In this series on splash characters, we've looked at Gaarkhan, the King of Cleave, and Fenn Signis, the Prince of Blast. Today, we're looking at Vinto Hreeda, who doesn't have any rules that Cleave or Blast, but instead does damage to a figure other than his target whenever he damages someone in an attack (or as he's running or whoever is nearby when he gets the inkling to start shooting). Vinto is different from both of these characters in that the splash damage comes as a result of doing the things you want to do - it doesn't detract from the power of your attacks or require you to attack extra times.
Vinto Hreeda: Maximum Damage or Maximum Attacks?
Vinto's upgrade cards tend to encourage him to do one of two things: make the primary attack he's performing do more damage (Merciless is the cornerstone example) or deal a small amount of damage to a different target (Shot On The Run is one of many examples). It's important to note that Vinto does both direct damage and indirect damage very well. Since Vinto always has Boltslinger, you can do off-hand damage to anyone simply by attacking - you don't need other ways to do small amounts of damage to a bunch of people.
When picking your upgrades (and weapons), however, you want to determine which kind of character you want to do. If you want to focus on doing a lot of damage to one target (and a little off-hand damage is nice), then focus your upgrades on direct damage. If you want to spray lots of people (finishing off lots of people OR preparing them to be finished off by someone else or by you during the next round), focus your upgrades on indirect damage. With this dichotomy in mind, let's look at a few weapon builds.
When picking your upgrades (and weapons), however, you want to determine which kind of character you want to do. If you want to focus on doing a lot of damage to one target (and a little off-hand damage is nice), then focus your upgrades on direct damage. If you want to spray lots of people (finishing off lots of people OR preparing them to be finished off by someone else or by you during the next round), focus your upgrades on indirect damage. With this dichotomy in mind, let's look at a few weapon builds.
Ok, let's get this out of the way from the get-go: I don't like Vinto's starting blaster: the Hair-Trigger Pistol has a Yellow-Blue attack pool that is unreliable at doing damage AND you can only turn your Surge into a single Damage AND you don't get to choose to reroll a particular die - you must reroll all of them. For 550 credits (the most expensive pistol at Tier 1), you can instead get the DDC Defender though: this weapon plays to Vinto's strategy of maximizing Boltslinger because you can turn both of your actions into 3 attacks! With a Green-Yellow combo (a more reliable attack pool for damage), you can get the required Damage 1 past a Black die reliably (and if you fail, just pick up Pinpoint Shot for 1 XP). To add to the power of this weapon, we've attached the Under-Barrel HH-4, since we're shooting (literally) for Damage being dealt to the not-target of the attack - what's better than getting more out of Boltslinger by spraying more people!
With 1-3 Accuracy from the Green die, at least 1 Accuracy from the Yellow die (thanks to surging abilities), an additional 1 Accuracy from the Sharpshooter upgrade , and 1 Accuracy provided by the Under-Barrel HH-4, you're guaranteed 4 Accuracy (which will reach everyone you can hit with Boltslinger). To get the most out of this, you'll want to alternate between moving/resting on one turn and attacking twice on the next turn (though if you stand near a deployment zone, you can get multiple turns of just shooting off...just saying).
Now while this is fun, why not attack a FOURTH time by Straining with the Off-Hand Blaster for 3 XP! I generally don't think this upgrade is worth it, but come on - attack FOUR TIMES! You can pump up your damage even more by picking up Rapid Fire, which not only allows you to reroll all the dice (attack and defense) every time you attack (like, if you're not going to wound the guy), but also allows you to Strain once to damage every hostile figure within 4 spaces (thanks to Sharpshooter). Provided you're healthy, you can use Thread The Needle to ignore figures in your way, so everyone within 4 spaces takes...well...a lot of damage. :)
With 1-3 Accuracy from the Green die, at least 1 Accuracy from the Yellow die (thanks to surging abilities), an additional 1 Accuracy from the Sharpshooter upgrade , and 1 Accuracy provided by the Under-Barrel HH-4, you're guaranteed 4 Accuracy (which will reach everyone you can hit with Boltslinger). To get the most out of this, you'll want to alternate between moving/resting on one turn and attacking twice on the next turn (though if you stand near a deployment zone, you can get multiple turns of just shooting off...just saying).
