Post by Robot on Aug 8, 2016 15:10:35 GMT
Overview: It's been a very long time since I began these reviews, and I haven't been particularly consistent with my pacing. We're into Specialist Team classes now though, so there's a win! Stat Ace is one of three in this category. More accurately it's five of 28 classes in the specialist team category. Hobbyist made me cry, but I got encouraging pats to the shoulders and told I could do it. I was up at 3 am making chocolate pudding, I've lost control of my life. At any rate, each Stat Ace improves a Pokemon's abilities to make use of a particular stat by both broadening and deepening the usefulness of a particular stat's investments. Naysayers might 'Ohhh but clearly Robot is all about the Attacking Stats, I see where this is going.' Nah. They all have their own merits and purposes. It's called a specialist team for a reason.
Pros
-Command Core Skill
-Grants Moves off list, stat dependent.
-Grants Abilities temporarily without costing AP.
-Gears any team towards a purpose.
-Pairs well with Type Ace for hard theming.
Cons
-Specialization always costs you somewhere, be it in features or particular weaknesses.
-Features have different weights depending on stat specialization.
-3 Mon with a stat at 20 makes Stat Ace a late entry class unless GM expressly makes gen rules to permit it, or handwaves that prerequisite.
Base Feature: Ignore base relations associated with the chosen stat, and grants +1 to that stat for every ten levels your Pokemon possesses. Total gain of +10 over 100 levels, most games won't see the majority of these though. +3-+5 Is what you're likely to see in live games that start low if they run long enough, in a Play By Post environment, barring a very experience liberal DM, +2-+3. My cynicism might be showing here, but the struggle is real.
Stat Link: For 1 AP, as a Free Action, if your Pokemon's chosen stat is at it's default value or lower, increase it by +1. Stat Boosters increase the Default to +1, as does Ace Trainer. Allows you to reach +2 at no action cost, which is very good. +40% to a stat for zero effort is relative earlier and stays relative at all stages of the game. Speed Stages will sit you on +1 Movement Modes, in addition to flat numerical bonuses at this level, something to note.
Stat Training: For 1 Tutor Point and learns one of two moves (it can learn both). Stat Ace allows you to teach a Pokemon a move it cannot learn by levelup, egg list, TM, or Tutor. This, and Dancer's Choreography are the only ways to teach off-list moves to memory. The two stage boosts available here are very strong, and since they are status moves that don't target an enemy, can be used alongside Trickster's Daily to get an extra standard at-will attack as a followup. Combined with the features listed so far, this will usually be a DB 10-12 offensively or defensively at a +4, preserving action economy.
-Attack Ace gets Swords Dance, beautiful for physical sweepers and not always available. Some strong physical attackers don't get access to this , Chronicler can only tutor one move per target, so that leaves the expensive TM option for Pokemon that don't already get it naturally. The other move is Rage, which if you have the defensive stats to take more than one hit can be somewhat useful, but the move itself is very very weak. A normal type with Technician might make decent use of it, like Cinccino or Meowth.
-Defense Aces gets Iron Defense, good booster for physical walls and far less common then Swords Dance. Once you exceed a 30 value your evasion caps, and anything beyond is just damage soak. With Stat Link, Ace Trainer or a Booster, and a single standard action your stat of choice jumps to +4. It should be clear by now why these classes can get scary and quickly. Further, the more points you invest in the stat of choice, the more potent this initial turn of setup becomes. Defense Ace also gets access to Reflect, which if tutored cross-team, makes your Pokemon into wonderful anti-physical supports, capable of keeping blessings up damn near constantly on your allied party with proper switching.
-Special Attack Ace gets Nasty Plot, the special equivalent of Swords Dance. This move isn't available by TM normally, unlike it's physical counterpart, and arrived a full generation later in the video games. As a result it is on far fewer lists then Swords Dance, so being able to tutor the move is choice. The alternative move being Hidden Power is unfortunate, since you don't know the typing until you have it, it's a fairly weak burst, and may not be worthwhile for the waste of a tutor point.
-Special Defense Ace gets Amnesia, good booster for special walls and less common then Iron Defense. Since Poison and Burn both lower Combat Stages, Stat Ace is capable of boosting to a level that it can actually ignore these drops, but curing the statii is probably a better option. Same goes for Paralysis for Speed Ace. It's other is Light Screen, the special equivalent of Reflect, and as above is a very good thing to have cross team.
