Why I Love Mr Fixer

Based on what I've seen on the forums, there seems to be a lot of negativity that gets pushed Mr. Fixer's way, and I think it's pretty unwarnted...while not a flashy character to play, in our play group Mr. Fixer snatches victory from the jaws of defeat time and time again.

 

When I first started playing Fixer, I like most people on the forums, thought that he was just a subpar damage dealer with a deck that let you customize how you wanted  to deal damage..however the reality is very different: his job is to constantly shift to do whatever you need at any given moment in time (which is unsuprising given his name).

 

Have a lot of mid tier damage dealers going against mid tier damage reduction?: use tools/bloodly knuckles to remove damage resistance for the group.

Are you the primary damage dealer against someone with insane resistances?: ignore the resistance yourself and punch through

Feeling overwhelmed? Grease Gun can synergize with so many different cards (and wounded heroes) to perpetually lock out damage until you can chip a victory

 

When playing Fixer its not about a simple routine you always do: (Haka smash/draw cards, Legacy galvanize/draw fire, etc) if you find a tool/style combo you like and stick with it the whole game you'll probably lose...you have to be willing to change with the board, swapping tools and styles with frequency. 

he can fill any hole  He can outlast his team mates. he can damage any enemy.  he can prevent all damage.

the guy is a total rockstar.

illustrated example:

Last night advanced Spite got all five drugs out before hero turn 3.  we thought we were dead.  by hero turn 4 spite mathmatically had no chance of winning.  what was the difference?

Grease Gun.

When grease gun is in play non-hero targets deal no damage.  at the start of your turn you destroy grease gun.

unfortunatlely for Spite he bounces equipment back to peoples hands.  as a result, Fixer was able to perpetually lock out spite dealing damage.  Yes because of board position, 2 heroes were vulnerable to his retalitory strikes until Fixer could reapply the grease gun, but it was literally impossible for wraith (who went after fixer) to take damage for the rest of the game...he got wrecked in record time.

 

Right on for the Fixer love. :)

Hate to be the bearer of bad news again, but! The ongoing gets bounced back on the start of the villian turn from Upsilon. So his other Drugs and even his written power will still do damage. The only thing it will protect is when he deals damage when someone used a power. A card that is really good to bounce back and forth though with Fixer is Bloody Knuckles!

excellent point!  That being said, the real badness that needs to be avoided with spite is the using powers to take 3 damage (4 on poor wraith), because you're taxed for doing anything...there's lots of passive management to counter the 2 damage dealt 3 times, so i would greasegun spite every day of the week and twice on sunday.

I like Fixer.  He has a great premise and interesting mechanics.  However, how do you propose that he get the Tool he needs for the right job when he needs it?  I have noticed too many times that I have a Tire Iron or a Hoist Chain and I am in DESPERATE need of the Dual Crowbars or the Jack Handle.  I don't think Fixer is a bad character, I just don't understand why the guy only has Toolbox for card acceleration and no search cards for Tools.  He (along with Expatriette, who can only search for The Bronte Sisters or pick one of the first two Equipment she reveals from her deck) have no cards that search for Equipment.  Legacy only has the Legacy Ring, which is mostly a "win-more" card anyway with Galvanize.  Tempest only has the Gene-Bound Shackles (again, win-more), and his Elemental Subwave Inducer, but he also has multiple forms of card draw.  Haka has excellent ability to draw cards and rarely lacks the card he needs at any given moment.  Absolute Zero can search for his Modules, Wraith can search for ANY equipment card and play another, Tachyon has enough card accelleration to access her HUD Goggles early on, Bunker's innate power allows him card draw as well as his APS (though I often find myself missing the card that I need with him in a match, as well), Fanatic has a few cards that allow her to draw more cards to find Absolution or her Aegis, Ra can summon Staff (which also allows him to draw a card) or use Living Conflagration and Horus can Sunrise,  Nightmist has INSANE card draw AND Call Forth, Argent Adept has Instrumental Conjuration (which even lets him draw a card after that) and multiple cards and songs that allow for drawing even more cards, and Unity has Brainstorm, Swiftbot, and Supply Crate.  I've been quite impressed with the construction of all of the ST heroes as well.
Fixer is dope, but this whole "He's just a right-tool-for-the-right-moment" argument really confuses me.  How does he have the right Tool for the right job?  Are people just getting lucky draws every game?  Because my group has had so many matches where Fixer was rummaging through his deck for five or six rounds without coming across the Tool he needs to save the day.  When he does, HO BOY!!!  That guy is a force to be reckoned with.  I just don't understand why he (and Expatriette, and Bunker to a lesser extent) have such a limited means of getting what they need when they need it.

