Board Game Arena - User contributions [en]

Gamehelpviticulture

2026-04-19T22:15:18Z

Kriswh: Add a note about stars in the Tuscany expansion.

== Overview ==
Welcome to wine country! In Viticulture, players manage a vineyard over the course of several years/rounds, attempting to make more valuable wines and fulfill orders. Players use their workers for various actions, but with the twist that actions are restricted to specific seasons. The player with the most points once any player has 25 or more points wins!

== Game Anatomy ==
Each player has the following components:
* Workers. These are further divided into regular workers and a grande worker, which is larger than the others and has a G on it. These can be placed on various spaces to perform actions, but the grande worker can be placed even if that action space is otherwise full.
* Lira, the game's currency. These are usually spent to build structures, train new workers, and some other visitor cards.
* A hand of cards, which may contain the following types of cards:
* * Vines and grapes, represented by green cards. These represent the types of wines you can make. These contain a wine color (red or white), a starting value, and building prerequisites.
* * Wine orders, represented by purple cards. These show the types of wine you need, and a reward in both points and residual income once completed.
* * Summer visitors, represented by yellow cards. These can be played for a one-time effect.
* * Winter visitors, represented by blue cards. These can also be played for a one-time effect. The primary difference between these is when they can be played.

Each player also has a game board showing the following things:
* Three fields. These show all planted vines. Each of these fields has a maximum value - the total value of all vines can never be larger than this number.
* The crush pad, showing the value of all grapes you have access to.
* The wine cellar, showing the value of all wine available.
* All built structures. These each have different abilities and will be discussed on an individual basis.

The main game board has the following things:
* The turn order, with bonuses. Players choose when to act on this, but the later players choose to act, the bigger bonus they will get.
* Actions available, each divided into summer (yellow, on the left half of the board) and winter (blue, on the right half) actions. Note that the number of these that are available for use depends on the number of players in the game.
* The score track. Players usually score points by completing wine orders, but can also score using certain visitor cards or actions.
* Residual income. At the end of each round, players earn lira based on this amount. This is usually increased by completing wine orders.

== Setup ==
Each player, in addition to the items automated by BGA, does the following:
* Choose a mama and papa combination. This will determine what you start the game with, and usually guarantees you an assortment of cards, money, and three workers, one of which is a grande worker.
* Your papa also gives an additional choice - starting the game with a building or comparable bonus, or starting with more money. Choose whichever option you prefer.

A first player will randomly be selected. You are now ready to begin.

== What To Do On Your Turn ==

A round in Viticulture consists of one year, which is further broken into four seasons and an end-of-round cleanup phase.

=== Spring ===
In spring, players plan for the upcoming year by choosing turn order. Starting with the first player (designated by the grapes) and proceeding around the table, players choose one of the seven spaces on the turn order track and place their rooster there. This designates the turn order for the round. Players also get a bonus when placing their rooster on the track; in general, the later in the turn order they choose, the better the bonus.
1st: No bonus
2nd: Gain 1 green card
3rd: Gain 1 purple card
4th: Gain 1 lira
5th: Gain 1 yellow card or 1 blue card
6th: Gain 1 point
7th: Gain an additional worker this round; this can be used as if it were a worker of your color, but is lost at the end of the year

=== Summer ===
In summer, players take actions related to building their vineyard. Players take actions by placing a worker on any unoccupied space, then immediately taking that action. Note that the number of spaces for each action scales with the number of players in the game:
* In a 2 player game, only one worker can be placed on each action.
* In a 3 or 4 player game, two workers can be placed on each action, one of which has a bonus action attached to it.
* In a 5 or 6 player game, three workers can be placed on each action, one of which has a bonus action attached to it.

The actions available are:
* Draw a green card: Draw 1 green card and add it to your hand. (Bonus: Draw a second green card.)
* Give a tour: Gain 2 lira. (Bonus: Gain 1 extra lira.)
* Build a structure: Build one of your structures for the indicated cost. You now have the bonus attached to it for the rest of the game.(Bonus: Gain 1 lira - this is gained before building, so it can effectively act as a discount.) See the Structures section for a summary of what these do.
* Play a yellow card: Play one of your visitor cards from your hand. Do what it says, then discard it. (Bonus: Play a second yellow card afterwards.)
* Sell a grape/field: Choose one: Sell one of your grapes to gain lira based on its value, or sell a field to gain lira based on its maximum value, or buy a field for its maximum value in lira. You may only sell a field if it is empty, and cannot interact with a sold field unless you buy it back. (Bonus: Gain 1 point.)
* Plant a green card: Put one of your green cards in a field. You must have the building prerequisites listed on the card (if any exist), and this can't cause the total value of all vines to exceed the maximum value of the field. (Bonus: Plant a second green card afterwards.)
* Gain 1L: Gain 1 lira. This action can be taken by any number of workers and during any season.

If a player no longer wishes to take actions, they may pass, and all of their remaining workers are usable in the winter. Once all players have passed or have no available workers, players proceed to autumn.

=== Autumn ===

During autumn, players host visitors. Each player draws either a yellow or blue card (players who have built the Cottage may take two cards).

=== Winter ===

During winter, players take actions related to making wine and fulfilling orders. The turn structure here is identical to the summer phase.

The actions are:
* Gain 1 purple card: Draw a purple card. (Bonus: Draw a second purple card.)
* Harvest a field: Gain grapes from a field. Add up all red vines in your selected field and gain a red grape of that value, then do the same for white vines/grapes. You may never have two grapes of the same value at any given moment; if something would cause this, the grape goes down to the next lowest value. This does not consume green cards on the field. (Bonus: Harvest a second field.)
* Train a new worker: Pay 4 lira to gain a new worker. This worker will be available to take actions for the next and all subsequent years. (Bonus: Gain 1 lira - this functionally acts as a discount.)
* Play a blue card: Play one of your visitor cards from your hand. (Bonus: Play a second visitor card after the first.)
* Make wine: Make up to two wine tokens. To make red or white wine, just move the tokens on the grapes to their corresponding wines. To make blush wine, add the values from a red and white grape together. To make a sparkling wine, add the values from two red and one white grapes. Wine values are restricted by your cellar size - if you attempt to make a wine your cellar can't hold, it will be downgraded to the highest value it can accommodate. (Bonus: Make a third wine token.)
* Fill an order: Discard a purple card and wine tokens equal to or higher than the value shown on them, and gain points and residual income on the card. (Bonus: Gain 1 point.)
* Gain 1L: Gain 1 lira. This action can be taken by any number of workers and during any season.

Once all players have used all workers they have available, the round ends.

=== Year End ===
At the end of each year, the following things happen:
* All grapes and wine age. Move each to the next highest available space (keeping in mind wine can't age past what the cellar can hold - in this case, the tokens remain where they are)
* Return all workers to their respective players.
* Collect residual income.
* Discard down to 7 cards total. This only includes cards in your hand, not cards in fields.
* Rotate the first player token to the right (that is, in the opposite order players would normally choose turn order).

If any player has 20 or more points, the game ends here. Otherwise, start a new year.

== Structures ==
The structures you can build for various bonuses are:
* Trellis (2L): Allows you to plant more valuable vines
* Irrigation (3L): Allows you to plant more valuable vines
* Windmill (5L): Once per year, whenever you plant a new vine, gain 1 point
* Yoke (2L): Unlocks an additional worker space, allowing you to harvest 1 field or uproot and return a planted green card to your hand
* Tasting Room (6L): Once per year, when you give a tour and you have at least one wine in your cellar, gain 1 point
* Medium Cellar (4L): Your wine cellar can hold wines up to value 6. (Without this, you can only have wine up to value 3.)
* Large Cellar (6L): Your wine cellar can hold wines up to value 9. You must have the Medium Cellar to build this.
* Cottage (4L): Allows you to draw a second visitor card each autumn.

== End Of The Game ==
The game ends at the end of any year in which any player has at least 20 points. The player with the most points wins the game! If there's a tie, the player with the most leftover lira wins. If there's still a tie, the player with the highest combined value of all their wines wins. If there's still a tie, the player with the highest combined value of all grapes wins. If there's still a tie after that, the victory is shared!

== Tuscany Expansion ==
The Tuscany Expansion introduces the Influence action. Influence is denoted by stars. When you place star in a region, you get the bonus associated with that region--but not victory points. At the end of the game, the person with the majority of stars gets the victory points associated with the region. Ties are unfriendly; if there is a tie no one gets the victory points.

Gamehelprailwaysoftheworld

2023-04-04T15:21:20Z

Kriswh: Bold the bidding options so it looks better on BGA.

