Outcast Misaki

[paxmiles]

Haven't seen much on her. The vibe I get on this sub-forum is that she doesn't belong with outcasts. Beyond her Last Blossom, what outcasts does she work well with?

Anyone have any successes?

[dalleron]

Ronin have a use with her, if you go a certain build, utilizing disguise.   A librarian is good with her, but then the librarian would be good with anyone.  I don't think any thing changes,with misaki in TT or Outcasts in that she operates solo.

[SuperFly TNT]

I use Outcast Misaki regularly.  There's not a lot of direct synergy between her and the crew in either Outcast or TT.

As an Outcast she gets to use the Oathkeeper and Survivalist upgrades. Survivalist is good with Shang's Healing as it gives a  to the flip. It's been neutered in the latest Errata but I still like the Hodgepodge Emissary with the Misaki upgrade. Also, attaching the Regen trinket to Shang means he can use his heal more often.

[Rurouni Benshin]

The next time I play Misaki, I'd like to run her as an Outcast Master.  I have some ideas involving Hannah and the Hodgepodge Emissary that I think would go well with her.  I'll post my experience with her to this thread once I've done so.

[Kirby]

I feel Misaki is much more at home with the Ten Thunders than she is with the Outcasts.  Her primary goal is to be a skirmisher, harasser, and scalpel.  She is limited by her inability to bypass basic defenses such as Armor, Incorporeal, Hard to Wound, and Hard to Kill as well as her relatively limited mobility (15" basic threat range).  She is very accurate with a melee ability of 7, but her low minimum damage means that a negative flip or failing to do full damage (armor, incorporeal) really hurts her output.  Her other issue is overall fragility - aside from a to Df flips when she's out of soulstones she has no defensive abilities against melee or casting actions and only Bulletproof +1 against shooting. 

Between Sensei Yu, Recalled Training, Misdirection, and the Shadow Effigy I feel she is better equipped for her job in Ten Thunders.  Sensei Yu increases her threat range immensely and gives her Fast while he's at it.  Misdirection, Recalled Training, and the Shadow Effigy help keep her alive while she's being a skirmisher, which also means it's easier for her to take the Stalking Bisento upgrade which also helps her damage output and mobility a great deal.

In Outcasts, however, she does not have access to those things.  She does gain access to a few notable upgrades: Oathkeeper, Survivalist, and Scout the Field.  Scout the Field gets her some very useful added mobility at the start of each turn and it also lets her charge something without LoS once, which can be very helpful that one time you really need it in the game.  Survivalist can help keep her on the board longer between Hard to Kill and to healing, but the two things that can heal her (Shang and the Librarian) have short casting ranges and she is often too far forward unless you purposefully hold her back and use her as a counter-charge threat rather than a forward skirmisher.

I feel investing too much into Last Blossom models in Outcasts is a trap.  While the smoke bombs and teleportation of minions from her Smoke & Shadows upgrade can be situationally useful, they require pre-planning, early activation, and mid-high Masks to use. Not to mention it takes up an upgrade slot.  Further, the available Last Blossom models don't offer her too much in the Outcasts.  Torakage are solid generalist models but the game tends to favor specialization over generalization.  Oiran are pretty good for defensive positioning by luring your own models around, but rely on getting Crows in hand to do so.  The new Jorogumo isn't necessarily bad, but Outcasts are certainly not lacking in 9ss beatstick models.

What I have found most successful for me is to take a very solid backbone crew that can assist Misaki but does not rely on her in any way.  A core of Hannah with I Pay Better upgrade, Freikorps Librarian, Freikorps Trapper, and Johan typically finds its way into nearly every crew I have with Misaki.  I typically take Shang as well, as this gives another potential heal for Misaki as well as more card draw.  From there it's a toss-up between Torakage, Oiran, Ronin, Void Wretches, Convict Gunslingers, Rusty Alyce, or other specialist models for a given task.

[Drool_bucket]

I agree with Kirby.

She's fun to use as Outcast because she's different and you can take basically anything you want with her because she lacks synergies.

She gets access to some new upgrades but loses out on some nice ones, so mostly an even trade.

I even agree with him that Last Blossom models are nothing special compared to Outcast models and again, you use them because they are different not better.

So, yeah, what he said.

[paxmiles]

Thanks.

The one temptation I see with Misaki, would be a poison themed list. Those Last Blossom have poison, plus Nix can allow me Canine Remains, which have 1 ap charges against poisoned models. I don't know how viable it would be, as I really haven't figured out the specifics. Might include a Performer in there too. Main damper is that "for some reason" Outcasts have no native poison.

Another temptation would be using those smoke bombs and Void Wretches to heal up the models while they disappear. Whole thing seems rather iffy, but it might have merit.

Anyway, model arrived. A pretty nice model, though I'm going to have to add some steel rod in there, as her weapon is way too flimsy.

Edited November 17, 2015 by paxmiles

[Freman]

Misaki will probably be my only 10 Thunders Master, as none of the others really appeal to me.

