Welcome to HeroClix A to Z figure reviews for DC – Legacy, and thanks for reading!

Ares


My name is Maximus Desimus Meridius...

This is where I review a figure’s stats, cost, and overall playability. Typically these reviews are intended to discuss a figure’s use in competitive play, but for some figures that don’t make it to the tournament scene, they can still be fun to play among friends and on theme teams and will be reviewed with that in mind.
With Open formats now the common type of sanctioned tournaments, I’ll be a little more open to discussing figures in regards to the whole HC universe where appropriate. But for the most part these are still only in relation to the DC universe.
Also, these are discussed for pretty much any point size game. Since general formats have become more loose, and its not uncommon to see anything from 300 to 1000 point games.
(Particularly since many of the Legacy figures only fit on teams > 300.)

Click “Comments” below to read the review.

This article and content are property of the Author and is not to be redistributed or reposted in whole or in part without the Author's approval. However, feel free to link to the list page here. Thank you.


HeroClix A to Z – DC Legacy figure review:

Ares
275 – Mystic – 8 /

(Whoclix: Who is Ares?)


Ok, so Ares is officially the biggest, baddest Mama-jama in the heroclix game (regular size figs only, of course. He doesn’t hold a candle to Galactus.)

Mainly though, Ares only gets that title for his enormous point cost and stats, and not necessarily for being the best figure in the game. Not by a long shot.

At 275 points he eeks out the previous title-holder, KC Superman, by a handful of points, but somehow fails to capture the playability that made Supes rise to fame and stay there.

For such a power-heavy and straightforward bruiser, Ares is surprisingly difficult to use. He basically represents everything that makes super-high cost figures hard to play. Even though the game has changed a little with the introduction of Feat Cards, some of which make him better, and some hurt him more.

First and foremost, Ares is about 95% impossible to play in a 300 point game. Even with the Fortitude Feat which seems tailor made for Ares to total 300 points, he doesn’t quite rate.
Now, to stem the arguments before they start; Yes, Ares is good and does have a fair chance to win a 300 point game occasionally. But that’s only 1 or 2 games, against certain teams. He has very little chance of actually winning a tournament, since he’ll eventually have to face a good player with a good team, and he can only coast so far on “Me smash real hard!”

But lets back up a second… for starters, what makes Ares good is pretty obvious; Huge stats, the highest impervious defense on a regular size figure, and the ability to hit and leave a big mark to his very last click. Bookended with Outwit, he can turn off threatening powers, and his own Mystics Team Ability makes him that much more frustrating to hit. In fact, the only place he’s lacking at all is range, with a woefully average 8. That’s for ‘stats,’ for game-play, he’s lacking one of the game’s biggest necessities, Mobility.

Ares starts out with high movement and Phasing. So he can get around on his own, but he can’t move and attack. That is without a doubt his number 1 drawback. Even KC Superman starts with Charge, and the other 3 biggest threats in the game: U Thor, V Black Adam, U KC Green Lantern, are the best for a reason, they can move and attack. Ares cannot, and that is a serious hindrance.

On his own, Ares would have to move out onto the board… and sit there. Next turn he can choose to attack, pushing to do so, or he can sit there some more and clear. Even though Telekinesis is pretty much a standard in the game at this point, to absolutely require it in order to be playable is asking a little too much. It also makes Ares ineligible for a 300 point game, since the cheapest TK is still Rookie Jean Grey at 31 points.

Without TK on a 300 point team (whether you use Fortitude, or fill out the remaining 25 points another way are up to you, and somewhat irrelevant.) Ares suffers from his lack of mobility. He also suffers from action allotment, meaning he’s a 1 man army, so he’s either going to have to push (and give up clicks) or sit around like a big freakin’ target (and presumably give up clicks anyway). With only a 10 click dial (shouldn’t anything over 250 points automatically warrant 11 clicks?), every single click Ares gives up is valuable. And every click he gives up by pushing is one less click of retaliatory damage your opponent has to take from his Mystics TA.

Even with his drawbacks, Ares isn’t totally helpless. He hits hard enough that when he does connect it will be devastating. His defense is similarly impressive with a 19 Impervious. If you’re really serious about running Ares, consider using the 3D objects and arm him with the Desk light object. That will give him a +2 to defense, although you’ll only get to use that once and it is destroyed afterwards, even if the attack misses. (Using it is optional, so if someone is attempting to hit you from a 10 AV, you can choose not to use the desk, hope he misses, and hold onto it for something more threatening.) Drop Ares into hindering terrain and his defense from range can be an indomitable 22!

