"Welcome to the Society!" - First Impression on Explorer Society

[Rufess]

So with the faction book has been released now, I am curious how everyone here think about each keywords, versatile and upgrades. I will start with mine first.

 

・Apex
The offensive keyword of the faction. Starting with Lord Cooper, Apex has access decent range power while Model 9 and Malisaurus Rex handling the frontline.
Artemis and Ullr are both good support models to help other friendly model, especially Lord Cooper escaping from engagement. Depends on the opponent's crew they may want Intrepid Emissary for another layer of defense.
Runaway has some interesting and unique mechanism. If you want to kill them with Cooper, you better use Focus on the Df duel since they cannot cheat duel with Cooper.
Hopeful Prospect is also a good choice for the crew. Cooper can gain Focus by killing the Runaway. Plus that sometime cheap action is necessary, like assisting or removing terrain, especially Apex does not have low cost minion within keyword.

 

・Seeker
Their artworks and fluffs surprise me the most, and quickly become my second favorite keyword within the faction. They are the scheming keyword within the faction with the bonus action of Jedza and Austera&Twigge, the Lamplighter. Though they want to stay at the 6" bubble of Jedza, so may struggle on S&S that require mobility (They have the Damned for this job though).
Chronicle, the keyword ability, is triggered by healing. Hence Intrepid Emissary is a solid pick to this crew. Healing in opponent's activation means double chance to activate Chronicle. It is also a good body guard for Jedza, who has nearly no defensive tech.

 

・Syndicate
Currently my favorite keyword, or more precisely, the favorite master and totem pair. It is a shame that half of the keyword is still lacking. Hence the keyword feels unfinished (doesn't mean they will suddenly over the curve even after other models have been released).
Anya is a all-rounded master. In combat she has a melee attack with stat7 and a set of solid triggers. In scheming she can drop 3 scheme markers in a single activation. Plus she has some great control abilities and a pseudo leap. The only weakness is she is too fragile as a master.
The keyword is, like their master, mixed with offense, scheming and control. There is not much inner synergy within the keyword, plus the fact of lacking option, it feels like the crew will have lots of OOK and versatile hiring depends on the matchup.

 

・Wastrel
Lucas finally became complete with the release of Explorer Society. Rough Rider is a solid add to the crew and definitely will show up in most Wastrel crews, no matter faction.
The Society does not have Samurai nor Jorogumo. But we have some interesting choice. Lucas can feed Botanist easily and turn it into Df7 Mv6 stat6 in the first turn or second. Daeva is another candidate, who can make free attack after ride with me.
Another funny trick is to use the Bellhop Porter to carry other Sz3 models with Lucas and Rough Rider. not useful but interesting.

 

・Versatile
Mr.Ngaatord is a great obey model with bully. Maybe worth to be hired into Cadmus for the Poison shenanigans. Note that friendly and enemy is always considered from the point of view from the model whom the text is written on, so Cadmus models would not benefit from Ngaatord's aura by targeting parasitic enemy.
Vernon&Welles would make a good flanker and schemer. A 10" non-projectile attack that gives Staggered is the real gold of this model.

And how do you think about the models and upgrades?
Which keyword will be your first game?

[J4bberw0ck]

Personally, I’m very excited for EVS:

Handing out any condition you want with Maxine is absolutely amazing, and the triggers are super useful. Give Kira +2 shielded, give Fast to both Beebe and Calypso, or give any number of debilitating conditions to enemies. Fire, poison, slow, staggered, stunned, you name it!

The rest of the crew embodies this versatility. Throw people around with the Tidecaller, deal irreducible damage with Kira, control the field with Harpooners, etc etc. They support each other and do great things when they’re all clicking together.

[HomelessOne]

There's an ES character named Kira? lol, that's my name. Thanks Wyrd ❤️

My book's set to arrive Monday, and you guys have me pretty hype.

[Jesy Blue]

5 hours ago, HomelessOne said:

There's an ES character named Kira? lol, that's my name. Thanks Wyrd ❤️

My book's set to arrive Monday, and you guys have me pretty hype.

They made you a character?!  I'm so happy for you!

Once conventions are a thing again, are you allowed to cosplay as yourself or would that be tacky?

[HomelessOne]

Before we get too riled up: I imagine it's pure coincidence that the character has my name, but I'll accept it nonetheless. If it's a redhead, then maybe get suspicious.

[Maniacal_cackle]

Perhaps a bit old news at this point, but I just ordered my Wild Ones so have Wastrel on the mind.