=== [https://drive.google.com/file/d/11vc2f39HJlCQUPCGN1vnRITyFrja8HfK/view?usp=sharing Link to Combined Rules (2022)] ===

== Interface Info ==
=== Preferences ===
* Top right of the page lets you set preferences that will be remembered from game to game
** Preference option for Track brightness and contrast. 6 styles to choose from with a variety of contrast and brightness values
** Preference option for Cubes brightness and contrast. 6 styles to choose from with a variety of contrast and brightness values
** Track building now has an optional visual aid to help you understand which tracks you are currently building.
** Optional display for colour blind folk.
*** Cubes are replaced with letters representing the original cube colour.
**** R - Red
**** B - Blue
**** G - Black
**** Y - Yellow
**** P - Purple
*** Cities have a tooltip stating the colour of the city.
*** Link tokens showing ownership of a link now have the name of the colour instead of the engine image.

== In Game controls ==
* Ctrl Mouse Wheel zooms the map when you are over the map, otherwise it will zoom the web page.

=== Game Options ===
Maps

* Eastern US
* Mexico
* Great Britain
* Western US
* Portugal

Bidding Style

*'''Traditional'''
** Winner pays full value of their bid and is First Player, all other players pay nothing.
** Then turn order proceeds clockwise around the table.
** If all the players choose to pass, then the player to the left of the previous First Player becomes the new First Player

* '''First to pass'''
** Winner pays full value of their bid and is First Player.
** Each player who passes, pays half their bid rounded up.
** First player to pass becomes the last player.
** Second to pass becomes second to last etc.
** If all the players choose to pass, then the player who passes last becomes the new First Player.

* '''Worst is First'''
** There is an initial bid for game starting position then
** at the start of a new turn, the player order is determined by the current score.
** Worst score becomes the new First Player.
** Second worst is the new Second Player etc.
** In case of scoring ties, the player with higher (worst) turn order wins the tie.
** All "Railroad Executive" operation cards are discarded.

City Rotors
* Cities with Rotors always act as their base color (the color on the upper section of the city) and will often provide a second color showing on the bottom of the city.
* Cubes matching either color that arrive at a City Rotor must be delivered there.
* After every delivery to the city, the City Rotor will rotate to a new color.
* The City Rotor Color Wheel describes each color transition.

Mines
* The Place Mine action is available to each player two times in the game during the player action round.
* The active player may pay $10,000 to place a Mine.
* They immediately choose a gray city and begin drawing cubes from the goods bag until they draw a cube that matches the color of a previously drawn cube (maximum of 5 draws).
* Place the cubes drawn on the gray city, after discarding the matching cube.
* A city may only be mined once in a game.

Empty City Markers reduction for faster games
* The Empty City Marker count can be reduced to speed up the end of the game.

= Playing the game =
* Turns and Player Action Rounds. RotW is played in a series of Turns. Each Turn consists of the following 3 phases:
** 1 - First Player Auction to determine First Player
** 2 - Player Actions (1 per player in Turn Order in each of 3 Rounds)
** 3 - Income and Dividends
* These three phases are repeated until the End of Game is triggered (see below), at which time the current Turn is completed (all 3 phases) and then one additional Turn is played.

== Phase 1 - First Player Auction ==
* Players bid to determine First Player for all Rounds of Phase 2 this Turn
** The First Player from the previous Turn bids first
** Minimum bid is $1k
** Bidding proceeds clockwise (down the list in player status table)
** If a player chooses not to bid higher than the current bid they Pass and are out of the Auction
** The player with the winning bid takes the First Player marker (golden engine in the player status table)
** Turn order is clockwise from First Player
** If all players pass with no bids, First Player marker moves 1 spot clockwise

== Phase 2 - Player Actions ==
* Each Turn the Phase 2 consists of 3 Rounds of player actions, in Turn Order
* On each Round each player may take 1 of 5 available actions (same action may be taken on subsequent Rounds within the same Turn)
'''A - Build Track'''
* Place from 1 to 4 track tiles, starting at any city or open track tile that you own
* Cost to build track:
** Build on plains (no symbol): $2k
** Build on water (water drop): $3k
** Build on mountains (grey dot): $4k
** Cross a mountain ridge (dark red/brown line): + $4k
* A series of tiles that connect one city to exactly one other city is called a Link
* At the end of Phase 2 any open tracks (i.e. a series that is not a Link) will be removed from the board
'''B - Urbanize'''
* Player pays $10k to place an available New City tile on a gray city hex and add two random Goods Cubes to the new city
'''C - Upgrade Engine'''
* Upgrade your player Engine one (and only one step) by paying the cost of the next upgrade
'''D - Deliver One Goods Cube'''
* Deliver one (and only one) Goods Cube from one City to a City matching the Goods Cube's color
* May travel over as many links as the strength of the acting player's Engine
* May not move a Cube without delivering it (final Link must move to a City of the Cube's color)
* May not skip over a City of the Cube's color without delivering it (even if a City further down the line is the same color)
* First Link over which the Good travels must be owned by Player taking the action
* Each player who owns a Link over which the Good travels scores 1 point per traveled Link that they own
'''E - Select a Railroad Operations Card'''
* Take one of the available Railroad Operations cards and either execute it immediately or place it in front of you (depending on the type of card)

== Phase 3 - Income and Dividends ==
* All players collect the income shown on the space of the point track / income track occupied by their marker
* THEN all players must pay $1k per held Bond (including taking new Bonds to cover this cost, if necessary)

== End of Game ==
* When the last Goods Cube in a City is moved out, an Empty City marker is placed in the City
* The game end is triggered when the last Empty City marker is placed on the board
* The turn is completed normally and then there is one more complete turn before the game ends
* It is possible to remove an Empty City marker from the board via Railroad Operations Cards or the Urbanize action
* If End of Game has been triggered and an Empty City marker is removed from the board it does not "un-trigger" End of Game
* When the game finishes, in addition to the standard Income Phase, each player loses 1 point for every bond issued
* Rail Baron cards held by each player are now tested and if their goal has been achieved, points will be awarded

Tips resarcana

2021-03-07T18:42:58Z

Kriswh: /* Basic Strategy */

==Basic Strategy==

When you see your deck and check your mage, plan a path to victory. You may need to adjust your plans depending on whether an opponent takes a card you need. A few example strategies:
* With a dragon somewhere in your deck, consider Dragon's Lair. You can buy Dragon's Lair the first turn with most mages if you choose one of the right magic items. Use the turn-for-two-gold to buy monuments as you can, until you get to your dragon and can afford it, and then it's two points per turn. A particularly nice combo (if your opponents don't block you) is to buy Alchemist's Tower in the first turn with the one gold you start with and the two gold you get from turning Dragon's Lair.
* With multiple dragons and some way to make dragons less expensive (either Dragon's Bridle or Dragon teeth), consider Sorcery's Bestiary.
* With black essence cards (or Necromancer and some life income) consider Catacombs of the Dead.
* With Dragon Teeth or Philosopher's Stone, build up a lot of one type of resource, convert to gold, and then buy monuments. Transmuter or prism can help here.

General principles:
* Don't put too many artifacts into play. Putting 4 or above is usually a bad idea. The game can end in four turns, so artifacts placed in turn three or four may not get enough use to justify their cost.
* Don't think the game is all about the essences. They are useless unless you can convert them into points.
* You should discard cards you don't need to get essences you want to play better cards.
* Get a place of power early--their powers can aid you to victory.
* Don't afraid to pass early if it can give you a magic item that you want.
* Dragons are not good ideas, but if it can break your opponents' plans, that will be hell to them! To counter, just keep some life, and in 4 player games you should expect at least 1 dragon. Dragons can also score with Dragon's Lair or Sorcerer's Bestiary.

==Which Magic Items are the best?==
* Alchemy: Not an effective exchange. Only use it when you really need that 2 gold, e.g. buying a mounment or place of power.
* Collecters (calm/elan, death/life): Good in first turn if you want to buy a place of power or a good artifact.
* Divination: Usually of no use, as you gain nothing. However, it can be useful to pull out a card in your deck that you want to play this turn (eg, you have a Horn of Plenty).
* Protection: Usually of no use as attacks and dragons are not common. But if you notice potential attacks that may break your plans, grab it.
* Reanimate: Very useful when you have a matching artifact or place of power. However everyone wants it, so get it before your opponents.
* Research: Basically, it is exchanging 1 essence for 2 essences or 1 gold. You can use it to dig for a card, but Divination is better for this. Or you can play it if necessary, therefore it is worth about 2 essences.
* Transmutation: Often of no use as the game provides lots of methods to exchange essences. However, if you have none of them, try this.

