Power Changes Involving Team-Up Tiles (2/18/17)

Brigby
Brigby ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 7,757 Site Admin
edited March 2017 in MPQ General Discussion
Hey Everyone,

Some powers have been changed in the way they handle Team-Up tiles. Team-Up tiles are not considered Basic tiles, but some powers where still treating them as such. We will be changing a handful of powers to remain consistent in this rule. We will be monitoring this change to ensure that it doesn't create a negative impact on the game.

The following powers have been updated:
    Beast (Classic) -
Animal Inside
Cyclops (Classic) - Called Shot
Cyclops (Classic) - Combined Forces
Doctor Strange - Eye of Agamotto
Hulk (Totally Awesome) - Mastermind Excello
Iron Man (Model 40) - Ballistic Salvo
Moonstone (Dark Avengers) - Gravity Warp
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) - Idle Hands
Rocket & Groot - Blammo! We Got Ya!
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) - Arcane Incantation
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) - Hex Bolt (Power levels 1- 4)
Silver Surfer (Skyrider) - Silver Singularity
Squirrel Girl (Unbeatable) - Furry Friends
War Machine (James Rhodes) - Gatling Gun
Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) - Precision Shot
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Comments

  • Marine8394
    Marine8394 Posts: 301 Mover and Shaker
    Thanks for the update. It's Saturday go home fer cripes sake! icon_lol.gif
  • aa25
    aa25 Posts: 348 Mover and Shaker
    Why do you nerf all of these characters all at once ?

    The change has more impact than just 'consistency' of the power description. I truly hope that the devs will actually go through each of these characters and evaluate the effect of these changes before make them all permanent. Especially SW, QS, 4Cyke, Squirrel girl, and Winter soldier who I think are significantly nerfed because of this unnecessary changes.
  • Spiritclaw
    Spiritclaw Posts: 397 Mover and Shaker
    Well, let's try to figure out the implications.

    First up, Animal Inside -- "Jumping and slashing as he moves through enemies, Hank can barely control his animal side. Deals 192 damage to all enemies. If there's a friendly Blue special tile on the board, Beast smashes up his lab destroying 3 random tiles, each dealing 33 to all enemies. (Does not deal regular damage or generate AP.)"

    That one doesn't say basic tiles, and I don't recall whether those random tiles could include specials or not.

    next: Called Shot -- "Cyclops uses his expert marksmanship to loose an optic blast at the perfect angle, ricocheting around the battlefield and striking foes. Destroys all Red basic tiles in a 3x3 area around a select tile, generating AP and dealing 155 damage." -- Excluding team up tiles from the select tile, then?

    next: Combined Forces -- "Cyclops fires a powerful optic blast, coordinating his attack with his teammates for maximum impact. Deals 543 damage and destroys a chosen basic tile. If you have 10 or more Team-Up AP, instead drain 10 Team-Up AP, deal 585 damage and destroy a chosen row (tiles do not deal damage or generate AP)."

    next: Eye of Agamotto -- "By Agamotto's all revealing light - let the Eye see through your plans with mystic sight! Remove up to 2 random enemy Attack tiles and gain 2 Purple AP." or "By Agammotto’s all-revealing light - let the Eye see through your plans with mystic sight! If one does not exist, creates a colorless eye tile that activates each turn, removing a random enemy Attack tile. The Eye tile can’t be matched and doesn’t fall."

    I have no idea how either would be effected.

    next: Mastermind Excello -- "Hulk's smarts let him apply his titanic strength in a calculated strike, but sometimes he loses his head. Deal 333 damage and destroy a selected 3x3 block of tiles. If the team has at least 14 Blue AP, deal 352 extra damage. Otherwise, destroy 3 random basic tiles."

    next: Ballistic Salvo -- "Tony Stark shoots to thrill, letting loose a barrage of charged homing missiles at his enemies. Deals 508 damage to the enemy team and destroys 3 basic tiles and drain 3 of the team's Yellow, Purple and Black AP. (Destroyed tiles do not generate AP.)"

    next: Gravity Warp -- "Moonstone manipulates gravity, warping a random enemy Purple or Black special tile to the location of a chosen basic tile. If there are no valid special tiles, the warp collapses dealing 143 damage."

    next: Idle Hands -- "Quicksilver just can’t help using his speed to make the enemy look stupid. Swaps the position of 2 selected basic tiles. Costs 1 AP less for every Locked Team-Up tile on the board (minimum 5 AP)."

    next: Blammo! We Got Ya! -- "Rocket and Groot unleash massive destruction upon their enemies. Groot punches a 2x2 hole in the center of the board, while Rocket destroys 1 additional random basic tile for each 2 Green AP the team has. Deals 23 damage per tile. Does not generate AP."

