Whut

Hoarcat Prides - other factions would kill for these shooting resistant, Manipulative, decent Df, Weak damage 3 (as long as you have more than 2 wounds), self healing, devouring minions. I remember people calling them OP at one point, why don't people talk about using them more? Are metal gamin and Rail Workers just THAT much better? The only weakness these guys have seem to be focused shooting attacks for 6 damage. SS miner - for 6 ss you get a significant model with 6 wounds, Df 5, armor 1, and the ability for ss prevention that pops up anywhere on the board. It's not a frontline fighter but its nearly unkillable without a moderate commitment. Yet I never hear about this model either. Does Colette's movement power make it obsolete? Or does Practiced Production with a Raptor do the job better? Willie - he's not tough, but he does have an Armor ignoring, LoS ignoring blast attack, he (almost) practically has Disguise, and he explodes for a hefty bit of damage when he dies. Is 6 stones too much? I feel like he's really good on paper. Lazarus - this guy seems to have SO much synergy with our faction, between prompt, all the constructs, Brass arachnid, mobile toolkit, doves, you name it. But most people stick to the faction staple which is Howard. Mobile Toolkit - for anything but Ramos scrap. 3ss for an Armor 2 model, an activation, and bonuses to damage or attack flips, or armor. Plus as an extra, he turns into a TN16, 5 damage bomb. Why don't I see this one more? Slate ridge mauler - This one I mentioned in another thread recently, and I really really like this guy. If only he had Ml6, or his frenzy gave him +1 Ml. Maybe if he were an enforcer and could take pack leader or Imbued Energies. On the other hand, as a super tough minion he is only worth 1 point in that Bounty strat, he does well at denying Make them Suffer, and (my favorite, though I haven't gotten to use it yet) he is eligible for Colette to teleport to a scheme marker 18" away. Mechanical Rider - this girl I just never see mentioned ever. And she doesn't seem all that bad, especially when you consider oh come on you know I have to be joking with this one xD. And that's why Mech Rider should be talked about more.

So what is the consensus, is McTavish worth it for over 10 ss? Even at a Sh7 or 8 his 2 weak damage seems to hold him back from really being worth it. Unless of course you beast him and give him fury and alpha, but then at a double negative flip to defense he won't last long against any ranged threats. My best idea is to try to out activate the enemy by taking as many cheap beasts as possible and doing that at the end of the turn, but that makes your activation order extremely strict. Thoughts?

I just want to put my own thoughts into this regarding the Hoffman comparison. Hoffman has a very similar action, machine puppet. Yes it is restricted to constructs, but there is no lack of quality constructs available for any potential role Hoffman needs to fill. He can even have Howard, who is usually the Colette go-to. So very similar there. Yes, Colette has a longer range. However, Hoffman gets free pushes when a construct near him moves, whereas Colette needs to hire a performer or use her own AP. And it's not like Rg6 is short by any means. Hoffman ties Colette if not wins in the range category because of his free pushes in my opinion. These two actions both require a 6 of any suit. BUT Hoffman can get +2 CA from nearby constructs, and by looping a metal gamin can get a base CA of 8. This allows him to cast Machine Puppet on a 2. A TWO. Don't tell me 6s are too easy to cast on. That is where the similarities end. On the one hand, Colette has an advantage due to her "free" pushes and general unkillable nature (which is less true if you can ignore Df triggers), as well as her fantastic Aura of zero interacts. Hoffman has the advantage in other ways. He can support his crew WAY better in the long run by giving out nimble, armor, Df6, Wp6, Ml7, etc. And he never needs to walk and can give himself fast every turn at nearly no detriment to his crew (just ping the metal gamin for slow). He can blow up markers for damage, he can create rail golems who eat teddies for breakfast, and he himself is no slouch when it comes to taking a hit or two, especially with an Armor +2 construct nearby (oh look, metal gamin and Rail golem). And the icing I'd that his totem makes a bubble which is immune to blasts. They are two different masters with different skillsets, and they share an action that is VERY similar, and of which I personally think Hoffman has the better one, though many will disagree. But no matter what your opinion is, there's no way one could say that the prompt is so much better that it takes Colette to a new power level by itself. That simply isn't true. You could argue that Colette has access to December Acolytes which could be seen as overpowered with Prompt, but unless I missed it, no one has said that yet, so I doubt that's the reason people are saying prompt is over the top. Edit: I neglected to mention the triggers on Prompt, being "draw a card" which is very nice bUT I wouldn't say broken, and giving out reactivate at the cost of sacrificing the model at the end of the turn, which I think is a fair tradeoff and not overpowered either. Yes it's abusable when Howard has 2 wounds left and will die anyway, but meh, it's not that bad.

