June 23, 2015

Today’s Team: Gaudy Purple Puppy
H/P Blighted Squirrel (Woodchipper, Crouch, Stampede)
H/P Snarly (Rip, Surge, Blood In Water)
Lost Netherpup (Shadow Shock, Howl, Maul) (not sure about breed)

Rationale:
A new pet with Maul? I’m heading straight to a bleeding team. My old pal Snarly hasn’t seen much use lately, his bleed and BITW are a bit rusty. I thought about using a Darkmoon Rabbit instead of the undead squirrel; I decided to go with the undead for the longevity. The plan is to get the bleeding effect going, then use Maul or BITW to hit for massive damage. I chose Shadow Shock on the Lost Netherpup since I already have some anti-critter damage. I chose Howl without giving it much thought, then realized that I’ve rarely used Vengeance. I should look into that.

Concerns:
Bleeding teams don’t seem as good as they once were.

The Opposing Team:
P/B Firewing
S/S Lil’ Bling
P/B Feline Familiar

The Battle:
062315BIt started with my squirrel versus Firewing. The flamey bird used Scorched Earth as I put up Crouch, then I cast Woodchipper and Stampede. The Firebird healed, but it wasn’t enough to outlast the undead squirrel; it did take it to zero health before expiring. Lil’ Bling came in on the squirrel’s immortal round to take a Woodchipper, leaving him set up for Maul or BITW. I brought in Snarly since I didn’t want my beast to face the mech. Then one of the most annoying things in pet battles happened: my opponent swapped out while bleeding, yet got hit anyways by a 50% BITW. This has happened to me so many times that I often just stay in to take the big hit. After the BITW the low health Feline Familiar was only able to get one attack (Call Darkness) off before dying to two uses of Surge.

062315AIt might seem like I was out of the woods, but I was fearing the Lil’ Bling versus Lost Netherpup showdown. Snarly was able to hit another BITW, this time against plating. More importantly Lil’ Bling was left bleeding for the Lost Netherpup. Maul showed how effective it is against the mech racial by taking Lil’ Bling to 0 health with one hit, then killing him off with the second hit, all in one round. Good purple puppy.

4 Responses to June 23, 2015

  1. Rhonstifor says:

    I totally nerd rage when I switch in an elemental and get hit with a 40% chance to hit nocturnal strike under darkness.

  2. Hirrus says:

    I definitely think Maul is a better design for basically the same ability. The “extra damage when the target is afflicted by X” is miles less frustrating than “guaranteed hit when afflicted by X” for everyone involved. If a “50% hit rate, but guaranteed hit when X” move gets juked, then either the user is pissed because it’s an entirely wasted turn, or the juker is pissed because they juked it and shouldn’t have their mindgames result in a pet that is now unexpectedly half dead. It’s just not good design when a skilled player says “Yeah, I don’t try and engage with this mechanic when my enemies use it because RNG will thwart my juke”. Maul, meanwhile, will still do more damage than your spammable attack if you hit on a swap, and it’s impossible for the second hit to proc when you get juked. Smart play is rewarded, and the move isn’t useless outside of the combo. Everyone is happier.

    • Lyraat says:

      How does Maul reward smart play but BITW does not? Who isn’t playing smart in your scenario?

      If the bleeding pet is swapped yet BITW misses, you forced your opponent to relinquish a turn or take a big hit. If they were setting something up themselves, now they have to restart. You just avoided whatever ability they were about to do. Slap a bleed on the new pet, and force your opponent to make another choice in a couple rounds. All smart moves.

      The opponent did the smart move and swapped. Even if BITW hits the non-bleeding pet, on the whole, swapping is better than staying. Various scenarios change that, I know, but on average, swap.

      The only difference between the two is that Maul always hits, massive or big. Yes, RNG is frustrating, but a 50% hit chance is not unexpected.

      • Hirrus says:

        I just don’t think it feels like a reward to flip a coin and maybe suffer the exact same fate as if you didn’t ‘play smart’. Disco just said himself in the above battle commentary that “I often just stay in to take the big hit” because he has not been rewarded for the smart play so frequently.

        I understand they can’t very well have these moves have 0% hit chance without the guaranteed hit effect up. But when you swap, you are already sacrificing one of your moves to juke the big hit. If you take the big hit anyway – purely based on RNG – then you literally just got punished for smart play by missing a move. Especially when it also means that one of your pets is still taking DoT damage on the backline.

        The real difference is that if you juke Maul, you only take a decent hit of damage. That second hit that bumps the attack to game-changing numbers will never hit if you juke it with a swap. NEVER. It rewards smart play with a guaranteed “You will take less damage if you juke it” rather than flipping a coin and maaaaaaybe taking no damage, and maaaaaybe taking the full hit for no reason.

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