Vulture -- how exactly do his powers work?

Yepyep

So have people figured this out? I've only got one cover, black, so I can't on my own. If it is easiest to just point me to a post describing how these work in practice, please do.

My confusion is based on the ambiguity of the descriptions of his powers. For example:

--Black passive: "At the start of the turn, if vulture was airborne, gain [AP]..." Does this mean that every turn that starts with Vulture airborne I receive those AP? So fire black, and the next two turns I receive the AP listed? This would mean he really is the 4* IM40, correct?

--Green: This looks like it is best timed with black as it then becomes a 2-turn countdown; is this right?

--Blue passive: I read this as meaning that his blue power fires automatically when you fire black -- if you have 10 blue AP at the time you fire black. Is this right? Is the damage AoE (like IM40's blue?)?

So basically, if the above is true then he is his own cascade of effects. best to have 10 blue and 9 green AP when firing black. Fire green to create the countdown, fire black to go airborne and triggering blue passive, gather AP for two turns, and swoop home to remove green and do that AoE damage.

Is this about right? And thanks for reading/answering!

Jaedenkaal

Yepyep said:

--Black passive: "At the start of the turn, if vulture was airborne, gain [AP]..." Does this mean that every turn that starts with Vulture airborne I receive those AP? So fire black, and the next two turns I receive the AP listed? This would mean he really is the 4* IM40, correct?

Yes. You'll get the AP the turn after he launches, and the turn after that (immediately before he lands). You'll also the the AP if he gets sent Airborne in some other way (by Gwenpool, Riri, Nova, or Colossus)

Yepyep said:

--Green: This looks like it is best timed with black as it then becomes a 2-turn countdown; is this right?

And it also damages the whole team (AOE) when this happens. As above, this can happen if he returns from being airborne for any reason, not just because you used Circling Prey.

Yepyep said:

--Blue passive: I read this as meaning that his blue power fires automatically when you fire black -- if you have 10 blue AP at the time you fire black. Is this right? Is the damage AoE (like IM40's blue?)?

If you have 10 AP, you get the Blue effect (with a little bonus on the types of tiles it will destroy) any time he goes airborne. Mostly this will be when he uses Circling Prey, but not always, as I mentioned above. Hybrid Tech Slicer does not do AOE damage.

Yepyep said:

So basically, if the above is true then he is his own cascade of effects. best to have 10 blue and 9 green AP when firing black. Fire green to create the countdown, fire black to go airborne and triggering blue passive, gather AP for two turns, and swoop home to remove green and do that AoE damage.

Yes, that's the "dream" combo.

I think the reason why the powers read a little vague is because they're intentionally designed to work regardless of how he gets Airborne. He has a power to do so, but he can also be sent Airborne by a Gwenpool or Colossus on your team, or a Nova or Riri on the other team.

Hope that helps.

Yepyep

It helps completely, Jaedenkaal, thanks very much. Great explanation, especially by clarifying that any trip airborne triggers these effects.

DesertTortoise

Two notes:

• The tiles his blue destroys generates AP as well. 
• You can put out multiple green countdowns (not limited to just one like R&G) and they all trigger when he returns from airborne if you can line it up that way

Jaedenkaal

DesertTortoise said:

• The tiles his blue destroys generates AP as well. 

Sweet

DesertTortoise said:

• You can put out multiple green countdowns (not limited to just one like R&G) and they all trigger when he returns from airborne if you can line it up that way

Holy flaknard!

himatako

DesertTortoise said:

• You can put out multiple green countdowns (not limited to just one like R&G) and they all trigger when he returns from airborne if you can line it up that way

Oooh, this is awesome. I actually tried putting out two green CD tiles in his PvE node, but only one triggered because it was enough to take down the last enemy so I misunderstood and thought it would always trigger one.

Pairing him with someone who fortify tiles like GG or C4ge to protect his green CD tiles should be fun. I really want to have him in my roster now.

Yepyep

I enjoy characters like this that permit/encourage nuanced use. The biggest problem with them is when the AI uses them on defense...

Jaedenkaal

Yeah it'll be interesting to see how Vulture is played on defense. The good news is the AI fires green powers before black, so if it has 9 Green and 6 Black when it starts firing powers (and isn't saving for anything else) it'll get that combo "right".

It fires blue before both, though, so it won't get the bonus effect out of Tech Slicer much unless it's saving Blue for something else or gains blue AP after firing (or not firing) it's blue power for the turn.

DarthDeVo

Jaedenkaal said:

Yeah it'll be interesting to see how Vulture is played on defense. The good news is the AI fires green powers before black, so if it has 9 Green and 6 Black when it starts firing powers (and isn't saving for anything else) it'll get that combo "right".

It fires blue before both, though, so it won't get the bonus effect out of Tech Slicer much unless it's saving Blue for something else or gains blue AP after firing (or not firing) it's blue power for the turn.

I never realized the AI followed an order of operations when it came to firing powers. I thought they fired as soon as they got enough AP regardless of condition, but never knew they followed a specific order if they could fire more than one power. 

Is that official, or something you just happened to notice? 

Jaedenkaal

I don't know if it's ever been explicitly stated, but you can observe for yourself that the ai fires powers in the same order every turn. Yellow, red, blue, purple, green, black, team-up. 

Thats why, for example, an enemy hulkbuster will never follow up Overdrive with a Repulsor Punch on the same turn, even though it must have enough red ap (assuming 5 covers, of course). Whereas Red Hulk can and does chain Gamma Syphon (Gamma Syphon!? Sorry, I digress) into Hammer and Anvil all too often.

DarthDeVo

I guess I never paid enough attention to realize there was a pattern. You are much more observant than I.

MoosePrime

Jaedenkaal said:

I don't know if it's ever been explicitly stated, but you can observe for yourself that the ai fires powers in the same order every turn. Yellow, red, blue, purple, green, black, team-up.

I think you have purple and green swapped.

It's the order the colors are shown on screen, left to right on Steam, top to bottom on mobile.

CNash

Interesting - so that's why the AI always seems to pull off Mystique's purple-black combo.

Jaedenkaal

MoosePrime said:

I think you have purple and green swapped.

It's the order the colors are shown on screen, left to right on Steam, top to bottom on mobile.

I am quite certain it is purple, then green. That's also the order they show on iOS:

Y / R / U
P / G / B

Dragon_Nexus

Jaedenkaal said:

MoosePrime said:

I think you have purple and green swapped.

It's the order the colors are shown on screen, left to right on Steam, top to bottom on mobile.

I am quite certain it is purple, then green. That's also the order they show on iOS:

Y / R / U
P / G / B

On Steam, they are listed Yellow/Red/Blue/Gree/Purple/Black

And thank God because I just watched Red Hulk with 13 green and 12 purple use his green *first* and then his purple. Yeesh.

Jaedenkaal

Hm, interesting. Kamala Khan would be the same then. But I swear I've seen a same-turn Inhuman Stretchiness-into-Embiggened Bash combo...

Would be funny if its different on different platforms.

More testing!