==Which Mages are the best?==
* Alchemist: First ability same as Alchemy, second worse than collecting. Hmm...
* Artificer: Not obvious, but the discount is useful. Especially when you need to play useful cards for combos.
* Druid: Quite powerless, but with Mermaid or Sacred Grove I may change this opinion. Worst of all mages I guess.
* Duelist: It is nearly 2 essences per turn if you have a death--known to be strong, as other mages mostly produce 1 essences per turn.
* Healer: Hard to win because no combos with other cards. But in 4-player games, it can save your game in some occations.
* Necromancer: Not the best, but good with Catacombs. Why? You can discard a card for 2 life and change to 3 death.
* Scholar: Same as Research, but Research is what everyone wants. Imagine you have access to one yourself.
* Seer: Seems useless, but with Dragon's Lair it's choose 1 from 5 mounments each time. Or you can search for that card you really want.
* Transmuter: Better than normal transmutation, because you gain an extra essence. But there are actually many methods to change essences...
* Witch: This is deadly! I have seen lots of people winning with witch's reanimate ability. Best with Catacombs of the Dead or Dragon's Lair.

==How about Artifacts?==
For a more detailed analysis, please head to https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2211614/card-card-review-all-artifacts-res-arcana.
===Which Artifacts are the Best?===
* Chalice of Fire: The collecting ability pays off in turn 4 even if you don't use it, and its reanimate is useful with many places of power.
* Chalice of Life: This strong essence generator feeds itself and doesn't need to be turned. Best with Sunken Reef.
* Corrupt Altar: Expensive, but you can play expensive cards, use it once then sarifice it. If you are tired, just sarifice the Altar itself.
* Crypt: You can discard a card then resurrect it with a discount. Crazy with a sacrifice card. Don't need it? Then get 2 death instead.
* Dragon Teeth: Feeds itself and discounts you on dragons. Although bad with places of power, it is best with Philospher's Stone to get gold.
* Horn of Plenty: Much above average. Pays itself off with 2 turns. Fits itself into any strategy. First pick in nearly all draft.
* Mermaid: You can use mermaid to score while using other abilities of places of power. Better then a novice would think.
* Vault: It's cheap, it's flexable, it can be aimed for small or big! Good with both gold and essence strategies.

===Which Artifacts are the Worst?===
* Bone/Fire/Water Dragon: Expensive, but easy to dodge. Better to discard for essences.
* Dancing Sword: Its collecting ability only pays at turn 4, and if your opponents see this, they won't play dragons and makes this useless.
* Elemental Spring: The cost is steep, and after 3 turns it is just 0. Most attacks can be prevented by an essence, so this is redundant.
* Hand of Glory: Your only gain is just 1 death, making it even in 4 turns. Only slightly better if the cost is mitigated.
* Windup Man: Worst card in the game. The cost is high, and it is slow to pay off. While you are waiting, the engine is dead and you have spent a bunch of essences for nothing.

==Which Monuments are the best?==
* Golden Statue (1 pt): If you don't have extra gold, it is useless. Otherwise, it is 4vp with a discount.
* Hanging Gardens (1 pt): The stronger the earlier bought. Excellent on round 1, but expensive on later rounds.
* Library (1 pt): Better than Solomon's Mine in terms of flexibility. However, it takes more actions. Best to buy early.
* Obelisk (1 pt): Good at anytime in the game. If early it can help you to buy a Place of Power. If late it can give essences to dump on them.
* Solomon's Mine (1 pt): On turn 1 it is a free point. Later it can let to buy more monuments instead of wasting your 3 gold, so buy it early.
* Colossus (2 pts): Worse than Solomon's Mine, as it gives 3 gold for 3 essence instead of 4 free gold.
* Mausoleum (2 pts): Good with Places of Power that needs death. Also, it is a staller to prevent your opponent from getting your magic item.
* Oracle (2 pts): Fits well into a monument strategy. Grab it early to provide more choices for the other 2-3 monuments you are going to buy.
* Temple (2 pts): Decent if someone has a dragon, otherwise it is average.
* Great Pyramid (3 pts): Don't buy it on round 1. However, it is game-changing in later rounds.

==Which Places of Power are the best?==
* Alchemist Tower: It can be bought on turn 1, and although there is no turning abilities, it can be used for a turn 4 victory with good cards.
* Catatombs of the Dead: Overpowered. With Chalice of Fire (and Witch/Reanimate) you can get 2-4 points per turn, plus death from discards.
* Coral Castle: Purely 3 points. Fine, but without other places of power you cannot win.
* Cursed Forge: Unlike other cards, this partially hinders you. However, it can be defensive with Mermaid.
* Dragon's Lair: Also overpowered, although you need to discard all of your cards to play this. With reanimates you can buy tons of mounments.
* Dwarven Mines: It is 3 essences for 1 point once per turn. Or you can use the 3 gold ability to buy a mounment each turn. Plus it is cheap.
* Sacred Grove: Sounds useless but you can convert all calm to life then to gold with Philospher's Stone. That would be a massive blow!
* Sacrificial Pit: It's ok, but if you have a lot of creatures and dragons you can use the second power to gain gold. Good with Dragon Teeth.
* Sorcerer's Bestiary: It's tricky, as you need to have a lot of energy to steal dragons. Better to have a dragon strategy.
* Sunken Reef: The most effective point-gaining place of power. Plus it has unlimited use. Some people use this to get 10 points in round 4.

Tips resarcana

2021-03-06T22:24:49Z

Kriswh: /* Which Monuments are the best? */

==Basic Strategy==

When you see your deck and check your mage, plan a path to victory. You may need to adjust your plans depending on whether an opponent takes a card you need. Example strategies:
* With a dragon somewhere in your deck, consider Dragon's Lair. You can buy Dragon's Lair the first turn with most mages if you choose one of the right magic items. Use the turn-for-two-gold to buy monuments as you can, until you get to your dragon and can afford it, and then it's two points per turn. A particularly nice combo (if your opponents don't block you) is to buy Alchemist's Tower in the first turn with the one gold you start with and the two gold you get from turning Dragon's Lair.
* With multiple dragons and some way to make dragons less expensive (either Dragon's Bridle or Dragon teeth), consider Sorcery's Bestiary.
* With black essence cards (or Necromancer and some life income) consider Catacombs of the Dead.
* With Dragon Teeth or Philosopher's Stone, build up a lot of one type of resource, convert to gold, and then buy monuments. Transmuter or prism can help here.

General principles:
* Don't put too many artifacts into play. Putting 4 or above is usually a bad idea. The game can end in four turns, so artifacts placed in turn three or four may not get enough use to justify their cost.
* Don't think the game is all about the essences. They are useless unless you can convert them into points.
* You should discard cards you don't need to get essences you want to play better cards.
* Get a place of power early--their powers can aid you to victory.
* Don't afraid to pass early if it can give you a magic item that you want.
* Dragons are not good ideas, but if it can break your opponents' plans, that will be hell to them! To counter, just keep some life, and in 4 player games you should expect at least 1 dragon. Dragons can also score with Dragon's Lair or Sorcerer's Bestiary.

==Which Magic Items are the best?==
* Alchemy: Not an effective exchange. Only use it when you really need that 2 gold, e.g. buying a mounment or place of power.
* Collecters (calm/elan, death/life): Good in first turn if you want to buy a place of power or a good artifact.
* Divination: Usually of no use, as you gain nothing. However, it can be useful to pull out a card in your deck that you want to play this turn (eg, you have a Horn of Plenty).
* Protection: Usually of no use as attacks and dragons are not common. But if you notice potential attacks that may break your plans, grab it.
* Reanimate: Very useful when you have a matching artifact or place of power. However everyone wants it, so get it before your opponents.
* Research: Basically, it is exchanging 1 essence for 2 essences or 1 gold. You can use it to dig for a card, but Divination is better for this. Or you can play it if necessary, therefore it is worth about 2 essences.
* Transmutation: Often of no use as the game provides lots of methods to exchange essences. However, if you have none of them, try this.

==Which Mages are the best?==
* Alchemist: First ability same as Alchemy, second worse than collecting. Hmm...
* Artificer: Not obvious, but the discount is useful. Especially when you need to play useful cards for combos.
* Druid: Quite powerless, but with Mermaid or Sacred Grove I may change this opinion. Worst of all mages I guess.
* Duelist: It is nearly 2 essences per turn if you have a death--known to be strong, as other mages mostly produce 1 essences per turn.
* Healer: Hard to win because no combos with other cards. But in 4-player games, it can save your game in some occations.
* Necromancer: Not the best, but good with Catacombs. Why? You can discard a card for 2 life and change to 3 death.
* Scholar: Same as Research, but Research is what everyone wants. Imagine you have access to one yourself.
* Seer: Seems useless, but with Dragon's Lair it's choose 1 from 5 mounments each time. Or you can search for that card you really want.
* Transmuter: Better than normal transmutation, because you gain an extra essence. But there are actually many methods to change essences...
* Witch: This is deadly! I have seen lots of people winning with witch's reanimate ability. Best with Catacombs of the Dead or Dragon's Lair.

