Some of the best moments in SotM is when the cards just seem to keep coming, everything lines up, and you nuke the enemy into oblivion. This got me thinking: what is the absolute maximum damage a character can deal to any given generic opponent without help from anybody else? This is the result.
I simulated the conditions as follows:
No help from teammates. Any increase in damage must come from themselves, not teammates or the environment, or even the Nemesis Bonus.
The villain may oblige by hitting or damaging the hero as the case may be, but the damage type will be nonspecific (I'm looking at you, AZ), as well the amount of damage itself.
I counted damage dealt to only ONE villain target. No minions, just the big bad. I also didn't count damage dealt to self.
I used only the base card, no alternate arts, for simplicity's sake.
I, of course, recognize that some heroes are not meant to deal damage, but I included them in the experiment anyway, just for fun. I am also, of course, only human, so any comments, suggestions, or changes are welcome :) If you will notice, I don't have any of the ST or Promo heroes, so I couldn't do this for them. Anyone who has them is welcome to do it. Additions are awesome!
Here we go!
Haka: 41
Haka of Battle for 39 cards, then Crush.
Legacy: 11
Insipiring Presence and Surge of Strength give +2. Back-Fist Strike for 6, then Galvanize (another +1) and Motivational Charge (via Legacy Ring) for another 5.
Ra: 33
2 Solar Flares, The Staff of Ra and Imbued Fire collectively give Ra +6 damage. The opponent hits him duirng his turn for some reason, is dealt 8 damage via Flame Barrier. Play Flame Spike, hitting for 7. Use Blazing Tornado for 9, then use The Staff of Ra for another 9.
Tempest: 24
Gene-Bound Shackles gives him +2 to the highest HP Villain target (for our purposes, this is the case for our one target). Electrical Storm will hit for 3, then Vicious Cyclone will hit thrice (three cards discarded) for a total of 9. Lightning Slash will hit for 7, then Localized Hurricane will hit for 5.
The Wraith: 30
Again, pretty simple. All possible equipment is put down (total: 14), then Inventory Barrage for 28. Opponent somehow hits her on her turn for an extra 2 from Combat Stance.
Fanatic: 41
Fanatic starts with Divine Focus for 2, letting it reduce her life down to 1. Play Wrathful Retribution for 29. Due to two Embolden's on her, she may use a total of three powers on her turn. Exorcism (2), Absolution (3), and Sacrosanct Martyr (5) work for 10, with an Aegis resurrecting her from suicide via SM.
Bunker: 79
OMNICANNON. 38 cards underneath it. Play External Combustion for 3, then Omnicannon for 76.
Expatriette: 21
Unload. Tactical Shotgun with Hollow Points for 6. Assault Rifle with Shock Rounds for 2 and 1. Submachine Gun and Shock Rounds for 1 and 1. Pride with Hollow Points and Incendiary Rounds for 5, and then Prejudice with Incendiary Rounds for 3. Then Load RPG Launcher for another 2.
Mr. Fixer: 9
Harmony, Pipe Wrench, Grease Monkey Fist in play (+3). Play Charge for 5, then Strike for 4.
Tachyon: 74
Start with HUD Goggles and Pushing the Limits (3 card plays). Play two Lightning Reflexes for a total of 5 card plays. Play two Supersonic Responses (where the villain had hit Tachyon since the last turn) for 8 damage. 3 Lightspeed Barrages for 22 each.
The Visionary: 8
2 Twisting the Ethers on The Visionary. Demoralization hits for 3. Mind Spike hits for a further 5.
Absolute Zero: 39
(Oh God, this made my head hurt) Start with Isothermic Transducer, and Focused Apertures. Two Impales and a Cold Snap out will deal 8 cold. Frost-Bound Drain for 4 cold, then three fire to himself. IT kicks in, hits enemy for another 4 cold. Thermal Shockwave hits enemy for 2 cold, hits AZ for two cold, then hits AZ for twenty fire. IT kicks in again to hit enemy for 21 cold.
Argent Adept: ...negligible.
Sorry, my head hurt too much. Too many fiddly stuff. Suffice it to say, he does very little for a lot of effort. if anyone wants to work this out, then please do so and I will update here.
Nightmight: 26
Start with Amulet of the Elder Gods and Elder Ring. Heedless Lash(1) played, reveals HL(3): 4 damage to enemy, redirect 4 to self to enemy via Amulet. Play HL(3), reveal another HL(2). 3 to enemy, three to self. Play revealed HL(2), Oblivion(4). 5 to enemy, five to self. Play Oblivion(4), reveal two (4)s. 5 to all, 5 to enemy.
Special Case: Haka has Savage Mana, which lets him eat his opponents. This constitutes one of his best attacks, so I thought I'd include it here, although it involves significant Villain interaction. I chose the decks with the most targets in them.
Haka: 103
Haka of Battle for 38 cards, then Savage Mana with 20 Villain cards (courtesy of Matriarch) and 12 Environment cards (courtesy of Final Wasteland) will yield 32 cards for 64 damage.
Haka also gets a special note in that he has the potential for *infinite* damage (As noted by BlueHairedMeerkat), since he can keep racking up the Hakas of Battle to no end. Another note, as raised by Jimmy The Rat, is that, if we extend this to two turn plays, you can Haka of Battle on one turn, then Rampage on the next for even greater glory!