Caltrops

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jackstar0
jackstar0 Posts: 1,280 Chairperson of the Boards
edited March 2016 in MPQ General Discussion
Is it hyperbolic to label them as the most OP power in the game?

If they had any of these limitations: a countdown tile before they are placed; visible traps (requiring a new kind of tile, I suppose); placed on specific tiles (like strongest or weakest tiles); fewer placed per level -- then I could stomach their nonsense.

Blah. Sorry, this is just another complaint thread on the internet.
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  • Soitswritten
    Soitswritten Posts: 102
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    If you have it using quake with her AOE negated just to lessen the hit works great.
  • fmftint
    fmftint Posts: 3,653 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Soitswritten wrote:
    If you have it using quake with her AOE negated just to lessen the hit works great.
    You must have incredibly low scaling if 1 yellow Quake makes any meaningful difference
  • DaveR4470
    DaveR4470 Posts: 931 Critical Contributor
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    Caltrops are the Devil. A million deaths are too good for caltrops.....
  • TxMoose
    TxMoose Posts: 4,319 Chairperson of the Boards
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    i dunno, boosted to 145, my level 70 quake decreases aoes by 626. most of the caltrops I've been hitting are around 1200-1500. it doesn't take them completely down, but it might take some of the sting out. i may actually try this tonight. of course she only has 7600 health, so she'd be a bit squishy. her with witch and jean might be ok.
  • jobob
    jobob Posts: 680 Critical Contributor
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    Soitswritten wrote:
    If you have it using quake with her AOE negated just to lessen the hit works great.
    This. Caltrops just went from being my most hated power in the game to one I like to face because it's essentially a worthless move... well, until the next time I see it paired with the Maggia Muscle's "Threaten" power. (Which, btw, gets my vote now for most OP ability in the game).
  • HaywireII
    HaywireII Posts: 568 Critical Contributor
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    Best part about caltrops is when the AI Wolverine sets them off. Because a free Adamantium Slash every 3 or 4 turns wasn't enough.
  • JVReal
    JVReal Posts: 1,884 Chairperson of the Boards
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    I try to play strike tiles and Attack tiles against them, so that I can start matching TU tiles or tiles across the top... newly dropped tiles, and wait for the attack tiles to chop them down while I pray not to hit one. And Hope I'm targeting the right guy!

    A Caltrops attack means 1 less Adamantium Slash. At least I have a chance of not setting off Caltrops before I kill the Kishu(?)
  • Smudge
    Smudge Posts: 562 Critical Contributor
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    HaywireII wrote:
    Best part about caltrops is when the AI Wolverine sets them off. Because a free Adamantium Slash every 3 or 4 turns wasn't enough.

    I'm pretty sure they changed it to where the AI matching it causes no damage but still destroys the trap. That has been my experience so far anyway. Of course, I usually just create a monster cascade by accident that blows up 4-5 of them...
  • JackTenrec
    JackTenrec Posts: 808 Critical Contributor
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    The only good thing about Caltrops is the momentary satisfaction you get when you finally get enough AP to use Penance Stare.
  • Eddiemon
    Eddiemon Posts: 1,470 Chairperson of the Boards
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    jackstar0 wrote:
    Is it hyperbolic to label them as the most OP power in the game?

    Sure. They are meant to encourage you to play a defence tile spammer like Spidey to negate them.

    But people don't adapt and instead get upset that playing a team optimised for damage output isn't the perfect solution for every problem.
  • Polares
    Polares Posts: 2,643 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Eddiemon wrote:
    jackstar0 wrote:
    Is it hyperbolic to label them as the most OP power in the game?

    Sure. They are meant to encourage you to play a defence tile spammer like Spidey to negate them.

    But people don't adapt and instead get upset that playing a team optimised for damage output isn't the perfect solution for every problem.

    Tell me how do you negate a 1700+ AoE Caltrops with Spidey or Cage? If I had 5 in black I would use Xpool, but I have it at 4 and it doesn't do enough damage to stop them (maybe one day I will have enough iso to max him icon_e_sad.gif )

    Caltrops are OP, they need to nerf them. 3 caltrops for just 7 Ap when devs have the bad habit of putting two together is too much, at 350 level they fill the board really fast and they are unstoppable
  • CrookedKnight
    CrookedKnight Posts: 2,579 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Alternately, they get annoyed because spamming protect tiles and playing the long game helps against Caltrops, Turn to Smoke and Shuriken (if you have some way to beef those tiles up beyond their base) but does tinykitty-all against Strength in Numbers, Debilitating Slash, Awaken the Hand, Meteor Hammer and Adamantium Slash, and barring a completely homogeneous enemy team it's entirely down to RNG which one they'll hit you with.
  • Punisher5784
    Punisher5784 Posts: 3,837 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Punisher here to give some friendly advice on those pesky Kishu.. Mohawk! Gather 9 Black, wait for the Caltrops to be used then unleash your board full of attack tiles! It will overwrite at least 80% if not all of the Caltrops. Any tiles that do not have an Attack tile are likely Caltrops so do not match those until the Kishu is dead!

