Master(s) to start with

[LulleK]

Hello!

I'm relatively new to Malifaux, but I love it! Right now I'm playing Arcanists, but I'm very tempted to start Neverborn as my second faction. I am therefore looking for some reccomendations from you guys! My question is: If I was to focus on two, maybe three crews to begin with, which ones would you suggest, covering the most schemes/strategies? Are there any masters considered more "OP" or competitive than others? In Arcanists I focus mostly on Ramos and Colette, because they are very good and complement each other very well. are there any masters in Neverborn who are like that? And also, of your recommendations, which one would you buy first and why? Thanks in advance!

Edited October 11, 2015 by LulleK

[Ludvig]

I'd invest in the theme you feel like playing first and concentrate on enjoying the game. You will probably need to rethink your strategies from the ground up either way, that is after all the point of switching factions. As long as you don't go with Lucius, Zoraida & Collodi at the same time I think you eill find that the masters complement each other. Pull my finger has a breakdown of every master (I think they list preferred strats) and there are numerous podcasts giving you everything you need to know about one master at a time. I like schemes & stones personally but there are other great podcasts I forget the name of.

[LulleK]

Thanks for the answer Ludvig! I will certailnly check out the pod casts.

[D_acolyte]

Pandora is surprisingly a the most straightforward master in the Neverborn, she is a bruiser that messes with activation sequence.

I focus on Pandora, Dreamer and Lilith, the first two have a lot of overlap to there crews and the last is because I LOVE nephilim. They also play differently and cover a lot of basses. I actually started as an Arcanist back in 1st ed. Dreamer also has overlap to a degree with Collodi. Most people might also tell you to pic up Lynch's Box but there is a lot of illuminated love.

I am not sure I say any Neverborn is OP now as they can all be but it is very situational, things like a terror list build is strong until you see Kang. Probably the most competitive is the Dreamer. Coming from Collet the mistress of schemes and Ramos the master of annoyance, I mean constructs, there is not a good analogist. If I had to choose one for Ramos it might be Collodi but for what Ramos does he is way better but a lot slower.

Some big differences about NB to ARCs:

We are a lot fast but often more fragile as there is not a lot of armor on average.

Arcs play in the rules but we bend them this is especially true with our masters. Collet is a little more NB then ARC in her abilities.

Most of our synergies come from messing with our enemies. There is a lot of control in this faction.

ARCs have multiple good answers to various problems like armor or incorporeal where NB have a few but they are powerful.

With my ARCs I might have 1 model that is 10+ ss in cost with the NB I have 2+ models that cost that much.

ARCs masters are themed normally around a type of magic or lore where NBs are monsters and the darker part of people, get used to it for the madness will consume you. This last point is generally important in what you can expect and depending on what type of people you like to play but since you play Ramos, a power hunger sociopath that uses others as pawns, you should have no problems. Note he is the only ARC master I do not have and will not play because I can not get behind him.

Schemes and stone has a master spotlight on Lilith, Wrath, Dreamer, Lucius and Collodi. http://schemesandstones.podbean.com/

 

Also what style of game do you like to play?

[LulleK]

Thanks for your answer D_acolyte! What does a terror list build look like? Yeah at first it felt "wrong" to pick up neverborn because of all the darkness. But I think they have the coolest models, so I think it will be my next faction because of that.

I haven't played enough games with different masters to know what style i prefer sadly. 

Edited October 12, 2015 by LulleK

[D_acolyte]

The one I use for Terror is 3 daydreams, Widow Weaver, teddy, and Coppelius led by the dreamer and summon or sprinkle in some insidious madnesses or Tannen.

The idea is to get the enemy into a fight with teddy and Coppelius who are terrifying all 12 or 13 and use the daydreams and web markers to lower the wp of the enemy. A daydream lowers the wp of the enemy 1 for each with in 4 and web markers do it with in 3. If a insidious madness or Tannan is near by then they will have to discard to cheat the wp. If they fail the wp then once a turn teddy gets to make an mi action. if they fail fail a horror near Coppelius they take 2 damage and if they are near Widow Weaver you draw a card. The Widow Weaver stand back laying webs and doing exhale terror for more horror duels. You can summon or buy alps to add wp dual for slow and cause passive damage that way. The Dreamer is there for empty night and his heal bubble, he can also do some minor summoning. If people know you are bringing it though there are some hard counters such as Kang who give immunity to horror or ruthless models. There is a Pandora variant and I am not a fan of either list.

I tend to tell people NB favor aggressive play more than other faction and they feel very glass cannon like where ARCs feel a bit like a nut or wall, lot of armor and serviceability.  RES are a war of attrition, 10T are strange synergies and what others are, GLD are peace through firepower, GRM are activation and ap and a lot of healing, OUT are a little hodgepodge even compared to the 10T but are often very combat capable at any range. These are general statements and should be taken as such, you can play a NB armor list (illuminated and waldgiests).

Edited October 12, 2015 by D_acolyte

[LulleK]

Thanks for the summary!