Cedar

It depends- Minion Mercenaries are equal to other summonable minions (or sometimes worse than their counterparts), like Horrors, Spirits, Undeads. The real problem lies in "disadvantage" of summoned models (like coming only from corpses and with half of their wounds , with limited lifespan like oni or with only single wound remaining like nightmares). For instance it could be a requirement do discard a stone or several cards, even maybe coming into game paralyzed.

I thought about this master summoning pool and I found few problems: 1. If he would summon only Outcast minion Merc models, his pool seems quite low- Desperate Merc, Ronn, Freikorpsmann, Trapper and probably 1-2 more models from a book in which he would be introduced. 2. If he would summon Outcast minion or enforcer model, it would be gamebreaking- think about all those awesome units like Johan, Hans, Sue, Killjoy- these models would be unkillable in his crew. 3. If he would summon minion merc from ANY faction... well it could be broken for certain reasons, but i'm not sure... 4. If he would summon Outcast models with certain characteristic- for now there are two common characteristics: Freikorps and Vermin, and each of them have few problems- any Freikorps model means that master has the ability to summon Trappers, Librarians and Strongarms- very efficient models. The Verimin Characteristic suffers from having only 3 models(rats, rat kings, plagues). So I don't really know which option is the best for a master now. What do you think?

Or she allow Levi to unbury him in base contact with her at cost of wounds instead of sacrifice the model.

I'm constantly thinking about buying any summoner, but because I play outcasts mainly the idea of spending a lot of money for something without synergy with them (except bone levi) is not so appealing to me. I would like a summoner who summons models with mercenary characteristic (since it's common for outcasts) with cost of enemy scheme markers (similar in theme with Parker) and with limited upgrades maybe summoning Bandits and... I don't know. Maybe Freikorps? Tormented? Last blossom?

I have a question about Sybelle- is she worth taking with Levi? I like her with bleeding tongue lash + not too banged up in seamus/molly/any resser master crew, but since she can't have these upgrades with Levi i'm not convinced about bringing her.

You are right, same goes for mech rider, but return fire competes with their built-in trigger. I mean, you can take it, but you'll probably end with using their default trigger, unless you win by flipping/cheating 10+ Crows. It's nice for Wp duels, tho. I'll try it myself today and write my feelings about it later.

I was thinking about giving return fire to all these models, but oathkeeper/scramble/the bigger they are is better option for few reasons: 1. You need to be able to perform Sh action, so if you are engaged and hit the trigger, you probably won't be able to perform attack due to engagement. Only models capable of doing so are Sue and Gunslingers. 2. In case of riders it competes with their built-in Def triggers. It's still a nice option for Wp duels, but in Def duels you will probably hit the auto trigger(or cheat with high crows, which isn't a good option, since many Levi models require crow to hit desolate warping). 3. Yes, Return fire is enforcer only upgrade. Levi now plays differently than before- he should try to finish wounded models with his low damage instead of trying to kill big beaters. He is not an assassin anymore, but a guy that tries to land a final blow.

Latest FAQ states, that you can't redirect damage from Burn Out to a Warrior.

@Jafar You forgot Terracotta Warrior for Iron Levi- he helps constructs who can heal, like Engine, Teddy or Lazarus to survive fatal wound.

Valedictorian is solid henchmen but iron zombies are not (except student of sinew if you know you will be facing Ressers). For Iron Levi probably the best pick is Mech Rider, since it offers very good mobility, nice attack(with free card draw and markers) and ability to summon steam arachnids (or gamins, but i really prefer arachnids). Other viable options are: Peacekeeper, Joss, Langston, Teddy, Rouge Necromancy, Soulstone Miners, Large Steam Arachnids, Watcher and probably Hunters (i haven't tried them yet). Plus best model for construct list- Mobile Toolkit! From Outcasts I recommend taking Johan, Lazarus, Vanessa and Librarian. Big beaters (Engine, Ashes and Dust) are viable option if you are going to try to summon multiple abominations (or you know how to use A&D to be a crew tank- seriously, with right setup he is nearly unkillable).

