Sensei Fixer

I know that proposed fixes to Mr. Fixer have been done to death, but this one came to me while thinking about Team Leader Tachyon.  The proposed Mr. Fixer is simply this:

Power:  Martial Instruction. Mr. Fixer deals one target one melee damage. Mr. Fixer may discard a card, if he does, one player may draw a card.
This isn’t mean to be a “balance” against TLT or any other character.  This is trying to capture the instructor that Mr. Fixer was, back in the day.  This still keeps him not completing with the Freedom Five’s best, but improves on the theme "Mr. Fixer makes everyone more effective."

To my knowledge, it would be the first time that a base power would do two things semi-concurrently. I see no reason other than thematic that powers – even base powers – should not.  Given that Mr. Fixer never gets an upgrade power, it doesn’t bother me in this case.

This resolves a couple issues with Mr. Fixer, he gets an improvement in team utility, there is a good reason to keep his hand from growing to crazy depth, and it sort-of becomes a search ability.

This is potentially re-opening a can of worms, but the board was a little too quiet this week anyway (at least for us non-playtest[redacted]s) :wink:

 

Not bad--definitely straight up better than Fixer as is, so you'd need a HP reduction if you're proposing this as an alternate card.

Also, this doesn't solve the Overdrive issue, in that Overdrive relies on Fixer using the "Strike" power.

I'm guessing the "Discard a card" effect is meant to compensate for that, but I definitely agree that it's no "Haka of Knowledge".

Yes it has been quiet on all forums aside from the playtester ones. Sadly the forums only really pick up when a new product is announced or when a product is being delivered. Here's to October! When two products will be released, the buzz will be crazy!

Well, let's do some high-jacking: here's my current idea for tweaking fixer.

> Strike

Power: You may play a card. Deal 1 target 1 melee damage

Thing is, I didn't like the other 2 're-mentioned' fixes for different reasons. The "discard a card, do 1 more damage" thing is in the 'converting cards to damage' area and for me treads into Haka/Bunker's territory type of mechanic/theme. I just don't dig the overlap, even if not big. The "1 extra damage if you change stance" just... dunno, doesn't fit thematically: hitting harder just because changing positions... *shrug*. Mechanically is either "sacrifice a good stance for extra damage this turn" or "just play a stance for +1 damage". In both cases what actually kills the varaint for me is that they just feel like a way to give Fixer a base power of 2 damage with some workaround to not make it look like that.

What I aimed to do with that power is linken Fixer to something closer to what's Tachyon style but on a different way: instead of dropping cards just because, it allows you to in 1 turn completly shift your stance/tool to adapt to the new situation. Early in the game it allows you to go into stance/tool (if you draw them) right off the bat. After that, it allows you some combos that are otherwise slow (or weaker) plays: Overdrive + Bloody Knuckles (+powerx2), Riveting Crane + B Knuckles (breaking reduction ASAP for the team), Jack Handle + Charge (+power), double Toolbox, etc. While getting Monkey Fist / Crowbars or Mantis / Pipe are still powerful stances which you might not want to leave ever, you still have strong plays outside of it. AND all of this while still maintaining the flavour that he is a low damage output hero.

The only thing I don't like this is that it makes Grease gun optimal play during the power phase (in that case, you don't get the 1 melee damage, no easy way to write it to avoid it though). Next turn you go S Yard, Grease gun again. This combo is still bonkers and you can play it on consecutive turns, still I don't think that actually puts him above the power curve compared to others.

 

I wrote some scattered lines of a way to analyze the cards for comparison (to some day write a guide, perish the thought though). Basically it's 1 damage = 1 point, 1 card = 1 point, (use of) 1 play = 2 points, (use of) 1 power = 2 points. Then doing the (proper) math for different powers and cards you can see how much points they pour into the game and have a straight forward way to compare different cards. For example, Galvanize (base power) does a variable amount, usually gives 3+ points into the game since your team ends up doing more than 3 attacks until your next turn and although they are doing the attacks, the points come from your ability. Pyre gives a static 2 points, when you 3 thanks to the staff, Pyre is doing 2 and staff adding 1. In any case, Legacy pours something like 4 points into the game per play/power and stays like that. Ra starts below that curve but ends up above. Fanatic starts even below but has crazy 10-20 point plays with the proper cards.

