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Clever (?) Thoughts/Ideas/Combos for DW Fixer

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robb8888
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Clever (?) Thoughts/Ideas/Combos for DW Fixer

I'm a relative newbie here, and I first came looking for tips on how to use Mr. Fixer, who seemed useless to me.  Then I read some of the posts on DW Fixer, and decided to try him out.  After a few games, I was amazed at his potential, and while he's not my favorite hero, I love having him on a team.   Just a few thoughts/ideas for folks who are having trouble using him:

  1. Damage with "Extras."  What I didn't get right away about Bitter Strike is that the destruction comes AFTER the damage:  "Mr. Fixer deals 1 target 3 melee damage.  Destroy a hero ongoing or equipment card.")  So, even if you burn your own tool/style to use it, the bonuses from whatever tool/style you burned to use Bitter Strike still applies.  Ex: if you play Jack Handle then burn it with Bitter Strike, you do 3 damage to ALL non-heros, THEN destroy Jack Handle.  With GMF, you do 3 damage, +1 for GMF, and choose your type of damage, THEN destroy the style.  So you still use the "right tool for the situation," but unlike regular Fixer, who is (painfully slowly) trying to assemble a decent combo, DW Fixer essentially has a deck full (and I mean _full_, see below) of 3 damage one-shots with extras.   
  2. Unlike regular Fixer, his damage is remarkably consistent.  With regular Fixer, let's say all you have handy is Riveting Crane, and a villain with no DR.  That's a style that's just sitting in your hand doing no good while you do a puny 1 point of damage every round.  With DR Fixer, that "useless" Riveting Crane is a 3-damage one-shot!  Out of Fixer's 40-card deck, 3 cards are Charge (instant 2 damage).  An amazing 29 (72.5%) are all consumable by Bitter Strike because they are either Bloody Knuckles (4), equipment/tools, styles, or Meditation (which is an instant style).  Only 8/40 cards are non-consumable by Bitter Strike:  4 Overdrives, 2 Salvage Yard (which give you more tools to burn with Bitter Strike) and 2 Grease Guns (which everyone loves). Since 72.5% of his cards are burnable, you're virutally guaranteed to have a 3-damage attack in your hand every turn.    
  3. Right Card for the Situation -- But, like I said above, all of that lovely damage comes with "extras," so with that in mind, every time DW Fixer's turn comes up, just look through his cards and decide which "extra" would be most useful at the moment.  Need to kill a bunch of minions/henchmen quickly?  Jack Handle -- hit every non-hero target for 3 damage.  Want to open up Voss/Dawn/Huginn/Muninn for your pals?  Riveting Crane--the 3 damage will get through most DR and allow the other heroes go to town.  Big damage?  Bloody Knuckles (at least 5 damage, plus any tool/style bonuses), or Dual Crowbars -- at least 4 damage to first target, and 5 to a second (or possibly both to the same target; see the combos below).  Villain getting you down by damaging your heroes?  Hoist Chain -- whack the baddie for 3 damage and reduce all of his/her damage by 1.  And again, in your very worst case scenario; do 3 damage to one target (which is nothing to sneeze at), and draw a different card next round.
  4. The potential becomes even greater if you wait a turn or two to do it.  Play (ex:) Jack Handle your first turn and don't burn it.  Now, every card you burn with Bitter Strike does 3 damage to all non-heros.  Or play GMF on your first turn and don't burn it.  Now, every card you burn with Bitter Strike is a 4-damage one shot.  Or play Alternating Tiger Claw on your first turn and wait.  You now do 3 irreduceable damage every turn. 
  5. Better with Equipment/Ongoing Destruction.  I know the beef with regular Fixer: You wait forever to put together your tool/style/Harmony combo, and are *finally* ready to be a contributing member of the team, when suddenly the villain/environment wipes out all ongoings/equipments/etc. (I'm looking at you, Dawn), and it's back to Square One.  With DW Fixer, no problem!  As long as he still has cards in his hand, he's ready to start dealing 3 damage a turn the moment the smoke clears.   Since you never have "useless" tools/styles out (you've burned them for 3 damage), you're also less susceptible to those "damage heros with the most ongoings/equipment" cards.
  6. "Free" Damage.  In fact, the situation when your heroes are all bare naked as the day they were born (i.e., no ongoings/equipments) is great for DW Fixer.  Look again carefully at the card language.  It's not "Destroy equipment/ongoing; if you do, deal 3 damage."  It's "Deal 3 damage.  Destroy a hero ongoing/equipment."  If there are NO ongoings/equipments to destroy, Fixer *still* gets to do the three damage.  So, let Dawn destroy all of your stuff--get back at her and her minions with a cheap Parthian shot of 3 damage.  Or have Fixer be your very first player out of the gate--on the first play of the game, he hits something for 3 damage without destroying anybody's stuff.  (Even better, have him play Overdrive on the first play of the game -- 6 damage with no ongoing/equipment destruction).
  7. "Weaving" -- a style suggestion from Foote, that essentially allows you to always have at least one tool/style in play when you use Bitter Strike:  "First turn Fixer lays down a Tool or Style. Doesn't use Bitter Strike. Second Turn you lay down a Tool/Style (whatever you didn't do first turn) so you have 2 cards out. From here look at your hand. If you have more Styles in hand, Bitter Strike and destroy your current Style to play another one next turn. If more Tools, destroy the tool to lay another down next turn. This creates a pattern of weaving fluidly between multiple styles and tools (which is thematically and mechanically satisfying) and you do not require outside help. Of course you can always take advantage of other Hero's extra cards in play which they don't need, or you can easily play and destroy cards like ToolBox or BloodyKnuckles for full effect to buy time to find more cards to weave in and out of. 
    With weaving, Fixer loses the consistent situational utility and adaptability of his original hero card/playstyle, but gains seriously strong bursts of high damage"  
  8. Combos with Other Heroes/Situations.  At heart, though, DW Fixer (like regular Fixer) plays best with others.  He's not like a Tempest/Wraith, who are largely self-sufficient. His synergies/combos with other heroes can be really stunning:

 

  1. Legacy -- with Galvanize/Inspiring Presence, suddenly Fixer is doing at least 4 or 5 damage every round, with whatever "extras" you want to add.
  2. Nightmist -- a particularly neat combo is Dual Crowbars (DC) with Amulet of the Elder Gods.  One downside with Dual Crowbars is that you can't hit the same target twice...unless you have Nightmist.  On Fixer's turn, Bitter Strike a target with Dual Crowbars--does at least 4 damage (3 for Bitter Strike +1 for DC).  Target Nightmist with the next hit, which will be for at least 5 damage (4 for the last hit, +1 again for the DC).  Have her discard two cards to redirect it to the same poor sap you just hit:  At least 9 total damage, and all damage buffs are doubled, because of the two hits.  I can't count the number of times I've bludgeoned Spite/Dawn/Voss/Gloomweaver to death with a crowbar this way. 
  3. Tachyon -- same combo as above, only with Synaptic Interruption.  Only works once, because it destroys Synaptic Interruption. 
  4. Fixer Redirecting Damage -- this is not particular to DW Fixer (it works with regular Fixer, too), but he can do the reverse of the above combo with Driving Mantis and heros with low-damage (2 points or under) multiple targeting.  Does (ex:) the Wraith have Throwing Knives out, but only one target to aim at?  Aim her second knife at Fixer, and he can redirect it with Driving Mantis.  With Pipe Wrench, it lets him ignore 3 damage.  Even better, he can even do all that while he has Grease Gun out.  
  5. Visionary/Twist the Ether -- play Twist the Ether on DW Fixer.  Now he does at least 4 damage with every Bitter Strike (plus extras!), can hit targets resistant to melee/projectile damage, and can even heal AZ if needed.
  6. Captain Cosmic -- similar to the Rod of Anubis, the Cosmic Weapon allows Fixer base 3 damage (plus tool/style bonuse) without destroying any equipment, and lets you use the 3-powers-in-a-turn-with-Overdrive trick.'
  7. Skyscraper -- her links are often disposable, and she can constantly recycle them with her "small form" power, so DW Fixer can destroy those without significant repercussions.  Plus, one of her links lets Fixer search for equipment, so he can get his tools of choice.
  8. Guise -- from Powerhound2000: "Fixer should be after Guise to get the most out of this.   On Mr Fixer's turn he plays Grease Gun.  On the next round Guise takes Grease Gun using Lemme See That.... then on Mr Fixer's turn he destroys Lemme See That... after Bitter Strike essentially giving two rounds worth of Grease Gun without any additional heroes needed to destroy Ongoings. "
  9. AA -- like many draw-dependent heroes, AA is DW Fixer's best friend (after Captain Cosmic).  In a recent game against Dawn, in Round 1, AA (going first) helped DW Fixer play Jack Handle out of turn.  On Fixer's turn, he played Bloody Knuckles, and burned it with Bitter Strike.  Result:  5 damage to every non-hero target--wiped out Dawn's minions, damaged Dawn for 5, and kept the Jack Handle around to do 3 more damage to all non-heroes the next turn.  
  10. AA Trick -- this is best for the mid-/end-game.  If your heroes have their base setups, and don't need the additional plays from AA (ex: Tachyon has already found/played HUD Goggles and Research Grant, Wraith has her Infrared Eyepiece and Utility Belt), use AA to play Ongoings/Equipment that they don't really need; DW Fixer can then burn those to fuel Bitter Strike, while leaving his own tools/styles alone.  
  11. Unwanted Ongoings.  Some ongoings (Imbued Fire, Localized Hurricane, Hunter and Hunted, Wrong Time/Place without enough tokens, ) eventually get tiresome/dangerous, but they require your hero to expend a power to get rid of them.  With DW Fixer around,  don't worry!  That unwanted ongoing now becomes a 3-damage hit, plus any tools/styles that he has out.
