by Paris Gordon
Hey Apex Insiders; I’m sure everyone reading this has seen the new rules changes for Heroclix to be implemented at some point in the future and has some strong opinions on them. Today I’m going to give you my thoughts on them and try to explain why I think that. There’s a few key things to remember when thinking about the new rules. First, they still aren’t final and I’ll mention a few things as we go through that I hope/expect them to change. Secondly it’s effect on old figures is irrelevant for the purposes of this article; I view it as a necessary evil but despite what any of us think, WizKids is obviously only concerned with the future not the past. Also it’s important to remember to analyze the rules in relation to the rest of the new ones, not just take one rule and insert it into the current system. Related to that, you also have to assume that design will change along with the rules. Some powers are getting huge changes, and we have to assume that powers/figures will be costed and balanced appropriately for those changes in future design. Oh and I won’t be discussing “comic logic” either, this is only about game-play. With this in mind let’s get into it, I’ll go through each change individually and then talk about the overall “new” game at the end.
First, the new language: doing away with “possess” and just listing standard powers in special powers, ACTION TYPE: instructions, and a few other things. I think everyone can agree the current lack of a consistent language is a huge problem in HeroClix. 
The fact that almost every figure in the game needs its own rules page only accessible online just to know how it works is unacceptable. Every game will have a rules forum, but not to this level. The main reason for this in my opinion is special powers getting more and more complex (good), but never putting in a wording framework for them like every other game with cards. They literally were just writing whatever they wanted with no restraints and then having to go back and explain them, and it’s got to the point of un-sustainability. So this is their attempt to put in some sort of framework they can just plug special powers into that make consistent sense instead of writing anything. This effort I think s undeniably good. I also happen to think the way they’re going about it makes a lot of sense. They’ve isolated and removed a lot of problems with stuff like can use/possess, begins/at the beginning that just grammatically don’t really make sense. But it’s not so drastic as to not be able to understand it anymore or fundamentally change the game, everything is just more consistent.
Next were keywords and theme teams. Keywords are basically the same, just worded a little more deliberately. Same with how to get a themed team. Themed Team Probability Control however was changed some, allowing for up to 
five uses of it based on how many figures with the keyword you have. I think it helps keep TTPC in line for higher point games, and I think it’s still balanced while promoting more variety at 300. To get the “extra” TTPCs (four or five characters), that pretty much means you have to either run a tent-pole with several cheap figures, or several 50-100 point figures, all named theme of course. Neither of these are generally very strong due to the limited nature of “theming” teams and the lack of versatility since they usually just do one thing. One or two extra doesn’t really even seem that game-changing anyway, so I think it’s a harmless buff that could lend a little more viability to some teams. As far as dropping it down to two when you just have two figures is kind of on the other side, a harmless nerf. You generally aren’t using all three anyway in that case because you can’t afford to take many action tokens. These are also generally the strongest teams because they’re just two good figures that happen to share a keyword. So it ever-so-slightly balances TTPC but overall doesn’t change much.
The next two articles were about timing. Costed and at no cost are replacing non-free and free, and there’s a more clearly defined turn order. The easiest way to look at the different action types is with the handy little chart they made. Basically they split up free actions into stuff that can only be done during the main part of the turn and things that can be done whenever. Everything else is effectively the same, most of the changes are caused by the new turn structure and actions (including free ones) only being allowed during the action phase and not the beginning or end. This does take away some more finesse plays like Sidestep/Carry/Outwit/Poison/Call-In chains and stuff. But while that does remove a specific complexity from the game, I’m fine with it if a large amount of rules minutia go with it. And also remember that there are still things to be done in the beginning and end that I assume will be introduced in the new design and hopefully add complexity back to that portion of the game.
After that came Outwit, with some clarification on the removal of possess. With this change, Outwit can now counter powers from traits, powers not yet shown on the dial, powers from outside sources, anything. “Counter” was done away with and Protected: Outwit will be replacing “can’t be countered”. Again this wording change is just to help future wording so as not to inherently cause rules discrepancies. This is obviously a huge buff to Outwit and probably the biggest change overall. I definitely think Outwit needed a buff, with the sheer number of powers that couldn’t be Outwitted, it lost a lot of its power without seemingly losing much to it’s cost. I think the idea here is to bring Outwit back up to the power level of Prob and Perplex and be something you want on every team. I think this is a good thing for game-play as it allows you to theoretically sacrifice one or more of these powers in favor of more powerful figures and allows for more interesting team building. As far as the new Outwit’s effect on the game, it does seem to have surpassed Prob in power level (more on Prob soon) and could be too strong. It was a needed buff and accomplishes a lot of good things, and if it is appropriately costed and given to the right figures in future design, as well as a good distribution of Protected: Outwit, I think it can be kept from being a bring-8-Outwits metagame. Only time will tell.
