the most impressive entries will get prices too:
Winner                 Juggernaut Promo
Gold Tier              Selection of Boosters and High-Value Cards
Silver Tier            Random Selection of Mid-to-High Value Cards

The number of people in Gold and Silver tier will be determined by the number of participants. Minimum Gold tier members is Rank 2-10, but could be expanded. 
For participation, there is a random chance to win:
Random Draws          Infect, Mountaineer, Disenchant G, Forest Elder P, Worldbreaker Gun, Banzai P, Mine, Deepcoil Worm (this may be expanded too)
 
Sponsors
If one or more mighty Skylord(s) decides to sponsor this event, please contact me. I would be more than happy to expand the prize pool. 
The following prices have been sponsored so far:
Skylords Team    Gold Tier prizes, Community Booster Code
Kapo                  Juggernaut Promo
Dolewan             Worldbreaker Gun
Simplifying          Silver Tier Prizes
CrazyCockerell    Magma Fiend, Overlord, Inferno, Bloodhorn R, Satanael R, War Eagle, Boom Brothers, Fire Dragon, Shaman, Shadow Phoenix, Necrofury, Aggressor B, Vulcan
Kemek1              Enlightenment
Simplifying, a player who stopped playing, also donated his complete account. His treasure trove contained every high value card you can imagine, from Infect over Dreadnought to an unending number of Rares. His cards will go in part into random draws and Silver tier in this contest, but it is so much that it will be used for future CCCs too. He expressed how nice the community is, and he wanted to give something back, so I’m very honored by his donation, and we wish him farewell. 
 
Info and Tips on Screenshots
To make a screenshot, you may
Use the ingame hotkey CTRL-O Use the Windows shortcut SHIFT + WIN + S Use the PrintScr-Button and paste it into the editiing program of your choice with CTRL-V To help you along with creating what you want, here are some basic and advanced tips:
Basic Tips
 
Advanced Tips
 
If you share some other useful trips or tricks in the comments, I will add it to these tips.

Asked Questions
Q: Will the entries be made anonymous, so everybody gets a fair chance?
A: Yes. But I will see them when renaming the entries to numbers, and I am part of the jury. The other two will not know who sent what.

Q: Is it a bad if an entry has no promotional value, and is just quirky or funny?
A: No. Though the entries will be handed over to the SR Team, it is no bonus point if it is usable to them or not.
 
In conclusion
I know this isn't what most of you would have expected from the next CCC, but I’d really want to expand what a community contest can be about. 
Yet, I am very curious how creative you guys can get! One thing though: Don’t forget beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, so just show us what you like about the game, but do not get salty if you don't win.
Good luck and best regards,
Kapo
     
Future Events
If you are interested in helping with these (or better) kinds of events for the community, or want to host one yourself, don't be afraid and simply reach out! Contact our beloved Event Managers Minashigo Hiko and Metagross31 on the forums or discord. They are happy to assist you with upcoming events and with sponsoring your prize pool!
If you especially like this small-scale-format, and you have an idea for it, you may also contact me directly to discuss your idea – maybe you want to host your own Crappy Community Contest!
 

Thanks for pointing out at my stream I feel very honoured!

Just to mention, I just got a big donation of 380 cards from @THE_BIG_WET to share with newer players (we said we give them out up to Gold 1Star ranks in the first step, preferably to silver and bronze ranks)
New players, make sure to hit the next stream on Thursday. Probably I will even make some extra streams to share this stuff with you. We got great uncommons, rares and even some ultra rares to share with you!

-1. Focus Fire
Basic: Especially on low tiers and low suplly, focus your damage on one enemy entity after another (declare an attack on one entity, after it dies, declare the next attack on the next target and so on). 
Advanced: Use supporting and supporting CC units (a.e. Frostmage/Dryad/Shaman) in a different controll group and depending on the unit let them attack on their own at random or focus CC key targets. 
Expert: Change focus fire target while lethal projectiles are still in the air to maximise damage output and move individual units which get targeted by the enemy further back to break their focus fire. As soon as their targeting changes, attack with it again. 
Bonus tipps:
- Don't micro manage small melee units. Unless you know what you're doing, you're most likely just shooting yourself in the foot. Use the atrack ground command instead and concentrate your micro on your ranged damage dealers.
- Communicate with your team. Either with pings or chat.
- Git Gud. 