Now while this is fun, why not attack a FOURTH time by Straining with the Off-Hand Blaster for 3 XP! I generally don't think this upgrade is worth it, but come on - attack FOUR TIMES! You can pump up your damage even more by picking up Rapid Fire, which not only allows you to reroll all the dice (attack and defense) every time you attack (like, if you're not going to wound the guy), but also allows you to Strain once to damage every hostile figure within 4 spaces (thanks to Sharpshooter). Provided you're healthy, you can use Thread The Needle to ignore figures in your way, so everyone within 4 spaces takes...well...a lot of damage. :)
Upgrades to purchase - 10 XP: Pinpoint Shot (1), Sharpshooter (2), Off-Hand Blaster (3), Rapid Fire (4)
End-Game Weapon #2 - Point Blank: Hand Cannon with Plasma Cell
Though Vinto can do a lot of indirect damage, he can also be played in the other extreme: do damage directly (which makes it more likely that you'll get Boltslinger damage whenever you attack - that's not bad). Generally speaking, when you're looking for direct damage against someone, you turn towards Red die, so in my mind we need turn no further than the Hand Cannon (available at Tier 1) and the Plasma Cell (available at Tier 2). The Hand Cannon was released with the Jabba's Realm expansion (along with Vinto), so it seems to me that it BEGS him using it. :)
The Hand Cannon gives you 1 Accuracy automatically and gives you TWO Red dice in your attack pool (this has only been rivaled in the melee world by the Polearm, though the 434 Deathhammer gives you nearly the equivalent amount of damage - you could upgrade to this if you wanted). The caution with Red-Red attack pools as I've seen is that Red dice are unreliable. Most of the time you'll get 2-3 Damage off of them, but you won't surge very often (and most weapons rely on Surge to compensate for what isn't showing up on the dice results). The Hand Cannon has no Surge abilities on it and with the Plasma Cell, you can turn your maximum 2 Surge (rare occurrence) into Damage 1 + Recover Strain (which isn't bad). With the Plasma Cell tacked onto the weapon, you can reliably get Damage 6 + Pierce 1, though you want to count on getting Damage 4 + Pierce 1 (an occasionally Damage 2-3). With our goal being the breaking of an opponent's defense results, this is about as good as it's going to get.
One caution with this approach (and why you want want to consider getting the Deathhammer): you only get 1 Accuracy (though you can get +2 Accuracy if you're willing to sacrifice 1 Damage). As powerful as this combo can be (and inexpensive - 850 credits is pretty cheap overall), you need to be right up against your target in order to blast him. To supplement your base damage, I recommend picking up Merciless - effectively adding a Red die to your attack results which gives you (wait for it) THREE Red dice for your attack (with a static Pierce 2 and the guy needs to already have sustained some damage)...yes, it's painful. To back this up, I also recommend picking up Dead On, which can be used to augment either direct or indirect damage. Finally, I recommend picking up Pinpoint Shot (it's just a good upgrade) and Battlefield Experience, since getting a reroll on one of your Red die is better than having to scrub the whole thing with Rapid Fire.
The Hand Cannon gives you 1 Accuracy automatically and gives you TWO Red dice in your attack pool (this has only been rivaled in the melee world by the Polearm, though the 434 Deathhammer gives you nearly the equivalent amount of damage - you could upgrade to this if you wanted). The caution with Red-Red attack pools as I've seen is that Red dice are unreliable. Most of the time you'll get 2-3 Damage off of them, but you won't surge very often (and most weapons rely on Surge to compensate for what isn't showing up on the dice results). The Hand Cannon has no Surge abilities on it and with the Plasma Cell, you can turn your maximum 2 Surge (rare occurrence) into Damage 1 + Recover Strain (which isn't bad). With the Plasma Cell tacked onto the weapon, you can reliably get Damage 6 + Pierce 1, though you want to count on getting Damage 4 + Pierce 1 (an occasionally Damage 2-3). With our goal being the breaking of an opponent's defense results, this is about as good as it's going to get.
One caution with this approach (and why you want want to consider getting the Deathhammer): you only get 1 Accuracy (though you can get +2 Accuracy if you're willing to sacrifice 1 Damage). As powerful as this combo can be (and inexpensive - 850 credits is pretty cheap overall), you need to be right up against your target in order to blast him. To supplement your base damage, I recommend picking up Merciless - effectively adding a Red die to your attack results which gives you (wait for it) THREE Red dice for your attack (with a static Pierce 2 and the guy needs to already have sustained some damage)...yes, it's painful. To back this up, I also recommend picking up Dead On, which can be used to augment either direct or indirect damage. Finally, I recommend picking up Pinpoint Shot (it's just a good upgrade) and Battlefield Experience, since getting a reroll on one of your Red die is better than having to scrub the whole thing with Rapid Fire.
Upgrades to purchase - 10 XP: Pinpoint Shot (1), Battlefield Experience (2), Dead On (3), Merciless (4)
End-Game Weapon #3 - Give Me Some Options: Sporting Blaster with Charged Ammo Pack
While you can focus Vinto on doing lots of indirect damage (through Blast or special rules) or you could focus him on doing direct damage, there's another build you can do with Vinto: a little bit of both. In a balanced build, Vinto can do decent direct damage AND decent indirect damage, allowing him to assist in the more technical objectives of the scenario (instead of focusing on spending actions for attacks. To do this, we're using the Sporting Blaster - a great T3 weapon that generates a TON of surge. We've decided to put the Charged Ammo Pack on this weapon because it allows you to turn even more of the surge into (potential) damage and makes it more likely that you can get at least 1 Damage to trigger Boltslinger. The idea with this build, however, is that you only shoot once (and when you do, you clear the figure that you're targeting. Your other action should be spent moving (doing indirect damage with Shot On The Run) or resting/interacting/whatever else you need to do in the scenario.