Artifacts- artifact chains result in models swapping their bonus actions for fast for the next model.  Pretty sweet, but have to be careful as it could get card hungry. Getting the chain to end in a useful place seems critical (life leech in particular needs to end in a useful spot).

Scrap/generation - I'm used to corpses dropping like candy in ressers compared to how hard it is to pump them out as other factions. It is costly action (and card) wise to do it with Wastrel, but the extra AP from the artifacts will help balance that out.

Triggers - holy hell this crew has a lot of useful triggers spread out over different suits.

Melee/ranged balance - the crew does great things at range and melee, so balancing how close to be the enemy seems super hard.

Hand management also seems intense with this crew.

Long story short, so many moving parts. It seems like it'll be hard to play!

[santaclaws01]

6 hours ago, HomelessOne said:

There's an ES character named Kira? lol, that's my name. Thanks Wyrd ❤️

My book's set to arrive Monday, and you guys have me pretty hype.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the character's name is Kiya.

[Inefficiency_Expert]

I'm so jealous. I was at my FLGS today and was told that their distributer basically just shrugged when asked when the book will be available, so who the heck knows when I'll be able to enjoy the bounty of what I generally expect will be my new primary faction. 

 

[Maniacal_cackle]

3 minutes ago, Inefficiency_Expert said:

I'm so jealous. I was at my FLGS today and was told that their distributer basically just shrugged when asked when the book will be available, so who the heck knows when I'll be able to enjoy the bounty of what I generally expect will be my new primary faction. 

 

Gutting!

The cards will likely be on the app soon, so there'll be that at least.

[Rufess]

On 11/29/2020 at 7:05 AM, J4bberw0ck said:

Personally, I’m very excited for EVS:

Handing out any condition you want with Maxine is absolutely amazing, and the triggers are super useful. Give Kira +2 shielded, give Fast to both Beebe and Calypso, or give any number of debilitating conditions to enemies. Fire, poison, slow, staggered, stunned, you name it!

The rest of the crew embodies this versatility. Throw people around with the Tidecaller, deal irreducible damage with Kira, control the field with Harpooners, etc etc. They support each other and do great things when they’re all clicking together.

EVS would be one of the top keywords within the faction imo. The only weakness to me is lack of scheming abilities/actions. So they might struggle on scheme like Spread Them Out. Otherwise they are pretty all-rounded and can play in most pool and match up.

 

20 hours ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

Perhaps a bit old news at this point, but I just ordered my Wild Ones so have Wastrel on the mind.

Artifacts- artifact chains result in models swapping their bonus actions for fast for the next model.  Pretty sweet, but have to be careful as it could get card hungry. Getting the chain to end in a useful place seems critical (life leech in particular needs to end in a useful spot).

Scrap/generation - I'm used to corpses dropping like candy in ressers compared to how hard it is to pump them out as other factions. It is costly action (and card) wise to do it with Wastrel, but the extra AP from the artifacts will help balance that out.

Triggers - holy hell this crew has a lot of useful triggers spread out over different suits.

Melee/ranged balance - the crew does great things at range and melee, so balancing how close to be the enemy seems super hard.

Hand management also seems intense with this crew.

Long story short, so many moving parts. It seems like it'll be hard to play!

I am also looking at the Wastrel too since the Explorer released. Unlike Ten Thunder, we do have some interesting minions mentioned above, but none of them are near as Samurai nor Jorogumo can do. So I believe Lucas would have a very different playstyle in Explorer. I think he would like to keep the upgrade and lift the heavy by himself, while having other friendly supporting him.

[Maniacal_cackle]

10 minutes ago, Rufess said:

I am also looking at the Wastrel too since the Explorer released. Unlike Ten Thunder, we do have some interesting minions mentioned above, but none of them are near as Samurai nor Jorogumo can do. So I believe Lucas would have a very different playstyle in Explorer. I think he would like to keep the upgrade and lift the heavy by himself, while having other friendly supporting him.

It seems to me the strongest aspect of the upgrades is giving fast, so wouldn't you want to use Luna to make an artifact that gets passed around the team to get lots of fast activations?

[Maniacal_cackle]

Oh, and am I correct in assuming that wastrel is one of the schemiest keywords? Most of the models can move 20+ inches a turn, and the false claim action is nuts.

[Rufess]

45 minutes ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

It seems to me the strongest aspect of the upgrades is giving fast, so wouldn't you want to use Luna to make an artifact that gets passed around the team to get lots of fast activations?

