Operative
The Operative is a melee assassin with some controller aspects.
Builds: DPS
Best Power Cards: Kusarigama, Hidden Blade Strike, Undivided Attention
Worst Power Card: Bitter Spiral
Strengths: Melee attacks, moving enemies out of position, extra dice when low on health
Weaknesses: Poisons are slow acting, requiring more rounds than skirmishes usually last, and can potentially go away before they affect the target. No mobility.
Works well against: Citizen Dawn, Omnitron-V, Ra, Absolute Zero
Weak against: Proletariat, Bunker, Ambuscade
Commentary:
The Operative is an amazingly strong fighter. She excels at pulling characters out of position for various purposes. Tonfa and Blade with Strikes Unending and Dragon’s Frenzy can take out most any enemy champions quickly. Only one miss die and a 6 die attack that can be repeated 3 times. Tachyon is jealous.
Tips:
Use Kusarigama to pull enemy characters into your Hidden Blade Strike, but put them on the other side of the Operative from their team, so they have a harder time getting away.
In the early game, if the Operative has the choice of blocking an attack or dropping to two health by not blocking or partially blocking it, drop to two health. Especially if it is just before the Operative’s turn. The increase in dice for defense and attack is amazing.
Start with Kusarigama and Hidden Blade Strike. Once an opponent is close, swap Kusarigama for Strikes Unending.
If you have an especially tough target you need to take down, or a target you want to defeat quickly, consider using Undivided Attention. With it and Dragon’s Frenzy, each of the Operative’s attacks have 4 more dice against that target.
Kusarigama doesn’t work against Bunker in Turret Mode, but does work against Omnitron-V.
Poison Breath can be used to help the Operative reach that two health point she likes to be at.
Poisons:
The big weakness with poisons is the close to 1 in 3 chance that the poison won't do anything to the target. Usually dealing lots of damage to the target (the Operative's specialty) is a better option. However, they have some strong effects that can really help out in fights.
Adder's Bite: This poison is great against hard to kill targets like Legacy with Danger Sense or Proletariat with any of his cloning defense cards. The target doesn't get to make a defense roll.
Fox's Howl: Omnitron-V thinks this is the best card ever if the Operative is on Omnitron-V's team. Adding a miss die to a target is huge. Use it on damage dealers that you can't take out quickly (like Bunker).
Boar's Rage: This power really stops strong ranged attackers (once again, Bunker comes to mind). Don't use it on melee characters. It just makes them angry.
Salamander's Trance: This power is probably best saved for scenarios. It can work well against Tachyon, but so can straight up damage. It has no effect on Omnitron-V.
Countering Tips:
If you can, avoid dropping the Operative to two or one health. She just gets nastier. Instead, use large, aimed attacks against her at 3 or more health.
If the Operative does drop to two or less health, use Aim on her to get past her increased defenses. She can’t aim or dodge when Dragon’s Frenzy is activated.
The Operative’s extra dice in defense are useless against powers like Sucker Punch and Maniacal Gloating. Likewise, one hit from Ambuscade’s Custom Hand Cannon will take her out when she is raging.
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
