Thursday, May 1, 2008
Adopt, Adapt... probably Overdone
This is one of those when given lemons, make lemonade deals. That, or I simply don't know how to use my time properly. These little excursions are almost completely for my own amusement anyway.
Since the most recent Marvel set, Mutations and Monsters, finally gave us a Super Adaptoid, it seems unlikely we'll see a remake anytime soon. What should have been a dynamic piece - a one-man team more or less - was instead delivered to us as something of a dud with a big target painted on him. The sculpt's nice, though, and I don't think he's completely beyond help.
Here I'll be seeing what can be done -- mainly via existing Feats, maybe with some quick notes at to allies -- to help bring as much of the threat he should have been as possible to the game.
The units section over at HCRealms has done such a nice job of placing all the info in one spot that I'll start by simply lifting their entry for the character:
So, for 143 points we have a character that's a flying giant for five of its nine clicks of life, though it's important to note that on his first click and on his final three he's grounded and normal-sized (due to Earthbound.) This is important as it allows him to be carried and makes him less of a target.
His Attack and Defensive Special Powers allow him to copy an Attack or Defense power from an opposing piece he gets within four spaces of, using a Power Action to do so. In the case of the Attack Drain he gets a free attack action with it, so he can copy and attack in the same action. Defense Drain is also triggered by a Power Action, so the same one that will allow him to copy an Attack Power will also let him copy someone else's Defensive power. The downside of this is that Defense Drain doesn't come in until the second click. Ideally, he'll be able to copy some potent powers, though if he's up against those without something that interesting or characters with Special Powers in their Attack or Defensive slots (remember, it's only standard or "named" powers, so only ones that relate directly to the Powers and Abilities Card), then the Adaptoid's dick outta luck. Once he does copy something, though, he gets to keep it until it's canceled, he loses the Attack/Defense Drain power from his dial, or he copies something else.
So, let's start with the most basic (and one of the most costly) fixes: Fortitude. For 25 points he now has his powers safeguarded from Outwit with the bonus that he also gets to ignore Exploit Weakness. For an additional 25 points he can also get Repulsor Shield, which allows him to ignore Force Blast, Psychic Blast and Ranged Combat Expert's +2 boost to Damage.
Next, since that leading click and those final three of human-sized status also have Shape Change, we may as well add for 8 points Camouflage. So long as he is on a click with Shape Change and "is adjacent to a wall or blocking terrain, any line of fire for a ranged combat attack drawn to the character is blocked." Handy.
The fact that aside from clicks two and three, where Damage peaks at 3, he's left with only a 2 Damage for the other seven clicks of his dial brings two feats to mind. One is Armor Piercing, since he should be able to deal some penetrating damage; this way if he hits he can at least get 1 click of Damage through. That's certainly worth 10 points. The other, especially since we're looking at a robot, or at least a technologically-derived pseudo-life-form, is Nanobots, which for another 10 points will allow him to turn an object that only he is adjacent to into 2 clicks of healing, removing the object from the game.
That takes the 143 pt Super Adaptoid and brings him up to a much more well-protected, potentially dangerous and resilient character at 221 points. I can live with that. The only other Feat that comes immediately to mind is In Contact With Oracle, which would allow him to boost a stat each round in which he takes an action. That would be another 10 points, though it would require at least one other member of the team also be such an "agent," too. For an AIM team this could be more or less In Contact With MODOK, for a Hydra team perhaps Red Skull or Baron Strucker, or for a Robot team... perhaps Ultron..?
Since he can't copy the powers of friendly characters the only really obvious power in an ally is to have someone with Telekinesis, since with no move-and-attack powers it'll be the only way to get him into position and active before an opponent has the opportunity to counter-attack. Just remember, he can only be carried or TKed while he's on his Earthbound clicks, hiding out more or less as a human being.
In terms of theme teams, well, at 221 points (231 if ICWO is employed) it's going to be very difficult to work him in within a 300 pt build except in unrestricted format, and even then it'll be with a bunch of low-point A.I.M. weenies. (Those with the A.I.M. keyword are a fairly small list.) Much better prospects - though one will definitely have to go for a higher build - await in the fairly voluminous Robot category.
