That piece of randomness is just a little bit to much. Played against cultist with laser sword. Everything went well, they were 2 against three and i was able to put my characters out of range. Than there was a lasermalfunction for 5 damage. So out of range? It killed two of my characters of whom one still had a parry in hand. Sure. I know that chances for a bad malfunction are higher, but letting end a game just on luck which malfunction will come is not my game. If I want that, I will play Yahtzee.
I'm fine with the cards as is. The problem I see is that you've got a very precise set of cards, all bulked up in a narrow level range. There definitely needs to be more stable items pushed up to that range as well. But don't 'nerf' the randomness out of hand, just add alternatives to it. I quite enjoy being able to build around randomness.
My preferred method for dealing with laser malfunctions is not to use lasers. You know it's gonna hurt you, you just don't know when or how badly. A lot of the other EttSC gear is great, though.
Using laser gear is very risky. - I would not recommend having more than 1-2 items on your character with a laser malfunction roll. - I would not recommend using it with you are out of moves or at all. - I would not recommend using it when you are adjcent to your own characters - Really, I would agree with Sir Vera - I would not recommend using them There are very few items with 2+ laser attacks that outperform items without them for the same token cost. Powerpike and Slice and Dice are about the only exceptions to this I think.
Would you recommend them with a goat? Would you recommend them on a boat? Would you recommend them in the rain? Would you recommend them on a train?
A lot of the responses are along the lines of "don't use laser cards", but I believe the situation @Obernoob is describing is one where his opponent drew a Laser Spray and won the game because of it.
I had a game earlier when my mage had cooling laser x2, but only 2 hp left. I had the option of a guaranteed kill if they would just do their base damage, but knowing selfdamaging malfunctions would cost me, i waited. The laser cards are a gamble, but you know the deal when you choose them and i actually think handling them enriches the experience. If you don't like the laser characteristics, go bludgeons, they need no batteries. Edit - i realized this is about another players laser spray, but doesnt that reveal itself a turn before you are hit?
Personally I'm OK with laser malfunctions, in fact I've been able to turn them to my advantage on numerous occasions. Sometimes through careful planning and actually sorta hoping they happened but mostly by dumb luck That said there have also been quite a few occasions where laser malfunctions have bitten me squarely in the butt. Mostly in those clutch moments where THIS attack will decide the game aaaaand meltdown. GG Needless to say I don't use them all that frequently. In fact the two lazer weapons I have equipped now are mainly for the purge. Not so much the laser attacks themselves.
I'm not playing PvP any more, because doing so for the last three days has just made me angry and sad. Some of it's laser cards rolling super-awesome for my opponent (Stexe one-shotted my armored dwarf priest by 2x all-out-attack + laser step w/ roll 6, right at the beginning of my -300 ELO loss streak). Some of it's the maps, which break good design rules even more than the original set (Host? Wat? Rly?). Some of it's just that I'm now old and cranky by the standards of the game and I can't even keep up with the world chat. *shrug*
I'm a big fan of lasers, I tend to be able to keep them in mind well, and so any mishaps that do occur are almost exclusively favorable to me. I think a lot of it is playstyle approach, rather than 'lasers good, lasers bad'- for someone that can accurately keep the randomness in mind, they're great, for someone with a more precise approach to tactics, not so much. ats neoncat's shoulder: Well, hopefully we'll see some chat tabbing and maybe a proper automated LFM/LFG system sooner than later, to clear out some of the flood.
1. Get a cane , or a walker. (Hoverounds are too high tech). 2. Practice your geezer voice. 3. Study old Walter Brennan movies for both the tone and the vocabulry. Avoid Gabby Hayes, because he wasn't coherent even in his heyday. I've seen 22 year-olds get senior discounts by using this approach. Remember: curmudgeonery is it's own reward.
Yeah, that was mentioned in chat earlier. But I was indicating that I was hoping for a richer arrangement than that, over time.
I've once managed to hit all of my 3 opponents and none of my party of 3 warriors with a laser spray from a bad roll, and killed one of them. It gave me the game. It was so satisfying
That is true. I guess you now just have to be careful also in a game with just warriors about LOS. Today I had the other experience around. My opponent had a wizard with a laster attack and Savage Curse. He did attack me and got a Laser Spray killing two of his own characters and winning me the game since I had already two VPs. I was really perplex.