-Speed Ace gets Agility, for another +2 Speed Stages and +1 Movement, more damage on Electroball or Rider's capstone, and After You. Being a Swift Action, and Pokemon not having hardly anything to take advantage of this, twice per battle, per sanic, you can let an ally go immediately after it's turn. This effect is a lot stronger then people give it credit for, and should not be overlooked.
Stat Maneuver: Once per Scene you can;
-Attack Ace: If you want to have a frontal cleave, or a trample, Attack Ace is for you. A Melee 1-Target becomes a Melee, Pass or a Melee 3-Targets. Gives some AoE potential to stronger moves such as Megahorn, Wild Charge, Brave Bird, and so on. Requires enemies to group up to really take advantage of.
-Defense Ace: Reactively take a Physical hit as though you were at +6 stages instead of your current value. Will likely be triggered every scene, unless every opponent is a special attacker, or all the physical hits are so babby weak that they can't actually touch your already swol defenses from your other features. Good if you get hazed, or clear smog'd.
-Special Attack Ace: Special AoEs become differently shaped special AoEs. Helps ensure that you catch as many enemies as possible in your area of effect. If you are already sitting on top of a lot of area moves it may or may not have use. Like Attack Ace, relies on your enemies grouping up to really take advantage of it. Does not get access to Ranged Blast as an option, notably.
-Special Defense Ace: Reactively take a Special hit as though you were at +6 stages instead of your current value. See Defense Ace.
-Speed Ace: Use any move as Priority, or a Priority move as Priority (Advanced). Similar to the Juggler Feature 'First Blood'. Probably the strongest option out of the set just on sheer versatility. Doesn't require enemy positioning, doesn't require your Pokemon to be hit by a physical or special move.
Stat Mastery: Passive Bonuses to your Pokemon dependent on stats as follows;
-Attack Ace: Attack Ace makes your Pokemon's Push, Disarm, or Dirty Trick Maneuvers force an opponent to lose a tick of hitpoints. Good when paired with Trickster for the 1 AP free action Dirty Tricks for a little bit of damage to go with your twinned statuses. Disarm is a poor option because Thief exists and is common somewhere in movelists, also teachable via Tutoring. Push is situational at best.
-Defense Ace: Stare stoically and don't look at explosions. Gain five DR if you don't move. Great for holding chokepoints, or on a Pokemon that wants to pretend it's Bastion from Overwatch. DR is always nice on any Pokemon.
-Special Attack Ace: Pokemon's range with special attacks increased by +2. Almost allows for kiting? Haven't actually tested this, but raises the average range on a core special attacker to around 10. Paired with Longshot from Marksman orders it can get a little silly. Not a must have, but useful.
-Special Defense Ace: Tick Damage reduced by 5 points to a minimum of 1. Allows HP stacking on special walls without fear of the counter to HP stacking. At a tick value of 10 (100 hp) you're effectively halving damage from a source every time you take it. Probably hilarious on something like Guts Flareon after it's poisoned.
-Speed Ace: Your Pokemon can disengage as a swift action. Permits far more battlefield mobility without provoking AoOs. Disengage as a swift, then move away to wherever you need to be to assist in soaking damage, intercepting, making ranged attacks, choosing targets, and so on.
Stat Embodiment 1 AP, Swift Action, Grants one of two Abilities to your Pokemon for the duration of the Scene. Can only ever grant one of the two, and not both, sadly.
-Attack Ace: Sheer Force or Defiant - Both useful. Sheer force strips secondary effects on moves, which are both less common and tend to have smaller ranges on physical attacks. Defiant requires your opponent take options that lower your combat stages, so Sheer Force is the more competitive pick out of the pair.
-Defense Ace: Filter or Battle Armor - Protection from weaknesses, or critical builds. Absolutely shuts down some setups that lean on sniper and high critical moves. Allows your wall to wall for that much longer and wait out Toxic or whatever else you might be stalling for.
-Special Attack Ace: Tinted Lens or Competitive - Resisted hits are less resisted one step, and the special version of Defiant. Allows you to continue landing consistent high damage but unlike Sheer Force which grants more raw damage, Tinted Lens is a contingency for Pokemon with smaller movepools that are more likely to land resisted hits. Ideally if you're going Special Attack Ace, the team consists of sweeper Pokemon with varied movepools. Of the five, this is possibly the weakest.
