Arena Rex Forums

Nah not specifically. I use titans. And Morituri benefits.

Its more like....tournament armies. I wanna see what they look like. Gaius for sure.... worked on playing against him with a lot of people.

Id like to see more of what are top armies consistently at tournaments. Not enough posting about it.

I imagine that it's because the tournaments that are held are quite low-key local affairs of a more casual nature, where the specific models that people used aren't seen to be as big a deal as just the fact that a tournament was held and it was awesome.

That's the feeling I got from the tournament that RRG have run at conventions at least. All the talk was about the special scenario designs, and congratulating the winner, not so much on model usage.

I imagine there are at least two factors in this. One is that the game is young and doesn't have a huge following yet, hence no critical mass to allow the creation of a tournament metagame like you see in other games.

Another is that "army" creation is so flexible at this stage. What specific "list" you use is able to modified so easily on the fly by just swapping models in and out, since there are few faction restrictions and no points costs. So what a specific "list" consists of means less. Model combinations are like bubbles in the stream.

_________________
My Arena Rex painting log

I totally disagree with the second option. Not towards you personally, but in general. I absolutely think its because this game is young. I've already seen flurries of people here and there using different combos and non faction benefit restricted armies. Or maximizing armies with allies.

I think its newer and most photos and reports Ive seen is such as: my opponent had Legio, my opponent used Gorgons etc.

You havent seen much of my opponent took a mix of this and that and used this etc. I think if they host convention events at every major one and the game grows we will see something begin...players like me who love options and army building will probably help to enforce a 'what works' sort of thing.

It's definitely a young game, but its also not an enormously varied one. Stats aren't particularly different, largely only moving one degree off the average and for the most part models walk up to other models and make melee attacks against them. There aren't huge synergies to exploit or significant list archetypes to abuse.

A lot of the game is risk assessment. Favor generation and how much you bid when. It's also positioning which has as much to do with Arena layout as it does model stats. The game though, is largely a DPS race full of options to attempt to do a little bit more damage at times at the risk of taking significantly more damage in return.

I think if the most "meta" things in the game involve Gaius, Titans, and Moritari, its for rather specific reasons. Moritari seems obvious, as it gives its benefits to models that probably aren't designed to benefit from them. Gaius in particular loves himself clear turns, so its one of the few significant combos out there. Gaius himself has pretty top tier damage and durability prior to accounting for Undying, but he's incredibly slow so he's like just highly efficient and can reliably always get an activation of 2 attacks before going down. Titans... well, they remove the arena from the game, which is one of the big choices available to players. Their stats are largely underwhelming, but they still for the game into the rawest of DPS matches, so...

I'm not actually sure any of those things are broken (though I'd strongly consider restricting Moritari; its healthy for the game and makes the Beastiae school relevant). As far as trying to min/max the ability to run outside of a Ludi, I'd probably start with Aquila, Hroka, Gaius and probably something like Hermes, Viatrix, Khepros? Those guys all feel a little above the curve to me.

Thats an interesting statement.....so.....I agree with some of those, but may I ask you to further what about those guys are ahead of the curve?

I feel especially the last three you mentioned dont really stand above the curve to me necessarily....just if you can elaborate more. I dont disagree, just interested.

It's mostly a list of models with stats that are above average, more than anything. To some degree, I went for models that lacked stats that were below average in any category. I guess you could call it my top 6 gladiators viewed independently and without considering synergies.

Aquila and Hroka are probably the most "above the board" stat wise models as far as I can tell. Great damage (Hroka has one of the best raw damage trees in the game), some of the most durable defensive stats, quick, good abilities. No obvious drawbacks either outside of not having a large base or other form of push protection (most models don't).

Gaius actually has a couple drawbacks, notably his speed, but Undying and Regrowth puts him in his own class and I think we all know he can be a monster.

The other 3 were more of a stretch. Khepros is more of the "no weakness" kind of model, but he's not got much in the way of notable strengths either. Durable with good pushes. He's similar to Aquila and Hroka but only deals average instead of above average damage.

Hermes is similar, but has the drawback of his damage topping out below average. I don't consider this to be a huge drawback though, as getting 5 successes isn't something you should build your plan around. His Aegis I believe easily makes up for it.

I threw Viatrix in at the end because she's super durable and all around very useful. Realistically she probably gets cut first, simply because nobody here needs to be protected by Taunt and she can lack damage. Even if she doesn't make my top 6, I think she's an easy top 10.

Interesting. Im not trying to debate but I want to bring up a few things.
#1-Most of these models you brought up dont have favor, re positions, or fatigue in their damage tree. They do have special rules too, but theyre not quite as game changing as some. Aquila for example has some pretty basic ones. Theyre fitting, but nothing like Bjarvhit's trapping just to find a comparison.

#2-Hroka's damage tree is really not that special. Go over the stat cards. Theres quite a few models who get to 11 damage in 5 successes. I still think shes plenty good, but Im struggling to find above average as opposed to solid. Her and Aquila also both have 6/6/2/2 for their main stats, which is held by most of Legio and Ludus Magnus. Nothing too overboard.

