Nervous Hellblaster Crewman
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OK, here's my basic overview of every single master in the game,
Guild
The Guild are the "rulers" of Malifaux. Controlling the use of Soulstone they are oppressive and discriminatory, however under constant attack by any of the other factions. Guild are the simplest of the factions to use, very easy to learn however in no way underpowered or basic. There is a master which roughly fits each of the main types of master within the game, allowing you practise with the mechanics of the game and the models. Guild are a nice beginning faction.
Perdita: Shooty master, with a high defence and paired pistols with a nice high CB, Perdita leads a crew mostly based around character minions which are her family, she has the ability to do an amazing alpha strike through the use of her Companion abilities, Perdita has only a little bit of use of soulstones and is pretty efficient. She's very well known for her ability to ignore Pandora's Expose Fears ability. Perdita and co. are pretty easy to use, stand back and shoot them until they come to you, then whatever's left should be quickly killed off
Lady Justice: Melee Beatstick, with an insane damage output when all her abilities are going, which is actually extremely easy to achieve. Lady Justice can pretty much kill anything she wants without too much trouble. With her Riposte trigger, cheating a high masks then soulstoning is an extremely good way to discourage your opponent from going after her. Extremely simple master to use, her crew also has many methods for dealing with Resurrectionists such as her Last Rites ability, which gets rid of all Corpse Counters around her, preventing Resurrectionists from replenishing their forces.
Sonnia Criid: Firey Blasts, you want Sonnia standing closer to the back, she can get an extremely good Ca, then simply place blasts so as to do maximum damage to surrounding models. She's quite safe from being hit by enemy mages due to her Perfect Counterspell ability, however should she get into close combat, whilst she can do some damage, she will not survive very well. Sonnia and her crew revolve around disrupting enemy magic and their abilities. She also has a pistol, which while it may not be her preferred weapon, she can dismantle constructs with her trigger.
C. Hoffman: supporting Constructs, Hoffman is mainly a support caster, taking away his Construct's bad abilities and buffing and healing them. I haven't really played with or against Hoffman so I don't know too much so sorry if this is a bit blank, can be bulked out by whomever wishes to do so
Resurrectionists
Resurrectionists fight a war of attrition. All of their masters have the ability to bring fresh models to the table, and some of their minions do too. Their models have a good combination of insane damage output (Samurai Punk Zombies) some Hardiness combined with tricks (Rotten Belles) or just amazing with a combination of resilience and damage output (Flesh Construct/Rogue Necromancy) Whilst not the simplest of factions to learn they have a relatively easy playstyle to get your head around, and are very fun to use.
Seamus: Hookers and Cannons, Seamus leads an army of undead zombie hookers and shoots with a hand cannon, What's not to like? Seamus mainly uses his Belle's Lure ability, to pull in individual targets, which are then whaled on by almost the entire crew, Seamus can replenish his crew just like all the other Ressers. Seamus both buffs and debuffs his opponents incredibly capably.
McMourning: Surgeon Necromancy, McMourning is the most combat oriented of the Resser masters. He has the ability to summon dogs (which you should never do) Flesh Constructs (absolutely amazing and destructive as hell) and the Rogue Necromancy (no model released yet but so dangerous). McMourning can debuff his opponents extremely effectively, taking away abilities that reduce damage, then skilfull dissecting them with his scalpel, which he then heals wounds off of.
Nicodem: Quintessential Undead Horde, Nicodem just summons and buffs, he summons hundreds of minions and drowns his opponents under their weight. Nicodem has a steep learning curve however with him you can dictate the course of the game with Rigor Mortis, being able to just paralyze a model is just nasty. Nico mainly buffs his minions taking away their weaknesses, whilst healing and damaging his opponents, and when you finally kill one of his minions, it comes back as something bigger.
Kirai: Spirits, Kirai I unfortunately have only played against on one occassion, however I will do my best. Kirai summons quite hardy spirits to do her bidding, which all fill niche roles within the crew. Kirai can also replenish her crew and can heal them as they die. Kirai gains souls as her opponents perish, using them to bring even more spirits into the fields, as per all Resurrectionist masters.
Arcanists
Arcanists are the underground resistance/revolution force fighting against the oppressive Guild. These masters are mainly more magic based and have some very nice ranged combat potential with the exception of Marcus who is mainly combat oriented. A few tricks however a relatively simple faction to use with the exception of Collette. There's a wide variety of minions that you can take which are mainly based around the elements, currently there is Electricity and Ice, however with the release of Book 3 Kaeris will come out, bringing with her Fire Gamin and two new Gunsmith models.
Ramos: Steampunk Sorcerer, a combination of support, summoning and damage, Ramos mainly runs a crew of constructs to do his bidding. Ramos buffs these by increasing their defence and healing them as they do damage, as well as summoning new spiders as they die. Ramos mostly plays a defensive game, sitting back and then hitting his targets with Electrical Fire should the situation demand it. His crew can also do some insane ranged damage, especially when combined with Alyce, Kaeris and a few Gunsmiths, this combination all but shuts down a 12" zone around the models. Entering this area is all but a death sentence.
Collette Du Bois: Soulstone Showgirl, a very fast death by a thousand cuts crew. With almost her entire crew having the ability to use soulstones, she can outclass her opponents fairly easily, however her crew do not do quite the same high levels of damage as others. Home of the infamous Coryphee duet, these models can move extremely quickly into position, then punishing the opponents. Mainly very trick oriented she is rather difficult to use, and if her crew is attacked before its activation, their buffs are often down and they are quite squishy. She also paints a giant target on her forehead during brawls as everyone knows her reputation and goes for her first.
