Imbued Energies... Really?

[madaxeman]

Imbued Energies always seems to be quoted as the "must-take" upgrade for Arcanists... which has always puzzled me, as paying 1 Soulstone just to get one extra AP, on one model, once only during a game doesn't sound like a great deal - especially when there are "reactivates", 0-AP actions and even "nimbles" flying around and working every turn for other models within their base cost. 

 

What am I missing about this upgrade..? Is having one extra AP in one turn really that good ? 

 

 

[katadder]

well i usually take it on myranda as you will sacrifice her at some point so get the 4 cards.

[brdparker]

That extra action at the right time can be game-changing. A lot of models are balanced so that you have to end a turn in position to do something big the next turn (and win initiative). If that model has imbued energies, it simply walks in place first and then does its big thing at the end of the turn. For some models, that's enormous, others, not so much. Knowing this, your opponent might try to off the model before that happens. If it does, there's a consolation of 4 cards (which is turn-changing in its own right).

 

And the Myranda-sac is beautiful in and of itself.

[Kotep]

I used it with Marcus in multiple matches during a tournament to great effect. It's awesome for a well timed assassination run when Marcus is kitted out to be a melee beatstick. Honestly.

[Hateful Darkblack]

An extra AP is amazing if you get it at the right moment to get VPs from it. Remember that point in your last game where you said "Oh, if only I could get a model over there, AND do this thing, I'd be able to get my Scheme and deny theirs! Or maybe I could kill that model, but only if I could charge it and then do an Interact right after!" With an extra AP once, you can.

 

And four cards drawn is super huge. The more I play, the more I feel like card draw mechanics are the secret key to winning. There's no other effect in the game that draws this many cards in one go. (Zoraida's Bewitched and Some'r's Survival of the Fittest come close, but in smaller chunks.)

 

I know when I'm facing an Arcanist Crew, the turn where Myranda Sacrifices herself and gets four cards is the turn that everything the Crew wants to do succeeds because suddenly they have nearly twice as many resources.

[decker_cky]

Or even if not directly contributing to a scheme, having that extra swing on a heavy hitter can enough to put down a particularly problematic model, which may help you collect VPs in the long run (or even just demoralize your opponent).

[Math Mathonwy]

Not to mention how it can affect, e.g., Deliver a Message or Plant Explosives or such.

[dgraz]

I wouldn't say it's OMG! I WIN!!.........it's very useful and totally worth that 1SS. The biggest part of it is knowing when to use it and it's still possible to flubb it......that Assassination run with Marcus, or Howard, or a Cerberus could end in joker madness (which I've had happen......an RJ on their defense flip on my next attack a BJ on my flip.....makes it a lot less lethal). It's good for sure....and totally worth taking one in your crew somewhere.

[Csonti]

Threat (and board control) is a key element in Malifaux. Usually the mere threat the upgrade provides yields more benefit than the actual use of it. And in general the two things combined worth much, much more than the singe SS spent on it. For example Howard Langston's potential charge range is normally 5+6+2" which is already huge but with Imbued Energies it gets really stellar and your opponent has to consider a devastating attack coming from 5+5+6+2". 18" is half of the board so Langston in the center practically could threaten almost the entire battlefield (of course not counting with terrain pieces). 

 

Using it purely as a cheap turn1 card drawing trick with Myranda is also a good investment.

PS: I would kill for this kind of upgrade in the Neverborn section

[binkys]

<snip>...an RJ on their defense flip on my next attack a BJ on my flip.....<snip>

 

Man you were not happy at all when that happened.  

 

But yeah,  1 extra AP doesn't seem like much, but when it comes down to an opponent delaying killing the model so you don't draw 4 cards, or think about something like the ice golem, burn the imbued energies to move into range and now I can (3) Smash.  Someone with rapid fire/furious casting/flurry can burn it to move into position and still get their 3 shots off.  I have had a few times where burning the upgrade for 1 extra AP has thrown serious wrenches into my opponents plans.

