Is asura viable?

[primevalivy]

I really love the theme of Asura and think it would be a lot of fun to run her, maybe with Mortimer and the Gravediggers. 
 

I’m still buying in so have a lot of open direction and wondered if she was viable at all (not necessaarilly top tier or anything) but just not a total let down and if so what would be good to run her under?

Thanks!

[primevalivy]

Update: I may have already ordered Asura and some zombies because impulse control isn’t a strong suit. 

[Maniacal_cackle]

Great thing about Malifaux is basically all models are at least viable for casual play!

Mindless zombies able to interact is very strong, and being able to summon mindless zombies on any table edge is also pretty nuts.

She will be a bit resource heavy, but seems like she will do some work.

Pair her with corpse synergies and you should get some interesting results (bete noire, bone piles, Seamus, Reva, blasphemous ritual, etc).

Also Decay is a very strong attack.

So overall an interesting model! Test her out, see how she goes, and report back!

[Maniacal_cackle]

Oh, and the extra zombie action definitely has some potential as well.

Getting flesh constructs an extra focus per turn for example could be very useful for projectile vomit (though they have access to other focus engines, the nurses).

[Trample]

Yeah, I like her theme as well. I wanted her to work well because she can accomplish some really interesting things at range with her zombies. The ability to summon multiple zombies, summon at range, have them interact, and have them activate are all things that could score you points or prevent your opponent scoring in certain situations, but they never seem to align for me or they require more resources than I have to devote. I've thought before in certain pools about putting together a team that summons multiple zombies per round (emissary, mortimer maybe) and capitalizing on her ability to allow them to interact at range, but a necropunk probably just does all that better at a fraction of the cost (and perhaps even more survivable). 

She can give a pretty decent range of models an extra action. Sybelle is perhaps the best model for Asura's free action, but it needs the crow. 

Everything she can do is really cool, but very resource intensive. I don't think it pays off. 

 

[Plaag]

5 hours ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

Oh, and the extra zombie action definitely has some potential as well.

Getting flesh constructs an extra focus per turn for example could be very useful for projectile vomit (though they have access to other focus engines, the nurses).

she is a bad model; she need a lot of resourses, but doing nothing for her cost

[Chou]

I've only used her with the Bete Noire, so Asura summons the mindless zombies and then the Bete can do her zero action to unbury next to it and charge for free. But as they say, it needs several resources as first you need to summon the mindless zombi with the trigger to summon it in base contact with any table edge (so you can hunt down models that usually stay behind), then you need to attack the Bete Noire so she can bury and finally activate her.

She's is not in my roster for Von Schtook, who is the only Resser master I've played so far, I'll start with Reva and Molly and see if she fits there.

[Maniacal_cackle]

8 minutes ago, Chou said:

I've only used her with the Bete Noire, so Asura summons the mindless zombies and then the Bete can do her zero action to unbury next to it and charge for free. But as they say, it needs several resources as first you need to summon the mindless zombi with the trigger to summon it in base contact with any table edge (so you can hunt down models that usually stay behind), then you need to attack the Bete Noire so she can bury and finally activate her.

She's is not in my roster for Von Schtook, who is the only Resser master I've played so far, I'll start with Reva and Molly and see if she fits there.

Unfortunately Bete only buries when enemies attack her. You need to have her attack an ally with a mask trigger to bury her.

[Cranky Old Man]

She is better in a Reva crew where zombies are very handy. Reva, asura and bête are a great team and synergise well together.

[LeperColony]

While I can't claim any expertise to answer whether Asura is viable, I do have a Reva list I want to try her in that could be fun.

[Cranky Old Man]

I have seen the Reva, Asura and Anna crew with all the exploding zombies, looks fun

[Sagrit]

I see Asura as a trap. It looks good on paper, you can imagine lot of uselful things she do, but on practice - she don't.

Let's see what she can and what she can't.

Attack Tear Apart 2/3/5 with Puncture and build in positive flip is nice. But its' only 5 stat and 1" reach. It means that you have to be really close, but you don't want to be close, because you have only 5Df and no HtW, no Armor, no Serene or other good defensive abilities. Just HtK and SS. 