You might want to re-formulate the first point a bit. It isn't the engagement/aggro that spawns the waves, but if _you attack_. So if the Bandit Shaman aggros/attacks you but you manage to run away from him and he takes no damage, the situation can still be salvaged.

Attacking a shielded unit will not trigger waves from nearby camps, only when a unit loses hp will the waves start coming.

Not sure if this is always the case, attacking buildings other than spawner doesn't trigger waves.

Now everyone can see it, hope ur happy @JarodDempsey
Changelog Patch #400031:
- Added connecting path in the top area.
Before: 

After:

New Coat ist f****** beautiful! Can´t stop casting it in the Forge!

Hello Skylords, Skyladies and other Skybeings; and welcome to CCC #1 - the very first Crappy Community Contest!
 
 
THE CONTEST HAS ENDED.
To see the winners, scroll down below. If you are just here to grab the booster code, there you go:  CRAP-YCMN-TYCO-NTES
 
 
 
What are “Crappy Community Contests”?
This and future CCCs are meant to be super-small-scale contests with weird challenges, hopefully luring you away from well-trodden paths. They are small scale on the organizers side too: there will not be a stream, video or event announcing the winners. What's special about this contest is a participation price for the whole community.
 
What, when, where, how?
There are no special rules for this contest besides one:
rPVE 1 (Map of the Month) - Fastest time wins 

Small groups of bandits escaped from the rPVE9 contest. Kill them fast! 
 
The contest has started already! Submit your replay of your fastest rPVE 1 1-Player MotM run through Discord (DM to Kapo#0116, please include your IGN) or the Skylords Forum (DM to Kapo) until 26.12. 23:59:59 (= 7 days time total).

You can submit multiple times, but only your fastest one will count. Please note that the Top 3 Replays will be posted here in the forums.
You can find your replays here: Documents=>Battleforge=>replays
 
What's the prize pool?
Since this is not just a Crappy Contest, but a Crappy Community Contest, you may earn a price for the whole Community. If we reach more than 30 participants (unique players, not entries), you will unlock a Mini-Booster code for the whole Skylords Community. If more than 50 participants enter, it will be upgraded to a Booster instead of a Mini-Booster. So tell your fellow Skylords to do a quick run, rPVE 1 is less than three minutes but it raises our chances to hand out a code for everybody. 
 
The fastest skylords will get small prices too, sponsored by myself and other skylords:
1st place               1000 bfp + Easter Egg + Bandit Minefield + Nether Warp (G)
2nd place              500 bfp + Wheel of Gifts + Matter Mastery (G) + Grinder P
3rd place               250 bfp + Worldbreaker Gun + Rogan Kayle + Grinder P
4rd place               100 bfp + Church of Negation + Bandit Sniper + Grinder R
5rd place               100 bfp + Home Soil  + Bloodhorn (R) + Grinder R
6rd place               100 bfp + Battleship + Matter Mastery (G)
7rd place               100 bfp + Ashbone Pyro + Cultist Master
8rd place               75 bfp + Cultist Master + Ravenheart
9th place                50 bfp + Corsair + Ravenheart
10th place              50 bfp + Ravenheart + Plague
11th place              Crystal Fiend (G) + Aggressor G
12th place              Plague + Frost Crystal
13th place              Amii Paladins + Mountain Rowdy P
14th place              Amii Paladins + Coldsnap +
15th place              Soulhunter B + Soulhunter P
16th place              4 Crystals (Dark/Flame/...) and 2  Amii Phantoms as a Consolation Prize 😉