A defense like that might give Ares enough time to set up, rest, and actually make an attack. But at some point you’ll either actually take a hit, or end up having to push, and when that happens his defense will crack and its open season (presumably the desk will be destroyed, and his defense will be a high, but not insurmountable, 18).

When Ares finally does take a click of damage, he finally gets his much needed Mobility in the form of Charge. His movement is an average 10 so he’ll have to be somewhat close to his target to charge in. Between Charge, Outwit, and Super Strength, Ares should be able to lay the smack down on anyone he can get his mitts on.

However, any opponent who knows Ares and thinks ahead just a little will easily be able to avoid any serious damage by just staying out of his range. More to the point, with so many figures sporting a 10 range, many opponents will be able to stay outside of Ares reach altogether and snipe at him from safely outside Ares 8 range.

If Ares is going to be a contender though, he absolutely must get up into close combat. Besides his Charge, when he inevitably takes a few clicks of damage his attacks become increasingly Close Combat centered. He has Close Combat Expert on his 3rd click, and Flurry starting on the 4th. Flurry with and Blades/Claws/Fangs is somewhat redundant considering his naturally high base damage, and of course Flurry can’t be used at all with CCE, so on those clicks there’s bound to be one or two powers that are just superfluous. It makes him fairly Outwit-proof, but if you’re playing Fortitude you already have that covered anyway.

Past the Flurry clicks Ares gets 3 final clicks of Running Shot and switches his focus to be more of a ranged combatant. This is extremely helpful since at this point he’s down to just toughness and needs to get out of close combat and out of danger. He also has Outwit back to help eliminate any remaining threatening powers.

Despite all his strengths, Ares ultimately has 3 big weaknesses:
His lack of mobility – this requires him to take 2 actions to move and attack, either leaving him vulnerable between those actions, or pushing him and giving up valuable clicks.

Average 8 Range – So many strong figures have a 10 range, or even 8 and Running Shot, that Ares will regularly be out ranged, accentuating his mobility and vulnerability issue.

Lack of defense – Yeah he starts off with a huge 19 Impervious, but he only has 2 clicks of the brown stuff. After that he has a big helping of Invulnerability, but he really relies on the possibility that Impervious could avoid any attack that actually does hit his high defense. Once he gets to Invulnerability its open season and even figures with minimal damage will be willing to take pot shots to whittle him down. A figure this expensive really should have at least 4 clicks of Impervious, not a measly 2.

Besides his own built in weaknesses, new game mechanics make him even more vulnerable. Armor Piercing is probably the Feat Card that will hurt him the most. He relies on his Impervious and Invulnerability to reduce damage, and therefore only opposing ‘big guns’ should be a threat to him. But opening the door to figures with minor damage to be able to hurt him, Armor Piercing makes any figure a threat. Even if that figure is basically just ‘trading clicks’ with him by dealing 1 and taking 1 back from the Mystics. Pounce is also a danger to him, since the attack will have a huge movement to get up on him (possibly from outside Ares range), and get an attack and damage bonus.

Besides Feats, like any big bruiser, Ares is very vulnerable to Incapacitate. Possibly more vulnerable than most since he’ll have to spend so many actions just moving around the board. Any time an opponent can catch him with one action and make a successful Incapacitate attack, Ares will be a sitting duck. And of course incapacitate doesn’t suffer the Mystic feedback damage either. Pulse Wave is also a danger, particularly if the attacker can maneuver to hit Ares for the full force damage, but there are not many with PW in the game, and only Phoenix even has an AV with a reliable chance of hitting him. So that’s not as much of a threat. Finally, Psychic Blast is a big threat as well, since it will cut through his defenses, even if he’s using Fortitude. Even the smallest Psy-Blast attack for 2 damage will put him off his Impervious and Outwit clicks - well worth the Mystic feedback damage.

Ok, so he really doesn’t work on a 300 point team. There’s the action allotment problem, the mobility issue, and a few more things. Unfortunately, he still doesn’t work very well at 400 points either. In a 400 point game, you can support Ares better, but he’ll still be the majority of your force, and that’s just 100 more points your opponent has to throw at him. He doesn’t really start working until 500 points, where you can adequately support him, and have more than just “Ares + Ares Help” on the team.
Ideally though, he doesn’t start to realize his full potential until 6 - 700 points and beyond, when he’s not the focus of your team, where you can put other wildcards on to copy his Mystics TA, and where his Outwit and big attacks really matter against similarly high point figures.

