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Looking for suggestions to beat Apostate for Fanatic unlocks

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Fhengal
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Looking for suggestions to beat Apostate for Fanatic unlocks

I'm having trouble beating Apostate (which I've never done before) but am attempting it to get Fanatic varients unlocked (Redeemer Fanatic).

What can I do to make fighting Apostate easier on myself? Which heros to include? Which environment to make it easier for my heroes to survive?

It seems like Apostate has lots of damage reduction (Runes of Malediction for the Relics) and then hordes of Relics to burn to keep him from dying. Tome of the Unknowable just makes everything more difficult with the free card plays Apostate receives every time the Heroes draw a card.

I'm wondering if I need Haka for Savage Mana, or if that's iffy with the occasional ongoing destruction via Imp Pilferer and the occassional Apocalypse. Those Relic Spirits don't help much either. It's almost easier to hit Apostate than to hit his Relics, but it's hard to stay ahead of everything they enable him to do.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Tyrsis
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Without knowing which expansions you have,I usually generically use something like Teamleader (F6) Tachyon for the draws, Wraith for the deck control/stun bolts and Legacy for the damage amping and general tanking. Honestly just including Team-Leader Tachyon makes the game ridiculously easier since more cards in hand lowers the variance. 

Gus_Smedstad
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Apostate does have lots of damage reduction, so heroes that can do irreducible damage or grant others irreducible damage are handy. Parse, Benchmark, GI Bunker, and Mr. Fixer come to mind. Parse is probably the best of that group, both because "Reveal the Flaws" works for the whole team, and because she can boost another hero's damage ridiculously with Critical Multiplier. That's a big help when unlocking Redeemer Fanatic because Fanatic must deal the final blow.

I'm also fond of bringing Argent Adept to unlocks with specific hero play requirements. He can lend card draws, card plays, and power uses to Fanatic. Note that Cedistic Dissonant can burn down things like Orb of Delirium with a single shot, regardless of damage reduction.

Legacy is useful defensively. Lead from the Front / Next Evolution can cancel most of Apostate's damage just by being immune to melee damage.If you bring along Visionary for Twist the Aether,  you can turn all of his infernal damage into melee damage too. The boxer demons also do melee damage. I usually go for the Grandpa Legacy variant for unlocks, because he can give his power use to the central hero (Fanatic in this case).

You can often completely ignore the Relic Spirits. Yes, the heal relics, but they don't do much else as long as you don't hit them.

You probably want to avoid environments that do indiscriminant damage to villain targets because of the relic spirits.

Fhengal
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Thanks, folks. Sounds good so far. I have GI Bunker and America's Greatest Legacy already, so those could help.

Gus_Smedstad wrote:

You probably want to avoid environments that do indiscriminant damage to villain targets because of the relic spirits.

I'm not sure which those would be. I don't have a very good working knowledge of Environments, but I do have access to all Environments released so far.

Gus_Smedstad
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I’d avoid environments that do damage to all targets. Damage to the lowest HP is probably not so bad because the Relic Spirits start at 9 HP, and most of the other targets in Apostate’s deck have less.

So, Megapolis, the Mobile Defense Platform and the Realm of Discord. I may be overstating the importance of this, since I don’t personally recall being overly worried about the environment wiping Relic Spirits. Unfortunately the damage reduction on the relics means that environments that tend to wipe out minions probably won’t touch his relics. Otherwise The Final Wasteland would be attractive for taking out his cards permanently with Unforgiving Wasteland.

FearLord
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I generally did most of my unlocks (just recently went through pretty much all of them) at Freedom Tower if there was no location requirement. Most cards are pretty good for the heroes.

I tended to use Freedom 5 Legacy, Team Leader Tacyhon and Dr Medico in most of them as well - between them, they let you draw and play a bunch of cards, buff damage, heal damage, control environment / ongoings and get extra power uses as well as tank damage. It’s usually just a matter of time at that point. Apostate isn’t too bad as long as you can deal with the damage reduction and the one that replays the damage reduction. Final dive is great for taking out a relic that’s been reduced a bit, and Tacyhon and Fanatic both have cards that can let them deal a really big hit to get passed damage reduction.

Phantom5613
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If I can ask, which Fanatic unlock are you trying for in particular? That could help us focus on particular strategies for you.

Yeah, Savage Mana can be quite useful. Just be careful how much you take from his deck. G.I.Bunker is a good candidate for any Apostate fight, his ability to nullify DR makes him one of my favorite turn-to's. And Parse is always useful for deck manipulation and nullification.

I advise you to try your best to not damage Apostate below half hp while he's still got relics on the field. And never go for a killing blow until you've made a clear shot on him. Also, the Tome and Imps should be your first targets when they come out into play since they cause so much trouble. And I've gone entire games where I just leave Relic Spirits out on the field.

