**** Nova (Sam Alexander) ****

Buret0

greenglove wrote:

I don't know if this is a bug or not, but when he makes a countdown goon airborne, the countdown tile still fires. This is worse than useless with countdown goons, because you not only can't hit the goon when he's airborne, but also his countdown tile is sure to fire unless you can match it away. The airborne skill will then ONLY be useful in pvp. If the airborne skill actually prevented countdown tiles from firing, it would be far more useful.

Yeah, the CDs need to freeze as though the character were stunned.

That's one awesome sniper who can be falling through the air and still get off a perfect sniper shot.

Sandwichboy

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

babinro wrote:

Initial impressions from on paper stats:

Red:
Strong. Takeoff is a decent skill on it's own (assuming the level 5 version of creates 3 strikes is accurate). Rocket Man is on the other hand is great and puts Thing's red to shame. The damage and stun are both going to be excellent for the cost when you consider they get further boosted by the strikes on the board.


Yellow:
Great. Another yellow damage dealing skill! I prefer this one to Venom's as I put a lot more value in strikes than I do pure damage. This skill's lingering damage through the strikes should easily justify the cost. You have to assume people will follow this up with Nova's red which means it'll be dealing 5100 damage and stunning for 2 turns for only 6 red AP more often then not.

Black:
Average. 4 powerful strikes for 8 black AP is a below average value for this AP colour. More powerful strikes are great but it's clear that you'd rather have HB's black over this. As a finisher that requires jumping through hoops this skill also gives below average value. The damage is substantially lower than someone like Falcon and if used earlier in the match will really hurt your damage output going forward. This skill feels beautifully designed to me. It's giving the player 2 meaningful choices that are weaker than a single choice skill all while making both benefits good enough to still be relevant.

Initial Build:
3/5/5 or 5/5/3
I feel as though his yellow is a must have 5 and the other skills could vary based on preference and pairing. It's tricky because all 3 skills have great good jumps at the 5th colour. If Rocket Man's 4518 damage is static regardless of covers then 3/5/5 is the standout generic build.


Overall:
Top tier.
I freely admit that I value a strike tiles damage over time much higher than others. I considered Iron Fists green to be the best green spender in the game right up until the likes of JG, Iceman, and Rulk. With that in mind I love the quick fire nature of this character with substantial added match damage and skill damage for the rest of the match. I can easily see him being in the top 10 4*'s and he might even fall into the top 5 (above Cyke).

He'll pair extremely well with Iceman, Rulk, and Jean Grey. I'd personally lean towards Jean Grey since her green can generate attack tiles but Rulk is clearly the superior choice in pvp to deter hits. Iceman is great when up against enemy OML, Rulk or within PvE.

Edit: My post made a few assumptions which are still not completely clear. I assumed red was stun but it's been clarified that this is in fact airborne which is less useful. I'm also assuming red creates 3 strikes and black creates 4. I'm also assuming the damage on red doesn't change with covers.

Think this is pretty bang on. He basically has a slightly cheaper version of FailCap's combo. For 14 yellow - 8 black he does 15k damage (w/ the 1200 in strike tiles), and if you have 6 red he tacks on another 4500 to someone else.

With rocket man static max at level 3, there's no reason to sacrifice the damage on his black, so he's pretty clear 3/5/5. Going to be a royal PITA to fight. Envisioning a Nova/PX/Iceman team just creating all sorts of havoc.

Edit: Oh and one more, he hides perfectly behind OML and has actives for OML's passives. So tack generating strike tiles on top of generating strike tiles. Hell just use Bullseye with them. Strike tiles for everyone!

OML no, for the reasons others have already listed, but Iceman...hell yes. I'm betting once people have been able to max him out that Nova/Iceman/feature will be the new pvp hotness. One way or another, someone is getting an 8k+ punch to the face no matter who you try to focus on.