I don't have those "thank goodness Fixer had a Grease Gun at the right moment!" games as much as I would like.  I get those with Wraith and her Infrared Eyepiece/Razor Ordinance-Micro Targeting Computer-Utility Belt-Throwing Knives/dual Stun-Bolt/anything-else-crazy-awesome-that-she-does or Nightmist when she sets up to tank with her Amulet or Necklace, but not as much with Fixer.  I mainly experience "Grease Gun!?  The card I could have used four turns ago?  Awesome..." matches with my group.

I totally understand what you're saying, and undoubtably luck DOES play some part in it...however I think there are some really solid ways to mitigate that:

1: tool box is a great card draw item because it recurs...you can drop it multiple rounds in a row for quick acceleration

2: since his default power is 1 damage, i have no qualms not playing cards/power to draw 2 to get the style/tool I need in the moment as opposed to playing something just to have it out

3: Praying manits style is a great stall card to buy time until you have what you need

while its basically impossible (save for scrapyard) to pull the tool you NEED at a whim, with every tool you draw you have another option at your disposal since they always bounce back to your hand..its hard for the villain deck to eliminate all your options

is it bulletproof?  nope.  does he crack the holy trinity of Legacy/Tachion/Visionary?  nope.  Is he way way better than people give him credit for? absolutely.

 

I can definitely agree that people can blow off all of the good that Fixer can bring to the table.  I just don't get why Rook City heroes (from a mechanical standpoint) have no concrete method to get exactly what they need when they need it!

Though your Spite example is wrong in principle, the exact situation you describe does have the makings of an almost-total lock.  Fixer plays Grease Gun.  Then Wraith double Stun-Bolts Spite, taking no damage from using powers.  Then Fixer returns Grease Gun, but Spite can't really hurt anybody, having been double Stun-Bolted.  Well, he can still hurt Wraith (nemesis).  And he can hurt the first two characters for 1 if they use a power.  But still, some solid synergy.

Well, Legacy has no cards allowing him to find the Ongoings he may need - and ongoings are the "tools" of Legacy. In fact, he doesn't have many card draw. And no trash recuperation at all. You often have to do with what you get. While Mr Fixer has Toolbox for card draw, Meditation for ongoing retrival, the Scrapyard... Of course it is not Impromptu Invention, but nothing matches Impromptu Invention.

Most heroes are limited in what they can get "at will" from their deck. Wraith is an exception - she is the one with the billion dollars of ressources and a gift for hair blower reconfiguration. And the beautiful eyes.

Mr Fixer does what all heroes must do : improvize with the cards he had the luck to draw. Again, even Legacy must do with card draw, and has far less ability to get more cards than Fixy. But no one seems to complain about having problems getting Next Evolution when it would be useful - or Lead from the Front, or Danger Sense, or any other "tool" in Legacy's deck. I don't know how it turns out for you, but whenever I play Legacy, it seems the cards I desperatly need are at the bottom of the deck.

Anyway - happy to see Mr Fixer has fans ! He is one of my favorites, with Haka and Absolute Zero.

Legacy is a poor comparison.  Legacy does not have much card draw, true, but I have never had problems getting what he needs.  That's mostly because he doesn't need anything.  The strength of his contribution is not based on him having a bunch of stuff.  Each of his plays is individually strong.

"Legacy uses Galvanize."

That alone does so much for the table that most of the time anything else is a bonus, not a necessity.

"Fixer uses an unmodified (or poorly modified) Strike"

That rarely does much for the table at all.

Legacy never needs a set up to function.  His cards just make him cooler than he already is.  Whether you're dealing massive damage, immune to the environment, buffing everyone, healing everyone, or making everyone draw cards, it's never "I just need his Lead From the Front card and then I can start having fun playing Legacy!"  Legacy's effects are just cool.  And Bolster Allies and Thokk! both give him some extra cards in case he REALLY needs that Take Down.  Or he could just punch something.  Or become immune to it.  Or boost his teammates.  Really, any choice is quite good in a variety of situations.

