I could use some help with my selection for a 3 hero team (along with expanding it to 4). My two favorite heroes are Haka and NightMist. I will add to them Team Leader Tachyon, since both benefit so much from her card drawing power. My first question is would I be better off with the promo versions of either Eternal Haka or Dark Watch NightMist instead of their standard versions, given that TLT will be the third member?
My second question is – who out of the following would be the best fourth member to add? I’m looking at either Argent Ardent, Tempest, or Visionary (or Dark Visionary). Here are some reasons for those choices (besides only having the base + infernal relics) . . .
AA provides NM with defense and knowing her top card (though that may not be needed if I go with DW NightMist), and he has a combo with TLT. Tempest also offers some control over NM’s top card, adds greater control over environment/villain decks, and also has a combo with TLT. Visionary doesn’t do as much for NM, just also helping control the environment/villain decks. The Dark Visionary though can also help NM with knowing her top card (again might not be needed with DW NM). Though it probably isn’t worth giving up the standard’s Enlighten power, given how well that supports TLT.
So to recap it’s:
Haka (or Eternal Haka)
NightMist (or Dark Watch NightMist)
Team Leader Tachyon
And one of the following . . .
Argent Ardent
Tempest
Visionary (or Dark Visionary)
What would make for the best combo? Any help would be appreciated!
I would say that with TLT feeding everyone cards, Dark Visionary is probably better than normal (though I personally would still play normal, just because I hate the Dark version's power), but original Haka beats the promo. That's on the assumption that more card draw is redundant, although in Haka's case at least, that may not be true...it could mean you get to throw friggin' HUGE Hakas of Battle, which certainly could be worth doing. But Crush means that you don't have to live in fear of an equipment wipe, so it might depend on whether the villain you're facing does those. Also, both promos are down an HP from their original versions...with Haka that probably doesn't matter, but DV having a mere 25 could be horrific, especially versus a villain who attacks either all heroes or the lowest hero on a regular basis (unless Argent Adept is in the game, of course).
What is the point of this team? That's my big question. If you are going for building the best team you are on the right track, I'd add Tempest. His overall ridiculousness gives you different damage types, healing, and a use for those extra cards TLT will be feeding him. Adept really doesn't help this team a lot, as his best use is to speed up build-up and give power based heroes a boost, his best use on this team would be giving extra spell plays to nightmist (which generally just throws off her hand/health balance) and letting Haka smack something. Tempest will outdo that pretty easily.
If you really want to dominate the win column go with Dark Visionary, and stack the heck out of the villain deck. She can't use the extra cards, whe isn't going to fit in well, but she will crush the villains even more than Savage Mana, Mistbound, Ground Pound, Hypersonic Assault, etc. (which is a pretty heavy villain smashing group in its own right)
What's wrong with Dark Visionary's power? It's like a free (slightly less effective) Precognition or the other one that does the same thing with the environment, EVERY TURN. How is that not great?
Unless the villain deck is getting extra plays, really bad luck, or you desperately need to control the environment deck, Dark Visionary control the next card played and can put any really dangerous cards on the bottom of the deck.
Both Promos are situational and depend on how you like to play those heroes. I prefer Eternal Haka since his card drawing ability is amazing for getting a powerful hand, though if he's paired with TLT, he probably doesn't need it; he's going to have a hand full of cards anyways (since Haka has no way to play multiple cards or use multiple powers on his own), though having plenty of extra fuel for Haka of Battle/Restoration is never a bad thing.
Dark Watch Nightmist is a much more careful, deliberate approach to using Nightmist as it seeks to take the "randomness" out of her Spell damage (since you can arrange which numbers come up first). This could be very powerful with TLT as well, since you can set up the next 3 cards coming to Nightmist, one which she'd draw at the end of her turn, the second she'd draw on TLT's turn, and third waiting to be "revealed" if she wanted to plan ahead for a spell use on her next turn. I prefer original Nightmist since I like the high risk, high reward, game ending damage that can come from her once she's set up, but I have not tried DW NM with TLT as a teammate, which could be quite amazing. I say test it out!
Vanilla Visionary certainly helps Nightmist. If you're going with DW NM, you'll need to get as many cards in your hand as possible since you don't have Investigate to fuel your Amulet. Visionary's Enlighten + TLT's power can help NM get the hand she needs. That being said, Dark Visionary is pretty OP. Turmoil is one hell of a power that any team could benefit from. Argent Adept also benefits from being able to choose which heroes he buffs, which can be a godsend to Nightmist (who doesn't want to hurt herself more than she has to). And Tempest is…well…Tempest. He's awesome.
In the end, you're only going to know by toying around with it! Experiment, play more games, switch the teams up, switch up the villains. There is never going to be a "best" team as each villain/environment brings a different scenario to the table, allowing each hero to shine in a particular situation.
Thanks everyone for the feedback so far! It’s been very helpful.
A quick note about my use of the term “best”. I agree that there’s no one best team, and it depends on villain/environment combinations. So really I was just looking for better and worse combos. As in, where there are particularly strong synergies between the different hero options (like perhaps TLT and DW NightMist) or where there’s little strategic benefit (seemingly like having Argent Ardent on the team). I was also concerned with whether any particular combinations would leave me with a significant weakness.
