Article by THE-MOX
In the Defense category, we'll be discussing:
Defend: Really good if you manage a high number to Defend with, but comes at the price of no offensive use. If you put this into your game, then you want it, and you won't risk combat at the risk of losing it. The problem is it takes out Spider-Man and Quasar. This also doesn't help if you're Defending at 15 with a bunch of 16 defense guys on your army. For this, you'll either play Invisible Girl(R) or leave it alone.
Willpower: This can be invaluable to the right pieces. Some of the best figures in the game pack it like Batman, Green Goblin, Deathstroke and Doctor Octopus. The potential to move and attack consecutively can throw a kink into your opponent's strategy if they were setting up. Not something I go to excessive lengths to have, but I still usually find room for a little bit in most of my armies. Especially with my Deathstroke(V) soon to see a lot of play.
Mastermind: It's a questionable power at best because it typically requires an entire army to build around it. Some good and powerful figures have Mastermind and that ability to keep them alive and handing out punishment to the opponent causes them problems. I typically make sure my chief figure has it and see that the rest of my army can support it. I only figure on Dr. Doom or veteran Joker to pull this off with.
In the Damage category, we'll be discussing:
Enhancement: Depending on how your army is set-up, this is gold. Cheap to put into armies now with Psylocke, it turns standard ranged attackers into good ones. If you end up with an army with ranged attackers that don't use Ranged Combat Expert, or good amounts of Energy Explosion or Incapacitate, this thing suddenly becomes better and better. Even making a Doombot able to deal 3 damage with it is good stuff.
Outwit: See Seminar #2 concerning Outwit. Very, very valuable.
Probability Control: I hate to sound like a broken record, but Probability Control wins games. It can turn that critical miss you rolled into a critical hit and vice versa. I always make sure to have a little bit of this in every single army. If it hadn't saved my butt like a hundred times, I wouldn't bother. Don't go overboard, though. No one likes a cheesemonger.
Support: Also a must have. A lot of figures in the game are devastating after their second wind. Keeping your figures as fresh as possible tilts the tide in your favor.
Leadership: This power depends on the size of the army you're playing. At 200 and 300-point scales where there's a good emphasis on action conservation, it's pretty good to have. Over that, it's not something I put lots of effort into. I make sure that my Leadership comes in a figure I'm getting other things out of too. Let's face it, you re not going to put in Commissioner Gordon or Sgt. Rock just because you need Leadership. You'll find it comes on a lot of already playable figures like Wasp(U), Doombot(V), and Aquaman(E,V). Make sure your Leadership source has a good secondary use.
Perplex: Although I think it's a decent power and has its use in the game, it's at the bottom of my priority list. As far as I've been concerned, it's best used to Perplex damage unless you're really on the losing end...and by that point it won't save you. (I have used Perplex on other things, but about 90% of the time, you'll choose damage.) I don't believe in lots of it, maybe 1 or 2 figures. And I typically want a little staying power in my Perplex, which is why I don't like Con Artists. I like Mystique, Gambit and
Green Goblin if I need Perplex. I like to make sure I fill out my other personal needs first before Perplex. Perplex isn't as multi-purpose or essential as some other powers.
Ranged/Close Combat Expert: It's extra damage. You usually can't go wrong. You'll find that Close Combat Expert comes on a lot of zero-range figures already, so it only has close combat. There are some nice new mid-range figures like Black Canary and Lady Shiva that still are good candidates, despite some range. Anymore, either power isn't too expensive and for the Ranged Combat Experts, you'll find your best ranged combatants have it already. Lots of either or both can cause headaches. It's not atypical to see armies packing 2 Ranged Combat Experts and a Close Combat Expert even at the 300-point level. It can be done and done well. If nothing else, I usually make sure one of my primary ranged figures carries Ranged Combat Expert. I don't go gung-ho myself.
I'm not really going to put a ranking system to all this gibberish. This is because everyone's opinions will differ. There are lots of people who really like Mind Control or love their Perplex. Heck, I know guys that are Telekinesis nuts, even though I don't highly value any of them. I do think that the general consensus agrees that most good armies usually have Support, Outwit and Probability Control in them. They're basic staples. I usually put in a little extra effort for some Leadership, Blades/Claws, Energy Explosion, a twinge of Ranged Combat Expert and, if the situation warrants, Enhancement. Sometimes it's the subtle things that turn out to be the biggest factors.
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