Upper 50%             Split share of 3000 BFP
Lower 50%             One random Skylord in the lower half recieves Enlightenment, another one Rageflame (B), another one Amii Monument.
Last Place               Juice Tank (x4)
In the unlikely case of a tie, the run that has been submitted earlier gets the higher placement in the ranks.
If one or more mighty Skylords decides to sponsor this event, please contact me, I would be more than happy to upgrade the price pool. My special thanks to the SR Team for supporting a community prize idea. Also a big thanks to the following Skylords for sponsoring cards and/or BFP:
THE_BIG_WET     Easter Egg Promo
CrazyCockerell    Bandit Sniper
Ultralord             500 BFP + Crystals
Dutchy                3000 BFP + Ashbone Pyro, Cultist Master, Home Soil, Battleship, Worldbreaker Gun, Bandit Minefield, Corsair (G), Bloodhorn (R),
                           Crystal Fiend (G), Matter Mastery (G), Rogan Kayle
Worgrimm          Amii Monument
Sanguiris             Rageflame B, Nether Warp (G), Church of Negation, Matter Mastery G, Ravenheart (x4), Grinder P (x2), Grinder R (x2), Cultist Master, Plague, Mountain Rowdy P, Frost Crystal, Soulhunter P, Soulhunter B, Aggressor G, Aggressor B, Amii Paladins (x2), Amii Phantom (x2)
Anonymous        Wheel of Gifts, Coldsnap, Plague
Anonymous 2     Enlightenment
Damo                 4 Juice Tanks specifically for the last Place
In conclusion
My hope is to start off a series of CCCs with very different ideas and themes, to explore the possibilities of small scale contests that don't take weeks to prepare and execute. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Best regards,
Kapo
 
Future events
If you are interested in helping with these (or better) kinds of events for the community, or want to host one yourself, don't be afraid and simply reach out! Contact our beloved Event Managers Minashigo Hiko and Metagross31 on the forums or discord. They are happy to assist you with upcoming events and with sponsoring your prize pool!
If you especially like this small-scale-format and you have an idea for it, you may also contact me directly to discuss your idea.

I am against the idea.

While considering something in that regard is an option, I believe it is too early to suggest any changes.

The topic could use investigation and finding the actual cause, however, even if I play less than you, I don't think I ever heard about anything similar. I use Shatter Ice in almost every single my deck, so I do not think "frequently" is a good word in this case.
It would certainly be helpful if more Skylords shared their experience on that, because currently I do not think it is a problem, as there is lack of information about scale of the phenomena.

If clearing the camps above the wagon is made more important/required, can a path to the boss be added? Even if not required i think such a path should be made. It's just very cumbersome to have to move units all the way around the map if you clear the top right but also want to help at the boss. Especially considering this is the main multiplayer map for new players, they arent going to know/think to use tunnels or portal nexus much less be able to afford netherwarp.

Name: Skyscorcher
Ability: Tainted/Infused Ablation

I agree that the unit classifications aren't always justified.
 
I guess the Maurauder class is due to Thugs and Strikers having the Looter passive ability as the only cards in the game, but that alone shouln't justify a separate class. Same with Gladiator which would only be justified by the model of Amii Phantom, but even Gladiatrix is a Soldier...
Maurauder and Gladiator are ones I would just change into Soldier, since I don't believe there is any benefit in having them in a separate class.
 
The classification is better for buildings, but there are still Statue, Barrier and Hut which could be argued to also fit into other classes (at least Statue, Barrier on the other hand doesn't really fit anywhere else)
For spells it's even better and the classifications are justified.
 
Going back to unit classifications, while I am not entirely sure if ranking them in regards to their powerlevel is a good idea, I support the concept of clearifying what each class should symbolize and adjusting the existing cards accordingly. Here is just a general idea that came to mind, similar to yours.
 
- Soldier: gerneral melee focused unit
- Archer: general ranged focused unit
- Wizard: ability focused which can benefit own or disadvantage enemy entities
- Supporter: aids/gives benefits to friendly entities
- Corruptor: handicaps/gives disadvantages to enemy entities
- Dominator: excels at overpowering another (single) enemy entity
- Destroyer: excels at larger scale desctruction of enemy entities
- Crusader: able to influence the outcome of a large scale battle in a significant way with low numbers
 
Though the issue with this is that there are units that fit into multiple classifications, which makes a clear cut not always possible. On the other hand it could also be argued that the roles of Wizard and Crusader are already covered by other classes, so I am not sure if it wouldn't be better to assimilate the units into the other classes. Nonetheless there are some Units that don't really fit into their current class, so some changes might still be a good way in the right direction.
Classifying units correctly sure isn't always easy, but there might be others with better ideas. 🙂

I remember that the class system confused me when i started playing BF. I had the feeling that there might be a counter mechanic i'm missing out on. Now it rather feels like something the original devs thought has to be in the game but then didn't put too many thought into.