[The Godlyness]

There is this upgrade called oath keeper for outcasts. You might have heard of it. Every model that can take it usually does. When that model dies it drops a scheme marker. When imbued dies your draw 4 cards.

1 ap can make all the difference. Masters have 3 ap now take one away. If you don't see the significance of that alone you are missing a very core mechanic of malifaux.

At its very very basics it's how do I turn my available Ap into Vp. Having more ap generally means doing more per turn And more vp.

So giving a model fast for one turn is super good. (Again look at outcasts and say wish my faction had oathkeeper.)

4 cards if the model dies before doing what it wanted to do is an amazing consolation prize. Or free cards in myrandas case. Also using those resources to deny and gain vp.

[RagingRodian]

Play against Reckless Gremlins sometime, you will quickly see how valuable that extra AP can be!

[Adran]

The option for the extra AP when you want it is great.

That extra action makes so many extra things possible. be it an extra move before you do a 2 interact, or being able to charge a guarding model and sttill having the AP left after the charge to interact can really change games.

 

Personally I find most models in a game will have a turn where that 1 extra AP makes a big difference. And I'm generally comparign that extra Ap to 1 turn when I get to look at an extra 2 card or prevent an extra 2 damage to one of my soulstone users, and when I compare it to those, yes it is great.

Partially it is a sfety net to me. that extra walk or attack can make up for an error of mine in placing, or a sligth change in the flow of the game, I hadn't expected. 

 

It also comes with the upside that it will always do something. Even if they kill your model just before you spend it for the extra AP, then you get the extra cards. There isn't a time when this is bad. and there are some points when this is amazing. What ever you are trying to do, extra Ap will help you achieve it.

 

If I don't have spare soulstones or upgrade slots then I probably don't jiggle the list to add it (unless the strat/schems dictate I will want that extra Ap somewhere), but if I have a spare space, and already have a cche of 3 or more, then I'll strongly look at it as an upgrade.

[madaxeman]

OK, thanks for all the well thought out stuff here.. I buy it!

Follow up question, do mercenaries get to use their own upgrades, or just those of the crew they join?

A set of these comments in the wiki on some pages just to discuss upgrades would be great

[Myyrä]

Upgrades are always purchased from the declared faction. Mercenaries and other out of faction models use the upgrades from the main faction.

[MasterDisaster]

Basically Imbued Energies is THE TITS!!! PERIOD!!!! 

 

1ss for Fast or 4 Cards upon death... HELL YEAH! The only other upgrade I'd consider anywhere nearly as good in the Discard / One-Use Only category is Oathkeeper from the Outcasts which is also awesome but still not as good. Having Fast at just the right time can be a game changer. 

[moxypoo]

My main opponent uses Imbued Energy very often, and it provides serious disincentive to kill the upgraded model.  As a few people have mentioned, drawing 4 extra cards is a really big deal.  During our games, I'm always asking myself whether it's better to kill the Imbued model and give my opponent a superior hand or to let the model run rampant.  It's a really tough choice, especially when Imbued Energies is on something like Howard or a Rail Golem.

 

I play Outcasts, and I use Oathkeeper almost every chance I get.  The extra AP in a critical turn is just that good.  Plus your opponent will often forget about the potential extra AP and make a mistake, such as getting too close to Bishop/Taelor/etc.

[Kadeton]

I'm firmly of the opinion that Imbued Energies is the strongest generic non-Master upgrade in the game, with Oathkeeper coming in a close second. It can be tough for a newer player to see how much of a difference a single extra AP can make to the outcome of a game, but it will very often mean the difference between killing a key enemy and losing a valuable friendly, or being in position to score versus not. Even if your model gets killed before you get to make use of it, it still has great value (slightly better than Oathkeeper in most circumstances, hence taking the top spot in my estimation).

