|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 6/23/2010 Posts: 3,562 Location: The Hutt, New Zealand
|
Darth Tyranus, Legacy of the Dark Side, from Legacy of the Force Quote:49 points, Separatist Hit Points: 120 Defense: 21 Attack: 15 Damage: 20
Special Abilities Unique Lightsaber Duelist (+4 Defense when attacked by an adjacent enemy with a Force rating) Melee Attack (Can attack only adjacent enemies) Double Attack (On his turn, this character can make 1 extra attack instead of moving)
Force Powers Force 2 Force Renewal 1 (This character gets 1 Force point each time he activates) Force Lightning 4 (Force 4, replaces attacks: range 6; 50 damage to target. Huge or smaller characters are considered activated this round; save 16) Lightsaber Block (Force 1: When hit by a melee attack, this character takes no damage with a save of 11) Lightsaber Riposte (Force 1: When hit by a melee attack, this character can make an immediate attack against that attacker) Master of the Force 2 (May spend Force points up to 2 times in a single turn) I don't think that WOTC ever gave a Dooku any kind of ranged defense, so this Dooku is another pin cushion. Otherwise though, Darth Tyranus, Legacy of the Dark Side is a decent piece - he has Force Lightning 4, he's got block and riposte with good stats and lightsaber duelist, and you can give him some ranged defense with a Spotter droid, and twin with Whorm. For a competitive game, I'd always opt for 100 point Dooku who already comes with twin and Reflect, as well as some other neat tricks, but unlike the Dookus from the earlier sets, LotDS is at least strong enough to build a respectable of Tier 2 or 3 build around. He's not tournament strength at this point in the game, but he's at least vaguely useful, 6/10.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 6/23/2010 Posts: 3,562 Location: The Hutt, New Zealand
|
Juggernaut War Droid, from Knights of the Old Republic Quote:16 points, Old Republic Hit Points: 60 Defense: 17 Attack: 7 Damage: 20
Special Abilities Droid (Immune to critical hits; not subject to commander effects) Flight (Ignores difficult terrain, enemy characters, low objects, and pits when moving) Mobile Attack (Can move both before and after attacking) Shatter Beam (Replaces attacks: sight; designate 1 door as open; it remains open for the rest of the skirmish and cannot be closed) Sonic Stunner (Replaces attacks: range 6; living target and each living character adjacent to that target are considered activated this round; save 11 negates. Huge and larger characters ignore this special ability.)
The Juggernaut War Droid is a useful piece - an Old Republic droid that can shoot, and which also has some useful tech options. It's not a great shooter for the cost, with only a +7 attack, but it does have two great Special Abilities - with Shatter Beam it can blow any door open in line of sight, while Sonic Stunner gives it a great chance to activate multiple enemies. It can come into some different factions with Kazdan Paratus or Wat Tambor. With the emergence of Bao-Dur Tech Specialist, it's a useful support piece, since it picks up the +4 attack and double attack from Bao-Dur, and it can activate pieces for IG-86s to shoot at. I don't know if it's quite efficient enough to make its way into tournament squads - its attack and defense are a little low, and you can only use one of its three choices each turn (shoot, blow a door, or try and stun stuff), but it's still a useful little utility piece that's worth owning, 7/10.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 4/29/2008 Posts: 1,786 Location: Canada
|
I agree. I've used it a couple of times in Epic play, because Shatter Beam is so valuable, especially with Mobile Attack. But I think this piece's real contribution to the game is that it was the first piece with Shatter Beam, which is now being used on other pieces.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 7/29/2011 Posts: 1,766 Location: In a sinkhole on Utapau
|
Yeah, Shatter Beam is awesome, just tough to get into 200 point builds... Now, if these guys ever got access to a Tarpals effect, Overload, Stable Platform... They'd rule lol
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 4/29/2008 Posts: 1,786 Location: Canada
|
pegolego wrote:Yeah, Shatter Beam is awesome, just tough to get into 200 point builds... Now, if these guys ever got access to a Tarpals effect, Overload, Stable Platform... They'd rule lol The thing is, it's hard to spend 17pts just to blow up doors. If they had Overload and Missiles 10 or 20 in addition to Mobile Attack and Shatterbeam that would be a different story. For 17pts, a pure tech piece had better be awesome, or it won't get used.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 1/5/2009 Posts: 2,240 Location: Akron Ohio, just south of dantooine.
|
thereisnotry wrote:But I think this piece's real contribution to the game is that it was the first piece with Shatter Beam, which is now being used on other pieces. Vetran Uggie is the only other one, unless I missed a preview (very easy to do) or an unpreviewed piece. Hmmn?
