Soulstone Miner

[frumpypigskin]

I want to draw attention to an excellent versatile model in faction and clear up a potential source of confusion.

It went through several fairly significant balance changes during the beta but I think what were left with is solid model with lots of uses. 

Schemes and stones blog site has an equally excellent blog on the model found here https://schemesandstones.wordpress.com/2019/05/06/model-monday-soulstone-miner/

 

While he's good, he's not quite as good as @Khyodee espoused in the MuseonCon Schemes and stones podcast. He's admitted as much in a Facebook post since. Otherwise the podcasts is a great listen! 

In short I recommend checking out all 3. The model, the website and the podcast 🙂

 

Specifically, miners aren't attuned unless they have the upgrade for it and they can only do one of bury, Unbury or interact per turn. As you can see from the podcast (and became evident in the beta) he's a bit too strong when he can pop out at a whim (even if 6" outside of enemy deployment zone) and interact in the same turn. 

He's still very strong in flank/corner deployment. Or with outflank or hold up there forces. Just slightly less strong with interact focused strategies and schemes. See the blog for details or maybe comment with your favourite uses below!

 

I hope this is taken positively, minimises confusion, vitriole and finger pointing and allows us to continue enjoying Arcanists, this forum and the fantastic work that the schemes and stones group does for the malifaux community 😊

 

P.s. not solicited or affiliated in any way.

[retnab]

Arguably the best 1ss model in the game

[Franchute]

50 minutes ago, retnab said:

Arguably the best 1ss model in the game

I agree a lot with this. It is rare when I decide not to mine to be honest. I include two miners in almost all my games. My activations with them tend to be mine, concentrate, bury/unbury/interact.

[frumpypigskin]

5 hours ago, Franchute said:

I agree a lot with this. It is rare when I decide not to mine to be honest. I include two miners in almost all my games. My activations with them tend to be mine, concentrate, bury/unbury/interact.

Yep, then when required, don't mine, Unbury, charge with focus, attack with focus -> Kill scheme-runner/finish key target/attack target with resistance trigger. Profit.

[retnab]

Yeah the only times I don't Mine are when I need that other action to do something, usually it's when I'm trying to get into the enemy's DZ and I want both walk actions to scheme in the back lines next turn.  But then you have to think of it like "would you spend a ss to take a walk action" and a lot of the time that answer is no.

First turn with it 100% of the time is Mine Soulstone, Concentrate for Focused +1, and Drill Into The Earth.

[BigStick]

Hi all, I've been out of malifaux for a while now (mid way through M2E) and keen to get back in. I've read a bit on the game testing rounds. For anyone who was involved or simply wiser than I am, if the miner is as good as you say (and he looks really good) then how did it get through the play teating? Or do the other factions have access to similar mechanics?

[retnab]

3 minutes ago, BigStick said:

Hi all, I've been out of malifaux for a while now (mid way through M2E) and keen to get back in. I've read a bit on the game testing rounds. For anyone who was involved or simply wiser than I am, if the miner is as good as you say (and he looks really good) then how did it get through the play teating? Or do the other factions have access to similar mechanics?

The big thing is that it has to treat Interact as a , so while it can bury and unbury to get almost anywhere on the board it means it won't be dropping a scheme marker that way until at least turn 3 and it can't do the "bury, next turn unbury, next turn scheme" trick more than once per game.  It's reliable, but also slow to scheme, and since outside farming soulstones scheming is all it really brings it's a major limiter for it.

[Gnomezilla]

3 minutes ago, BigStick said:

Hi all, I've been out of malifaux for a while now (mid way through M2E) and keen to get back in. I've read a bit on the game testing rounds. For anyone who was involved or simply wiser than I am, if the miner is as good as you say (and he looks really good) then how did it get through the play teating? Or do the other factions have access to similar mechanics?

The Outcasts ‘prospector’ has the same soulstone generation at the same hiring cost, but even fewer downsides (it does not use its free action or triggers). Nothing places around the board to an isolated spot like a miner, with the possible exception of the Neverborn ‘grootslang’ placing its terrain markers and jumping to them, with a similar limitation on not being able to interact after it jumps.

