A Hero's Guide to Mr. Fixer

Other Games SotM Game Engine
81

This is coming (very) late to the game, but I think you may be looking at DW Fixer the wrong way.  I was down on him, too, until I started using him regularly, and kept having him put together awesome damage combos. Regular Fixer is all about (frustratingly slowly) building up your tools and styles until you have a great combo, then tweaking it with different tools/styles to fit the situation.  I look at DW Fixer as (essentially) a deck full of 3-damage one shots.  Don't wait to load up a combo -- use the styles/tools right when you get them, as needed!

So in the scenario you outline, regular Fixer plays Jack Handle, and hits all non-heros for one.  DW Fixer plays Jack Handle, but instead of holding it, he Bitter Strikes and destroys it -- since the destruction of the card comes AFTER he does damage, the Jack Handle lets him do 3 damage to all non-heroes!  (If you have Galvanize, Syncopated Assault, or other damage buffs going, that's 4-5 damage to each non-hero on your very first play -- enough to decimate Voss or Dawn's forces).

With DW Fixer, almost every card in his deck is essentially a 3+ damage one-shot with extras.  He can do 3 damage every turn, with some added effects.  Bitter Strike with Riveting Crane--suddenly that 1-2 DR isn't there anymore (Goodbye, Huginn/Muninn!).  Bitter Strike with Dual Crowbars - 4 damage to first target, 5 to a second. Bitter Strike with Jack Handle -- 3 damage to all targets.  Bitter Strike with Tire Iron -- destroy any target with 5 or less HP.  

And mind you, that's only if you burn your cards everytime you get them.  If you add heros that let DW Fixer get in card plays/draws, or wait 1-2 turns to put a tool/style (ANY tool/style) in your hand, the one-shots become more powerful.  Let's go back to your original scenario:  On Round 1, DW Fixer plays Jack Handle, then sits out/waits.  Now on every subsequent turn, Fixer can play Charge to get 2 damage to all non-heroes, a style (or use Meditation to get a style, or even Harmony if you want to burn it) to get 3 damage against all heroes, or Bloody Knuckles to get 5 damage against all heroes.  The only things that really stymie him are Grease Gun (but that helps everyone else), or Overdrive (because he has to burn a card everytime he uses Bitter Strike, and he can't burn Overdrive).  

This thread inspired me to do my own thread on tricks/hints/combos with DW Fixer -- any comments/thoughts are welcome:   https://greaterthangames.com/forum/topic/clever-thoughtsideascombos-for-dw-fixer-7974

82

I would agree DW Fixer can be potent.   Really it downgrades Overdrive and Charge.   Overdrive because of the fact two equipment/Ongoings have to be destroyed so there is a lot to consider before using it.   Charge because it's weaker due to less Mr Fixer styles or equipment out it also prevents you from playing another card of his that could be used towards Bitter Strike.  

83

I agree re: Overdrive, to a point.  One cheap way to use it is when there are *no* equipments/ongoings in play, ex: on the very first turn of the game (as long as no heroes have played ongoings/equipment before Fixer), or right after a Devastating Aurora/Apocalypse.  The card is not, "Destroy X.  If you do, deal three damage"; rather, it's "Deal 3 damage. Destroy a hero ongoing/equipment."  So, the first is not dependent on the second; the damage takes place even if there are no hero cards to destroy.  So, play Overdrive with no ongoings/equips out = instant 6 damage without destroying anything.

Ditto with Charge -- Fixer weakens that, but that just means that I save Charge for mid-/end-game, when DW Fixer maybe has a tool/style in play, and there are spare equips/ongoings sitting around.  Then I use it like Regular Fixer:  Charge for 2 damage (plus tool/style bonuses), then Bitter Strike for at least 3.  

However, Charge/Overdrive are just 6 cards out of 40 that are "worse" for DW Fixer.  There are 25 styles/tools in his deck, most of which are useless, duplicative, or only help a teeny bit with regular Fixer.  With DW Fixer, they are all (essentially) 3-damage one-shots.  Think of the umpteen times that you've had (ex:) Tire Iron out, and are waiting for GMF to give you a +1 damage boost so you can finally help out against that Gene-Based Guard.  Then, out comes....Riveting Crane!  With regular Fixer, you play it, do your normal 1 point of damage, which gets absorbed and ignored.  With DW Fixer, you play it, burn it, and now (a) destroy anything with 5 or less HP (b/c of Tire Iron), or (b) likely rip through an villain's DR with the 3 points of damage, and open him/her up to your allies' attacks.  Being able to nearly always do 3 damage a turn seems to fit the "right card for the situation" motif better than *sometimes* being able to do 3 damage a turn.

84

Another combo with Mr. Fixer:

The style that lets Mr. Fixer choose his damage type is great with AZ, especially if he has dual crow-bars. Mr. Fixer can hit a villain, and then give AZ a big cold heal, or he can hit AZ for fire damage, let AZ get a small heal or use his HP to deal damage, and then get a big hit in on a villain. If AZ has Coolant Blast, you can hit AZ with a larger fire strike so he can then use Coolant Blast on his turn. It's great when there's only one target on the field, since you can get max damage from dual crowbars every turn. 

85

Just to add to this, if you hit AZ with a cold attack as your first attack then you don't get a second attack as technically you have dealt no damage (I discovered this as I reported this as a bug on the video game and was told this was as intended, Handelabra asked Christopher about this).