    next: Arcane Incantation -- " Scarlet Witch begins a complex ritual, as it grows in power the very fabric of reality seems to writhe. At the beginning of her team's turn, if one does not exist, creates a 4-turn Blue Countdown tile that transforms 2 random adjacent basic tiles to Purple."

    next: Hex Bolt (Power levels 1- 4) -- "Wanda fires an unstable hex bolt at her target. Select one basic tile to destroy it and up to 2 random basic tiles around it, generating AP."

    next: Silver Singularity -- "Silver Surfer creates a miniature black hole which begins to engulf everything. Transforms a chosen basic tile into a 3-turn Black Hole tile which consumes 3 random tiles adjacent to it every turn dealing damage and generating AP. When it reaches 0, the Black Hole collapses dealing 777 damage."

    next: Furry Friends -- "Squirrel Girl commands her army of squirrels to swarm her foes and getting all up in their business. Places 3 Green 3-turn Countdown tiles that deal 137 damage.

    PASSIVE: At the beginning of every turn, destroy a random basic tile for each Furry Friends Countdown tile."

    next: Gatling Gun -- "War Machine revs up his Gatling gun and prepares for destruction. Creates up to 2 2-turn Countdown tiles that deal 301 damage and destroy up to 2 random basic tiles around them, dealing damage but not generating AP."

    next: Precision Shot -- "The Winter Soldier fires an expert sniper shot to take out the enemy’s weapons, giving Bucky a chance to strike again. Select a basic tile. Winter Soldier destroys that tile, dealing 176 damage and stealing 2 enemy AP of that color."
  • GuntherBlobel
    GuntherBlobel Posts: 987 Critical Contributor
    edited February 2017
    aa25 wrote:
    Why do you nerf all of these characters all at once ?

    The change has more impact than just 'consistency' of the power description. I truly hope that the devs will actually go through each of these characters and evaluate the effect of these changes before make them all permanent. Especially SW, QS, 4Cyke, Squirrel girl, and Winter soldier who I think are significantly nerfed because of this unnecessary changes.
    Maybe it has more to do with consistent code than gameplay. I don't know, but that's my guess. Hopefully, more consistent code means less bugs.
  • OneLastGambit
    OneLastGambit Posts: 1,963 Chairperson of the Boards
    Ouch this is a bad nerf in particular to switch. In addition to nearly always spawning in a corner next to enemy special tiles now it also has to avoid team up as well? This is now a useless ability
  • Spiritclaw
    Spiritclaw Posts: 397 Mover and Shaker
    edited February 2017
    So, given that review of the power text, I'd say the impact is mixed.

    Nerfed: Cyclops (slightly), Moonstone (slightly), Quicksilver (slightly), Scarlet Witch (substantially?),

    No noticeable effect: Beast, TA Hulk, Iron Man 40, Silver Surfer, War Machine, Winter Soldier

    Buffed: Rocket and Groot (very slightly), Squirrel Girl (slightly)

    Heck if I know: Doctor Strange

    I think this will mostly be noticeable playing Scarlet Witch.
  • philosorapt0r
    philosorapt0r Posts: 36 Just Dropped In
    4cyc using his blue on a TU tile to get the 10th TU AP for a powered up red was a very common play pattern. More generally, having 1/7 (slightly more, since TUs are generally lower priority than colors and so stay on the board) fewer options for setting up matches/cascades with his red/blue is a significant nerf. If he was considered a touch too strong, can you just lower his dmg numbers slightly, and leave the fun/puzzle-y part of the character alone?
  • Skrofa
    Skrofa Posts: 388 Mover and Shaker
    I have only one sentiment towards this...

    Switch is wrecked and I m gutted.

    Thanks obama!
  • Nick441234
    Nick441234 Posts: 1,496 Chairperson of the Boards
    As someone who uses Scarlet Witch a lot, this is a massive blow to her abilities. Her countdown tile become pretty much useless if in a bad spot. If you are going to make a change like this, then you should allow us to place her countdown tile so we at least stand a chance of not being completely screwed all the time.
  • DJSquiggy
    DJSquiggy Posts: 97 Match Maker
    Yeah, the impact to Scarlet witch is significant. Maybe also for war machines Gatling gun.

    The problem is that if there are not enough basic tiles around the countdown, you won't get the full benefit of the power. Easily noticed with scarlet with and her power being in a corner and surrounded by special or TU tiles. I assume Gatling gun will now be similar

    For powers where the player selects a tile I think the change may not be so bad. Time will tell. But I think these countdown power need to be updated to affect basic +TU tiles
  • Tiger_Wong
    Tiger_Wong Posts: 1,013 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited February 2017
    "Her CD is pretty much useless if it's in a bad spot"

    Looks like you might have to *gasp!* set up its CD area before it sets off instead of just leaving it alone and watching it fire.
  • DJSquiggy
    DJSquiggy Posts: 97 Match Maker
    Also, would really have appreciated this news pop up in game, or with a few days notice in the forum. I feel like timing the news with the release in game can work sometimes....But this was not one of those times.