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 6/23/2010 Posts: 3,562 Location: The Hutt, New Zealand
|
Battle Droid, from Clone Strike Quote:Hit Points: 10 Defense: 9 Attack: 0 Damage: 10
Special Abilities Droid (Immune to critical hits; not subject to commander effects) Battle Droids are the second most reprinted piece from WOTC - this is totally justifiable given that firstly it makes thematic sense to run huge swarms of battle droids, and secondly they're actually really good scrubs. With Gha Nachkt they're 3 points, they can pick up +4 attack from the Battle Droid Officer, and if you have the points they can pick up +4 attack, +4 defense, and twin from GGDAC, not to mention plenty of other potential boosts that droids can pick up. Plus at 3 or 4 points, they're a cheap source of combined fire, one of the cheapest shooters in the game. A swarm of these can potentially be nasty, although it obviously runs into major problems against any kind of strafe or gallop, although I'd certainly be tempted to run a Battle Droid swarm at lower point levels where you're unlikely to run into any kind of mass killer. Battle Droids are so cheap and boostable that they're really viable, even just one or two as a throw in for combining fire - I can't believe I don't own a single one. 8/10.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 3/11/2013 Posts: 758
|
TheHutts wrote:Battle Droid, from Clone Strike Quote:Hit Points: 10 Defense: 9 Attack: 0 Damage: 10
Special Abilities Droid (Immune to critical hits; not subject to commander effects) Battle Droids are the second most reprinted piece from WOTC - this is totally justifiable given that firstly it makes thematic sense to run huge swarms of battle droids, and secondly they're actually really good scrubs. With Gha Nachkt they're 3 points, they can pick up +4 attack from the Battle Droid Officer, and if you have the points they can pick up +4 attack, +4 defense, and twin from GGDAC, not to mention plenty of other potential boosts that droids can pick up. Plus at 3 or 4 points, they're a cheap source of combined fire, one of the cheapest shooters in the game. A swarm of these can potentially be nasty, although it obviously runs into major problems against any kind of strafe or gallop, although I'd certainly be tempted to run a Battle Droid swarm at lower point levels where you're unlikely to run into any kind of mass killer. Battle Droids are so cheap and boostable that they're really viable, even just one or two as a throw in for combining fire - I can't believe I don't own a single one. 8/10. These guys are definitely going to be interesting with Admiral Trench. A swarm of 3 point accurate shooters sounds really fun to me at least tier 2 or 3 IMO.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 6/23/2010 Posts: 3,562 Location: The Hutt, New Zealand
|
It's taken 30 pages to hit something from The Old Republic mini-set. Aric Jorgan, from The Old Republic Quote:28 points, Old Republic Hit Points: 80 Defense: 18 Attack: 10 Damage: 20
Special Abilities Unique Triple Attack (On his turn, this character can make 2 extra attacks instead of moving) Soldier (Counts as a character named Old Republic Soldier) Disciplined Leader (This character's commander effect cannot be suppressed) Squad Firepower (+10 Damage while 3 allies with the same name as this character are within 6 squares) Willing to Serve (Counts as a follower for purposes of allied commander effects)
Commander Effect Old Republic soldiers and troopers within 6 squares gain Squad Firepower. To date, Aric Jorgan is the only piece with Willing to Serve, which basically means he counts as both a commander and a follower. Otherwise he follows the template of the Old Republic Soldier from Vengeance - he has the same Triple Attack and Soldier SA, but with better stats and more hit points. It's a shame that he doesn't pick up Greater Mobile from the Arkanian Jedi General, since he's a unique - otherwise he'd be a great piece in Arkanian Jedi General squads, and even without it, he's a viable option since he gives out Squad Firepower. Aric Jorgan's also interesting with Carth Onasi ORS, as he hands out Squad Firepower and can boost Carth into an even more dangerous shooter. Additionally, Aric could also be a worthwhile standalone shooter - you could toss him on Master Thon's back and utilise his triple attack. Since he works in a few different squad types without being dominant in any of them, Aric feels like a very designed piece, and I think he just makes the grade as a tournament level piece, 8/10.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 6/23/2010 Posts: 3,562 Location: The Hutt, New Zealand