I have listed most of the current classes, i left out marauders because i dont see much use for an additional designation based on the units i saw which already had it and instead would make more sense classified as soldiers, feel free to explain why you disagree. Please let me know if there are any i'm missing.
Rank 1: soldier, archer
Rank 2: wizard, supporter, corruptor
Rank 3: dominator, destroyer
Rank 4: crusader
I've listed them in this order due to what i think is the approximate general power level of each. For example rank 2 classes are usually slightly to moderately more expensive per unit than soldiers or archers (rank 1 classes). Think 60-80 power at t1 for a wizard vs 50 for an archer. Similarly rank 3 are oftentimes double that of rank 1 for example sunderer or mountaineer. Granted such costs are also determined by other factors but such factors are often interrelated with the target class. Rank 4 units tend to cost double a rank 2 or rank 3 unit. 

Another aspect to differentiate the classes on a similar scale is spammability. Lower ranks tend to be used in higher quantities than higher ranks. For example dreadnought vs tempest, grinder vs batariel. 
 
Now for general class definitions:, i started with the old definitions from the original bf wiki then modified them after looking through all the units and then changed crusader to be a bit more intuitive. 

Soldier: basic melee combatant
Archer: Basic ranged combatant
Wizard: usually ranged combatant that uses magic, primarily used for additional ability/utility
Supporter: below average to very below average combat power but provides bonuses to allies
Corruptor: average to below average combat power but provides detriments to enemies
Dominator: Above average combat power
Destroyer: average or above average combat power and excels against structures; oftentimes has siege
Crusader: Significantly above average effect on force strength. Often similar to adding support/corruptor/wizard to another class,


Some notable comments:
1: marauder has very little purpose and should probably be removed if not repurposed
2: skyelves should be changed to wizard or possibly support to better define crusader
3: more units should be placed in crusader. for example batariel and harvester
4: the distinction between dominator and destroyer isnt always clear. It is obvious that for the most part units with siege were often destroyers but for ease of balancing and intuitiveness of the classes i dont think siege should be 100% required, just as not having it shouldnt prevent being a destroyer if the unit's use case is often buildings. Stuff like ashbone are right on the line, i would say most people dont use them to specifically counter structures but since they have siege they are classed as destroyers. Others are a bit farther over the line such as juggernaut who is significantly better at fighting structures instead of units when compared to alternative strategy for his color and tier. Even farther over the line are units like abyssal warder who is classified as a destroyer despite having no siege and no structure related ability, when you realize that avatar of frost and grinder are both classified as soldiers abyssal warders destroyer class seems obviously in error. 
5: magic is usually the determining factor in close cases between wizard and archer
6: satanael is a destroyer for no apparent reason and should instead be classed as a wizard
7: overlord should definitely be a dominator rather than a crusader, 
8: forest elder should be classified as supporter/corruptor
9: misclassification tends to be more common at higher tiers when units have more effects and the rank 1 classes arent used as much, a lot of misclassifications like 6, 7, and 8 can be found in the higher tiers
 

Hm, that's unfortunate. I recorded it on the test server because I wanted to do a run without upgrades, so that's most likely why. Won't do a blank run on live since I would have to downgrade all cards, which would waste a lot of gold.
The replay should work on the current iteration on the test server though!

Of course the extra Unity can be replaced with something else but since they both stack and the G is very good on T3, while B is generally superior on T4 using both can be justified. Especially if the goal is to make the deck a bit more forgiving.
Before someone gets a few upgrades and charges going on their units, it can indeed be valuable to add some more to the deck to have something to fall back on if charges get depleted. My first candidates to replace would be Fire Sphere, Inferno and possibly Comet Catcher.
A cheap unit to fill the gaps could then be Thugs if you want even more prowess on T1.
On T2 it depends. Gladiatrix G for more ranged damage. Enforcer and Scythe Fiends if a beefier frontline is needed.
T3 either Vulcan for AoE damage or Sun Reaver as an inexpensive frontline.
On T4 the already mentioned Boom Brothers or Emberstrike. If their abilities are used more conservatively, then energy shouldn't be an issue.

