Getting back into tactics after watching the Gen-con broadcasts after RL and lack of people to play with got me away form it ( I will get that roll20 virtual board finished, eventually) I decided it would be a good idea to try and compile a list of tips, things that people often forget or don't realize, and tricks, good combo's and maneuvers you can pull, for each of the characters. Feel free to submit your own and I'll add it to the main topic and credit you.
General Play
Tips
-Sprinting is up to 2 spaces, so you may sprint 0 spaces. ~ migrantP
Tricks
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Absolute Zero
Tip
-In addition to restricting movement, Impaling Structures can also be used to interrupt line of sight
Tricks
Thermal Shock: If you have the health to spare, using Thermal shockwave just before you use Coolant blast can give you more dice on the later attack ~ Powerhound2000
Ambuscade
Tips
-the bomb tokens placed by rigged explosives may be stacked on one another and do not affect Ambuscade
-Due to the fact that, unlike many other ongoing effects that trigger on attack, feedback plating triggers on any attack instead of just the first, it is a good choice against foes who have unlimited melee attacks such as Raptor bot, The Operative, and Tachyon.
-The custom hand cannon is a good choice against defensive and wounded foes such as a damaged bunker, since only one attack die needs to be unblocked to do at least 2 points of damage.
-If for any reason their is no good action to take, try to take an aim for the +1 attack token.
Tricks
Bombs Away: Starting the game with Rigged Explosives and Cloaking Device in play allows ambuscade to place his bombs, Aim and gain an attack +1 token then disapear, only to re-apear where ever he wants to. Since the first turn is often just attempting to reach opponents, this allows him to be active his first action and quickly close any gaps
Baron Blade
Tips
-When using Regression Burst, try not to target foes who would likely be incaped, as it's ability to remove power cards is wasted in that situation. Alternatively, character's like Absolute Zero and Omnitron make good targets as it takes them longer to get to full power again.
-Keep an eye out for foes with only 1 health remaining, as a well timed maniacal gloating not only incaps without any dice roll, but also penalizes the foe when they stand up
-Don't be too quick to use your Devious Disruptor, as just the threat of it can stop your foes from collecting tokens.
Tricks
-Precision Fission: Using the Fission blaster gainst a target at 6 range, take an aim to maximize both damage and the chances of it hitting, as only one 6 is required if the attack is aimed.
-Punch Away, you lout: Combining both Kinetic Redistributor with the Sabre Battle suit while in the midst of your foes can make you a very unappealing target, as the suit improves your slash and burn which you are in range of your foes and increases the likely hood of blocking attack dice which you can reassign as an attack the first time with the Redistributor.
Beacon
Tips
-Rember that the Effects of Piercing Eye Beams and KREE-OWW!!! are mutually exclusive
-In maps that have hazards, do not underestimate the push from Head-on Collision, as this may allow for additional attacks from the hazards-Bolstering team-up affects allys, not just characters, so it can be used on Unity's Bots and Dawn's Citizens
-Use Focused-Blast on highly defensive targets such as Danger Sense Legacy, Bunker or Citizen Truth at point blank range to overwhelm their high defenses
Tricks
Headstart:On your first turn, use Bolstering team-up with slower characters such as Bunker or Omnitron, giving them an additional move before their turn to allow them to reach the front lines quicker
Bunker
Tips
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Tricks
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Citizen Dawn
Tips
-Both Citizen Truth and Citizen Hammer and Anvil are good defense support for your team, but depend on line of sight so foes with push can often render them ineffective in this regard.
-If your foes seam quick to target your citizens, use either Hammer and Anvil or Hack and Slash, as they are btoh an offensive threat and hard to take out, keeping the fire focused more on them than your allies.
-Devastating Aurora is powerful, but be careful with using on damaged foes as it effectively heals them to full health.
Tricks
Spring's Eternal: Using Citizen Spring and Healing Light while teamed up with Tachyon can allow her to use both Push the Limits and Light Speed Barrage far more frequently.
Legacy
Tips
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Tricks
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Omnitron V
Tips
-Remember that when moving that Omnitron is only 1 space large, and can put the rest of his token/mini in any position around his ending space, which can be the difference between being in range or not.
-Interpolation beam cannot affect bots, citizens or other similar targets as it can only affect characters.
Tricks
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Operative
Tips
-Getting in dragon's Frenzy can be extremly benficial, so if you block damge from an attack, consider not blocking it all to let yourself reach 2 health
-Using boar's rage on attackers who perfer range and lack the ability to close such as bunker or Ra can render them almost useless
-Kusarigama doens't push, it effectively teleports the foe to any hex adjacent to you, meaning they don't enter any hazard spaces other than one in their destination, but it also means it's the only current effect that can move omnitron against his will.
Tricks
Kusarigama and Blade: Using a Kusarigama attack while Hidden Blade strike is in play can help close the gap between you and your foe and get an extra attack in when they enter your hazard.
Dragon Spiral: When Dragon's Frenzy is active and you are fighting melee foes primarily, consider using Bitter spiral, as your higher defense can mean more blocked dice, which can make the attack from Bitter spiral stronger, and the attack itself gains the bonus dice from Dragon Spiral.
