HeroClix Fans!
We appreciate that everyone has such strong feelings about HeroClix and are excited to work with the community to improve our plans. This week’s rules articles have been some of the most discussed HeroClix topics in recent memory. Our intent was to begin our explanation of the rules changes with what we believe are the biggest changes coming to HeroClix.
Let’s jump right in on pushing damage.
One of the tactical moments in HeroClix that we are addressing is knowing when to push your character in order to access a new kit of powers. It does have a lot of strategic tradeoffs but it is also a rule that is cumbersome when applied to every figure, worked around in a lot of cases and a wall that must be climbed for the early player.
Part of the reason such a scenario is unlikely to be a learning moment for players is that such an opportunity is subtle – it’s baked into the dial design and not spelled out in any way.
We hear you loud and clear that this is a huge benefit to experienced players.
Given the amount of feedback we’re receiving, and the fact that utilizing changes in the dial is intrinsic to HeroClix, in the future we’ll absolutely ensure that we are designing figures in future sets that explicitly have self-damaging abilities to allow players to pivot through their abilities. Frankly, this is how it should have been from the beginning; subtle expert level play applied to a subset of figures rather than universally across all figures.
We also want to put some players’ minds at ease to see some of the changes we’re implementing and provide errata to two characters who need to keep pushing damage:
Armor (UNNAMED TRAIT) – If [c] is on a starting click and given an action token, after resolutions you may deal [c] 1 unavoidable damage.
Immortal Hulk (UNNAMED TRAIT) – If [c] is on a starting click and given an action token, after resolutions you may deal [c] 1 unavoidable damage.
We may add some more figures to the list above, please be patient with us as we process this great feedback and continue to roll out our plans for changes to the rules.
We also wanted to apply a general errata to all characters that have Colossal Stamina printed as part of a trait or special powers:
Characters with Colossal Stamina have the same game play as Colossal Stamina from the 2017 Core Rules and PAC.
These errata will be on the HeroClix Rules Forum for reference in the future so fans don’t need to track down this article. Colossal Stamina will not be used as a keyphrase moving forward but will appear as a previous rule in the HeroClix Comprehensive Rules for 2021.
Diving into the topic of benched powers
We’ve been diligent to make sure that characters in upcoming sets continue to fill all of the roles that a HeroClix team will need, and we also wanted to take the fan feedback into account. While we began by putting 14 powers onto the bench for a few sets, moving forward we’re going to put fewer powers onto the bench (probably about 6). We’ll be shifting which powers are benched. We’re also going to treat the bench more as a guideline than a rule – we had already made an exception in a set that’s been designed to treat Shape Change within a Team Ability as an exception. Also important is that some players have reacted as if their existing characters with these abilities won’t have them any longer – that isn’t the case, characters that have Perplex on their dial or in their traits will still be able to utilize it. We’re trying to keep sets fresh and new for all players and rotating mechanics in and out of modern helps in this goal.
We also want to note that as we pull back a bit on the concept of benching powers, the 2021 HeroClix sets have already been designed, playtested and in some cases printed with the original list of benched powers. HOWEVER… even though you will not see those powers on dials in these sets, we believe that the figures in the sets are great representations of the characters in both theme and game play. Of course, the best way to show this is to preview a few of the figures so you can judge them yourself (below).
We appreciate that despite some people having strong feelings about these changes, they’re thoughtfully considering the information we’re putting out there and allowing us to hear their concerns. HeroClix is more than a game, it’s a community that we care deeply about and hope to continue to bring great experiences to.
Thank you again for your trust and patience and we look forward to hearing additional feedback on the upcoming information starting again on Monday.
To see everything we’ve revealed so far for the 2021 rules update and Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary, check here.