|
harryg wrote:These guys are definitely going to be interesting with Admiral Trench. A swarm of 3 point accurate shooters sounds really fun to me at least tier 2 or 3 IMO. A Battle Droid swarm could be interesting if you don't expect to see much strafe or gallop in your meta. I don't know if accurate helps swarms that much though? They can just shoot whatever's in front of them anyway.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 3/11/2013 Posts: 758
|
TheHutts wrote:harryg wrote:These guys are definitely going to be interesting with Admiral Trench. A swarm of 3 point accurate shooters sounds really fun to me at least tier 2 or 3 IMO. A Battle Droid swarm could be interesting if you don't expect to see much strafe or gallop in your meta. I don't know if accurate helps swarms that much though? They can just shoot whatever's in front of them anyway. I face Stealth squads a ton, so giving the droids accurate is a huge boost for me. Strafe/Gallpp is still a problem though.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 7/29/2011 Posts: 1,766 Location: In a sinkhole on Utapau
|
TheHutts wrote:Battle Droids are so cheap and boostable that they're really viable, even just one or two as a throw in for combining fire - I can't believe I don't own a single one. I have almost 40 lol (at least two of every model), never know when I might play a swarm of nothing but Battle Droids en masse. Of course, I had around 35 Geonosian Drones at some point too lol, but I got rid of several just so I wouldn't be tempted to run those against anybody I want to consider a friend.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 6/23/2010 Posts: 3,562 Location: The Hutt, New Zealand
|
Givin Black Sun Slicer, from Armed and Operational Quote:11 points, Fringe Hit Points: 40 Defense: 17 Attack: 1 Damage: 10
Special Abilities Melee Attack (Can attack only adjacent enemies) Black Sun (If a character whose name contains Xizor or Vigo is in the same squad, this character gains Grenades 10) Master Slicer (Replaces attacks: This turn, this character can ignore doors while moving) Override (At the end of its turn, this character can designate 1 door that it can see as open or closed; it remains open or closed until the end of this character's next turn, or until it is defeated) Making a cheap fringe override piece that can compete for game time with the uber-efficient R7 Astromech Droid and the ubiquitous Lobot is quite a challenge, but the Givin Black Sun Slicer is a good deal at 11 points. With Master Slicer it can cruise through unopened doors and override something at the end of its turn. Its defense and hit points are very comparable with the R7, but it also has the potential to make attacks, albeit melee at +1. It's probably especially worth considering in a Talon Karrde squad or a Xizor squad, where it gets boosted into a slightly more useful attacker, while Master Slicer on a cheap medium base piece might make it a useful swap piece in some Imperial and Republic builds. I haven't quite got my head around the Slicer/Override trick, which is really the key to this piece, but I'm sure it's really useful on some maps, and it's probably worthwhile taking in your Lobot reserve box. I haven't seen the Givin on the table yet, so I'm not fully sure of what to make of it, but I think Master Slicer and Override are two powerful abilities that justify the Givin Black Sun Slicer a grade of 8/10.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 7/9/2008 Posts: 4,729 Location: Chicago
|
IMO, master slicer is just gravy.
The key is that he's living. He can get CEs!
Swap is one, but I also like him with Nom Anor. Super Stealth Override is no joke!
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 6/23/2010 Posts: 3,562 Location: The Hutt, New Zealand
|
TimmerB123 wrote:IMO, master slicer is just gravy.
