dancater

My Black Friday stuff arrived an hour ago, so I imagine you won't have tremendously long to wait.

Happy New Year mate, always love this advice resource, invaluable. Any plans for discussing the Mad Cat lady and kitty crew box and other add-ons, very much hoping to hit these mini's soon.

Honestly though. The strat to beat the Viks is like every answer in Malifaux, it depends on (1) what is the scheme/strat pool (2) what have you got (3) what is the terrain (4) the random element of the deck - in that rough order. Which model you go for depends on what you can get to quickly and eliminate/neutralize. But obviously there are certain key targets. Vik of Blood is very fragile, if you can lure (either with an actual lure or a sacrificial piece) her out or your opponent makes a mistake smack the angry out of her - but obviously they've got a heal option so don't commit the big beater unless you are confident of the kill because it won't survive a counter-attack by a unfortunately alive Blood. Mali Child is a nice target if you have a range sniper and it is at all targetable, well worth the focus shot even in cover. Johan is actually pretty vulnerable and if push comes to shove bring him out by forcing him to clear a condition on Blood and then nail him. Those would be my primary targets. Lazarus and Librarian are tough enough to kill you'd need a heavy commit and if Blood is still active she'll come and try to kill on a counter-attack or will press at your vulnerability while the beater is away. Hodgepodge is also tough to kill for its points and overall contribution, if the opportunity presents sure kill it but I would not chase it. Vik of Ashes will not come out to play unless its to try to bait something for a Blood chainsaw unless you opponent has taken leave of their senses. Vanessa is a good target, almost made my priority list but she'll likely be very far back and is to big to shot kill her with one sniper, likely not worth the effort till you've broken at least one of the three. However, REMEMBER the schemes and strats, if the Viks waste time killing, which they excel at while you score winning VP's that is a win - this is Malifaux, win by winning not by killing. Also only 8 activations and several of them are very small and all up that is not a lot of wounds in the crew, you could play an activation and attrition game with a summoner very well, in which case Lazarus and his blast potential becomes a more important target. On that note with the right crew you can wait till Vik of Blood activates, move a kill piece in and then play for initiative and double activate her dead. But that is a move where the cards and luck can kill you.

When they are turned away take to them with a blow torch.

Thank you. Regards Fire Gamin, I guess a big part is the Burning mechanic, with it they do solid damage but if the condition is removed they are probably a bit low, melee in particular 1/2/3. Also Burning is not as useful, even if not removed before turn end. So I rate Fire Gamin damage as slightly below what I'd like and this is highlighted by the fact that Kaeris struggles with damage and needs a above average hitter, Fire Gamin have not in my experience made this. The are OK speed wise but nothing special and 4WDs Armor 1 Df 4 is again OK. I do however fully concede the point that they are a really good functional little 4SS model - they can bring meaningful damage, are fast enough to scheme if needed and have good enough defensive stats you'd expect them to survive a few AP from anything but a massive dedicated beater, plus they have a little death bite if enemies are close when the die. So yep fair enough I perhaps rated them harshly. Just the big problem is Kaeris crew needs to have something special and Fire Gamin for me are not special enough. But I can see them in Ramos crews as constructs, Mei crews as the same and Sandeep as a summon, in addition they do provide some useful Burning (obviously for Kaeris, but still not enough) which can boost other Arcanist models - its not much but I have to admit a Ironsides Fire Gamin, Gunsmith crew is kinda fun if not perhaps the "best" competitive build. Actually the Gamin are all good 4SS purchases with of course the exception of the Poison Gamin which is a bad 5SS purchase which would be OK at 4SS - poor weird scorpion goblin that it is. One of the reasons that Sandeep is a solid master is his summons are mostly flexible and useful.

I actually used to have that, never assembled it and no idea where it is. I should see if I can find the damn thing.

Don't want it abandoned but also don't want more and more models, eventually you reach a critical mass and everything collapses in my experience. I think a year of quiet adjustment and small changes would serve the game and its fans well. Trust me I'm all in on Faux, I'll look at the Otherside. But frankly my main problem with Malifaux is finding time to play it.