  12. Unneeded Ongoings.  From Arcanist Lupus: "  Thought about this with Heroic Interception (and other cards that prevent damage), and by jiggering the play order, you can really have fun with this.  For example, have Fixer play *before* someone like Fanatic (who needs to get rid of H.I. so she can self-damage for Divine Focus/Zealous Offense), but *after* someone like Nightmist (who likes having H.I. in place so she doesn't damage herself or other heroes when she uses her various powers).
  13. "When This Card is Destroyed..."  Some heroes have equipment/ongoings that trigger beneficial effects when they are destroyed.  Let Fixer destroy these as well for Bitter Strike fodder.
  14. Salvage Yard for Equipment Dependent Heroes.  Again, this works for DW and Regular Fixer, but against any villain/environment where your equipments get chewed up, just let it happen:  Salvage Yard will bring them all back into everyone's hand.  It's like Vernal Sonata/Reclaim from the Deep/Reload on steroids: (a) It doesn't just bring the equipment to the top of the deck; it puts it in your hand, ready to play, and (b) it brings it ALL out of the trash, not just one card.   This is particularly great against Spite and that drug where he causes everyone to discard 5 everytime they use a power.  Let that happen for 2-3 turns, so everyone has at least a 10-15-card trash pile, then play Salvage Yard.  Merry Christmas!  You now probably have (ex:) the Legacy Ring, Expat's guns, AA's instruments, Nightmist's relics, Wraith's nifty gadgets, not to mention Fixer's own tools, and maybe a Grease Gun (see below) or two.  Or if Dawn hits you with a Devastating Aurora, put all your equipments back into your hand in one fell swoop to speed up the rebuilding process.
  15. Grease Gun/Trash Picking.  Grease Gun is a fantastic card -- once it's out, no non-hero targets can do any damage.  Since it's equipment, Salvage Yard picks it out of the trash for you to use again.  And if you have other heroes that allow you to trash-pick (AA and Tempest come to mind), you can pull Salvage Yard out of your trash, and use it to get Grease Gun (and your friends' equipment) out of the trash over and over again.  (This is the one area where DW Fixer suffers vis-a-vis regular fixer; Salvage Yard gives you an Overdrive play also, if it's in your trash.  For regular Fixer, this is a chance to really start whaling on people, and with other heroes that let you trash-pick, it's lather/rinse/repeat.   For DW Fixer, it's not quite as good of a deal, since every use of Overdrive requires you to burn a card with Bitter Strike.)
  16. Tomb of Anubis/Rod of Anubis/Overdrive.  This is pretty specfic, but if you can get hold of the Rod of Anubis, DW Fixer really shines.  Put it in his hand, and he can now do 2 damage every round, plus bonuses from any styles/tools, WITHOUT burning cards with Bitter Strike.  For a really sweet endgame move (or if you have the cards to burn), use it and Overdrive.  Since Overdrive by its terms lets you use strike "twice in a turn," you can in your power phase (1) use the Rod of Anubis to do damage (plus any tool/style extras), then (2) use TWO Bitter Strikes (because Rod of Anubis is not a "strike").  

 

Anyway, those are just my thoughts on what I originally thought was a "fix" that made a weak character weaker.  Fixer is now one of my favorite damage dealers. Any thoughts/edits/(polite) corrections are most welcome.

Powerhound_2000
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An awesome setup for either Mr Fixer is a Cosmic Weapon from Captain Cosmic.   This gives you a base three damage without the destruction.   


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VisforYoshi
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Powerhound_2000 wrote:

An awesome setup for either Mr Fixer is a Cosmic Weapon from Captain Cosmic.   This gives you a base three damage without the destruction.   