When i take Mech rider i also hire Alyce with from aether. Rider summons arachnids/gamin, then they die and she can summon Abomination. Taking Joss/Large Arachnid with her is very nice.

In Malifaux 1.5 he had this ability: "Pariah :Crews containing this model can only hire Constructs, Undead, and Soulless models, but may hire them from any Faction without additional cost. This model cannot hire Totems. At the start of the first Activation Phase, Summon a Hollow Waif to base contact with this model." I think that it should be added now for him (with few changes of course). Riders Crew is interesting idea, but mostly for fun. Jack Daw crew is useless with Levi (except dead bandits). For Johan i found that either Joss or Langston are nice choices with him, but Joss works better- Johan can heal him when he drops to 1 Wd, allowing him to stay few hits more.

Many Outcasts are Mercenaries so you can field them with Seamus. The only Undead not from Ressers are Fae and Levi theme crew- about 8 models. I admit, his hiring pool is biggest in the entire game, but it doesn't mean that this and low damage should be the only reason to pick him.

It is true, but look this way - Levi has big access to constructs or undead, but other masters also have huge hiring pool. If you take Bone Levi what is his advantage over Resser master (especially Seamus, since they both play similar)? If you look at damage, resilience, mobility and synergy between Master and other models- Seamus work just better. With Iron Levi you should compare him to Hoffman and Ramos- Sure, he has better damage track and a bit different defense than these two masters, but they offer more to their crew than him- Pseudo obey, summoning, healing. In case of Hoffman, Levi hiring pool is just few models more. So why should I play Levi instead of Hoffman/Ramos or Ressers? I think that people are thinking that because he has huge hiring pool and two free activations he shouldn't be able to accomplish anything during game, maybe except wounding one or two models.

Maybe if he would have built-in suits for Desotate Warping both in melee and Unmaking he could play as a finisher against wounded models.

Plus with Mad Dog you get nice killing machine, and with upgrade he is very resistant. Terracotta Warrior can protect very valuable model, like Mech Rider or Langston plus giving Levi two Oathkeepers (one from start then other from switching Pariah) helps him a lot.

I found that free focus + shot + focus + shot are best option for him now. He should activate as one of the first models in crew to be able to cheat pathetic low damage with moderate/severe. You can try to kill big model with to the earth return, but it has value only if target has minimum 7 wounds remaining (since you can basically change your moderate to severe damage). Drawing extra cards is useful when you have undead/construct near death- you can trade almost killed model for two cards. For me his core crew almost always contains Ashes and Dust- he can free teleport to a perfect place to shoot some models, then gain 2 activations more. Im bigger fan of Iron Levi than Bone Levi, so my crew contains almost always a Mobile Toolkit (great utility!), A&D or Mech Rider, Joss, Rusty Alyce and Soulstone Miners/Necropunks. Lazarus is also a great option when there are plenty of low Ht terrain. Must try Ryle, Teddy and Peacekeeper and some Hunters for utility/schemes. I still think that his upgrades need rework (especially From Ash).

Plus you hurt your model in the process and probably you will randomize between friendly model and enemy (or multiple friendlies/enemies). Just look at other obey-like actions that target friendly models- like Dreamer or Colette- and see that these actions are far more powerful. Since Masters AP are (usually) most valuable AP in the crew, trading 1 Master AP for 1 AP for other model must be valuable- like pushing before taking action, granting + do flips or something like that or like obey/heed my voice- allow you to target enemy models. In case of Levi, you are randomizing between models (ignoring this only with models with engagement of 3 or more), hurting your model in the process (remember, Unmaking ignores reduction/HtW/HtK) and allowing them to perform (1) AP close combat action. In several cases you end with Levi AP spent on hurting your own model, then that model misses its action. Sure, similar situation can happen with obey, but at last you don't hurt another crew member in the process. In my opinion Levi needs solid change in his card, maybe even complete rework. His advantage of taking any construct/undead is huge, but other than that he is weak model- not very weak, but below average.