Feats that work for him:
Well, most people will put Fortitude on him as a knee jerk reaction, but I’m not convinced that’s worthwhile (then again, I’m not a huge fan of Fortitude in general.) I prefer to just protect him with Stealth bodyguards and Barrier.
Damage Shield can work on him, but probably not well. It requires that the initiating attack be close combat, and the feedback damage is absorbed by damage reducing defenses. Anyone who is going to attack Ares in close combat better well have some damage reducer. Not much else suits Ares.

For Battlefield Conditions, due to his shorter range and Charge, he’ll really benefit from Deep Shadows and Darkness, although those will also limit the range of his Outwit.
Oddly, since he doesn’t have any recourse against Stealthed figures, Bright Lights is also useful.
Since he’s also vulnerable to a swarm team, Poor Teamwork could hamper a team with a lot of figures, and Earthquake could be good to soften them up, but look out for Crosswinds that will further limit his mobility.

There’s not much for Theme teams that Ares fits on. He’s the god of war, so he’s pretty much a loner to begin with. Besides that, his high cost limits your team building options further. The best I can come up with is a super high cost game with Ares, Thor, Hercules, and maybe a few others on a ‘deity’ themed team. It’d certainly be hard core, if somewhat pricey.

Just to drop this note:
Ares + Fortitude made the top 4 at the Niles, IL spring regional event.

nice article. i like ares as a character (even though he is a little overpriced).

Very insightful as usual, azs. Ares is definetely unable to justify his point cost. Maybe they give figures a few extra points just for being cool looking. Ares WOULD win most eveningwear competitions...

Actually..

ICWO works REALLY well on ares.. boost his Defense up if you feel you need it (on a move) and boost his damage up on an attack..

It's pretty good..

I've actually Judged a tourney where Ares in a 400 point game, tore through the opposition. I didn't think It'd work, but the player played him so well that it was inspiring. Now he wasn't facing Thor after Thor team, but the opposition wasn't a bunch of push over theme teams either.

I got one but sold him for $45. I wanted him cause he was a mystic but he's just so many points. All the mystics so far are costly as it is.

That said, I love the sculpt, and if they make a Wondergirl I'd love to see a Wonders vs Ares game.

A Good article and it helped me make a decision about who to use in a game. Always enjoy reading the articles azs.

Excellent review. I spent a fair amountof time with Ares when he first appered (I pulled him in a sealed side-event at the prerelease, along with Fortitude) and I think you sum him up nicely. I do think Fortitude is a good idea on him, if only becuase it keeps his Outwit alive when you aren't under other threat.


His lack of mobility really does hurt. I faced him once in an 800 point game and while I didn't hurt him much, I did manage to tie him up and keep him from being very effective, between incap and basing him with fodder. I spent that time taking care of a KC GL and a C-Note. Mind-controlling Ares to hit C-Note was a point of pride, although it did sting!

If it weren't for that one thing (mobility) I think his other weaknesses might be compensated for by his strengths.

I played against an Ares with Fortitude my first 2 games at reginals and the only thing I lost was a 3 point pog between both games. I had so much better mobility than him with 2 RS, one of those with 10 range, a pouncer, and a TKer than I got first strike both times. That high defense only helps for so long when I get more attacks, and I was able to get Spiderman to pounce with a 13AV so he only needed a 6, and they both failed their first IMP rolls. Once Ares is down to Invul with a 16-17 DV he's kinda easy to finish off.

The great irony about Ares is that his flying makes him even more vulnerable to Psychic Blast. I wonder if Icons will effect that with the new flier + ranged combat rule Bro-mags mentioned...

ICWO + Flash Thompson + Ares = 300 pts

More accurately, Ares + Fortitude + a really skilled player made it to the top 4. I rolled over an Ares + Fortitude team in round one of the prelims (I had some seriously hot dice). But IgorItzelf stomped me in the first round of the finals by utilizing every single power on the big man's dial (and a BFC that nerfed my entire team), and he made a really good run against the infinite re-roll Jinx team that ended up winning the whole thing.

Actually, that works pretty well for a couple of reasons: Ares carries the Pog to protect his flank (from just 1 attack, but still...), and when the pog gets KOed, your opponent doesn't get the points for ICwO until they also KO Ares!

The only flier + ranged combat rule I've heard about is Fliers won't be able to shoot out of adjacency. That is going to cripple all 100+ ranged fliers and breathe all new life into the ground-pounding bricks.

Regarding Ares - the mistake I see most people make when using him is playing it too conservative. He's got the big stats up top so you have to get into combat fast. Phasing + (I think) a 12 move should get him in base contact with the opponent's biggest threat on turn 3. Once there Ares is really tough. But if you are just licking around the edges of a team's range, Ares can easily get over-whelmed.