SummerOtaku wrote: I don't think there needs to be a stronger storm but I think there should be at least another character that has her level of board clear that generates AP
Sandwichboy wrote: I do not understand at all why anyone would want to use hailstorm. Ever. OBW/Thor/M. Storm. If you're in forest, desert or the lab, it's even easier. 5 red AP gets you cascades which feed all those more valuable powers. 90% of matches, I just clear enviro tiles, match green, yellow and purple till I can hit thunder strike or lightning storm (or aggressive recon, if the other team has stuff I need.) pretty much from the second I can get off one LS, the game is over. The board is constantly being reshaped and cleared over and over, so there's no point at all to having attack tiles that do about as much damage as an extra match 3. Outside of another 1* event, Hailstorm is pretty worthless.
mags1587 wrote: I'm one of the contrary people that prefers a 5/3/5 build. The main reason why I prefer it over a 5/5/3 build isn't because I think Hailstorm is so much better than her red -- it's that the difference between 5ap and 7ap is minimal for me when I'm actually playing with M. Storm. In practice, I can fire off her red power two or maybe three times per match. After the first time I use her red, the environment tiles take a while to drop back onto the board. I'm not going to fire off red if it's only going to clear off 2 environment tiles; that's not worth it for me. So by the time I'm actually ready to fire off her red for the second time I have more than enough AP to do so. The extra tiles makes it harder to clear them all off the board. A small benefit, but one that's more useful to me than having red at a 5ap cost. And I'm not trying to argue that you're really going to see a benefit to having hailstorm at 5 when using M.Storm against 2* and 3* characters; but in the recent 1* tourney, I was happy with my build.
RainbowPower wrote: 5-4-4 is an unhappy compromise. Paying an extra red isn't worth the gain of 4 damage tiles. And arguably paying one less red isn't worth the loss of 8 damage tiles.
gamar wrote: RainbowPower wrote: 5-4-4 is an unhappy compromise. Paying an extra red isn't worth the gain of 4 damage tiles. And arguably paying one less red isn't worth the loss of 8 damage tiles. My philosophy on this is that Storm can flood you with AP as soon as LS is online, so the only time the cost difference between 5,6,and 7 AP matters is in the very early turns of the match. Sure, it's possible that you can pick up the odd 1 or 2 AP from 4-matches or a stealing power, but the great majority of the time you're going to get your earliest activation of Mistress by matching reds. I think being able to activate it after two matches is a big advantage over it taking three matches, making 4 covers better than 3 covers, but 99% of the time you're going to need 2 matches to get your first activation of the round even if it costs 5 AP, so you get very, very little advantage for taking it to 5 covers.
RainbowPower wrote: I sort of see what you're trying to get at, but your point kinda contradicts itself. As you say, there are often a lot of environment tiles around in the very early turns of the match. But if using MotE early is your priority, then 5AP beats 6AP hands down. You can get a match 5-red. A match 4-red that knocks out another red on its path. A match 4/5-any that knocks out a couple of reds on its line, and then a 3-red match. A 3-red match and then a crit tile with two reds. All these situations would take an extra turn to cast MotE at 6AP. From my experience, I'd say you're vastly overstating things when you suggest it won't make a difference 99% of the time. Plus even when you do cast it after two 3-red matches, you at least have 1 red AP left in the bank which can come in handy later on. Whereas, while I can just about buy that 12 extra damage tiles on your Hailstorm will sometimes make a difference, I think it really is fair to say that 4 extra damage tiles won't make the blindest bit of difference 99% of the time. I know 6AP sounds nice and neat in theory, but it's really not worth what you're gaining/losing in damage tiles. People will make up their own minds, but I do urge you all away from 5-4-4.
pumkin wrote: I went 4/4/5 long ago and haven't regretted it. But now I have a red and green cover sitting in my roster. I've been debating for two days whether to respec her to 5/3/5. Hm...
locked wrote: Plus, Hailstorm clutters the board quite a bit, I have a hard time noticing enemy countdown or attack tiles among Storm's.