-Special Defense Ace: Gives Multiscale or Tolerance - First hit greatly reduced, or resisted hits resisted one step further. Tolerance is excellent on Pokemon that have good defensive typing. Multiscale is good on literally anything as long as it is at full health when the ability is applied. Like the difference between Attack and Special Attack Ace, these choices have more of an all-rounder feel to them to Defense Ace's specialized feel. The former has crit negation because there is only a single high crit special move (Razor Wind) to all of the pass attacks that physical carries.
-Speed Ace: Speed Boost or Vanguard - Gain a Speed stage every turn, or do a small amount of bonus damage if you are faster then your target. The +5 Damage from Vanguard is actually close to comparable to the average damage increase that Sheer Force grants. As with everything else Speed Ace grants, very useful from a generalist standpoint. Also synergies well with the rest of Speed Ace's features.
Stat Stratagem: Bind 2 AP, is an Orders feature, so it applies to things that Commander can do! Gives a static bonus based on the number of positive combat stages you have in your chosen stat. As stated earlier it is very easy to reach +4 in a stat, +6 if you happen to be Speed Ace and run Speed Boost.
-Attack: +1 Crit Range/2 Attack CS. Hits the +5 Crit Range with Commander's Voice/Brutal at little action cost, at +6 Attack CS. Magic number is 6, but it's still really good. Crit is only useful if you are good at dice though, situational bonuses are a risk reward choice in tabletop, always.
-Defense: +2 Saves/2 Defense CS. Applies only to Paralysis, Freeze, and Sleep. That's fine! It's a really great option, stacks with Enduring Soul's +2, and remains strong with the changes to the statuses coming into effect through the playtest packet. Saves you from having your action economy screwed harder then it needs to be.
-Special Attack: +1 Effect Range/2 Special Attack CS. As above with regards to risk/benefit and overall range with only minimal investment.
-Special Defense: +2 Saves/2 Special Defense CS. Applies only to Infatuate, Rage, and Confusion. Prevents some unwanted damage, allows you to continue to keep your choice of targets and attacks. Unfortunately, Enrage and Infatuation effects are far less common then Sleep and Paralysis are for Defense. Less useful, but still useful.
-Speed: +1 Movement/+2 CS, stacking with the +1 Movement/+2 CS that is already out there. Meaning at +6 Speed you are adding 6 to Overland. Sprint is +8. Poke Edge is +10, Agility Training and Orders +12, +13 if Rider. Run Up? .... Run Up. Where you are going, you don't need roads.
Pros
-Command Core Skill
-Grants Moves off list, stat dependent.
-Grants Abilities temporarily without costing AP.
-Gears any team towards a purpose.
-Pairs well with Type Ace for hard theming.
Cons
-Specialization always costs you somewhere, be it in features or particular weaknesses.
-Features have different weights depending on stat specialization.
-3 Mon with a stat at 20 makes Stat Ace a late entry class unless GM expressly makes gen rules to permit it, or handwaves that prerequisite.
Base Feature: Ignore base relations associated with the chosen stat, and grants +1 to that stat for every ten levels your Pokemon possesses. Total gain of +10 over 100 levels, most games won't see the majority of these though. +3-+5 Is what you're likely to see in live games that start low if they run long enough, in a Play By Post environment, barring a very experience liberal DM, +2-+3. My cynicism might be showing here, but the struggle is real.
Stat Link: For 1 AP, as a Free Action, if your Pokemon's chosen stat is at it's default value or lower, increase it by +1. Stat Boosters increase the Default to +1, as does Ace Trainer. Allows you to reach +2 at no action cost, which is very good. +40% to a stat for zero effort is relative earlier and stays relative at all stages of the game. Speed Stages will sit you on +1 Movement Modes, in addition to flat numerical bonuses at this level, something to note.
Stat Training: For 1 Tutor Point and learns one of two moves (it can learn both). Stat Ace allows you to teach a Pokemon a move it cannot learn by levelup, egg list, TM, or Tutor. This, and Dancer's Choreography are the only ways to teach off-list moves to memory. The two stage boosts available here are very strong, and since they are status moves that don't target an enemy, can be used alongside Trickster's Daily to get an extra standard at-will attack as a followup. Combined with the features listed so far, this will usually be a DB 10-12 offensively or defensively at a +4, preserving action economy.
