pssh. Please. Harp + Supertonic (plus other powers too! Bonus!) every turn and you'll have the highest before you know it.
Bunker. I never get any of his good cards, which is a very small set, IMO. Oh, nice, I get an EQ that can heal me 2 hp. Meanwhile, Tempest is healing everyone 2. Or AA is healing 5 people 1. Or OX is healing 3 people 1. Oh, I get to deal almost no damage, but I can draw an extra card. Pffft. Or he works and he's boring.
Fanatic is another one I just don't grok. Occasionally she's useful, but I get Holy Nova when my teammates are stacked. Or, the villains are all damage taken -1 while I can't get Absolution. Just too many cards only helpful in limited situations and they never seem to match the actual game situation, for me.
I'm also not fond of the Visionary. Too often I'm stuck seeing almost the same card(s) as option(s) to put on top/bottom. Or she gets going too late and putting things on the bottom only delays them one or two turns and makes those turns extra-brutal.
Overall, I prefer dealing damage, I guess.
Arathorn
I forgot I have real trouble with Absolute Zero. My draws are usually:
Get the card that lets me get modules from the trash instead of the one that gets it from the deck and maybe one module (and then duplicates for most of the game)
Get both modules early on, then the next 10 cards all allow me to get those two modules or are copies.
If I see a Cryo chamber or the amplifier card, I am really lucky.
Legacy bores the hell out of me. I've only ever played him in solitaire mode; I wouldn't dare run him as my only hero in a game, because my turns would all just be "play Fortitude, make everyone else awesome, pass; play Superhuman Durability, make everyone else awesome, pass; play Surge of Strength which will never do anything for me, pass; take 3 damage so everyone else is immune, then make myself immune to something with Next Evolution so I don't instantly die, then Take Down so the villain doesn't kill us all, oh wait did we already win, cool I guess". Very useful to everyone else, but very dull to me. Legs is obviously made for the benefit of the kind of player whose definition of "fun" is "something all my buddies are having and I'm just glad to be included". Not being that player, he's easily my least favorite by far of the guys I've played so far. (Young Legacy might be somewhat more fun, but is still stuck with a rather substandard deck IMO.)
I also have a fair degree of dissatisfaction with Haka. The Taiaha is too good not to use, but very boring once it's out. The Hakas all call for me to discard cards, which I generally don't like doing, and don't provide very compelling bonuses in exchange for all those cards (Haka of Restoration in particular is a really poor rate of return). And I have an unfortunate history with Punish the Weak; my first game with him, against Warlord Voss, it seemed like a great idea to be able to Crush those minions as fast as they came out...but then I got the Taiaha, no longer needed the bonus, and couldn't spare a turn's Power to get rid of PtW, so it just made my second Taiaha bonk on Voss weaker, with no tangible benefit anymore. Since then, I've never wanted to play PtW, and Dominion is also not the most compelling card, since half the time the Environment isn't a big enough factor to make it worth your card play. The only one of Haka's cards I really DO like is Savage Mana, which was hugely instrumental in the Voss game and looks equally powerful against nearly all of the really strong villains (and Omnitron who isn't so much), such as the Chairman, the Matriarch, and Citizen Dawn. (Disclaimer; I don't so much know about Iron Legacy.)
Wraith frustrated me a little in my very first game, but I think I'm basically over it; she now bores me a little but doesn't really bother me. Argent Adept is likely to frustrate me, but I haven't tried him yet so I don't know for sure. Bunker is probably the character who frustrates me the most out of those I actually willingly play; he always has more options than he can use, I almost never get to use his innate Power, and having to choose among Modes is often a nuisance. I want to play more cards, use more Powers, AND draw more cards, not give up two of those options to slightly improve the third. It can be awesome when it works, but it seems most of the time I'm just not there.
Oh, and Expat gets the final "argh" from me, just because she has the innate Power that I wish EVERY character had, and on her it's pathetic because half her cards are one-shot Ammo that you don't really need because your guns are effective enough on their own. I haven't given up on her by any means, but she's a bit lacking IMO. It's just a pet peeve that nobody else gets the Power to play extra cards, when it's kind of wasted on her.
Envisioner your posts are great.
You seem frustrated when you can't get a hero set up, but once you do they bore you.
My friends who play Legacy are poor at strategy but want to be important in the game, they just don't want it to be hard to be valuable.
It takes a while to get that "I want to have this hero do everything they can" thing out of your system. The problem is when they really get set up like that, the match either ends right away or it is just boring cause there is nothing more for you to do.
The fun for me is trying to fit what I have in my hand into what is going on in the fight, probably why I like Fanatic and Expat and Visionary so much, they can fit so many situations, but they rarely outshine other heroes. Visionary especially, with her you have to be aware of what everyone else is doing, who needs a card to play, when you need to stack the deck, and waht combos are available with what cards and heroes.
