New Player, looking for a faction/master

[Black_Shuck]

Just getting into Malifaux after a demo at my local game store. Im looking to play a master no one ever plays and could use some input. (The Demo guy said no one plays Parker since hes weak but that could change in 3E for example)

In your opinions whats some masters that never see play? Thanks

[Adran]

I saw all masters used at some level in M2, and I've seen (well read about) all masters used in beta testing for M3. (although this is in part due to me owning almost all the masters, and playing most of them...)

Typically, Bayou and Ten thunders are the smallest player groups, so they are less likely to be seen, but that may change.

Your local meta will have its own variances. For example Parker was viewed as weak, but there was  a group of players that were getting him to work and were winning events with him in M2e., so for their groups of players, he might be quite common.

 

[Corn]

Basing your decision around what nobody plays will always be difficult, because that is a target that moves over time as the game develops and certain masters fall in and out of favor.   Like Adran said, its going to depend pretty heavily on your local community.   so if that is the way you want to go, get a finger on your meta and pick based on that. 

One thing to consider is that in my opinion the best way to play a "unique" crew, is to get one of the limited edition crews, and build your army based on that.  Those typically have some really cool sculpts, and not many people have them compared to the normal variant of the crew.  If you are interested in that route here would be your choices.

Dark Carnival- alternate Colette crew.  

Curiosity Killed the Cat- alternate Hamelin but with cats instead of rats.  

Unicorn Vomit and Pixie Farts- alternate Ulix except ponies instead of pigs.  

The Wild Ones- alternate McCabe Crew... Mad Max style (although most of the box isn't currently useable in M3E until the new faction is released)

These sets are typically sold during either the Easter sale (just ended), or during Gen Con sales, and Wyrd will often have them at booths in other events that they go to.  Dark Carnival and Curiosity Killed the Cat also have additional flavor pieces to fill out the crew (the Corphee duet for the carnival and the Cat Herders and Cat Princesses for Curiosity).  which can help you stay in theme easier.

 

[Cathaidan]

The other thing I would point out is that Malifaux is a miniatures game, which means even the same crew will play differently in the hands of two different people.  What you take in your lists,  your specific play style, and how you assemble, alter, and paint your minis will make things seem vastly different even if the stats are the same.  

I would also be a little concerned with buyers remorse on picking up things just because nobody else plays them.  When it comes to getting people into miniatures games I tend to recommend picking up things that: you like the model sculpt on and are excited to assemble and paint, you like the fluff for and are excited to read what is coming with the glee that it is "your" stuff being written about, you like the playstyle of and are excited to play those games.  Doing this will keep your interest higher than just trying to fill in the gaps of your local meta, from what I've seen.

[Black_Shuck]

1 hour ago, Cathaidan said:

The other thing I would point out is that Malifaux is a miniatures game, which means even the same crew will play differently in the hands of two different people.  What you take in your lists,  your specific play style, and how you assemble, alter, and paint your minis will make things seem vastly different even if the stats are the same.  

I would also be a little concerned with buyers remorse on picking up things just because nobody else plays them.  When it comes to getting people into miniatures games I tend to recommend picking up things that: you like the model sculpt on and are excited to assemble and paint, you like the fluff for and are excited to read what is coming with the glee that it is "your" stuff being written about, you like the playstyle of and are excited to play those games.  Doing this will keep your interest higher than just trying to fill in the gaps of your local meta, from what I've seen.

Good points, I actually came from Age of Sigmar and Anima Tactics(And some other skirmish games). I dont really find any playstyle other then mass hordes unappealing and theres no models that particularly intrest me aethetically. My local meta is Guild and Neverborn and I am informed Neverborn is the most popular. What I get the most enjoyment from and this even applies to other games. I like using the race/classes/armys that nobody uses and then play them differantly then even the people who do use them do and im looking for something similar in Malifaux. 

 

[Adran]

I find malifaux a great game for being able to play the same crew in multiple different ways, so you should be fine with that. ( in addition to the list creation letting you customize for each game).  I would say that works for any of the masters. 

[nomadicXnightmare]

First off, welcome to Malifaux! To get straight to the point, as several have already pointed out, your local meta will likely be unique as far as which factions/masters get played the most/least. Mine, for example, is a bit unorthodox as Ten Thunders sits in the majority, followed by Arcanists, Ressers and Neverborn, with only a sprinkling of Outcasts, Guild and Gremlins. I do usually recommend choosing a faction/master based on esthetics, but you have stated that isn't really a concern for you.

I'll say that Parker is pretty good under M3E, so I feel he will see considerably more play in the future. If I were to make some suggestions strictly based on who I personally have not seen on table during the Beta, I would point you towards Zoraida, Mah Tucket, Ophelia and Zipp.

[Drowsheep]

I think Ten Thunders might be the faction for you to try out; or Outcasts.

both factions are diverse with eclectic masters that do weird things and that have harsh learning curves,  that being said, they’re fun to play.  Ten Thunders had a few rumough patches in 2e as they’re an elite faction that focuses more on objectives than combat.  Outcasts are the most gimmick-y; in a fun way.