Rhycar

I think one thing getting lost in these (very good) analyses is just how cheap these powers are. I don't think it will be uncommon to fire red immediately followed by black and trigger that massive nuke. It seems to me like 5/3/5 deserves some attention, though I could see 4/4/5 as well. Regardless, I think black 5 is going to be a must.

greenglove

Rhycar wrote:

I think one thing getting lost in these (very good) analyses is just how cheap these powers are. I don't think it will be uncommon to fire red immediately followed by black and trigger that massive nuke. It seems to me like 5/3/5 deserves some attention, though I could see 4/4/5 as well. Regardless, I think black 5 is going to be a must.

Yes, they are cheap powers, and I think he will be a good character. But I don't think he will be a top 5, and here's why. In order to get 5 black strike tiles (which you need in order to be able to get the 8k damage from the black skill), you will have to fire the red skill first (otherwise it creates no strike tiles), then the yellow skill twice, in order to get 6 black strike tiles. Either that, or wait until you have 16 black ap in order to fire the black skill twice in a row. In short, because of the way the strike tiles get created, Nova isn't nearly as fast as people think he is going to be. Add to this the possibility of the strike tiles getting matched away, and you have to save up 6 , 14 , and 8 just to be able to do the max damage on the black skill. Now, if the black skill was modified to be able to fire 8k damage if there were simply 5 strike tiles (of whatever color, PLEASE, PLEASE do this, devs!), then Nova would be a total game changer. Then you could pair him with Blade or Daken or OML and go to town (with the third character a black ap producer like IF, Nova would be in virtual heaven). Or, if they made the requirement of the black skill to be one strike tile fewer, such that the 8k damage fires when there are 4 black strike tiles, then Nova would be fast again. Then you fire red, yellow and black in that order, and score a huge amount of damage.

Phaserhawk

Black is much harder to trigger the damage than it appears from the Sandboxing playing so far

You need 5 black strike tiles to get the dmg from black

Well once there is one black attack tile, red stops making attack tiles. So now you to do a double black, which costs 16, not to mention you are depleting your strike tiles which trying to do this.

Red is gravy to get going, black not so much. He really needs a helper for those black tiles.

simonsez

Phaserhawk wrote:

Black is much harder to trigger the damage than it appears from the Sandboxing playing so far

Yeah, I see what you mean. When you look at what you get from this guy for 16 black, compared to what you can get for say, 18 black from Luke Cage, all of a sudden this awesome black is not so awesome.

CrookedKnight

Yeah, when you think about it Nova isn't as self-sustaining as he seems to be. But I can't wait to put him on a team with X-23.

Phaserhawk

5/5/3 for average play Black is just too hard, although you could always go, red IW blue locking those tiles which would allow red to be used again for tiles

He honestly plays more like Thor, red then yellow then black.

The only way to get black going though is a 5/3/5 build but yellow is so good, but once you lose an ally getting black to go off without double casting yellow or black is hard

Buret0

Buret0 wrote:

Anyone else going to just keep pumping out black strike tiles with OML and using the cheap red to keep your enemy airborne?

So you guys are starting to catch on that he's still totally useful, but not because of his black damage? He's a 5/5/3 who plays with OML.
OML tanks all three colors. You use Nova's Red and Yellow actives to keep OML from transforming or you hold on to the yellow in order to transform OML. 6 Red AP keeps a character in a stun lock state at 753 damage per AP + damage from the Nova/OML strike tiles.

OML acquires black to drop the strike tiles. OML continues to grab red/yellow/black. Nova keeps using the red AP to disrupt the enemy, which creates OML red strike tiles (if fewer than 6). OML tanks/heals. Once you have enough yellow you can choose to unleash the claws or to keep OML healing for awhile longer.

Phaserhawk

CrookedKnight wrote:

Yeah, when you think about it Nova isn't as self-sustaining as he seems to be. But I can't wait to put him on a team with X-23.

