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Take Them Down!
By Eric Schaen
Subject: Nightcrawler
The Giant Sized X-Men set introduced players to an all new version of Nightcrawler. Some players love this character and others feel he is too good for an 86 point character. In the hands of a skillful player, Nightcrawler has the ability to create sheer chaos on the battlefield. Let’s explore some options for ways to take down that opponent who keeps building teams with this fuzzy blue elf.
First a look at Nightcrawler’s dial:
(Insert dial here)
His pros: Hypersonic speed, Stealth, Shape Change, Super Senses, the X-Men team ability, A high starting defense, Uncanny special powers, a very useful trait and he’s only 86 points.
His Con’s: He’s a very top heavy Character. Once he’s taken 2 clix of damage, he is no longer a major threat. Also, his damage values are not terribly impressive either.
(Obviously your opponent will have other characters teamed with Nightcrawler. For the purpose of this article we are going to keep the focus on ways to defeat Nightcrawler.)
Ok, here are some tips for taking him down:
•Go for the Alpha Strike. If you have an opportunity to attack first use it. Move and attack powers like; Hypersonic Speed, Charge and Running shot are vital here. If you can’t catch Nightcrawler, you won’t be able to hit him. If the opportunity presents itself to attack Nightcrawler before he can attack you, make full use of it. Don’t wait or you could find one of your best characters plucked from its position, and placed adjacent to the likes Wolverine or within Cyclops optic blast range. As always, Telekinesis can be a very effective way to extend your ability to land the first hit.
•Use the two P’s. With powers like Stealth, Shape Change and Super Sense, Nightcrawler has quite a few ways to avoid being hit. The first P is for Pulse Wave. Pulse Wave is without a doubt Nightcrawler’s Achilles heal. It ignores all of his powers to guarantee damage as long as your attack is successful. That brings us to the second P, Probability Control. Having Probability Control readily available in case you miss the attack is imperative. Keep in mind though; you have to place the character with Probability Control outside of the Pulse Wave range in order to use the power. If you do hit Nightcrawler with Pulse Wave, he has to take the full damage, so you don’t want to mess this up by rolling an 18 and not being able to take a second shot at it. (Remember Tip # 1 and use Running shot combined with Pulse Wave to catch him off guard.)
•Force him to push. Another tactic for dealing with Nightcrawler is to try and force him to perform a push action. This of course will cause him to take a clix of damage and slow him down by adding a second action token, forcing him to clear on the next round. Indomitable characters can be very effective with this strategy. (Once I was able to fly a HOT Ultron adjacent to Nightcrawler who had already pushed last turn. After he cleared, I managed to roll a critical hit with Pulse Wave for 5 points of damage. Bu-bye Kurt.) Another clever way to accomplish this tactic is to base him with a character that has the power of Poison. Since poison is not an attack, Nightcrawler’s spiffy powers and high defense value won’t help him to avoid the damage.
•Bait him to come to you. It can be a bit of a risk putting a character within Nightcrawler’s hypersonic reach. However it can be a great way to bait him into an attack position. Make sure if you use this tactic, you use a character you don’t mind losing so much. Don’t forget to make sure you have actions available to take advantage of the situation if he does take the bait.
•Damage Reducers can go along way. Nightcrawler has no way to penetrate damage reducers on his own. So powers like Impervious and Invulnerability can be very effective when adjacent to him. Just be aware of Nightcrawler’s teammates. If Beast and Archangel are his teammates, you may want to re-think this strategy.
Golden Age Games
In “Golden Age” games, Feats and Battlefield Conditions are sill legal components of team building. Two Feat options I like for taking on Nightcrawler are; Heightened Reflexes and Double-Time. Heightened reflexes will give characters (that meet the prerequisites: Combat Reflexes or Energy Shield/Deflection) a chance to evade Nightcrawler’s attacks. While Double-time gives a character the ability to march right up to Nightcrawler and base him. This is best applied when Nightcrawler currently has an action token. This can be a surprise move that will force your opponent to either push Nightcrawler to escape, or clear and give you a chance to land an attack of your own. Transporters work best with this strategy, since they don’t take pushing damage for using this feat.
When it comes to choosing a battlefield condition; Bright Lights is a good choice. Bright Lights ignores characters Stealth powers; this is a great way to get some ranged advantage on Nightcrawler. Inferno is another interesting choice. Inferno should keep Nightcrawler on his toes and out of hindering terrain. Inferno causes any characters that start their turn in hindering terrain to take a clix of damage. Talk about a hot foot!
So there you have it. These tips are just some options that can be effective when you are taking on Nightcrawler. With the game of Heroclix, there are many choices of what strategy you utilize. That’s what makes this game so fun. Coming up with a strategy and having it work is its own reward.
Next time I’ll be exploring ways to take down the new 300 point Superman, see you then.
Take 'Em Down is a new series of articles by Eric Schaen. Take 'Em Down focuses on just one HeroClix character, and explores ways you can beat the crap out of it.
The Web of Spider-Man set introduced players to an all new version of Nightcrawler. Some players love this character and others feel he is too good for an 86 point character. In the hands of a skillful player, Nightcrawler has the ability to create sheer chaos on the battlefield.
Let’s explore some options for ways to take down that opponent who keeps building teams with this fuzzy blue elf.
Continued Below...
His pros: Hypersonic speed, Stealth, Shape Change, Super Senses, the X-Men team ability, A high starting defense, Uncanny special powers, a very useful trait and he’s only 86 points.
His Con’s: He’s a very top heavy Character. Once he’s taken 2 clix of damage, he is no longer a major threat. Also, his damage values are not terribly impressive either.
(Obviously your opponent will have other characters teamed with Nightcrawler. For the purpose of this article we are going to keep the focus on ways to defeat just Nightcrawler.)
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