Community Challenge: Rock Singer vs Dungeon!

The short but powerful Star Guild Rock Singer

Since my last article on dungeon builds, (https://wdneill.wixsite.com/superdungeonexplore/blog/doctrine_build_a_dungeon) one of the Discord users, Kiko, made the point that the Star Guild Rock Singer would make progression through tricky tiles significantly easier . The argument is that while the maze-like construction of the tiles would force most Hero party's to take the long way to each spawn point, burning up precious game turns, the Rock Singer's "Calm the Stones" ability would circumvent this, allowing the party to burrow through the walls and roll right through the dungeon.

The Rock Singer boasts some very potent abilities, from the costly but destructive 'Falling Star' to the versatile 'Calm the Stones' ability. Meanwhile, just imagine her Starlight Elixir paired up with the Claw Tribe Barbarian's 'Rage' ability!

So while I see Kiko's point, I'd like to see this theory put to the test. Is 'Calm The Stones' a game-changer? Or could a crafty Consul counter it? I think spending that action point takes 'Falling Star' out of the picture for a turn every time it's used, shutting down her best ability, and potentially exposing the burrowing Heroes to a nasty counter attack once they're separated from the party, if the Dark Consul is smart and plans for it. Kiko however feels that either the consul will spread themselves thin countering a Heroic charge on two fronts, or movement Heroes like Arena Champion or Riftling Rogue could capture enough treasure to be worth the risk OR send a dedicated attacker like Claw Tribe Barbarian to destroy the tile 2 or 3 spawner.

Step 1: Bring the Rock Singer. Step 2: ?????? Step 3: PROFIT!!!!!

We could theorize about this all day, but I'd like to test it. Here is my call to action: I invite anyone planning on playing Super Dungeon Explore over the coming weekends to playtest this theory. You'll need the Star Guild Rock Singer, the prescribed tiles from Forgotten King and Dungeons of Crystalia, along with your beardiest party of Heroes and nastiest spawning pool of minions. I want to hear your feedback on which side has the edge in this setup. Will the mighty Heroes bulldoze even the most labyrinthine dungeons with the help of the Star Guild Rock Singer? Or is the Dark Consul cunning enough to thwart their do-gooder plans? Submitted feedback will be included in a future article with credit given to the person submitting it.

Rock Singer vs Dungeon.... FIGHT!

***[Edit] playtest one, Wednesday 10 July.***

This playtest was conducted between myself and a member of my playgroup.

I played Heroes taking the following party: Royal Paladin, Star Guild Rock Singer, Calico Kate, Moonspire Guardian (proxied with Twilight Knight mini).

Matt took Shallow Graves, Salt Pillar, Captain R and Von Drakk.

The end result: Narrow Hero victory with one Princess Coin remaining and several badly wounded Heroes.

Conclusion: The Star Guild Rock Singer helped mitigate the dungeon layout, but it wasn't efficient enough to make it a clean sweep for the Heroes. The game still felt very even, and the dungeon layout still provided plenty of natural friction for the Heroes, even with Calm The Stones allowing the Heroes to get to the second tile fairly easily.

A few play by play details:

Dealing with tile one still took several turns. It wasn't until after the Consul's fourth turn that the Heroes, starting with Calico Kate, starting burrowing into Tile 2. With Fizzy Beverage and her AOE, Kate was able to thin down enough monsters to be able to (barely) survive the counter attack.

PS: Please forgive the lighting on some of these pics. We were hit by a blackout mid game, and had flashlights set up to keep the game moving.

After Consul turn five, the Paladin and Moonspire Guardian join the fray. AOE attacks and defensive Auras help minimize the Consul's counterattacks, though the Heroes still take a beating.

Four Princess Coins were spent during this game. These pics account for three of those coins, capturing which turn the Hero died on, and the state of their gear loadouts at the time they fell. I missed one of the Hero defeats, but this'll give a general idea.

In the end it was Calico Kate who felled the mighty Nocturne with the help of the Executioner's Axe. One more turn and Matt could've easily sniped the last Princess Coin and felled one more Hero to win the game.

Last note, I really like the capabilities of the Moonspire Guardian. I'll likely cover him in a separate article later on, but he covers a few roles very effectively. In short, I found him to be a TANK, CROWD CONTROL,SUPPORT, SLAYER (based on the roles I outlined in the Party Roles article https://wdneill.wixsite.com/superdungeonexplore/post/tactical-doctrine-chapter-four-build-the-hero-party-roles ) and pretty good at each one.