The melee attack thing is definitely possible but it does require a Mask on the melee attack. However yes, that makes her effectively have 5 AP. Are silent ones really good standing alone? I'd thought that much of their value comes from their ice mirror because that way they don't have to move. I suppose I could just use first turn to move up to a favorable position where Cassandra can stay within 8" and then shoot away in following turns.

So lately I've been thinking about Cassandra and how to get the most milage out of her. She seems like a fantastic flanker and schemer, going after weaker enemy models while also dropping markers and using Practiced Production. Then a thought occurred to me, Cassandra can cast Freeze from a Silent One and use a ss to guarantee the trigger that allows her to shoot it twice. This along with nimble gives her essentially 4 AP, allowing her to move 5" and shoot breathe fire followed by freeze twice, or move 10" followed by two freezes. This seemed like a pretty good idea. But here's the catch(es). 1) Understudy has an 8" range. Not awful, but also not super long. Silent Ones want to stay in the back and shoot away, but Cassandra wants to be on the flanks pretty far up I'd think. So either Cassandra is slightly wasted by staying in the back, or the silent one wastes actions having to move forward to keep up. Or you have to invest in some push effects. 2) This requires a lot of support. 14 stones for the two models, but if you take Cassandra you might as well use her for Practiced Production, so that's another 4 stones for the upgrade and a M. Raptor. Then the silent one wants something to shoot out of, so you probably want a December Acolyte as well for 7 stones. That's 14+4+7=25 stones total, half of your total stones. They are by no means wasted, but that is a lot. (I run Howard+Johan with Energies in almost every list I play (aside from Raspy and Marcus), which is 12+7+1+1=21 ss, so that along with some master upgrades is the whole list right there.) 3) This is fairly ss heavy. In 5 turns let's say you shoot 4 times, and 1-2 of those times you actually have/flip a high enough Tome to get the trigger without stones. That's still 2-3 ss you are using for this, which is debatable on its cost efficiency. Thoughts on this potentially great, yet somehow restricted combo?

How many Waldgeists should you run? I was intrigued by this and wrote a list consisting of Rogue Necro, Myranda, McTavish, Jackalope, and Waldgheist x2. I feel like more than 2 Waldgheists is overkill in the medium tanky model department, but at the same time I do want more Sh for McTavish. What do?

Can I just bring this off to a very slight tangent for one moment? It has to do with showgirls at least. No matter how much I see the Coryphee Duet praised I can't help but be somewhat neutral in my feelings towards taking them. I just feel that if you take this 14 point setup you are hoping that your opponent doesn't have... Armor ignoring ranged attacks - Levi, Perdita, Oxfordian Mages, etc Damage that can be dealt in large doses at a reasonable success rate - McMourning, Seamus, the entire Gremlin Faction Long Range Lures (to pull up to 14" in one activation by rotten belles/performers/Beckoners, etc against WP4) before they can form the duet. Things with leap, swift, nimble, etc and Armor Ignoring Attacks (I'm sure you can find these in Neverborn, but elsewhere too) And sure you can try to stay out of LoS, but then you aren't taking advantage of their superior movement speed and AP, right? Against some of the above, the Duet is as good as dead, 14 ss gone. Against most others, it's a pretty heavy inconvenience to 14ss isn't it? Getting forced to form the duet early also diminishes the extra scheme running you can get out of the single coryphees. My biggest issue however is that 2/4/5, even with a built in plus, doesn't wow me when compared to Howard or the Myrandabus which are slightly cheaper and much cheaper, respectively. Please prove me wrong, I just bought Colette with Coryphees and I really want to use them to their fullest potential. Also is Colette the best to run them with? Against which faction are they least likely to face something that tears them apart?

Well I really love Metal Gamin and Rail Workers but the problem becomes if MtS is in the pool and I declare Arcanists, I can expect some armor ignoring stuff coming my way, since most people know to fear the lowly metal gamin. Not a bad idea, though I prefer to stick to these 4 masters for now. I might pick up one more in the future.

