Heroclixin' ...it's all about F.U.N.

Finally, the top two figures that need a remake. These make people say: “Did you even read the actual comic?”

Lady Shiva

She’s the DCU’s premier martial artist, second to none. But when she was made way back in the second DC set, Cosmic Justice, she only rated a 9 Attack Value that sank to eights, sevens and even an unthinkable 6 AV.

Second to none? Maybe second to the worst.

If the character existed in the real world, the quite amoral Lady Shiva would probably kill the designer with a heart-stopping death palm just to make a statement.

Redesigning Shiva shouldn’t be hard. It’d be as simple as taking the best non-superpowered martial artist HeroClix figure in the game, giving her the same abilities and then juicing up the stats some. Think GG Gamora, but a little less super.

But there ought to be some aspect of Shiva’s “alpha-predator-of-the-martial-arts” ferocity in there, somehow. Perhaps a trait that A) forces -1 AV to all non-Martial Artist foes against her and B) forces her to attack or attempt to base the highest-point Martial Artist on the other team and scores extra points if she KOs it.

In any case, fixing Lady Shiva would correct the second greatest miss in HeroClix design history, making her Heroclixin’s #2 most needed remake.

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The #1 FAIL, though?

Marvel Boy The Uranian

This Agent of Atlas, as seen in Hammer of Thor, is as poorly made a figure as we’ve ever seen in HeroClix:

• The name’s wrong. The character had stopped calling himself “Marvel Boy” decades ago. He goes by the code “The Uranian” now, in homage to his adopted homeworld of Uranus (…it’s a long story).
• The sculpt’s wrong. Not only has he long stopped using his red-and-blue costume of the ’50s, but it also was bare-legged, not blue-trousered as in the HeroClix figure.
• The powers are wrong. As Marvel Boy, he was kinda your basic flying brick via his energy- and gravity-manipulating wristbands. The HeroClix figure doesn’t reflect much of that at all. As The Uranian, he’s more of a psychic, with telepathic powers and strong illusion-casting abilities. The HeroClix figure doesn’t reflect much of that at all, either.

Uranian’s other chief contribution to the team is his mentally controlled spaceship that serves as their transport. If only there were a way to symbolize that in HeroClix.

Oh, there is, you say?

“LEAPFROG: Chase Stein can use Leap/Climb. Chase Stein can use the Carry ability to carry up to eight friendly characters that must have the Kid, Runaways, or Teen keyword. Chase Stein can carry friendly characters with the Runaways keyword regardless of their attack and speed symbols. Chase Stein’s speed value is not modified by the Carry ability.”

Wow. And it was in the VERY SAME SET. Instead, Marvel Boy got a horribad SP that does nothing but bloat his cost to an unusable 102 points of ineffectiveness — especially with his 9 and 8 AVs:

“TELEPATHIC PROJECTION: Marvel Boy can use Mind Control. After a successful attack by Marvel Boy using Mind Control, he can use Incapacitate as a free action targeting the same character.”

Really. Every other member of the team is a decent piece. How did this solitary one go so incredibly wrong in every way?

A proper Uranian would have some frontloaded Outwit or Perplex (or both), the ability to carry multiples of his Atlas teammates a la Chase Stein’s power above (complete with some damage reducers for the ship’s hull and Ranged Combat Expert for his ship’s big gun, the Meteor Smasher) and, of course, a more proper sculpt, as seen near the end of My Custom Mods series. In the comics, he’s very much the linchpin of the team as the backfield support figure.

For just plain comic accuracy AND game playability, Marvel Boy / The Uranian is Heroclixin’s number one needed remake.

Patriot

Once a surprise hit of a team, the Young Avengers are rather thinned out these days, and Patriot’s actually left the team. He and his crew are a decent cautionary tale in HeroClix for “too much, too soon.” We got them too early in both their careers and in the Special Powers era of ‘Clix. The quintet introduced in 2007’s Avengers set are all underpowered and barely playable:

• Giant-girl Stature is both in the wrong costume and lacks even the basic giant-size brick powers of damage reduction (ANY!) and her AV is possibly the worst overall in the game for 50 points. She does have some use as a giant taxi and Plasticity-boosted tie-up, and her dial is long.
• Iron Lad is a design fail, too. While his AV is appropriately low, he ought to have much better damage numbers. That said, Invulnerability + Shape Change is a decent defense.
• Hulking is a hulking mass of powers wasted on horrid combat values. But the Invulnerability + Shape Change is even better on him, allowing him to soak a lot of attacks, and he can deal a lot of damage.
• His BF Wiccan is the useful one — Enhancement super-taxi that pushes to Prob Control (and how they need it) and Support) — but like his mom Scarlet Witch, he’s underpowered.

It’s  their leader Patriot who’s the most in need of a redo, though. His dial is a hot mess like the others’ but, as I’ve recounted above, each of them still brings a strength to the team.

Patriot?

He starts with Battle Fury, representing his short-lived addiction to the Mutant Growth Hormone drug to give himself powers. But the enhanced battle ability is nowhere apparent in the 8 Attack. Moreover, Energy Shield/Deflection on a 15 DV for a character with no range is unfortunate. He can’t even be carried to serve as a meatshield by any of the taxis. He has a single solid click in #2, with improved stats across the board — well, except for damage slipping from 3 to 2. The Leadership he gets is wasted on a team full of free-moving Avengers who also all cost more than him. His DV slides from a good 17 Toughness to a crap 15 and lower to 12 Combat Reflexes…blech.