Anyway, this explanation goes to point out that Fixer (and Expat, in case) have a base power that is really low and their cards don't end up compensating for them. This also shows why passing your turn (which usually is something bad strategically, passing on 4 possible points (play/power) for 1 point (extra draw) is not bad/uncommon on this 2 characters, since their power is only 1 point instead of 2 (yes, I consider Expat's power a 1 point in that case). Aaand talking about this is really going on a tangent to make a constructive discussion impossible.

 

PS: my current (not original) idea for Expattriette is Load: Play a Card. If you do, draw a card. I read some one thought it broken. My test-runs with the deck and math tells me that makes her just fine in her role. So yes, in both cases I'm putting more points into the base power but in a way that makes the hero play better with their deck.

And to not make THAT much highjacking, my thoughts on sensei fixer is that I would almost always use the discard ability since most probably another hero will be able to get more out of my card than me. Also Toolbox would be my favourite card in my deck. I do think though that you were successful in going for Fixer the same style as TL Tachyon (which as briefly described above, is 3+ points worth it compared to the 1 point of regular Tachyon [were her deck does make up for it], you went for it without really adding points to the ability so kudos).

i have yet to play as Mr Fixer due to a lack of Rook City but from what I hear Fixer needs Fixing. Sensei Fixer soudns good in my opinion, and I could totally see him in a gi the same color as his Symbol.

Don't believe everything you read, not even on these forums (and especially if Christopher says it!).

I...actually really like this idea. might just try it out.

All half truths. Mr. Fixer is the one who fixes. Not the one who needs fixed. That is the essence of his deck.

People try and play him like a melee bruiser and get disapointend quickly. They come to the forums and suggest multiple changes. A lot of them give him +dmg. Go figure.  

 

Foote - I agree that, wihle it would be nice, Mr. Fixer doesn't need more damage potential.  Being able to turn everyone else's damage irreducible is huge. What I was trying to do was capture Mr. Fixer's more engaged days. 

Drakossozh – thanks!

PePe QuiCoSE - *whew* that’s a lot of hijacking.  That said, your points regarding Sensei are spot on.  He’s meant to be effectively handing his hand size to other heroes – he's passing on his knowledge.

One of the annoying things I see with Mr. Fixer is he tends to have a large hand with not much reason to use it.  The fix proposed in your post makes this issue a bit worse.  I was looking for a way decrease his hand while continuing to be helpful.

PlatinumWarlock – I hadn’t thought of the hit point reduction, but agree that it’s necessary.  Do you think 2 points would be about right?

The Overdrive issue is trivial to resolve, since SotM generally isn’t keyworded.  Change the power to the following:

Power:  Strike. Mr. Fixer deals one target one melee damage. Mr. Fixer may discard a card, if he does, one player may draw a card.

Or

Power:  Martial Instruction. Mr. Fixer deals one target one melee damage. Mr. Fixer may discard a card, if he does, one player may draw a card.  This power counts as “strike”.

While the first correction is more efficient with the language, the second captures the fluffy intent of the proposed power.  Do your prefer Hemmingway or Patrick O’Brian?

There are people who perfer Hemmingway?

Uhm… not following your point there. How is allowing Fixer to play more cards per turn make him have a large hand and not be able to use it? It does gives him more felxibilty to loop Toolbox, but then he'll have the plays to make use of those cards. His cards have a lot of synergy between them and being able to play them together makes for instant effect, instead of waiting a full turn to get them working. For example: a guy appears making all vialliain gain -1 damage taken (ie, Gene Bound Guard). Dropping Mantis + Pipe Wrench (which could be ruling hard) for Riveting Crane + Crowbars/Knuckles to make your team happy, and the following turn go back to Mantis/wrench is viable with the extra play. Without it you could probably just let the team deal with the DR for the turn, killing the guard and you keeping the strong stance.