or something like this lol

Foreword
Content:
Cost Tier progression Alternative Cards to use Upgrade priorities Replay My other Guides This guide aims to put together a pure fire deck on a budget.
As always in Skylords, any suggestion is merely that. It’s all about experimenting. If you don’t like something, just change it.
Want to give something a try? Just slot it in!
Pulled an interesting card that you want to see in action? Build a deck around it, make it work!
Struggle with a specific map? Try different cards, there might be more suitable ones for different situations.
Create something else entirely from the ground up? The card pool is your oyster.
With that being said my goals here are:
Focus on cards of mostly lower rarity Use cheap cards Introduce cards (in the deck itself or as alternatives) that have at least some interesting synergies and are more involved Be flexible, so many cards can be changed Be a generalist, usable in both rPvE and cPvE Cost
Since the introduction of the Card Reforging, the prices have changed drastically. Generally, this means that the cost for this deck is much lower. But it's still wild out there, so consider this section outdated. I will adjust it once I feel like the economy has settled in and prices are more stable again.
The pricetag isn’t excessive but it will inevitably be higher than a budget mixed deck, because the pool of available cards is restricted.
Rough price chart:
Very cheap - <10 BFP
Nomad G Sunstriders Fire Stalker Magma Hurler Banner of Glory Eruption Ravage Lava Field Unity G Unity B Fire Sphere Cheap - <80 BFP
Skyfire Drake Fire Dragon Pyromaniac R Bloodthirst Suppression Comet Catcher Moderate - <150 BFP
Firesworn R Batariel P Inferno The estimated total to get at least one copy of each card should be no more than 700 BFP, which is achievable within a mere two days of play. Buy your discounted daily booster, resell it to someone for more and there you go. To get to a more comfortable level of play, which means a few good charge upgrades, you are probably looking at roughly 1100 BFP investment. It's also a good idea to immediately invest some gold on high value upgrades.
AH (Auction House) prices seem to be pretty consistent, if big outliers appear they usually settle again after a few days.
Playing rPvE 9 is possible without any upgrades at all but lacking charges and upgrades can make it a bit tight and I wouldn't necessarily advise it. Especially the harder enemy types and map layouts will be a big challenge and probably not always work out. It's better to stick to solo until you got a good feeling for the deck. Play one round of 6 or 7 at first. Then try an 8, then 9.
You will notice my use of singular letters next to card names, which are referring to the cards affinity. G = Green, P = Purple, B = Blue, R = Red. Cards with affinities have two different versions and they vary in effect, depending on their affinity. Affinities are represented by a small dot on the card in their respective color. They have nothing to do with what Orbs you need to play that card though.
Here is the deck:

Nomad G - Firesworn R - Sunstriders - Fire Stalker - Skyfire Drake - Magma Hurler - Batariel P - Fire Dragon - Banner of Glory - Pyromaniac R – Comet Catcher - Suppression - Eruption - Ravage - Lava Field - Unity G - Unity B – Inferno - Fire Sphere - Bloodthirst
Tier progression
Tier 1
The backbone of this T1 is Nomad G. You have to summon three of them at the very least so their passive healing activates, which makes them durable fighters, especially if you micro them a bit and pull back the most wounded Nomad so that enemies instead focus on a healthier one. Once upgraded, they can even deal damage to airborne targets with an active ability.
Firesworn R has exceptional damage and specialize in dispatching of L units. Their S knockback is very valuable too. Unfortunately they cannot hit airborne targets.
For these you will need Sunstriders. It can also be a good idea to have one squad ready to suppress buildings and finish off S squads.
Your main way of managing your energy economy througout the game is Banner of Glory. Whenever you upgrade tiers on a large scale make sure to kill your own units in its aura to get some energy back for immediate use. Build it during combat so you get some energy right away when your units happen to die. And that’s not all, it can quickly be built between encounters so your army can naturally regenerate around it while out of combat.
Eruption is as straight forward as it is versatile. It will help a lot against airborne units, can be used in quick succession to destroy high priority buildings, such as enemy spawns, and disrupt combat. Or quickly finish off an important target that’s barely hanging on.
On T1 Suppression is kind of superfluous because you already have Sunstriders here. But it will serve you well throughout the entire game whenever you have to disable a dangerous building.
Feel free to fall back on these two spells at any stage of the game.
Tier 2
Nomads can still serve as your primary frontline and Firesworn remain invaluable against dangerous L enemies.
While they fight in melee combat Fire Stalkers also boast regular L bonus damage. Switched to Unstable Ember they can be used as artillery pieces and disrupt combat with S knockback. Use them to destroy buildings from afar and lure enemies out to fight them in the open.
Skyfire Drake is very fragile but deals devastating damage. Use their high mobility to keep them out of danger and hit the enemy where it hurts.
With Pyromaniac R you get a surprisingly deadly tower. Although it cannot hit airborne targets its fire melts through multiple units at once. If you expect a lot of dangerous airborne enemies you can switch to the B affinity.
As for spells you get some rudimentary healing in Ravage to keep a unit from dying mid combat.
Lava Field is expensive, so use it wisely. It can give you some time to breath by knocking back S and M units.
Tier 3
Any remaining T1 units should get recycled with Banner of Glory now. Fire Stalkers will rarely be worth it now but Skyfire Drakes can still be of help because of their high mobility. Hardly in direct confrontations through.
Other than that Magma Hurler is the sole star of the show. Summon as many as you can and focus fire anything dangerous.
Leave some energy for spells though because you will now have access to one of the most vital fire spells: Unity. So vital in fact that you can use both affinities in a deck. G has a decent healing attached to it. Use it on your Magma Hurlers to turn them into a deathball. B will find its main use on T4, where its damage reduction helps protect your valuable units. The two affinities even stack with one another, which units affected by G and B both bond together.
If you have lots of energy to spare use Inferno to decimate enemies.
Tier 4
If you still have any T2 units at this point, kill them. You will want to keep your Magma Hurlers through unless you have enough charges on your other T4 units.
Speaking of which, we have Batariel P here. Broadly underestimated and underappreciated, its aura makes enemy entities take a whole lot more damage from all sources. Its active ability can be used to initiate combat to immediately fire it up.
Fire Dragons are a quintessential fire unit as they enrage in combat and end up dealing absurd damage, which gets further amplified by Batariels aura. This combination leads to tremendous damage outputs.
Comet Catcher has both offensive and defensive use. It takes some time for the comet to fall down but it can wipe out entire armies in an instant. The presence of another building or unit is required at the target location though. In defensive scenarios you can pair them with Pyromaniac which finishes off any stragglers.
Similar to Comet Catcher, Fire Sphere also has a delay but anything that remains in its explosion will sustain massive damage.
An extremely important spell is Bloodthirst as it lets your units heal up during combat. This is especially potent when combined with Unity B. Using these two spells in conjunction is crucial in keeping your units alive.
Alternative Cards to use
With each Tier explained, let's look at some alternatives, upgrades or additions.
Rough price chart:
Very cheap - <10
Cheap - <80
Moderate - <150
Expensive - <250
Very expensive - <600
Top end - 600+
Tier 1 Options
Sunderer – The only T1 L unit in the game and very beefy for a fire unit. Can destroy buildings with ease. Expensive to very expensive.
Thugs – Several of them link together and share their health pool, as if affected by Unity, making them very durable. Very Cheap.