Lucas has 2 copies of each Artifact so he can keep one and give one out.

Plus, in Ten Thunder, giving the Samurai fast without a doubt is a killer move because of the efficiency of the minion itself. While it is still a strong move in Explorer, it is not the 1st priority. Like if you would like to rally a upgrade with Rough Rider, you either need to use them as a pair, or have them to partner with another slower model. Neither is the best way to use them.

And, the Mask and the Mirror would take effect outside of the carrier's activation, so sometime it is better to keep it. Especially if Lucas has charged into center of opponent's crew, the Mask is a big part to keep him alive.

Though I am still studying the keyword, so please take above comment with a grain of salt.

8 minutes ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

Oh, and am I correct in assuming that wastrel is one of the schemiest keywords? Most of the models can move 20+ inches a turn, and the false claim action is nuts.

I think Seeker would be more or at least equally schemey. But with the mobility of Lucas, Desper, Rough Rider and Huckster, Wastrel can do scheme without trouble. And they excel in S&S that require mobility, like Symbol or Breakthrough.

[Maniacal_cackle]

31 minutes ago, Rufess said:

Lucas has 2 copies of each Artifact so he can keep one and give one out.

Plus, in Ten Thunder, giving the Samurai fast without a doubt is a killer move because of the efficiency of the minion itself. While it is still a strong move in Explorer, it is not the 1st priority. Like if you would like to rally a upgrade with Rough Rider, you either need to use them as a pair, or have them to partner with another slower model. Neither is the best way to use them.

And, the Mask and the Mirror would take effect outside of the carrier's activation, so sometime it is better to keep it. Especially if Lucas has charged into center of opponent's crew, the Mask is a big part to keep him alive.

Though I am still studying the keyword, so please take above comment with a grain of salt.

Interesting perspective! For me so far, I'm really focusing on what models want to be the 'end' of a chain because they want to use their bonus action for something else.

Lucas and probably both of the riders don't want to lose their bonus actions.  Sidir and the Hucksters are probably all happy to give up a bonus action. So in terms of turn one, I'm guessing an ideal one looks like: Luna > Huckster > Huckster > Sidir/Cherry > Luna/anyone (setting up for a good turn 2). So one artifact gives you 3 extra actions on important models.

Although against the right matchup you want upgrades stopping in the right spot (against armor, you probably want double precise ASAP?)

[Cedar]

For me it looks like this:

Wastrel - I was never fan of this keyword, and I'm not a fan after ES book. He seems to be better in TT than as Society member, but I'll give him a chance - too bad he's lacking minions that are worth of wearing glowing saber.

Frontier - They were bit lacking without remaining models, but now they have chance to shine. Addition of Sandworm and Riders make them better, though I was hoping for some enforcer/henchman who will summon even more traps.

Apex - pretty straightforward keyword, really god for killy scheme pools. Crypsis Corps are super- for me they are best snipers out there. Vataagi are kinda squishy, but they can set traps in choke points, and 1 dmg and 1 injure is nice bonus.

DUA - my favorite keyword - at least from gameplay perspective. Eva can shutdown even best beaters with her bonus action, and Operatives laugh at those "Enemy only" actions/abilities/triggers. Daeva have Mimic and can steal some nice attacks and Specters are balanced versions of ikyrio. They seem to be the strongest in terms of total power.

Seeker- Great keyword, best in terms of look. Weird combination of scheming potential and subpar mobility. I think that Jedza dealing 2/3/4 dmg without any duel made by opponent will cause many salty reactions, same as Tannenbaum forcing hand discard. Mikhail is Phiona 2.0, and I think he'll fill the same role. I don't get the Lamplighters, as paying 7 for support model isn't something I'm fan of. 

EVS - I really don't know what the master is supposed to be doing - handling 2 fasts/focuses per action? Other than that, Kia looks AMAZING, with her 2/4/6 IRREDUCIBLE damage.

Syndicate - Overall - pretty meh for me. Corvis and Operatives are interesting, but I can take them in DUA without any problems too. 

Cadmus - Archivist is coolest model in keyword IMO. Meredith is must-have, as she seems to be able to throw summons and parasites quite reliable.

[Inefficiency_Expert]

It is worth noting that when the starter boxes were revealed at Gencon the Outcast one was Keyworded Syndicate, so I'd expect more fun toys for them sooner rather than later.

 

[Pallas4]

I'm in love with Cadmus. ^^

But it need Nexus (if not, parasited models) don't count as firendly cadmus). But it will be a difficult keyword. With the better minions (speeleaters) and nearly the worst (eyes & ears, but for me their goal is to die so, it's good).