-Attack Ace gets Swords Dance, beautiful for physical sweepers and not always available. Some strong physical attackers don't get access to this , Chronicler can only tutor one move per target, so that leaves the expensive TM option for Pokemon that don't already get it naturally. The other move is Rage, which if you have the defensive stats to take more than one hit can be somewhat useful, but the move itself is very very weak. A normal type with Technician might make decent use of it, like Cinccino or Meowth.
-Defense Aces gets Iron Defense, good booster for physical walls and far less common then Swords Dance. Once you exceed a 30 value your evasion caps, and anything beyond is just damage soak. With Stat Link, Ace Trainer or a Booster, and a single standard action your stat of choice jumps to +4. It should be clear by now why these classes can get scary and quickly. Further, the more points you invest in the stat of choice, the more potent this initial turn of setup becomes. Defense Ace also gets access to Reflect, which if tutored cross-team, makes your Pokemon into wonderful anti-physical supports, capable of keeping blessings up damn near constantly on your allied party with proper switching.
-Special Attack Ace gets Nasty Plot, the special equivalent of Swords Dance. This move isn't available by TM normally, unlike it's physical counterpart, and arrived a full generation later in the video games. As a result it is on far fewer lists then Swords Dance, so being able to tutor the move is choice. The alternative move being Hidden Power is unfortunate, since you don't know the typing until you have it, it's a fairly weak burst, and may not be worthwhile for the waste of a tutor point.
-Special Defense Ace gets Amnesia, good booster for special walls and less common then Iron Defense. Since Poison and Burn both lower Combat Stages, Stat Ace is capable of boosting to a level that it can actually ignore these drops, but curing the statii is probably a better option. Same goes for Paralysis for Speed Ace. It's other is Light Screen, the special equivalent of Reflect, and as above is a very good thing to have cross team.
-Speed Ace gets Agility, for another +2 Speed Stages and +1 Movement, more damage on Electroball or Rider's capstone, and After You. Being a Swift Action, and Pokemon not having hardly anything to take advantage of this, twice per battle, per sanic, you can let an ally go immediately after it's turn. This effect is a lot stronger then people give it credit for, and should not be overlooked.
Stat Maneuver: Once per Scene you can;
-Attack Ace: If you want to have a frontal cleave, or a trample, Attack Ace is for you. A Melee 1-Target becomes a Melee, Pass or a Melee 3-Targets. Gives some AoE potential to stronger moves such as Megahorn, Wild Charge, Brave Bird, and so on. Requires enemies to group up to really take advantage of.
-Defense Ace: Reactively take a Physical hit as though you were at +6 stages instead of your current value. Will likely be triggered every scene, unless every opponent is a special attacker, or all the physical hits are so babby weak that they can't actually touch your already swol defenses from your other features. Good if you get hazed, or clear smog'd.
-Special Attack Ace: Special AoEs become differently shaped special AoEs. Helps ensure that you catch as many enemies as possible in your area of effect. If you are already sitting on top of a lot of area moves it may or may not have use. Like Attack Ace, relies on your enemies grouping up to really take advantage of it. Does not get access to Ranged Blast as an option, notably.
-Special Defense Ace: Reactively take a Special hit as though you were at +6 stages instead of your current value. See Defense Ace.
-Speed Ace: Use any move as Priority, or a Priority move as Priority (Advanced). Similar to the Juggler Feature 'First Blood'. Probably the strongest option out of the set just on sheer versatility. Doesn't require enemy positioning, doesn't require your Pokemon to be hit by a physical or special move.
Stat Mastery: Passive Bonuses to your Pokemon dependent on stats as follows;
-Attack Ace: Attack Ace makes your Pokemon's Push, Disarm, or Dirty Trick Maneuvers force an opponent to lose a tick of hitpoints. Good when paired with Trickster for the 1 AP free action Dirty Tricks for a little bit of damage to go with your twinned statuses. Disarm is a poor option because Thief exists and is common somewhere in movelists, also teachable via Tutoring. Push is situational at best.
-Defense Ace: Stare stoically and don't look at explosions. Gain five DR if you don't move. Great for holding chokepoints, or on a Pokemon that wants to pretend it's Bastion from Overwatch. DR is always nice on any Pokemon.
