The Fish(men) Fight Back!!!
The only non-generic keyword to span both the DC and Marvel universes, Atlantis makes for some fun teams for players looking for a bit of a challenge, as the characters available lack many of the tools found in the most min/max team builds.
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PROBLEMS WITH ATLANTIS:
It’s focused on the dolphin speed symbol, which is only marginally useful yet costs extra points anyway. Note, for example, how nearly every character with the symbol made since the debut of Special Powers also bears one granting other special abilities related to water terrain.
No STOPP/TOPPS “pit crew.” Absolutely devoid of Telekinesis and Outwit, it has only one Perplexer, only two Support healers, and Probability Control is only available through themed team bonus.
Almost no range at all and even less long range makes things hard in a range-focused game.
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THINGS THAT HELP ATLANTIS:
Watery maps. Make sure you have some. At a minimum, they gain you a bit of mobility advantage; more importantly, some of these characters’ powers depend upon water.
First, try to get the mostly water terrain Aruna Temple map from the BPRD Action Pack. Next wettest map is the Dockyard from the Starro Attacks event. Web of Spider-Man’s The Bridge is surrounded by water. The Dawn of Time from Crisis has a large river running through it (and if you play its Time Zones, the Kooey Kooey Kooey and Camelot zones offer a lot and a little water, respectively). Finally, the Castle Ruins (HorrorClix), Castle Doom Gardens (Fantastic Four) and Asgard (Hammer of Thor) all sport a fair amount of water.
Other maps also offer some water, but the trouble with many of these maps is that the water is either so minimal (see the Graveyard [The Brave and the Bold]) or remotely placed (as in The Lab (Armor Wars) or both (re: the Axis Chemical Plant [Icons]), the Training Complex and Institute Grounds [both Danger Room]) as to be tactically useless, or it’s so central that the water becomes a barrel shoot for snipers and Hypersonic hit-and-runners (Centennial Park Zoo [Icons]).
And, of course, many maps have no water at all, which is why you should always run…
Atlantis Rising. Once in a while in a Golden Age game, you’ll get stuck on a non-water map. Save this Battlefield Condition for that eventuality and hope your opponent doesn’t have his themed-team ignore function to spend. But even if you’re not able to use this card, all is not lost.
The Opened Hydrant special object. It gives you water on any map. Place it carefully! Indoor maps are best, as the water effect isn’t blocked by walls. Note that it only works on clear grounded terrain.
The Submerged feat. Moving through water is OK. Hiding in water is pretty awesome. On a Golden Age team this 5-point feat should be present on multiple characters.
Rip It Up. Although it’s a double-edged sword that keeps you from picking up heavy items, it’s still a way to make certain this Super Strength-laden keyword always has extra damage and/or range attack!
OK. Now for the characters.
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Below 50 points
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Rookie Aquaman (Hypertime): At 27 points, he’s by far the cheapest Atlantean in the game, and the only character in the whole game at that price point who can do 5 damage unaided by other characters. But his defense is a sad 15 or less with zero protection and he has no move and attack. Atlantis has no Telekinesis, so R Aquaman’s effectiveness is really blunted. Only use him if you A) don’t have the points for the next cheapest pieces in the Atlantis roster or B) just choose the better offense.
As he’s a Golden Age piece, you’ll want to use the Submerged feat, if anything, to help him survive long enough to maybe make that first strike. He’s also good as a dedicated Contingency Plan piece.
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Atlantean Warrior (Secret Invasion): Cons are low numbers and a difficult to use SP that offers him +2 Speed, Charge and Stealth in water (trouble is, Stealth still needs hindering terrain, and water terrain doesn’t count as such). But the newest “replace, then modify” rules give a healthy boost to his Charge power, and Toughness makes him a decent shield and tie-up piece against enemy shooters. Finally, whether playing Golden or Modern Age, these 35-point blue guys make good filler and themed-PC fodder (and work very well with certain other pieces in the Atlantis family…keep reading
). Feats probably aren’t wise, but
Lunge can make him more dangerous once he gets Close Combat Expert on click 2.
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Experienced Aquaman (Hypertime): Same story as the 27-point rookie, only you’re paying 9 more points — a full THIRD of the Rookie’s cost — to add JLA TA and a click of life, essentially. I totally wouldn’t bother.
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Rookie Aquaman (Icons): 39 points buys a lot more Toughness for a more survivable Atlantean. You’re trading away the good AV of the Hypertime Aquamen, though. He’s a decent tie-up piece, nothing more. Feats defeat his one strength of cheap survivability; don’t use them.
