Daredevil Returns - Clubs Fly! Traps Snap!

David [Hi-Fi] Moore

Greetings heroic ninja fans!

We recently gave you the lowdown on the refresh and return of everyone’s favorite trickster, Loki (viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20101). Now, here are the juicy details outlining the remade and ready-for-action - Daredevil (Man Without Fear*)!

Daredevil
Old

Radar Sense - Purple 11 AP
Daredevil's heightened senses let him strike first, terrifying the enemy. Creates a random basic Trap tile that, when matched by an enemy, steals 2 AP from all colors. If you match the tile, it steals 1 Purple AP and changes locations. Enemies cannot see the tile.

Level Upgrades Level 2: Steals 3 AP on enemy match. Level 3: Steals 4 AP on enemy match. Level 4: Steals 5 AP on enemy match. Level 5: Steals 6 AP on enemy match.

New

Radar Sense - Purple 10 AP
Daredevil uses his Radar Sense to avoid his enemy's assault and strike at their weaknesses. Converts up to 3 random enemy Strike, Protect, or Attack tiles to basic tiles and deals 71 damage for each tile converted.

Level Upgrades Level 2: Deals 109 damage for each converted tile. Level 3: Deals 131 damage for each converted tile. Level 4: Converts up to 4 Strike, Protect, or Attack tiles to basic tiles. Level 5: Converts up to 5 tiles, dealing 180 damage per tile. Max Level: 574 for each converted tile.

Design & Playability Thoughts:
Daredevil loses the AP steal, but gains the ability to directly punish the enemy for using special tiles. The relative lack of active abilities at the 3* level also means that this ability can be fairly easily charged and held in reserve for when Doom brings out a Summon Demons or Falcon decides to Bird Strike.

Old

Equalizer - Blue 7 AP
Billy Club in hand, Daredevil prowls the battlefield, waiting to even the odds. Create a Blue Trap tile that, when matched by an enemy, stuns for 2 turns. If you match the tile, it generates 1 Blue AP and changes locations. Enemies cannot see the tile.

Level Upgrades Level 2: Stuns for 3 turns. Level 3: Stuns for 4 turns. Level 4: Stuns for 5 turns. Level 5: Stuns for 6 turns.

New

Billy Club - Blue 9 AP
Daredevil's Billy Club ricochets from target to target, striking his enemies with amazing accuracy. Stuns the target for 1 turn and creates a 4-turn Countdown tile that stuns for 1 turn, then creates a new Billy Club Countdown tile. If you match it, Daredevil catches his club and gains 1 Blue AP.

Level Upgrades Level 2: Matching the Billy Club tile generates 2 Blue AP. Level 3: Stuns for 2 turns before placing the Countdown tile. Level 4: Creates a 3 turn Countdown tile. Level 5: Countdown tile stuns for 2 turns. Matching the Billy Club tile gains 3 AP.

Design & Playability Thoughts:
This ability went through a relatively big change, going from a Trap that could stun for a long time on one opponent to one that's reminiscent of Captain America's Peacemaker, but with a twist. Like Peacemaker, it stuns on ability usage and creates a Countdown tile (but randomly here). When that tile goes off, the currently-targeted enemy gets stunned just like if the ability were cast originally and the Countdown tile moves.

If the tile is being threatened by an imminent match, the player always has the opportunity to match it up themselves and gain back a little bonus AP so Daredevil can throw his weapon of choice again. Due to the relatively low cost, throwing out 2-3 of these in a battle is a real possibility, which is where the refreshing stun timers really come into play.

Old

Ambush - Red 7 AP
Daredevil lurks in the shadow, ready to strike. Creates a Red Trap tile that, when matched by the enemy, deals 473 damage. If you match the tile, the enemy takes 24 damage and it changes locations. Enemies cannot see the tile.

Level Upgrades Level 2: 662 damage on enemy match. Level 3: 851 damage on enemy match. Level 4: 1041 damage on enemy match. Level 5: 1230 damage on enemy match. Max Level: 9040/148 damage.

New

Ambush - Red 7 AP
Daredevil lurks in the shadow, ready to strike. Creates a Red Trap tile that, when matched by the enemy, deals 822 damage. If you match the tile, the enemy takes 279 damage and it changes locations. Enemies cannot see the tile.

Level Upgrades Level 2: Deals 948 damage when the enemy matches the tile, 356 damage when you match it. Level 3: Deals 1123 damage when the enemy matches the tile, 410 damage when you match it. Level 4: Deals 1370 damage when the enemy matches the tile, 574 damage when you match it. Level 5: Deals 1726 damage when the enemy matches the tile, 957 damage when you match it. Max Level: 5447/3044 damage.

Design & Playability Thoughts:
One of the worst things ever is to be fighting Daredevil and have him lay down an Ambush. Suddenly, any Red match could be a deathtrap. One of the worst things as a player using Daredevil in this case was having to make that match yourself, since it did very little damage and meant that the opponent wouldn't have ready access to that Trap tile. So we've made Ambush into a bit of a more regularly usable ability by assigning more of that damage to the player match side of things. This turns the ability into one that can be used in a more offensive fashion than a purely defensive one. Especially combined with abilities that limit Red tile choices on the board (like Mystique's Infiltration), this makes Ambush far more of a renewable, offensive tool than it was before.

*As an additional change, Daredevil (Classic) is also taking back his "Man Without Fear" title from Black Panther. While the in-game armor Black Panther wears is the one utilized while taking over that named mantle, we think that this new incarnation of Daredevil deserves the more descriptive name. Black Panther's subtitle will be changing to 'T'Challa'.