All right, I've already posted some articles giving advice to Imperials. I'll start to look a little biased if I don't put out some Rebels content, so (as much as it pains me to give Rebel's advice) here we go!
One of the most tempting characters to play as in Imperial Assault, both from her aesthetics and utility, is Diala Passil. After all, who wouldn't want to be a Jedi if given the chance? She has a badass sculpt, the chance to earn a lightsaber, some incredible abilities, and one of the coolest red missions in the game! As a testament to one of the most prolific heroes in the game, I've decided to feature her as the first subject of my Rebel campaign hero analysis series of articles, Profiles in Hope.
A quick glance at Diala's hero sheet shows that she's no pushover. She has good health and perhaps even better endurance (which she'll need for all of her powerful abilities). Her biggest weaknesses are probably her speed (4), defense (one white die), and her Mech tests (one blue die) and that she's melee focused. Remember those weaknesses, though, because depending on her build, Diala is able to overcome them all during the campaign. That's just how determined she is to improve herself, I guess.
I also think Precision Strike is a pretty incredible initial ability. Most Imperial units only use a single defense die anyway, so by this ability often allows Diala to completely remove a unit's ability to defend itself. Using her Stun Baton, Diala has a 75% of dealing at least 3 damage to a unit with no defense die in a single attack, meaning she should somewhat reliably be able to one shot a rStormtrooper on the first activation of the campaign if she wants to. And even if she misses, she can still stun them- all from two spaces away, given the baton has Reach.
Of course, most players will eventually want to equip Diala with something a little more hefty, but we'll discuss that later.
Foresight is a powerful ability, given Diala's squishy white defense die. One might expect a Dodge on a white die about 1/6 of the time. Doubling your chances will make those Dodges come up all the more often.
Perhaps one of the most overpowered abilities in the game is Force Throw. Costing only 1XP, Diala can spend two strain to push up to 3 spaces any other smaller figure within 3 spaces. And by the way... it doesn't even take an action to use.
Want to push Vader away from your Rebel team? Boom, Force Throw! Want to help a teammate get closer to an objective? Boom, Force Throw! Want to move a neutral figure to a location that benefits you? Boom... Force Throw!
This ability is just so incredibly useful, and at only 1XP it almost seems unfair to an Imperial like myself. I do have to say, though, that two strain does build up fast. When purchasing this card, you may want to think of it like this- you're spending 1 XP now as a down payment, but you'll be making regular installments in strain as the campaign goes on.
Moving on, remember when I said that Diala is able to fix her weaknesses with her cards? Look no further than Force Adept.
Acting as a sort of inverse of Foresight, Force Adept allows Diala to mitigate attack rolls. In fact, it helps her mitigate attacks that any ally does as well, regardless of location. Neat!
Furthermore, her rather weak Physical and Mech tests now have an additional blue die once an activation. While only two sides of the blue die have a surge, this still helps increase Diala's chances of getting something.
You'll notice that Diala uses a lot of strain to perform her abilities. As such, she'll also probably be resting at least once per mission, if not more. Battle Meditation allows those rests to be just a little more productive, turning them from groggy snoozes into Power Naps! It's also a nice little nod to the first KOTOR game.
Once again, Diala's weaknesses are patched up via her abilities. This time, her weak white die is fortified by Defensive Stance. This means, that in a very worst case scenario, Diala will still have one damage blocked if she uses Foresight. On the other hand, if she manages to either roll enough blocks to prevent all damage, roll a Dodge, or simply be out of range, she'll become focused after every single attack on her (provided she's not already focused, of course).
And yet again, Diala recognizes her flaws, addresses them, and becomes better in the process. Art of Movement gives Diala a base speed of 5, which is pretty dang fast for this game. Additionally, though, it lets her ignore difficult terrain or movement penalties for spaces with hostile figures. Somebody sign this girl up for the Olympics!
Snap Kick is cool in that it allows for up to two direct damage, which is always good. However, I have a hard time justifying its purchase, when for just a single more XP you could get...
Way of the Sarlaac! Now, instead of just kicking one dude, you can attack every adjacent hostile. All of a sudden, Diala can put herself into position to wipe the map of Imperials!
Seriously, if the Rebels are running a Sarlaac Diala and Fenn, the Empire might as well not even bring anything with health less than 5.
I can hear you Imperials, though. "So, I'll keep my distance from Diala. Worst case scenario, she'll waste some strain pulling me toward her, or spend movement coming to get me. She's a melee character, I can handle that."
Well, not so fast.
Much like our good friend the Grand Inquisitor, Diala can hurl her weapon at the enemy by using Dancing Weapon. Even more, it gains power as it gains momentum!
This is especially powerful if it used with a stronger weapon, like Shu Yen's Lightsaber, or an Electrostaff.
Another favorite of mine to use with Diala is the Ancient Lightsaber. Her strong Observation skill really lends itself to it, granting a Blue/Green/Yellow attack with very strong surges.
In fact, while it's never fun to be wounded, Diala's attack with the Ancient Lightsaber get even stronger when she's wounded- well, at least her base attack does. Her swingy Blue/Green surge situation makes her attacks still dependent on getting a surge, preferably two.
Ultimately, I think Diala is a great example of how the Heroes in this game don't fall into the typical RPG archetypes. There is no single tank, no support, no healer. Sure, some units have attributes that make them lean toward one archetype a little more (Onar, Gideon, MHD-19, for instance), but everything has some abilities that allow it to subvert its typical role. Diala is a strong attacker, sure. She's also a pretty fast objective runner, and she's not terrible at running tests. Plus, she can help units across the map with Force Throw, or offer attack support via Force Adept. To try to put her into a single category would be an exercise in futility.
Final Thoughts
- Diala's ability to be effective at both single target and multi-target attacks make her mesh well with any team that would include either Fenn or Mak
- MHD-19 might not be a bad pairing either, to help her deal with Strain. Though, with Battle Meditation her rests aren't necessarily bad things.
- Seriously, don't underestimate how good Force Throw is, as both an aggressive and defensive tactic.
Thanks for reading, and drop a comment if there's a hero you'd like to see me cover in the future! May the Force be with you!
-Thomas
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