Pack Analysis: The Nightmare Pack

Pack Name:                      Nightmare Pack
Pack Type:                       Gear
Number of Cards:             7
Total Number of Items:     215
Cost:                                299 Crowns
Availability:                      Currently in Crowns Shop during Halloween

Description

Make no mistake, this is a big pack!  There is a huge variety of items available from this pack and some of the most diverse gear out of all the packs.  It is a heavily themed pack and the gear is designed to change the look of your character dramatically.

Pets - 20

Out of these 20 pets, there are at least 7 that are worth getting, and 3 that are worthy of special mention.  Of the 7, I'll run through the things that I like about them:

1. Nightmare:  This little horse with the fiery mane has a great attribute that is often sought after by Wizards that like to hunt as a pack.  At teen, this 1st Generation Pet will always get May Cast Unicorn.  A very good bonus for people starting on the Pet journey.

2. Death Treant:  This big guy has some really good stats (240, 215, 225, 240, 200) at 1st Generation. With good talents available and a handy card for a Life Wiz, this is a nice starter pet.

3. Gob-O-Lantern:  Wow, this is one strange looking pet.  No wonder it is in the Nightmare pack, this Pet is a thing you would see in your Nightmares.  Looking like a pumpkin with arms and legs, this greedy little sucker is constantly focused on keeping himself looking round!

4. Ianthine Spectre: Great stats for a 1st Generation Pet starting with (190, 250, 200, 240, 250).  This pet also looks great, although apparently it is quite hard to receive as a drop.

5. Ghost Dragon:  This is not to be confused with the Penumbra Drake, although they do look very similar to each other.  This little guy has awesome 1st Generation stats of (250, 225, 250, 240, 250). He is very handy drop for anyone trying to breed up the stats of their preferred Pet.

6. Red Ghost:  This is a really special drop if you are a Death Wiz.  With the Death bubble, Doom-and-Gloom being a great asset, if Death want to have that extra attack boost, it simply doesn't exist - unless you have the Red Ghost.  With the Red Ghost, you get a Red Ghost card to play.  When you play it, it will raise a bubble (that has no name - at least, not that I am aware of).  The bubble looks like Doom-and-Gloom, but actually it adds 25% to Death damage.  Very nice.

7. Penumbra Drake:  This is another great pet for death...if not the best pet for death. It starts with the same stats as the Ghost Dragon, and it keeps getting better.  It starts with Death Trap at Baby, then a special Death Scarab, when used, leaves behind a different type of Death Trap, and finally, at Epic, the Red Ghost.  Casting the Red Ghost, the Scarab and then the Trap gives some impressive boost to your next Death spell!  And yes, Miss Callie is a Penumbra Drake.

Other than these guys, the other pets are pretty typical, and as I always say, you can hatch to get a pet, do you need to buy a Pack?

Mounts - 9 Permanent, 5 Temporary

Of the Permanent mounts, my personal favourites are the "Bat Wings" and the "Shadowsteed". These mounts are consistent with Morgrim and I do enjoy floating around the Spiral on my Bat Wings. Many of the others are either broomsticks or flying horses that don't really appeal to me.

I don't have the Shadowsteed yet, and will be buying a few more packs this Halloween in order to try to get one!!

The Temporary mounts are mostly broomsticks with the Bat Wings and Black Stallion thrown into the mix, just to mix it up a bit.

Snacks - 37

There are a lot of snacks in this pack, and as you would expect, most are pretty low level.  Nonetheless, there are 8 decent snacks with 3 rank 7 and 5 rank 8 snacks.  These are a nice little pickup if you are not an avid gardener...

Treasure Cards - 46

Yep, there are 46 TCs in this pack.  You'd find almost all of these in the Bazaar.  Lord Nightshade rates a special mention though, as he exists as both an attack spell and a minion, depending on which TC you happen to draw.

Seeds - 4

There are only 4 seeds in this pack, and it includes that nightmare of a seed, the Deadly Ninja Fig.  It might have a chance of dropping Amber at Elder, but it takes so long and the % of drops seems so low, I would never plant it.  As for the other 3, the pick of the pack would have to be the DHE or Deadly Helephant Ears, as it will drop a mega-snack at it final Elder harvest.  The other two though are not great, with Dead Beets and the Deadly Fly Trap rounding out the 4 seeds included.

