Arena Rex Forums

I was going to write about exhaustion in the Ban-Luca thread, but I'll do it here

Power attacks area great. However, I also agree that exhaustion is almost always a death sentence, and something I try to avoid in 5v5s. In 3v3 matches, you get clear turns quicker, and there's rarely any reason to do anything other than try to just smash your opponent. In 5v5s, it's harder to get rid of that exhaustion, and there are more reasons to do strategic pushes and other tricks.

Deciding to do multiple attacks definitely depends on the opponent's armor and the damage tree of the character (which, although this is more of a separate discussion, I agree that RRG did a good job differentiating the damage trees to give the models different roles on the team). Like, as I mentioned before, I'm power attacking Ban-Luca. Not messing with that 3ARM.

Hagal is my favorite candidate for going berserk. The average amount of net successes on a regular attack (6ATK vs 2DEF) ranges between 2 and 4. With 3 successes, Hagal, does 6 damage and generates a favor. That's great. So, do one normal attack, do some damage, maybe get a favor, then power attack right after to finish them off and also generate a favor (this is an ideal scenario).

I typically only do multiple attacks against models with low armor or who are, like you said, exhausted.

This strategic breakdown of character stats is very interesting. I only recently discovered this game, and haven't had much of an opportunity to start dissecting the various ludus and characters.

For those of you who have more experience, and are more conscious of the math behind the different stats, I'm curious to know how this information affects your cohort construction? More specifically, do you consider specific "roles" that need to be filled(i.e. anchor, flank, support, etc)? For example, I only own the Zephyri starter set. It seems to me that the 3 characters are designed to work well together, each with a particular role. With Bjarrhvit being more of a front line bruiser, swift Sven being more mobile and targeted, and Frigge more support oriented with intervene and retaliate. As I look to expand my cohort to 4 and 6 members, I'm curious what other "roles" need to be filled, and how to determine who fits best for that role?

Zephyri main here, sharing my thoughts:

To answer your first question, yes, I look closely at the role each gladiator plays. It's not as clear cut with "tank, scrapper, finisher, etc." as an MMO is, but more or less the same. You've got the right idea with Frigge, with her being a support and a "wall" character, mainly because her abilities are great for that and her damage tree only gets good at the bottom. Also, Frigge is great for using the Blood Brothers passive. She's the bulkiest Zephy, so she can handle taking 2 damage to heal someone else. I always bring Frigge on the field.

And let's look at Bjarrhvit; you're right that she's a frontliner. Typically though, and this may be personal strategic difference, but I rarely initiate attacks with her. I plop her in the fray and make my opponent want to move out of engagement range of her, making them work around her. When they do, I opportunity attack, even if I have to use Brave to do it. Totally worth it, especially considering her first three dmg tree results: , , . That means that even with just three successes, I'm doing 5 damage, moving around them, and pushing them any direction I want. I can push them further from where they want to be, or I can pinch them between some terrain, you get the idea. She's a great disruptor.

And let's look at my buddy Hagal. His damage tree is one of my favorites, and you have a lot of options with it. He's an offensive monster, but also the most fragile of the Zephyri. I never initiate with him, but once a battle has started, I send him in and he wrecks face. Being careless with Hagal = dead Hagal. Sadly, I've been on the receiving end of him being one-shot. However, in long encounters, he works wonders. He heals himself and earns favor, both of which are great for using Berserk. While Hagal has been dropped quickly before, he's also been MVP.

Hroka makes a great "finisher", coming in with a power attack to kill a model. If she can do that and get a kill, she earns 2 , and lets models around her reposition, and this will clear a fatigue off of Hroka (but no one else, sadly).

When you're determining what gladiators to get for filling roles, it depends on the team you're against, really, and what you're play style is. If I know the enemy doesn't have huge damage output, I'll pick Hagal for my "beater". If they're more threatening in terms of straight damage, I'll pick Sven. Ideally though, I like to have two berserking damage characters, with other characters acting as disruptors, so I lean towards Bjarrhvit and (soon to be) Leika, too. Typically, you'll always want at least one bulky "tank", one "beater", and one "supporty/utility" character. Again, the lines aren't hard-drawn in the sand, and some tanks are also support or debuffing (like Otho), other tanks are more for absorbing hits (like Ur-Kek).
What gladiators are you thinking about putting in?