[osoi]

I'm firmly of the opinion that Imbued Energies is the strongest generic non-Master upgrade in the game, with Oathkeeper coming in a close second. It can be tough for a newer player to see how much of a difference a single extra AP can make to the outcome of a game, but it will very often mean the difference between killing a key enemy and losing a valuable friendly, or being in position to score versus not. Even if your model gets killed before you get to make use of it, it still has great value (slightly better than Oathkeeper in most circumstances, hence taking the top spot in my estimation).

 

Couldnt agree more (I know we have discussed it a lot)

 

That extra AP at the right time comes in handy as a lot of others have already gone into detail with.

 

1 specific circumstance that I use regularly is Howard + Imbued Energies as it gives a nimble move plus the imbued move then 2" Ml to flurry. Its an impressive deterrent and board control piece that can very easily remove almost any model from the board if you enter its zone of death.

[Myyrä]

1 specific circumstance that I use regularly is Howard + Imbued Energies as it gives a nimble move plus the imbued move then 2" Ml to flurry. Its an impressive deterrent and board control piece that can very easily remove almost any model from the board if you enter its zone of death.

I find it's usually a better idea to just nimble->charge->hit. You get more movement, same number of attacks and save a card. ...aand your last attack can be against a different target if you so wish.

[decker_cky]

It also lets him double move then deliver message if you're in a bind, which can be worthwhile as well. 

[MasterDisaster]

It also lets him double move then deliver message if you're in a bind, which can be worthwhile as well. 

 

Or Nimble, Flurry and Attack 

[Psientologist]

I'm sure this has all been covered but let's breakdown Imbued Energies, 

 

Discard: gain fast (ala Oathkeeper too)

 

1AP for 1SS does on paper sound terrible. You paid 4ss for that Gamin and if it survives 2 turns it's already had that 1ss per AP investment.

However start comparing this on models which can take upgrades, enforcers or Henchman.

You will be hard pressed to find many enforcers for less than 8ss.

If this enforcer lasts past turn 4 then it has had 1+AP for it's cost.

 

Some models like Langston for example are 12ss and come with an extra (though fixed) AP.

Langston lasting the entire 5 turns of a game gets 15AP for 12ss. Lose one turn and he breaks even.

 

If we are realistic and imagine that turn4 is the average something will last too, actually this is optimistic, still Langston is AP to SS even so 1ss for an unfixed AP is already great.

 

Now as everyone said 1ss extra in the same turn can be a huge game changer, without going into specific situations of X vs Y what do you get?

 

1AP extra with Deliver a Message allows a walk then ability to score.

1AP extra in Stake a Claim allows a walk then ability to place a marker, usually only possible via (0) action pushes or places (Leap).

1AP extra for threat range, this is where typically things can be scary. A model with Wk4/Cg6 2"  range typically has a 8" threat range, if your opponent does not want that model to engage them typically they can just keep 8.1+ inches away and be safe.

Thing is, they don't know when your're willing to crack the upgrade open for the fast so your threat range is actually 12" in this case meaning you are controlling a much large portion of the board thanks to simply having a single stone upgrade attached, that is huge.

 

1 extra AP in a turn simply allows an Enforcer or Henchman to feel like a Master for a turn and that itself should be obviously powerful.

 

With Imbued Energies all this upside is fantastic and not where it even ends.

You can threaten the extra AP all game and never use it, the threat itself has made your opponent play different and then if they take that model out, well done, you've just gained 4 cards 2/3 of an initial starting hand and are now significantly ahead when it comes to dictating the tide of duels thanks to cheating fate.

 

Also as many have had said, you can even be sacrificed.

Myranda can Shapechange, typically into a Cerberus and give it 4 new cards to use for it's (slow) activation.

The 5+  for it's Leap or the  for the Maul trigger in combat may get pulled up and that is a big game.

 

Those 4 cards can be huge. Either your Imbued Energies model dies early and you have 10+ cards in hand or it dies later when you have run out of resources.

Allowing you to cheat and  trade cards in hand with each other without much worry as 1 card for 1 card is a fantastic deal for you when you already have +4 on your opponent.

 

So, Imbued Energies yeah? Pretty good.