I would read through the beta games and forums, maybe you can find a recurring theme of some master or other not working—and that can be your master?

[Black_Shuck]

7 hours ago, Drowsheep said:

I think Ten Thunders might be the faction for you to try out; or Outcasts.

both factions are diverse with eclectic masters that do weird things and that have harsh learning curves,  that being said, they’re fun to play.  Ten Thunders had a few rumough patches in 2e as they’re an elite faction that focuses more on objectives than combat.  Outcasts are the most gimmick-y; in a fun way.

I would read through the beta games and forums, maybe you can find a recurring theme of some master or other not working—and that can be your master?

Been reading some guides and forum posts. I do see a certain trend towards certain masters being much more popular then others. Perhaps I can get some help narrowing things down. These masters caught my intrests after reading more. (I dont nessarily intend to get more then 1 or 2 total crews but I see that Malifaux definitely competitively benefits from building counter crews on the fly so having a large selection is useful)

Guild: Lucius

Ressurectionists: McMourning

Neverborn: Pandora 

Arcanists: Colette

Outcasts: Parker 

Ten Thunders: Youko 

Gremlins: Zoraida

Any tips for those listed above? (And your opinions on popularity/unpopularity youve seen?

 

Side note, I noticed most masters heavily use conditions. Is there any specific anti-conditions crew ?

Thanks

[Adran]

There are a few anti condition models out there, but I wouldn't say any Crew is anti condition. (Justice has the best condition removal out there, and Woes, so Pandora, make use of conditions on enemy models to gain benefits, which you might count as an anti condition crew).

Youko is a new master, who doesn't currently have any models, so she is largely unknown in terms of popularity. But to start with she will be rarely seen.

Colette has always been a popular master for Arcanists, but she plays very differently to most skirmish games.

Lucius was rarely used in M2, as he had some power/consistancy issues. The last errata for him, made him more popular, but still probably wasn't in every Guild/neverborn bag. His M3 version is looking more popular as he looks to have a powerful card drawing engine and drawing cards is a really strong power in malifaux.

McMorning has been a popular master for his theme.

Pandora has been through 2 ediutions of being a master some people hated to face because she had a denial play style. It has toned down each edition, so I don't know how popular she will be.

Zoraida wan't very popular in gremlins, I saw her in Neverborn much more often.

Parker had lots of hoops to jump through to make him work last edition, but those that managed it, got good results. His new version looks to have less hoops to jump through, but less overall power. His crew all contain Run and Gun which is a very powerful ability which allows them to move and shoot for 1 action.

 

I would find out what your locals are like. Some like to stick with the crews they have as the edition changes, other take it as a good time to change their focus and switch to new crews. If you have lots of the former, then you can know what will show up, and they are less likely to have the newer masters like Youko and Parker. If thy eare likely to change, then who knows.

 

 

 

 

[Corn]

Here is something to consider too.  The newest faction will always be the least popular on a grand scheme of things.   This is because it has the fewest legacy players moving into it.  

Look at it this way, back in M1E, there were far fewer masters and factions then there were to day.  The longer a Master has existed, the more people will have picked it up and played it.  This is especially true for any masters that have legacy dating back to M1E. 

TT were introduced in Gen 1 close to the eve of M2E- they had  a "multi faction theme" to facilitate their launch so many players ended up with a TT crew, but few played TT as a faction.  simply adding them into existing crews.  McCabe for Guild, Lynch for Neverborn, etc.    So TT was really only picked up as a faction by newer players, as most legacy players had little incentive to buy into them outside the one crossover box.  Still.  The idea of cross faction masters was brilliant, as creating overlap between factions encourages expanding.  But TT were still rarely announced as a faction.  

Gremlins were originally a small subset of outcasts, in M1E they had one Master- Sommer, and the Henchmen- Ophelia (back in those days each faction only had one Henchmen!- Lucius, Molly, Ophelia and Collodi).   When Gremlins split at the start of M2E, they had comparatively few players actively collecting them.   Even today Gremlins is still a relatively rare faction.  Adepticon this year didn't have a single Gremlin player in the M2E sendoff tournament!  

I bring up this history, because we have a new faction on the horizon.   Its so shrouded in mystery that we don't even know what its called.  We just know that it exists, and we know two of the Masters that will be in it.- Cornelius Basse (???? / Guid) and Lucas McCabe (????/TT).  So if you want to be unique, now is a great opportunity to get yourself ready to jump on the new faction wagon as close to M3Es release as possible.  It will likely be the least played faction because most old bloods are too beholden to their own faction, and you will just have to share it with the collect em all fellows.  Basse will release in June, and McCabe is available now.   Something to consider. 

Just a heads up though, if you have a large Guild population at your local community there may be some migration from Guild to the new faction.  Since Guild had McCabe previously, and Guild will be picking up Basse soon.  The largest known overlap with the new faction is from Guild players.  Many who, like me, are sad to see Lucas go.  