Agreed here. And as for Adran, yeah I imagine in some metas and with some players Myranda gets playing time but a lot of folks seem to bug on the Myranda +IE. I rarely take Marcus and am the main Arcanist player in my area, I tend to take Myranda +IP for Df8 because it makes her fun and difficult to handle and don't shapeshift at all, but I think I'm a minority and I don't ever really play competitively. I agree my changes are probably less than Lucius but I imagine (or hope) they had solid play testing. Anyway somehow we've got away from this posts original topic and into a fruitless discussion on model strengths. Enough said that I think you can handle Myranda +IE best if you don't let that ability disrupt your game in greater proportion than it actually demands.

Maybe My base point is not that you never see Cerberus as a table take, its that it has to be more than one for a base Cerberus to be an option, and that is largely because Myranda is Rare 1. And you hardly ever see Myranda past turn 2 in a game, she'd have to be the rarest henchman in terms of game time from turn 3 onwards in Arcanists if not all Malifaux. But I think Myranda compared to a Cerberus +IE has been a tough question for me at times, is the +2SS saved worth fast/4 cards, I may be unique but that is a choice for me. However, Myranda +IE is better than a Cerberus (as demonstrated by the fact that she is also included, your games were multi-Cerberus) and I also think better than a Cerberus +IE itself. In short I think IE on Myranda is a upgrade worth more than its +1SS, the equivalent of 4 cards (over 2 turns so it is different) extra draw is 2SS. As for making shapeshift a (2) action the problem here is that would simply mean no one takes Myranda. Without shapeshift she is at best an average niche henchman, and as a (2) action she is not much better, she'd still, in fact more likely only see the table as a shift +IE but you would not get the movement. It would not be worth taking her normal as her shift would be so expensive and you may not get it and the other things she does (without factoring in shift) means she'd make way for the other great henchman in Arcanists. If shift became (2) you'd need to improve her base significantly. Which I think would be an interesting avenue, particularly if you gave her a unique skill set to other Arcanist henchman and I'd also increase her Beast/Marcus/Poison synergy - if she had some form of expunge, wow, or a make poison ticks heal would be an interesting trick (sort of like Kaeris). I'd like a movement trick where she could exchange places with any friendly Beast (non-peon, to exclude more Raptor issues) on the field say to a range of 12' or 18' (call it something like Shadowshift), so you have a Cerberus or Moleman or whatever and (Blade & Claw style) the switch with Myranda. But the problem here is you get out of simple tweak errata and move into we need a careful playtest re-work (so its more a future edition [3E] idea really). I think simply reducing/changing the Myranda +IE interaction is by far the simplest short-term won't break the game re-work, reducing the Myranda shift benefit just enough that (1) opponents don't always cry (even if they are overly dramatic) (2) she might see a little of her own table time and (3) it might make the straight single Cerberus choice more tempting (because now Cerberus +IE is a shade better potentially). Its a patch, but its a simple one which does not hugely impact our power curve and will reduce a notable source of opponents "Arcanist broken here" complaints. Not ideal, but then it can't be in this limited context anyway.

For me its less than "its OP" and more it feels exploitative and it in effect removes two (or three) models from the crew selection/table. Its such an obvious interaction, it cannot be stopped and it is reasonably powerful. But also it means (1) Myranda effectively becomes a Cerberus (or Blessed) delivery model, I'd vastly prefer her to be a legitimate henchman selection but between shapeshift with IE putting it over the top she's effectively a 1-2 turn proxy for another model. (2) The Cerberus/Blessed is rarely (if ever, I guess you may take two) taken as an actual table model Myranda + IE is simply better by nearly every metric than a Cerberus or a Cerberus +upgrade (likely IE). This simply feels like a terrible waste of a great henchman and also an example of model imbalance (or cost imbalance). And in these cases its IE which is the key culprit, it gives Myranda's shapeshift enough of a boost that it stops becoming a powerful ability and morphs into an auto-select whenever those particular models are contemplated for a crew. It is not even as if it relies on some clever play, or a interesting combination. Its a a-b-c opening round (or perhaps turn 2) morph process. I mean why does Myranda even exist as a model... Cerberus upgrade (0) clean fur before the hunt - the Cerberus crew draws cards equal to 5 less the turn number discard after use It would save a lot of folks having to buy and paint Myranda and I think would make a lot of opponents less upset. So OP, probably at best borderline, but a auto-take, negative play experience - yeah I think that is closer to the mark. And by auto-take I mean whenever the Cerberus or Blessed is contemplated. I play Rasputina and I never ever take the Blessed in a crew, but Myranda and Raspy are like best friends, Myr frequently hangs out with Raspy for a good 5 minutes whenever she thinks trouble is coming. It feels like that should not be - I both want to use the Myranda model more (in herself) and take her less (in any Arcanist crew with a Blessed or Cerberus) but why would I?