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Aqualad (Crisis): 40 points gives us another soft-shelled, short-lived swimmer. But his built-in super-Stealth in water makes him absolutely invaluable for the Atlantean cause. He blocks LOF to more important pieces while his Willpower makes him ever-ready to Charge with Super Strength at any targets forced to approach. It’s a rare event that you wouldn’t have at least one on an Atlantean team. No feats necessary in Golden Age; you don’t want to bloat his cheap cost. But if you simply must fill 8 points, Protected is good on Willpower characters.
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Veteran Aquaman (Hypertime): The first Aquaman to top 10 AV and perhaps worth running just for that in spite of the same playability issues as the other Hypertime Sea Kings. At 41 points, though, he’s beginning to eat up some real points, compared to them — especially if you feat him out with Submerged or Contingency Plan to max out his effectiveness.
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50-100 points
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Arthur Curry (Hypertime): The last of the Hypertime set, he spends 10 more points to add Willpower to his top-dial and Toughness/CCE to his back half. The former makes him a tiny bit more likely to maybe get that first strike off. The latter makes him a tougher KO than he ought to be. Sadly, though, his CCE is wasted on a terrible AV and his similarly weak DV means he will take fire before he can attack. Do you feat him with Protected to increase his chance to use that excellent top-dial 11 AV? Or just Submerged?
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Experienced Aquaman (Icons): Leadership, 10 AV, JLA TA and 4 range make this 56-point figure a huge upgrade over the Icons Rookie. Keep him Submerged so he can potentially snipe — or make a Contingency Plan — from watery cover.
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LE Garth (Crisis): For a massive 25-point increase over Aqualad, you get two more clicks of life with Toughness, the same Stealth-plus SP, and, 2nd click in, a SP granting him an extra supply of light objects for 65 points. Unfortunately, there’s a good chance all standard light objects will be carried — if there are any at all in this Modern Age of special objects — and he won’t get to use this. Tough to recommend him over the ‘Lad. Don’t bloat his cost further with feats in Golden Age.
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Aquaman (Justice League #101): Finally, an Aquaman that can first-strike! Solid DV SP gives the roster its cheapest (at 70 points) Invulnerability. The downside: an immediate downgrade to Toughness out of water. But when he can Charge from 6 out (thanks to the Surge SP), it’s not so bad. Use him as a 1-2 punch with other pieces. Submerged keeps him safe until he makes that Surge in Golden Age games.
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Arthur Curry (Justice League #105): Similar to his sculpt-mate above (though with only normal Charge), A.C. offers more Toughness after his Invulnerability-in-water SP runs out and, via his other SP, a shot at Regen or Close Combat Expert (but only in water) in lieu of the JLA TA. I never use him if I can use the same-cost Starro Aquaman, but he’s not bad. In Golden Age games, try Automatic Regeneration and Submerged to maximize his survivability end-dial.
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Veteran Aquaman (Icons): the first real Invulnerability piece on the roster, he still lacks that vital ability to move and attack. Unique in offering both Regen and Support end-dial, he does so with such low AV and DV numbers that neither is very usable. Once the cream of the Aqua-crop, he’s now just so much mediocre flotsam. Players determined to use him should consider (in addition to Submerged) Automatic Regeneration to help him gain a possible 2nd wind. He’s also a good (if expensive at 71 points) Contingency Planner.
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Namora (Hammer of Thor): Another lite Charging brick among the Atlanteans, she’s also the first flier and thus a valuable addition who can offer unprecedented mobility. She’s a little bit soft with only Toughness but sports the best average AV so far in the list BY far. In Golden Age, she needs no feats but Submerged works as well on her as any.
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Attuma (Secret Invasion): Despite his lone bit of extra Leadership and weird, highly situational SP Quake, Attuma is really the most traditional sort of brick, starting with the usual Charge+Super Strength+Invuln. combo and staying Tough down the line (with Combat Reflexes in water). I’d only bother with him in larger builds were he can be a 2nd attacker rather than a main one — his 4 Charge speed is a little sub-par for his 90-point price compared to the 5- and 6-range Charges Namora and Starro Aquaman are capable of for 14 and 20 points less, respectively.