Messed around with this. It's pretty darn good. It has its issues like not being able to match the trap and green/red are a bit clunky together but definitely a pvp worthy duo in early matches

Sandwichboy

Phaserhawk wrote:

Black is much harder to trigger the damage than it appears from the Sandboxing playing so far

You need 5 black strike tiles to get the dmg from black

Well once there is one black attack tile, red stops making attack tiles. So now you to do a double black, which costs 16, not to mention you are depleting your strike tiles which trying to do this.

Red is gravy to get going, black not so much. He really needs a helper for those black tiles.

...So why wouldn't you be using his yellow once you've fired off red once? Or just fire off yellow twice for 6 strike tiles. He doesn't need 16 black, he needs enough to fire each power off once, and that really doesn't sound very difficult considering they all cost less than 3 match 3s.

simonsez

Sandwichboy wrote:

...So why wouldn't you be using his yellow once you've fired off red once? Or just fire off yellow twice for 6 strike tiles. He doesn't need 16 black, he needs enough to fire each power off once, and that really doesn't sound very difficult considering they all cost less than 3 match 3s.

It's still a lot AP. And for 14ap+8ap, it's not like the damage would be that amazing. This combo is basically the same as Falcap's yellow+red, and no one is the least bit excited over him as a damage dealer; and his nuke doesn't even destroy your own special tiles.

I've changed my mind on this one... black is a red herring. 5/5/3

Polares

Buret0 wrote:

Buret0 wrote:

Anyone else going to just keep pumping out black strike tiles with OML and using the cheap red to keep your enemy airborne?

So you guys are starting to catch on that he's still totally useful, but not because of his black damage? He's a 5/5/3 who plays with OML.
OML tanks all three colors. You use Nova's Red and Yellow actives to keep OML from transforming or you hold on to the yellow in order to transform OML. 6 Red AP keeps a character in a stun lock state at 753 damage per AP + damage from the Nova/OML strike tiles.

OML acquires black to drop the strike tiles. OML continues to grab red/yellow/black. Nova keeps using the red AP to disrupt the enemy, which creates OML red strike tiles (if fewer than 6). OML tanks/heals. Once you have enough yellow you can choose to unleash the claws or to keep OML healing for awhile longer.

I still don't see this team as good, at least in PvP. First you are giving green and purple to the other team (well, and blue too) and with so many teams with iceman, rhulk and jean you are really hurting yourself. Then AI will always cast Nova's yellow so OML won't trasnform EVER in defense, so now your team is really easy to beat.

So, I still think iceman or rhulk are much better team mates for OML (or even 5 spidey or Phoenix if you are already in 5 land), with cheap and very powerful powers, and in rhulk case, with so much life. And with iceman you have a rainbow team.


Still undecided which is his best build, probably 5/5/3 and build him as a support character, but it is hard to pass this 8k for 8AP. It is really a pity if as you say black does not 'work' that much, but yeah, usually having 5 of something in the board is hard and a part from OML there are not that many chars which use black for strike tiles.

Buret0

Polares wrote:

I still don't see this team as good, at least in PvP. First you are giving green and purple to the other team (well, and blue too) and with so many teams with iceman, rhulk and jean you are really hurting yourself. Then AI will always cast Nova's yellow so OML won't trasnform EVER in defense, so now your team is really easy to beat.

So, I still think iceman or rhulk are much better team mates for OML (or even 5 spidey or Phoenix if you are already in 5 land), with cheap and very powerful powers, and in rhulk case, with so much life. And with iceman you have a rainbow team.

Well, OML will not transform until Nova is dead on D. Generally I don't try taking down a high health OML until he's the last one standing, because his healing per turn decreases as his allies decrease and he stops putting out red strike tiles.
You are putting your life in your hands if you are going to try and take OML down while Nova is still standing, because OML's healing is going to be improved... unless you are bringing a big stun.

Obviously if you have a Phoenix, she's still the better partner for OML. Nova makes an interesting third for quick Shield Sim ISO.

Polares wrote:

Still undecided which is his best build, probably 5/5/3 and build him as a support character, but it is hard to pass this 8k for 8AP. It is really a pity if as you say black does not 'work' that much, but yeah, usually having 5 of something in the board is hard and a part from OML there are not that many chars which use black for strike tiles.