To be honest, you can't outplay it. It is very unlikely you kill Myranda before she shapeshifts, your opponent would have to be incredibly unlucky (you flip RJoker and they flip BJocker on mitigate for instance) or make a huge mistake. So can't rely on this. Which is why I dislike the combo ability and think it should be nerfed to killed instead of sacrificed or something similar. So you assume they get the shapeshift and the +4 cards. You simply have to wear it, and probably the big key, not get frustrated. Then you have to just deal with whatever the Arcanist Beast is, most likely the Cerberus. In this its nothing unusual you'd face this even if they did not take Myranda + IE, they are the same points. So you're dealing with the model you expect but probably more in your grill than you'd like and of course with the +4 cards which pretty much always helps your opponent in some fashion if only to cycle the deck. But when you break that down its not really the end of the world. The Cerberus was always going to arrive and do damage and the extra cards is not ideal but plenty of models have some pretty obscene card cycle/draw, I mean Philip and the Nanny + Nico is really an experience in "oh god damn it" card cycle, on a powerful summoner, not pleasant. So you want to try and reduce Myranda's options as much as possible, make her move to where you want her to go and make her shapeshift when your opponent would prefer not to, if they want shapeshift early then don't commit, force Myranda to move of shift in a poor location, if they want to shift later then press her make them shift because they don't want to deal with the threat. Of course this requires guess work but its a 2 player war game so you have to expect that. In short, best advice I got is.. Don't get frustrated and beat yourself. Myranda was always going to shift and points wise its a 9SS for 9SS wash, the +4 cards is irritating but not a unique ability in Malifaux. Try to reduce Myranda's options, you should have a pretty good idea what the Cerberus (or Blessed) wants so you know where she's heading, try to slow her if the opponent wants fast shift or rush her if they want to shift slower. You can always engage Myranda with something tough and fairly cheap, force her to shift and then yeah the Cerberus will kill (or be forced to Leap at least) the sacrifice. You could attempt to card drain to make up for IE but you're running Arcanist's so they have limited options and I would not bother tbh. Select schemes which make shifting a problem if they are available, so stuff targeting Myranda and giving you points (depending on what sheme pool you have available of course). But yeah the main thing is try not to think of it as Myranda + 4 cards + a lethal beast. Try to think about it as 'just' a Cerberus (or Blessed) waiting to happen/happened and deal with that, yes its in your face but that is likely regardless with any good player, yes the + 4 cards hurt but you're unlikely to be defeated by that alone. How do you negate/control/minimize/kill the rampaging Cerberus/Blessed? Focus on that.... Wish I had some golden hammer but that's it for my advice.

No argument Debt to the Guild is good, it should be left to another forum thread, we are leaving the thread of the original question. Rillan wanted to know how to handle Myranda + IE. Agreed Blade & Claw is an excellent method to deliver big Beasts but Rillan has issues with (1) the flexibility of Myranda and (2) the boon she gets on shapeshift sacrifice with IE of +4 cards. I'm not 100% on if they think Myranda herself is simply to powerful or if the crux is the IE interaction but this is where this thread started. I do think Blade & Claw provides an excellent example, yes with this you can deliver an angry Cerberus (or Howard depending on the beater of your choice) but it does require at least one opposite model (so a Construct to the Cerberus or a Beast to Howard) alive in the crux location, which may be tricky especially with a sharp opponent looking for the move. So its more expensive and does not benefit from Myranda potentially running where she needs and simply (0) shifting, nice and easy (with good stats and SS prevents in emergencies). Also Blade & Claw does not provide +4 cards on the IE sacrifice. So yeah 8SS Myranda + 1SS IE to shapeshift into a Arcanist Beast of your choice. Compared to Arcanist beater of your choice and a Blade/Claw mirror for the switch - so more expensive, harder to set up but you get two models. Finally you can have both for no extra cost at the moment you could Blade & Claw Myranda or the shifted Myranda/Beast just as simply. So yes I'd say Myranda with IE is comprehensively better than Blade & Claw as a Beast-alpha delivery. As for Debt to the Guild, yes its amazing but not relevant to the discussion at the moment. Besides saying we don't have an OP or dirty ability because those other guys have one which is worse is kinda a weak argument, unless you're going for a double nerf. Finally I think Debt to the Guild is what it is because of a perception (correct or not) that Guild in general as a Faction before that and other upgrades was weaker and less popular then several others, including the good old chain breakers. Not saying that is right but its been said by others.