Have you tried Tachyon much? She is great for not requiring too much setup, having lots of versatility and being able to throw down some great damage.
Fun fact: Dominion is not limited, and a lot of environment cards destroy themselves. So often this leads to drawing an extra 2 or 3 cards each round without any -- or much -- extra effort. Also, Mere > Taiaha. The extra card draw is really helpful. Another thing Punish the Weak is good for is using Rampage; it lowers the damage dealt to HEROES by 1 as well, and since you can choose the order you hit the targets in, you can kill the villain target with the lowest, then damage another -- which is then the target with the lowest -- and kill it, then damage another -- which is then the lowest -- and kill it, wiping out ALL the targets all the way up to the villain. Which does a LOT of good if you have Savage Mana out.
Rampage auto kills targets when Punish the Weak is in play? Where does it say that?
I can't tell whether you're being sarcastic. If not, "thanks". If so, "shrug; I'm a complex fellow".
You seem frustrated when you can't get a hero set up, but once you do they bore you.
Kinda yeah. My favorite characters so far have been Absolute Zero, Tachyon, Visionary, and if I don't mind being a little bored, Ra. (It helps that I'm a HUGE fan of Egyptian flavor.) Tachyon is just tons of fun because she lets you play so many extra cards, and doesn't rely on an always-the-same Power to deal her damage. Bunker plays somewhat similarly to Zero, but is just somehow less satisfying about it; I wish Zero had more than two Modules to choose from, but overall I find him quite satisfying. Visi is kind of a support character, but much more fun about it than Legs IMO. And Ra is painfully straightforward, but just tons of fun. I've only played one game as Mr. Fixer but he seems to have promise as well, and I'm looking forward to trying out Nightmist and Unity.
It takes a while to get that "I want to have this hero do everything they can" thing out of your system. The problem is when they really get set up like that, the match either ends right away or it is just boring cause there is nothing more for you to do.
The game is most fun when both the hero and villain teams are firing on all cylinders. It's awesome when you get the chance to take your game Up to Eleven; it's even more awesome when you need to do exactly that.
Visionary especially, with her you have to be aware of what everyone else is doing, who needs a card to play, when you need to stack the deck, and waht combos are available with what cards and heroes.
It came up a while back that there's some question about how far you should be able to go in communicating with other players. Is it considered "kosher" to show them the cards in your hand? Somebody I spoke to seemed to think that was going too far. I mean, it is a co-op game, and you can always SAY you have a card in your hand, and there's no good reason to lie about it, but…meh, I'm probably overthinking this. (Occupational hazard.)
Have you tried Tachyon much?
Love at first sight. :D I'm actually forcibly taking a little break from her so as not to completely burn out. She was my favorite character until I tried Absolute Zero, and might remain a favorite character longer than he does, since he does contain the potential to have a frustratingly bad draw.
no, but it's dealing 6 melee damage to the non-hero target with the lowest HP. It's highly likely that it will kill it. Especially since the example given earlier was Voss. Even with the guards out AND on advanced mode, a PtW-buffed rampage will wipe out all of the minions and hit Voss for 5.
You can be as cooperative as you like in the game, it is not against the rules to share your entire hand to your allies in the least. Infact it's best if everyone knows some of the cards in players hands. That way someone may spot an awesome combo that would of been missed if people kept to themselves.
If you are newer to the game, or are playing with less experiened players I'd suggest laying your cards out on the table. If people resist tel ling each other what to play it is a great way to learn to interact with the other heroes. We started playing that way, and it has stuck for most people I play with. It also makes it easier to sort your cards if you are playing Haka, Bunker, Nightmist or Tempest, or if you have a TLT. It also works great for players like Adept and Visionary so you can just look quickly at others hands and decide what to do.
There's nothing worse than asking people who wants to play a card, and then trying to sort out who should play a card, I'd rather look around and then decide myself who to let play a card, or in Vis's case, who to give cards to.
Now if you have someone that just informs people what they should be doing all the time then it won't work, it just gets annoying.
My group has always played with our cards on the table. We actually find it incredibly rude when someone hides their hand from everyone else.
As for the Legacy-hate going on, I'm happy to hear that I fill a niche that a lot of people just don't. I love being able to boost up my teammates with Legacy. I personally find the "Legacy is for players who are just happy to be included" post to be really harsh. I'm the guy that got my entire group into Sentinels of the Multiverse, and we play with my cards practically every time we get together.
I'm happy to play a lot of other heroes, but no one else scratches my team itch like Legacy. It's incredibly satisfying seeing how much I contribute every turn regardless of hand. There are times that his buffs can hinder certain heroes that suffer from self-damage effects, but his utility is amazing. I remember fondly a game against Iron Legacy where Legacy was sucking up five damage hits around the table with Superhuman Durability/Fortitude/Lead From The Front set up (yes, in that order, so I got both DR effects). Each five damage hit was only one damage for Legacy. I definitely felt active and awesome that game.