Blaster Cannon P/R – Whenever you find yourself in a situation where you are facing dangerous airborne units early on, consider using Blaster Cannon. Lure flying units into them. Very cheap.
Makeshift Tower – Low damage output but its S knockback can buy a lot of time early on. Its Accelerated Construction can even make it useful offensively. Cheap.
Mine – The iconic and ridiculously strong fire opener. It has ludicrous damage potential with up to 3600. Top end.
Tier 2 Options
Gladiatrix G – Strong and agile with good utility. Cheap.
Firedancer – Artillery range and extremely high damage to buildings. Top end.
Morklay Trap – Build them defensively to annihilate incoming attacks or lure enemies into them. Very cheap.
Pyromaniac B – If you need solid anti-air. Very cheap.
Disenchant P/G – Counteract disabling effects on your units, which is especially important in fire because most units don’t have a lot of health and can therefore die quickly if they are unable to retaliate. Very expensive to top end.
Viridya – Passive healing for your army. But makes you feel dirty for diluting your pure fire deck. Expensive to very expensive.
Tier 3 Options
Vulcan – Very strong AoE clear but cannot hit air. Very cheap.
Juggernaut – Another iconic card that can devastate buildings and packs a punch. Expensive to very expensive.
Spitfire – Has relatively low damage and life but is very versatile. The only airborne unit with artillery range and siege. Very expensive to top end.
Shrine of War – Probably the first card you want to add if you like to play rPvE. Drastically increases void return, speeding up the game a whole lot. Very expensive.
Tier 4 Options
Boom Brothers – A very involved and surprisingly powerful playstyle but it relies on fast void return with Shrine of War. The active ability is incredibly strong and with their damage bonus, they tear through any XL enemy, making them helpless with their knockback to boot. Very cheap.
Emberstrike – A good addition to Boom Brothers as these cannot hit air. Strong combat stats but unfortunately worthless damage bonus against M. The ability is very strong as well. Very cheap.
Moloch – Slow but close to immortal. A good combination with Unity. Expensive.
Magma Fiend – If you are already going slow with Moloch, why not commit further? Cheap.
Volcano G/R – If you are looking to fortify one position, this card can get the job done. Can deal a lot of damage but will take some in return. Moderate.
Earthshaker – An extremely useful card. It has good CC against units but most importantly destroys buildings quickly. Very expensive.
Cluster Explosion – Stupidly powerful spell that can destroy clumped up enemies on its own. Very expensive to top end.
Upgrade priorities
Some advice on what to invest in once you start gathering Gold for card upgrades and BFP for more charges. If you have some excess gold, it's a good idea to invest some into vital upgrades right away. It's very cheap to upgrade Commons To U2 and Uncommons to U1.
Vital upgrades AND charges
Skyfire Drake - More life and lower energy cost makes this card much more forgiving.
Fire Dragon - More base damage means much higher damage cap.
Magma Hurler - As the only T3 unit, these should be as strong as possible. They only gain some life, but that's very good when combined with Unity.
Eruption - As a bread and butter spell, this needs to deal as much damage as possible. And the reduced cost adds up quickly if you cast it a lot.
Unity G/B - Longer duration and lower cost makes this much easier to juggle.
Bloodthirst - Your most powerful heal should do its job often and properly.
Vital upgrades
Nomad G - Very important to unlock its active ability and make it even tankier.
Firesworn R - Its bonus damage to L units scales A LOT. It's a more expensive upgrade but go for it if you find yourself using them often.
Batariel P - More damage means its aura will proc and ramp up faster.
Banner of Glory - More void return means a smoother transition between tiers and shorter recovery time when units die in combat.
Ravage - Stronger heal.
Lava Field - More bang for your buck.
Important upgrades
Suppression - If you feel like you can't destroy the disabled buildings in time.
Inferno - As one of the most energy-intensive spells in the game, you want it to do some work. But it depends on how frequently you like using it.
Decent upgrades
Sunstriders - A cheap upgrade that will help if you find yourself manning a lot of walls and just generally want to have an easier time with airborne targets and suppressing buildings.
Fire Stalker - Just a bit more life.
Pyromaniac R - Also merely a bit more tankiness.
Comet Catcher - Much more damage but it's expensive so it depends on how much you like it.
Fire Sphere - If you like using this spell.
Replay
A replay on rPvE 9 without upgrades. To watch it you have to download the file and add it to: C:\Users\<user name>\Documents\BattleForge\replays
Budget Fire rPvE9.pmv
I try to rush the spawner on the third orb but don’t quite manage so it drags on for a moment. Building one Pyromaniac on each base just to defend it. Could've also just built them at the intersection, but it's fine.
The Magma Hurlers serve me well even on T4. I build Banner to regenerate my army between fights. Unfortunately my Batariels aggro on the last base and get killed but it's a minor setback at this point.
My other Guides
HOW TO: PvE Deckbuilding Guide - If you are unsure how to start building your own decks and what to consider.
CHEAP and powerful BEGINNER Deck - If you are rather interested in a very cheap and flexible mixed deck.
CHEAP Pure-Shadow Deck - If you are rather interested in a cheap and flexible shadow deck.