I like the idea of a increased SS cost Myranda but that is a huge change, more a edition thing or at least a major, major errata. Also it would be incredibly tricky on how to balance her (especially with potential upgrades). Now that would be a route to take, bring out some Myranda specific upgrades for her which you could take to either (1) make her better and encourage no shapeshift or (2) enhance the shapeshift but with some risk. In a major errata you could even make shapeshift itself drop from the card, give her a small buff and then make shapeshift an upgrade on its own. But I agree even sans IE Myranda is usually shapeshifting before mid-game and I'd like to see her on the table more. Either way if the current IE exploit was nerfed or eratta'd in regards to Myranda and her shapeshift that would suit me fine.

While I'd like a 3E at some point I agree that 2018 seems premature. Still legs in the current set, I'm thinking it will only be enhanced by a little extra time, thinking and trialing before unveiling. Having said that I would like to see no, or at least minimal, releases for Malifaux rules wise in 2018 and concentrate on Otherside. This would give the metas time to settle, let Wyrd concentrate on the new release with maximum support, also let Wyrd trial rules which might cross into Malifaux and critically avoid more new models/masters/rules which are multiplying the interaction problems and leading to model bloat and power creep. It is not terrible yet but I'm noticing the bloat and creep and having difficulty just keeping track. I'd probably be most in favor of a first quarter 2020 schedule. As for what needs addressing I'd like terrain/table clarification, I'd like a broader pool of "core" abilities for easy reference and we need an accurate quick reference rules/effect timing chart. Happy with Factions but would like more emphasis/advantage for in-theme. Red/Black Joker needs to stay in, I mean if I wanted no random chance I'd play chess. It is crushing but it makes it tense. I could see some sort of a mechanic for Black Joker maybe as it is a little odd that you have an incentive not to get because of the chance you'll B-Joker. Not sure what exactly and if push comes to shove I'd prefer to leave it (I understand this is controversial, not looking to start a battle here, simply stating my own 100% meaningless opinion). I do think that we need a general re-balance and also tweak the factions to preserve each as having a somewhat unique identity/skill set, not completely unique but its getting more and more blurred atm.

I agree. It is just that I personally don't think Myranda and her shapeshift need/demand review. However I do acknowledge that she is very flexible and powerful. It's IE which really makes it a no brainer to take her, move her up turn 1 and maybe turn 2 (rarely turn 3) before shapeshifting to super power the crews control hand. And I'll also add this is a great Marcus tactic but honestly its a solid go to in any Arcanist crew, I mean who does need a top class alpha strike model in your opponents face and your crew gets +4 cards, along with the extra activation. I just want to make sure we are addressing Rillan's actual question of I hate Myranda and IE makes her worse (which I would probably argue against) or Myranda is nasty but with IE she is just a bit stupid (largely agree).