==How about Artifacts?==
For a more detailed analysis, please head to https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2211614/card-card-review-all-artifacts-res-arcana.
===Which Artifacts are the Best?===
* Chalice of Fire: The collecting ability pays off in turn 4 even if you don't use it, and its reanimate is useful with many places of power.
* Chalice of Life: This strong essence generator feeds itself and doesn't need to be turned. Best with Sunken Reef.
* Corrupt Altar: Expensive, but you can play expensive cards, use it once then sarifice it. If you are tired, just sarifice the Altar itself.
* Crypt: You can discard a card then resurrect it with a discount. Crazy with a sacrifice card. Don't need it? Then get 2 death instead.
* Dragon Teeth: Feeds itself and discounts you on dragons. Although bad with places of power, it is best with Philospher's Stone to get gold.
* Horn of Plenty: Much above average. Pays itself off with 2 turns. Fits itself into any strategy. First pick in nearly all draft.
* Mermaid: You can use mermaid to score while using other abilities of places of power. Better then a novice would think.
* Vault: It's cheap, it's flexable, it can be aimed for small or big! Good with both gold and essence strategies.

===Which Artifacts are the Worst?===
* Bone/Fire/Water Dragon: Expensive, but easy to dodge. Better to discard for essences.
* Dancing Sword: Its collecting ability only pays at turn 4, and if your opponents see this, they won't play dragons and makes this useless.
* Elemental Spring: The cost is steep, and after 3 turns it is just 0. Most attacks can be prevented by an essence, so this is redundant.
* Hand of Glory: Your only gain is just 1 death, making it even in 4 turns. Only slightly better if the cost is mitigated.
* Windup Man: Worst card in the game. The cost is high, and it is slow to pay off. While you are waiting, the engine is dead and you have spent a bunch of essences for nothing.

==Which Monuments are the best?==
* Golden Statue (1 pt): If you don't have extra gold, it is useless. Otherwise, it is 4vp with a discount.
* Hanging Gardens (1 pt): The stronger the earlier bought. Excellent on round 1, but expensive on later rounds.
* Library (1 pt): Better than Solomon's Mine in terms of flexibility. However, it takes more actions. Best to buy early.
* Obelisk (1 pt): Good at anytime in the game. If early it can help you to buy a Place of Power. If late it can give essences to dump on them.
* Solomon's Mine (1 pt): On turn 1 it is a free point. Later it can let to buy more monuments instead of wasting your 3 gold, so buy it early.
* Colossus (2 pts): Worse than Solomon's Mine, as it gives 3 gold for 3 essence instead of 4 free gold.
* Mausoleum (2 pts): Good with Places of Power that needs death. Also, it is a staller to prevent your opponent from getting your magic item.
* Oracle (2 pts): Fits well into a monument strategy. Grab it early to provide more choices for the other 2-3 monuments you are going to buy.
* Temple (2 pts): Decent if someone has a dragon, otherwise it is average.
* Great Pyramid (3 pts): Don't buy it on round 1. However, it is game-changing in later rounds.

==Which Places of Power are the best?==
* Alchemist Tower: It can be bought on turn 1, and although there is no turning abilities, it can be used for a turn 4 victory with good cards.
* Catatombs of the Dead: Overpowered. With Chalice of Fire (and Witch/Reanimate) you can get 2-4 points per turn, plus death from discards.
* Coral Castle: Purely 3 points. Fine, but without other places of power you cannot win.
* Cursed Forge: Unlike other cards, this partially hinders you. However, it can be defensive with Mermaid.
* Dragon's Lair: Also overpowered, although you need to discard all of your cards to play this. With reanimates you can buy tons of mounments.
* Dwarven Mines: It is 3 essences for 1 point once per turn. Or you can use the 3 gold ability to buy a mounment each turn. Plus it is cheap.
* Sacred Grove: Sounds useless but you can convert all calm to life then to gold with Philospher's Stone. That would be a massive blow!
* Sacrificial Pit: It's ok, but if you have a lot of creatures and dragons you can use the second power to gain gold. Good with Dragon Teeth.
* Sorcerer's Bestiary: It's tricky, as you need to have a lot of energy to steal dragons. Better to have a dragon strategy.
* Sunken Reef: The most effective point-gaining place of power. Plus it has unlimited use. Some people use this to get 10 points in round 4.

Tips resarcana

2021-03-06T22:20:26Z

Kriswh: /* Which Monuments are the best? */

==Basic Strategy==

When you see your deck and check your mage, plan a path to victory. You may need to adjust your plans depending on whether an opponent takes a card you need. Example strategies:
* With a dragon somewhere in your deck, consider Dragon's Lair. You can buy Dragon's Lair the first turn with most mages if you choose one of the right magic items. Use the turn-for-two-gold to buy monuments as you can, until you get to your dragon and can afford it, and then it's two points per turn. A particularly nice combo (if your opponents don't block you) is to buy Alchemist's Tower in the first turn with the one gold you start with and the two gold you get from turning Dragon's Lair.
* With multiple dragons and some way to make dragons less expensive (either Dragon's Bridle or Dragon teeth), consider Sorcery's Bestiary.
* With black essence cards (or Necromancer and some life income) consider Catacombs of the Dead.
* With Dragon Teeth or Philosopher's Stone, build up a lot of one type of resource, convert to gold, and then buy monuments. Transmuter or prism can help here.

General principles:
* Don't put too many artifacts into play. Putting 4 or above is usually a bad idea. The game can end in four turns, so artifacts placed in turn three or four may not get enough use to justify their cost.
* Don't think the game is all about the essences. They are useless unless you can convert them into points.
* You should discard cards you don't need to get essences you want to play better cards.
* Get a place of power early--their powers can aid you to victory.
* Don't afraid to pass early if it can give you a magic item that you want.
* Dragons are not good ideas, but if it can break your opponents' plans, that will be hell to them! To counter, just keep some life, and in 4 player games you should expect at least 1 dragon. Dragons can also score with Dragon's Lair or Sorcerer's Bestiary.

==Which Magic Items are the best?==
* Alchemy: Not an effective exchange. Only use it when you really need that 2 gold, e.g. buying a mounment or place of power.
* Collecters (calm/elan, death/life): Good in first turn if you want to buy a place of power or a good artifact.
* Divination: Usually of no use, as you gain nothing. However, it can be useful to pull out a card in your deck that you want to play this turn (eg, you have a Horn of Plenty).
* Protection: Usually of no use as attacks and dragons are not common. But if you notice potential attacks that may break your plans, grab it.
* Reanimate: Very useful when you have a matching artifact or place of power. However everyone wants it, so get it before your opponents.
* Research: Basically, it is exchanging 1 essence for 2 essences or 1 gold. You can use it to dig for a card, but Divination is better for this. Or you can play it if necessary, therefore it is worth about 2 essences.
* Transmutation: Often of no use as the game provides lots of methods to exchange essences. However, if you have none of them, try this.

==Which Mages are the best?==
* Alchemist: First ability same as Alchemy, second worse than collecting. Hmm...
* Artificer: Not obvious, but the discount is useful. Especially when you need to play useful cards for combos.
* Druid: Quite powerless, but with Mermaid or Sacred Grove I may change this opinion. Worst of all mages I guess.
* Duelist: It is nearly 2 essences per turn if you have a death--known to be strong, as other mages mostly produce 1 essences per turn.
* Healer: Hard to win because no combos with other cards. But in 4-player games, it can save your game in some occations.
* Necromancer: Not the best, but good with Catacombs. Why? You can discard a card for 2 life and change to 3 death.
* Scholar: Same as Research, but Research is what everyone wants. Imagine you have access to one yourself.
* Seer: Seems useless, but with Dragon's Lair it's choose 1 from 5 mounments each time. Or you can search for that card you really want.
* Transmuter: Better than normal transmutation, because you gain an extra essence. But there are actually many methods to change essences...
* Witch: This is deadly! I have seen lots of people winning with witch's reanimate ability. Best with Catacombs of the Dead or Dragon's Lair.

==How about Artifacts?==
For a more detailed analysis, please head to https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2211614/card-card-review-all-artifacts-res-arcana.
===Which Artifacts are the Best?===
* Chalice of Fire: The collecting ability pays off in turn 4 even if you don't use it, and its reanimate is useful with many places of power.
* Chalice of Life: This strong essence generator feeds itself and doesn't need to be turned. Best with Sunken Reef.
* Corrupt Altar: Expensive, but you can play expensive cards, use it once then sarifice it. If you are tired, just sarifice the Altar itself.
* Crypt: You can discard a card then resurrect it with a discount. Crazy with a sacrifice card. Don't need it? Then get 2 death instead.
* Dragon Teeth: Feeds itself and discounts you on dragons. Although bad with places of power, it is best with Philospher's Stone to get gold.
* Horn of Plenty: Much above average. Pays itself off with 2 turns. Fits itself into any strategy. First pick in nearly all draft.
* Mermaid: You can use mermaid to score while using other abilities of places of power. Better then a novice would think.
* Vault: It's cheap, it's flexable, it can be aimed for small or big! Good with both gold and essence strategies.