    I don't know if the devs are just hitting "go" and telling brigby afterwards.

    I take the DPD "changes" the same way. Someone needs to work on their coordination skills
  • DJSquiggy
    DJSquiggy Posts: 97 Match Maker
    edited February 2017
    Tiger Wong wrote:
    "Her CD is pretty much useless if it's in a bad spot"

    Looks like you might have to *gasp!* set up its CD area before it sets off instead of just leaving it alone and watching it fire.

    I mean, the tile has the ability to show up almost anywhere on the board. If the power was changed to only spawn on Blue, then I'll accept this criticism

    Before this change it was still possible to fire a dud and there may not be any great moves to prepare the area. Now the chances for duds are much higher. That's all we are talking about here.
  • mega ghost
    mega ghost Posts: 1,154 Chairperson of the Boards
    This definitely takes some of the board control and strategy out of 4* Cyclops' move set, but it's by no means a crippling blow. A slight boost to his damage would offset it.

    It is a pretty significant reduction in value for Scarlet Witch, however, and I think that she should be adjusted more notably to correct it. Either 'Arcane Incantation' should become a 2-turn countdown tile at 5 covers, or 'Reality Crush' should have its cost reduced to 12AP. Alternately, 'Reality Crush' could stun the enemy in front versus a random enemy.

    Most of the other characters I don't have champed so I don't use them enough to know the impact.

    And if the game is moving towards putting more weight on Team-Up tiles and making it more difficult to work the board around them, I'd also like to see more abilities that benefit from or target/manipulate them. You know, to add the strategy/puzzle aspect back in versus just making them feel like a roadblock more often than not.
  • vinsensual
    vinsensual Posts: 458 Mover and Shaker
    War Machine is one of my few champed 4*s, and this is significant. Board shake is crucial if you go the 5/3/5 build.
  • Nick441234
    Nick441234 Posts: 1,496 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited February 2017
    Tiger Wong wrote:
    "Her CD is pretty much useless if it's in a bad spot"

    Looks like you might have to *gasp!* set up its CD area before it sets off instead of just leaving it alone and watching it fire.

    I can only presume you dont use Switch all that much to make a statement like that. The amount of times her CD is positioned badly is extremely often and quite often its not possible to set up the area to be more useful to you while also dealing with the opponents trying to kill you.
  • carrion_pigeons
    carrion_pigeons Posts: 942 Critical Contributor
    This is kind of a sucky change because it removes *yet more* of the kind of puzzle-y gameplay that actually justifies the game's existence. Aside from nerfing/buffing, the fact that it makes several abilities (read: Cyclops) less nuanced or interesting is my main complaint. I remember when I first figured out how useful it was to fire blue for that one...last...teamup. It wasn't even that long ago, for me, but it was really gratifying. Taking stuff like that away is lame.

    I basically never play Moonstone, but the same sort of complaint applies here. Gravity Warp will join the long list of powers which randomly suck when they shouldn't because of an arbitrary restriction about teamups.

    If the problem is coding consistency, then I understand why the change, but I still think it's a bad one. The buffs it creates are mindless and don't change gameplay at all, but the nerfs it creates steal away valid tactical considerations.

    And seriously, SWitch is ruined by this. Her entire reason for existence is her blue, and it was unreliable enough already. I personally manage to get her CD tile to both fire and mean anything maybe 60% of the time, and if this lowers that rate even to 50% (I suspect it will be worse) then she just doesn't have a place in a legitimate strategy. Even Charlie will probably be better served with KK or something at that point. There aren't really other options for batterying purple as people transition into 4*s, so this is a huge change for a ton of people.
  • Ludaa
    Ludaa Posts: 542
    10:1 odds it's a bug they just decided to roll with by changing descriptions.
  • Nightglider1
    Nightglider1 Posts: 697 Critical Contributor
    edited February 2017
    I just don't understand why TU tiles wouldn't be basic tiles. You match them to earn AP, just as you do colored tiles. I always figured "basic tiles" meant tiles which weren't countdowns, strikes, attacks, protects, charged, etc. (in other words, weren't changed from their starting "plain" status).
  • Crowl
    Crowl Posts: 1,579 Chairperson of the Boards
    edited February 2017
    Tiger Wong wrote:
    "Her CD is pretty much useless if it's in a bad spot"

    Looks like you might have to *gasp!* set up its CD area before it sets off instead of just leaving it alone and watching it fire.

    The thing spawns in a random spot which you have zero control over, neat trick to set things up if it is stuck in a corner with few viable tiles.