Thorny defender needs some TLC

So, this week's Share your Battle challenge is about this guy...

The Enchanted Defender!

I confess, I don't use it that often. He does have some attributes that can be quite useful in some rulesets; but for most of the battles, he's rather squishy. A lot of armor, but...

• Very slow, only reaches 2 speed, and that only from level 6
• Only 1 health!

The problem with the one health, is that any magical attack will kill it; and the low speed will likely make him one of the last monsters to attack.

Nevertheless, some of his weaknesses can be advantages in some rulesets and situations:

• in reverse speed, he'll be one of the first strikers
• the 1 health is a perfect bait for opportunity monsters, and the thorns ability will probably take out some of the more weak opportunity monsters. That ability also makes him a good choice for a back row in a low mana game.
• In a no magic ruleset, his armor will give him a very decent survivability.

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This battle was a good example where his skills can be put to good use:

Rulesets:

• Reverse speed, slow monsters strike first
• Melee monsters only

And on top of it, low mana cap, only 13: perfect conditions for the defender!
My strategy:

• Defender as a tank: fast strike given the ruleset; thorns
• Manticore as a support, with the reach ability; also thorns
• Flame monkey: with the repair ability, ang given the high armor of the defender, it would function as a tank healer!
• chicken on the back to burn some time in case of sneak attacks.

I wasn't expecting to see Zaku in a low mana game; that blast ability could turn the tides, but luck was on my side on this game:

Cerberus got the damage from the defender, and was attacked by the manticore; and with only 2 HP left... he retaliated! Manticore's thorns did the rest.

Thanks to the blast ability, the kobold miner took out both my back row monsters, so no repair ability triggered. But the opponent's chicken didn't last much either, thanks to thorns again.

And from there, with only the kobold left and both defender and manticore with enough HP, it was a win! You can see the whole battle here!

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Another season begins today, let's see how I fare. See you on the battlefield! 😉

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