===Which Artifacts are the Worst?===
* Bone/Fire/Water Dragon: Expensive, but easy to dodge. Better to discard for essences.
* Dancing Sword: Its collecting ability only pays at turn 4, and if your opponents see this, they won't play dragons and makes this useless.
* Elemental Spring: The cost is steep, and after 3 turns it is just 0. Most attacks can be prevented by an essence, so this is redundant.
* Hand of Glory: Your only gain is just 1 death, making it even in 4 turns. Only slightly better if the cost is mitigated.
* Windup Man: Worst card in the game. The cost is high, and it is slow to pay off. While you are waiting, the engine is dead and you have spent a bunch of essences for nothing.

==Which Monuments are the best?==
* Colossus: Worse than Solomon's Mine, as it gives 3 gold for 3 essence instead of 4 free gold.
* Golden Statue: If you don't have extra gold, it is useless. Otherwise, it is 4vp with a discount.
* Great Pyramid: Don't buy it on round 1. However, it is game-changing in later rounds.
* Hanging Gardens: The stronger the earlier bought. Excellent on round 1, but expensive on later rounds.
* Library: Better than Solomon's Mine in terms of flexibility. However, it takes more actions. Best to buy early.
* Mausoleum: Good with Places of Power that needs death. Also, it is a staller to prevent your opponent from getting your magic item.
* Obelisk: Good at anytime in the game. If early it can help you to buy a Place of Power. If late it can give essences to dump on them.
* Oracle: Fits well into a monument strategy. Grab it early to provide more choices for the other 2-3 monuments you are going to buy.
* Solomon's Mine: On turn 1 it is a free point. Later it can let to buy more monuments instead of wasting your 3 gold, so buy it early.
* Temple: Decent if someone has a dragon, otherwise it is average.

==Which Places of Power are the best?==
* Alchemist Tower: It can be bought on turn 1, and although there is no turning abilities, it can be used for a turn 4 victory with good cards.
* Catatombs of the Dead: Overpowered. With Chalice of Fire (and Witch/Reanimate) you can get 2-4 points per turn, plus death from discards.
* Coral Castle: Purely 3 points. Fine, but without other places of power you cannot win.
* Cursed Forge: Unlike other cards, this partially hinders you. However, it can be defensive with Mermaid.
* Dragon's Lair: Also overpowered, although you need to discard all of your cards to play this. With reanimates you can buy tons of mounments.
* Dwarven Mines: It is 3 essences for 1 point once per turn. Or you can use the 3 gold ability to buy a mounment each turn. Plus it is cheap.
* Sacred Grove: Sounds useless but you can convert all calm to life then to gold with Philospher's Stone. That would be a massive blow!
* Sacrificial Pit: It's ok, but if you have a lot of creatures and dragons you can use the second power to gain gold. Good with Dragon Teeth.
* Sorcerer's Bestiary: It's tricky, as you need to have a lot of energy to steal dragons. Better to have a dragon strategy.
* Sunken Reef: The most effective point-gaining place of power. Plus it has unlimited use. Some people use this to get 10 points in round 4.

Tips resarcana

2021-03-06T22:12:53Z

Kriswh: /* Which Mages are the best? */

==Basic Strategy==

When you see your deck and check your mage, plan a path to victory. You may need to adjust your plans depending on whether an opponent takes a card you need. Example strategies:
* With a dragon somewhere in your deck, consider Dragon's Lair. You can buy Dragon's Lair the first turn with most mages if you choose one of the right magic items. Use the turn-for-two-gold to buy monuments as you can, until you get to your dragon and can afford it, and then it's two points per turn. A particularly nice combo (if your opponents don't block you) is to buy Alchemist's Tower in the first turn with the one gold you start with and the two gold you get from turning Dragon's Lair.
* With multiple dragons and some way to make dragons less expensive (either Dragon's Bridle or Dragon teeth), consider Sorcery's Bestiary.
* With black essence cards (or Necromancer and some life income) consider Catacombs of the Dead.
* With Dragon Teeth or Philosopher's Stone, build up a lot of one type of resource, convert to gold, and then buy monuments. Transmuter or prism can help here.

General principles:
* Don't put too many artifacts into play. Putting 4 or above is usually a bad idea. The game can end in four turns, so artifacts placed in turn three or four may not get enough use to justify their cost.
* Don't think the game is all about the essences. They are useless unless you can convert them into points.
* You should discard cards you don't need to get essences you want to play better cards.
* Get a place of power early--their powers can aid you to victory.
* Don't afraid to pass early if it can give you a magic item that you want.
* Dragons are not good ideas, but if it can break your opponents' plans, that will be hell to them! To counter, just keep some life, and in 4 player games you should expect at least 1 dragon. Dragons can also score with Dragon's Lair or Sorcerer's Bestiary.

==Which Magic Items are the best?==
* Alchemy: Not an effective exchange. Only use it when you really need that 2 gold, e.g. buying a mounment or place of power.
* Collecters (calm/elan, death/life): Good in first turn if you want to buy a place of power or a good artifact.
* Divination: Usually of no use, as you gain nothing. However, it can be useful to pull out a card in your deck that you want to play this turn (eg, you have a Horn of Plenty).
* Protection: Usually of no use as attacks and dragons are not common. But if you notice potential attacks that may break your plans, grab it.
* Reanimate: Very useful when you have a matching artifact or place of power. However everyone wants it, so get it before your opponents.
* Research: Basically, it is exchanging 1 essence for 2 essences or 1 gold. You can use it to dig for a card, but Divination is better for this. Or you can play it if necessary, therefore it is worth about 2 essences.
* Transmutation: Often of no use as the game provides lots of methods to exchange essences. However, if you have none of them, try this.

==Which Mages are the best?==
* Alchemist: First ability same as Alchemy, second worse than collecting. Hmm...
* Artificer: Not obvious, but the discount is useful. Especially when you need to play useful cards for combos.
* Druid: Quite powerless, but with Mermaid or Sacred Grove I may change this opinion. Worst of all mages I guess.
* Duelist: It is nearly 2 essences per turn if you have a death--known to be strong, as other mages mostly produce 1 essences per turn.
* Healer: Hard to win because no combos with other cards. But in 4-player games, it can save your game in some occations.
* Necromancer: Not the best, but good with Catacombs. Why? You can discard a card for 2 life and change to 3 death.
* Scholar: Same as Research, but Research is what everyone wants. Imagine you have access to one yourself.
* Seer: Seems useless, but with Dragon's Lair it's choose 1 from 5 mounments each time. Or you can search for that card you really want.
* Transmuter: Better than normal transmutation, because you gain an extra essence. But there are actually many methods to change essences...
* Witch: This is deadly! I have seen lots of people winning with witch's reanimate ability. Best with Catacombs of the Dead or Dragon's Lair.

==How about Artifacts?==
For a more detailed analysis, please head to https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2211614/card-card-review-all-artifacts-res-arcana.
===Which Artifacts are the Best?===
* Chalice of Fire: The collecting ability pays off in turn 4 even if you don't use it, and its reanimate is useful with many places of power.
* Chalice of Life: This strong essence generator feeds itself and doesn't need to be turned. Best with Sunken Reef.
* Corrupt Altar: Expensive, but you can play expensive cards, use it once then sarifice it. If you are tired, just sarifice the Altar itself.
* Crypt: You can discard a card then resurrect it with a discount. Crazy with a sacrifice card. Don't need it? Then get 2 death instead.
* Dragon Teeth: Feeds itself and discounts you on dragons. Although bad with places of power, it is best with Philospher's Stone to get gold.
* Horn of Plenty: Much above average. Pays itself off with 2 turns. Fits itself into any strategy. First pick in nearly all draft.
* Mermaid: You can use mermaid to score while using other abilities of places of power. Better then a novice would think.
* Vault: It's cheap, it's flexable, it can be aimed for small or big! Good with both gold and essence strategies.

===Which Artifacts are the Worst?===
* Bone/Fire/Water Dragon: Expensive, but easy to dodge. Better to discard for essences.
* Dancing Sword: Its collecting ability only pays at turn 4, and if your opponents see this, they won't play dragons and makes this useless.
* Elemental Spring: The cost is steep, and after 3 turns it is just 0. Most attacks can be prevented by an essence, so this is redundant.
* Hand of Glory: Your only gain is just 1 death, making it even in 4 turns. Only slightly better if the cost is mitigated.
* Windup Man: Worst card in the game. The cost is high, and it is slow to pay off. While you are waiting, the engine is dead and you have spent a bunch of essences for nothing.

