Popular Post Justin Posted July 7, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Hey all, Along with this month's FAQ, we see a few fairly important erratas. They are as follows: Leveticus has had his Cache dropped to 1. The Channel Ability on Leveticus has been rewritten to allow him to gain Focus once per Activation at the cost of 2 damage. The Malifaux Rat has had the Hamelin's Pets Ability added, which states that it may only be hired into Crews led by a Nihilist and that, if it is summoned into a Crew which is not led by a Nihilist, then it may not Activate on the Turn it was summoned. These cards are already available for purchase through print on demand with Wargame Vault: https://www.wargamevault.com/browse/pub/5162/Wyrd-Miniatures?site=wgv Also our resources page has been updated with the July FAQ, which comes with free PDF downloads of all cards with errata: http://www.wyrd-games.net/malifaux-faq-errata I'll address the Malifaux Rat errata first. Most of you have probably heard of the dreaded "Rat Engine." This was a tactic which Outcast players used to get excessive Activations using Malifaux Rats and, once their opponent had no more models left to Activate, they attacked their opponent with Killjoy, Viktoria, Leveticus, or any other number of high-impact models which greatly benefited from attacking while the opponent had no models available to respond. After careful consideration, viewing event results, and trying it out ourselves, we determined that this tactic was both too powerful and simply not fun for the opponent. The changes to the Malifaux Rat will prevent the Crews which were using this tactic from getting an excessive number of Activations. It is worth noting that while similar "out-activation" tactics are still available to Hamelin, he was tested and designed around the notion that he would be able to maintain more Activations than his opponent. The "Rat Engine" was effective with Leveticus and Viktoria because, not only were they able to assault their opponent with Killjoy without opposition, they also had a very potent Master in terms of raw damage with which to back it up. Hamelin is less high-impact in terms of damage output, and was very much designed with the Malifaux Rats in mind. As such, we believe that out-Activation tactics are still balanced (and fun) for his Crew to use. While we are hesitant to restrict the availability of models to certain Masters, we are confident that this change is the best one for the game. It will allow Outcast players to come up with more interesting, varied lists and prevent their opponents the pain of being obliterated by the Rat Engine. We did not make this change lightly, and restricting models to certain Crews or Masters will only be done in the most extreme circumstances: this just happened to be such a circumstance. Additionally, Malifaux Rats are still available to every Outcast Crew through the use of summoning due to other models in the Faction. This is a big change, but the whole of the game will be better for it. Now, on to Leveticus. For years we have all heard rumblings that Leveticus was too powerful, and after a careful consideration of the data and feedback, Wyrd agrees. Leveticus is a Master who was excellent at dealing damage, nearly impossible to kill, highly mobile, and had excellent options in terms of Crew. A few of those things are expected on a Master, but all of it combined was simply too much. We have chosen to reduce the amount of damage which Leveticus is capable of by limiting his Channel Ability to once per Turn and making it grant the Focused Condition. His Cache was also dropped by 1. This will greatly limit the amount of damage he is able to deal since he can no longer rely on positive flips to avoid cheating, get around cover, or increase his damage for every Attack. We chose to limit his damage because one of the aspects at which he was excellent needed to be toned down in order to balance him. Reducing his survivability would go against his well-established theme of being undying, so that was ruled out. Limiting his Crew options would not be respectful of the real-money purchases of Outcast players, so that was ruled out as well. Limiting his mobility was an option, but likely would not have done enough on its own and would have necessitated further, radical, change and we wanted to keep the model as close to its core concept as possible. As such, reducing his damage-dealing capabilities was the best solution, and Channel was the most obvious target. Leveticus is still the wily old scavenger we all know and love. He still eternally dies and comes back. He still fields abominations and necromancies from multiple Factions, and he will still stalk the board removing your opponent's weaker pieces. His role on the battlefield will just change slightly. You may find that, after the errata, it is better to have Leveticus finish off already damaged models (which he is excellent at, due to the wide array of defensive abilities he still ignores) rather than having him deal the bulk of the damage. In fact, you may even find that activating him later in the Turn is more advantageous as he can pick off weakened targets. I feel that this is actually even more thematic to his role as a scavenger. I hope that Leveticus players see this errata as an opportunity to explore the wide range of possibilities which Leveticus still offers. He is no longer locked into the role of damage-dealer, and you may even find that his play is more interesting and dynamic. Although such a change often comes with cries of "Doom!" from both sides (whether you think Leveticus is now useless garbage or this errata changed nothing and he is still the most broken thing ever) I strongly suspect that Leveticus will remain one of the better Masters in the game. He simply will no longer be the "obvious best option," and instead become another strong choice for his Faction. All of the changes (both Rats and Leveticus) went through careful planning and testing. I am confident that they are for the betterment of the game as a whole. I hope you like the changes and you are able to keep enjoying the amazing Malifaux universe as we continue to attempt to perfect the balance of the game we all know and love. 102 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Lucidicide Posted July 7, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 #showofsupport 36 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tomjoad Posted July 7, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 One nice thing about Wyrd is that I trust you guys and believe that these changes are for the best. This is a great game; thanks for making sure it stays that way. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guslado Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Hey! You also answered the questions surrounding Jaakuna Ubume's aura and if she counts as killing them! Excellent! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucidicide Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Just now, Guslado said: Hey! You also answered the questions surrounding Jaakuna Ubume's aura and if she counts as killing them! Excellent! There was something else updated? :-P Thanks, we're pretty happy with this one. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fog Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Full support. I love the Leveticus changes less because of balance, but more in how it really strongly supports him playing more thematically. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kolath Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 @Justin, thank you! This was a perfect way to solve this issue. To be clear I primarily play Outcasts and I just won a recent tournament using Levi and the rat engine and I am really glad to see this change. It was never a fun list to play and it was an obvious NPE for my opponents, but it was "the best" list available. I'm excited to see the field evened a bit so I can feel more justified running the other Outcast masters (who I always preferred anyway). I am very encouraged to see Wyrd take the community's concerns into account and enact a change that is both respectful of players' purchases and also helpful to the balance and fun of the whole game. Nice work! PS - Now I also don't have to bug you about this at Gencon, so that's a plus too 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancor709 Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Love it Wyrd. I respect the changes and love the efforts you take to balance the product. Can't wait to run some purchased rat kings with my more friendly levi. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Speaking as an Outcast and particularly a Leveticus and Viks player, I wholly approve of all of the above. Not that my vote counts for much after it's already in ink, but I sincerely appreciate the care and consideration with which you applied these erratas and the detailed explanation thereof. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
necroon Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 @Justin thank you for such an in depth explanation of the changes and why they have happend. Wyrd always does a great job listening and making changes than really need to be made when the evidence to support them is there. Keep up the great job making sure that not only our gaming future (Book 4!) Is fun and exciting but also that our past models are balanced and enjoyable, as well. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocSchlock Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Great changes all around. Thumbs up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnomezilla Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I am pleasantly surprised that this was addressed before this year's GenCon. Hooray for slightly fewer robot tears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patzer Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Thanks for taking the time to explain the changes. I like them a lot, they hit where it was needed. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrflamme Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Ah, and I had just painted Levi a few weeks ago Gonna try him out in a game today, I suspect it won't be too bad. I was already planning on taking the selective sniper tack with him, so it won't change it up too much. Also a general, minor request: For new errata/FAQ questions on the webpage, could the date at the end also be in red such that new entries can be recognized much more easily? I appreciated that in the PDF versions, but it doesn't seem to be so for the webpage. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipse Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I love you, Wyrd!... This may be a little exaggerated, but I feel like you are now tailing closer behind Infinity in terms of balance and playability. Supporting your game feels like getting a great payoff after sticking around with it. Keep the 'shine coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frisch Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I don't mind the changes much; Levi will be fine, but different. Hamelin received a 'boost' in the way that he is now the only one to employ the true rat engine; Fine. I never saw either of those as a problem, and I have played both as Levi and against Levi quite a lot, and against the rat engine a couple of times without problem. To be honest; I found they forced the opponent to think out side their comfort zone which is a good thing. However, the errata is in - the change is done - and the game will go on and still be good. It does require a follow up question; When will you fix the masters *under* the power curve? Lucius and Yan Lo are quite underperforming at events, especially our poor secretary. If you are willing to start hot-fixing models like this, then give these guys some love. And how about the Ca8 Belles that, if I remember correctly Justin himself said he would have liked to change to Ca7, when will they be changed? I love this game, and I like the openness of the design-decisions, so it is hard to be properly furious, but I simply believe there were more important issues to fix than these. edit: I forgot about Tara; A master who has been 'fixed' so many times by alternative means. 