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Best Totems in the game


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If we skip the obvious Huggies and LCBs of the world, which Totems do you consider the best? Either from a "anyone would love to have this" as well as from a more "the synergies with the particular Master are off the charts!" type of view point.

I'll start with Shang who has good synergy with Misaki, great healing and as a giant cherry on top Arcane Reservoir. I feel that lots of Masters would take Shang over their own Totem as is, even without benefitting from the Misaki synergies!

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Necrotic machine is the best poison totem in the game, which is awkward as neither of the poison crews get it 😜

I think Iggy Pup (Luna/McCabe's totem) might be one of the best - can just pump out artifact upgrades.

Chihuahua, soul porter, copycat killer, Ikiryo, lady ligeia, corpse candle all seem quite niche. Research assistant, but not sure it'd be best.

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In Guild, Printing Press or Scribe are tough to beat. Bernadette is fine if being significant isn't a liability. Purifying Flame is a perfectly good free unit for Sonnia (possibly a bit better for new Title Sonnia). Enslaved Nephilim and Scales of Justice are both basically there to try to draw a card at the correct pacing. Mech Attendant has several jobs in a Hoffman crew and can sometimes land a surprise slow late in the rounds. Dashel's totem is really strong for his crew's early card draw, and has a good aura for Guard models, but isn't a generally useful model.

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The Forgeling is quite good. Being able to pump out 2 Scrap markers a Turn is crucial on the early Turns of the game, and infinite Condition removal for a FOUR as a BONUS ACTION is godly, not to mention it turns that Condition removal into healing. Not to mention the shenanigans a significant, 2 Cost model with Ride the Rails can get up to. 

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I think if you take out all the big totems (Chompy, Ikryu, Bansuva, Sovereign, Huggy) then you are probably left with the Arcane reservoir totems as the next best. 

Shang and Doc Mitchel are probably the best of those, since they also have a useful healing action (And Doc has an OK gun, which is a lot better when you don't need to worry about Parker killing him for him having a gun...) (but any with Arcane reservoir would probably get hired if you could)

Outside that group 

Luna is very useful, as scrap is helpful for several crews, and the artifacts are good. The Steam trunk is also good for the equipment. 

Runaways might be an interesting consideration to try and get escape off in some matchups. Orville is an ok scheme runner, 

I'm not sure I would hire a nest outside of a cadmus list, because without We are legion, and the parasite effects, they are just a large pile of wounds. That might be enough to try and slow an opponent down, or prevent interacting in an area occasionally. 

 

EDIT- Just realised this is all from the "would anybody love it" line,  not at all about the in crew synergy line

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I would add Stolen to the awesome totems. They are not easy to take down, saves Hamelin from death, deals surprising damage, buff vermin, and are three. 

 

EDIT: Oh, and when they die they summon two rats and do more things. 

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Outside of the 6ss+ totems... Shambling nest... by far.

Dashel totem is quite good as is Shang. As a Dora player I think PG is amazing (unfortunately really squishy).

Beside that I agree that the other arcane reservoir totems are good (especially Doc that is a great support pieces).

As for utility in any crew, I vote for the Gorar (think about all the stuff he could bring back with your favorite crew).

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Prior to the Nerf I would have mentioned Skeeters. 7df psuedo :+flipto defense and Hunting Partner can let them hold up more expensive models pretty well. 

Nexus's totems blow them out of the water though. 16 wounds, df5 and From The Shadows make them even more aggressive and hard to deal with. Each one is probably eating 3 beater ap. A totem that can eat whole activations of the killiest models in the game is pretty stellar. Also it gets a 2" engagement range despite not having arms. Lol 

 

I think Young LaCroix are pretty good too. For three stones they're  drawing three cards a turn, making two models fast and glowy and taking pot shots/applying Injured to things that are out of LoS. They do give up 3 pass tokens though.

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, Zebo said:

I would add Stolen to the awesome totems. They are not easy to take down, saves Hamelin from death, deals surprising damage, buff vermin, and are three. 

 

EDIT: Oh, and when they die they summon two rats and do more things. 

Was coming here to say this. You get *3*, and with positive damage flips against their preferred targets you will pretty consistently hit for 3 damage with a Stat 5 attack. They can attack into a melee from 10" away, and they're hard to get to when they're a backline model with Stealth. The fact that you get up to six attacks of that quality per turn for free is great on its own, even before they give Rats Fast or explode themselves into a new Rat King. Many games I don't need to worry about going for Bleeding Diseases because the Vomiting Diseases had done it. Against a Blighted 3+ target I'd expect three Stolen to outdamage the likes of Lord Chompy Bits by a reasonably comfortable margin.

 

Like, seriously, you get 12 stones worth of rats (or 1.5 Rat Kings) from these Totems if you suicide them Turn 1. And you probably won't do that because they're more valuable alive, so instead that (and Blight) becomes the penalty your opponent suffers for hunting them. 

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4 hours ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

hilarious that nests cannot do anything without parasite token upgrade, and yet they are still a candidate for best totem in the game

You know that night be a good way of thinking of it. "Would I hire this model OoK?"  If the answer is yes, then they're certainly good as their l they'd only improve with crew synergies.

Ikyrio- probably not an OoK pick. Df 3 seems like too much of a liability. The heals on Death Touch save Feast of Vengeance aren't enemy only. I could definitely see her being a pick in crews like Big Hat  that gave cheap Expendable minions for her to eat.

Lord Chompy- definitely work 9ss for a  beater Henchman with Lucid Dreaming.

Hungering Darkness- a maybe if you think you can get a lot of mileage off Obey. Doesn't do a whole lot with brilliance by himself.

 Sovereign- Definitely sometimes. 8ss is kind of expensive for a flying scheme runner but it's tough, has tricks and Fly With Me.