==Which Mounments are the best?==
* Colossus: Worse than Solomon's Mine, as it gives 3 gold for 3 essence instead of 4 free gold.
* Golden Statue: If you don't have extra gold, it is useless. Otherwise, it is 4vp with a discount.
* Great Pyramid: Don't buy it on round 1. However, it is game-changing in later rounds.
* Hanging Gardens: The stronger the earlier bought. Excellent on round 1, but expensive on later rounds.
* Library: Better than Solomon's Mine in terms of flexibility. However, it takes more actions. Best to buy early.
* Mausoleum: Good with Places of Power that needs death. Also, it is a staller to prevent your opponent from getting your magic item.
* Obelisk: Good at anytime in the game. If early it can help you to buy a Place of Power. If late it can give essences to dump on them.
* Oracle: Fits well into a mounment strategy. Grab it early to provide more choices for the other 2-3 mounments you are going to buy.
* Solomon's Mine: On turn 1 it is a free point. Later it can let to buy more mounments instead of wasting your 3 gold, so buy it early.
* Temple: Decent if someone has a dragon, otherwise it is average.

==Which Places of Power are the best?==
* Alchemist Tower: It can be bought on turn 1, and although there is no turning abilities, it can be used for a turn 4 victory with good cards.
* Catatombs of the Dead: Overpowered. With Chalice of Fire (and Witch/Reanimate) you can get 2-4 points per turn, plus death from discards.
* Coral Castle: Purely 3 points. Fine, but without other places of power you cannot win.
* Cursed Forge: Unlike other cards, this partially hinders you. However, it can be defensive with Mermaid.
* Dragon's Lair: Also overpowered, although you need to discard all of your cards to play this. With reanimates you can buy tons of mounments.
* Dwarven Mines: It is 3 essences for 1 point once per turn. Or you can use the 3 gold ability to buy a mounment each turn. Plus it is cheap.
* Sacred Grove: Sounds useless but you can convert all calm to life then to gold with Philospher's Stone. That would be a massive blow!
* Sacrificial Pit: It's ok, but if you have a lot of creatures and dragons you can use the second power to gain gold. Good with Dragon Teeth.
* Sorcerer's Bestiary: It's tricky, as you need to have a lot of energy to steal dragons. Better to have a dragon strategy.
* Sunken Reef: The most effective point-gaining place of power. Plus it has unlimited use. Some people use this to get 10 points in round 4.

Tips resarcana

2021-03-06T22:09:41Z

Kriswh: /* Which Magic Items are the best? */

==Basic Strategy==

When you see your deck and check your mage, plan a path to victory. You may need to adjust your plans depending on whether an opponent takes a card you need. Example strategies:
* With a dragon somewhere in your deck, consider Dragon's Lair. You can buy Dragon's Lair the first turn with most mages if you choose one of the right magic items. Use the turn-for-two-gold to buy monuments as you can, until you get to your dragon and can afford it, and then it's two points per turn. A particularly nice combo (if your opponents don't block you) is to buy Alchemist's Tower in the first turn with the one gold you start with and the two gold you get from turning Dragon's Lair.
* With multiple dragons and some way to make dragons less expensive (either Dragon's Bridle or Dragon teeth), consider Sorcery's Bestiary.
* With black essence cards (or Necromancer and some life income) consider Catacombs of the Dead.
* With Dragon Teeth or Philosopher's Stone, build up a lot of one type of resource, convert to gold, and then buy monuments. Transmuter or prism can help here.

General principles:
* Don't put too many artifacts into play. Putting 4 or above is usually a bad idea. The game can end in four turns, so artifacts placed in turn three or four may not get enough use to justify their cost.
* Don't think the game is all about the essences. They are useless unless you can convert them into points.
* You should discard cards you don't need to get essences you want to play better cards.
* Get a place of power early--their powers can aid you to victory.
* Don't afraid to pass early if it can give you a magic item that you want.
* Dragons are not good ideas, but if it can break your opponents' plans, that will be hell to them! To counter, just keep some life, and in 4 player games you should expect at least 1 dragon. Dragons can also score with Dragon's Lair or Sorcerer's Bestiary.

==Which Magic Items are the best?==
* Alchemy: Not an effective exchange. Only use it when you really need that 2 gold, e.g. buying a mounment or place of power.
* Collecters (calm/elan, death/life): Good in first turn if you want to buy a place of power or a good artifact.
* Divination: Usually of no use, as you gain nothing. However, it can be useful to pull out a card in your deck that you want to play this turn (eg, you have a Horn of Plenty).
* Protection: Usually of no use as attacks and dragons are not common. But if you notice potential attacks that may break your plans, grab it.
* Reanimate: Very useful when you have a matching artifact or place of power. However everyone wants it, so get it before your opponents.
* Research: Basically, it is exchanging 1 essence for 2 essences or 1 gold. You can use it to dig for a card, but Divination is better for this. Or you can play it if necessary, therefore it is worth about 2 essences.
* Transmutation: Often of no use as the game provides lots of methods to exchange essences. However, if you have none of them, try this.

==Which Mages are the best?==
* Alchemist: First ability same as Alchemy, second worse than collecting. Hmm...
* Artificer: Not obvious, but the discount is useful. Especially when you need to play useful cards for combos.
* Druid: Quite powerless, but with Mermaid or Sacred Grove I may change this opinion. Worst of all mages I guess.
* Duelist: It is nearly 2 essences per turn if you have a death--known to be strong, as other mages mostly produce 1 essences per turn.
* Healer: Hard to win because no combos with other cards. But in 4-player games, it can save your game in some occations.
* Necromancer: Not the best, but good with Catacombs. Why? You can discard a card for 2 life and change to 3 death.
* Scholar: Same as Research, but Research is what everyone wants. Imagine you have access to one yourself.
* Seer: Seems useless, but with Dragon's Lair it's choose 1 from 5 mounments each time. Or you can search for that card you really want.
* Transmuter: Better than normal transmutation, because you gain an extra energy. But there are actually many methods to change essences...
* Witch: This is deadly! I have seen lots of people winning with witch's reanimate ability. Best with Catacombs of the Dead or Dragon's Lair.

==How about Artifacts?==
For a more detailed analysis, please head to https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2211614/card-card-review-all-artifacts-res-arcana.
===Which Artifacts are the Best?===
* Chalice of Fire: The collecting ability pays off in turn 4 even if you don't use it, and its reanimate is useful with many places of power.
* Chalice of Life: This strong essence generator feeds itself and doesn't need to be turned. Best with Sunken Reef.
* Corrupt Altar: Expensive, but you can play expensive cards, use it once then sarifice it. If you are tired, just sarifice the Altar itself.
* Crypt: You can discard a card then resurrect it with a discount. Crazy with a sacrifice card. Don't need it? Then get 2 death instead.
* Dragon Teeth: Feeds itself and discounts you on dragons. Although bad with places of power, it is best with Philospher's Stone to get gold.
* Horn of Plenty: Much above average. Pays itself off with 2 turns. Fits itself into any strategy. First pick in nearly all draft.
* Mermaid: You can use mermaid to score while using other abilities of places of power. Better then a novice would think.
* Vault: It's cheap, it's flexable, it can be aimed for small or big! Good with both gold and essence strategies.

===Which Artifacts are the Worst?===
* Bone/Fire/Water Dragon: Expensive, but easy to dodge. Better to discard for essences.
* Dancing Sword: Its collecting ability only pays at turn 4, and if your opponents see this, they won't play dragons and makes this useless.
* Elemental Spring: The cost is steep, and after 3 turns it is just 0. Most attacks can be prevented by an essence, so this is redundant.
* Hand of Glory: Your only gain is just 1 death, making it even in 4 turns. Only slightly better if the cost is mitigated.
* Windup Man: Worst card in the game. The cost is high, and it is slow to pay off. While you are waiting, the engine is dead and you have spent a bunch of essences for nothing.

==Which Mounments are the best?==
* Colossus: Worse than Solomon's Mine, as it gives 3 gold for 3 essence instead of 4 free gold.
* Golden Statue: If you don't have extra gold, it is useless. Otherwise, it is 4vp with a discount.
* Great Pyramid: Don't buy it on round 1. However, it is game-changing in later rounds.
* Hanging Gardens: The stronger the earlier bought. Excellent on round 1, but expensive on later rounds.
* Library: Better than Solomon's Mine in terms of flexibility. However, it takes more actions. Best to buy early.
* Mausoleum: Good with Places of Power that needs death. Also, it is a staller to prevent your opponent from getting your magic item.
* Obelisk: Good at anytime in the game. If early it can help you to buy a Place of Power. If late it can give essences to dump on them.
* Oracle: Fits well into a mounment strategy. Grab it early to provide more choices for the other 2-3 mounments you are going to buy.
* Solomon's Mine: On turn 1 it is a free point. Later it can let to buy more mounments instead of wasting your 3 gold, so buy it early.
* Temple: Decent if someone has a dragon, otherwise it is average.