The key is that he's living. He can get CEs!
Swap is one, but I also like him with Nom Anor. Super Stealth Override is no joke! You can superstealth an R7 too, though, right? Nothing to stop it.
|
|
Rank: Moderator Groups: Member
, Moderator
Joined: 5/26/2009 Posts: 8,428
|
Droids aren't subject to CEs. How else do you superstealth something?
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 6/23/2010 Posts: 3,562 Location: The Hutt, New Zealand
|
FlyingArrow wrote:Droids aren't subject to CEs. How else do you superstealth something? Ooglith Masquer. It only gets Stealth, not superstealth. It seems wrong on several levels, but I don't know what stops it - it's fine in the glossary? There might be some errata I don't know about. The Givin would get superstealth and self-destruct, so it would be better though. Oops - I just meant stealth in my post above. In the past, I have often Stealthed an R7 with Nom - it's very handy.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 7/9/2008 Posts: 4,729 Location: Chicago
|
Here are just a few advantages the Givin Black Sun Slicer over the R7 (some much more useful than others)
Nom Anor (Ooglith Masquer) Gain Stealth, CE: Gain super-stealth Ki-Adi-Mundi CE: Activate out of turn Emperor Roan Fel CE: Gain Bodyguard Padmé Amidala CE: Gain Bodyguard General Rieekan CE: Gain Evade, Gain Mobile Attack General Wedge Antilles CE: Gain Evade, Gain Mobile Attack Darth Sidious Hologram CE: Gain Force Renewal 1 Corellian Security Officer CE: Gain It's a Trap! Commander Gree CE: Have same name as others for Squad abilities Princess Leia, Senator CE: Move 2 extra squares at the end of turn Lord Hoth CE: Move 2 squares Major Maxmilian Veers CE: Move 2 squares when missed Leia Skywalker, Jedi Knight CE: Reroll each failed save once Princess Leia, Hoth Commander CE: Resurrect when defeated; save 16 Emperor Palpatine CE: Spend this character's Force points Emperor Palpatine on Throne CE: Spend this character's Force points Captain Panaka CE: Swap with a Medium ally Darth Sidious, Sith Master CE: Swap with an ally with the same base size K-3PO CE: Swap with an ally with the same base size Grand Admiral Thrawn CE: Swap with an ally with the same base size, +3 Attack, +3 Defense Darth Revan, Sith Lord CE: Swap with this character at the end of his turn Alexi Garyn, Head of the Black Sun (Black Sun) Gain Grenades 10 Bith Black Sun Vigo (Black Sun) Gain Grenades 10 Dug Black Sun Vigo (Black Sun) Gain Grenades 10 Nautolan Black Sun Vigo (Black Sun) Gain Grenades 10 Prince Xizor (Black Sun) Gain Grenades 10 Rodian Black Sun Vigo CE: Immune to Accurate Shot when in cover (and gain grenades 10) Twi'lek Black Sun Vigo (Black Sun) Gain Grenades 10 Xizor CE: +4 attack, +10 Damage and (Black Sun) Gain Grenades 10 Viqi Shesh May be brought in through her reinforcements (living only) Ithorian Commander CE: +4 Attack and +10 Damage *Vset 8 - Togorian Black Sun Vigo CE: Black Sun allies with Grenades 10 gain Grenades 30 and Grenade Launcher [Grenades special abilities on this character have range 12]. Black Sun allies get +4 to save rolls against abilities whose names contain Grenades or Missiles.
