So, I was attempting the "Mobbed by Paparazzi" challenge, where you need to win a fight without using powers, and I was impressed by how well the flavor lines of up regarding which heros mind the paparazzi the most.
My team was Legacy, Fanatic, Ra, Tempest, and Tachyon. With the possible exception of Tempest, these are among the most showy characters, the ones I'd expect to be most comfortable dealing with paparazzi. Meanwhile, the four most power-dependent heros are Wraith, Mr. Fixer, Unity, and Argent Adept. With the exception of Unity, these are among the most private and reclusive of the heros.
It occurs to me that Omnitron-X would be fantastic for this -- once he gets his Components out, he doesn't even need a power phase to do basically everything you might need.
I'd say the Sentinels are the best call mechanics-wise, since they're so One-Shot dependent. Not sure how they line up flavor-wise, since they're mostly a pretty obscure group in-setting.
But now you've gotten me wondering about characters like The Scholar and Chrono-Ranger, who probably could work in this format, but operating very differently (Ranger cares more about damaging One-Shots and less anout Equipment, Scholar is pushed towards Iron Form over Liquid Energy). I might just have to try that!
ExPat is bad, but I'd say Unity is the worst option in this format. With no Guns and no Golems, you've got one character who can only play RPG Launcher and Flak Jacket, and another who can only play Brainstorm. Hoping to draw a second Brainstorm. Oh, and I guess Powered Shockwave, should there be a damage boost out. Sure, the Adept only has Vernal Sonata, but a few Vernal Sonatas can win games. And I guess there's always Silver Shadow to activate the odd Accompany.
So intriguing! I think I'll play my next game this way, using Tachyon, Sentinels, Scholar, and Legacy. I'll probably take the coward's path and start with someone easy like Ambuscade, then if that goes well, move on to the serious villains.
Okay, played a couple of games. The first one was, as planned, against Ambuscade. I chose Freedom Tower, which seemed like a good place to hold a press conference. Ultimately, the game was a bit of a farce - the Tower ended up putting a bunch of Hero Ongoings/Equipment into play, and Ambuscade has no stuff destruction, so we wore him down in a slow game which never really felt in question.
Clearly, I needed a tougher villain with a woder range of threats - but anyone too fast would probably just kill everyone before their stunted setup could work. Also, an environment which did damage could be more interesting. So, Tachyon opened Cretaceus World, and called the Sentinels, Legacy, and the Scholar (as well as those pesky members of the press) to tour the facilities. Inevitably, they got attacked by Egyptian gods.
Okay, so the story's a little odd there, but the Ennead (non-Advanced) play relatively slowly, but can still be a threat and dish out some Ongoing/Equipment disruption. It was a brutal match - and I got lucky, never seeing the extra card play Ennead members. Over twelve turns, Legacy and the Scholar locked them down whilst Tachyon and the Sentinels took them out. I'd recommend this game for anyone looking to try a unique challenge - though Insula Primalis for the Environment may be a bit much.
I was going after the achievement in the VG. I planned on taking Tachy, but forgot her. Legacy, Scholar, Omni-X, Ra, and Chrono Ranger against Ambuscade in the Wasteland. It went well until Omni lost his components. Squeeked by with 3 of 5 heroes in the single digits, but it worked. Fun, but I don't know if I'll revisit it.
Wow - does anyone actually HAVE that? Even facing Ambuscade in an easy environment, I can't think of a ton you could do. I guess Newest Legacy, (Mostly Adamant) Sentinels, Dark Visionary, Omnitron-X, and The Naturalist might be able to do things?
(Unless Santa-Guise and Kvothe are still legal, but I assume the video game doesn't have them?)
Well, I did ask for difficult alternate modes. Here goes nothing.
The achievement dictates that no hero cards enter play at all, so Santa Guise, SST, Kvothe, and O-X are out as well.
I got it shortly after it came out by bringing heavy hitters (DWFixer, Young Legs, Haka) and a rapidly incapped Tempest against Iron Legacy. Others have had good success using O-X and SST to dump Gloomweaver relics in the trash.
I did it 2 ways: SST, Grandpa Legacy, Dark Visionary, O-X and DW Fixer in Wasteland to get Gloomweaver's relics in the trash (Failed miserably as the wasteland removed a relic, barely squeezed out a win by DW Fixer geting all Leg's love.) And Legacy, Ra, DW Fixer, Tempest, and F6 Wraith vs Ambuscade in Wasteland in a damage race.
It is indeed called "Extreme Hostage Situation" and many people say Mad Bomber Blade with a team of bruisers is the way to go.
Shameless bragging here: I just got my last achievment unlocked today. I have them all until next upade.
Aside: the game has Base, Infernal Relics, Rook City, Shattered Timelines, Scholar and Unity (Ambuscade, Miss Info, Wasteland and Gulch to complete mini expansions) released so far. So that's the roster available. As to the achievment list (and a bit more bragging) http://steamcommunity.com/id/riff4freelance/stats/appid/337150/achievements shows them and the unlocks (which can be a fun challenge ) are showe on the Handleabra website here: http://sentinelsdigital.com/variants.html
I think that someone else posted this, but Mad Bomber Blade is the easy ride tho these achievements. One one target in play to focus on the entire time.
Just did "Extreme Hostage Situation" with Legacy, Fanatic, Haka, Ra, and Tempest against Ambuscade in Pike. Yikes was that tough. Took me three tries, but I got the "Close Call" at the same time, as Fanatic was the only one alive at the end, with 1 HP.