==Which Places of Power are the best?==
* Alchemist Tower: It can be bought on turn 1, and although there is no turning abilities, it can be used for a turn 4 victory with good cards.
* Catatombs of the Dead: Overpowered. With Chalice of Fire (and Witch/Reanimate) you can get 2-4 points per turn, plus death from discards.
* Coral Castle: Purely 3 points. Fine, but without other places of power you cannot win.
* Cursed Forge: Unlike other cards, this partially hinders you. However, it can be defensive with Mermaid.
* Dragon's Lair: Also overpowered, although you need to discard all of your cards to play this. With reanimates you can buy tons of mounments.
* Dwarven Mines: It is 3 essences for 1 point once per turn. Or you can use the 3 gold ability to buy a mounment each turn. Plus it is cheap.
* Sacred Grove: Sounds useless but you can convert all calm to life then to gold with Philospher's Stone. That would be a massive blow!
* Sacrificial Pit: It's ok, but if you have a lot of creatures and dragons you can use the second power to gain gold. Good with Dragon Teeth.
* Sorcerer's Bestiary: It's tricky, as you need to have a lot of energy to steal dragons. Better to have a dragon strategy.
* Sunken Reef: The most effective point-gaining place of power. Plus it has unlimited use. Some people use this to get 10 points in round 4.

Tips resarcana

2021-03-06T22:07:28Z

Kriswh: /* Which Magic Items are the best? */

==Basic Strategy==

When you see your deck and check your mage, plan a path to victory. You may need to adjust your plans depending on whether an opponent takes a card you need. Example strategies:
* With a dragon somewhere in your deck, consider Dragon's Lair. You can buy Dragon's Lair the first turn with most mages if you choose one of the right magic items. Use the turn-for-two-gold to buy monuments as you can, until you get to your dragon and can afford it, and then it's two points per turn. A particularly nice combo (if your opponents don't block you) is to buy Alchemist's Tower in the first turn with the one gold you start with and the two gold you get from turning Dragon's Lair.
* With multiple dragons and some way to make dragons less expensive (either Dragon's Bridle or Dragon teeth), consider Sorcery's Bestiary.
* With black essence cards (or Necromancer and some life income) consider Catacombs of the Dead.
* With Dragon Teeth or Philosopher's Stone, build up a lot of one type of resource, convert to gold, and then buy monuments. Transmuter or prism can help here.

General principles:
* Don't put too many artifacts into play. Putting 4 or above is usually a bad idea. The game can end in four turns, so artifacts placed in turn three or four may not get enough use to justify their cost.
* Don't think the game is all about the essences. They are useless unless you can convert them into points.
* You should discard cards you don't need to get essences you want to play better cards.
* Get a place of power early--their powers can aid you to victory.
* Don't afraid to pass early if it can give you a magic item that you want.
* Dragons are not good ideas, but if it can break your opponents' plans, that will be hell to them! To counter, just keep some life, and in 4 player games you should expect at least 1 dragon. Dragons can also score with Dragon's Lair or Sorcerer's Bestiary.

==Which Magic Items are the best?==
* Alchemy: Not an effective exchange. Only use it when you really need that 2 gold, e.g. buying a mounment or place of power.
* Collecters (calm/elan, death/life): Good in first turn if you want to buy a place of power or a good artifact.
* Divination: Usually of no use, as you gain nothing. However, you can use it to cycle out useless cards with cards you want.
* Protection: Usually of no use as attacks and dragons are not common. But if you notice potential attacks that may break your plans, grab it.
* Reanimate: Very useful when you have a matching artifact or place of power. However everyone wants it, so get it before your opponents.
* Research: Basically, it is exchanging 1 essence for 2 essences or 1 gold. You can use it to dig for a card, but Divination is better for this. Or you can play it if necessary, therefore it is worth about 2 essences.
* Transmutation: Often of no use as the game provides lots of methods to exchange essences. However, if you have none of them, try this.

==Which Mages are the best?==
* Alchemist: First ability same as Alchemy, second worse than collecting. Hmm...
* Artificer: Not obvious, but the discount is useful. Especially when you need to play useful cards for combos.
* Druid: Quite powerless, but with Mermaid or Sacred Grove I may change this opinion. Worst of all mages I guess.
* Duelist: It is nearly 2 essences per turn if you have a death--known to be strong, as other mages mostly produce 1 essences per turn.
* Healer: Hard to win because no combos with other cards. But in 4-player games, it can save your game in some occations.
* Necromancer: Not the best, but good with Catacombs. Why? You can discard a card for 2 life and change to 3 death.
* Scholar: Same as Research, but Research is what everyone wants. Imagine you have access to one yourself.
* Seer: Seems useless, but with Dragon's Lair it's choose 1 from 5 mounments each time. Or you can search for that card you really want.
* Transmuter: Better than normal transmutation, because you gain an extra energy. But there are actually many methods to change essences...
* Witch: This is deadly! I have seen lots of people winning with witch's reanimate ability. Best with Catacombs of the Dead or Dragon's Lair.

==How about Artifacts?==
For a more detailed analysis, please head to https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2211614/card-card-review-all-artifacts-res-arcana.
===Which Artifacts are the Best?===
* Chalice of Fire: The collecting ability pays off in turn 4 even if you don't use it, and its reanimate is useful with many places of power.
* Chalice of Life: This strong essence generator feeds itself and doesn't need to be turned. Best with Sunken Reef.
* Corrupt Altar: Expensive, but you can play expensive cards, use it once then sarifice it. If you are tired, just sarifice the Altar itself.
* Crypt: You can discard a card then resurrect it with a discount. Crazy with a sacrifice card. Don't need it? Then get 2 death instead.
* Dragon Teeth: Feeds itself and discounts you on dragons. Although bad with places of power, it is best with Philospher's Stone to get gold.
* Horn of Plenty: Much above average. Pays itself off with 2 turns. Fits itself into any strategy. First pick in nearly all draft.
* Mermaid: You can use mermaid to score while using other abilities of places of power. Better then a novice would think.
* Vault: It's cheap, it's flexable, it can be aimed for small or big! Good with both gold and essence strategies.

===Which Artifacts are the Worst?===
* Bone/Fire/Water Dragon: Expensive, but easy to dodge. Better to discard for essences.
* Dancing Sword: Its collecting ability only pays at turn 4, and if your opponents see this, they won't play dragons and makes this useless.
* Elemental Spring: The cost is steep, and after 3 turns it is just 0. Most attacks can be prevented by an essence, so this is redundant.
* Hand of Glory: Your only gain is just 1 death, making it even in 4 turns. Only slightly better if the cost is mitigated.
* Windup Man: Worst card in the game. The cost is high, and it is slow to pay off. While you are waiting, the engine is dead and you have spent a bunch of essences for nothing.

==Which Mounments are the best?==
* Colossus: Worse than Solomon's Mine, as it gives 3 gold for 3 essence instead of 4 free gold.
* Golden Statue: If you don't have extra gold, it is useless. Otherwise, it is 4vp with a discount.
* Great Pyramid: Don't buy it on round 1. However, it is game-changing in later rounds.
* Hanging Gardens: The stronger the earlier bought. Excellent on round 1, but expensive on later rounds.
* Library: Better than Solomon's Mine in terms of flexibility. However, it takes more actions. Best to buy early.
* Mausoleum: Good with Places of Power that needs death. Also, it is a staller to prevent your opponent from getting your magic item.
* Obelisk: Good at anytime in the game. If early it can help you to buy a Place of Power. If late it can give essences to dump on them.
* Oracle: Fits well into a mounment strategy. Grab it early to provide more choices for the other 2-3 mounments you are going to buy.
* Solomon's Mine: On turn 1 it is a free point. Later it can let to buy more mounments instead of wasting your 3 gold, so buy it early.
* Temple: Decent if someone has a dragon, otherwise it is average.