Fhengal
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Phantom5613 wrote:
If I can ask, which Fanatic unlock are you trying for in particular? That could help us focus on particular strategies for you.

Certainly. I'm trying to go for Redeemer Fanatic, since she seems to be a pre-requisite for at least one other Dark Watch team member, and it seems the Dark Watch are all required for my ultimate goal of getting the Freedom Five varients of the core heroes.

Powerhound_2000
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Redeemer Fanatic is part of the unlocks for the Prime Wardens but is not part of Dark Watch unlocks.  As to Redeemer Fanatic unlock since there isn’t any other team requirements I’d suggest bringing Team Leader Tachyon to get the cards you need, Argent Adept possibly to help with some card plays, and then Dark Visionary or Parse to manipulate the villain deck. 


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
arenson9
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I play against Apostate frequently. The trick to Apostate is attacking things in the correct order. 

  • Tome of the Unknowable brings Condemnation back into play. Don't destroy Condemnation until you have destroyed Tome of the Unknowable, unless you are very close to winning.
  • Tome of the Unknowable casues a villain card to be played whenever a player draws a hero card. Don't draw a card unless you absolutely have to and prioritize destroying Tome of the Unknowable ASAP.
  • Corrupted Effigy brings Runes of Malediction into play. Don't destroy Runes of Malediction until Corrupted Effigy is destroyed unless you are very close to winning or if the DR2 on Runes is keeping you from doing other urgent things.
  • Runes of Malediction cause demon cards to be moved from the trash back into play. Whenever possible, don't bother destroying Demons. Doing so takes time away from hitting Apostate and destroying relics, which is all you need to win. Imp Pilferers are an exception. Destroy them immediately to keep from losing your stuff. Fiendish Pugilists are more of a judgement call. If you're getting low on HP, you may be forced to deal with them to keep yourself alive.

Let's talk about your team. With all the damage reduction in Apostate's deck and the large number of targets, I appreciate my standard bruiser squad:

  • Legacy, often giving +2 damage to hero damage, and particularly powerful in a five hero matchup. Also love Legacy's ability to slow down the villain with Take Down.
  • Mr. Fixer in second place. Ideally you'll get Dual Crowbars, and when double boosted by Legacy and Boosted by Ra, Mr. Fixer will get big hits that do a lot of damage past reductions. Add in Grease Monkey Fist and Harmony, and Mr. Fixer can do 7 to a demon or environment target, then turn around and do 13 to a relic. Or use Jack Handle to do spread damage that all gets redirected to the Orb of Delirium, or in some cases pull out the irreducible styles to blow past the Periapt of Woe or Runes of Malediction DR.
  • Tempest in third place. Spread damage for the win. Into the Stratosphere to slow down Apostate. Lightning Slash or Chain Lightning to get big enough hits to get past DR.
  • Ra in fourth place. Damage, damage, damage, plus Imbued Fire to boost everyone else's damage.
  • Fanatic in fifth place. Fanatic's job is mostly to focus on Apostate. Double hits from her base power plus nemesis damage means 4 damage to start with. Double boosted by Legacy and boosted by Ra means 10 damage to Apostate, just from her power.
  • Hold on to any ongoing destruction you get (Tempest's Ball Lighting, Fanatic's Consecrated Ground. You're going to want it when Apocalypse comes out.

Which environment to use? Eh, as long as you're not going with Rook city, Omnitron IV, or MMFFCC, you're probably fine. I tend to default to Insual Primalis. It's always fun to have Ra use the power on Flesh of the Sun God to make all heroes immune to fire damage and then let the Volcano destroy Apostate and his relics.

 


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

Fhengal
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Powerhound_2000 wrote:

Redeemer Fanatic is part of the unlocks for the Prime Wardens but is not part of Dark Watch unlocks.  As to Redeemer Fanatic unlock since there isn’t any other team requirements I’d suggest bringing Team Leader Tachyon to get the cards you need, Argent Adept possibly to help with some card plays, and then Dark Visionary or Parse to manipulate the villain deck. 

ah, my mistake.

Thanks, all, for the advice. I'm slowly acquiring the Hero varients I need to gear up for a team to help get the Redeemer Fanatic unlock. So far, so good.

UXM266
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I play against Ultimate Apostate for fun as a quick battle. I cheese the game of course.

i bring I’m Fanatic, Legacy, Chrono Ranger, and Settkng Sun Ra. Or even regular Ra.

i play in Temple of Zhu Long.

with all the damage increase Apostate becomes a lot easierz


I THOUGHT I was the the last Scion but it's actually .....

Gus_Smedstad
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Pure damage is not a great strategy for most unlocks. Redeemer Fanatic, for example, requires that Fanatic die and be resurrected via Aegis of Resurrection, play Prayer of Desperation and Undaunted, and then finish off Apostate via Absolution. Given the number of plays she has to make, you have to be able to stall. Counting on beating down Apostate before he beats you down doesn’t work well with that.