Reagents 13

Ok, yes, there are 13 reagents in this pack, but they are certainly not that rare.  If that is what you are going for, I guess it might be a fun lucky-dip, but I like to spend my Crowns in other places.  For me, this is not a driver in any way.

Clothing

The gear is this pack is split into two types, the Darkwraith clothing and the Dragon clothing.  There are 4 different Darkwraith sets, and 3 different Dragon sets.

The Darkwraith sets match the Wands of the same set name: Atonement, Compelling, Penance and Umbral.

The Compelling and Penance gear are both very similar from a stats perspective, and both very balanced in terms of attack and defense, with attack slightly higher.  The best combination for attack would be the Compelling Hat and Boots with the Penance Robes.

Between the Umbral and the Atonement gear, again, it is quite similar with the additional critical coming with the Atonement Robe.

The Darkwraith gear is solid gear to get.  It does give some well rounded stats, and while I wouldn't wear all of the items, it can be worthwhile to mix it in with some of your regular gear.

The Hats also have a great spooky look, and I know a number of Wizards who have come to adopt that look as their regular look all year around.

Then there is the Dragon gear.  This is very different!  In these sets, there is the Dragon's Eye, Dragontooth and Dragonbone gear.

Dragon's Eye: The Hat come with big Critical for Life and a solid Life Spell, while the Plate does the same for Myth.  Finally, the Boots follow up with Death Critical and card.

Dragonbone: Here, the Hat has a universal Critical and nice pierce, the Robes have a moderate Critical and a nice Damage bonus, and the Boots Critical Block is OK, also supported by a pierce.

DragonTooth:  This is the Elemental set, with the Hat coming with a solid Fire Critical, the Robes with a nice Storm Critical and OK universal Resist, with the Boots carrying an Ice Critical.

Again, as with the Darkwraith gear, depending on your current setup, these items are probably best used to integrate with, not replace, your existing gear.

Wands - 4

There are 4 different wands you get can with this pack and each are just subtly different.  They are all Scythes, so the look between the weapons is really just a factor of colour.

In a similar way to the armour, The Scythe of Penance and the Compelling Scythe are both pretty balanced with similar levels of Critical and Critical Block.

The Umbral Scythe is more a defensive weapon with a significant emphasis on Critical Block and just a token Critical, while the Atonement Scythe has forgotten all about Blocking and just gone in hard on the Critical and thrown in Piercing.  That said, the Critical on this weapon is much less than a lot of Critical Wands around in the game today.

Housing Items - 48

There are quite a number of Housing Items available in this pack.  Most of them you can get in the Bazaar, but definitely not all.  In fact, if you know anything about Gardening, the Bubbling Cauldron can make this drop worthwhile.  There are a couple of other fun items, like the Pilloried Skeleton and the different Doodle Stands if you are into that kind of thing.

All in all, the Housing Items are fun, but after you have purchased a few packs, they can get a little repetitive.

Specials - 8

In this pack, there is something a little different.  Themed Gear with zero stats, able to be worn by anyone.  There is 1 Robe, 1 Hat, 2 Masks (that count as Hats), 1 set of Boots, 2 Wands and 1 Mount.

This is the fun of the pack, and I do like the Robe, quite a lot.  These items just get your character in the Halloween mood.  The looks is quite good and I am guessing a real driver for some people to purchase this Pack.

Morgrim's Verdict

So, where did we end up with this one?  It is hard to say I guess.  There isn't really a compelling reason to buy this pack, but...this one is a lot of fun, and although it is aging a little, I am guessing it would be a pretty good seller for Wizards of all ranks and ages, just to get into the Halloween spirit.

Low Level Wizards

There is some nice gear in here for low level Wizards and some of the Snacks and Housing items are worthwhile as a new Wizard will not have seen too much of this kind of thing.  I'd say, get one or two and see how you go.

High Level Wizard

This is a much harder call.  I think you need to review the specific thing that you are looking for.  If there is something specific (for me, it is the Shadowsteed mount), then buy until you get that item, otherwise, probably give this one a miss.

Let me know if you agree with my Verdict!

See you 'round the Spiral.

Morgrim