Part 13: Queen of Scales
Part 13 - Queen of Scales (YouTube)
This is where the deaths start happening, practice or not. Descent into the Underworld's last fight is what did it for me, as that Lich's ranged attack is no joke when combined with lava golems and hellbeasts. If I were to try the fight again, I would likely kill the Lich first, no matter how difficult. Frost Fang was an extremely fortunate weapon to get early, even better than Feathered Ice here; I would stack the deck in a heartbeat to get that kind of crowd control.
What are also no joke are Wrath of the Old Gods (I think I get the name wrong once) and Guardian Angel. Instant kills on one enemy in the battlefield can turn the tide of the battle, especially if there's a single monster on the map. And then being allowed to re-try a chance draw is extremely beneficial. You saw! See, some blessing benefits border on ridiculous, and I'm glad the Demon Trader Encounter didn't get rid of the really good ones. Just bear in mind that while Wrath of the Old Gods may seem broken, there are a few fights where it won't work.
Merchant Guard showed its utility. Fighting more fights than you need to is a bit of a pain, but a single enemy card is easily dispatched, and the better gold prices may help you get food more easily. Food and gold were both needed to deal with some Encounters, and Lost in the Swamp can use either (but you can get one version without a kind old man).
Charity/Demon Trader/Blood Auction
We've seen the first Charity, and we're getting a glimpse of the third in the Demon Trader and Blood Auction line of quests. These three sets of cards are unique in that each of them has six versions that unlock progressively better equipment, at a steeper cost every time. Completing the sixth encounter nets you an Achievement for each set. I'm going to try to get all of these.
Mage/Skeleton King/Dragon items
We also got a glimpse of at least one of each of these equipment sets. The devs must have considered these the closest to true equipment sets in the game, since wearing all of one's items at once also nets you an Achievement.
The Queen of Scales
It is said that if you destroy a queen's totem, its spell will be broken and any surrounding lizards will be damaged. It is not known whether anyone has successfully achieved this.
The Queen of Scales has two main attacks: a fireball and a stream of fire. The fire breath will only damage her minions if the fire totem is defeated, so it's not a bad idea to get rid of the totem. Then you can take advantage of friendly fire and use that fire breath against her minions if you want.
But in my case, I came into the fight ridiculously over prepared. I had: a weapon lizardmen are weak to, an artefact that hits everyone with lightning, a shield that reduces their cooldowns, a blessing that will just off an enemy at the beginning of the fight, and even more blessings that didn't get used.
Even without my ridiculous setup, the Queen isn't really that threatening by herself. In fact, that's a little theme in the Court:
- Jacks are stronger variations of the regular Suit enemies.
- Queens have slightly unusual attacks, and come accompanied by a totem that somehow involves a Suit ability. They tend to be pretty weak on their own.
- Kings are generally strongest and have more complex special attacks.
Two kings to go!