Decay is really nice. But it's 8", so it's the same problem - you will not survive.

Zombie Apocalypse that what looks really good on paper... You can imagine how you summon Zombie on the other part of the table in enemy Deployment and that Zombie goes and place markers for Breakthrough or other schemes. But on practice:

• You need card AND a stone to do it
• Zombie is Mindless, so it can't activate this turn
• You can't use Re-Animate to force them to place marker - it's not their activation and they are still Insignificant

Will that zombie survive till next turn if your opponent see whats comming? And remember, opponent even don't have to kill Zombie (which is easy) - it's enough to just break LoS to Asura. Or break Asura, it will also works  

Let's imagine you don't wanna Come to Me trigger. Than why do you want it? Just summon lot of corpse markers? OK, i can see that it can be good for stitching up Flesh Construct with McMourning for example, or make an Ashigaru + Blasphemous Ritual for example. But does it really worth hiring 8SS model for that? For me - no. I don't see a room for Asura neither in McMourning crew, not in a crew with Toshiro.

Bonus action Re-Animate - looks good, that's true. But how many Zombies we have?

• Zombie Chihuahua
• Flesh Construct
• Dead Dandy
• Guild Autopsy
• Rotten Belle
• Dead Doxy
• Rabble Riser
• Madam Sybelle

So it's just Redchapel and Experimental. Do McMourning crew need Asura - i think not, because she doesn't fit. Does Seamus need her? Well....maaaybe if you focused on keyword models. Mindless Zombies could be good for Seamus bonus action, and it can be useful to do an extra Lure with Belle, extra attack with Sybelle. But again - very situational. Does Molly need Asura? I don't know, let's ask @Maniacal_cackle   Von Schtook doesn't need her because it's a common problem - not enough SS to hire. She can heal Undead but i would better hire Sloth for the same reason - he's cheaper, more tough, have nice Aura and can give Fast. Yan Lo - don't see why he would need Zombies and he's usualy in keyword. Jack - don't see a reason for Asura to be in he's crew, it's better to take additional Hanged for same cost I don't know nothing about Reva, never played with her in M3E, so maybe someone else will say the word. 

So let's sumarise, what Asura is good for? She is good for blast damage with built in Injury +1. But she will not survive long on that short distance. Do you need such tool for 8SS?

 

[Maniacal_cackle]

15 minutes ago, Sagrit said:

But again - very situational. Does Molly need Asura? I don't know, let's ask @Maniacal_cackle 

 

She seems very bad with Molly, as Forgotten has few built in corpse synergies.

Asura can summon up to four mindless zombies a turn, which is pretty crazy corpse generation. Her command zombie as a bonus action is powerful in theory, but you need a good target.

The first thing I'd try Asura with is either McMourning for flesh constructs, or Reva, or Reva with McMourning.

 

[primevalivy]

I only have a molly crew at this point (and Asura) but I’ve looked at picking up Reva since I like the shield maidens a lot. Thanks for the thoughts 

[MrPieChee]

1 hour ago, Sagrit said:

Zombie Apocalypse that what looks really good on paper... You can imagine how you summon Zombie on the other part of the table in enemy Deployment and that Zombie goes and place markers for Breakthrough or other schemes. But on practice:

• You need card AND a stone to do it
• Zombie is Mindless, so it can't activate this turn
• You can't use Re-Animate to force them to place marker - it's not their activation and they are still Insignificant

Will that zombie survive till next turn if your opponent see whats comming? And remember, opponent even don't have to kill Zombie (which is easy) - it's enough to just break LoS to Asura. Or break Asura, it will also works  

As with most things in Malifaux, it's not a problem that an action can be shut down, but it does matter how much it costs your opponent to shut it down. Having to send a model back to the deployment zone is a big cost. Blocking LOS from a 50mm base isn't easy. You should be expecting a charge on Asura, and thats effectively a lure...

However. It does feel like the crow requirement needs to go on her tactical action(s). Not sure an 8ss model which then needs several stones in game to get something useful done is worth it. Also the 50mm base is a pain.