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Above 100 points
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Aquaman (Brightest Day): This brand-new 105-point version of the character changes the game for Atlantis. Not only is he another solid Charging, Super Strong and Invulnerable attacker, but he also brings more skills to the theme:
- Close Combat Expert on the first half of his dial so that he can still deal 5 damage even after he’s used his heavy object;
- HSS-lite via his first-for-the-keyword transporter symbol;
- Another taxi (and one who can tote his own meat shields);
- The longest range attack of the theme via his mid-dial SP “Tentacle Whip” (when in water);
- Perma-line-of-fire to targets in water using same SP;
- Mind Control, contiguous with the SP ;
- the 2nd healer of the theme — one with a usable AV this time;
- and the biggie: “The Undead Sea,” a Trait that deals 2 damage to all enemies who helped KO an Atlantis member that turn. Suddenly those fragile but long-dialed HT Aquaman pieces and the tougher but short-lived Atlantean Warriors are no longer such inviting targets: either they’ll be mostly ignored for fear of the retaliation, making their tie-up/shielding role last longer, or they’ll draw the fire of tougher Invulnerable and Impervious enemies unafraid of the damage, leaving your bigger pieces alone. (Of those lesser pieces, I think I prefer the Atlantean Warriors. They have A) better movement values from water to better tie up foes, B) Toughness to better absorb multiple attacks, C) better-lasting average Attack Values as they take attacks, and D) a dial just long enough to absorb more than one attack in a turn, likely ensuring the feedback against multiple assailants — not all of whom may be able to weather it equally.)
As a Transporter, he can’t use Submerged, so he needs meat shields to protect him from range attack. His trait encourages you to build some onto the team and his SP helps him stay effective when hiding behind them and his Transporter ability helps him position them. Use Lunge instead to give him a hefty 7 Charge swing or even further reach with Move and Attack.
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Tempest (Crisis): Expensive (116 points) and soft-shelled, the former Aqualad is here for one reason: portable water terrain. His SP duplicates the Opened Hydrant effect, making him a must-run for water-dependent teammates like Starro Aquaman, Atlantean Warriors, Aqualad, Attuma and any Submerged pieces (of whom he should be one to ensure the SP never gets countered). His Mystics TA, Barrier, double-target 6 range (with Incap and Energy Explosion) and Perplex are welcome icing to this cake.
Rookie Sub-Mariner (Fantastic Forces): the first non-swimmer on the roster, R Subby offers basic brick and taxi skills. His best point is that he’s a wild card thanks to the Minions of Doom TA. Team him up with the also-116-point Tempest to copy Mystics or with one of the Atlantis characters with Defenders TA. No feats necessary.
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Namor (Fantastic Forces): Similarly, the 122-point LE of the Fantastic Forces REV offers a stronger and longer dial than the Rookie but no TA. No feats necessary, but Mercenary could be useful when teamed with Secret Invasion Namor.
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Experienced Sub-Mariner (Fantastic Forces): Identical to the LE, except sporting the Defenders TA, costing 8 more points and strangely missing the three mid-life clicks of Flurry appearing on every other version in this set. The Defenders TA is useless unless you use another, better Namor. Only use him on a team of all-Namors or something.
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Veteran Sub-Mariner (Fantastic Forces): The reigning king of the FF pieces, Vet Subby isn’t bad with a great Charge speed, AV and 16 Invulnerability. He also sports a whopping 11 clicks of life, all with damage reduction. His Avengers TA is quite useless for the Atlantis team, though in Golden Age he can use the Pym Particles feat to gain either a needed DV boost from ranged attack or (perferably) Giant status for when he finally makes his move from being Submerged. But for his 150-point cost even before those feats, you’re going to run the absolute king of Atlantis pieces instead…
Namor (Secret Invasion): This is the piece that showed everyone that Charge and Flurry are compatible powers. (Yeah, two of the Justice League Flashes did it first, but nobody cared.) He’s also the one that showed us a Flight character could be carried (as his SP grants him the Flight ability only, not the Wing symbol). Offering excellent defenses on the first half of his dial and massive offensive potential throughout, he singlehandedly makes the Atlantis keyword competitive. In Golden Age, Submerged and/or Fortitude are useful, as might be Automatic Regeneration for his very soft late clicks.
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Bystanders
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In a Modern Age game, you may need to fill some points…and that’s what Bystanders are for. But you want to pick some that won’t be hampered by all the water you should be playing in, especially since these pogs will likely be used to shield bigger pieces from being targeted.
Mera (Crisis): She’s a got good movement value of 8, but her 15 DV and 7 AV make her the least of the swimming pogs. For the same price of 6 points, Dolphin (Crisis) is her superior in Speed (9) and Attack (9). Seven points buys you Walter “Prof” Haley‘s 7 Speed, 8 Attack, 1 damage and 16 DV with Willpower. And because pogs don’t break your theme bonuses, you could fill a 6-point gap with the 10-square Phasing/Teleport Lila Cheney pog for even better effect. But she’s probably better for the next section.