This is a good comparison, though.  Legacy and Fixer both just use what they get.  The difference is that the "Fixer uses whatever Tool he needs for the job" argument is ripped apart.  When Legacy just uses what he gets, he buffs the team and something more.  When Fixer just uses what he gets, he's throwing a Tire Iron at Spite while repeatedly hoping to find a Meditation, Style, or Tool for the job with a Toolbox.  If Fixer is like Legacy, why not have a deck filled with cards that are useful for most any given situation?  Buffs, DR, life regain, damage redirection, damage immunity, and just plain damage are useful in almost any situation.  Tire Iron, Alternating Tiger, Riveting Crane, and Driving Mantis are for very specialized situations.  In those situations, they are quite valuable (when he has them when he needs them, of course).  But for such a specialized deck, I would've thought that the ability to search for that specialization would be part of the design.

Wraith is a utility character.  Deck manipulation?  Damage?  Damage reduction?  Damage redirection?  She's your girl.  Just say the word and she'll get to it.  Trust Fund, Grappling Hook, and Infrared Eyepiece all speed up her draw, and multiple copies of each of her Equipment cards (as well as her healthy supply of Impromptu Inventions) allow for her to get what she needs when she needs it.  Fixer, while being an interesting character with useful effects, doesn't get what he needs when he needs it.  He sometimes gets what he needs and cannot guarantee it will be when he needs it.  Even without the comparison to Wraith, Fixer doesn't really scream utility.  He screams "Up for a challenge?  Try your luck.  Maybe you'll get what you need, and maybe you'll sit in the corner drawing cards all game."  Those good games with him where he has what he needs?  They're an absolute BLAST!  But he doesn't bring the consistency that other characters bring to the table as far as efficacy and overall contribution goes.

One thing to consider when comparing Legacy and Fixer is Legacy relies on others for his Galvanize to be good, correct? So you could say the same thing about Fixer's strike. The mind set is that Legacy increases damage which is generally a fairly awesome thing, but what if teamed up with with a few heroes who are not able to deal damage right off the bat? In that situation Galvanize probably will end up only doing 1 extra point of damage to 1 target, it's not any better than Strike at that point. Granted if there is reduction is invovled than sure it's slightly better, but the point is they both rely on others to make their innate useful in the beginning. Sure Legacy doesn't run into the lack of damage dealing heroes too often as most heroes are actaully of damage dealing nature.

 

I for one am perfectly fine Fixer not having any search cards for him equipment cards, as that would lower the amount of other cards he has and what would we want to get rid of? Toolbox is fine by me, after all it allows him to move into his deck a lot faster than normal. If it was just a search card for tools than what will he play on his turns when he doesn't want to replace a tool or a style? It allows him to get into his deck and get any card faster. Having search cards are nice, but why have a search card for every single hero? Where's the difficulty in that if half your deck gives you ways to get something into play? Absolute Zero has a search card, but oddly there are just as many people complaing about him as there are Fixer, so if Fixer did have one for tools who says they still wouldn't find something to complain about him? Also if he did then his tools probably wouldn't go back to hand when playing another tool, and honestly that would lock him into the same style and tool everyone round unless he happened to have a Salvage Yard he's saving to retrieve them.

 

Now on the topic of Salvage Yard, that is probably one of the best supporting cards in the game. Devasting Aurora, Technological Singularity, Pervasive Red Dust, Devious Disruption, Mass Overheating, Pterodactyl Thief, or some other card destroyed all of Wraith's, NightMist's, Haka's, Expatriette's, Bunker's, Argent Adept's, or/and Absolute Zero's equipment? Have no fear Salvage Yard brings it all back into your hand, plus the added bonus of using Overdrive for at least a total of 2 points of damage. Now sure it may not be much, but have you even had a game that ended with the villian at less than 5 health? I know I have and it is just awful. Then Grease Gun will help prevent a lot of damage if can be used at the right time, saving the heroes from a mass beating from Gene-Bound minions, danagerous band of Citizens, and even a bunch of backlash damage from the death of a lot of fowls.

 

Finally Fixer may take a little to set-up but his damage is able to by pass a lot of other heroes damages or at least equal it.

