2nd Set Refess Strategies!

[DWildstar]

There was a general discussion thread about Refess but I thought I'd go ahead and start an official 2nd set Refess strategy discussion.

I've been playing only Refess since the 2nd set came out and though I'm still hovering around 1500 RP there've been a few things I've discovered. Spores + Blessing is GREAT against those new small Falkow units. I was able to use it the first time I decided to put it in my file. It was a close game, and I lost but I still think I might use it again in the future.

Another thing I hadn't realized (until it was used on me) was that Lycanthrope Angel's ability can target anyone on the board which is good because he lasts longer in the back row than when I was putting him in front

Griffins are one of my new favorite units because of his temporary +10 AT and +1 AGI Open Skill. Sometimes if I have enough SP I just bring out a 2nd one to buff my units again and having 2 75HP front line units is lots of fun. Spiked Shield Knight is a pretty good blocker too, especially if I add a Blessing to him.

Right now my problem is still direct damage so I added soul cards for that, but since most of my units are either tanks or support I need low level cards to activate them. I'm still figuring out what works best for this. I was using armed citizens initially but I'm trying out Wisps right now.

Spear Knights are good if you can get them to survive. They make Lancer ability something that actually can really mess up the other field. I've used either Blessing and I have an EX Vordore that is great if I have a bunch of units on the field. Inquisition Raid Leader and the other priest character with +10 AT and +10 DEF ability add small buffs but in combination it can be awesome. I've regularly had some duels where some of my units had 65 AT!

Right now when my file works it REALLY WORKS, but when it doesn't it's complete and utter defeat. I'm trying to turn that around obviously Right now what I think I need are Priestess of the Holy Weapon (only 1 copy) and some more healing to sustain my cards.

But in general despite fluctuating above and below 1500 I'm having fun either way. The increased AGI in the new units make Refess more competitive on that front so it's less frustrating. I'll post anything else I figure out, but right now it's just lots and lots of experimentation.

[Grain]

You aren't suffering from lack of SP?

[DanTheTimid]

One of the first strategies I went to after set 2s release was a refess spores deck. It kept bringing people to the brink but still kept falling just short. I then tried a holy dragon deck, it'd stall till I could drop the big Holy Dragon himself and then since he didn't have any expensive sp costing abilities like most high levels I'd use additional sp I got for things like energy bolt (2 sp for 35 targetted damage isn't bad at all, especially when theres usually 1 tech unit your opponent has for dealing with single unit threats that you want to blow up before they have a chance to take an action). After that I'd save up to drop a sphynx behind the holy dragon to revive him should he die (or I'd just save till around 7 sp if I thought an assassin soul skill was likely to activate). It was a pretty fun casual deck but it seemed too slow and too badly hurt by the still popular assassin soul skill.

Other then the ever popular spores combos probably my favorite combo so far has been folrart spear knight and blessing. With blessing FSK over comes his one major glaring weakness of having such low hp, and with the +10 attack power (giving him 55 total) he can nearly 1 shot just about every level 3 or less unit and even some level 4s. Throw in his lancer ability and he's definitely going to have opponents sweating. Its no brave panther combo, but its the closet thing refess has had to date.

Lapierre also loves blessing as it also allows her to live through some damage (infact she can even survive the 2LP targeted 50 damage cards with it) and of course a 40 damage lanty lit to a random row is always nice. I do admit though that I prefer FSK since he gets to target, she doesn't, and she has a propensity to always hit that only row with exactly 1 unit (probably with 10 hp) in it. She also doesn't hit quite as hard when she needs to normal attack as well.

I have some more ideas I plan to try out whenever the servers go back up again, cause none of these strategies have proven all that effective so far. Their level 1s and speedy units all still seem to be inferior to other spheres units of the same level and speed putting them in an automatic whole from the get go so my new goal is to figure out if there's a way I can more or less avoid all of said units and only use their units that compare well to atleast put myself on equal footing with them. It really is a shame though that the sphere with the best level 1 in the Japanese version has the worst level 1s in the english version.