I'd like to see her on a 30mm base with mindless zombies becoming minion 7 or 8. She could gain an ability to move all mindless zombies in b2b with her when she makes a walk action to simulate the current two on her 50mm base...

[explorator]

The best master for Asura is Nicodem, in my experienece; not super competetive, but there were some fun tricks to pull, and you actually got enough Mindless Zombies to get utility out of a few. I agree that Asura is kind of left out at this point, and needs a slight boost to survivability.

[nomoredroids]

Von Schtook and Asura is very good. Getting a zombie into enemy deployment on T1 so Anna can blast them is a really fun trick, and Anna and VS and the undergrads can use them for placing Scheme Markers (and getting cards) in weird places. 

[Defier93]

Have been Theory-fauxing with her for a bit but haven't had a chance to get her on the table.

Like others have said, if there's a good Zombie target in the crew already, there's value there. 

The LOS requirement for Mindless losing Insignificant makes the ability very table and Strat/scheme dependent. Not an issue as models need to have some downfall, but I think the tricks available with it are fun enough to give it a shot. 

More often than not, I'd rather take Emissary for Mindless summoning, but all models are worth trying. If nothing else, she looks fun to paint and convert a la Michonne from The Walking Dead with some swords from Viktorias 😁

[primevalivy]

I like the idea of running her with reva to have those corpses to drop but I have also been looking at her in Molly because I think the ability to cheat a mindless zombie to the other side of the table and then activate it off of Asura or port over a crooligan seems really strong for some of the breakthrough style scenarios. 

[Maniacal_cackle]

6 minutes ago, primevalivy said:

I like the idea of running her with reva to have those corpses to drop but I have also been looking at her in Molly because I think the ability to cheat a mindless zombie to the other side of the table and then activate it off of Asura or port over a crooligan seems really strong for some of the breakthrough style scenarios. 

Crooligans can only teleport to Forgotten non-minions (Molly, Machine, Philip, Archie, Rogue).

But worth a shot for the breakthrough style stuff, since the zombies can activate. The answer to most things is "test it out!"

So let us know how it goes Molly doesn't generally need soulstones for much else, so one advantage of using Asura with Molly is you should be able to use soulstones for her.

[Thatguy]

I think it depends models in how much your crew wants corpse markers. I love her with Nico. She can drop up two 4 Mindless Zombies in a turn with low mask/crows and stones. 

I think we need to get her platform shoes though. Sz3 would help clear sightlines for Rottenburg Residents.

[primevalivy]

Having dug into more stuff I’ve picked up the Reva box and I think slotting Asura into that and trying it out is the plan. 

[Maniacal_cackle]

3 hours ago, primevalivy said:

Having dug into more stuff I’ve picked up the Reva box and I think slotting Asura into that and trying it out is the plan. 

Awesome!

If you can pickup Bete Noire or Bone piles, they will combo really well with the corpses.  But should be nifty in the crew regardless.

EDIT: or the combo with Anna Lovelave seems good if you want to go that direction. Lots of options!

[Favilludo]

What are you thoughts on faking a breakthrough or something with her, having breakthrough in the pool, but not actually taking it and basically have her as a bait for melee heavy crews so your beaters can get some heavy hits in. It's just a thought, but I think it could have potential. 8 soulstones is really expensive though, so might be a bad concept

[Graf]

The M3E box is worth it for the Zombies alone. At least if you also own Anna or the Emissary. The box only recently arrived in my area so I haven't played her myself yet.

But I've seen her successfully applied with Symbols. Her ability to summon from any table edge, combined with Rottenburg Residents, restricts the opponent's placement of their strat. How much exactly depends on the table, but this can shape games, no matter what she actually does during the game. Personally I'm rarely a fan of aiming to fake schemes. Maybe if there are multiple in the pool I can fake with the same actions. It depends too much on your opponent's thought process, making the endeveour much too unreliable.

I plan to try her in Transmortis first. She delivers Zombies food for Anna and her blast is an additional, smaller, version of Gruesome Lecture. I also have hopes for its heal to assisst Vale/Undergrads if they are stuck in the thick of things.

Will this make her worth her points? I'm not sure. My estimate atm is that she can be a legit niche choice, but not much more.