-Special Attack Ace: Pokemon's range with special attacks increased by +2. Almost allows for kiting? Haven't actually tested this, but raises the average range on a core special attacker to around 10. Paired with Longshot from Marksman orders it can get a little silly. Not a must have, but useful.
-Special Defense Ace: Tick Damage reduced by 5 points to a minimum of 1. Allows HP stacking on special walls without fear of the counter to HP stacking. At a tick value of 10 (100 hp) you're effectively halving damage from a source every time you take it. Probably hilarious on something like Guts Flareon after it's poisoned.
-Speed Ace: Your Pokemon can disengage as a swift action. Permits far more battlefield mobility without provoking AoOs. Disengage as a swift, then move away to wherever you need to be to assist in soaking damage, intercepting, making ranged attacks, choosing targets, and so on.
Stat Embodiment 1 AP, Swift Action, Grants one of two Abilities to your Pokemon for the duration of the Scene. Can only ever grant one of the two, and not both, sadly.
-Attack Ace: Sheer Force or Defiant - Both useful. Sheer force strips secondary effects on moves, which are both less common and tend to have smaller ranges on physical attacks. Defiant requires your opponent take options that lower your combat stages, so Sheer Force is the more competitive pick out of the pair.
-Defense Ace: Filter or Battle Armor - Protection from weaknesses, or critical builds. Absolutely shuts down some setups that lean on sniper and high critical moves. Allows your wall to wall for that much longer and wait out Toxic or whatever else you might be stalling for.
-Special Attack Ace: Tinted Lens or Competitive - Resisted hits are less resisted one step, and the special version of Defiant. Allows you to continue landing consistent high damage but unlike Sheer Force which grants more raw damage, Tinted Lens is a contingency for Pokemon with smaller movepools that are more likely to land resisted hits. Ideally if you're going Special Attack Ace, the team consists of sweeper Pokemon with varied movepools. Of the five, this is possibly the weakest.
-Special Defense Ace: Gives Multiscale or Tolerance - First hit greatly reduced, or resisted hits resisted one step further. Tolerance is excellent on Pokemon that have good defensive typing. Multiscale is good on literally anything as long as it is at full health when the ability is applied. Like the difference between Attack and Special Attack Ace, these choices have more of an all-rounder feel to them to Defense Ace's specialized feel. The former has crit negation because there is only a single high crit special move (Razor Wind) to all of the pass attacks that physical carries.
-Speed Ace: Speed Boost or Vanguard - Gain a Speed stage every turn, or do a small amount of bonus damage if you are faster then your target. The +5 Damage from Vanguard is actually close to comparable to the average damage increase that Sheer Force grants. As with everything else Speed Ace grants, very useful from a generalist standpoint. Also synergies well with the rest of Speed Ace's features.
Stat Stratagem: Bind 2 AP, is an Orders feature, so it applies to things that Commander can do! Gives a static bonus based on the number of positive combat stages you have in your chosen stat. As stated earlier it is very easy to reach +4 in a stat, +6 if you happen to be Speed Ace and run Speed Boost.
-Attack: +1 Crit Range/2 Attack CS. Hits the +5 Crit Range with Commander's Voice/Brutal at little action cost, at +6 Attack CS. Magic number is 6, but it's still really good. Crit is only useful if you are good at dice though, situational bonuses are a risk reward choice in tabletop, always.
-Defense: +2 Saves/2 Defense CS. Applies only to Paralysis, Freeze, and Sleep. That's fine! It's a really great option, stacks with Enduring Soul's +2, and remains strong with the changes to the statuses coming into effect through the playtest packet. Saves you from having your action economy screwed harder then it needs to be.
-Special Attack: +1 Effect Range/2 Special Attack CS. As above with regards to risk/benefit and overall range with only minimal investment.
-Special Defense: +2 Saves/2 Special Defense CS. Applies only to Infatuate, Rage, and Confusion. Prevents some unwanted damage, allows you to continue to keep your choice of targets and attacks. Unfortunately, Enrage and Infatuation effects are far less common then Sleep and Paralysis are for Defense. Less useful, but still useful.
-Speed: +1 Movement/+2 CS, stacking with the +1 Movement/+2 CS that is already out there. Meaning at +6 Speed you are adding 6 to Overland. Sprint is +8. Poke Edge is +10, Agility Training and Orders +12, +13 if Rider. Run Up? .... Run Up. Where you are going, you don't need roads.