Likewise I agree that Myranda +IE is exploitative as I've mentioned and the +4 cards is rough but... Rillan most of what you say has nothing to do with IE and is instead that Myranda's shapeshift ability itself is OP. Making her too flexible. This is a separate discussion. What I am hoping to achieve is what exactly you want to discuss in terms of management: Although as Nico points out can't interact on summoned turn. Each of these points is about Myranda's shapeshift ability, which I agree is very powerful. Are about IE and its interaction with the shapeshift, which I agree feels kinda dirty. So: Do you argue Myranda and her shapeshift ability is simply to powerful, in effect making the 9SS Arcanist Beasts only valuable if you NEED to upgrade the Beast otherwise you'd logically always, always take Myranda (which is 99% true) and shapeshift. Thus that you want advice on dealing with Myranda and maybe think that this ability should be nerfed? Or: That Myranda and her shapeshift is fine (it is just a nasty but manageable tactic) despite the fact its so flexible. However when you add IE that +4 cards pushes it over the top from nasty to OP and this is where you want advice and/or advocate a future nerf (to IE alone)? Your initial post title seemed to indicate IE was the problem, which is fair enough. But then many of the issues you've highlighted are exclusive to Myranda and would remain regardless of IE. Its difficult to address IE being OP if at the core of things your problem is Myranda and her shapeshift at the very outset. But likewise if the focus is IE then the fact Myranda shapeshifting is as nasty as hell is meaningless the problem is the shapeshift ONLY when buffed by the IE, that's a different question where we don't care about how flexible and wonderful Myranda is shapeshifting but really dig into whether she should be able to sacrifice to shapeshift and score the crew +4 cards or is that just piling on power. Both your arguments have potential worth but its pointless trying to argue both at once as they bleed into each other. If you think Myranda is OP then Myranda + IE is only going to be worse, obviously. If you think IE pushes Myranda over the top then, yeah OK we can acknowledge shapeshift is powerful and effective, BUT, in the end that is Myranda and her powers and the ISSUE is the sacrifice + IE grants 4 cards and that is the game breaker. Do you see what I'm saying, its not that either argument is invalid or not worth having. It's that I'm uncertain of what your argument actually is between the two.

Well its not free soul stones, you don't keep Myranda so in effect you trade a 9SS piece (Myranda - is 8SS + IE - for 1SS) for whatever Arcanist Beast you shift into, likely the Blessed of Dec or Cerberus (so both 9SS). With IE you then get +4 cards while you also lose a single AP on the summons. You never have Myranda and and the beast share the table, you lose Myranda on the summons "summon..... place in base contact..... then sacrifice". The standard is double walk Myranda then (0) summon (Slow) Beast in base contact Myranda sacrifices so +4 cards, so yes its a powerful either/or tactic and can be used to move a Beast-bomb quickly up the table but you don't get an 8SS Myranda + a 1SS IE + an 9SS Beast; you get either Myranda +IE or the Beast (slow on summons) + 4 cards. So soul stone cost wise its a wash, the +4 cards is rough, I think its a little OP (or more exploitative) myself and in effect trades out for the -1AP on summons slow (which given how fast Myranda moves is not a really a straight trade). It does give you marvelous flexibility. Honestly while it feels like a nasty tactic, and exploit, it is really not that bad, on the shift your opponent will boost their hand yes, but its a single shot thing. Yes the summoned Beast is nasty but the trick is the same SS cost as the Beast anyway and a Fast Cerberus or Blessed with IE on them is nasty and with this strat you can't do that. So question is it Myranda 8SS shifting to a Arcanist 9SS Beast you think is unmanageable. Because this is a core mechanic for her. Or is it once your opponent adds IE? Because you feel it is an exploit which puts it over the top? Remember Marcus is an incredibly solid and flexible master to begin with, and has the second biggest selection pool of any model in the game (Levi being number one) so perhaps its an overall tough match-up. I have previously argued that the Myranda +IE needs some sort of nerf but less because I think its totally OP and more because (1) it is way to common for Myranda +IE to appear over the simple Beast and (2) it "feels" exploitative. But I don't think it game breaking so what am I missing??

Funnily enough Vogel fits superbly with the nightmare-Showgirls crew, looks marvelous. Theme wise a great Showgirls crew is pretty competitive with Colette, Cassandra, Carlos, Performers, Coryphee (x2 Duet), Angelica and Mannequin. That is all Showgirls and can build a workable crew for most starts/schemes and opponents - not ideal crew but you'll at least be in 95% of games. Ice Dancers are the other Arcanist Showgirl, they look great but in a Colette crew they are not essential, she does speed and schemes well already. TT Orian are the Showgirl outlier (not counting Wong's Lovely Assistant which you cannot take), you can take as mercs, they are not worth it - generally a poorly regarded model even without the merc tax, in Colette crews they do what the Showgirls already do, so a totally redundant selection. Many other Arcanist models are useful for Colette, she buffs stuff with prompt and a lot of good Arcanist pieces are simply solid in any crew regardless. So it really depends on (1) how theme you want and (2) what 'look' you like, I mean obviously some models edge out others and/or are 'easier' to play but not so much that you can't take what you like over what the 'best' things are. So I'd always consider... Arcance Effigy, simply great Dec Acolyte, also amazing Silent One, cause heals if nothing else Johan/Johanna a useful and good value merc (unlike the poor Orian) Joss is a solid tank-y model but Carlos also covers this space Howard Langston is lethal and fills the killer spot as an alternative (slightly cheaper and less finesse) then the Coryphee Duet Union Miners have some interesting scheme shenanigans and are ok all-round minions Myranda is very good but she needs the Cerberus or Blessed as a shape-shift as well Mech Rider is still (post several nerfs) a very useful model In the newer models (Book 5) two other models, one mentioned here a fair bit already, get a solid look for usefulness Vogel appears very interesting and the Union Steamfitter looks super useful in many games. So I'd look at that, take the models you love the look of, you can always add anything else from Arcanists the selection is generally pretty solid. The Showgirls pure theme is pretty tight but barring the Orian (which is not Arcanist so meh) every Showgirl model is really good and has a place, but they are finesse models, fragile if you mis-place them and have limited pure damage especially at range. So in a heavy theme crew you'll need to be prepared to lose a fair few games badly, because you likely will. Colette post-nerfs and a weak Book 5 is also a little on the low side in the meta, but is not by any means hopeless, just a tough learning curve. It takes a few rehearsals to refine the show but once you've mastered the stage then the spectacle can be most spectacular.

