Either Druids or Rogues, as can clearly be seen above, may use the Boots; to date, however, there’s only one Druid card that cares about this ability, and that’s Cat Form. Adding this ability to Cat Form is certainly relevant. In a meta where Ice Block is seeing play, Cat Form is a hugely important force for any team with a Druid on board. The ability on Boots of Utter Darkness makes the stealthed attacks of any character far easier to set up, and while you still need to get in close to get into stealth and block the react of Ice Block (or Ice Barrier, or Dodge, or Intervene, etc.), the ability to be adjacent to up to one enemy character creates a much greater opportunity to get the stealthed attack. Usually you should be able to set up such that you are already adjacent to your target at the start of your next tick. That’s clearly the optimal place to be, as then you can run away or set up another target, or failing that, set up such that they can’t shift a figure to turn off your impending stealthing.

Other than increasing one’s answers to defensive reacts by making stealth easier to maintain, the Boots of Utter Darkness also offer another obviously important benefit: a more consistent +1 attack. Most Rogue attacks are such that the +1 attack makes them highly efficient and powerful. Typically, Rogue attacks are a low cost for a low damage output, and the bonus from stealth is the real difference between a mediocre figure that’s good for hunting clothies and a caster-eating machine that can go a few rounds with the big armor boys if needed.

The net effect of the Boots on a match is to sharply increase the percentage of the time that your attack is a value instead of just fine. I know several people who brag about their ability to be stealthed whenever they need to be. I’ve always been a bit skeptical of these claims, but these Boots certainly make it much more plausible.

There are two other Rogues who seem to benefit greatly from the Boots: Nathressa Darkstrider and Zomm Hopeslayer. While 9 points for Zomm certainly sounds pretty steep, he suffers the least penalty from having equipment added to his Action Bar due to his ability to play three cards. Nathressa benefits from the Boots because they are at least a step towards fixing the Night Elf’s big problem: getting the latter half of your needed victory total. Nathressa bands have always been able to grab 12 VP or so with ease . . .but then they die and have to walk across the board to get back to the fight. It’s pretty rough, but the Boots do help. By increasing how often Nathressa is rolling 6 dice, the Boots help you get kills faster, which helps you stay around the opposing spawn point longer before dying, hopefully netting you more points before the long trek back. Once you are fighting for the later victory points, the Boots help you push the extra damage to get the win. Zomm and Nathressa’s movement crits also help you stay out of range of more than one of your opponent’s characters at a time, increasing how often the Boots’ bonus helps.

Swinging 5 dice every turn with Zomms versus opponents ticked out by Saps or you Earth Shocking their abilities seems really funny, even if the honor cost is hilariously high.