As for the whole comment in general, it seems to be I'd describe your 'above average' models (sorry if I mis interpret) as just Solid. They do good damage and have good defense and armor and there arent any glaring holes to work around. They make a good shield wall. But also, all in a force together, they can be pushed, dont have many special rules that are really unique besides Hroka's war cry(but that needs plenty of successes). I guess maybe Im splitting hairs sorry, but I find diagnosing these models fun. Khepros is good too but again....hes also kind of blah. His special rules are decent but his damage tree is just basic as it can be. I think the creators talked about the idea that some models have more basic stats and more interesting rules and vice versa.

Also....I never find Viatrix a problem. I played against her a few times and basically she is hard to take out fast because of the 3/2 for defense and armor, but otherwise very basic.

To me Gaius is a clear cut over the top guy because he has the state line minus movement. In addition he has amazing special rules. His damage tree is in the TOP tier in the game. Base bigger....hes got nothing negative at all and several things that are above average. idk.....guess thats just how I see it.


So...is this the army you use? Thats interesting.....

Having an army that across the way is 6 attacks, 2 defense, 2 armor minimum is always going to be tough to play against.

That's the thing. Nothing in the game is that crazy. There's just not a lot of variance in statlines and few abilities are that crazy over the top either. There are definitely a lot of models that can do 11 damage with 5 successes, but by the same token there are only 3 models that can do more than 11 damage with 5 successes. What actually makes Hroka's damage tree special is that its above average at every success level, with generally only Otho and Noxius outpacing her.

But no, I wouldn't say her damage is off the charts, just slightly above. What makes her stand out is that she also above board on the number of hits she'll survive with 2 ARM 11 health (you need 13 health to meaningfully be better) with only a handful of models that are faster (one of which is her mount in case you want to spend a slot making her THE fastest in the game) or have a higher ATK. I don't think this breaks her; I just think she stands out as being very, very solid.

As for what I play? Mostly Legio because I'm very fond of the Ludus bonus. It's kind of like playing with the very very solid statlines and stupid displacement tricks. It also does a nice job stopping pushes, since you can trivially create triangles to protect your fighters with the magic of geometry. It's also why my opinion of Viatrix is a bit all over. She's never bad, per say, but she can often be a bit redundant when there's nothing squishy in the cohort to protect. I see a lot of value in her regardless though, which is why I rate her as one of the best elsewhere.

I agree that since all one-card models should be approximately equal, and most statlines and damage trees are about the same, it's hard for any models to stand out as spectacular compared to the rest, which is how it should be.

It mostly boils down to special rules and how we value them I guess. Like, how effective is Hermes' Aegis? I think that answer varies depending on who you ask. Gaius is similar. His healing power can be epically strong, I feel, but he can also be taken out quite unceremoniously just like any other model. So people that have played him and just had him die on them aren't going to agree that he is over the top, I imagine.

Personally I feel like one of the trickiest things is ARM 0 models, because I feel like they need something special to make up for that, and those special rules can be tricky to evaluate. Micon has a ridiculous amount of health to make up for his ARM 0, but how about Leo or the gorgons?

_________________
My Arena Rex painting log

Well, lets see:

Infelix - Pretty much entirely reliant on counter attacking and acting as a DEF 6 model. He's also got a good alpha strike in him with speed that lets him get in the first attack and a really good damage track. If he's not counter attacking though he's probably the frailest model in the game.

Micon - Micon actually has enough health to put his number of hits to kill above most of the 3/1 models in the game. I actually think what really hurts him is Titans, as he is pretty abysmal without the ability to move things around.

Leo - Leo has extra health too, but the 1 box difference is enough to drop him below the average 3/1 and 2 def makes him very very squishy in general. He's got an incredible threat range though and generates a lot of favor and damage on his alpha. I think he's better as terrain, but he's not a terrible glass cannon either. He REALLY wants to jump in when your cohort is exhausted, make 2 attacks and a wild on the following clear turn. The issue is he's just not durable enough to last to the clear turn, and its generally really tough to set that up without leaving the rest of your guys open to horrible deaths. I'd not be sad to see him get an extra box or go to Def 3 though. I should probably try keeping him in reserve as my last man standing, but I have Gaius so...

Euryale/Stheno - These two definitely have bad stats; like... atrocious stats. It's worth noting though that things immune to terrain damage tend to have lower survivability on the whole, so if you filter down to just titans these guys are closer to "below average" than they appear if you include guys that can fall in pits. Poised also removes one of the big issues they have with the frailty of their second forms when you take all 3.

I'm not sure if its suitable compensation, but Euryale has the best power attack in the game, I'd argue. If she can be your last fighter without losing her first form she can rip apart a cohort in pretty short order with the ability to one shot almost 3/4ths of the models in the game. I don't really get Stheno though, but I haven't played much against her either. Dance of Death is scary and Violent is strong, but I do kind of scratch my head when I look at her overall.