Love the idea. Dread painting it. Wonder how large the range will be and what will be included. For Little Kingdoms I'd like to see a kind of add-on pack. It makes sense that the buildings of Malifaux don't take after any earth style themselves, they are built by an alien mind but instead that the folks of earth have added their own flavor and style to the infrastructure, so maybe some buildings and bits where the facade and appearances have been culturally tricked but the buildings themselves would be mostly consistent with their alien theme.

Arcane Effigy because it is cheap, durable for its points, a significant minion and has the frequently invaluable condition removal. Malifaux Raptor even post nerf again they are cheap, super maneuverable and with good Df surprisingly hard to shift with a 40mm base. December Acolyte because it is such good value for its points and still pretty cheap. Those are the staples mainly because they are <6SS and great all-around models which do not need synergy in a particular crew while being good and inexpensive enough to feature without a specific master. For the bigger hitters Howard Langston is a feature of several different master/crew builds. Joss makes an awful lot of crews because he has multiple synergy bonuses, hits fairly hard and is durable for a reasonable SS cost. Ox Mage triplet gets in here because I never take them unless its budget 3 and that makes them an effective 15SS 3 bodied monster, but when I take the triad I rarely regret it. Johan/Johanna is a merc and +tax makes them a little costly but such useful abilities, some sweet synergy in multiple crew builds and can hit well above weight. A lot of the other models will see constant or near constant table time with certain masters and occasional inclusion in other crews but across the many masters the ones above are the "I'll always think about it regardless of master" (or at least for most of the Arcanist masters - 5+ of the 8). I think that the Union Steamfitter and Amina Naidu may get some regular field time but have not really had a good chance to bounce them around in my mind and crew builds yet enough to give them a "my go to" award. Myranda with IE and shifting to Blessed or Cerberus would probably rate in many lists but I honestly hardly ever take it because I don't like that combo which for me still feels like a borderline exploit, although its well known and has survived recent errata's so that is more my personality than that its chronically OP/dirty. Note a huge part of the choice depends on what Arcanist masters you love and regularly play, obviously with my favorites being Colette and Rasputina with Marcus and Ironsides getting a mention my 'love these models' is different from someone who plays a ton of Kaeris and Ramos.

I think it is key in the statement under Kaeris Models which are Immune to burning or otherwise reduce the damage to 0 may not heal in this way and then the Eternal Flame lose all immunity to the Burning Condition So.... Friendly models do not suffer damage but instead heal; this is not an immunity the condition still has an effect but the nature of the effect is different (so Kaeris and Carlos abilities ar unaffected) For the Fire Gamin this is exactly the same, it is not an immunity, they simply take 0 damage from the Burning condition which they can have. The Purifying upgrade clarifies this difference with the words "Models... Immune to Burning OR otherwise reduce damage to 0 (so Fire Gamin are not immune they reduce damage) Immune to the condition is a specific thing, it means you cannot get that condition. So another example is Lucius (in Guild) has an ability which makes a model take a horror duel and if the pass perform an action. Witchling Thralls have an ability where they always pass horror duels, so you still flip, they still take the duel but they will pass. However, the Guardian is immune to horror duels, it cannot benefit from the Lucius ability because it cannot take horror duels. In the same way Frozen Heart models are immune to horror and paralyze, they simply cannot gain the condition.

