Rune Mage feels underwhelming

[Nordos/atord]

So, maybe it is simply my lack of experience here, but runes tend to be very expensive. Both in terms of opportunity cost AND energy cost.
So, I can deal 5 damage (+2 situational) damage in a medium area for a rare card - at 2 cost. That is ... okayish at most. And then it adds a negative status card to the deck. What?
And that seems to be a common theme among runes. Every one of them gives Amnesia, and getting rid of the status effects costs you 2 energy (via purify or gallstone), while needing you to pick a starting relic to negate the card disadvantage.

I would like to, at least, see an influence that converts status cards added to your deck into delusions. So that you are not locked out by the generated status cards from your main attack cards and can actually keep them for status-matter cards.

Am I simply not seeing something here?

[Sparks]

There are cards that allow casting runes without adding status cards.

[Polyurethane]

I agree in that I think Meteor Rune is really bad. I never take it. I also really dislike the near range runes. Awful. I think all the other runes are mostly really good, although some are a bit situational.

That being said, I tend to fold Rune mage into a more "status mage" kind of build. It's great for beating torments because so many downsides can be just completely ignored with the right setup. I use Swell to turn Bleed into a consistent heal, and the Little Helper + Pacifism to get my Conduit Aura's burning.

The runes, especially Ice Rune and Sunray Rune, fit right in and the debuffs they create can often be a benefit. I usually like having Shuffles if I can grab them because you can burn through people with your statuses like a chain saw.

I've been duoing with my friend as a status mage and we've beaten up to Torment 16 with just us.

[Nordos/atord]

yeah, but that turns less into a rune mage, and more into a status mage with the occasional rune to support it.
My issue is, if I want to focus on runes, I keep getting slowed down immensly, because I have a couple of Amnesias (mainly) in hand, and no easy way to get rid of them. Gallstone or the one that heals? Both cost 2 and therefor basically my turn.
You have bad luck with the shuffling? Your status cards are always there, but you want to keep them for your sunburst rune to deal more damage - but you can't, because they prevent your sunburst from being played. Since sunburst is 2 cost, you can't use the other two cards to clean your status effects.

If I use shuffle, I tend to redraw at least one Amnesia (because I had 3-4 of them in my deck). Status Mage is something other, and if you get a couple of shuffles and the conduit influence, sure. But I mainly wanted to focus on the rune aspect, instead of cycling through. And found that it is pretty anti-synergistic.

I both want Status cards in my deck to buff my runes, and can't have them in my hand because they prevent me from playing them? I want to spam runes to get the Switcheroo damage increase, but runes cost over 1 in average? Gallstone provides me with ... mediocre ... runes at a high cost? It just seems to damn inefficient to me.
Meanwhile, you have Bolt mage that can sift through their deck a couple of times to play Sub-Zero 5 times - and now all bolts have permanent +10 damage, instead of needing to be build up. When I play a bolt, I get cards and or mana. I have influences that draw me scrolls and bolts. As a Bolt mage, I actually have hand size problems - with toy compass, or the arti that gives block on exhaust, the scrolls can also be a huge boon (though I REALLY think that that the influence should have exhaust instead of strain. I never want to have it more than 2 times)


Lets take Gallstones. I would like to see it reworked to the following:
- 3 cost. Exhaust all your status cards in hand. Add a rune and an additional for each card exhausted. They cost 0 and have exhaust
No more worries that some Meteor Runes clog up your draw pile. You replace your status cards by playing the runes, but at least you actually can play them. Etc.

Though I also really want a legendary influence that transforms added Status cards to Delusions. Maybe even at rare, and the upgrade transforming all existing status cards on being played as well?

Or some way to discard status cards would be welcome, too. An upgrade to Grimoire for example:
- 0 cost. Discard all Status cards. Draw a card plus an additional for all discarded cards. Then discard all Status cards again
Which would allow you to sift through your deck and be unhindered by all the Amnesias running rampant.

[Whitey]

Yeah, I kind of agree. It seems crazy that a rune card deals damaged based on status cards in your deck while also giving you a status card that prevents you from playing it. It's inevitable that you end up with them both in your hand at once. I can't do a rune build because, as you said, it's really just a status build.

[Polyurethane]

I like the explosive power of your updated Gallstones, but I would still not use it personally because it still suffers the same problem of requiring too much setup and it creates too much clutter for a cleansing card.

I'd really like to see Gallstones be more like;
Gall Stone (pun intended) - 2 Mana
"Exhaust all status cards from your hand. Put a random Legendary Rune into your hand. Its cost is reduced by 1 this turn for each status removed."

It's powerful but focused, works as a cleanser, and might actually be useful in the first 3 hands.

[Nordos/atord]

Maybe Gallstones would not create run of the mill runes, or even legendary ones - but a new, specific one? Which gets modified by the amount of Status cards you exhaust.

Gallstones - 2 energy.
Exhaust all Status cards in your hand. Put a Gall Stone in your hand, with +2 damage for each exhausted Status card.

Gall Stone: 0 cost, exhaust, rune.
Deal 6 damage in a large Radius.

This would reduce the randomness of Gallstones a bit and also would allow scaling while still being useful without any exhausted Status card?