Early game is so crucial for the Cult and Unseen. If you get occupied or attempt to kill someone who is night immune, your days are numbered. This is especially tough for Masterminds and Cult leaders. I understand that BD needed a chance, but these advantages feel lopsided. If you are unlucky with kills/etc. then you have to rely on the BD to implode, become an excellent liar (which is fine), or a neutral killer to clean house.
Let’s take a look at the non-convertible classes:
- Prince (understandable)
- Priest
- King (understandable)
- Alchemist
- Neutral Killer (Possessor/Reaper)
- Fool and Scorned
Now the alchemist/fool/scorned can play to your advantage but you have to rely on their individual skill and luck to make it work in your favor. There is no guarantee they’ll be alive in the early game. That’s a total of eight non-convertible players. Most games you’ll see at least two alchemists and every other game a neutral killer.
So, to in order to get a jump on the early game, you have to make good guesses which is too RNG reliant. I understand that a lot of people can die night one, including the Prince… but if you can’t get a conversion by day three or four, you will be at a huge disadvantage for the remainder. So you have to rely on having an Evil King based on the outcome of the late game.
Here was my last Mastermind game:
Night One: 9 immune to conversion.
Night Two: Jailed.
Night Three: One conversion.
Day Four: Prince is revived and accuses you of treason on a sheer hunch/or the dead provide him with information. You die, so no more conversions - assassins are heavily outnumbered.
So at this point the Evil King (which is unknown) has to put in the work and hope that Alchemist can stay alive to heal him. The problem is, most people are still new and are more than happy to execute the King. And neutral killers are more than happy to attack the King at night.
Here is my solution: Priest should be convertible. Give him one night immunity for death/conversion. After that, he can be converted. My games used to be favored for the Unseen/Cult, but now the Blue Dragon are winning far more games than the Unseen/Cult were.
I will admit however, Cult does seem to have a slight advantage because you can always have a Cult Leader. But having one physician and up to two alchemists means that abilities such as Rupture aren’t very strong.
tl;dr: Cult/Unseen are heavily RNG dependent in the early game. I would suggest having the priest immune to death/conversion one night. There are too many non-convertible players which puts them at a disadvantage. If the Cult/Unseen fails at conversion by the third or fourth day (if you aren’t dead/jailed), your chances of success dramatically decreases.
