The Apprentice

Vitality: 5

Courage: 6

Key Mechanics:

Ongoing Effects

Starting Gear:

Fireplace Poker – A makeshift melee weapon that increases effectiveness of attacks, and reduces threat on successful fate dice.

Pot Lid – For some reason the pot lid is no longer a defensive item, instead giving the same bonus as the fireplace poker.  (It used to increase enemy target numbers in development versions of the game.)

Strategy Guide

Maneuverability: Weak (3 cards)

One sprint and one hustle card is the least of any hero.  However, blink is better than either a hustle or sprint since it doesn’t count as movement.  It’s just too bad the apprentice doesn’t get two of them.

Defense: Weak (2 cards)

Sphere of Deflection is a nice ongoing party buff when dealing with ranged foes, but aura of the elements is the card that is key to keeping the sorcerer alive.  Keeping that spell up increases survivability by a lot.

Attack (Single Target): Strong (7 cards)

When it comes to attacking single targets, the apprentice is the best at what he does.  4 of 7 spells do more than one damage, 3 have a range of 4, and 1 has a range of 2.  The only downside is only 2 of the attacks are reactions, so the acolyte is likely to only get one attack per hero phase.

Attack (Multiple Targets): Very Strong (5 Cards)

All 5 attacks have a range of 3.  Mountain crumbles isn’t a great area attack since it can only hit 2 targets, but Blood of Gaia is very strong and Fingers of Ia is among the strongest attacks in the game.

Utility: Strong (8 cards)

The apprentice has a number of utility spells, mostly buffs.  However, the thing that really makes a number of them strong is that they are ongoing effects, allowing long term buffs to the party or to individuals.

Special: None

Advancement

Fingers of Ia – Picking up a second copy of one of the strongest attacks in the game is a no brainer.

Riftwalk – Adding an extra movement card that doesn’t count as movement and can be used as an interrupt helps to fill in for one of the apprentice’s biggest weak points.

Fragment of Fate – The ability to store an ongoing effect is a big advantage for the apprentice, not to mention the bonus attack dice from the item.