My Rant about All the Alternate Heroes

Since I’ve been using the randomizer, I’ve been seeing a lot more alternate heroes of late (I get 5-ish games in a week, unless we count the app, in which case it’s more like 20, but as I’m off this week and it’s freaking unreal freezing, I’ve gotten a bit out of hand).  Since I like rambling, here’s my thoughts on alternate heroes.

Absolute Zero vs. Freedom Six Absolute Zero – Freedom Six is just flat out easier to play and far, far less prone to Equipment destruction making him useless for an extra three turns.  I like core A/Z, I really do, but unless the team has extra support like Argent, PW Fanatic, or Visionary, OR the boss has zero by way of destruction (think Voss or Apostate), then I’ll take the F6 version. Almost everything still works great with the F6 version. You lose the huge strike of Thermal Shockwave without being really careful, but smart uses of the modules keep you healthy with far more consistent damage output.  I hate games where I feel useless more than I love games where I roll everyone, so F6 is for me.

The Argent Adept vs. Kvothe vs. Prime Wardens Argent – Kvothe first, as he’s easiest.  He sets up relatively fast, but you’ll have a few turns of nothing waiting.  He’s particularly good at tossing annoying cards off the top of an opponent’s deck, like Gloomweaver, for example.  He also has like, no hit points, and so sits in the box quite often.  The regular Argent is great at a fast set up where he’s using powers right away, but his big combos take quite a lot of time. I tend to like the accompany effects better, and, as such, the extra card play from the Prime Wardens version really works best.  With Arcane Cadence, the extra play isn’t even random, meaning a discard of 1 is that card’s only downside.  If you can find two or three… I’ve gotten Argent strumming out long combos by turn 3.  Going through the whole deck is no problem either, and Eternal Sonata/Instrumental Conuration even allows for liberal use of Cedistic Disonant.  Sure, the normal Argent has the same ability, it just takes longer and I want to be kicking butt sooner than later.

Bunker vs. Freedom Six Bunker vs. GI Bunker – I really like all three here and a lot depends on the opponent.  Against Citizen Dawn and her million obnoxious ongoings, F6 is fantastic.  Against Voss with a huge amount of reducing minions, GI makes for a cake walk.  Regular Bunker really seems to lag, given these two cases, but he really doesn’t, at least on normal mode.  Bunker can often find himself with a few good cards, but no great power to use.  Initialize lets Bunker use a one shot or get set up and still double draw.  That is quite good, again, for normal mode.  In Advanced, everyone I can think of has either ongoings or DR, so pick based on that, but be wary of a slow early game if either can’t use powers right away.

Captain Cosmic vs. Prime Wardens Captain Cosmic – I don’t get the PW version at all.  Some promos, we’ll see more later, just aren’t great. PW CC is one, as it only has any use against villains that hit a LOT of targets. If not, I’d really rather have the extra play of the normal version.

Expatriette vs. Dark Watch Expatriette  - I don’t know that I ever use the core version over the Dark Watch.  Neither has an at all useful base power, but Hairtrigger Reflexes gives DW Expat potentially something to do besides draw a bunch and can be useful on an Unload turn over a weaker gun.

 Fanatic vs. Redeemer Fanatic vs. Prime Wardens Fanatic– Core Fanatic is incredible with anyone who can boost damage.  Give her Legacy, Visionary or the Argent and few are better.  Redeemer Fanatic works in a very different way and plays like a totally different hero.  The 1 heal is nice and the draw is great, but we didn’t love it on Bunker, so what makes it so great here?  Fanatic has a few uber power cards that this gives her a greater chance to see and use.  In most matches, I’ll still take core Fanatic, but if damage reduction is going to be a huge problem without buffs or I know I’ll need answer and power cards, Redeemer is a nice option.  PW Fanatic is a different beast entirely and takes Fanatic to the top of the power charts.  For 3 hp, some of which she inevitably heals, you get a free card and to give away a free power?  Yes please. Taking advantage of that free power with Argent, Tempest, Guise, and so on is absurd.  The only downside?  Make sure to pack extra ongoing hate just in case you get an accidental End of Days.  Still, if it comes early, it won’t eat too much, and before long, Absolution will be a power of choice anyway.  I love this version.

Haka vs. The Eternal Haka vs. Prime Wardens Haka – Let’s tackle the PW version first – it’s probably objectively the worst, but with the Scholar or his PW mates (thanks to Haka of Shielding or Restoration), he tends to work out just fine, and 35 hit points makes him a house.  The Eternal Haka doesn’t care about using the very cards that the PW one loves.  Restoration and Shielding are card draw.  This is big hit Haka, as he draws and draws until he sees a power, then draws some more, probably for one humongous Haka of Battle.  That’s great for Iron Legacy, but generally not ideal.  At the end of the day, core Haka, with his early damage and resiliency is probably the best.  The other two just have key teams and situations where they may dominate.

KNYFE vs. Rogue Agent KNYFE – When Rogue Agent KNYFE works, she’s just bonkers.  The problem is, though, you need to find the right powers that don’t just destroy themselves relatively quickly.  Fast set ups or not, that isn’t guaranteed.  The normal KNYFE has far superior damage thanks to her base power, even if draw is a hindrance.  I’d rather skip a turn for draw than sit on a dead set up and be unable to use powers.  The latter happens far too often for the RA.  Either way though, this is a lower tier hero.