Proletariat
Tips
-When you have shared burden in play, consider creating your duplicates in hazard locations if you wish to create more
-Overwhelm can be used with duplicate to double the amount of duplicates you have.
Tricks
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Ra
Tips
-Flame spike does not have to target the same target that the triggering attack did.
Tricks
Drawn to the Hazard: Combine either Living pyre or Flaming tornado when using Drawn to the flame to score extra hits on foes already within your reach by pushing them into the hazard
Hazardous Spikes: Combine Flame spike with either Living Pyre or Flaming Tornado to allow extra attacks outside your turn.
Tachyon
Tips
-Hypersonic Assault, Accelerated Assault, and Lightspeed barrage can also be used with Sucker punch as well as Nimble Strike
-Hypersonic Assult can also be used to just move in a line ignoring hazards
-When using Unrelenting momentum, as long as their isn't a hazard space involved, it's better to sprint and gain a free attack on that action than to just use an attack, as if at any point you incap your foe, if you used sprints, you may at least position yourself away with your extra sprint rather than wasting an extra attack.
-The use of two action with Unrelenting momentum does not have to be consecutive, but the free action must be taken before you take another action.
Tricks
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Unity
Tips
-Actions that bots take due to "Go Bots!" are effectively unlimited due to "Go Bots!" being unlimited
-Using Reconfigure does trigger the destroyed bots Volatile parts attack.
-Unity is not immune to her bots attack, so must be careful with Volatile parts and Cryo bot attacks.
Tricks
Swift Lock: Starting with Swift bot and reconfigured, rush swift bot to an area you want to lock down, before reconfiguring the bot into Turret Bot
Turret of Champions: Together, Champion Bot and Turret Bot create a strong area denial that many foes would like to leave alone.
The Visionary
Tips
-Mass levitation helps lower mobility characters such as the Operative, Ra and Bunker get into position more easily
-Brain burn does not have to target your attacker
Tricks
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The Wraith
Tips
-Avoid starting with Combat stance and Slip into shadows, as they both trigger on the first attack only, and if you use Slip into shadows to break line of sight and negate the attack, you cannot follow through with Combat stances attack
-Dispite what the art would lead you to belive, Combat stance's counter attack does not have the melee restriction and thus can be used at range.
-Most cases Targeting computer is more useful than Infrared eye piece, but the Eye piece can help against a short range opponent whose dodging.
Tricks
Shadow Surf: When you have slip into shadows equipped, you may enter a hazard space to activate it, allowing you an extra 2 spaces of movement during that action. Remember though, slip into shadows only triggers on the first attack each turn
The old One Two: Combing Stun bolt with Targeting computer allows you to first fire an aimed stunbolt, which even if it misses still gives negative tokens, and follow up with an Aim action plus a Razaor ordinance to take advantage of the reduced defenses.
Updates
Added some tips posted in the thread, and reworded the tip about Combat stance with slip into shadows.
I'll have to got through cards again to remember some but I do recall one off the top of my head. With Absolute Zero you use Thermal Shockwave to setup a bigger Coolant Blast attack.
Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31
When you sprint or move, you can choose to travel 0 spaces. This is handy for Tachyon's Unrelenting Momentum.
Lead Bit Flipper, Handelabra Games
Developer of Sentinels, Bottom of the 9th, and Spirit Island
Slip Into Shadows and Combat Stance are not mutually exclusive. Combat Stance is not melee and triggers when the attack resolves. Slip Into Shadows can cause it to resolve as a miss. If Wraith still has line of sight and range to her target after using Slip Into Shadows, she can still retaliate.
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
That's not how it was ruled at the tournament. You can either use the ability from Slip Into Shadows or Combat Stance. Both can't be used off the same first attack
Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31
Interesting, but I don't see how they would be exclusive.
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
Well first, I said often, not always. Usually, the Idea is with slip into shadows is to break line of site to mess up the attack (other than melee attacks) which also prevents combat stance from firing. Also the tip specificaly mentions starting with both since the first hits, outside of a swift bot or tachyon, are going to be ranged.
In fact, once during the tournament, wraith was getting hit with snapshot missiles, and used slip into shadows to reduce the range between her and bunker since there was no where she could sprint to break line of sight, and thus increase the odds for combat stance.
I must have missed the often! :D
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
**Spoiler about which team won the World Championship**
Combat Stance and Slip into Shadows
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"
Hmm. I would like to understand the reasoning behind this.
Edit: Just watched the video. Check out around 1:45:37. Christopher comments how she can make the attack because Slip Into Shadows does say the attack resolves, and Combat Stance says "when the attack resolves". In the video, Wraith had just used Slip Into Shadows, but she doesn't use Combat Stance because the issue has already been confused with the "They don't both resolve. Either it's one or the other."
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
I guess I was focused more on why he thought it was wrong to have both out in play but watching again it's just that they both have to be able to resolve on the first attack.
Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31
Found a counter-argument where Christopher has contradicted his previous statement. Check 2:33:51.
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
Found this little neat trick to reference specific parts of a twitch stream.