What do people use in Make them Suffer? It seems like most of our masters rely (or at least benefit greatly from) minions and peons. Kaeris loves the Malifaux Child, A Gunsmith, Malifaux Raptors Ramos pretty much gives up all 3 VP with spiders Raspy loves her Gamin, Arcane Effigy, Acolytes And so on. Those are the runner up 3 masters I play along with Colette who is usually my go-to. Problem is, I don't like Colette in turf war, so I need a backup plan. What do most people do themselves and also expect from their enemies when this scheme is around? Do you... Play Normally? Take one minion and hide it in the back? Take one or several costly, tanky minions (Slate Ridge Mauler)?

By the way, the reason I'm asking is because I really like Gremlins and some of their rules, but that play style really doesn't appeal to me so I just want to get a hold of what it's like before I choose to jump in or not

Well faction wide they seem to have very squishy models with high damage potential. Even their "tough" henchmen and enforcers aren't THAT tough (even Gracie because she damages herself to reactivate and has only 8 wounds, yes I know you can heal her with slop haulers, etc) so I was just taking a guess.

So do you focus with everything for 6+ damage with dumb luck and just "trade models" with your opponent?

So gremlins are pretty strongly in the "glass cannon" territory, but unlike some Neverborn that tend to smack down and try to cage their enemies with large threats, it seems like Gremlins can't really fight in close quarters for large periods of time. And although their damage is crazy, their models are very squishy - especially their scheme runners - and much of their damage comes at the cost of hurting themselves as well. With the exception of Zoraida who can more or less attrition using Waldgheists, is the general Gremlin strategy to try to get as many VP as quickly as possible before models start dying and they start losing steam?

Whoops

What do people take in Marcus lists? For example I'm thinking of a list to use specifically in preperation for Levi. A core of my lists is usually: Marcus - Trail, Feral, Hunger Myranda - Imbued Energies Rogue Necromancy Raptor x2 But after that I just don't know what to take. I could take another Cerberus, but I already have 3 heavy beatsticks, two of which are fast. I could take Waldgeists (my usual go-to) but Outcasts will rip through that armor in no time at all, especially Levi or Viks. More Raptors means more liability (summon Abominations off of them, for example). All the small beasts seem to have too few wounds. I like Alpha a lot, it's pretty amazing when used against a model that can sacrifice allies or itself (again, Outcasts have a good amount of that), I just never know what the rest of the list should be doing. I feel vulnerable when I build a list of purely glass cannons. Also, the Slate Ridge Mauler, I ~almost~ love the thing. I just wish it were Ml6, or just a tad faster, or 7ss, or had H2K, or regen, or something. As it stands now, it's just barely not enough of a threat above 5 wounds for enemies to risk attacking it, so it never gets to its 4 weak damage track. But on the other hand, if you try to force it into that state, it's Df is low enough for just 2 or 3 attacks to finish it off. Any advice?

Thank you! Just to clarify, this means the player who won initiative?

Levi is buried, he gets unburied at the end of the turn. Two malifaux raptors are buried. They also get unburied at the end of the turn. Who gets unburied first? Does Levi get unburied, allowing the raptors to swoop down on a different Waif? Or do the raptors unbury first, allowing Levi to pop out of the waif in danger and engege them?

So you mean that the bubbles stack so 2 vent steams mean double negative flips? That's actually pretty impressive, I didn't know that

Both of those have ranged attacks so its a bit different I think. Dita can also ignore armor or incorporeal and has Crit, and Levi ignores everything including H2W and H2K

@Psi - what a fantastic post. Really, I'm not kidding, that was great, it actually got me a little excited for Mei, even. The Arcane Effigy is actually pretty cool with her, I never thought of that for up to 5 or 6 extra burning damage. So has it ever happened that you vent steam and your opponent simply shoots or casts at something else? Like if you can't lure this Rail Worker, just lure that one over there. What does the rest of the list look like? Is it mostly metal gamin, Rail workers, and other constructs? How far can you really expect her to push? Can she handle H2W? I'm a tad worried about that min damage 2 being a hindrance. And of course my favorite question - what is she better at than the top 4 (imo) Colette, Ramos, Rasputina and Kaeris?