I've not had much luck with Fixer or Expatriette. I never seem to draw the right cards, and we always seem to be up against a villain where card accelleration is just more useful on another hero. I have friends that get remarkable hands with those characters quite consistently, but I never seem to get what I need to have an enjoyable experience with them.
I've always played the game with the mentality of "it's a co-operative game, so there's no reason to hide your cards from the other player(s)". We just lay our cards out on the table, obviously keeping the hand separate from the cards in play (I lay mine out in two rows - the row nearest me is my hand, the one slightly further away is my stuff in play, while the character card goes to the left of that and has the hp dice beside it, the deck is to the left of my hand, and the discard pile to the left of the deck). It's handy to be able to see what the other heroes have got available, especially if you're someone who can let someone else play a card or whatever :).
Our home group does play with "Closed hands" though we often talk about plans and strategy: "I've got something to take care of the Kraken--don't bother hitting him this turn." "Okay, that frees me up to deal with the minions."
Okay yeah, that might have been going a bit overboard. I didn't mean it to be derogatory per se; such players do exist and it's good to have a character they can use. But I tend to speak overly-bluntly, so apologies if I bruised any feelings.
There are times that his buffs can hinder certain heroes that suffer from self-damage effects
Lots of such times, I have found. Nearly all of my favorite characters have at least one self-damage effect (Ra, Tachyon, and above all Absolute Zero being the notable examples). Indeed, if I read the new ruling about "either take X damage or this card is destroyed" correctly, if Ra puts down Solar Flare after Legacy has Galvanized, he can't possibly keep Solar Flare in play more than one turn…because when he tries to have it deal him 4 damage, it instead deals him 6 damage, and then destroys itself because he didn't take 4 damage.
I remember fondly a game against Iron Legacy where Legacy was sucking up five damage hits around the table with Superhuman Durability/Fortitude/Lead From The Front set up (yes, in that order, so I got both DR effects). Each five damage hit was only one damage for Legacy.
Okay, yeah, THAT does sound cool. But it's his deck, not his power, and not all of his deck; a lot of his cards are just more of the same, and it can get pretty redundant. (Would it have killed them to make one character whose version of Fortitude/Heavy Plating/Otherworldly Resilience wasn't Limited, just so that he could really get the "bulletproof" flavor across good?) I think both of the promo Legacy's, especially young Paulette (possibly-broken though she is) would likely be more my speed than the normal one, but ultimately they're still stuck with a lot of redundancy and low-power effects (the strictly worse Bolster Allies as compared to Tachyon's Fleet of Foot really bothers me).
Inspiring Presence, Heroic Intervention and Take Down are game-winning cards. I really can't agree that Legacy has a weak deck. Quite the contrary.
Lots of such times, I have found. Nearly all of my favorite characters have at least one self-damage effect (Ra, Tachyon, and above all Absolute Zero being the notable examples). Indeed, if I read the new ruling about "either take X damage or this card is destroyed" correctly, if Ra puts down Solar Flare after Legacy has Galvanized, he can't possibly keep Solar Flare in play more than one turn...because when he tries to have it deal him 4 damage, it instead deals him 6 damage, and then destroys itself because he didn't take 4 damage.
The way that works now is that you have to take some damage from it, not the exact amount. I too was initially thinking Legacy would ruin it, but the clarification came and all is well, just take at least 1 point of damage (any kind works) from the solar flare card and you get to keep it. If you are immune to fire and dealing all fire damage then you can't keep it. (unless you have TtE on you)
The hero you would be looking for is The Scholar.
There are a lot of cards that a better than other cards, it depends on how the individual deck works deck itself works.
...I now kind of want to compile a list of cards which are strictly better than other cards, across every deck, just because...
Here, i'll help get started.
Ball Lightning is better than Back Fist Strike, same damage but destroys 2 ongoings.
Thokk is better than Elbow Smash, same damage but allows a cards draw.
Absolution is better than Blazing Tornado/Flak Cannon/Razor Ordinace, same damage but heals when enters play and can choose out of 3 types of damage.
Inspiring Presence is better than Imbued Fire, heals when enters play and doesn't risk increasing non-hero damage.
Divine Focus is better than Gatling Gun, as Divine Focus can do damage every turn.
Psychic Maelstorm is better than Accelerated Assualt, 1 extra point of damage.
Know When to Hold Fast is better than Prayer of Desperation, allows 5 cards to be drawn no matter what where PoD only equals that if 1 cards is in hand and is only better when having an empty hand.
Grevious Hailstorm is better than Submachine Gun, does an extra point of damage.
Impromtu Invention is better than every other search card in the game.
Trust Fund is better than Quick Insight, has 1 extra card to be drawn but still discards the same amount.
Assualt Rifle is better than Throwing Knives/Grenade Laucher, deals more damage to the same amount of targets.
That's a good start, right?