 

I don't really the goal of Syndicate Keyword (I see for master but not really for all keyword) but without the outcast syndicate, maybe it's normal.

 

[Whut]

1 hour ago, Pallas4 said:

I don't really the goal of Syndicate Keyword (I see for master but not really for all keyword) but without the outcast syndicate, maybe it's normal.

I don't have the book yet, so I only know the preview models, but it seems to me the point of Syndicate is just having really solid stats, reliable triggers, good damage, area control, and movement tricks on virtually every model, as well as some scheme manipulation. Thunderbird produces an AoE every time it's moved by anyone. Anya makes all her scheme markers Hazardous in an AoE and can output some damage. Surveyors have range 2, Blasts on Min Damage, and either Chain Gang or output Hazerdous terrain with 6 Wounds Arm+1. Finnigan is virtually unkillable with Arcane Reservior, Don't Mind Me, and movement tricks of his own.

[Rufess]

That is exactly my thought on Syndicate too. All models in the keyword have very limited if not no inner synergy between. All of them have their own role and can do very well, like Surveyor can hold a place, Operative for anti-scheming, and etc. But they just work along without interacting with others. It always feel like I am playing a group of independent models rather than a single crew. This will be improved a little bit after the Syndicate starter released, but do not expect too much.

Looking at the good side, their crew building is highly flexible. Not a single model is mandatory(maybe beside Winston, and Anya of course). Which means they can hire any versatile and OOK models as counter pick or tech piece without losing efficiency. Plus the variety model choices help the keyword adapts to any S&S pool against any match up. Actually they maybe the best keyword in the Society to solo in an event.

[MajorUndead]

Just got the PDF and had a quick look, but damn the seeker keyword got my attention (yeah the guy called MajorUndead is interested in the undead master, sooooo original)
That keyword will be tough to fully use with all the healing aura triggering, but it looks very interesting. Annoying vs ennemy healing too.

[Inefficiency_Expert]

I used our lovely Seekers quite a bit during playtest and yeah, they have quite a learning curve, for both you and the opponent. Still they are crazy fun. 

I'm not so sure about Tannenbaum, however, some of his stuff is pretty situational and "Rewrite the story' is ludicrously situational AND insanely hard to do.

[belorey]

3 hours ago, MajorUndead said:

Just got the PDF and had a quick look, but damn the seeker keyword got my attention (yeah the guy called MajorUndead is interested in the undead master, sooooo original)
That keyword will be tough to fully use with all the healing aura triggering, but it looks very interesting. Annoying vs ennemy healing too.

100% i really like the keyword but i love the models. It's going to be by far my favourite crew in the game.

[Da Git]

Really like the book. Lots of really fun looking tricks that's hopefully fairly well balanced (don't think we'll be able to properly judge this for at least 6-12months. if not longer)

I reckon Seeker will be a super strong keyword in scenarios that allow for bunching up (& not corner... like Cadmus, they won't be winning many races). They are very tough to kill.

Cadmus I think will be the next Plague. A well played crew will be really tough until the opponent works out how to deal with them and then they might fall down a bit... We shall see. They'll also take quite a bit of effort to "git gud"

Syndicate looks super fun to me with so many movement tricks & I love hazardous terrain auras!

Wrastrels will continue to be awesome and have some good additions to make them even better... It's a shame there aren't any Samurai/Jorogumo equivalents for handing light sabres to, but that's probably a good thing (Malisaurus Rex should be Minion 3... there were 3 eggs! Seriously, who doesn't want light sabre wielding dinos??)

Frontier have got a bit better with the worm & taxi service (I mean Rough Riders!), so might actually see some solid play as I think they're a really good crew.

EVS look like really good all rounders with good card manipulation (& we all know how powerful that is) and some solid models

Apex look like they'll be the next Family in that they'll dominate on boards with little terrain, however unlike family, they also have heaps of tricks.

DUA/Umbra also look great. Should be very powerful. Not too sure on speed although Nocturnes could fulfil this role. Great against ranged with all the Umbra critters giving concealment.

[MajorUndead]

49 minutes ago, Da Git said:

who doesn't want light sabre wielding dinos

Well, I mean, with those little arms they got? They won't do much with sabres, and might hurt themselves!

[clockworkspide]

The obvious solution is to hold the sabre in its mouth.

It's like the Great Wolf Sif fight in Dark Souls, only it's a dinosaur.