__Take Prisoner__ *Capitalize on something you can't kill or don't want to kill* Rasputina - just paralyze him every turn, or sit something on it with Armor +2. Ramos - Swarm swarm swarm, the more spiders he kills, the more you should summon. Plus if he does get away, you'll probably be out activating him so just move a spider into base contact. Ironsides - not letting things disengage is kinda what she does. Performer or Angelica - movement effects and paralyze Metal gamin - the cheapest option that won't die. Even better if the prisoner is a construct. __Spring the Trap__ *Ehhhhh I don't like this one* Kaeris - see plant explosives Colette - if your enemy is a melee master, just throw markers everywhere and hope he stands near 2 or 3. Mech Rider - see plant explosives Johan - see plant explosives, but he can't do it himself Performer - see plant explosives __Murder Protege__ Colette - what's better than Howard Langston? Howard Langston with 3 extra AP and also reactivate. Rasputina - Ice gamin, Arcane Effigy, Snowstorm for positioning, 3 Soulstones for Overpower. Kill anything in one activation. Howard / Joss / Johan - see basically anything I said about these guys before. Captain / Performer - Pull things Oxfordian Mages - requires someone to pull the enemy out of combat and into range, but two of these guys with furious casting can really put the hurt on something. __Frame for Murder__ Colette - what makes something more intimidating? Give it 3 AP. Ramos - or reactivate Marcus - or alpha, + flips, and two negative flips to defence. However with double negative flips, a non-master or henchman might kill the target and deny 1 VP. Howard - Scary and not able to be ignored Cerberus - Scary and not able to be ignored DAcolyte - Scary but only with Colette. If your enemy predicts that this is your Frame target, it is ignorable (though still annoying) with just 2 AP. With 5 AP and 3" pushes? It's a nightmare, and definitely going down. __Power Ritual__ Colette - might not be in range for the (0) interacts, but still, prompt things all over the board. Ramos - you'll have spiders to spare Kaeris - this + Raptors if you can stick close enough to the corners. Showgirl + Raptor - same Practiced Production stuff DAcolyte - maybe not the best choice, but decent. SS Miner - again, not the best, maybe unless it's Squatter's with diagonal deployment so he has something else to do.

__Vendetta__ Colette - how do you get a 6 point model to kill an 8 point model? Give it 3 extra AP! Marcus - or alternatively give it + flips and effectively reactivate! Johan - this guy hits SO far ahead of his weight class. I've had him beat a (slightly injured) teddy to death in 2 attacks Gunsmith, DAcolyte - how to score an easy point, just move and shoot. These guys also have a pretty good chance to kill an enemy too. Metal Gamin - this sounds stupid right? Until you realize that any 5+ ss construct on the enemy team will get you a point with absolutely no issue from up to 24 inches away, using 2 walks and a magnetize. Then just make sure it dies by the end of the game. You might not get 3 VP, but 2 isn't hard. __Plant Explosives__ Kaeris - run models (raptors especially) right at your opponents faces, drop markers, easiest 3 VP ever. Colette - try to drop markers everywhere and then reveal at the right time. Mech Rider - notorious. You place markers right near the enemy just by shooting them. Wait for a clump of 2 or 3 enemies, shoot the one with the least defense, trigger, 3 VP. Johan - this guy does DAMAGE. No one wants Johan to run free, so just play him aggressively, hit some things, then die and drop a marker, 2-3 VP easily. Performer - this little lady can throw down markers while in combat. Take Colette to make it even easier with up to 5 AP and 9" of pushing in between drops. __Make Them Suffer__ Rasputina - Duh Marcus - He hits things hard, and he's very fast. Colette - pair with Joss or the Captain and prompt him around for kills. Also she can prompt something into the backfield if your enemy is doing the "i have one minion hiding in the back" strategy Kaeris - see firestarter below. Can make opportunity kills with immolate against flaming enemies. Joss - Duh Captain - Duh, plus he can pull enemies closer, out of cover, etc. Firestarter - with the amount of accidental fire that can spread around in a Kaeris list, he just gets free points if you leave something with 1-2 Wds to die at the end of the turn. Plus BURRRRN! is a decent attack, and he's fast so he can make it behind enemy henchmen and enforcers. __Deliver a Message__ Colette - prompt something up to the enemy master after he's activated, and they'll have one activation to kill it or you score. Ramos? - Not the easiest choice on this one, I guessed this would work since you have spiders running around and eventually one will survive to get close, or you can pull the master into one. Also you can out activated an opponent, use brass arachnid to reactivate a spider, move the spider up 10" and deliver. Cassandra and Firestarter - Imbued Energies let's either of these guys move 10" and deliver a message. Cassandra can even move 5" at the end of turn one, so if you think you can win initiative turn 2, that's up to 15" of movement (and negative flips to attack actions let her stroll through engagement zones) Performer/Angelica/The Captain push an ally or push the enemy master into an ally. Simple.