Legacy vs. Young Legacy vs. America’s Greatest Legacy – Legacy is the answer to an awful lot of problems.  Got a damage reduction issue?  Grab Legacy.  Need a tank?  Grab Legacy.  Opponent Is going to play a nasty card and you need time to set up?  Legacy.  Opponent with one main type of damage?  Legacy will own that.  The issue is, though, any Legacy can handle all of that but the damage reduction.  The bigger the team, the better core Legacy.  Young Legacy fills a very different niche. She’s all about damage and, as such, I tend to play her accordingly.  She can do the Legacy stuff, but tends to just punch stuff or laser eye it instead.  I’m a fan, but she’s not as good as core Legacy.  AG Legacy?  That’s another story.  If a team is set up well, AG Legacy will allow it to sing with a ton of healing and extra power uses.  Add in the Scholar, Nightmist, Argent, Tachyon or any of the other top level heroes and it gets absurd.  That said, if the game is semi-randomized then core Legacy is more likely to do more, while if you’re constructing a team, AG kicks butt.

Mr. Fixer vs. Dark Watch Mr. Fixer – I love DW Fixer.  For whatever reason, I’ve never had a real problem keeping him going, and as such, his abilities, even working like one shots, have kicked all sorts of villain butt.  That said, Mr. Fixer is a scalpel.  He systematically removes issues all game long.  The only problem is sometimes you just cannot find that damn style you need.  Since that happens a bit too often, I’ll take the chainsaw of DW over the scalpel of the normal version most games.

Nightmist vs. DW Nightmist – I never play the DW characters as a team in their alternate forms and DW Nightmist is why. She’s terrible.  The original Nightmist is arguably the best card in the game.  The DW version is one of the worst.  Nightmist flat out needs draw to find her best cards and has no alternate power that can dream of replacing Investigation.  Attunement is a terrible replacement.  If anyone has a way to make the DW work nearly as well as the original, let me know, but I don’t see it.

Ra vs. Horus of Two Horizons – Apparently to beat the Ennead, Ra had to suck.  Ra is a freaking beast in normal form precisely because he brings big, consistent damage.  The Horus version needs a ton of cards to deal the same basic consistent damage.  There’s no huge combo here and no reason to change from the original in this case.

Setback vs. Dark Watch Setback – Nothing is more frustrating than sitting around with DW Setback waiting for a way to get an unlucky pool.  See above with Nightmist.  Core Setback isn’t quite as good and DW Setback isn’t quite as bad, but it is close.  Play the normal version and move on.  Once again, if anyone has some idea how to make the DW sing like the normal one…

Tachyon vs. Team Leader Tachyon vs. Super Scientific Tachyon – I’ve stopped using core Tachyon.  She wants big alpha strikes, but SS Tachyon is just flat out better at that.  TL Tachyon sets up more slowly, but is far better at team support than either.  Both are upper echelon characters, so it depends what’s needed.  If big damage is needed as soon as possible SST wins, but if the team needs help, TLT is amazing.

Tempest vs. Freedom Six Tempest vs. Prime Wardens Tempest – Core Tempest usually wins here, as he’s simplest to use.  F6 Tempest is bad, as apparently that arm is where he held his usefulness. PW Tempest is great with a team that will allow him extra power uses or heal him.  Getting Tempest set up quickly can end a game if one can keep him fed with cards.  Still, that can be a big if, and 3 damage per extra card is a lot.  Tempest is probably best out of box.

Unity vs. Golem Unity – Losing hit points to play bots isn’t that bad, it turns out, as once a few are out, they deal a crap ton of damage.  Two equipments let you play bots without near suicide, but if not, pack some healing, because Golem can take down a boss.  Regular Unity may be far slower, but if the game goes long, she won’t die immediately.  That’s pretty nice, too.

Wraith vs. Freedom Six Wraith vs. Rook City Wraith – I don’t want to play environment cards almost ever – Rook City Wraith can go away.  F6 Wraith is better.  Damage early isn’t bad, but Wraith rarely wants for damage.  Keeping Wraith alive early on those Utility Belt turns is far better.  I’ll stick with Stealth.

So, what’d I mess up?

I don’t think that DW Nightmist is as bad as you think. It’s just that she’s one of the heroes whose promo drastically changes her playstyle, and you have to adjust accordingly. Regular Nightmist really wants to get the amulet out. DW doesn’t care about the amulet so much, but instead trades it for pinpoint accuracy in her spellcasting, which if managed carefully can be worth its weight in gold.

PlatinumWarlock posted about all the promos and listed some strategy/tips on them.   https://greaterthangames.com/forum/topic/the-warlocks-guide-to-promo-characters-4541

Dark Watch Nightmist is awesome (unless playing against Spite,,,,don;'t get me started).  Being able to stack your deck lets you chain often discarded cards like Heedless Lash  for crazy turns.  As said above, it is a completely different playstyle but I've had numerous games where she just owns.  Nightmist is probably my favorite character and I'd happily play either version.

