I’m not sure how to play Absolute Zero. I understand he’s slow-going, but the return doesn’t seem that effective to me. I know that he’s not very straightforward. Anyone have any suggestions how I should play him? What order of cards are good are ideal for him to be a powerhouse of a Hero?
Thanks!
My guide is forthcoming. He will blow you away if he has assistance from the other heroes; specifically, if there are damage buffs out.
In general, once he’s set up, he’s got limitless healing, given time. This allows him to spend his hit points to tear the villain apart, using Thermal Shockwave. To be the most effective, he needs (of course) Isothermic Transducer and Null-Point Calibration Unit, as well as Focused Apertures. His one shots Frost-Bound Drain and especially Hoarfire are surprisingly flexible. They also boost the power of Coolant Blast, especially if the villain or environment or another hero has dealt Absolute Zero fire damage. The appeal of this is that fire damage dealt to Zero can be re-dealt twice - once when he shoots it out of the Isothermic Transducer, and again when he uses Coolant Blast.
Impale, Fueled Freeze, and Cold Snap are all generally useful cards that can amp the cold damage he deals for Thermal Shockwave if needed. Subzero Atmosphere can make villain cards much less dangerous. (See the subject with that title.)
On the whole, I don’t see the grand payoff for the setup he takes. But he’s fun sometimes.
I’m hoping we’ll get an alternate version of AZ sometime in the future that will make him a little more straight-forward to play. As it is, my gaming group takes his card out of the running before we even start deciding who to play.
Okay. Thanks for the update. It seems that his best with other Heroes. Some who work better than others. I 'm assuming that Ra and Legacy are good buddies to tag along with. But, lets say in a random set-up, can he fare well?
Well, more than anyone else, he suffers bad from full equipment loss, so against any villain or environment which tends to destroy equipment he doesn’t fare well.
While no other hero teamed up with him will negatively impact him, quite a few will not help him either, leaving him on his own.
it depends on who he’s with, and against.
You put him with Legacy, Visionary, and Ra against someone who does lots of damage like Spite or Plague Rat, and he dominates. Make him take lots of fire damage, and not only will he do that damage back with an extra buff, but when he uses Coolant Blast he’ll do all the damage AGAIN, basically doubling it and then some.
If I ever get working on MY guide again, AZ will be the first one I finish. I’m already halfway done with him.
No, he doesn’t need heroes to help him. He does fine on his own, if he’s allowed his stuff. (That can be a big if.) He just always appreciates help. He’ll always be happy to see Legacy, though. Ra is, in my experience, a little bit of a mixed blessing, as he is limited in playing and using some of his cards. (Imbued Fire and Flesh of the Sun God)
I didn’t say he NEEDED them. I said how well he does depends on who he’s with; He can do all right on his own, yes, but if you put him with multiple buffs and constant sources of fire damage he’s a juggernaut.
Ra with Imbue Fire can be bad, unless you have Visionary there to give AZ Twist the Ether.
It looks like you’re responding to me here? I wasn’t responding to you, but to the following message, for clarity’s sake.
Yeah, I personally don’t play him a lot because I feel that he’s gimmicky. If you pull the right tricks out of your hat he can seriously be game-winning. Most especially with Visionary. However, I rarely see him preform with out some major aid from other heroes (IE, personally I dont feel like he does well on his own, or on random teams… unless of course your random team happens to include Visionary or Legacy).
Since I tend to play with random or at least semi-random teams, I tend to see him as more of a liability than a boon. I too would appreciate a more straightforward promo card. Something he can do that would make him useful without the need for all his stuff. Maybe just a straight “AZ deals 1 non-hero target 3 cold damage.” would be just perfect.
Edit: I’m adding here that another reason I think the above alternate power is good is because in addition to getting screwed when he loses his stuff -which is a problem he shares with Bunker and to a lesser extent Wraith and Expatriette-, he ALSO gets screwed whenever something changes damage type. Wraith, Bunker, and Expatriette dont have that issue, and in fact, often times prefer the bonus damage that usually comes along with it. Damage-changing from Ra can be avoided largely by Ra not playing Imube Fire -although its one of his best cards-. So thats annoying, but not devestating. What is devestating is like… cramped quarters combat, or there is one that changes all damage to Toxic and increases it by 1, I cant recall the name of that environment card right now. A base power that deals damage to an enemy would be very nice to have in those situations.