(BTW - I LOVE that it was given (lol, Givin) an 8. That's exactly what we were aiming for. We certainly didn't want to replace the R7 (talk about power creep!), but in certain squads he's more useful and worth the extra 3 points. Most 9s and up are overpowered/undercosted. Too many 9 (or higher) ratings in a set = power creep)
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 6/23/2010 Posts: 3,562 Location: The Hutt, New Zealand
|
Major General Veers, from Armed and Operational Quote:21 points, Imperial Hit Points: 80 Defense: 19 Attack: 10 Damage: 20
Special Abilities Unique Crack Shot (Whenever this character combines fire against a target within 6 squares, damage from the attack cannot be prevented or redirected) Flak Shield (Whenever this character takes damage, he reduces the damage dealt by 10 with a save of 6. Attacks from adjacent enemies ignore this ability.) Improved Spotter +20 (If this character combines fire against a target, the attacking character gets a +20 bonus to Damage against that target) Targeting (Until the end of the round, target enemy has -4 Defense)
Commander Effect Whenever an allied trooper combines fire against a target within 6 squares of it, the attack cannot be prevented or redirected. Major General Veers is arguably the game's best tank buster - he has targeting and a Commander Effect that hands out potential unavoidable damage, as well as Crack Shot and Improved Spotter for himself. He also has flak shield, to help him get into the action safely, and since he's also a good shooter, he's a commander who's likely to see some front line action. The biggest problem he has is that the Imperials already have Pellaeon at 16 points, whose Ysalamari also helps with tank busting, and it's expensive to bring them both to the table - although of course Pellaeon can swap Veers for another commander in the same price range, like Piett for Opportunist or General Veers for Accurate. Since his CE affects troopers, his best fit is arguably a Daala swarm, although it can be hard to justify him since a lot of Daala squads are already well suited to taking down tank squads with their high attacks, Ysalamari, and high numbers. Major General Veers is a good piece for the cost, but right now he seems unlikely to see much competitive play until the meta swings back to tank squads. 7/10.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Bloo Milk Member Groups: Member
Joined: 6/23/2010 Posts: 3,562 Location: The Hutt, New Zealand
|
Talon Karrde, Information Broker, from Command of the Galaxy Quote:32 points, Fringe Hit Points: 80 Defense: 17 Attack: 11 Damage: 20
Special Abilities Unique Disruptive (Suppresses enemy commander effects within 6 squares) Mobile Attack (Can move both before and after attacking) My Pets from Myrkr (While your squad contains only Fringe characters or characters with Independent Outfit, this character has Ysalamiri)
Commander Effect While your squad contains only Fringe characters, allies get +4 Attack and +10 Damage.
Once per round, after initiative is determined, 1 Fringe follower can immediately move up to its Speed before any other character activates. Talon Karrde IB is an obvious power piece; he single-handedly makes Fringe-only squads competitively viable. Without Talon, a pure Fringe squad would always be sub-optimal - it could always be improved with a faction specific power piece like General Dodonna, R2-D2 Astromech Droid, or Admiral Pellaeon. But Talon Karrde provides bonuses specifically if your squad is all Fringe - he gains Ysalamari and a +4 attack and +10 damage board-wide commander effect. Additionally, he also provides Disruptive and a movement breaker at the top of each round for a Fringe ally. Since there are tons of good Fringe pieces - pieces that were already popular like Jarael, Dash Renegade Smuggler, and Klatooinian Assassins have enjoyed lots of play, while he's also bought overlooked pieces like Embo and Han Solo Gambler into the limelight. Talon squads have done very well in the 2014 regional season, winning 2 and equalling the Imperials in top 4 appearances at the time of writing, and it's Talon's toolkit of damage that makes them viable. Here's the Indiana Regional winning squad, run by Timmerb123: Quote:--Karrde Trick-- 32 Talon Karrde, Information Broker 28 Dash Rendar, Renegade Smuggler 27 Lobot 21 Han Solo, Gambler 12 Gha Nachkt 36 Klatooinian Assassin x3 12 Rodian Assassin 14 R7 Astromech Droid x2 18 Mouse Droid x9 (200pts. 20 activations) Since Talon is so crucial, yet often needs to be in the front lines to take advantage of his Disruptive and Ysalamari as well as his ability as a shooter, he often needs to be played with a bodyguard, to keep him alive as long as possible. Talon Karrde IB is a really well thought out piece - if I have a criticism, it's that having him and Daala in the same set, creating two very popular new squad types with access to Ysalamari, has made it very tough for Jedi in the current Regional season, but having Fringe only squads in the meta is a great way of broadening the game. 11/10.
|
|
Guest |