__ALITS__ Colette - Drop markers for a (0), Practiced Production, etc Kaeris - load everyone up with fire and finish this by turn 1! Showgirl - Practiced Production. Mech Rider - some fighting is bound to happen near the center. Make those free markers count! Union miner - they can place markers on top of other markers with false claim. Not the worst but I'd go with other options, I don't like these guys much. __Distract_&_Cursed Object__ *These are really one in the same mostly* Colette - push out of combat to easily allow a model to remove the condition (Distract still requires activating). Or reactivate a cheap minion to run in, distract two models who have already activated, and die. Ironsides - She's really tough to move away from, and can be immune to conditions thanks to the Oxford Mage. Plus her attacks are pretty meh so you're not losing much. Oxford Mage (Blood) + Warding Runes - Immunity to conditions. Simple, effective. Performer - they can pull allies out of engagement, they can pull enemies into engagement, they can paralyze enemies and apply the condition, they can remove the condition while engaged. Captain or Angelica - same push stuff as Colette. This one's kinda a filler. __Outflank__ *I don't like this scheme. I feel it's too hard and often not worth the resources* Ramos - Spiders to spare Colette - Can get models to the edges on last turn easily Mech Rider - minions to spare 4 SS Minions - I would rather have 4ss sitting and doing nothing than 12. And our 4ss minions are incredible. Shout out to Fire gamin for effective weak damage 3 at range. Malifaux Raptors - Denial. The enemy needs to be disengaged to score. Raptors can jump right on top of them last turn from anywhere on the board. __Plant Evidence__ Colette - see breakthrough Kaeris - see breakthrough Ramos - See breakthrough Practiced Production + Raptor - see... you get the idea SS miner Performer __Entourage__ *Difficult to score max points on because your opponent will know who to target* Colette - Can prompt the Entourage into the scoring zone last turn, or teleport herself there. Marcus - with a 24" coverage at Wk8, this is no problem. Again, max points is difficult due to Df5. Joss - probably our best bet for max points, combined with some pushes so he doesn't get bogged down. OxMage (Blood) + Warding Runes - immunity to most spells and conditions. Don't get paralyzed! Cassandra - not going to get max points, but people probably won't suspect her as the target, she's fast, and she can stick to being outside the fight and breathe fire. Silent One - some healing to try to last to turn 5.

__Bodyguard__ Ramos - Can heal constructs, can provide target saturation with spiders, can shoot into combat at whatever us trying to kill your bodyguard target. Rasputina - randomly had this idea and I think it's clever. Who is going to notice your bodyguard when they have Rasputina blasting them to pieces!! They're going to want to kill her, not the bodyguard. Use Snowstorm, play her without ice mirror, and overpower trigger every attack. She's the ultimate distraction. Plus she can paralyze and give your bodyguard target armor! Joss - did someone say tank? Mech Rider - Keep her back for a turn or two and then speed off. Built in push so she can't get trapped in engagement. Oxford Mage (Blood) & Warding Runes - immunity to most spells and conditions is great. No expunge, no paralyze within 8" of your deployment zone. An actual bodyguard for your bodyguard target. Silent One - thought why not add this guy. He can heal to keep the bodyguard above half wounds. __Assassinate__ Colette - think you might fall short of your assassination? Here's 3 more AP! Rasputina - She shoots things. Her crew shoots things. Howard - Duh. No one kills thinks like Howard. Myrandabus - shapechange, load up on tomes, kill anything. Captain/Performer - Pull the enemy master into a firing lane and hit him with OxMages, Gunsmiths, whatever. Or just pull him in with Captain and charge, or just have captain push Howard up. __Protect Territory__ *The easiest scheme* Ramos - you know those spiders you summoned turn 1? Run them far, far away, have them place some markers, and stand next to them. Done. Or just have them place markers on turn 5 no matter where they are. Colette/Kaeris - you're going to dump these markers everywhere you go anyway, might as well make use of them and score some VP. Showgirl with Practiced Production - just in case you realize you forgot about this last turn. Just throw it anywhere nearby as long as you have one on the table. Performer/December Acolyte/Fire Gamin/etc - anything that is effective at range and might not have something to do for a turn. __Breakthrough__ Colette - You get the idea, prompt a model and walk across the board. Ramos - See Stake a Claim. At least a few spiders will survive. Kaeris - Grab a few raptors, load them up with burning, fly them off 16 inches. Showgirl - Practiced Production and a Raptor or two. Fly over, place markers. Soulstone miner - come up and have this completed on turn 3 or 4, and the SS miner can defend himself quite well. Performer - I'm putting this here in case your opponent takes Breakthrough. Follow him around 12" away removing his hard earned markers.