 

  • Grease Monkey Fist and Dual Crowbars  = Taiha, infact he can choose the type so can get passed immunites to certain types of attacks or take advantage of increases to certain damage *cough*leaking room*cough*
  • Grease Monkey Fist and Jack Handle = Grevious Hailstorm, plus still taking advantage of the lovely type changing.
  • Driving Mantis and Pipe Wrench = Synaptic Interuption, plus it is nice for heroes to bounce attacks off of to deal more damage to a single target.
  • Driving Mantis and Dual Crowbars = Pride and Prejudice, if it is a single target in play he can bounce his second hit off himself to hit that target.
  • Driving Mantis and Hoist Chain = Stun Bolt and... Not sure, it may not kill much but he can't get hit with the first attack that is 2 or less and he can reduce damage dealt by a target by 1.
  • Altering Tiger Claw and Tire Iron = Wrathful Gaze/Sucker Punch and nothing else as other heroes can't deal consistant Irreducible damage. Very helpful against pesky reduction!
  • Riveting Crane and Dual Crowbars/Pipe Wrench = Once again nothing does what this style does, but the only draw back is he has to hit the target to do anything about it.

 

Most cases it takes an additional card to pull off, but it also features a secondary effect that adds that much more to the attack. Now I would type up the uses for every combination, but sadly I don't feel like sitting here and typing a "How to" on Mr. Fixer.

 

On a final note, the comment about Fixer using the right tool for whatever job, sure he can't do it every turn, but he will be able to do it at some point.

 

One more thing, as I forget to mention it in my entire post is Fixer isn't really a main damage dealer, sure he can do it if need be, but he is perfectly content being minion control. Not to mention an awesome power all heroes have is to not play or use a power to draw an additional power. So if 1 damage is not good enough and you truly don't have a style or tool you want to use than hopefully drawing 2 will pull you in the right direction.

Most of these combinations require either Grease Monkey, Dual Crowbars, or Pipe Wrench, all of which increase Fixer's damage by 1. For most of Fixer's combinations to be really effective, he seems to need a damage boost, and unless you play every game with him in a team with Ra and/or Legacy he can be subpar if he doesn't draw one of those cards. Drawing three cards with Toolbox is okay, but I don't think allowing it to help you get a tool would mean you would have to get rid of the returning a tool to your hand mechanic, especially if you make it like Arsenal Access, and just allow it reveal cards until you find a tool and put it into your hand and shuffle the other revealed cards into your trash. Giving Toolbox a search function would not take away from any of his other cards, you would just have an increased chance of getting the tool you need which would make all of your one shots more effective.

I began comparing Legacy and Mr Fixer because Reckless first did it in his post, by suggesting Fixer needed cards for gaining his tools, while Legacy, having only his ring, did not need them - reason why I suggested it would be better to compare with the ability of Legacy to find his ongoings.

As for the fact that Legacy's cards are always good, I don't agree. There are games where you want Legacy to have Lead from the front and Fortitude, but you can't find them, and have to use Danger Sense and damage cards, because that's all you have. Even if the Environment is not a danger. Of course he still does something with these cards - but it is the same for Mr Fixer or anyone else : if you don't have the "right "card, you still can do something. No one complains when Legacy doesn't manage to get the wanted combo out, but it seems players think Fixer is no good unless he has the needed combo out...

Does Fixer always have the right tool for the job ? Of course not. Just like Legacy may not have Next Evolution and Lead from the Front when you would like it. But both have these tools in their deck - and Mr Fixer has more ways to finally find them than Legacy.

I think the problem many players have with Mr F is that his role in the team is not obvious. He seems to be a damage dealer, at first glance, but in fact is not. His main job is to let other heroes fight at maximum efficiency by disposing of damage reduction, either by killing "guards" or bypassing other damage reduction cards. Even Tire Iron and Bloody Knucles are meant to bypass the damage reduction of targets like Voss bodyguards, and destroy them, allowing his team mates to concentrate their "better" damaging powers on high HP targets.

He is, in many ways, a support character, who can also act as a damage dealer if needed.

Maybe I should compare him with the Visionary. She is seen as a very good "deck controller" - but for this she needs to find the good cards and have them at the right time. There are many games where she does not have the opportunity to control the villain's deck, and needs to do something else -often damaging targets, or becoming the team's tank with her cocoon. Or spending a few turns drawing cards. Even if what the team needs, and the reason she was invited in the team, is her deck control abilities. But she is still seen has "the" deck controller.