His summoning is pathetic, since it requires 9 Crows and scrap marker or crows in duels AND kill opponent with it. Rusty Alyce has better abomination summoning option, since she can put scrap markers on her own and requires 10 without suit to cast it. His melee during charge is unpredictable- 1/3/8 damage spread is huge and to be able to deal that severe damage he must use Tomes card or spend a soulstone. About his teleport- Seamus or Mei Feng also have option to quickly move themselves very quickly across board and have damage output far superior to Leveticus. His only advantage over that models is large hiring pool and questionable surivability.

Basically we have master with one purpose- to have large hiring pool. He is weak now. Not super weak, but he is below average. If his Unmaking action wouldn't have projectile icon levi would serve his damage dealer role better. Also, To the Earth Return should not require to flip or cheat moderate or severe damage, since it's useless now. I think that this upgrade and From Ash need rework to allow levi to serve multiple purposes, or at least to give him more options how to play. Maybe something like this: To the Earth return (1 SS): This Model gains following Trigger to its Unmaking Action: Tome Ram: Unnatural Wasting: After damaging, the target gains following condition for the rest of the game: "Necrotic pollution- after this model ends it's activation, this model and all friendly models within Pulse 2 must pass TN 11 DF duel or suffer 2 damage". From Ash(3SS): This model gains following Tactical Actions: (1) Transfigure (Ca 7 Tome / TN: * / Rg: 6)- Name a Minion model with both Construct and Undead Characteristic. The TN of this action is 10 Tome Crow plus soulstone cost of the named model. Summon named model in base contact with target friendly model with Construct or Undead Characteristic, then sacrifice that model. Summoned model suffers damage equal half of its Wounds, which may not be reduced. (0) Bound to this world (Ca 5 / TN: 8/ Rg: 6)- Discard a card. Target friendly model with both Construct and Undead Characteristic gains one of the following conditions: Carrier: when this model is killed, summon an Abomination into base contact with it before it is removed. This model does not drop Corpse or Scrap Markers when it is killed. This condition lasts for the rest of the game. Ashes to ashes: This model adds +Crow to it's final duels total. This condition lasts for the rest of the game. Dust to dust: Once per turn, when this model is killed or sacrificed by enemy action, it may perform (0) or (1) AP action. If this model is healed as a result of this action, don't kill or sacrifice this model. This condition lasts until end of turn. Fatigue: Enemy models within Aura 6 gain - to all simple duels except Horror duels. This condition lasts until end of turn.

Terracotta Warriors are great - i like running them with iron levi and mitigate damage on DE, Lazarus or even Mech Rider. Both new general outcast upgrades are powerful- return fire grants nice triggers for Gunslingers/Sue and The bigger they are is auto-include for Jack Daw.

Killjoy is great addition to almost any outcast crew... maybe except Misaki since she has possibility to hire Ototo. You can start game with him being buried, so just wait for an opponent to kill your master and then pop killjoy- you just swap one melee beater with another. Our fat buddy is very reasonable choice for Hamelin- not just for rat bomb- you can obey him to perform very deadly attack. Using useless toy on stolen or other expendable model gives you cards fora cheating fate or using gorge. Parker likes heavy beaters- he can use no witness to grant Killjoy another attack or push him out of melee so he will perform (1) AP charge. Since your enemies will try to kill him with one-two models, using "you were told to duck..." gives Parker nice option to shoot multiple models with single action. I'm hiring Killjoy about 95% times when I play Hamelin (for me he is more important than Emissary or even Nix) and sometimes with Misaki, but for Parker I prefer Strongarm suit or Lazarus plus some decent melee models like Ronin.

According to page 46 in big rulebook, "Effects that modify the damage flip will state that they do so specifically", so it's just inconsistent wording.

For now I'd say its Jack Daw- the new The bigger they are... upgrade gives him incredible damage output, and Dead Bandits are awesome. Levi is great, not as much as he was before, but he can pull incredible combo of Terracotta Warrior + Alyce + Big Construct for free reactivations each turn and exchanging Pariah of Iron for other upgrades. Parker is solid, but players are still trying to figure him out. Hamelin is nice as always- i like playing him in the headhunter, since rats doesn't drop head markers.

Draugr Action can give Soulbound to non-leader non-peon model, so no fun for Levi, but Alyce and Lazarus are great targets for this action.