Battleforge Review

Introduction

Battleforge is a free fantasy online game with a very versatile gameplay style; it mixes both the strategic values of real time strategy gaming, (example: LOTR:Battle for Middle Earth) and the variety of characters/features of a trading card game (example: Magic the Gathering).

In Battleforge, like your regular trading card games, you play with cards. In order to do so, you drag the card you wish to play from your deck right into the battlefield when meeting the card’s cardplay requirements.

For starters, go to www.battleforge.comand register for an account. After that’s taken care of, download and install the game. You may alternatively buy the game (more suitable for those with low internet connections who can’t download the game patch of roughly 3 GB) and by doing so, unlike free2play you will already have all the game features, such as access to the in-game mail system, trade system and marketplace. Also, you will get a code to redeem for 3000 Battleforge points (the in-game currency) and 64 cards belonging to the 4 starter decks.

After you have the game installed, and enter it for your first time, you will be asked to create a character. This character will be your username in-game. You can have more than a character per computer, however after the first character you make all new characters won’t be given the initial deck cards.

As an initial note, in Battleforge you have 7 colors (as of 25/9/2009), them being Neutral, Fire, Frost, Shadow, Nature, Nature-Frost and Fire-Shadow.

On to gameplay!

When you start a match, you have some stuff. One is Void Power, another is Power, another are Power Wells, and the last is a starter Monument.

[img]http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/battleforge/images/0/04/Worldbreaker_Gun-0.jpg[/img]

Above you have the Battleforge card “Worldbreaker Gun”.

In Battleforge, cards have requirements to be played. In most real time strategies, you have your buildings that create units in exchange for something like gold, which usually comes from buildings you also create.

However, in Battleforge, things get slightly less easy and a bit more strategical.

In Battleforge, cards require no building to be played; instead, they require you to own Power and Monuments.

Power is the “cash” you use up when you summon a creature, building or spell.
Monuments are the elemental powers you control, as a Skylord (the player race).

At the top right of Worldbreaker gun you will notice both the number 250 and below it, 2 gray circles and 2 blue circles.

That means, that you need to control 4 elemental nodes (Monuments) 2 of which need to be of the Frost element to be able to access this card, and that you need to have at least 250 power to play it.

Slowing down the pace a bit, this means you will, at some point in the game, have a high amount of power, and once you gain control over 4 Monuments, on 2 of which the elemental node you created being Frost, you will have access to play cards with up to 4 orbs requirement, which would include this card here, the Worldbreaker Gun.

On the lower ends of the card, you have the numbers 6900 and 4500. They are, respectively, the card’s attack power and lifepoints.

Starting a match

Now you know what the numbers and circles on the cards mean, il teach you how to start a match.

As you begin a match, like i already said, you have a Monument, Power, Void Power and Power Wells.
I will quickly go over these so you understand the game quickly.

1st Monument: This building has already been claimed, but is of no element yet. When you play your first creature card it will become of that creature’s element (fire, frost, nature or shadow).

example: playing this card

[img]http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/battleforge/images/9/9a/Thugs-0.jpg[/img]

will transform your monument into an elemental node of Fire, and allow you to play any cards that require ownership over 1 fire orb.

Power: When you play the card Thugs, your power, which at start of match is usually around 100-300, will decrease by 60, since 60 is the power cost of casting a squad of Thugs.

Void Power: When a squad of yours dies, you will gain this. Along with Power Wells, Void Power is the other source you have of Power. Lets say your Thugs got killed in battle, or that you selected them and double clicked the kill button (it kills your units/structures, for strategical convenience)… Their power cost (60) gets added to your Void Power. The higher your Void Power, the bigger the Void income you will have. Void income is displayed next to the void power and means the amount of power you get from your void power pool every 2 seconds.

Power Wells: As the name implies, these wells grant you power over time. Every 2 seconds, each of your wells gives you 1 power. The first wells you have at start of match are free, but you use up 100 power to conquer each new well during the game. They can’t be created, and eventually they get depleted. Thankfully, you won’t ever run out of power due to the existance of Void Power.

Side note: Spells’ power costs are immediately added to your Void Power. They are not a power-sink as many beginners might think (since they don’t have “corpses”).

So, you created a big army of small guys, like Thugs and Wreckers…

[img]http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/battleforge/images/4/44/Wrecker-0.jpg[/img]

and killed a few enemies, and created a new elemental node on a monument you conquered…

Now, you will have access to the cards in your deck that require 2 orbs! (As long as you have their color)

Assuming the orb you made is a Shadow orb, you can now play these:

[img]http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/battleforge/images/8/83/Fire_Stalker-0.jpg[/img]
[img]http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/battleforge/images/9/9e/Blessed_Banditos-0.jpg[/img]
[img]http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/battleforge/images/d/d8/Ripper-0.jpg[/img]

but can’t play, for example, this:

[img]http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/battleforge/images/2/24/Firedancer-0.jpg[/img]

since you dont have 2 fire orbs…

Now, you know how to play monsters, spells, and buildings (not really a big difference there) so you are probably ready enough to create your first decks.

Deck making tips:

try creating decks that have relations between their cards; a few defensive/healing spells along with big damage dealing creatures, and the support of buildings gives you a great boost on efficiency instead of only having creature cards in a deck.

try mixing archers with soldiers that have a high life stat, or that can regenerate; or healers with them! also, try using aerial units, since they can attack ground units and can only be attacked by archers, buildings, other flying units and large creatures.

As you play, you will learn many, many things that i didn’t mention here in this introduction to Battleforge, since they would only confuse you right now, and specially because you probably read this small overview on the game mechanics in about 5 minutes. That’s great, because people comprehend better what they see for themselves. So go ahead, launch the game, and il be seeing you in Battleforge!