[DWildstar]

You aren't suffering from lack of SP?

SP is always a problem that I'm still dealing with, but having more level 2 things to use helps because if they're all level 3 it's very hard to put new cards out especially if something dies. Right now my Wise Swordsman +1 SP and row attack card works great because usually it's a level 2 card dying which is +2 SP added to the SC +1 SP and the +2 SP for the turn that gives me 5 SP at the end of the turn which lets me summon a Griffin. It's worked several times to the point that it's almost an opening sequence of moves. But as always, still experimenting.

[Logress]

SP is always a worry. One way to handle it is to minimize the number of units you keep on the field. One strong front line guy, one strong ranged, and then a 3rd unit that does its job and goes to the cemetery when it dies (could be a wisp or citizen or even a spear knight) to minimize SP burned on reviving. Don't use skills that burn SP and play survival until you have good amounts of SP saved up or invested in high level units. Works surprisingly well except against return decks.

[Romdeau]

What about SP burning decks?

[Logress]

Endless day is a strong deck for SP burning, you'd have to support it with a lot of level 2 units, though. If you don't count on saving SP, SP drain from having a Lyconthrope pounded shouldn't be too bad. I'd put Angel in the back anyway and use him like a support unit.
I've also always liked Lapierre for SP burning, so combining her and Casawarry king with other units that have attacks that don't need range, like the Angel Lycanthrope and Trick Shield Knight (of course, he requires Priest of the Holy Word to replenish his DF) might work.

[jasta85]

ive fought two refuss spore decks so far and they are a PAIN. managed to beat one, just barely, but i had my whole army trashed by the other (was like a 45 or 50 health spore cloud, took out 6 of my units and i only had 2 SP when it came to ressurection time). i'm still trying to find a decent counter for this strategy, i hate using returns on spore clouds. flesh recyler tends to be ok at reducing the damage it puts out, or if i can get it off fast enough it simply kills the spore cloud before it gets its health buffed. but either way i'm wasting a spell on a level 1 unit.

[Logress]

With blessing and Wisp, it's looking like Refess might make a better spore deck than Gowen. A blessed spore is actually a decent fighter, you can keep him around to fight until just the right time to set him off. Fairy Dance is nice, but Gowen doesn't work well with SP burning in the early game, and 25 damage just misses the 30 HP of most support units. Of course, they both have equal access to Soul Skills that raise max HP. Also, since Refess needs the direct damage more than Gowen, it looks like it makes a bigger difference to their strategies. Don't get me wrong, I've seen some nasty Gowen Spores too.

[DanTheTimid]

ive fought two refuss spore decks so far and they are a PAIN. managed to beat one, just barely, but i had my whole army trashed by the other (was like a 45 or 50 health spore cloud, took out 6 of my units and i only had 2 SP when it came to ressurection time). i'm still trying to find a decent counter for this strategy, i hate using returns on spore clouds. flesh recyler tends to be ok at reducing the damage it puts out, or if i can get it off fast enough it simply kills the spore cloud before it gets its health buffed. but either way i'm wasting a spell on a level 1 unit.

Spore refess definitely seems to be the hot thing right now, it doesn't seem to be overly successful but its atleast creating close games while before often refess opponents were utterly trounced early on. Keep in mind that if they invested hp boosts into their spores, its not truly a level 1 card anymore. It cost them Soul Cards or SP to get that hp boost on their spore so by returning it your effectively fizzling the boost. If they used bless on it for instance, a 2sp card, returning that spore will be giving you just as fair an sp trade off as if you had returned a level 3, both players are out 3 sp, only in this case its even better cause your opponent is permeantly out of his blessing.

Long story short, if you have return, its definitely a great way to wreck the refess spore strategy. Flesh recycle isn't bad either (infact its amazing if your opponent used will-o-wisp to boost the spore).