And you really don't want to eat five or six OMLs black strike tiles to do 8K damage, considering they are probably doing over 2K damage a turn. If you've got 3-6 OML strike tiles on the board, you want Rocket Man to be doing 4518 damage for 6 AP + all that strike tile damage.

simonsez

Has anyone with a sandboxed account confirmed that the red alt power does the same damage regardless of covers?

ArcanaMoon

Has anyone with a sandboxed account confirmed that the red alt power does the same damage regardless of covers?

If this is the case, 3/5/5 should the best build

Red at 5 creates 3 Black Strike tiles of strength 198. While Black at 5 Creates 4 Black Strike tiles of strength 221, otherwise deals 8119 damage.

For 2 more AP, you get 1 more strike tile with a lot of power, pull off the damage from your black can be tricky, but the power of the strike tiles is really worth it, at least for me.

simonsez

ArcanaMoon wrote:

Has anyone with a sandboxed account confirmed that the red alt power does the same damage regardless of covers?

If this is the case, 3/5/5 should the best build

Red at 5 creates 3 Black Strike tiles of strength 198. While Black at 5 Creates 4 Black Strike tiles of strength 221, otherwise deals 8119 damage.

For 2 more AP, you get 1 more strike tile with a lot of power, pull off the damage from your black can be tricky, but the power of the strike tiles is really worth it, at least for me.

It looks like the red alt ability does scale with covers. It'd be great if the OP were updated to make this clear and provide the stats at 3 and 4 covers.

Vhailorx

It seems to me that he is a character that looks slightly better on paper than he ends up being in action, at least with respect to the black nuke.

We have plenty of experience with cheap powers that are designed to stack (i.e. one cast does X, and a second cast does Y). Powers with this mechanic that cost 5 or 6 ap tend to work really well (like cage black, if purple, iceman blue). But powers that require 3 matches tend not to work nearly as well because they are just too slow (elektra purple, antman's 'grow' power).

I expect nova's black to fall into the latter category: nice when it works, but not worth building around it. Of course, his red and yellow are really good as is for cheap strike tile generation. I think he will become a viable back-of-the-top-tier 4* (maybe on par with someone like deadpool or thing) in 6 months when people have him maxed.

wymtime

Vhailorx wrote:

It seems to me that he is a character that looks slightly better on paper than he ends up being in action, at least with respect to the black nuke.

We have plenty of experience with cheap powers that are designed to stack (i.e. one cast does X, and a second cast does Y). Powers with this mechanic that cost 5 or 6 ap tend to work really well (like cage black, if purple, iceman blue). But powers that require 3 matches tend not to work nearly as well because they are just too slow (elektra purple, antman's 'grow' power).

I expect nova's black to fall into the latter category: nice when it works, but not worth building around it. Of course, his red and yellow are really good as is for cheapbstrike tile generation. I think he will become a viable back-of-thr-top-tier 4* (maybe on par with someone like deadpool or thing) in 6 months when people have him maxed.

I think you might be right about his blacks 2nd power, but as a set up for red it is a different story. For 8 black you can set up rocket man fairly easy. if you boost it is 2 black and 2 red matches. His cheep powers will also allow you make X-23 much more playable. I don't think the AI will be able to play his 2nd black power well as you will need 16 total black but a player could get itvup Fire a lot more depending on the team they bring.

Buret0

wymtime wrote:

I think you might be right about his blacks 2nd power, but as a set up for red it is a different story. For 8 black you can set up rocket man fairly easy. if you boost it is 2 black and 2 red matches. His cheep powers will also allow you make X-23 much more playable. I don't think the AI will be able to play his 2nd black power well as you will need 16 total black but a player could get itvup Fire a lot more depending on the team they bring.

If you are in 4* land, I guess this makes sense, but if you have 5* access, you don't want to consume those strike tiles. They will net you a lot more damage.

5/5/3 is a much faster build.