Objects. No more ultras. Hide was introduced and abandoned in favor 
of, basically, heavies are hindering for Line of Fire. Any figure can pick up lights. Ultras needed to go in my opinion. Ultra lights are mostly useless and would be even more so with everyone being able to pick up lights, and ultra heavies were too powerful and game-defining. Lights are no longer hindering for LoF which is fine. Objects no longer being hindering for movement is good in my opinion but I don’t think it really changes much, just personal preference. Overall, removing ultras was good the rest doesn’t change much.
Super Strength also got changed to cause knock-back on attacks. This is one of the things I expect/hope them to change. There’s no reason for this to cause knock-back with ranged attacks. Adding another power that can just add free damage to attacks is dangerous and also makes Force Blast even weaker because picking up heavies is better than being able to take an action to knock someone back. Making it close only would not only make sense flavor-wise, but help balance it game-play-wise and leave Force Blast it’s niche.
Carry was next up, changing it to allow most figures to just carry one person at -1, and multi-carriers taking -1 for each character they carry (rule of three still applied of course). -2 always felt like a bit much to me, Carrying a tiny and normal felt too good, and multi-carriers also feel too strong. So I think this addresses all of those things. This is another thing that I don’t think has a huge effect but the effects do balance things in the right direction. There was also some more wording clarifications. And now from here on out it’s mostly just power reworks.
Hypersonic Speed was changed so that you can no longer carry or hit 
with objects, and basically worded so that it has to break away after the attack, but it can now attack through Plasticity. Taking away HSS/objects makes a lot of sense when combined with the Outwit change on top of being able to hit through Plasticity, it would make it too easy to hit characters for massive damage from far away which is usually pretty bad for the game. Also with everyone picking up lights, the cheap HSS pieces would get an unnecessary buff. Overall HSS was nerfed, and should be costed down accordingly, but still has its uses and is a good, usable power.
Pulse Wave hasn’t been changed much, just worded to fit the new framework. Protected: Pulse Wave is replacing can’t be ignored. The main change is figures can no long chain Defend into a Pulse, or be affected by a Perplex, or anything like that. I don’t think this is much of a change and just makes things simpler.
Mind Control was changed and later redone again. It now lets you move hit figures half their speed value and then attack, nothing else, and take no feedback. This is a pretty big change. As far as it’s actual effect, it seems just as strong overall, but more streamlined. While I do find it unfortunate you can no longer do creative things with Mind Control, the fact is you can’t right now anyway and allowing it to be possible is just limiting game design and causing rules problems. I also see the game as trending toward more close-range and less one-shots, both of which should make the new Mind Control useful but not insane. Again it comes down to design, but I think this allows for Mind Control to be a relevant power without being overpowered.
Invincible was done perfectly. It was too strong against five damage and too weak against two damage. This was fixed with pretty much everything else being kept intact (at least as far as 300 Modern goes).
Precision I’m split on. It did seem too powerful, but I don’t know if taking away automatically getting by Senses was the right way to nerf it. I suppose Outwit can now get through it anyway, and this just gives you a backup plan. But every other defensive power has a hard counter. Except Mastermind because now Precision doesn’t go through that either. Overall I think it was hit a little too hard and deserves some sort of rework before finalized. I do agree that right now it’s a little too good though.
Energy Explosion is another one that was nerfed hard. However this time I think it’s for the better. It was too game-changing especially when combined with Psychic Blast. As long as the new EE is costed down in relation to its power level, it will be a power that has its place on certain figures and still a usable power but not the massive damage boost it is now.
Probability Control has been changed to only re-roll attack rolls and breakaway rolls. This seems fine to me. Like they say, a lot of time is spent thinking about every roll that can be Prob’d. Also, having to word everything to specifically say “can’t be re-rolled” is unnecessary and clunky. This is a clear nerf, but as the strongest power in the game that’s probably a good thing, while also streamlining it.
Poison was then changed to allow it to be used at any point during the action phase, given the character hasn’t been moved or placed. This seems like a good compromise to allow Poison to still be strong while removing its major exploit. This opens up the ability to Mind Control or TK opposing figures into Poison, while removing the Sidestep/Carry chains. I think this is probably the best solution for fitting Poison into the new turn structure.
And I think that’s it?! If I missed anything feel free to comment and I’ll give you my thoughts. As far as these changes’ effect on HeroClix as a whole. The biggest thing they’ve accomplished in my opinion is creating a framework that is more streamlined and inherently balanced so that future design can be creative without causing so many problems. It allows for the game to be simple to learn and easy to master. So that’s good. It comes down to the design and the figures released. I personally have faith, because I think a lot of HeroClix’s problems have been caused by lack of a framework, not outright bad design (in most cases). Without having to worry about all these specific interactions as much and having those dealt with inherently within the rules, that should allow for more freedom with design and a better overall game. Only time will tell.