Especially if you pop an overdrive, you are able to use three powers that turn because of the way it's worded (You may use Mr. Fixer's Strike power twice this turn).

Another combo I enjoy is a tank fixer with Driving Mantis/Pipe Wrench. It's hard to have damage pass through him (especially if he gets addition DR from outside heros), although it doesn't work as well against Villains that deal multiple sources of damage (Like the Matriarch or the Ennead)


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DW Fixer works well with Skyscrapper, since her links are often disposable and she can constantly recycle them with her small form power. This is especially true of her damaging links, which force two enemies to deal 2 irreducable psychic damage to themselves. She also has a link that'll let Fixer search for equipment, so he can get his tools of choice.

Powerhound_2000
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I feel like it was said on another thread but the heroes in Wrath of the Cosmos are really helpful in making Mr Fixer more effective. 


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Foote
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The way I tend to use DW Fixer (outside of other hero aid) is a playstyle that I have dubbed "weaving".

First turn Fixer lays down a Tool or Style. Doesn't use Bitter Strike. Second Turn you lay down a Tool/Style (whatever you didn't do first turn) so you have 2 cards out. From here look at your hand. If you have more Styles in hand, Bitter Strike and destroy your current Style to play another one next turn. If more Tools, destroy the tool to lay another down next turn. This creates a pattern of weaving fluidly between multiple styles and tools (which is thematically and mechanically satisfying) and you do not require outside help. Of course you can always take advantage of other Hero's extra cards in play which they don't need, or you can easily play and destroy cards like ToolBox or BloodyKnuckles for full effect to buy time to find more cards to weave in and out of. 

With weaving, Fixer loses the consistent situational utility and adaptability of his original hero card/playstyle, but gains seriously strong bursts of high damage

Objulen
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Foote wrote:
... easily play and destroy cards like ToolBox or BloodyKnuckles for full effect to buy time to find more cards to weave in and out of. With weaving, Fixer loses the consistent situational utility and adaptability of his original hero card/playstyle, but gains seriously strong bursts of high damage

Using DW Mr. Fixer and sacrificing Bloody Knuckles is a great idea. That can also work well with Chrono-Ranger's Hunter and Hunted, if he's before Mr. Fixer in the turn order, especially with the Compound Bow.

I can't think of any other mixed-blessing cards that would be good to end before the villain turn, but I'm sure there are some.

arenson9
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Objulen wrote:

I can't think of any other mixed-blessing cards that would be good to end before the villain turn, but I'm sure there are some.

Tempest's Localized Hurricane


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Wrong Time and Place w/out enough tokens.


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Trajector
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Ra's Solar Flare fits too, no?

The Burning Stickman
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Trajector wrote:

Ra's Solar Flare fits too, no?

Not really -- Solar Flare only hurts Ra at the end of his turn, and doesn't increase how much damage he takes besides that. If Ra doesn't want it around, he can simply not take the damage after using it.
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Trajector wrote:

Ra's Solar Flare fits too, no?

No.

Solar Flare deals damage at the end of the turn, if it's still around it's because you have already taken the damage and want it still around. If DW Fixer kills my Solar Flare we will be having... words.


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So here's a good one that I believe is listed in the my Guise Shenanigans already or at least something similar.   Mr Fixer should be after Guise to get the most out of this.   On Mr Fixer's turn he plays Grease Gun.  On the next round Guise takes Grease Gun using Lemme See That.... then on Mr Fixer's turn he destroys Lemme See That... after Bitter Strike essentially giving two rounds worth of Grease Gun without any additional heroes needed to destroy Ongoings.   


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Arcanist Lupus
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If Fixer is first in the play order, he can take advantage of ongoings like Ground Pound, Take Down, and Heroic Interception after they have served their purpose during the villain turn.


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robb8888
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Edited to add the great suggestions, and one additional one I came up with in a game last night -- thanks!

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Arcanist Lupus wrote:

If Fixer is first in the play order, he can take advantage of ongoings like Ground Pound, Take Down, and Heroic Interception after they have served their purpose during the villain turn.

If you have DW Fixer, Visionary with Mental Divergence, Team Leader Tachy, and Legacy/Haka/etc., you can destroy the card and play it every round.


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Yep >:). Also, if you're up against Spite and he has out the"someone puts a card back into their hand" drug, which triggers at the start of his turn (ie before he has a chance to deal any damage). That drug works nicely with Inspiring Presence too, actually, especially if Legacy can play stuff out-of-turn in order to get other cards out besides playing that one every turn :D.


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