So, I'm finally getting around to poking through the Aristeia forums (lots of great stuff folks), and one thing that stands out to me is are questions about effectiveness of specific characters. Is this person good? Why does anyone use this character? This character is overpowered. Stuff like that. Now, the old fart fighting game player in my immediately wants to see tier lists. But that's generally for one on one games, and much harder to figure for anything multi-character. And while its really easy (if not sometimes fun) to say a character is over/under-powered...? Reading through more of the threads I did see something that rang a bell: some characters seem like they need more mental work to understand and think through. Thus, they have more of a learning curve. Right now I'm starting to realize the work I'm going to need to use Bixie competently, and two of my friends are pondering losses with Dart. So, I'm wondering... which characters have steeper learning curves early on? Or take a little more of stretch mentally, if not require a more deliberate playstyle altogether (ie, can't be quite so reactionary/impulsive)?
It's great to see you, @Chikahiro apply your keen mind to our beloved game. The leader of the Aristeia design team Señor Fuster described some of his goals in recent interview posted on the YouTube channel of Monkeys with Fire. My understanding is that he wants to have at least three layers of revelation for each character or Tactic. The first is the straightforward major effects that you will find new players commenting on this forum. An example is "Wow, unless you somehow slow him down or immobilize him Mushashi will damage everything in sight and displace himself to boot!" The second layer is understanding an ability that is often underused. An example here would be Laxmee's "Fairy Dust" Yes, you can burn a focus token on an ally to remove another state token on any of your allies themselves. The third he called an Easter Egg. 8-Ball's Tactic "Barrel Through" can be played even during an opponent's activation and in the right situation can be a game changer. You might find better examples. The timing of playing Mendoza's "Tabula Rasa" might be another example.
Hey @Roadrunner7431 ! Right now my current project would have to be Bixie. As I mentioned in the other thread, I came to the realization with her is that you have to have a good working understanding of the Hexadome map to really use her competently. Her movement definitely requires forethought, so getting that understanding out of the way before the game would easily help during the game. Her initial layer is very underwhelming, so I feel that she needs that second layer to come alive. I'm also looking at Dart. I think the first layer is... misleading. Its already gotten two of my more experienced friends. Going through @Flipswitch 's thread on her I'm getting the impression Dart is a late bloomer, and someone that not only not only needs to NOT be in the initial fight but also is best if the fight is rich with Status effects and Ranged attackers. As such, it feels as if both of these characters are more advanced because their first layers are tricky. If Gata and Bixie are both scorers, then Gata is "easy" and Bixie is "hard" but it seems like Bixie would be more rewarding as well. I'm not sure who to compare Dart to except for Eclypse in that they both manipulate statuses (albeit to different effect). It'll be interesting to see how she and Bachman compare, although I'm fairly sure they're not aiming for the same role.
Quick update: Dart is definitely someone that requires considering her second and third layers. If your team is light on Status effects, that doesn't help her. A realization I came to during my last game is really figuring out what you're after when using the standard tactics cards. I mean, I sort of knew it but never actually articulated it. Having said it? Wow... yeah... I need be more thoughtful using those things.
