SMOKE CLOUD
Like a number of other powers, Smoke Cloud paled next to more aggressive ones because burning a power action and getting a token was so not worth it, even if the cost of the actual power was low. Increasingly, the only time the purple attack power was really useful was when it was a free action.
Now, though, its versatility is greatly increased with a minimum 4 range, 6 tokens available instead of 4 and, most importantly, its ability to -1 the attack value of anyone occupying it. Nice!
More squares of smoke at greater range enables greater flexibility to block Charging lanes against grounded foes, and it’s a way to nerf a bunch of enemies at once.
Smoke Cloud still isn’t going to be a marquee power, but it is definitely improved enough to be the #6 Winner in 2013, along with…
(tie)
QUAKE
Similarly, Quake got a simplifying boost across the board: it always knocks back 2 squares, regardless of damage taken by the target. So where this power was once completely useless against targets Invulnerable or better, it now can knock those types away on any successful hit. Very nice way of thwarting potential melee attacks or Poisonings next turn.
The new situationally defensive uses of this 100% positive change make the light green attack power shares the #6 spot among 2013’s Winners.
MULTIATTACK
While powerful, the rarely-given-out Multiattack was held back by A) only appearing on colossals costing well beyond the 300-point standard build total, B) not being paired with the best powers like Hypersonic Speed and, to wit, C) colossals being generally too big to effectively use the dreaded hit-and-run speed power to do the “run” half.
Then came Sentry & Void — a 300-point, single-based character with the Multiattack ability and, top-dial, Hypersonic Speed. With this tentpole able to strike first at the opposing starting area FROM his starting area, it revealed that perhaps Multiattack needed to be reined in a little bit.
Consequently, in 2013 Multiattack loses the ability to use the same action twice.
Multiattack: a colossal Loser in 2013 at #6.
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On to the top five!
INCAPACITATE
It’s always been overcosted, but in recent years Incap has been particularly pointless. Of the 1,400 dials in Modern Age, almost HALF are resistant to Incapacitate by bearing some combination of Battle Fury, Willpower, Indomitable or Power Cosmic/Quintessence.
The other half can just pay 10 or 40 points to use the Utility Belt or Infinity Gauntlet resources, respectively to get Willpower. :/
Now, though, all that Willpower can make those figs extra-vulnerable to Incap: when targeting foes with two tokens, the light-blue attack power now deals 1 penetrating damage.
This simple upgrade singlehandedly puts teeth into Incapacitate, making it the #5 Winner in the 2013 rules.
___
The big Loser at #5?
COLOSSALS
The biggest of the big didn’t actually get any rule changes in 2013. That’s the problem.
A fair number of changes affect them negatively. Their Colossal Stamina, which allows them to act even with two tokens, leaves them newly vulnerable to Incapacitate now. Also, its ability to automatically break away and use “Improved Movement: Squares with Opposing Characters” no longer works against Plasticity. Finally, the changes to Multiattack hurts colossals almost exclusively.
That’s a lot of downgrades for even these generally overpowered monstrosities, making the fist damage symbol the #5 Loser in 2013.
Where is it written that multiattack can’t use the same effect twice. The current wording clearly says “Any” two actions as free actions!
It’s in the general rules under Free Actions:
“A character may not activate the same game effect
twice in one turn with free actions, unless the game effect indicates otherwise.”
Multiattack does not say otherwise. But this does:
“A wild card may be given a free action to use a single team ability that a friendly character possesses. A wild card may be given this free action more than once per turn (this is an exception to the rule that characters can’t activate the same free action more than once per turn).”
There are only a couple of other exceptions in the game. Multiattack USED to be one of them, but it lost the wording that allowed it in 2013.