All you have to do is add a time stamp to the end of the URL – in this case we linked to the 102nd minute and 38 seconds by adding ?t=102m38s at the end of the URL
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"
Thanks! Updated my comments with this.
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
Bunker: if you have a target to attack at your power up phase drop turret mode. There is one exception to this rule.
Initial setup go Auxiliary and Artillery mode, there is no reason not too, it gives you maximum versatility first turn.
Micro missiles is a great poke, losing no dice at range of 11 with artillery mode.
General tip that is big for bunker: using Aim or Attack +1 tokens on an attack with more automisses is not wise. Aim+Attack+1 tokens on a no automiss, low die attack is much better.
Micro Missiles is a great example. Using Aim and 3 Attack+1 tokens on MM gives you an average dice count of 4 for the attack. Likely 6s, but the probable ranges in dice taken mean one third of the time your big attack was weak.
On the other hand Combustion with Aim and 3 attack+1 tokens is a guaranteed 6 dice for the attack, with only a slightly lower chance of them all being 6s.
This creates the exception for the turret mode rule. If you can attack with at least 3 attack+1 tokens and an aim and can move adjacent to an enemy Combustion is a great option.
Double Aim: with Turret Mode and Auxiliary power source you can aim 2 attack actions in 1 turn. Attack using your free aim, aim, attack using the new aim. This also works with Targetting Computer and Wraith.
Artillery Mode vs. Auxiliary Power Source:
Aim and an Attack+1 vs. 3 range and a reroll automiss. Obviously if you would lose no dice to range Auxiliary wins easily, as the Attack+1 is better than the reroll, and Aim beats no benefit from increased range.
On the other hand if you can't make range at all Artillery is clearly better, as attack beats no attack almost every time. (Watch for redistribution and hurting allies with dead bots and operative's spiral)
Trickier situations
The reroll is nice on Grenade Launcher, because if it works that +1 die is for all attacks, up to three targets. Weight that carefully, if you have 2 targets to hit the Aim might be better to take one down, while the reroll gives you better odds on both targets. On current maps the range bonus can only help if Impaling Structures or Omnitron are in use.
Micro Missiles: let's say you have Artillery and Auxiliary in play and an enemy in sight at range 10. You can missile them by putting Turret Mode in play, but which power card do you replace?
Because you have 3 actions and one attack, you will be using Tactician (unless Baron) and you can Aim for your second action, so the end result is the same, unless you roll no Automisses and use the Attack+1 token successfully. (The odds are really, really bad)
The same works for every attack you have. The reroll is no better than an Attack+1 token, and often worse.
Sometimes you can go Auxiliary and move the attack, or Artillery+Turret and attack. Turret beats Auxiliary, because the move becomes Tactician+Aim, giving you better return. (Unless Baron)
Artillery Mode is only worth using if it gives you the range needed to make the attack. This is often the case your first turn, or shortly after. Auxiliary is better in almost every situation.
When it isn't:
When you can't make the attack without it, or your choice is move+attack w/ Auxiliary vs. Turret+Artillery.
When you want to use Turret mode to make 3 non-combustion attacks.
When you can hit 3 enemies with Grenade Launcher.
Strategy hint: Don't blow your Attack+1 tokens. Bunker is an awesome field controller, if you are in sight Turret just murders you. But your big threat is using your +1 tokens on closer range attacks and Omni-Cannon.
If you are out of tokens you aren't controlling the field. Use them wisely. Throwing them on Micro Missiles is dumb, you have Aim for MMs, take the poke and save the +1s for big shots.
There are absolutely situations in which you'll get both to work. They are NOT mutually exclusive. However! In the vast majority of cases, once you Slip into Shadows and sprint away, you're no longer in position to use Combat Stance. Sometimes it works! But not always. Hence, they're not WRONG to start with, just odd, as they don't synergize well. Plus, they're not really a competitive build, considering you really want to get your Targetting Computer or Stun Bolt or heck even Infrared Eyepiece out ASAP.
So, yeah, they don't cancel each other or anything. They're just bad for each other.
"Your goodness must have some edge to it — else it is none."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Excellent! That's how I thought it was. Thanks, Christopher!
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
Add some posted tips to the OP, other than phataskipy's as they where more verbose than I wanted for the more loading screen style tips I was going for.
why would i want to sprint 0?
My wife thinks Sentinels is ruining our marriage. I think she doesnt know what shes talking about because she wont sit down to play it
With Unrelenting Momentum, Tachyon may want to be able to sprint and attack twice to get a third sprint (and subsequent attack). If she's standing in a hazard space for the first few attacks (Say Ra has Living Pyre in play, and Tachyon's about to take him down), she doesn't want to sprint in and out of it. Sprinting 0 allows her the flexibility of sprinting out afterwards while still avoiding hazard attacks originally.
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
mainly tachyon with unrelenting momentum, as she gets a free attack with every sprint and if she incaps her target, she can get an extra sprint to position. This is opposed to having an extra attack if you had just used the attack action with no target in range. Also, if for some reason you used an overwhelm sprint as prolitariat, sprinting 0 would allow those who are in a good postion to stay there, as unlike scycle formation or brisk effulgence, their is no 'may' on overwhelm's action.