I've decided in this build to focus on the cheap upgrades - increased Speed/Endurance with Shot On The Run and Battlefield Experience (the first helping you with indirect damage in addition to the speed, while the other gives you a coveted reroll on your Yellow-Yellow-Blue in addition to the Endurance), the ability to turn any attack result into damage (so long as you get the required accuracy) with Pinpoint Shot, and boosting your overall Accuracy (for direct and indirect fire) with Sharpshooter. For only 6 XP, you can get a character build that's good at anything, freeing you up to use the rest of your XP on whatever you want - any of the others will help deal a little more damage, so take your pick!
It's important to note that because the Sporting Blaster doesn't arrive until Tier 3, you might want something else to tide you over through the early missions. I highly recommend picking up a weapon as early as possible (I don't like Vinto's gun - have I mentioned that before?) - my favorite choice is the Charge Pistol. The Charge Pistol rolls a reliable green-green for its attack pool with an automatic 1 Accuracy, making you automatically hit adjacent Hidden figures OR non-Hidden figures within 3 spaces. Maximum damage is 4 (which is good enough to get a damage past a Black die - which is all you need to use Boltslinger) AND you can surge for Damage 1 (giving you a 58% chance of getting 3-4 damage).
I've decided in this build to focus on the cheap upgrades - increased Speed/Endurance with Shot On The Run and Battlefield Experience (the first helping you with indirect damage in addition to the speed, while the other gives you a coveted reroll on your Yellow-Yellow-Blue in addition to the Endurance), the ability to turn any attack result into damage (so long as you get the required accuracy) with Pinpoint Shot, and boosting your overall Accuracy (for direct and indirect fire) with Sharpshooter. For only 6 XP, you can get a character build that's good at anything, freeing you up to use the rest of your XP on whatever you want - any of the others will help deal a little more damage, so take your pick!
It's important to note that because the Sporting Blaster doesn't arrive until Tier 3, you might want something else to tide you over through the early missions. I highly recommend picking up a weapon as early as possible (I don't like Vinto's gun - have I mentioned that before?) - my favorite choice is the Charge Pistol. The Charge Pistol rolls a reliable green-green for its attack pool with an automatic 1 Accuracy, making you automatically hit adjacent Hidden figures OR non-Hidden figures within 3 spaces. Maximum damage is 4 (which is good enough to get a damage past a Black die - which is all you need to use Boltslinger) AND you can surge for Damage 1 (giving you a 58% chance of getting 3-4 damage).
Upgrades to purchase – 6 XP: Pinpoint Shot (1), Shot On The Run (1), Battlefield Experience (2), Sharpshooter (2)
Vinto Hreeda in the Skirmish Game
Vinto is a fantastic character in the skirmish game: unlike characters with Assault (e.g. Fenn Signis, IG-88, E-Web Engineers) or Brutality (like Darth Vader), Vinto can spend a single action to perform 2 attacks - which not only allows him to move and shoot in one round, but also allows him to make two attacks (which has HUGE tactical benefits). Vinto also retains his Boltslinger ability, so he can spray little pricks of damage to nearby foes that he's not targeting - great for polishing off people who weren't killed by your friends.
As both a Smuggler and a Hunter, you can get a lot out of your Command deck to make him even better - Smuggled Supplies, Assassinate, Tools for the Job, and On The Lam are great for Vinto (either for boosting his damage or keeping him alive). Thanks to Saska Teft, you can actually add Vinto to your favorite Rebel Smuggler lists too. While you don't have very many Hunter choices for the Rebels, you do have Biv Bodhrick and Alliance Rangers - using them to provide some damage to your favorite Smuggler team wouldn't be bad OR just run plenty of Alliance Rangers and you can go with a predominantly Hunter team (and whether you use Hunters or Smugglers, you can use all those beautiful Command cards mentioned above).
As both a Smuggler and a Hunter, you can get a lot out of your Command deck to make him even better - Smuggled Supplies, Assassinate, Tools for the Job, and On The Lam are great for Vinto (either for boosting his damage or keeping him alive). Thanks to Saska Teft, you can actually add Vinto to your favorite Rebel Smuggler lists too. While you don't have very many Hunter choices for the Rebels, you do have Biv Bodhrick and Alliance Rangers - using them to provide some damage to your favorite Smuggler team wouldn't be bad OR just run plenty of Alliance Rangers and you can go with a predominantly Hunter team (and whether you use Hunters or Smugglers, you can use all those beautiful Command cards mentioned above).
This concludes our series in "splash" characters - highlighting some of the stuff you can do with Cleave, Blast, and Special Abilities that do indirect damage to your opponents. Our next character review will be an interlude as we change gears from indirect damage to direct damage via blaster fire by examining Drokkatta (who has weapons designed for Blast, but doesn't actually NEED to Blast). Until then, happy gaming!
No comments:
Post a Comment