[BigStick]

Right so in game soul stone generation is a thing now,how very interesting. While the miner (and the likes) aren't doning everthing the ability to have an activation, generate SS (so needing a smaller starting amount) and the versatility of other actions with the model does seem strong. Looking forward to giving it a go 

[Gnomezilla]

But the succinct answer is that M3e went a little wild with so many new possible actions that this is not even in the top ten of WTF can this model do for me moments. 🤣

If your opponent gets annoyed enough with your flow of soulstones, she might hire a model with irreducible damage and soulstone prevention is now the same as reduction so your lovely cache will prevent zero damage. Maybe she will hammer you with repeated ping damage—there are far more options to deal 1 damage repeatedly without spending extra actions, both single-target and area of effect—so all your extra soulstones melt away on preventing 1 damage at a time, a poor return on investment. Maybe she takes a more direct route, and hires a thief with an attack to drain soulstones from your cache and add them to hers.

[BigStick]

Gnomezilla, if those are options then you're speaking my language. This edition will get spicy. Though I am very (VERY) glad to see the removal of the paralysed condition. Bad times

[Gnomezilla]

14 minutes ago, BigStick said:

Gnomezilla, if those are options then you're speaking my language. This edition will get spicy. Though I am very (VERY) glad to see the removal of the paralysed condition. Bad times

*checks faction real fast*

Honest hard-working Arcanists don’t have any soulstone thieves, and the only irreducible damage option is some convoluted wording on Joss (TL;DR: his axe triggers make damage irreducible for two out of four suits and this is only reliable if Hoffman is powering him up). But if ping damage via hazardous terrain appeals to you...ah, this is the faction for you! Kaeris sets 50mm pyres all over the board, and while they impact her crew also, her crew wants to have Burning so they don’t care about whether friendly or enemy gets their feet held to the hazardous fire. Mei Feng brings the hazardous to the enemy as an aura, so they can’t merely keep away from the affected area, and if I may have an opinion for a moment Vent Steam is the best aura in the game for being both hazardous to hurt the enemy and concealing to help you (fun fact: a model affected by concealing is also putting incoming attacks like Lure on negative flips, not just damaging attacks!). Need hazardous for other masters? Howard Langston can bring the vent steam to Ironsides’ bubble or to Hoffman’s stompybots selected for extra enemy pushes (and extra ping damage as they push). Even the humble soul stone miner mentioned (if you haven’t stunned him for a stone) can dig a pit trap—bonus points if the trap is stacked with a different type of hazardous and they both affect a model. I have done this, and punched a model down into the pit with an annoyed Hoffman himself. It is more satisfying than Analyze Weakness.

[Morgan Vening]

7 hours ago, Gnomezilla said:

and the only irreducible damage option is some convoluted wording on Joss (TL;DR: his axe triggers make damage irreducible for two out of four suits and this is only reliable if Hoffman is powering him up).

Ehh? Two out of four? If he's got zero, then it's needing a tomes. But if he's got one, then he can do it automatically (it's an optional italicized cost at the start of the action). And even without Hoffman, Joss should be getting 2-5 over the course of a game for free. Granted, he might want them for other things, but unless he's engaged before he activates on Turn 1, or goes to zero, then he should be able to Charge nearly every turn, with Transfer Power. Target self, push 2", get the PT back, Charge, Profit.

[mythicFOX]

All factions have access to stuff that's above / below the power curve.  The miners are in a really good spot, and I'd recommend them as an early/mid purchase for a competitive player.  That said there are many amazing things in many factions.

It also worth noting that the value of a Soulstone is lower in M3e than it was in M2e (they do slightly less and are easier to get hold of).  The value of a stone also depreciates as the game goes on, the stone you can mine on turn three is worth way less than one you start with on turn one.  There's also an opportunity cost of hiring the miner, especially hiring a second one; that's 12ss you can't spend hiring something else.

All in all though;  great models. 

[Ludvig]

Just viewing the miner as a 4ss model that mines turns 1 and 2 while boosting up the board and dropping a marker or attacking a weak model once with focus makes it look pretty cost efficient to me. If you find yourself done using it as a scheme runner you can just mine for some late game damage reduction or hand sculpting and if you need to run far you still have a 4ss model with excellent stats and mobility. 

[frumpypigskin]

He can also move 10 unimpeded and then interact if he started the turn on the table and doesn't dig. Can be critical if all your other scheme runners buy the farm.

[frumpypigskin]

I have taken 2 with MEI fang in corner deployment for plant explosives against zoraida (N) and took both outflank and power ritual. Wasn't able to finished the game in time unfortunately but In that case it felt great initially. I ran deliberately ran light on soulstones (3 left over if remember correctly) but was still able to throw MEI's weight around using stones fairly freely because of making 2/turn.