[Rurouni Benshin]

I agree with a lot of Kirby's sentiments as well.  That said, I don't feel that she'd be a bad fit as an Outcast Master either.  The biggest loss (and it's a really big one at that) is not having Sensei Yu.  Having someone "Stalk" targets for you before having to activate is the best support you can give her.  Hannah makes an excellent support Henchman though, and with the Librarian in your crew, she acts as a secondary healer who can keep decent pace with Misaki.  What this ultimately means is that Misaki needs to be more careful at choosing her targets.  As far as the Last Blossom models go, I would probably only take them if the scheme pool and strategy needed "Smoke and Shadows".  Otherwise, I see myself bringing Ronin and/or Freikorpsman as her Minion scheme runners, with Hannah, a Librarian, and Shang as added support. 

I'd actually be really tempted to bring the Emissary as well, considering his ability to use 2 (0) actions, and the trinkets he can give out.  Shang with Vitality Potion wouldn't be a bad combination.

[boreas]

I'm still fairly new to Malifaux, but one thing I've noticed is that Outcasts have access to a number of models with Disguised or something similar.  Since Misaki can get Disguised on an upgrade and also can bring Oiran (again, Disguised) with her, I want to make a list that is completely unchargeable.  It would gimmicky more than a viable strategy, but it seems fun to try.  I might include Killjoy as the only model without a charge-denying ability as you would never have to worry about him charging your own guys.  He'll only wreck your opponent's face, never yours.  When I start picking up Outcasts to use with Misaki, this will be the route I go.  

[Kirby]

It's something that can be done and is remarkably frustrating to play against as a charge-heavy crew.  Misaki with Disguised, one Oiran, two Ronin, Rusty Alyce, and Ashes & Dust brings you to 42.  Add in Shang for 45, a couple upgrades as desired and there you go!

[Rurouni Benshin]

So I finally just played Outcast Misaki (in all of her glory), and she worked out phenomenally.  We played Reckoning, and the scheme pool was LitS, Frame for Murder, Bodyguard, Distract, and Outflank.  I took LitS and Bodyguard on the Librarian

My Crew:

Misaki (Cache 2)
- Stalking Bisento
- Tally Sheet
- Survivalist
Shang
Hannah
- Tally Sheet
- I Pay Better
Hodgepodge Emissary
- Conflux of Thunder
Freikorpp Libarian
Freikorpsmann
Freikorpsmann
Hodgepodge Effigy

First turn, I moved Misaki, Hannah, the Emissary, the Effigy, and the Librarian up towards the middle. with the Freikorpsmann flanking on either side.  Shang hung back.  Misaki "Stalks" a Warden on her first turn, and sets up for the charge on Turn 2.  Spent both soulstones to prevent damage, and then charged in to kill the Warden on Turn 2, with the help of the Emissary softening it up first, and then charges between 2 Guild Rifleman, taking out one of them.  Hannah and the Emissary held their own in the middle of the board, and with the Librarian right behind them healing them as needed.  I will also say that Tally Sheet and I Pay Better work wonders for each other.  The Effigy's "Loyalty to the Coin" ability came in handy twice, letting me add back a soulstone twice during the game. 

Now, while the crew is largely just a Von Schill crew, with just a different Master, Misaki makes the crew work just as effective, but in much different ways.  Looking forward to playing her again soon.

[Freman]

Are you able to have Hodgepodge Effigy and Hodgepodge Emissary in the same list? They're kind of the same unit in different stages of development.

[Kirby]

Freman, you can.  There's nothing rules-wise stopping you as they are different units and there are no other rules forbidding it.

[Rurouni Benshin]

Are you able to have Hodgepodge Effigy and Hodgepodge Emissary in the same list? They're kind of the same unit in different stages of development.

Did you read somewhere that they couldn't be on the same list?  They've both been officially released in the previous 2 books, so I'm a little lost as to what you mean by "stages of development".

Freman, you can.  There's nothing rules-wise stopping you as they are different units and there are no other rules forbidding it.

Agreed.  And while I never got to use the Emissary's "Prophecy" (0) action, they both laid out 3 of the 4 scheme markers for LitS for me.  Effigy lived to the end of the game, and his "Loyalty to the Coin" got me 2 extra soulstones than I otherwise would've had. 

[Tawg]

Are you able to have Hodgepodge Effigy and Hodgepodge Emissary in the same list? They're kind of the same unit in different stages of development.

Did you read somewhere that they couldn't be on the same list?  They've both been officially released in the previous 2 books, so I'm a little lost as to what you mean by "stages of development".

Freman, you can.  There's nothing rules-wise stopping you as they are different units and there are no other rules forbidding it.

Agreed.  And while I never got to use the Emissary's "Prophecy" (0) action, they both laid out 3 of the 4 scheme markers for LitS for me.  Effigy lived to the end of the game, and his "Loyalty to the Coin" got me 2 extra soulstones than I otherwise would've had. 

I think he means Development like.. growing up?

Like the Effigy is a baby Emissary maybe?

Unless he means more like you suggest, with the sense of "rules development" but, that seems like a silly idea to have, because they are official and printed

[Kirby]

Fluff-wise, the Emissaries are the evolved form of the Effigies.  Yay Pokémon reference!