If the only criteria were looking at is "1+ models unconscious/dead at the end of order." Sure , no arguments here
Well, that's pretty much the only criteria for a damaging weapon/skill. If it has Stun/EM/something, then sure it might have some different use, but it's pretty much a purely offensive weapon. Forcing a Dodge on 1 or 2 guys might be worthwhile, but it very much depends on the circumstance.
Is that really the only value the skill might bring to the profile? Most skills depend on circumstance. Very few are universally useful.
That skill? Pretty much. It's got a psychological impact (assuming it's got a decent effect) and an offensive, damage-based actual impact (assuming it's got a decent effect). The rest of the Liu Xing's threat comes from being 1.99W AD4 Trooper, not from ELX. It's certainly not everything about the Liu Xing, but it's absolutely a gimmick: "a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or trade. "it is not so much a programme to improve services as a gimmick to gain votes" synonyms: publicity device, stunt, contrivance, eye-catching novelty, scheme, trick, dodge, ploy" ELX is a publicity tool to make the Liu Xing seem interesting. If it has a decent effect (ie, more than D13 Shock, like regular Explode) then it might not be a gimmick; but even with, say, D15 DA it's a one-use thing that can easily go awry (ie, deviation, or Hack Transport Aircraft can make it a non-ability).
By points count, Explode LX seems quite cheap, so it can get away with being of limited impact on the battle. Personally I'd pay for it on every AD:3+ unit currently in the game just to deny Normal Rolls on landing against things your opponent wants to survive. That one order of vulnerability is one of the two really big downsides of Combat Jump, so even partially addressing it makes the skill stronger. Sadly, it doesn't help with deviation, but being able to stay up after taking a wound and having a faster MOV then other AD troopers makes the Liu Xing the best platform for AD:3+ so far.
And there it is. Explode is a deployment skill and reviewed outside the narrow focus of "but how good does it kill stuff" is actually (potentially) a nifty little skill to have particularly at little cost. @Kallas so one of the biggest risks to combat jump is the normal rolls, and can make deploying in your opponents DZ basically impossible if you want to avoid it completely. This skill can make explode in some circumstances nearly (with some caveats) as good as impersonation at deploying in the DZ, for what looks like a lot less points. In addition, for order efficiency at taking a hail mary at an obvious LT explode comes in second place to impersonation again. Speculative fire is significantly less likely to score a hit, with a significantly greater investment of orders to improve that. Simply put, the opportunity cost of using explode is low. It usefulness is not zero, which gives it the psychological effect you refer to. In summary, trying to call it a "gimmick" or otherwise garbage skill is ignoring its possible benefits outside of just hurting units. Chain rifles are actually almost just as garbage at killing units on a single order basis, but everyone loves them because they force bad choices.
Single interaction because that's the argument that was raised. And did you actually look at probabilities before writing this? It's barely a 50-50 if you can identify your opponent's LT, it only has 1 wound, it doesn't get to dodge, they don't have CoC, there is no Xenotech too close, and they don't have any hackers for Hack Transport. If the argument that it won't be a gimmick when it puts you in LoL, then that's a weak argument. The implicit argument that it's a strong ability or unique in the LoL potential almost regardless how it's shaped (something Solar has been running if I don't miss my mark) is also weak because of all the reasons I listed.
It is funny to see how everyone seems to know how exactly explode will work. I mean yeah Bostria said it works like the Cascuda but Bostria also told us Kornak + 4 Suryats is a new fireteam.
You can make educated guesses. It's true that we won't know the details, but it's highly unlikely that it won't work like any other template attack (meaning it can be dodged or change facing'd) simply because that's how N3 generally works and it's highly unlikely it'll have a Damage value outside the range of 13-15. Personally I don't think DA or EXP is on the table, but you never know. Explode L1 does set the most reasonable benchmark, however. I can see some odd interactions being possible, though, such as being a face to face roll with the AD roll, maybe even a FTF between AD roll and BS Attack ARO, but I hope not because that'd make it basically and actually useless. And odd. Really odd. More likely in that case that it'll be a FTF between Dodge/CF and the AD roll which would mean that a successful landing still happens if the opponent dodges. Another possibility I see is that it's a separate attack entirely. Yet further possibilities is that like Super-Jump it allows for cushioned fall up to MOV1+MOV2 and explodes whenever you land. But at end of day, I maintain that the most likely outcome is that it's a single-wounding DAM13-15 circular direct template weapon. It's just the most simple and effective way of writing a rule to the effect.