Want the rest of the post?
This is one of those when given lemons, make lemonade deals. That, or I simply don't know how to use my time properly. These little excursions are almost completely for my own amusement anyway.
Since the most recent Marvel set, Mutations and Monsters, finally gave us a Super Adaptoid, it seems unlikely we'll see a remake anytime soon. What should have been a dynamic piece - a one-man team more or less - was instead delivered to us as something of a dud with a big target painted on him. The sculpt's nice, though, and I don't think he's completely beyond help.
Here I'll be seeing what can be done -- mainly via existing Feats, maybe with some quick notes at to allies -- to help bring as much of the threat he should have been as possible to the game.
The units section over at HCRealms has done such a nice job of placing all the info in one spot that I'll start by simply lifting their entry for the character:
So, for 143 points we have a character that's a flying giant for five of its nine clicks of life, though it's important to note that on his first click and on his final three he's grounded and normal-sized (due to Earthbound.) This is important as it allows him to be carried and makes him less of a target.
His Attack and Defensive Special Powers allow him to copy an Attack or Defense power from an opposing piece he gets within four spaces of, using a Power Action to do so. In the case of the Attack Drain he gets a free attack action with it, so he can copy and attack in the same action. Defense Drain is also triggered by a Power Action, so the same one that will allow him to copy an Attack Power will also let him copy someone else's Defensive power. The downside of this is that Defense Drain doesn't come in until the second click. Ideally, he'll be able to copy some potent powers, though if he's up against those without something that interesting or characters with Special Powers in their Attack or Defensive slots (remember, it's only standard or "named" powers, so only ones that relate directly to the Powers and Abilities Card), then the Adaptoid's dick outta luck. Once he does copy something, though, he gets to keep it until it's canceled, he loses the Attack/Defense Drain power from his dial, or he copies something else.
So, let's start with the most basic (and one of the most costly) fixes: Fortitude. For 25 points he now has his powers safeguarded from Outwit with the bonus that he also gets to ignore Exploit Weakness. For an additional 25 points he can also get Repulsor Shield, which allows him to ignore Force Blast, Psychic Blast and Ranged Combat Expert's +2 boost to Damage.
Next, since that leading click and those final three of human-sized status also have Shape Change, we may as well add for 8 points Camouflage. So long as he is on a click with Shape Change and "is adjacent to a wall or blocking terrain, any line of fire for a ranged combat attack drawn to the character is blocked." Handy.
The fact that aside from clicks two and three, where Damage peaks at 3, he's left with only a 2 Damage for the other seven clicks of his dial brings two feats to mind. One is Armor Piercing, since he should be able to deal some penetrating damage; this way if he hits he can at least get 1 click of Damage through. That's certainly worth 10 points. The other, especially since we're looking at a robot, or at least a technologically-derived pseudo-life-form, is Nanobots, which for another 10 points will allow him to turn an object that only he is adjacent to into 2 clicks of healing, removing the object from the game.
That takes the 143 pt Super Adaptoid and brings him up to a much more well-protected, potentially dangerous and resilient character at 221 points. I can live with that. The only other Feat that comes immediately to mind is In Contact With Oracle, which would allow him to boost a stat each round in which he takes an action. That would be another 10 points, though it would require at least one other member of the team also be such an "agent," too. For an AIM team this could be more or less In Contact With MODOK, for a Hydra team perhaps Red Skull or Baron Strucker, or for a Robot team... perhaps Ultron..?
Since he can't copy the powers of friendly characters the only really obvious power in an ally is to have someone with Telekinesis, since with no move-and-attack powers it'll be the only way to get him into position and active before an opponent has the opportunity to counter-attack. Just remember, he can only be carried or TKed while he's on his Earthbound clicks, hiding out more or less as a human being.
In terms of theme teams, well, at 221 points (231 if ICWO is employed) it's going to be very difficult to work him in within a 300 pt build except in unrestricted format, and even then it'll be with a bunch of low-point A.I.M. weenies. (Those with the A.I.M. keyword are a fairly small list.) Much better prospects - though one will definitely have to go for a higher build - await in the fairly voluminous Robot category.
Want the rest of the post?
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