 

 

I think the difference is that Legacy's cards whereas they aren't always the most useful, are still mostly at least a little useful, some of Fixer's cards by themselves are kind of useless. Take Riveting Crane. Being able to make all damage against a target be irreducible is pretty awesome, but the only time it would really be useful is against a target with DR. Mr. Fixer's base damage is only 1, and so if he doesn't have anything to increase his damage, then that ability is completely useless. It's true that Lead from the Front, and Next Evolution aren't always the most useful cards to have, but you always have the chance to at least use them to some effect, and in the situations they should be useful, they are. Fixer seems to have more cards that he can't use at all unless the stars are perfectly aligned, and I think this is what frustrates people about Mr. Fixer.

Alright, I made the mistake using too many Crowbars and Pipe Wrench's in my post. Grease Monkey Fist on the other hand does infact have a search card and isn't really up for debate as Tools are the primirary target.

 

  • Altering Tiger Claw and Jack Handle are excellent together if someone like Anvil is out giving reduction to multiple targets.
  • Driving Mantis and Tire Iron are fun as he may not be dealing a lot of damage but redirection does help weaken minions and once they are down to 3 he can instantly kill them.

 

I could continue if I really wanted to list off all awesomeness of not using increased damage. More often than not his Tools tend to always have a use for them in any situation, will it be the best? Not likely, but they all help in some way.  Jack Handle and Tire Iron may be the only Tools that lose effectiveness depending what's on the field. Like Spite who destroys all Evironment cards anyhow, Fixer won't be in a situation where he needs to hit more than one or destroy them easier when they hit 2 or less health. Though there is Harmony, so if those are your only two equipment then why not go ahead and play them as it's not like you can't easily replace them.

 

Can Mr. Fixer take a bit to get going, yes he does. Compare him to Absolute Zero, Bunker, Tachyon, and NightMist. All insanely great heroes, but if you're not getting the right cards at the right time then they aren't really helping. Give Fixer enough time and he is destroying space ships with tire irons and punching demons with a fist radianting holy light. Imagine how easy the game would be if everyone could do their maximum potentional at turn one.

Riveting Crane is one card I find to be incredibly disappointing.  In order for it to even work, you need another effect to buff Fixer's damage.  Without one of his damage buffing Tools, Galvanize, Imbue Fire, or Strike, its effect doesn't apply.  Which, yet again, leads to my disappointment with his inability to search his deck for Tool cards.  He has a Style that relies on him having either a Pipe Wrench or Dual Crowbars (or worse, one of his other Tool and Harmony:  THREE cards to make one card work).  That kind of sucks for the whole "versatility" argument for Fixer.

Fixer won't always have an opponent with DR, but Legacy will always have an Environment to be immune to.  Fixer won't always have a target with two or fewer HP to destroy, but Legacy will always have damage he can redirect away from his teammates.  Fixer won't always have multiple targets for AoE, but Legacy will always be able to become immune to a damage type the opponent is throwing.  Whether it is the best option or not is irrelevant.  Legacy's cards apply to more situations more often than most any of Mister Fixer's Tools or Styles.  Legacy works with what he has, and Fixer burns through his deck trying to find the one thing he needs to make things work.

I get the utility of this character.  I understand that he is useful in certain situations with certain cards.  What I don't understand is why a character that has such a specific design to his support style and needs such a specific set of cards to deal with each of these particularly difficult situations has such a high chance of showing up late to the party.  Jack Handle and Alternating Tiger is awesome.  It's so useful against hordes of minions with a Gene-Bound Guard or two.  With every other character that needs something to function on a basic level against a threat, they have the means to draw what they need or search for it.  Why is it that Fixer gets screwed when his Jack Handles are on the bottom of his deck and the heroes are counting on him to clear the field?  Is it really ok that a hero as cool as him just has to deal?  H.R. "Slim" Walker seems way too resourceful to have something like that shut down his playstyle.

Jeebus, did this have to turn into another topic where people point out all the things they don't like about Mr. Fixer?  We have lots (and lots) of those.  This was supposed to be a place where people who actually like him could say their peace. :)

Are you implying that a perspective on Mister Fixer that involves negative criticism means the poster doesn't like him?