Be warned though, I emptied my hand in turn 2 (4 severes and didn't want zoraida to make me pitch them) which then meant that I failed to dig into the ground turn 2 (had planted first scheme in the corner turn 1.) This set back his interacting schedule so I wasn't going to be able to get all the points with him (power ritual and bomb drop) but I think I had enough bombs elsewhere. Also taught me the full limitations of their interact.

[Franchute]

12 hours ago, frumpypigskin said:

I have taken 2 with MEI fang in corner deployment for plant explosives against zoraida (N) and took both outflank and power ritual. 

If I see outflank in the pool, two miners are autoinclude for me.

[thewrathchilde]

20 minutes ago, Franchute said:

If I see outflank in the pool, two miners are autoinclude for me.

except against Tara crews....

[Morgan Vening]

30 minutes ago, thewrathchilde said:

except against Tara crews....

And Lady J. It's not hard to make burying against a Marshal crew painful. Especially if you can back to back activate Jury. But DMR's just getting to stroll while whacking buried is awesome.

Different situation, but my favorite M3E experience so far has been a heavily wounded DM putting a Witchling Thrall into a Box, and a DMR halfway across the table charging nothing, killing the Thrall, allowing the DM to avoid the Demise, and then shooting something else from his new position. 

[frumpypigskin]

5 hours ago, thewrathchilde said:

except against Tara crews....

I think part of the beauty of this model being versatile is you aren't necessarily gimping yourself when it isn't advantageous to take one or when you're worried about anti-bury tech.... Even if you do get caught out... T 1 mine, move move/focus, T 2 move move scheme doesn't seem awful. Still able to cover a lot of distance to then drop markers... You just have to decide which is riskiest, burying or running in the open. It's not ideal but it's not like the model is useless if not Burying

[Barmution]

It can even generate Pit Traps which are potentially awesome for Arcanists that can push or place enemy models (hello Kaeris + Iggy!). Really digging the miners.

[retnab]

4 hours ago, Barmution said:

It can even generate Pit Traps which are potentially awesome for Arcanists that can push or place enemy models (hello Kaeris + Iggy!). Really digging the miners.

Pit Trap tech is especially good with Sparks, since he can make them into big "counts as" Scrap Markers and give them a secondary Hazardous aura

[Mycellanious]

1 hour ago, retnab said:

Pit Trap tech is especially good with Sparks, since he can make them into big "counts as" Scrap Markers and give them a secondary Hazardous aura

It also means foundry models can railwalk to them or remove them for bonuses. 

[frumpypigskin]

Just realised how many schemes the SSminer is a monster at with very few options for counterplay. They are especially good for getting the 2nd point for these schemes which are quite difficult unless you're ahead on board by a good margin.

 

Hold up there forces; still counterable if you're picking 2 beaters or if they leave that model to last and you played first but not a bad choice.

 

Take prisoner, similar to above with the added caveat that they're safer in their deployment zone....

 

Power ritual, great in corner/flank, ordinary for standard or wedge though.

 

Out flank.... Approaching busted. In corner deployment with an otherwise slower blobed up crew (?Tony, ?Hoff) taking 2 makes a lot of sense. In a more mobile crew even 1 allows you to deploy and move to one flank and just steal the other.

 

Claim jump, if you can have someone clear the point for it and bury it first thing the following turn this can be fairly easy to score the 2nd point provided they aren't able to camp the centre with a beater. Adding an upgrade would help here... Soulstones, shielded or concealment all might be good choices depending what you think you'll be facing....

 

Vendetta; similar to claim jump but needs a little more setup from the rest of your crew. 234 spread hopefully won't accidentally kill the target but even if it did the 2nd point should be in the bag.

 

Most of these involve keeping the miner safe from harm until the end. Other models might be good at keeping themselves safe but few will still be able to contribute to the team while doing so without risking losing the points. The miner can bury and, if necessary due to timing or the opponent's mobility stay buried mining soulstones (what they're made for apparently...) Until the last activation of the last turn.

Not as impactful as having him in play during that time but those soulstones might end up being clutch in turns 4 and 5. That suit you need. One more damage reduction flip to keep your master from being assassinated. Beats hiding in a corner just going concentrate pass for half the game....

I can even see the tournament scene becoming a cat and mouse game when Arcanist vs factions with counter bury models. Whether the pick that master (SS miner left at home) or they pick a different master but pay OOK tax for counter tech for scheme pools with the above in them. This opening up some fun bluffing options for scheme selection. 

 

I'm excited for release, hoping they aren't nerfed and want to play more malifaux 😁