So yeah... apparently people really like it when you follow a pattern. When I didn't do Vesper earlier I got a lot of questions about when I was going to cover this character. To be perfectly honest, I did not want to. Vesper was the one character in the game that I viewed as legitimately broken. And I didn't really want to spend a whole post dumping on other people's fun. Because I would. I totally would. Fortunately, however, Team Renegade decided to do a much-needed nerf. Vesper is now much more in line with the other rangers, and thus reveals what I think to be her true role: the cleanup.
Vesper's Cry Havoc ability lets her essentially do most of her stuff for free, assuming she's got four other enemy figures in her location. While it's extremely powerful the ability does have its limits. A lot of Vesper's cards don't cost any energy, so you can get into a position to where the ability isn't needed. It's really handy when it applies, and a bit of a bummer when it doesn't. I've seen boss and monster fights where the group purposefully kept foot soldiers alive so that way Vesper's ability could keep going! Hyperforce Blue is a great partner to set that up, what with the Serpent Zord and whatnot.
Hades Technique is one of the oddest cards in the game. On the one hand, it could grant you a ton of energy, but on the other hand the fight has to go your way and you won't get that much energy using this at the very beginning of the game. However, once you've wiped out enough enemy cards you may find yourself with a couple of cards that could work, if only you had enough energy.... which Hades Technique corrects.
Ooh.
I just talked myself into liking that card, right now, as of this writing.
I think I'll leave it there.
Oh, but I do love Ground and Pound. As my group experiments more and more with letting monsters having their day, this card begins to look better and better to me. Sometimes we just let an enemy card go off because it means we can actually gain more from having it hit us than not. At first it was very strange, but we've settled into this softer style, letting monsters deal damage in exchange for getting bigger bonuses than a lot of straightforward combos we've done. Ground and Pound really fits the bill for us.
Cerberus Fang is a godsend. Taking damage shouldn't be that fun! Ooh, look, I got a card out of being attacked, as opposed to losing it or getting a delay on getting it. It doesn't seem like much, until you flip up that card and find yourself smiling. Yeah, it costs an energy, but you'll rock some enemy card with it. Nothing's perfect! Although that's not true if there's four or more enemy figures on the board....
Coeus Shield is another no-frills card. Block for someone else and put this three shield card atop your deck. It lets someone else lose less cards, while protecting yourself. It's a total defense card. The one energy cost is annoying, but it's probably the one card I've used the most with four or more enemy figures on the board. It's just so freaking good!
So Coeus Axe is a sea change sorta a card. It doesn't nova terribly well, but if you've got a bunch of cards that are close to being knocked out Coeus Axe can just wash over your foes like a tidal wave. It continues Vesper's theme of catching up. Considering how brutal the dice in this game can get it's nice to have a character who can help you get ahead of the curve again.
Do I really need to say why the Cerberus Zord is awesome? I mean, seriously? It's one damage to three cards. Considering that the rest of the cards in Vesper's kit are for reversing the bad luck of the dice and ensuring you can clean up being able to just deal three damage acrost three cards is invaluable for the group, nevermind making sure Vesper's kit lives up to its promise.
I'm glad they fixed this character. I do think she was broken. But with that fix I can simply enjoy Vesper as a cleaner-upper, that person who equalizes everything out. After a certain point she peters out, but by that point in time everyone else should be able to carry the slack. And they will. But they never would have gotten there without Vesper getting them there in the first place.
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