    You're welcome. I'm going back to hibernation now icon_e_wink.gif
  • Soitswritten
    Soitswritten Posts: 102
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    The one yellow quake was fine if leveled. It does negate it enough.
  • jobob
    jobob Posts: 680 Critical Contributor
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    Eddiemon wrote:
    jackstar0 wrote:
    Is it hyperbolic to label them as the most OP power in the game?

    Sure. They are meant to encourage you to play a defence tile spammer like Spidey to negate them.

    But people don't adapt and instead get upset that playing a team optimised for damage output isn't the perfect solution for every problem.
    I get what you are saying... but a few comments:

    1) OP doesn't mean that there is no strategy to negate them. They can still be OP even if there's a way to beat them.

    2) Whether or not they are meant to encourage you to use a Spidey-like character or not... they don't work. So if that's the goal, they are DEFINITELY OP.

    -A max level Spidey takes 4 turns of only purple matches to put out 695 in protect tiles.
    -Looking at a 334 Kishu... for 7 AP he drops 3 tiles which deal 1863 each
    -That's a difference of 1168 damage PER TRAP, or 3504 to the whole team... 10,512 if you hit all 3. And that's best-case scenario that you've been able to get purple matches that somehow don't include your protect tile on 4 straight turns.

    3) Damage output is, unfortunately, the answer if you don't have Quake, or XFDP. Again, poor design.

    4) I would rather take Stormhawk, Carnage, and DocOc than to try a shield spammer. With that team, you can keep the whole board loaded with strike tiles, which A) overwrite trap tiles, and B) let you know which matches are "safe."


    ...Look, I would love to have a game where a well-rounded roster was the answer and each character had a use... a nice little chess match. But that ain't the case, unfortunately.
  • jobob
    jobob Posts: 680 Critical Contributor
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    Soitswritten wrote:
    The one yellow quake was fine if leveled. It does negate it enough.
    Yeah, 1 probably isn't going to be enough, but then again... aside from 5* powers, when is 1 cover ever that effective really?

    I have 4 at level 100 (which boosts to 175) and it takes out 1793 (out of currently 1863 damage for my highest Kishu). A 5th cover would boost that to 2810. So I would say it's a very effective anti-Kishu power, it just takes (like almost all powers at the 3 - 4* level) about 3 covers to be effective.
  • Malcrof
    Malcrof Posts: 5,971 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Punisher5784 wrote:
    Punisher here to give some friendly advice on those pesky Kishu.. Mohawk! Gather 9 Black, wait for the Caltrops to be used then unleash your board full of attack tiles! It will overwrite at least 80% if not all of the Caltrops. Any tiles that do not have an Attack tile are likely Caltrops so do not match those until the Kishu is dead!

    You're welcome. I'm going back to hibernation now icon_e_wink.gif

    and out of nowhere, the undead rises and drops some knowledge, that is pretty brilliant.
  • Quebbster
    Quebbster Posts: 8,070 Chairperson of the Boards
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    They should just rename the Power "Land Mines". Would probably be more accurate...
  • Jam_Adams
    Jam_Adams Posts: 486 Mover and Shaker
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    it would be nice if Daredevil's Radar Sense would take out Trap tiles. I mean, he's blind, and is using his heightened extra-sensory abilities to eliminate the dangers he can't see.... just like we can't see the trap tiles. it makes too much sense, and it would also buff him and raise him a little in the 3* ranks I think (since he is probably a little below average as is).
  • Wolarsen
    Wolarsen Posts: 326 Mover and Shaker
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    by Jam_Adams » Tue Mar 22, 2016 1:57 pm

    it would be nice if Daredevil's Radar Sense would take out Trap tiles. I mean, he's blind, and is using his heightened extra-sensory abilities to eliminate the dangers he can't see.... just like we can't see the trap tiles.

    Ok, walking the nerdy line here: Ddevil has kind of 360 deg radar sense, and seems somehow less accurate than vision; it makes him avoid attacks from behind and sider, but a caltrop might well be too small to be easily detected with the radar, as much as it can be hard to detect on plain sight.
    Spider sense would make way more sense for what you were referring to icon_e_smile.gif

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