The Trophy Room: Soulsword Wielder!

[ol_Dut]

ol_Dut's LE Review: Soulsword Wielder!

http://www.hcrealms.com/temp/kitty1.jpg

Five Shadowcats weren’t enough so thanks to Sinister we have four more to pick from. This time, the dragon has been pogged and we’re just seeing what this lady can do on her own. I’m not sure if Soulsword Wielder is a much better name than Sprite, (me, I’m diggin’ on calling her Sister Soul Fighter instead) but we’ll endeavor to find out if she’s a better bet than Shadowcat. Although if she used to be Sprite, then who was Shasta? And where is Dr. Pepper? Come on in here before ol_Dut goes completely nuts!

[ol_Dut]

Here are Soulsword Wielder’s vital statistics.

Soulsword Wielder (LE #201)
Points: 64
Type: V Different
Clicks: 6
Range: 0
Targets: 1

Soulsword Wielder’s Gains vs. Veteran Shadowcat
LE Soulword Wielder is a very different click than her REV counterparts, and as such she has some very different powers. The LE adds two clicks each of Blades/Claws/Fangs, Invulnerability, and Toughness. While the Vet possess two clicks of Exploit Weakness, the LE has two more for a total of four.

Soulsword Wielder’s Losses vs. Veteran Shadowcat
Taking things from the top, Soulsword Wielder has one less click of life than the Vet. Her movement is also generally slower starting on the second click, and she sheds one click of Phasing. Sweet Soul Sister also gives up one click of eight (8) attack and never sees an 18 defense, Super Senses, Willpower or the new and improved Combat Reflexes. The LE is also devoid of Perplex and Close Combat Expert. This may seem like kind of a drag, but hang in there with me, it gets better. Really.

Neutral Dial Tinkering
Soulsword Wielder finds all of her Exploit Weakness clicks on her last four clicks after her BCF have expired – and it makes great sense for those powers not to overlap. The Vet leads off with EW, but again she does not have and ounce of BCF, and she needs it top of dial if she’s going to pose any kind of threat at all.

Cards That Work
Soulsword Wielder is one of those pieces that is effective enough from both a cost and game play perspective that it makes little or no sense to knock her point cost out of whack by arbitrarily adding feats. Granted, In Contact With Oracle could help out either her sometimes sagging attack or damage numbers, but then she seems a bit over priced for what you get. Armor Piercing could help ensure penetrating damage on the BCF clicks as well, but again, you’re merely increasing her number of points for marginal returns. Upon first blush she is a figure that stands well on her own and should be left as such.

Looking at Sister Soul Fighter, she presents herself as a secondary attacker. With that in mind, ignore her when deciding on Battlefield Conditions and look to what benefits the primary attacker or the team as whole.

If ol_Dut had to Choose
Soulsword Wielder vs. Veteran Shadowcat? ol_Dut declares this race impossible to call and here’s why. These two clicks, though they share the same sculpt and are both rightfully or wrongfully grounded, are vastly different. Vet Shadowcat is a harasser’s harasser. For 66 points I get someone who, due to Phasing, can get anywhere on the board her stubby movement values will take her. Her Super Senses, combined with her naturally huge 18 defense, ensures that any enemy she chooses to tie-up is going to have a devil of a time dealing with her, as even if they hit, there’s a 33% chance that they may still miss. Further, her Exploit Weakness fading to Perplex makes her a piece that, like it or not, must be dealt with as she’s too much of a menace to be ignored. The down side is if she does get hit, she’s going to have to eat every click and like it. And once she gets off of those top three (3) Super Senses clicks, the rest of her dial is going to spin by pretty fast. However, based on certain strategies, styles and teams she’ll quite often get the call to duty and rightfully so.