I really like Heedless Lash, so it's not discard fodder for me.

And I much prefer regular AZ, and find him more fun to play. You can't pull off shenanigans in the same way with the promo.

Agree with F6 AZ.  You lose healing with your base power, some damage scaling once you get multiple damage boosts, but you gain a lot of not skipping your power because you don't have modules.  Once you get modules and Thermal you don't need your base power anymore for either one.

PW Cosmic needs the "Instead" removed from Absorption for it to be any good.  I would play it that way.  It can get crazy with Conservation of Energy, but CoE only applies its effect after you are done destroying cards, so there isn't an easy infinite loop, but it is possible.  It makes it a good power until someone breaks the game.  If your players don't like ruining everything you can probably get away with using it that way.

One of the best things about PW Fanatic is you can first turn Zealous Offense.

PW Haka is all about wierd combos and shenanigans, and healing and protecting allies.  It is situational, but awesome when you are protecting the lowest Hero and keeping them alive.

I used to hate Horus Ra, but he's grown on me.  Ra has a lot of good powers, and Horus Ra is all about finding those powers instead of using your base power.

ZEALOUS OFFENSE!

AZ has a healing base power? The more you know!

Agree w/ comments above about DW NightMist

Also am quite found of Horus Ra. I was surprised when playing him how much more useful Ra seemed when he had more of his deck to choose from.

I know, It's bizarre that someone would want to gain health, such a waste.

PW Captain Cosmic makes Kaargra Warfng less of a challenge. As the Constructs aren't destroyed, the Bloodsworn don't gain favour from them. Same with SkinWalker Gloomy and his heal whe destroy stuff.

F6 Tempest can use his power to slow sown La Capitan by destroying his cards out from under her, and gains more benefit from Localised Hurricane as he gets three cards rather thn nothing when he destroys it. Grnted, I still find him weaker than Regular Tempest.

It lets you do more damage before you inevitably kill yourself.

Redeemer Fanatic is awesome at using Divine Focus. A few turn to collect cards and va va voom. Using her Martyr power is also easier.

Actually, the instead in PW Captain Cosmic’s power is there to prevent you from infinitely chaining a single Cataclysm, as I discovered immediately after it was announced. With multiple instances of the power, it would stack, and you could use a single Cataclysm to one-shot anyone, with lots of damaging one-shots thrown in there for fun.

Thats why the shuffling was added, because you can't shuffle the card into your deck multiple times, so multiple uses of Absorption don't do anything.

Dark Visionary + Rogue Agent KNYFE seems like it would be pretty fantastic against The Chairman. Just send all the Prison Breaks to the discard pile.

Any Vis just shuffling all the thugs into the deck works there without a real combo, but I hate doing that. It’s too much playing the metagame for me, if that makes sense.

She's burning out their memories.  If she's destroying the organization's connection to their thugs then it is very thematic, also pretty costly.  I don't think I've had more than 2 games where Vis doesn't incap after pulling that stunt.

I think you need to play a few more rounds with PW Haka. His card accelleration is wonderful, and being able to apply Haka cards’ effects to other heroes can be an incredible benefit.

When I was doing PW versus Progeny, Fanatic would've died if Haka hadn't restored her health making one of Cosmic's constructs the Hero target with the lowest HP.

It's worth noting that different heroes care about their base power more than others.

Fixer's playstyle is defined by his ability.  Unity and Nightmist are also greatly affected by their powers.  The Wraith, on the other hand, has so many excellent powers to choose from that she quickly stops using her base power and once she's fully set up she'll probably never use it again.  Expat and Bunker are more like Wraith.  They have so many powers that they'll quickly stop relying on their base power, unless it has particular utility.  

Yes, but since you used Wraith as an example, Stealth until she’s set up is generally better than the other options. When she has everything out, her surviving longer or shrugging off the first big hit that comes her way has value.

That, to me, is the problem with the Expat promo. Neither it nor her base power are any use if you cant find a gun. I’ve gone two or three turns with no gun. It is not fun. My wife, meanwhile, always gets the shotgun by turn 2.

Finally, Bunker is the perfect example of how to handle this. Is his 3 points or so of power damage worth more than DR on a negative 2 damage villain? Is foregoing that damage worth getting rid of a nasty ongoing? Both yes, right? That added utility from the powers is just perfect.

That's not quite true. Double RPG Launcher is pretty good.

If you have stuff to destroy with it, few villains have enough ongoings to justify that I see deadline, cosmitron not many else will reliably have 2 ongoings.

RPG Launcher works on environment cards as well, don't forget ;). Also, it's not so much the number of possible ongoings as what they do. Stuff like Return with the Dawn, Backlash Field, Forced Deployment, Apocalypse…the ones where you go "arrgh, not that one…" for whatever reason.

Iron Legacy, Kismet, and Plague Rat all can be pretty much guranteed to have ongoings you want to get rid of. And as Ameena said the villains with only one or two ongoings tend to have particularly nasty ongoings.

Dont forget iron legacy. That double rpg is better than any of her guns

Okay, I won't.  :)

Good