Question on nexus of power

[Rybeauflavin]

I got my new arsenal box today from gencon order. and I noticed they have a nexus of power card that reads different than previous nexus of power.

the new one says you heal 1 damage after spending one or more soulstones for any action other than damage prevention.

whereas the previous nexus of power states than after using a soulstone you heal two damage, with no other restrictions.

so, do we have to use the new nexus of power upgrade in place of the old one?

[Mastershake]

I got my new arsenal box today from gencon order. and I noticed they have a nexus of power card that reads different than previous nexus of power.

the new one says you heal 1 damage after spending one or more soulstones for any action other than damage prevention.

whereas the previous nexus of power states than after using a soulstone you heal two damage, with no other restrictions.

so, do we have to use the new nexus of power upgrade in place of the old one?

yes

[Uktena]

Yeah, it was among the earliest erratas and is still found in the latest version of the faq/errata that was just released.

[Rybeauflavin]

Oh I see,
well thats disappoint.

Thanks for the info.

[Uktena]

Oh I see,

well thats disappoint.

Thanks for the info.

You bet. Look on the bright side, it may not be good enough to take every time, but it's still good enough to consider some of the time. That's a good indicator that it's balancing well.

[Fetid Strumpet]

If you were unaware of the change it would certainly be a shock. One thing I might recommend is to regularly check the FAQ/Errata document that is posted on these boards, and you can find it in the downloads section. This is where ALL official FAQ, errata, and rules clarifications can be located, and is updated every other month. The most recent update was yesterday I believe.

 

The new wording of Nexus was placed on the very first errata list some months ago, but if you were unaware of that it would certainly be surprising to find a new version in the card pack. That said, while the new version is the official version, if you are only playing with your friends, and none of you have found it abusive you could all certainly agree to allow the old version as a house rule amongst yourselves. 

 

I suspect it got changed after seeing how silly it could get when combined with The Hungering Darkness' change to a Henchman, and thus having the ability to spend stones, and the fact that it's existence was skewing how the design of some NB from wave 2 were getting balanced. I don't have any proof of those points, but that would be my interpretation.

[Rybeauflavin]

yeah I had funnily enough only tried the nexus of power written as before one time. It worked like a charm and I said after the game, "i dont think i will ever not take that" Sure enough my cards show up the next day and I read the new one which is much less impressive. But its a truism if its work considering some of the time its probably decently balanced.

[Mastershake]

yeah I had funnily enough only tried the nexus of power written as before one time. It worked like a charm and I said after the game, "i dont think i will ever not take that" Sure enough my cards show up the next day and I read the new one which is much less impressive. But its a truism if its work considering some of the time its probably decently balanced.

 

While I don't disagree with the fundamental premise, I think Nexus went too far the other way.  Reducing the healing or having it not function on prevention would both be pretty substantial, but in concert make for an upgrade that really doesn't warrant much consideration.

 

Nexus is in the same boat as Obscene Pact for me where I occasionally thumb through my upgrades for anything I care about for random models, am immediately reminded that it actually exists when I see the card, then proceed to turn it down because even at 1pt the payoff isn't there.  Maybe I just have weird habits for using SS, but usually when I'm stoning for suits models are undamaged and that, prevention and stoning for cards (another thing Nexus doesn't affect since it isn't a model spending the SS) are really the only things I spend SS on in an average game (every now and then I stone past a negative, but SS are a luxury for a lot of crews).  In an average game Nexus even netting me 2 extra health is a stretch, so I usually pass for just having another SS.

 

If you're getting great mileage out of it, then go nuts, but for me this upgrade would need a buff to even hit consideration territory.

[Joel]

I've gotta say, I barely consider this upgrade now.

[Math Mathonwy]

Isn't it a bit ridiculous on Taelor? A Hard to Kill model that heals when it flips an extra card for Df duels? Or am I thinking this somehow wrong? If not, are there any other HtK models that you could give it to?

[Myyrä]

Isn't it a bit ridiculous on Taelor? A Hard to Kill model that heals when it flips an extra card for Df duels? Or am I thinking this somehow wrong? If not, are there any other HtK models that you could give it to?

The heal only comes after resolving the action, but you could use it to stop Taelor from ever falling to 1hp. Besides Taelor, I think the only other model that can benefit from this is Ototo taken with Zoraida.

 

Edit: Captain Dashel too. Maybe I should start playing Lucius as Neverborn...

[Fetid Strumpet]

I still use nexus on candy a great deal. The thing is using nexus allows the model carrying it to use soul stones in order to gain an effective defensive +1, hard to wound, and armor +1 for the duration of the attack, which I find is totally worth the one stone, especially considering when I spend stones on dmg prevention I almost never get anything but a prevention of 1.

[Mastershake]

I still use nexus on candy a great deal. The thing is using nexus allows the model carrying it to use soul stones in order to gain an effective defensive +1, hard to wound, and armor +1 for the duration of the attack, which I find is totally worth the one stone, especially considering when I spend stones on dmg prevention I almost never get anything but a prevention of 1.

I guess if you're in a position to do it, it could be worth the one stone, but back to my previous thought I almost never find myself in that position. Much like Obscene Pact I love the idea of not getting screwed by a black joker, but the odds of the black joker coming up on the model that has Pact and on a cheatable flip are so low I generally pass on it as well.

[Fetid Strumpet]

True, but pact still has a place, Models which flip a lot of cards to the attack, or have, and will use multiple attacks, pact can be a very worthwhile investment, and I'll agree that nexus isn't something that goes on every model.

 

Candy works well with it because at least in the games I bring her out she is so annoying she always gets attacked. Being more free to use stones on defense instead of on prevention actually makes her more survivable I find because often she will succeed the Defensive check because of the extra card, in which case the 1 SS cost of nexus isn't hurting me badly even if it never does anything, but I also get the assurance that if they still get through the defensive flip, the SS spent on defense essentially gives me hard to wound, and as long as the attacks dmg doesn't kill her outright, its like the stone I spent prevented 1 dmg anyway, which is the most common flip I make for prevention.

 

I know odds wise I should more often than not get better than 1, but I can count on 1 hand the amount of times I've gotten 2 or better on all the dmg prevention flips I've made since M2E began.

 

If you are willing to accept the fact that dmg prevention might only give you 1, then getting 'effectively' that, plus the benefits of spending a stone for the defense, at least cost vs. benefit wise, makes it a good investment to me.

[Math Mathonwy]

The heal only comes after resolving the action, but you could use it to stop Taelor from ever falling to 1hp.

Raphael LaCroix with Dirty Cheater is a really tough nut to crack and he can heal only on his own activation. Here you only need to manage to defend against the final killing blow and you get a bonus flip to do it with.

Besides Taelor, I think the only other model that can benefit from this is Ototo taken with Zoraida.

Ototo would be actually rather awesome with this, I think.

[Lupercal]

Raphael LaCroix with Dirty Cheater is a really tough nut to crack and he can heal only on his own activation. Here you only need to manage to defend against the final killing blow and you get a bonus flip to do it with.

Ototo would be actually rather awesome with this, I think.

Ototo can get dirty cheater with gremlin zoraida as well. This thread is really making me want to try him with nexus of power though. Maybe fears given form on top to capitalize on how difficult he will be to get rid of and abuse his 3 inch engagement range?

[Uktena]

Unlike Pact though, Nexus supports the Master and any other Henchthings loitering around. So there's that.