Soulsword Wielder on the other hand fits the mold of a more traditional secondary attacker. She’s not there to irritate, frustrate or pin down the bad guys, she’s there to crush, kill and destroy and the X-Men don’t currently have anyone else that’s quite like her. Her BCF clicks make sure that Sweet Soul Sister can give someone an everlasting kiss that they won’t soon forget. Once BFC and Invulnerable fade, her defense spikes to 17 and she gains Toughness along with Exploit Weakness. When Toughness disappears she’s in real trouble, but with a battery like Colossus around, healing is just a click away. But with two clicks of Invulnerable and two clicks of Toughness, she should be able to stay in the fight all by herself – especially if she chooses her targets wisely. And with Phasing on all but one click, she should pretty much be able to always get a favorable match-up. As I’m a sucker for smashmouth, all up in the grill, base-to-base slug-fests, I’m more inclined to field the Soulsword Wielder than her Veteran counterpart; but make no mistake, both are excellent pieces in their own right.


Quick and Dirty Price Tag
Sister Soul Fighter is a cheap date. She’s yours for somewhere between $10-15 which is less than a large pizza with the works. And at that price, no X-Men arsenal should be without her.

Next week? Abner Jenkins! See you then and thanks for reading!

(Disclaimer: Neither Lenny Kravitz nor the members of The Cult were harmed in the writing of this article…much.)

[DroidMaster]

Great review as allways, I think I would go with the Vet, but if I could choose any I would go with EX Vet, she is only 40pts, and has both phasing with 17 Super Sences.

Wow all that above was one sentence :p

[tidge]

As always, nice review.

I actually plan to use the SSW along with Vet Magick at some point...many players tend to avoid similar pieces, but I've found that sometimes a super-redundant force (especially a mobile one) can be pretty nasty.

On SSW, the early Invuln, and mid dial defense spike, makes her a pretty good candidate for click-swapping too.

This is a piece that will require subtlety to use, but I don't think she will disappoint.

[lobo1]

Nice review. They are always fun. I haven't had a chance to use the Soulsword Weilder yet but when I do Nanobots is a MUST on her.

cheers

[coyotejack]

Very well written as always. :)

I, too, agree that she's a nice little stand-alone piece. She's tough enough to do damage on her own yet cheap enough that she's not locking up too many points away from your primary attacker(s).

I'm hoping the mix-up with prize support gets straightened out for our venue as we didn't receive her or the following week's prizes according to our judge.

[d0tnetdude]

Nice review! And it's not everyday you get to see a reference to the Cult in HeroClix post!

[Mordantos]

Although if she used to be Sprite, then who was Shasta? And where is Dr. Pepper? Come on in here before ol_Dut goes completely nuts!Tsk, tsk. I thought for sure you would reference Tab, considering after Kitty announced her name in X-Men #139 (after turing down Prof X's suggestion of Ariel) her line was "But I better not hear any cracks about people pullin' my TAB!"

(Yes, I am a Kitty Pryde fanboy and Yes, I have the 40 Years of X-Men DVD :cheeky: )

But otherwise, great review as usual.

[bradley2099]

Just got mine. Can't wait to use her.

[Thunderwebs]

I can't decide between her and the Vet for my (original line-up) Excalibur team. Already tried the Exp, wasn't happy with the results. :ermm:

[ol_Dut]

Tsk, tsk. I thought for sure you would reference Tab, considering after Kitty announced her name in X-Men #139 (after turing down Prof X's suggestion of Ariel) her line was "But I better not hear any cracks about people pullin' my TAB!"

(Yes, I am a Kitty Pryde fanboy and Yes, I have the 40 Years of X-Men DVD :cheeky: )

But otherwise, great review as usual.

It's been a long time since I've read that one. Evidently my memory isn't as reliable as it used to be as that's the kind of thing I usually dont' forget. Ah, for those heady days of Claremont's sexually harassing under/overtones? Where have they gone?

[Greenandgold]

I can't decide between her and the Vet for my (original line-up) Excalibur team. Already tried the Exp, wasn't happy with the results. :ermm:

I played the Vet against ol_Dut in my original Excalibur team, but he wouldn't let me play her as a grounded piece so I ended up with 4 flyers. :disappoin

Love the Vet, and might just need to get the LE as well. Nice review!

[cramcompany]

Hey Man,

Good article. I read alot of them, but tend not to post. Just wanted to say good work and nice structure.

Thanks,
Scott

[Ro-gan]

X-cellent as usual, ol Dut!

[Hotfoot]

I am mainly a X-men player and although I was going to get her anyway I was a bit unsure about playing her. but after reading this article I had to trade for one as soon as possible. great review