Some mixed teams can sneak two of these FObots into a full link, like Hollowmen. Put the EVO bot in the same group, that’s 13 orders in a group easily. You can put Raoul Spector in the same group and drop 11 orders on him and two on the link, no problem. Stronk!
Yes, I believe this is due to all bikers getting Mimetism-3 now, so the ones that already had it got a refund.
Few others too. AZRA'IL Feuerbach(+1B) / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 44) RAFIQ REMOTE FTO Red Fury, Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 20) HAFZA Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 15) 2 SWC | 79 Points
As much as I'm on your side with your FO-Bot statement I think the opposite of the EVO issue. The EVO is far from underused nowadays and it feels like CB wants to further shoehorn these bots into our lists. And there are better ways to make an unit more attractive than to give them an other regular order in some ITS missions.
Funny, I still see EVO way less than basic hacking or even KHDs in lists I see in batreps from other metas etc. How frequently would you say you see them In Germany- what percentage of lists?
I would literally never play a EVO without the ITS bonus, but I'll play one if it gives me +1 regular order. I think if they got back the option to start the game with a program active, and had a few other niche program, I might eventually consider them. Currently, though, I think they're largely useless (except in Biotechvore and Panic Room!).
Highly disagree that they are useless. Fairy Dust is really flexible, often a much better investment than trying to Tinbot your entire force. For 15 points you can throw the odds quite a bit into your own favor before your HI, REMs, or TAG deal with a hacker. Controlled Jump is also a useful protection for your investment when using Combat Jump troops. One order to increase the chance of correct deployment by 15 percentage points is well worth it. Likewise Assisted Fire is super useful on something like a Vostok, Bulleteer, even a basic Lu Duan or Lunakhod. Enhanced Reaction is kind of dumb, but that’s just one stinker out of 4. The key to using any of these things well is having your EVO in your second, smaller support Order Group, and all your pieces you will be enhancing or protecting with the EVO in your first group. This may sound elementary but I see lists in batreps, forum posts, etc. that have EVO in their main group quite frequently. I always wonder when that group will actually have the luxury to spare those orders. And yes, the ability to start with one of those programs active at the cost of a single command token REALLY needs to come back. Infinity as a game is best when balanced to prevent alpha strikes or overfavored tactics like GML. EVO remotes helped with that balance in past editions, and they could easily do so again with minimal, simple rules tweaks. Bring back U-Turn, Overclock, and tokens to start with a program running if you go second! They were not too complex, and they sure did help. The main reason they weren’t widespread is the same reason AHDs were somewhat rare: internet opinion preferred easy-buttons, and rarely explored multi-part tactics (even ones that were pretty easy to pull off, like EVO hacking that gave benefits without requiring an F to F roll most of the time).
I think the use of EVO is a huge difference depending on what army you play. I for myself see EVO as an auto-include in each and every of my nomads lists. Marksman on volstok is a no-brainer, and i like to drop hellcats with a 90% chance of success. Also if i tend to use any kind of REM with firepower (Bulleteer, Ruy shi, volstok, etc....) and/or AD-troops, EVO is a amazing tool to make already good stuff even better. Enhanced reaction on the (for some people in this forum) auto-included GML-drone isnt too bad either. I personally never used a firewall due to "i hack trough repeaters" or "my anti hacking is bullet-to-the-head". I think if you dont have any use for Controlled jump or Assistet Fire , there is no dire need to set an EVO...
From the 9 tournament games I played during season 13 I saw them maybe in 5 games and I played it in 3 (because of my 6 remote build in the latest tournament the EVO was more of a neccessity than a desire). Thus my personal experience should definitely not considered significant. Yet I have the numbers of ITS 12 where one can see that they showed up in Lists quite frequently (N4 Scylla not counted) As you can see they're even more used than their N3 versions with Token activated support programs that were even better than the ones now. The big difference is: now they're the single source of the formerly widespread "mediocre" support programs. Thus I still claim they're far from underused. Of course that always depends on how underused is defined. I mean... compared to their 8 Point counterpart the EVOs are clearly underused
evo repeater is powerful in an army which has nice repeater coverage and good hackers. If the army has some tags it is better. For Nomads it is godsend. For combined it is cool. For an OSS player, it is really important to buff a dakini. other than these armies. just meh. Nomads become more stronger again.
Sorry for obviously miss-quoting @Diphoration , but my inner self needed to make this little fun =) sorry @Angry Clown aswell :-D
Just wanted to comment on this one especially; usefulness of an EVO is really dependent on how many of its functions you expect to make use of in a game. Aggressive REMs to use Assisted Fire on, versatile Combat Jump units to drop into play, preventing frequent opposition combat jumps and doubling up on defensive Templates with Enhanced Reaction all contribute to making the expensive, defenseless EVO worth its price. I made extensive use of a Mulebot in my NCA in N3 as it gave me a decisive edge in Hacking, letting me use my REMs aggressively. I haven't taken one once in N4, because their usefulness relies on Hackables and NCA simply isn't given the tools to fight a superior opponent in Hacking anymore, no matter how you stack the deck. They'll make a return the moment my REM-heavy lists don't need a miracle to win if the opponent brings Jazz.
@anubis well said. @SpectralOwl also well said. My solution for Jazz btw is an AD trooper on a suicide run, if possible. Maybe works 30% of the time, totally worth it. We need a way to punch through Tinbots (a hacking program which does so specifically, ie Icebreaker). @Tristan228 thanks for the stats, answers my questions! It will be interesting to see how often they appeared in ITS13 too.
Onyx is another army that loves EVO. It really pushes that cheap Unidron plasma sniper core to great heights. Real sad they can't take two now.
I very rarely see EVOs on the table. I'm quite prepared to believe the folks in this thread who play them, but nonetheless if CB wants to make them more interesting, that seems like a reasonable project to me. Giving them +1 regular order makes sense fluff-wise. It fits their role as info/command support processing units and makes them do something other than just hacking. Conceptually I like it. In practice, we'll see. I'm not sure more ways to increase an order pool past 10 is desirable. Especially in Countermeasures which also now provides an extra order from CSU + command token. 15-order Avatar? It also feels like the EVO's two roles might contradict each other a bit. I know I'll want to put mine in group 1 to get that giant order pool to spend on attack pieces, which is sort of the opposite of the EVO's normal use, as @Savnock says, of using a group 2 order to put of supportware. But who knows! It's only in four missions, two of which are joke missions anyway, so it's really just an experiment in The Armory and Countermeasures.
Oooh I was looking for it in the season rules, well as an Onyx player I'm disappointed it's not in every scenario! Thanks