It is true that if you keep a stance your hand will grow without immediate use. Keeping your options open IMO makes a more interesting situation. With Sensei Fixer, since I would have less cards in hand, I would be more incentivized to just keep a stance/tool for the villain of turn. I see your goal was to deal with the "give the big hand a use" issue, which you do but IMO stales his gameplay a bit more.

Where are you getting extra plays from? The proposed Sensei Fixer lets another hero draw a card, not play one. 

Sorry - I read this at about 1:30 a.m., to early for good thought or apparently cognition.  Play a card vs. draw a card.  Even then, Mr. Fixer more often than not has cards he really doesn't want to play in his hand because the combo in play is optimum. 

from my hijack-first-post in this thread =) (Strike | Power: You may Play a card. Deal 1 target 1 melee damage). Amnachaidh was cool enough to comment on it and I was asking why he thought what I quoted, while providing points on while I see the opposite.

Looking back into Sensei Fixer, I see makes Fixer closer in style to Legacy.

Mr.Fixer doesn't have carry damage, and his utility does not involve card destruction.  As such his "fixing" is limited and not suited for a lot of situations.

He's quite valuable in many fights, but it depends on him having the exact right combo of cards.

I hear him compared to Expat a lot, Expat is underpowered when she's expected to stand alone, but with boosts she's a great carry.  Fixer benefits from boosts, but he's never going to run with the big damage dealers.

If he was more of a carry, his utility would make him really great, or if you could reliably have the right cards, his utility would trump any extra damage another hero would do.

One of my favorite expiraments with him we allowed one extra tool or style in play, so you could have two tools and one style, or two styles and one tool, it made him really fun and powerful, probably too powerful (Jack handle/Tiger/Crane) the real strength was you could situationalize him without giving up a key combo.

Many times when we first take on a villain in advanced we hand pick a team we think is best suited to win the fight, and we've won about 80% of those.  Mr. Fixer ends up on most of those, he's a great compliment to a strong three-hero team.

I Love Fixer-Adept, playing Overdrive out of turn, or grease gun after you already took your turn is awesome.  Vis is great as well for Twist the ether, it's a free greasemonkey fist, although there is usually a better option for TtE.

Fixer just isn't a top teir Hero, and I'm starting to appreciate that these heroes exist in Sentinels, comic book universes need b-list heroes, that come in handy when their special set of skills is called for.  Fixer in that way seems a bit boring, your role in many fights is to get out the right combo and then keep using it while cycling grease gun effectively.  Sitting there with Hoist-chain/Tiger whacking Matriarch every turn isn't super fun, but it does make a huge difference, just like Jack Handle(or crowbars)/driving mantis is awesome vs. Plague Rat.

I think the best mod to Fixer might be to simply add "You may discard a card, if you do, draw one card" to strike.  That would let him burn his deck wicked fast without building up a huge hand, and decrease your chance of not having the exact card you need.  It would give a similar effect as the OP, but without making him a support.

Sensei Fixer inlcudes that option though. He can choose himself as the card drawer.

All heros utility isn't suited for a lot of situations. I was unaware that any utility that isn't +dmg or insta card destruction is worthless. Man have I been playing weird if thats the case. I coulda sworn Grease Gun and Mantis and Salvage Yard ect. were extremely useful utility abilities. Silly me.

A critisism that can be validly levied against any hero currently in the game. Blast those dang card games and their randomly shuffled decks!

 

Plus it's a team game - don't have what you need? That's okay - either someone else will be able to let you find it, or they'll be able to do the job themselves while you do something else. I would expect any hero to potentially be totally crap by themselves, since the point of the game is that they aren't by themselves. Yeah, Ra can nuke everything but if some nasty non-target Ongoing or Environment card comes out, there's nothing he can do about it if it doesn't have a destroy condition. Meanwhile the Adept can do a bit of everything…but if you're planning on spam-killing targets you'll have to settle in for a long game, assuming you survive it with your 24hp starting total…