__Turf War__ Ramos - Tough, spams spiders. Can activate last and summon 2 spiders to claim Turf War immediately. Has great AoE buffs. Also he can shoot into combat. Kaeris - Great AoE in Accelerant, has a couple options for pushing enemies, raptors easily run schemes and return to get burning again for more scheme running outside the center. Howard/Joss - You need a heavy beater. Offense or defense, respectively. Johan - Cheaper than a heavy beater, large engagement range, awesome weapon, AoE heal (for most). Captain - Weapon same as Johan, but can activate last to push enemies away from the center with Airburst, or make it harder for them to get back in with windwall. Rail Worker/Metal Gamin - Cheap, able to fight. Again pick offense or defense respectively, though both are great. __Reckoning__ *This one is hard. No definitive best* Rasputina - She kills stuff. Extremely good damage, can paralyze scary models. BUT she almost requires you to have some weak models (gamin for one) to support her properly which is a liability. Marcus - high damage, can stop enemies from attacking, can buff, and you can alpha big beaters of course! BUT his crew usually relies on hit and run which doesn't always work if your opponent can run you down or soak your attacks. Ironsides - she makes 6-7 point models hit like 10 point models. She can take a few punches, but not too many. Overall good, but make sure to stay in a bubble. Colette - Her 3 AP is a big beater's extra 3 AP. BUT if your beater(s) die(s), she's worthless. Also reactivate a model that will probably die next turn anyway to attack and deny the kill. Howard - No one kills like Howard kills. Joss - Tough as nails, and you will probably be running into some H2W, H2K, Armor, etc. Johan - For the price, again, stupid strong. Many big beaters are constructs, too! __Squatter's__ Colette - Duh. Zero interacts, extra moves exactly where you need them, teleport minions to faraway squat markers, etc. Ramos - Spiders spiders spiders. They won't have enough coverage to stop you from claiming at least 2 markers somewhere. Also he can shoot into combat. Kaeris - Recommended on diagonal deployments, where squats are concentrated in the middle more. Again, use the AoE, and Blinding Flame can push people off of markers. In flank deployment, take ALitS and achieve it in the first turn with Grab and Drop. Performer - Can interact in combat, can pull enemies off of markers. Enough said. Captain - can push enemies off of markers, and also has a huge engage range. Cassandra - Imbued Energies and Colette let you claim a marker on first turn and then slide to contest a second one in the upkeep step. SS Miner/Raptors - turn 2, adjust to where your opponent is or is not __Reconnoiter__ Ramos - Duh Colette? - Not too sure about this one, just cause Ramos is leagues beyond everyone else in this strat. Colette can help allies move into position, get to a table quarter easier, or just help a model kill an enemy to increase the difference of minions. Mech Rider - Duh. She summons, she's fast, she doesn't get bogged in combat. Myrandabus - things tend to spread out in recon. Cerberus is crazy fast so she can kill a straggler and be far enough away from enemies to survive. Howard - see Myrandabus, more ss, more quality. __Stake a Claim__ *I never played this strat, these are hypotheses* Colette - Can ensure a model gets exactly where it needs to for a (2) interact. You don't really need to rely on leap/nimble/fast with Colette. Ramos - Spider saturation. They might not be fast, or nimble, but when you have 4 swarming around, one is bound to get where it wants and place a claim marker. Cassandra/Firestarter - both have extra AP to move, both have strong ranged attacks to shoot while they're sneaking along the flanks. Myrandabus/Howard - see Reconnoiter. If something gets past you, you don't want it to keep going. These guys can make up for mistakes and assassinate scheme runners. I prefer Myranda in this case cause she's faster and cheaper. Performer - Pull enemies out of position, interact in combat, same as always.