Rasputina: Arcing Ice Blasts, Rasputina while quite slow, has great board control and can do excellent damage with her spells. Her ability to close off charge lanes and freeze people in buildings allows you to shut down areas whilst you deal with the models you want to fight. While she is also rather slow she can arc her spells through her minions, increasing her range. Her minions are also mainly ice based, with the ability "Shatter" meaning that should your opponent kill your minions they will be punished with damage for doing so. Her trigger on December's Curse allows her to repeatedly cast the spell, doing large amounts of damage to a target.
Marcus: Beasts, Never played with him, never played against him, never even so much as seen someone play him. I'm sorry but I can't help you here.
Neverborn
The original inhabitants and rulers of Malifaux, have some of the hardest masters in the game to master, (Only Leveticus keeps the title from them) with a very tricky playstyle and quite high points cost, you're likely going to be outnumbered, however they will be outmatched. Most Neverborn are glass cannons, able to do some insane damage output however they struggle when receiving it, on the flip side some models (such as Teddy and Lelu/Lilitu) have very nice healing mechanisms keeping them alive.
Pandora: Burning Couch, an extremely powerful willpower based master. Able to literally make your entire opponent's crews flee off the table. If I had a full cache and a good hand, I could win a 35ss game with just her. She's that broken. Pandora revolves around debuffing your opponent's willpower ability, then hitting them with multiple willpower checks and making them take wounds for failing them. While she may be a measly walk 3, she's also one of the fastest masters in the game, every time she wins a WP duel she pushes 4", allowing her to cross more than half the table in a single turn. A very annoying master to face, combined with her abilities "Incite" and "Pacify" she can dictate the order in which your models activate.
Lilith: Speedy Melee Beatstick, a very fast master carrying a greatsword. She lacks the subtlety of other masters in the Neverborn faction, however makes up for it with sheer destructive potential. Her crew of Nephilim can grow from Terror Tots into the massive Mature Nephilim by drinking the blood of their slain enemies, capable of doing some insane damage. However don't think that Lilith has no tricks, her ability to swap the positions of models allows you to outmaneuvre your opponents extremely easily, allowing you to fight where you want to fight. Furthermore with her spell Transposition, she can swap the places of two models, so switch your opponents Shooty model of doom next to his master, for your Mature Nephilim next to the majority of your crew. Very fun, and rather simple.
Zoraida: The Hag manipulator, very spell oriented, allowing you to control and move both your own models and your opponents as you wish to. By no means a basic master to learn to use, however very powerful. Capable of making herself walk 10 for a very quick move, great for last turn completing the scheme "stake a claim" often seen with the very fast Silurids, capable of moving over 23 inches in a single activation and then putting themself in cover. Can also strip the opponents of their abilities and see part of her deck. Very fun.
The Dreamer: Nightmare Deepstrike, by no means a straightforward caster. Uses spells to bring Nightmares up where they are needed most, performing a quick strike against unprotected and exposed enemy models, then burying the attacking models and being able to heal them. Capable of switching himself with a Giant monster called Nytmare. Whilst Nytmare does have extreme destructive potential, he quite simply does not have the staying power to be used purely as a melee beatstick. Pop him up near a big target, take it out then drop him down again.
The Outcasts
The type of people you'd see sitting at the back of a seedy bar waiting for a job. All Outcasts have no cache, however they have powerful abilities to offset this. This is especially seen with the Viktorias where you get two Masters instead of one. The Outcasts all work for themselves, owing no allegiance and fighting for whomever they so wish. The fighters in this faction don't fit into the broad playstyles of any of the other factions, whilst Leveticus closely fits the Resurrectionist faction, he also displays traits from the Arcanists, and is also one of, if not the hardest masters to learn in the game.
Leveticus: The Steampunk Necromancer, Leveticus is a master on a whole different level to any other I have ever played with or against. With his unique mechanic, even once Leveticus is killed, he can come back quite easily. Making him a very difficult master to kill quickly. Leveticus has the highest damage potential of any caster when used on a SINGLE target, he can kill any model in a single activation, no matter how many wounds it is on. However all of his spells come at a cost of his own wounds. Leveticus also has the broadest hiring ability of any master, being able to summon any undead (most of the Resurrectionists) any Construct (a fair portion of the Arcanists and Guild) and any Soulless model. This combination makes him just nasty.
The Viktoria's: Twins of Fate, for the cost of your cache you get not one, but TWO masters. These two have some very nice abilities and normally field a crew consisting entirely of Mercenaries. Capable of some very nice movement and melee tricks, with a few key minions you can field a pretty damaging crew. The Viktorias can also be fielded with any Caster as mercenaries. Even though there is an additional 5SS of cost, provided you hire 5+ mercenaries that will be paid off due to their ability that removes hiring costs. These two are postergirls of Wyrd and for good reason. Very fun, but once again like all outcasts, not easy to learn.
Som'er Teeth Jones: Hillbilly Gremlins, All I know about him is what I've read which is entirely theory based, he's a support caster. More than that I can't help you with sorry.
Hamelin The Plagued: Rats of Plague, same as Som'er Teeth
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