==Which Places of Power are the best?==
* Alchemist Tower: It can be bought on turn 1, and although there is no turning abilities, it can be used for a turn 4 victory with good cards.
* Catatombs of the Dead: Overpowered. With Chalice of Fire (and Witch/Reanimate) you can get 2-4 points per turn, plus death from discards.
* Coral Castle: Purely 3 points. Fine, but without other places of power you cannot win.
* Cursed Forge: Unlike other cards, this partially hinders you. However, it can be defensive with Mermaid.
* Dragon's Lair: Also overpowered, although you need to discard all of your cards to play this. With reanimates you can buy tons of mounments.
* Dwarven Mines: It is 3 essences for 1 point once per turn. Or you can use the 3 gold ability to buy a mounment each turn. Plus it is cheap.
* Sacred Grove: Sounds useless but you can convert all calm to life then to gold with Philospher's Stone. That would be a massive blow!
* Sacrificial Pit: It's ok, but if you have a lot of creatures and dragons you can use the second power to gain gold. Good with Dragon Teeth.
* Sorcerer's Bestiary: It's tricky, as you need to have a lot of energy to steal dragons. Better to have a dragon strategy.
* Sunken Reef: The most effective point-gaining place of power. Plus it has unlimited use. Some people use this to get 10 points in round 4.

Tips resarcana

2021-03-06T21:32:50Z

Kriswh: /* Basic Strategy */

==Basic Strategy==

When you see your deck and check your mage, plan a path to victory. You may need to adjust your plans depending on whether an opponent takes a card you need. Example strategies:
* With a dragon somewhere in your deck, consider Dragon's Lair. You can buy Dragon's Lair the first turn with most mages if you choose one of the right magic items. Use the turn-for-two-gold to buy monuments as you can, until you get to your dragon and can afford it, and then it's two points per turn. A particularly nice combo (if your opponents don't block you) is to buy Alchemist's Tower in the first turn with the one gold you start with and the two gold you get from turning Dragon's Lair.
* With multiple dragons and some way to make dragons less expensive (either Dragon's Bridle or Dragon teeth), consider Sorcery's Bestiary.
* With black essence cards (or Necromancer and some life income) consider Catacombs of the Dead.
* With Dragon Teeth or Philosopher's Stone, build up a lot of one type of resource, convert to gold, and then buy monuments. Transmuter or prism can help here.

General principles:
* Don't put too many artifacts into play. Putting 4 or above is usually a bad idea. The game can end in four turns, so artifacts placed in turn three or four may not get enough use to justify their cost.
* Don't think the game is all about the essences. They are useless unless you can convert them into points.
* You should discard cards you don't need to get essences you want to play better cards.
* Get a place of power early--their powers can aid you to victory.
* Don't afraid to pass early if it can give you a magic item that you want.
* Dragons are not good ideas, but if it can break your opponents' plans, that will be hell to them! To counter, just keep some life, and in 4 player games you should expect at least 1 dragon. Dragons can also score with Dragon's Lair or Sorcerer's Bestiary.

==Which Magic Items are the best?==
* Alchemy: Not an effective exchange. Only use it when you really need that 2 gold, e.g. buying a mounment or place of power.
* Collecters (calm/elan, death/life): Good in first turn if you want to buy a place of power or a good artifact.
* Divination: Usually of no use, as you gain nothing. However, you can use it to cycle out useless cards with cards you want.
* Protection: Usually of no use as attacks and dragons are not common. But if you notice potential attacks that may break your plans, grab it.
* Reanimate: Very useful when you have a matching artifact or place of power. However everyone wants it, so get it before your opponents.
* Research: Basically, it is exchanging 1 essence for 2 essences or 1 gold. You can use it to dig for a card, but Divination is better for this. Or you can play it if necessary, therefore it is worth about 2 essences.
* Transmutation: Offen of no use as the game provides lots of methods to exchange essences. However, if you have none of them, try this.

==Which Mages are the best?==
* Alchemist: First ability same as Alchemy, second worse than collecting. Hmm...
* Artificer: Not obvious, but the discount is useful. Especially when you need to play useful cards for combos.
* Druid: Quite powerless, but with Mermaid or Sacred Grove I may change this opinion. Worst of all mages I guess.
* Duelist: It is nearly 2 essences per turn if you have a death--known to be strong, as other mages mostly produce 1 essences per turn.
* Healer: Hard to win because no combos with other cards. But in 4-player games, it can save your game in some occations.
* Necromancer: Not the best, but good with Catacombs. Why? You can discard a card for 2 life and change to 3 death.
* Scholar: Same as Research, but Research is what everyone wants. Imagine you have access to one yourself.
* Seer: Seems useless, but with Dragon's Lair it's choose 1 from 5 mounments each time. Or you can search for that card you really want.
* Transmuter: Better than normal transmutation, because you gain an extra energy. But there are actually many methods to change essences...
* Witch: This is deadly! I have seen lots of people winning with witch's reanimate ability. Best with Catacombs of the Dead or Dragon's Lair.

==How about Artifacts?==
For a more detailed analysis, please head to https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2211614/card-card-review-all-artifacts-res-arcana.
===Which Artifacts are the Best?===
* Chalice of Fire: The collecting ability pays off in turn 4 even if you don't use it, and its reanimate is useful with many places of power.
* Chalice of Life: This strong essence generator feeds itself and doesn't need to be turned. Best with Sunken Reef.
* Corrupt Altar: Expensive, but you can play expensive cards, use it once then sarifice it. If you are tired, just sarifice the Altar itself.
* Crypt: You can discard a card then resurrect it with a discount. Crazy with a sacrifice card. Don't need it? Then get 2 death instead.
* Dragon Teeth: Feeds itself and discounts you on dragons. Although bad with places of power, it is best with Philospher's Stone to get gold.
* Horn of Plenty: Much above average. Pays itself off with 2 turns. Fits itself into any strategy. First pick in nearly all draft.
* Mermaid: You can use mermaid to score while using other abilities of places of power. Better then a novice would think.
* Vault: It's cheap, it's flexable, it can be aimed for small or big! Good with both gold and essence strategies.

===Which Artifacts are the Worst?===
* Bone/Fire/Water Dragon: Expensive, but easy to dodge. Better to discard for essences.
* Dancing Sword: Its collecting ability only pays at turn 4, and if your opponents see this, they won't play dragons and makes this useless.
* Elemental Spring: The cost is steep, and after 3 turns it is just 0. Most attacks can be prevented by an essence, so this is redundant.
* Hand of Glory: Your only gain is just 1 death, making it even in 4 turns. Only slightly better if the cost is mitigated.
* Windup Man: Worst card in the game. The cost is high, and it is slow to pay off. While you are waiting, the engine is dead and you have spent a bunch of essences for nothing.

==Which Mounments are the best?==
* Colossus: Worse than Solomon's Mine, as it gives 3 gold for 3 essence instead of 4 free gold.
* Golden Statue: If you don't have extra gold, it is useless. Otherwise, it is 4vp with a discount.
* Great Pyramid: Don't buy it on round 1. However, it is game-changing in later rounds.
* Hanging Gardens: The stronger the earlier bought. Excellent on round 1, but expensive on later rounds.
* Library: Better than Solomon's Mine in terms of flexibility. However, it takes more actions. Best to buy early.
* Mausoleum: Good with Places of Power that needs death. Also, it is a staller to prevent your opponent from getting your magic item.
* Obelisk: Good at anytime in the game. If early it can help you to buy a Place of Power. If late it can give essences to dump on them.
* Oracle: Fits well into a mounment strategy. Grab it early to provide more choices for the other 2-3 mounments you are going to buy.
* Solomon's Mine: On turn 1 it is a free point. Later it can let to buy more mounments instead of wasting your 3 gold, so buy it early.
* Temple: Decent if someone has a dragon, otherwise it is average.

==Which Places of Power are the best?==
* Alchemist Tower: It can be bought on turn 1, and although there is no turning abilities, it can be used for a turn 4 victory with good cards.
* Catatombs of the Dead: Overpowered. With Chalice of Fire (and Witch/Reanimate) you can get 2-4 points per turn, plus death from discards.
* Coral Castle: Purely 3 points. Fine, but without other places of power you cannot win.
* Cursed Forge: Unlike other cards, this partially hinders you. However, it can be defensive with Mermaid.
* Dragon's Lair: Also overpowered, although you need to discard all of your cards to play this. With reanimates you can buy tons of mounments.
* Dwarven Mines: It is 3 essences for 1 point once per turn. Or you can use the 3 gold ability to buy a mounment each turn. Plus it is cheap.
* Sacred Grove: Sounds useless but you can convert all calm to life then to gold with Philospher's Stone. That would be a massive blow!
* Sacrificial Pit: It's ok, but if you have a lot of creatures and dragons you can use the second power to gain gold. Good with Dragon Teeth.
* Sorcerer's Bestiary: It's tricky, as you need to have a lot of energy to steal dragons. Better to have a dragon strategy.
* Sunken Reef: The most effective point-gaining place of power. Plus it has unlimited use. Some people use this to get 10 points in round 4.