I see the complaint, and I somewhat agree.

I don't think it's unreasonable for a lot of figs to have 17s. But I think that more often, those great DVs should be hidden away (Hatter whips out some trap, and suddenly the heroes can't quite hit him) rather than constantly frontloaded. The trouble is that the basic system of the game is attacking and being missed. More variability in this system (ex.-barrier as a consistent method of avoiding taking damage, or qualifications to attack such as, most basically, stealth, and more imaginatively, Psycho-Pirate and Invisible Woman) would mean less figs would NEED that 16-17 to see play. Just like LAMP was big for a while as an alternative to attack rolls, a rise in the effectiveness and prevalence of Barrier may illicit the same result in a defensive shift and therefore more freedom in dial design.

*cough*SupermanPrime*cough*


Hey, it's not like I've been eagerly anticipating him since 3 months before the release of Crisis or anything. And it's not like I'm upset that he's bogged down with ridiculously expensive powers that have no synergy or anything. His defense is what bugs me. Add 4 or 5 to that 17.

How about a Perplex and Shellhead?

Or 3 Perplexes?

Or one mobile guy with Stealth to block LOF to him?

Or a TK bomb?

A 17 (or , as it were) doesn't render ANYONE unplayable.

Oh I don't know. I think those middle two clicks have a lot of synergy. Holy carp that's too much penetrating damage in one action, even without perplex.

But yeah, I could have done with higher defenses on him instead.

I don't know about you guys.. but 18 defense hardly even seems tough anymore. Maybe it's just me.. I play figs with 18 defenses and my opponents never miss.. I on the other hand can't seem to hit an 18 to save my life some days..

Shellhead wouldn't help him (because its modifier only affects , not ).

That being said, I do agree with your other points, especially the last one.

Oh my... I never really thought about it, but you're right. Shellhead doesn't work on . The modifier is keyed to . Holy flop. Has this been ruled on? I could see them errata'ing Shellhead to work for Indomitables, even though it's not in Restricted.

I have really come to loathe the Seth-era defense values, especially with new Perplex in the mix. I'm glad to see them scaled back some.

I think the Jon L combat value scale was better, though I like how Seth sprinkled more powers about. I also would like to see a tad of the old "ski slope dials" return, though not quite to the extreme you'd see in IC and HT.

I hope the next designer hits somewhere between the two camps.

Yes, it's been ruled on.

We do have a precedent for this with Homing Device (modifies damage symbol by -1), but this modifier doesn't apply to Giants/Colossal (since they respectly have the and damage symbols):

"When assigned to a non-standard character, the character can use this feat and would not suffer the modifier penalty (as they do not have that icon on their base)."

(from the Homing Device entry in the Player Guide)

And you can't really expect an errata about it, precisely because Shellhead is retired (and we generally don't get Errata for retired feats, which is a shame when you think about Indomitable+Haymaker/Nova Blast combos ).

I doubt it'll be reruled. Precedent has been set in prior instances, for example, Duo and Haymaker (no -1 penalty). Actually, Haymaker is awesome for a Duo with Indomitable, because they take no pushing damage from it either.

Generally I don't agree, but I do so hate NewPerplex.

I agree. One dial I think points out Seth's "philosophy" of dial design (w.r.t stats) better than any other is the Crisis Green Arrow: You could totally rearrange the clix and I think you would still have a figure that most folks would consider playing for 104 points...while that is GREAT for some, it totally flies in the face of a majority of the already designed clix. I appreciate that the figure is still effective mid/end-dial...but sometimes he goes overboard.

If I look at Prime without considering his point value, he ends up looking OK. Good-ish. The 17 defense would nag, but all in all I'd think "Hmm, he's a fairly strong offensive piece."

Then you look at the price tag he comes at. 318.

Then you shake you head and realize he's not going to be winning many games.

It's like getting a Ford Mustang for a Lamborghini's price. Some people like Mustangs, and they're perfectly respectable in their own right. But no one's going to want to buy one for a Lamborghini's price.

Like someone I respect said, "That 17 defense and Invincible power means I'll be spinning his dial like a top." I would have loved to see Doomsday's "Unstoppable" power instead. It would have been accurate as well.

Much less than 16 is cannon fodor in the game. Much more than 18 is frustrating. That said, generic cops & henchman with 17's seems excessive. A Blackhawk I'm okay with but 16 should be plenty for henchmen & cops. Add a 9 attack when Atlantean Warriors only get an 8 & I really wonder about this.

There seems to be a balance vs realism issue that's a little out of wack right now. 10 & up attack & 17 & up defense should be used on some of the best not "ordinary" people.

I don't honestly see why Prime should get higher than an 17. Hard to hurt..not hard to hit I say. If martial artists stop being the only characters with high attack maybe it'll be a bit easier to handle the high defenses.

Regular cops having 17 defense is crazy to me. A regular Wolverine has yet to see that defense ( and yet its somehow comic accurate for him to be easy to hit) Yeah i don't get what defense is anymore.