Power level of book 5?

[esqulax]

So I have recently been a bit in a discussion about the power level of Broken Promises. Apparently some people in my city feel that it is completely broken and over the top and some have even gone so far as to say they want to sell their faction. 

My own experience with the book is still fairly limited, but I have not seen anything that is as over the top as these people claim and I can't help but feel that new editions always will have people proclaim that the sky is falling. 

Still I thought it would be interesting to hear from some more people how they view the newest book? 

[Ludvig]

I've mostly looked at the guild stuff but it seems to vary from "Wow, strong model" to "Holy shit OP!"

I've only faced the quellers and haven't played any models for myself but they seem really strong for a 6ss model. I wouldn't go so far as to sell my stuff, lots of new stuff is hard to handle until you figure out how.

[Fetid Strumpet]

I veiw it as a mixed bag, at best.

The best and most consistent thing about the book is Wyrd's continuing upward trajectory in physical model design and art. Those have consistently gotten better each book, from Malifaux's inception to now.

The actual rules contained in it are another matter.

It has among its pages some really innovative, clever, and well thought out rules. Some of which could be argued are among Wyrd's best, ever. And that is a huge accomplishment given the state of the system they are working with.

It also has some of the worst, least thought out, problematical, and deleterious rules Wyrd has produced, ever. And no I'm not going to get into specifics for multiple reasons.

So best word I think that would sum up the new book is: inconsistent. The previous M2E books had their issues but on the whole, at least up to book 4 which is where I would argue some wobble started, I think the Rules were on the whole more consistent and hewed more closely to a unified design. There were design failures there as well to be sure, but if you were to chart it on a graph the majority of rules would have stayed  in a pretty tight band close together. With a few spectacular outliers to be sure.

I think the rules in the latest book skew far more wildly, and to be fair to the designers part of that is the enviroment they are designing for now 5 books in.

[Angelshard]

I think there's definitely some power creep in this book, but I don't think it's too much.

The master upgrades gives some major buffs to masters that needed it and doesn't send any one out of line (at lest that I've noticed). Generally they've managed to keep the strongest masters in place, but given them new options, and boosted the weaker ones so the gap between best and worst is significantly less.

There's some masters where I can't see myself use the new upgrades and some where at least one is auto include, which is sad, but not really surprising, given the amount of upgrades.

As for models. Yes there's some really good models in this book. But I think that is mostly a matter of learning to counter them.

Also there's a lot of synergy with older models, which is nice.

[wizuriel]

I find the models are really hit or miss defending on faction. Some factions got really amazing and powerful models while some I feel barely got anything over a situational take.

 

Upgrades on the other hand and insane. Some strong Masters got a lot stronger, some built out a niche and will now see play and some got essentially nothing. 

[Math Mathonwy]

I think that it is always worth remembering that Collodi and the original version of Lucius came out from the same book for the same faction. And that book was a lot less wobbly power-wise than the first book.

[esqulax]

38 minutes ago, Math Mathonwy said:

I think that it is always worth remembering that Collodi and the original version of Lucius came out from the same book for the same faction. And that book was a lot less wobbly power-wise than the first book.

That is pretty much my thoughts exactly. I feel like if Collodi or Doppelganger came out now, people would be screaming power creep the same way. Meanwhile if they released a book where everything was the same power level as the starter set, people would also be complaining.  

[Vorschlag]

I think the releases need to slow down so the power levels for each soulstone cost can be consolidated and made a little more uniform.

The larger the games sprawl gets the higher the chance of ongoing balance issues rises.

I hope that with the release of through the breach 2.0 and the other side some of the focus drops off malifaux so the balance has time to be examined and adjusted.

While I like a lot of the new models I'm hoping for a gentle balanced transition to M3.0 or even M2.5 and would love to see tighter hiring restrictions somewhere between 2.0 and 1.5.

But that's likely dreaming.