'Free' upgrades added to her themed guys, extra henchmen to fit her theme and fix her... twice. Why not just give her the change Tara players are asking for, and merge one or two of her upgrades unto her card? Play experience should extend beyond the competitive environment, which means fixing all masters, not just the once at the top of the curve. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drool_bucket Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 +1 to Patzer's post, thanks for explaining. Rat Engine is well done, gives Hamelin back his character the other dirty Outcasts were stealing! Levi, oh, Levi... what can we say? Thanks, Justin, for taking this step, I know Errata is not an easy move to make. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koronuslight Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I applaud the Rat Engine fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anger Worm Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Home run. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fauxreigner Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 As someone who recently migrated over from a GW system, I have to say how fantastic it is to see that Wyrd listen to, and act on, the feedback from their community on relatively short timescales, to keep the game as playable and enjoyable as possible. Thanks guys. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipse Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I feel like Lucius is already being addressed (what he needs most is efficient Minions and solid beaters to back them up). I never had problems with him in Neverborn after I figured out what he wanted to do - he is actually my strongest master there. In Guild he felt very weak to me, but with the new minion choices he is going to be so fun... Yan Lo on the other hand never clicked with me quite as well in the end but some people swear by his name, so he might not be as bad? Can't say for sure. Having Rats perform at their best in Hamelin's lists is quite flavorful - he IS the rat king after all. They are still available for summoning in other lists, but the combo is not as foolproof anymore. Overall the changes sound quite good in terms of balancing, our local Levi player agreed to that just now. Hope these changes do not turn people away from playing Levi and his creepy rag-tag crew of undead/constructs... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfpact Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Any idea when the errata might hit the cards? I've been eyeing Levi a while due to really loving his thematics and aesthetics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharpobjects Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I am very happy that Wyrd addressed Levi and the Rat Engine in non Nihilist crews. I still think Levi is still near the cream of the crop even with his changes today. Players will have to use him a bit differently now. I look forward to playing against him and seeing some new tactics displayed by him and his crew other than channel x3 and shoot x3 for the majority of the turns. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frisch Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 3 minutes ago, Eclipse said: I feel like Lucius is already being addressed (what he needs most is efficient Minions and solid beaters to back them up). I never had problems with him in Neverborn after I figured out what he wanted to do - he is actually my strongest master there. In Guild he felt very weak to me, but with the new minion choices he is going to be so fun... Yan Lo on the other hand never clicked with me quite as well in the end but some people swear by his name, so he might not be as bad? Can't say for sure. Having Rats perform at their best in Hamelin's lists is quite flavorful - he IS the rat king after all. They are still available for summoning in other lists, but the combo is not as foolproof anymore. Overall the changes sound quite good in terms of balancing, our local Levi player agreed to that just now. Hope these changes do not turn people away from playing Levi and his creepy rag-tag crew of undead/constructs... The changes are fine, as I said. I simply want some changes to the bottom of the pile as well. Levi will be fine, and re-instating Hamelin as the rat king is A-OK by me. However; Lucius needs more than just minions. Most of his abilities require high cards and suits or forcing your own guys to take tests. Most of the other masters (in both factions) are more reliably doing what they are supposed to. He is definitely better in Neverborn than in Guild in my opinion, but from a competitive stand-point he cannot compete with Lilith, Dreamer or 'Dora I find. If my opponent declares Guild or Neverborn and I then see Lucius across the table I am relieved. Don't get me wrong; I like Lucius. Like a lot. But that is from a fluff perspective and a gameplay perspective, but I do not find him competetive. Adding minions to the mix is not going to fix him, as any sufficiently good minion for Lucius is a similarly good minion for every other master in the faction. And any sufficiently good minion in Guild will be hired by McCabe and reactivated until hot-fixed. I have high hopes for the upcoming Faeries for Neverborn, but time will tell. I still think the best idea would be to errata the Wp required to pass Lucius' horror duel and the damage of Devil's Deal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetid Strumpet Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I appreciate most the developers taking the time to explain why the changes are happening in a detailed manner. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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