Wave 5 - Sonnia, Lucius

Today I plan on finishing the Wave 5 upgrades for Masters but I`ll split them into 2 posts. First one (this one) will cover Sonnia Criid and Lucius. Lets analyze what they got in Wave 5!



Lets start with:

No More Masks

What the card does:

• Allows using Confiscated Lore on Ml attacks. This also adds a blast to moderate and severe damage
• After damaging with a CC attack you can push 2" and the target gains Burning +1
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: So one of Sonnia`s biggest drawbacks was that when tied in melee she had no reliable way of going out with Df4, Ml5 and a min damage 2. Since her ranged attacks are very powerful (especially combined with Papa Loco) then it was a valid strategy to just constantly tie her up with chaff and make the Sonnia player waste AP on getting her out. With Ml7 she has a super high chance of hitting almost everything in the game and she only needs 1 hit to get out of most engagement. If she`s in the thick of it the random blasts (remember they still can use Pyrokinesis) can put some unexpected damage.

Cons: If you go Ml7 you`ll be stuck with Df4 and Ca7 so its a big decision of what we want to do. The low Defense can be mitigated by El Mayor but sometimes it hard to keep Frank next to Sonnia the whole game.

Summary:

I like this upgrade. I don`t have 3 upgrades slots filled with Sonnia. Cherufe`s Imprint is the most popular. Counterspell Aura is nice but I stopped using it as an autotake, as for me its mostly there to counter Lures (so most likely Neverborn and Ressers). The auto-burning on melee fits nicely with reincarnation as you can quite easily hit a model with the first attack, push away and then use Flameburst twice and get a high chance of getting a Stalker. You can also hit friendlies to push out of engagement (but its 2 dmg + Burning). If you have Cherufe`s Imprint and Papa Buff you can dish out a great deal of pain in melee that not everybody will expect and blocking stones means they can`t use them to stone for negatives on dmg or prevents. This upgrade in my opinion get a lot better, the better opponent you play as new players tend to be blasted off the board before they realize the threat range

Verdict: 
8/10

Cherufes Parting Gift

What the card does:

• Allows Witch Hunters to Chain Activate if they are within 12" and LoS
• Makes Purifying Flame a Witch Hunter
• Allows summoning Purifying Flame from dead enemies with Burning but only if you didn`t summon a Stalker at the same time.
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: Chaining Witch Hunters gives you some cool shenanigans to try. It also gives Sonnia a Witch Hunter synergy that she didn`t have as well as giving her totem a slight chance to actually show on the battlefield. Double walking the flame into Dampening Range and then triple shooting with Sonnia into a Henchman/Master seems like something useful.

Cons: I believe its not a top upgrade and it takes a slot. It also makes you adjust your crew to it at least a bit. 

Summary:

So the few things I`ve come up with except the Flame into Sonnia is Sonnia/Handler chaining into Samuel after putting Burning on the enemy to Rapid Fire someone with min 5 with Debt. Nurse Heartsbane can also allow you to push 6" with Convulsions trigger and then Chain into Sonnia with a nice 20" range.

Verdict: 
6/10


Deep Pockets

What the card does:

• Gives Arcane Reservoir
• At the beginning of the activation you can discard to draw. If you draw lower than discarded you can discard it to draw another one.
• Costs 2 Soulstone and is Limited

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: Arcane Reservoir is pretty big. The additional card cycle makes it even better. Lucius never struggled with upgrade slots in Guild so this makes it even better

Cons: 2SS cost is the only drawback I can see

Summary:

This upgrade is pretty straightforward so I don`t think it requires a long summary. Lucius needs moderate-severe cards to do anything and this guarantees he`ll have a high chance of getting them.


Verdict: 
9/10


Condescending

What the card does:

• If you`re up on VP you can discard a scheme marker within 6" with Lucius when he activates
• Killing a living model with Devil`s Deal gives an additional SS
• Gives a Ca6 action with 6" range that prevents the enemy from Cheating Fate until the end of the turn.
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: Denying the Scheme marker when ahead can put you way more ahead. The killing with Devil`s Deal might be useful in Hunting Party or some other form of denying VP to the enemy. The no cheat condition is solid

Cons: Until you are ahead this upgrade requires you to either kill your own models or activate early since the condition is until the end of the turn. It helps you deny some VP to the enemy but at a cost of your own models.

Summary:

I don`t know about NB Lucius but I`m not a big fan. I`d probably go for Surprisingly Loyal, Secret Assets and Deep Pockets most of the time in Guild. I might however swap Suprisingly Loyal to this with a Terracotta so there`s that. I think everything on this upgrade has a bit too much restrictions but I don`t really have a lot of experience with Lucius so I might be wrong


Verdict: 
5/10 

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