[Drowsheep]

9 hours ago, Black_Shuck said:

Guild: Lucius

Ressurectionists: McMourning

Neverborn: Pandora 

Arcanists: Colette

Outcasts: Parker 

Ten Thunders: Youko 

Gremlins: Zoraida

Any tips for those listed above? (And your opinions on popularity/unpopularity youve seen?

Lucius is going to be changing what he is in the next edition, he used to be a support master that used and maximized a lot of guild minions.

Now he’ll be in charge of the elite faction, kinda the top tier members of the guilds forces.  I haven’t seen him play,  but I think how he worked in 2e will be different from how he functions in 3e.

McMourning was super potent in 2e, not sure how he’s doing in 3e,  but I know he was always more popular in Ressers than in Guild—I don’t think he’s changed to horribly much between editions other than focusing on his more potent resser side.

Pandora can be pretty scary, while I haven’t seen as many people play her, the games I’ve played against her have always been tough (even when I’m the high Wp Ten Thunders).

i have a special place in my heart for Colette, but she’s definitely not an easy master to play.  This is one of those masters you might really enjoy since she can be tricky, she doesn’t have a lot of damage output or tank-y models in her list, she relies on smoke, mirrors, and good planning/playing to keep her from getting wiped off the board.  But if you play her well, she’s so fun.

Parker seems pretty good to me—he hasn’t changed to much between editions.  But while I like how he works mechanically, his main mechanic is manipulating his opponents scheme markers, which can be dangerous and scheme markers get go for your opponents VP, so it’s kind of a dangerous game.  Again, you might enjoy that.

Youko isn’t out yet.  So you’d have to proxy her until her box releases (the only model that is Qi and Gong that’s released is the Oiran—with a new name now).  I think some people dislike her since she is kind of a control master, but isn’t the most efficient.  She’s similar to Colette, but has some larger beaters—the kabuki warriors.  He henchman, Bill is also a little jack-of-all-trade-y making some people dislike him. That being said, I’m a fan of her and her crew and want to pick her up once she hits the shelf (I am also a hardcore TT player).

Similar to Colette and Youko, Zoraida is a control master.  I don’t know much about her in 3e. But she was very tricky in 2e.  I think some people feel like she was greatly weakened—suffering many of the same issues Colette and Youko suffer from.

 

Hope that helps you figure stuff out.

[Black_Shuck]

@Corn

Good to know, im coming in on 3e beta even though I grabbed a starter kit from my local game store. I looked over McCabe a few times actually, he looks like a powerful shooting option for TT. I actually like TT as a concept they just don't have any masters I like outside of Youko(I'd like to see a different mage type, Yan lo and Asami didn't strike my intrests)

 

@Drowsheep

I picked up Pandora crew and Iggy at my local store since they were doing a sale. I also grabbed Hinamatsu and a box of Oiran for the future. I think I'm going with Pandora and Youko. (Great deal, cost me 50 plus tax for everything. I think they were clearing merch for 3e releases) I'll proxy Youko, her Totem and Bill for the moment. I think Charm Warders and Bunraku are also Qi and Gong so I may look for those. I'm looking at other Woes for Pandora and all I think there's left are 2 models not released(Aversions, Lyssa) the Carver and Insidious Madness. I hear Mr.Tannen is a good hire though too in her crew.

[Dr Mittens]

As a Ten Thunders player, I've seen more of every other faction except outcast so if one of your goals is uniqueness we're a solid contender on that front.

 

Hard to guess what your looking for in a master, but I can vouch that Mei Feng is a very fun master with unique movement options, combo attacks, and positioning tools, who can also double as a solid gunline in place of McCabe due to her smokescreen.

 

If you think Youko's manipulations look intriguing, you might want to check out Jacob Lynch. While he is more explosive his crew includes some very potent utility options like Tannen, Kitty, and Gwyneth's bloody AoE pull.

[dope_danny]

If you want to go with something more unique, something i tend to do myself moreso in mmos than tabletop games, i would recommend Ten Thunders. Theres a reason they asked for more people to try them in the Beta. They aren't underpowered or something. They just aren't the popular choice like Never born or Gremlins.

[longfanz]

7 minutes ago, dope_danny said:

If you want to go with something more unique, something i tend to do myself moreso in mmos than tabletop games, i would recommend Ten Thunders. Theres a reason they asked for more people to try them in the Beta. They aren't underpowered or something. They just aren't the popular choice like Never born or Gremlins.

Gremlins are not popular either, TT and them were the least played factions within the CB.

[Cathaidan]

3 hours ago, longfanz said:

Gremlins are not popular either, TT and them were the least played factions within the CB.

I don't know...  Our local group has a Gremlins player.  lol

 

Which doesn't sound like much, but we're only 4 people strong and are looking to recruit some more.  (We have a demo/game night set up in a couple of weeks to bring some more people into the game.)