Leveticus - How does he play?

[graeme27uk]

So I have been away from Malifaux for a while and thinking of getting back into it. 

Leve has always been a favourite of mine but how does he play now? I also like the constructs and undead models so again Leve has synergy with both of those, and this allows me to expand my crew/master choice whilst keeping models usable between factions.

I could get his basic crew box but what would be the best purchases from there on in?

[daniello_s]

https://pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com/M2E+Leveticus

[KrazyIvan]

Levi is a hyper-aggressive loner that doesn't do much for his crew except kill things (friendly models included). While he does have any ability to give an extra action by shooting a friendly model he will more often kill his buddies by using his zero action. That said, Levi will fill your beater role quite nicely and you can expect him to kill at least one enemy model every turn. His ranged attacks ignore all common defenses, and his melee attack is easily capable of doing 16 damage because of his Channel mechanic. That mechanic guarantees that his ranged attacks never really have to worry about models in cover, and on a charge his melee attacks start with   on both the attack and damage duels. When I play him I usually activate him early to kill things, bury him, then move a waif somewhere useful for Levi to be as my last activation, prior to unburying him. I tend to play him very aggressively and will often put him out in the open so that I can get in three attacks. Consequently I end up stoning for initiative flips a lot.

While Levi does have the largest hiring pool in the game, thanks to his Pariah upgrades, his thematic crew is quite good and the non-thematic in faction models he has access to are great. Just starting out I would recommend one of these two starting places:

Option 1: Full thematic crew

• Levi
• Rusty
• 3 Hollow Waifs
• 6+ Abominations (crew box plus a M1E blister, or crew box plus an Abomination box)
• Ashes & Dust
• Lazarus
• Hodgepodge Effigy
• Desolation Engine

This startup gives you access to all of Levi's tricks and allows for multiple styles of play. It does lack a healer however. It is also how I started into Levi.

Rusty is solid all-rounder. She can shoot, melee, and summon. Her defensive abilities are also pretty good. Ashes & Dust pulls double duty as both scheme runner and beater, but you pay a lot for it (it is very good but I often leave it at home in favor of other models). Lazarus is similar to Rusty in that he an all-rounder, plus Rusty can reactivate him if need be. When using this setup I rarely hire the Desolation Engine, but I do pull it out of the bag and set it with my summoning pool in view of my opponent as a reminder that if they don't kill all those Abominations I am summoning that Mr. DE will will coming out to play.

Option 2: KrazyIvan's usual base

• Levi
• Rusty
• 3 Hollow Waifs
• Freikorps Librarian
• Freikorps Trapper
• Johan
• The rest to taste

I find that I prefer this setup to the thematic crew in most cases. I will generally give Rusty I Pay Better and keep her mid board so that all those mercs can benefit from it for as many turns as possible. In my opinion the Librarian, Trapper, and Johan are among the best models available in-faction. They may not have the highest states around, but their point economy is really, really good. You get a lot of utility for the points, and with this setup you still have points available for a big flashy model or two. They are all expensive enough to be anchors for your waifs as well (which is one of the advantages of this setup over the thematic list - 4 anchors to just 3 anchors).

In this list I typically let Levi do his thing, teleporting all over and killing stuff (while proc'ing Abominations near the opposing crew via Desolate Soul to tar pit them). Rusty will advance to mid table. Johan will stay near Rusty but will be used to complete objectives on my side of the board. The Librarian will do the same opposite Johan. The Trapper pulls double duty as both a sniper and a scheme runner. He is not the fastest model around, buy From The Shadows allows him to get early scheme markers where you need them. I often will add Soulstone Miner or Mech Rider to fill out the roster.

[Jafar]

3 hours ago, KrazyIvan said:

his melee attacks start with   on both the attack and damage duels.

Can you explain this to me? I think I can only get in legal way.

[daniello_s]

Focus -  on attack + damage flips

Channel the charge -  on attack and damage flips

Channel the attack -  on attack and damage flips

Trigger for Face of Death - max  on damage flips

 

So I count in total:  on attack and  on damage

 

 

[KrazyIvan]

Yes, I was referring to flipping 4 cards. I should have just listed   (since 4 cards is the max flip, even with Faces of Death). It just requires you to be in position to focus instead of moving into position with his first AP. Bad news if you lose initiative, but full of win if you don't.

[lusciousmccabe]

I think focusing and channelling twice is definitely overkill. 

[daniello_s]

True, but I have to do it at least once in my life. Just for the craic

[lusciousmccabe]

You should burn oathkeeper and focus twice first. Just to watch the world burn.

[daniello_s]

[Mr_Roy]

Has anyone tried the 4 riders list? I don't know if its any good in the game but it seems really cool.

[Freman]

You need Hodgepodge Emissary to do it since Leveticus's Pariah upgrades only give you two each.

I haven't tried it. I suspect it would suffer from the problem of having a low effective model count with models that aren't good until the third turn.

[daniello_s]

I see it funny list but a bit (too) tricky to play. 

And it looks like Wyrd didn't want to buff Levi with Emissaries dedicated upgrade so they made a funny one

[Adran]

I Think Shakes1066 has played it at events a few times, and it can be solid. You are playing a fairly elite crew that is fragile in the early turns, but by the mid game you have 5 very solid and tough models. 

Almost your biggest problem is that your modesl are all weak to th same thing, so if your opponent has a good way to take out a rider, you need to deal with that treat asap