Tracking who placed the condition short term, "this was from that attack that just happened" is different from tracking over multiple events and activation's. So you could end up with several Poison placed on you or Burning from different sources over a single turn or multiple turns. I'll admit it is rare but it could happen and I foresee a couple of issues: Simply because its such a corner case one or both players will forget to track where stackable condition-x originated from, it simply won't enter there minds particularly in a more pressure tournament event when it is likely to be more important and potentially controversial. At best it adds more paperwork at worst it leads to the next problem. If both players have not tracked the stackable-x condition then it may result in arguments as to which and what was stacked by who and when. Depending on the game this could be a huge swing in a game. Honestly this really, really is such a corner case. In a non-tournament game its simple to house rule and happens rarely. In a tournament game it requires Warding Runes and the character receiving the condition to be outside the Blood Ward aura and then inside the Blood Ward aura while the condition is active. I think it will be relatively rare. If pushj comes to shove and you're entering an event running a Warding Runes crew you go to the TO before game start and have them clarify with you and your opponent what the strat will be if it comes up. But in the end I think it does need a FAQ to clarify how Wyrd thinks it should play out.

Well here is a nightmare question and that is a fact. I think that generally you simply have, have, have to minimize tracking and paperwork. So I'd be inclined to simply say the condition exists and is not removed, that means no arguments or issues backtracking through previous events. Perfectly understand the argument (which is 100% valid and makes sense) to remove Paralyze but as pointed out by WWHSD this then collides with stacking conditions which may have multiple sources friendly and enemy. So... You can leave the condition active, no major paperwork needed and the onus is on the player to maintain the Blood Ward safety bubble. I don't like this, it goes against upgrade wording and also the spirit of the upgrade. However, I think that given the need to minimize potential discussion/conflict at the table on where and when a condition came from, especially with stacking conditions, this is probably the safest and least problematic way to deal with a hopefully rare occurrence. Ends the condition based on the last application (WWSHD [C] option) so if the last application came from an enemy condition is over, if not it persists. Might make the most sense from a upgrade wording point of view and in minimizing paperwork, but still could be problematic. This is my second option for stand in rule. Auto end "hostile" (meaning damaging or AP reduction etc) conditions regardless of source (so Carlos loses all his Burning, no matter what). Minimal paperwork but expressly goes against upgrade wording (enemy and not hostile) and still leaves open arguments over what exactly constitutes 'hostile' particularly in certain schemes/strats. Ends the 'part' of any condition caused by an enemy, so Carlo's friendly Burning persists but the enemy Burning drops. A paperwork nightmare and invitation for table arguments. You could also separate Blood Ward so it ends no stacking negative/enemy conditions (like Paralyze and Slow) but does not impact stackable conditions (like Burning and Poison). Easy on the paperwork but makes absolutely no sense in rules and upgrade wording terms. I think this is probably rare enough that it does not demand an FAQ but I still think its the type of thorny rules wording issue that does require official clarification at some point.

I will disagree here. Mah Tuckett did pretty well out of Book 5, the others I'm not as certain about regarding power up and the Gremlin Crier is a nice addition. Agreed that Gremlins are not overwhelming but you are being damn unfair, the Gremlin roll with reckless can be difficult to manage for experienced players let alone a starter, new to the game and playing several of the tougher masters, my main faction is Arcanists and learning with Colette and Kaeris is not ideal. To be honest, and I apologize if this was not the tone you intended, but that is bordering on insulting and quite unfair. No he is not power gaming, but I am proud that he acknowledges that his friend is struggling and he is worried that he may be, he's taken the time to check. I am assuming going back to his friend and saying "well get good" will be a very quick way to a one sided games table. Not helpful, not necessary and by no means deserved or warranted.

Or you could play the Viks and see what the death whirlwind they can produce does to Gremlins if they get inside your crew with a Vik of Blood slingshot. After that you'll look at the plastic Gremlin wreckage and go wtf, you'll believe its unbeatable until you work out how to stop it - kinda because that is Malifaux someone will keep cutting up your paper until you bring a rock and currently you Arcanist-NB friend is kinda short on those factions Gremlin based rocks.