So, to recap: he’s poor at tie-up. No range. Can’t be carried. Leadership too low. Short-lived with poor DV. Good at nothing, really.

By the end of the initial Young Avengers series, he’s gotten a transfusion of the Super Soldier Serum from his grandfather (Captain America (Secret Invasion 019)) and he’s a much more capable hero.

In fact, a dial a lot like his grandpa’s would be ideal. Toughness from the shield, Charge and Flurry for the fighting skill (the long run of 9 AV being solid, too), some Willpower later with the DV to make it work, and, most of all, some Leadership up front — perhaps a SP version that works better with Young Avengers, to make them the force they can be, and finish the job that Secret Invasion’s Hawkeye started (and to build on what upcoming member Speed in Chaos War may bring to the team).

Bettering the Young Avengers. It’s a worthy goal and is why Patriot is Heroclixin’s #4 Needed Remake.

Captain Cold

I mean, Weather Wiz is a bit of a terror in the comics, and none of the others are pushovers, either. Yet all of them hold a healthy respect for Captain Cold, and it’s time he got a dial that shows why he’s the unquestioned, if unofficial, leader of the Rogues.

• Leadership is a must. A boosted version for Rogues would be key.
• He’s got to have the usual ice powers — Incapacitate, Barrier — but they need to be juiced somehow, or made cheaper. There are plenty of example Special Powers that could be lifted and applied to Mr. Snart here (such as Icicle (Justice League)’s “Copsicles” SP). If WizKids would just go ahead and make Incap worth its points by using my suggestion — that an Incapped character can’t make free actions — it’d be fine. But since they haven’t, maybe Cold should get the first shot at the Incap upgrade. Running Shot is also a must — and it’d be neat if he could use Barrier instead of shooting with it.
• A representation of his “cold field,” a subtle use of his freeze gun that slows molecular movement (including the Flash’s super speed) that could make him a silver bullet to moving attack powers similar to Star Boy or Harry Leland. But it should to be connected to an action instead of being a passive power.
• Finally, he needs excellent combat values. As he’s said, he’s a fellow who tangles with a guy who moves close to the speed of light. Normal-reflexed characters shouldn’t stand much of a chance.

He doesn’t play too well with non-Rogues, so it’s the only keyword he’d need. And no team symbol would save points for all the costly powers he needs to hover around 100 points. A Captain Cold that chills opponents’ hearts across the table is Heroclixin’s #3 Most Needed Remake.

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Next are a pair that sorta proxy for their whole crew but happen to be the one most in need of remake for one reason or another.

Chameleon Boy

The Legion of Super-Heroes roster somewhat resists calls for remakes, in that there are so many Legionnaires yet to be made at all (Ferro Lad, White Witch, Blok, Quislet, Chemical King, Comet Queen, to name just a few)!

Still, there have been a number of misfires on the team described as “The Justice League of the future.” The three founders — Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl — were little more than one-trick-pony wildcards in the set they appeared in, Cosmic Justice. That unfortunate trend extended to the next DC set, Unleashed, and its key Legionnaire representative, Chameleon.

Chameleon is a Durlan, an alien race of shapeshifters like Skrulls but even better at it. Cham is one of the most powerful and deserves a dial with the following abilities:

• Shape Change, and a lot of it. Preferably, he’d have a double dip of it like many Skrulls do. Better yet, he ought to have a version that’s not actually called Shape Change to make him a minor silver bullet to Battle Fury and WoS Bullseye. 🙂 Another idea: When targeted by the same character since last turn, he gets a +1 to one of his quasi-Shape Change rolls.
• Chameleon Boy can transform to hulking brontopoids or miniscule alien insects. It’d be nice to see his extreme shapeshifting powers reflected in an ability to pick Great Size or Tiny Size for a round.
• In fact, it might be interesting to see a new Cham with a “pick-the-click-you-want” ability like Xavin (Galactic Guardians 022). In any case, he ought to have a rainbow dial or one loaded with Special Powers to represent his extreme adaptability.

As leader of the Legion Espionage Squad, Cham would have the Spy keyword in addition to the usual Future, Legion of Super-Heroes, and maybe Teen keywords. He’s the #6 most-needed remake.

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It’s not just Marvel and DC where remakes are needed. In fact, just about EVERY Indy character could stand to have a new dial, as they have not aged well at all.

But truth be told, a majority of the Indy set characters aren’t even in print any more. CrossGen, 2000 A.D., Danger Girls are all in limbo to various degrees and reasons.

But one Indy line has continued for a good long run and could use a massive upgrade:

Invincible

The Mark Grayson we got back in 2007 was quite decent for the time and point in the rookie hero’s career. He was a lite Hypersonic brick who couldn’t put up much of a real fight against his much more powerful and seasoned dad, Omni-Man.

But now, Invincible has tangled with world-beaters on the same level as his father and come out on top (though always, ALWAYS the worse for wear). So Invincible deserves a proper upgrade around 200 points, with the following key design points:

• A full-speed Charge rather than top-dial Hypersonic Speed. Better to bury the latter a few clicks in, IMO.
• Battle Fury. It’s in his blood.

Of course, it wouldn’t make any sense to just redo ‘Vince when there’s a whole vibrant universe of great characters to share a set with. Whether a six- or seven-piece Fast Forces or a full-blown 60-figure set, Invincible ought to have friends (and foes). He’s the #5 most needed remake in Heroclixin’s book.

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Tomorrow, two more who top the list of characters in their keyword needing another look.