If its "just" DAM 13 Shock and either a ftf with the drop roll or like a DTW on landing then that'd be very strong and attractive for the points (both have ups and downs).
Running the numbers to compare "AD jump as attack roll" vs "Explode is a DTW". It's funny how much better a FTF would be compared to a DTW-style weapon (except against linked troops or troops with a heavy flamethrower and 3 STR) Numbers (assumptions: D13 Shock, no cover for anyone, combi rifles, friendly EVO and no hostile hacker): DTW vs mook without LOF is roughly 29% to kill DTW vs mook with LOF is roughly 22,5% to kill FTF vs mook without LOF is roughly 38% to kill FTF vs mook with LOF is roughly 42% to kill FTF vs mook shooting is roughly 36% to kill FTF vs solo 5-man linked mook shooting is 22% to kill with higher than 35% risk of taking wounds DTW vs HI without LOF is around 15% to wound DTW vs HI with LOF is around 10% to wound FTF vs HI shooting is around 25% of wounding and around 20% of taking one FTF vs solo 5-man linked HI shooting is just no, don't, you'll die only marginally less than if it was a DTW. (Numbers generated using Sun Tze because close enough and Alguaciles and Mobile Bridaga)
Just gonna toss two cents into here... I don't think Yu Jing is particularly weak, but more so that Yu Jing all the way since the Uprising has lost variety. I mean, we still have both decent and great units. More or less our entire HI roster, barring the Shang Ji ( Which even then is not a particularly ech unit, not really any worse than a Brigada or an Orc IMO. ), is great. We have Tigers, Tigers are great, I'm sure people agree, and none of our Skirmishers are bad. Heck, even our TAG is decent, even if it's a very basic TAG. And our REMs are pretty great, Rui Shis and Lu Duans still hold value. That being said... our LI roster is pretty meh-ish: Zhanshis "we are Alguaciles, just worse" and Pheasants, who are a rather poor CoC unit I hear ( If at least a cool model. ), are not amazing or even noteworthy LI by any means, while Zhanyings and Celestial Guards are simply nice, not bad, not amazing, just nice. And the one standout LI are Kuang Shi, and Kuangs are... Kuangs are Kuangs. So while yes we have good pieces to play with, we don't have them in the variety or density of many other vanilla factions, and we've lost many niche roles after Uprising: ARO defense largely ran away with them, accessible budget CoC, CC HI ( I don't call Cranes that since while they can certainly cave a skull in under their boots, they can also do many more things just as well. ), the dedicated assassin piece that was the Oniwaban, all of our biker ( And 25% of our S4 units ( Relevant for the Lu Duan. ). ) units. TL;DR what I wanted to ramble out was: Yu Jing can still play well, we just don't have as much variety nowadays. I sure hope IA can return a good bit of variety to us. Wouldn't mind if they also firmly cemmented us as the very basic all-rounders ( One of my favorite parts about Yu Jing is the relative simplicity we have. ) while being known as "The guys with the powered suits of armor". P.S.: Small cent on the Liu Xing. Really hoped it'd be a ~55-65 point HI, just for the purpose of "Is there a TO HI missing on the table... or is it in the sky?" But is no biggie.
That by nature makes it garbage. Basic TAGs are underpowered and below the curve by default, they need to be better than average to become decent. Kempeitei only had CoC profiles in JSA, didn't work in Vanilla IIRC.
One question, are you assuming that in any situation where you might explode drop the Liu xing that there is a corresponding location where you could drop in safety instead followed by move-shoot? Edit: @Maksimas one note, kempei couldn't be coc in vanilla. We've always just had the pheasant.
Huh, must've forgotten about that. Then again, only started playing a quarter of a year before they buggered out of the faction... so I prolly never noticed. Sorry about that mistake.
The JSA only CoC profile was to go with some of the JSA only LT profiles on squishy aggressive suicide LTs
No, I'm assuming there's more likely to exist such a position, either by dropping or walking on. The fact that Liu Xing is hackable makes finding a "safe" and ideal position close to enemy lines very unlikely, however.
Are you saying no to the always, because it feels like you just described what I asked but with "likely" instead?