If you can shut down villain damage entirely, you have unlimited time to set up whatever needs to be done. Damage immunity and/or healing tend to be more useful for unlocks for that reason. 

Fhengal
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Gus_Smedstad wrote:
Pure damage is not a great strategy for most unlocks. [...]

If you can shut down villain damage entirely, you have unlimited time to set up whatever needs to be done. Damage immunity and/or healing tend to be more useful for unlocks for that reason.

I hear you there, Gus. I just unlocked KNYFE Rogue Agent last night, which requires normal KNYFE to kill 5 Agents in the Block Environment without her killing Warden Hoefle. America's Greatest Legacy was great for healing and damage-reduction to heroes so that we could stall against Baron Blade for as long as possible after flipping him, and I used Visionary and Omnitron-X to manipulate the Environment deck so that Agents would come up more quickly. Otherwise, it takes forever for Agents to cycle around so that KNYFE can kill them. There are only 4 qualifying Agent cards in the whole Environment deck, and she has to kill 5. That game felt like it took a long time.

FearLord
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Fhengal wrote:

 

Gus_Smedstad wrote:

Pure damage is not a great strategy for most unlocks. [...]

 

If you can shut down villain damage entirely, you have unlimited time to set up whatever needs to be done. Damage immunity and/or healing tend to be more useful for unlocks for that reason.

 

I hear you there, Gus. I just unlocked KNYFE Rogue Agent last night, which requires normal KNYFE to kill 5 Agents in the Block Environment without her killing Warden Hoefle. America's Greatest Legacy was great for healing and damage-reduction to heroes so that we could stall against Baron Blade for as long as possible after flipping him, and I used Visionary and Omnitron-X to manipulate the Environment deck so that Agents would come up more quickly. Otherwise, it takes forever for Agents to cycle around so that KNYFE can kill them. There are only 4 qualifying Agent cards in the whole Environment deck, and she has to kill 5. That game felt like it took a long time.

I tend to use Ambascade for unlocks that don’t require a specific villain - he has no set up destruction, so he’s unlikely to disrupt your plans if you can control his damage. I think I used Rook City Wraith in that unlock - he ability to play or discard the top card of the enivornment deck was useful.

Missingno
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I'm with Fearlord on using Amby for unlocks that don't need a specific baddie to unlock something.  Specifically I used Amby in The Block before having Season 2 DLC and Zhu Long's after getting Season 2 DLC since those two evnviornments are easy to keep in check.


I'll put things in here later.

Gus_Smedstad
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Given that this thread is explicitly about beating Apostate for Fanatic unlocks, talking about using Ambuscade is thread drift to an unhelpful degree. Yeah, I agree about Ambuscade, but that’s really not relevant to the original poster’s difficulties.

FearLord
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Gus_Smedstad wrote:

Given that this thread is explicitly about beating Apostate for Fanatic unlocks, talking about using Ambuscade is thread drift to an unhelpful degree. Yeah, I agree about Ambuscade, but that’s really not relevant to the original poster’s difficulties.

The original poster is ‘slowly unlocking a team to help with Redeemer Fanatic unlock’, and given I was able to get all of the unlocks in a 2 week period within the last month, I think that experience is extremely relevant and helpful to the wider issue of getting unlocks. I really don’t see the need for your unsolicited policing of this, particular when it’s useful information for anyone that might be interested in getting the achievements...

Gus_Smedstad
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FearLord wrote:
I really don’t see the need for your unsolicited policing of this

Sorry you're offended that I pointed out that the title of the thread is "Suggestions for Apostate," not "Suggestions for Ambuscade." I guess that's not permitted?

As to whether Fhengal needed help with unlocking other characters, you'd have to ask him.

arenson9
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Hi, everybody. Different people have different ideas about thread drift. Please refrain from responding about that topic. If you have more to say about it, please PM me instead. For now I've decided that not to split this topic, though I considered it even before the point was brought up.


Hi. My name's Andy. Feel free to call me Andy, since, ya know, that's my name. (he/him/his)

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when? If I am for myself alone, what am I? -- Hillel

Fhengal
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I just managed to unlock Redeemer Fanatic tonight. I used Legacy, Team Leader Tachyon, Visionary, Omnitron-X, and Fanatic. They fought in the Freedom Tower Environment.

Thanks, all, for the suggestions. I owe my success to this forum community. Mr. Fixer ended up being too effective with Jack Handle and Riveting Crane, which enabled him to kill off Apostate too quickly before Fanatic could get all the requisite cards in play and then deal the final stroke, so I ended up benching him for not being a good team player. ;-)

Otherwise, yes, he'd normally be awesome and would make a fight against Apostate much easier.

Prime Warden and Dark Watch unlocks await me further, but for now it's a great sigh of relief I'm feeling. Thank you all, again.

Phantom5613
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On behalf of the community:

No prob, Bob.