Banasuva- probably not worth 8ss. But Toss is amazing. Native in the right crew 

Mr. Mordrake- Loses a lot without shadow markers but an okay scheme runner.

 Kara- probably not

Shang- 5ss isn't bad for a back line healer with Arcane Reservoir.

 Dr. Mitchell- Same, but worse range.

Copycat Killer- no

Poltergeist-not bad for 5ss. 5wounds incorporeal -wp for WP crews. Stagger for Mv attacks. Marker removal.

Printing press- 5ss for a pretty rough Arcane Reservoir model. 

Mechanical Attendant- Not bad of you have constructs. 

Sophie- okay.

Orville- not bad. 

Mouse- take staggered is nice as as m are heals, but not very survivable at 5ss.

Jackalope- even without synergies he's a pretty great scheme runner. 

Necrotic Machine- better in poison crews.

Primordial Pukesnake- 4ss to hide in a corner and draw cards.

Dispatcher- probably not.

Shambling Nest- I'd pay 4ss for that in a lot of crews.

Skeeter- not at 4ss

Olivia Bernard- Cheap, potentially fast, significant model. Night have cool synergies with scrap and scheme heavy crews or ones with lots of Simple Duels. 

Earl Burns- definitely worth it if you have lots of flyers. 4ss might be worth it to just to drop Pianos on the right map.

Apprentice Wesly- might be worth it for healing and condition removal. 

Wendingo- probably not.

Might look at 2ss and less totems later.

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Where's the love for the Steam Trunk here! C'mon folks - how about the tracked terror. He attaches some pretty awesome upgrades and heals as bonus. Armor 2. The really fun part is that heal can heal his buddy, attach an upgrade to himself, shoot the rocket launcher he just attached, and then discard a card to attach assault shield to stay alive. OK, maybe not the most effective totem, but pretty damn cool either way. 

Would I take that OOK for 3? Maybe, but it would probably only be a situation where I was also taking Strongarm or Hannah. 

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8 minutes ago, Trample said:

Where's the love for the Steam Trunk here! C'mon folks - how about the tracked terror. He attaches some pretty awesome upgrades and heals as bonus. Armor 2. The really fun part is that heal can heal his buddy, attach an upgrade to himself, shoot the rocket launcher he just attached, and then discard a card to attach assault shield to stay alive. OK, maybe not the most effective totem, but pretty damn cool either way. 

Would I take that OOK for 3? Maybe, but it would probably only be a situation where I was also taking Strongarm or Hannah. 

One of the few ways to clear poison in Outcasts too.

I could imagine Tara hiring it, equipping landmines to void wretches and doing suicide bomb runs

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2 ss totems

Soul porter- probably not until you really need scrap/corpse removal.

Luna- At 3ss OoK she might be point for point the best support model in the game. Giving models Fast and Artifact upgrades is pretty great. 

Forgeling- Significant, armored, Ride the Rails model for 3ss, yes please.

Chiyo- 3ss, significant, Stealh+Disguised and Inconspicuous is great. I'm sure there's stuff in the back of the card too.

Aspiring Students- probably not worth monk synergies.

Amanjaku-probably not.

Research Assistant- not bad. Insignificant but Alchemical Vial is pretty good and bring able to drop scheme markers at range is cool.

Steam Trunk- Pretty great support piece for 3ss. If nothing else it can fire the Rocket Launcher every turn. 

Lady L- pretty tough for 3ss. Good aura. Potential reaches staggered.

Gorar- not bad at all.

Blood Hunter- probably not unless you want cheap corpses.

The Scribe- 4 wounds and Fade Away looks like a great annoyance piece. Also Condition removal

Scales of Justice- 3ss significant model. Kinda slow. Might draw cards and be annoying.

Purifying Flame- 3ss signiy model with a sorta leap.

Enslaved Nephilim- 3ss if you really need to obey your models.

Bernadette- 4wounds, Hard to Kill, significant and a Lure. Definitely maybe.

Vulture- probably not unless you need corpses.

Cherub- bow isn't bad. Insignificant though.

Brass Arachnid- maybe. Making things fast is kinda difficult. Armor 2 and it can field repair itself makes for a tough little guy.

Penelope- probably not right pigs to obey.

Little Lass- if you really need to move your dudes with Horrible Holerin'.

Eternal Flame- probably not worth since burning in crew.

1ss totems

Zombie Chihuahua- probably not unless you've got poison

Corpse Candle- probably not without stuff that uses corpses or makes pyres

Stolen- pretty good ranged attack on a stealthy serene countenance model that can also become rats or a Rat King. Pretty great.

Hollow Waif- 5 wounds and df 1 is pretty tough for 2ss. Potshots with gun can give out Injured.

Voodoo doll- no wanga mojo hurts. Jynx is a pretty good attack for 2ss.

Runaway- maybe vs bubble crews where you're confident it can Escape.

Marionettes- probably not. In Keyword with the Widow Weaver for sure. 

Young LaCroix- not bad for 2ss. With plink and flinch they are pretty survivable, for their cost. A lot of arsenal options to choose from, at a not particularly impress stat 4.

Mechanical Dove- not without them synergies.

 

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34 minutes ago, Trample said:

Where's the love for the Steam Trunk here!

Just got to it. Point for point it's probably one of the best models in the game. Up there with Luna. 

Without a crew to support, it could be a 3ss Rambo with Assault Shield, Leaps and Rocket Launches. 

The Armory ability doesn't say other Freikrops.

Turn 1, attach Rocket Boots and Leap, discard a card to attach Rocket Launcher and shoot, discard another to for Assault Shield. If they get close while trying to stop your rampage when Assault Shield falls off you can attach Grenade belt for Explosive demise 4. 😎

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