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Non-Atlantis pieces of note (Modern Age)
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There are some pieces that lack the Atlantis keyword but could be useful on non-keyword-yet-thematic builds featuring dolphin speed characters:
Aquaman (Justice League common): Or “Aquanoob” as I like to call him. This 68-point Rookie lacks any keywords (being a recent and very uncomfortable newcomer to Atlantis) and so is no good for the bonuses. But his “Telepathic Communication” SP, which allows him to Perplex every other dolphin symbol character on his team (except himself), might be better than any number of theme team bonuses. With Charge (on both ends of his dial), Super Strength (and later, Blades/Claws/Fangs) and “Parry” (Super Senses against close combat), he’s OK in a fight, too. In Golden Age, keep him safe in the first part of the battle with Submerged if possible. Loner is a good investment, too.
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Black Manta (Arkham Asylum): Also 68 points, this archenemy to Aquaman offers enough to the theme to possibly overlook his blood feud with the hero. The first dolphin Transporter, he has 6-range Psychic Blast (later, Super Strength) and “Pirate,” granting him Perplex of himself or other swimmers only. In Modern Age, try to fit on the Yellow Lantern, which, along with his self-Perplex, can negate his Move & Attack penalty completely. In Golden Age, Loner fits perfectly.
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Mera (Blackest Night): 85 points buys another taxi for the team — one that can Charge in with 11 AV to deal 4 damage without so much as an object in sight. The Red Lantern is great for her Battle Fury. In Golden Age, she can use Submerged (she bears the dolphin symbol in a trait along with her dial’s wing symbol) and Loner.
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Triton: He’s good as a character who can hide in the water like Aqualad. Even better is his ability to deal a click of damage free to adjacent foes in the water with him at the end of his turn. At 72 points, he’s pretty costly for this, though. With only the Inhumans keyword, he qualifies for Loner.
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Thor, Frog of Thunder: Though not an actual swimmer, this chase figure has two Special Powers that work super in water. First is another Submerged-like power (though it also grants true Stealth as well). The other deals 1 damage to all enemies in or bordering water like a 6-square-ranged Poison. For this reason, Armor Piercing is probably the best choice of feat for him. But heck…if you’ve got the 3 points left over, why not use the brand-new Frog Legs feat to make him a true swimmer anyway?
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King Shark (Justice League): Though his 9 AV seems a bit weak for a 100-point figure, his above-par 18 DV makes up for it a bit. Better still is the Suicide Squad TA, which could grant a second wind when played with the fragile low-point pieces in this theme. Played with the Red Lantern will bump his Battle Fury-ous 3 damage to a whopping 4, leaving no need for his B/C/F. He’s also a comic-accurate theme player along with Aquanoob, if you care about that sort of thing.
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Two more:
Stingray (Avengers): A 29-point tie-up piece, he should only be used if you’ve broken theme already and can’t fit one of the other below-50-pointers on.
Namor (Avengers): Unless you just want to run an all-Namor team for some reason and don’t care about the theme bonuses (as this one lacks keywords), you should never field this 151 piece when there are two superior version of Namor.
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Non-Atlantis pieces of note (Golden Age)
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I don’t want to go into a lot of depth here, but just for completeness’ sake, don’t overlook these swimming characters:
Abe Sapien (BPRD): Stealthy wild card with some range and Leadership, he gets better on click two with identical stats and Perplex.
Veteran Badoon Commander (Supernova): Good for his range, Enhancement (for the few other shooters of Atlantis) and Smoke Cloud (to give Atlantean Warriors their Stealth). 37 points.
Captain Mako (City of Villains): One of the best indy clix ever, this 52-point chomper offers the Arachnos TA and good damage potential with Charge, Exploit Weakness, BCF and Flurry (though not at the same time).
Veteran Vixen (Collateral Damage): Plenty of damage potential here, too, but a Stealthy and free-moving JLA piece for 44 points.
Experienced OMAC (Collateral Damage): Brings wildcarded Outwit and Stealth to the fishies (though at a not-cheap 83 points).
Experienced Hydro-Man (Sinister): 17 DV with Defend on his first click is his drawing point. Only use him if you have a lot of 16 or below DV pieces worth spending the 57 points on this 1-click-wonder.
Veteran Marrina (Armor Wars): 9 clicks for only 55 points makes for a heckuva tie-up blocker. Too bad there’s no Mastermind in Atlantis yet. Her starting values and persistent Battle Fury might make her too unwieldy, though.
Diablo (Critical Mass): Definitely the oddball of the theme, and a WAY bit too costly at 110 points. But he’s got 8 range, three targets and Outwit. But if it’s swimming Outwit you want…
Unique Abbey Chase (Indy): …this is your gal, for 54 points. She’s Stealthy, too, with 6 range and dodgy with Danger Girls TA and Super Senses.
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Well, that’s about all I’ve got on this subject. 😉
Enjoy team-building and have a nice swim, ‘Clixers!
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