In general, the Zephyri are a bit tricky because you have a lot of options for what you want to do. You have more freedom to move and react than any other ludus, but it comes at a price, so you need to make sure it will put you ahead. This makes them great at applying pressure, since you can pop up wherver you want your gladiators to be to always keep your opponent between a rock and a hard place. However, use these abilities improperly, and you send yourself into a really shitty situation.

I definitely plan on adding Hagal to my Cohort, and he is probably my favorite model out of the whole range. (I do plan on giving his head a "shave", to make his head completely bald) Its the last two slots that I'm a bit unsure about. I'm a big fan of the Norse ascetic, so the Native American gladiators (while very cool), just aren't my cup of tea.

I like the look of Valen, and I think he could fit right in with the "Viking" look, however I'm wary about adding him as I'm not sure what gaps in the cohort need to be filled. Lieka has a very interesting look to her, but I haven't decided on if I really like her model. She does seem very useful to the Zephyri from a tactical perspective though.

What are your thoughts on beasts being used with the Zephyri? Are there any that work particularly well other than Caho-Ta? I like the Rhino, but my OCD wants the whole cohort to have the same visual theme, and their aren't too many Rhinos in Scandinavia. I need to keep my fingers crossed for a bear to be released....now that I would snag in a heartbeat.

So, I don't typically add beasts to my cohorts, but they can still work. I am going to add Wendigo to my list of options because he works great with a berserk-comp; Wendigo goes in, ties them up, and gives your gladiators the safety to go ballroom blitz the enemy. Also, he looks kind of Norse, with his face and beard.

Proximo could work too, but he's a two-stage model, and this is my preference, but I like using Zephyri gladiators so I can make use of the ludus benefits.

Valen could work, but I'm not sure. Not my first choice. He's best when he's clumped around his buddies, which is common for the Zephyri to do, so maybe. I don't plan on getting him though. How do your feel about Aemilia? She has the intercept you're not getting from Vargr, and could fit the "Wild and rugged" aesthetic.

Also, I think RRG has a bear planned, but it's a ways off.

This is an interesting point which I was going to make in the thread about Euryale too. The game seems to me to have two relatively clear thematic groups - the Southern theme and the Northern theme.

Magnus and Morituri are Roman and Egyptian respectively, and therefore clearly Southern (as are the upcoming Greeks). Legio and Zephyri are Celtic and Norse, so clearly Northern. And most unaligned models fall into one of these themes too, I think. The Gorgons are Greek and therefore Southern. Most of the beasts have an exotic, Southern feel too, with the exception of the horses. And Wendigo is clearly a North American, and hence Northern, spirit.

There is nothing wrong with mixing Northern and Southern models obviously - it just tends to generate a little thematic discord in terms of style.

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It's probably more of a sliding scale, as there's a decent Legio/Magnus mix. Also, I'd probably say its more East/West than North/South. Vargr doesn't look like he'd be super comfortable in the north.

Individual models within the schools may veer more towards the middle, and Legio also has a Southern feel in some respects with the legionnaire thing, but I would say in the bigger picture, the line is definitely there in my eyes.

I don't think I can get behind the East/West thing... Rome is clearly directly South of Germania and Scandinavia in my mental map. The Native Americans definitely like warm weather, but nonetheless, they belong to North America, not South America.

(Obviously those guys are more West than North in theme, but if you look at their school as a whole, what mainly defines them is that they are not Mediterranean, which in the AR world is South in my view.)

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This might be a bit off-topic, but since we are on the discussion of visual themes, I have a specific question about upcoming Leika. Her mask is "interesting". I have a decent knowledge of history, but I am in no means an expect. She appears more Norse than Native American, with the fair skin and blonde hair. That being said, I'm curious to know what the inspiration behind her would be (historically speaking), particularly her mask. I know she hasn't even been released yet, but I am already dying to see any info on her character development.

Leika's mask has me stumped too. One of my buddies thinks her mask is actually Atlantean, in the mythical sense. We had a hard time pinning down her inspiration.