I was wondering with TLT if I should go crazy with card drawing with Eternal Haka and standard NightMist, but I wasn’t sure if it would be overkill. I guess with Haka options it comes down to Crush vs. larger Hakas of Battle (and whether equipment destruction is likely). It seems like I could go either way and be happy with the result.
I see the benefit in going with Dark Visionary to stack the villain deck, but I think I want to go more with synergistic interactions between the heroes with this team. I was originally thinking Argent Adept would have more synergy with NightMist, at least in terms of giving her damage reduction and selective buffing. But that might also depend on whether I go with the DW version of her, since her lack of Investigation means she won’t be doing as much damage to herself (and thus needing less damage reduction from AA).
That’s a great idea about how to use Dark Watch NightMist with TLT. Am I right in thinking that if I have that combo going then I wouldn’t want to use Visionary’s Enlighten on DW NM? If DW NM has ordered her next 3 cards to maximize a spell, then Enlighten’s draw 2 and discard 1 would disrupt that. If so, it does seem like I have more of a reason to go with Dark Visionary with DW NM (and perhaps sticking with standard Visionary with Standard NM).
Sounds like from everyone that I can’t go wrong with Tempest, so that’s good to know.
Also, out of curiosity, does any hero have good synergy with Haka or Eternal Haka other than TLT?
Legacy has pretty good synergy with anyone who deals damage (especially Ra in Insula Primalis - yay for the Volcano :D). The Adept has pretty good synergy with anyone who does...anything. Unity does well with people who let her play/draw more cards (especially if they let her play out of turn, since she can put bots straight out - Adept is good here, for example).
I would say Wraith is another good all-rounder. She's kind of equipment-heavy (unlike Tempest), but there is a wide variety of things she can do - damage, deck control, ongoing/envinromnet destruciton, damage nerfing, etc. And she has a "finishing move" in the form of Inventory Barrage.
Mr Fixer is another versatile hero, but tends to be a bit slow to set up - if he can get extrra draws/plays, this can help him get more of his stuff out and get into a decent combo. DW Fixer can benefit more from cards like Bloody Knuckles, since he can whack something for a load of damage and then destroy it and not worry about getting hit for extra damage.
Yeah using Enlighten on DW NM wouldn't be worth it every time; as you said, it would make setting up the combo kind of difficult. But if you weren't using DW NM's base power (and using Tome of Elder Magic or something), it'd be good to Enlighten DW NM just to get her hand size up. As amazing as it would be to set up a perfect TLT/DW NM combo, it's not going to happen every turn; on those off turns, anything you can do to get NM's handsize up is clutch.
In my opinion, there is always room for Haka on the team (or rather he makes room). He can do the things not many others can do; soak up environment damage, nuke heal himself, nuke damage boost himself, Ground Pound to shut down damage, Rampage to wipe the field. Sure other characters can do these things, but Haka fits that strange niche where the things he can do for others are very good and the things he can do for himself (damage, healing) are excellent. Personally, I see Haka and Eternal Haka as playing very similar, the only major difference that Eternal Haka might not be dealing damage early on in exchange for getting a good hand a little faster.
That being said, like I mentioned before, Haka has no way to Play or use Powers more than once on his turn, so any hero that can allow him to get the cards he wants on the field quickly or even use multiple powers is a great fit.
I wonder if Argent Adept could synergize well if I was using Eternal Haka and standard NightMist for maximizing their card drawing. AA might allow EH to use multiple powers (which would help given all the cards he'll have in hand), while also helping NM out with damage reduction, selective buffs, and some knowledge about her topdeck.
Or maybe phataskippy is right that Tempest would still outshine AA in this regard (it doesn't hurt that Tempest is also more damaging and less fragile).
If by "fragile" you mean "starts with more hp and can get permanent soak with that one ongoing card", bear in mind that the Adept can easily heal himself for much more than Tempest's maximum of two every turn with the right cards out - the Harp, the Horn, and the Bell can all activate Inspiring Supertonic's Accompany (healing the Adept for 2hp), and Rhapsody of Vigour can do another 1hp. I had a game last week where I healed from about 10hp up to full within a turn or two. As long as you're not getting totally pounded (or having your stuff destroyed), it's definitely possible for the Adept to sort of tank, because he can heal himself so well. Okay so you do need the right cards out, but at least the potential is there :).
More precisely, that it takes too much fun out of the game. Several entire villains simply can't function as long as Dark Visionary is in the game…she just Turmoils them into doing something irrelevant over and over and they never make any progress. Even with someone like Omnitron, who can power through the effect somewhat, it still takes so much wind out of their sails that they become utterly pathetic.
As a third (or fourth) on your team, Argent Adept vs Tempest is very situational. I love both heroes for very different reasons, most namely AA for the long combos he can rack up and all the out-of-turn playing/power/drawing he can provide his teammates. Tempest, on the other hand, is consistent and brutal in his damage and can make up for the lack of reliable damage from Nightmist (at least early on), TLT, and Eternal Haka. The only real similarity between the two is (a) team healing and (b) Reclaim from the Depths and Vernal Sonata that allow the team to salvage stuff from their trash (both which would aid Nightmist in getting a proper spell card on top of her deck).
Personally, I see no reason why they can't sub each other out depending on the villain/environment (obviously Tempest is not the ideal choice against The Dreamer).