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Aristeia 101: Green Team

Simple Synergies

The core box of Aristeia has two teams suggested for beginners: the Orange Team with Musashi, 8-Ball, Gata, and Wild Bill then the Green Team with Hexxer, Parvati, Major Lunah, and Maximus. Here we’ll be going over the simple synergies for the Green Team!

Maximus as the Cornerstone

  • The team overall is relatively low health other than Max. Defense is pretty good except for Hexxer. However, Hexxer has no attacks, Lunah has a minimum range of 3, and Parvati has a minimum range of 2.  Close combat is dangerous for this team, so Max needs to be their bodyguard for close to mid-range.
  • Taunting will be vital for keeping his teammates alive. You will want to find ways make rolls throughout the game in order to get his character Switch.
  • Implacable and Get Behind Me will be necessary to make up for his low movement.  Implacable is important, but ideally it should be so he can switch between two or three characters versus actually getting to them.
  • Tactic options
    • Adding Block and its two Blues will have a lot of mileage in this team.
    • Scram is a good card and can help a more fragile characters get some breathing room. For Max, it’ll let him manipulate their position but that’s trickier since you’re limited to only one Displace per target. However, it’s not limited to enemies!
    • Freeze! Is not a bad card, but you do have to ask there are better options for Immobilization via Hexxer’s Gotcha. Likewise, it’s a single use for a single target so there’s an opportunity cost there. That said, it does give Lunah’s Snake Bite another opportunity to get extra damage in.
    • Adamantine is a great card for big attacks that Maximus might receive. This is dependent on your opponent since they might not want to try and send Maximus to the infirmary.

Hexxer as the Chess Master.

  • As mentioned with Maximus, this group has trouble with ranges. Maximus is slow and has no ranged attacks other than Contender. Lunah and Parvati have minimum ranges.
  • She has no attacks, so keeping her focused on maximizing the effectiveness or safety of the others. Max needs to be moved up faster. Enemies need to be immobilized (ideally without cover) or at least slowed.
  • Tactics options
    • Unlimited Power is superior to Maximus’ Scram in several regards but is only usable on enemies and has that darn –2 Energy to it. This can be countered by Parvati’s Reset so don’t be afraid to use it. 
    • Untouchable is only for Hexxer, but since it keeps her alive that’s not a bad thing when you consider she has the weakest defense of the whole team.
    • Access Denied ‘s -2 is a powerful ability but requires setup since it is at the beginning of Hexxer’s activation.  Hiding behind Maximus might help, or even behind  an obstacle or blocked space would mitigate some of the risk. Thankfully it is Range 1-3 No LOS required. This can help with Scoring as well as helping slow down enemies attempting to pursue Luna or Parvati.
    • RagDoll is a double-edged sword since Vade Retro can be friendlies as well as enemies. So, using it pretty much precludes using Vade Retro on your allies that round. But it helps quite a bit with survivability.  Limited range offense from enemies is one thing, but allowing your ranged damage dealers attack without fear of receiving damage back is quite big. This also frees up Tactics choices in that you can skip adding Dodge or Block, favoring Focus (!) and Aim (Damage).

Major Lunah as Ranged Support

  • Lunah is thought of as a Sniper, pure and simple. This is not inaccurate, but don’t forget Suppressive Fire. While there’s a chance for uncontested damage the –2 Movement is a significant contribution to the team, especially in the early game.
  • That said, a good Offense is part of a good Defense.
  • While Lunah’s targets cannot benefit from cover, Lunah can. Using Hexxer to make sure she has cover will be quite helpful. Likewise, making sure that Lunah has her minimum 3 range is a vital role for Hexxer.
  • Setting up Lunah so she can do two Suppressive Fires or Called Shot and a Suppressive Fire is almost ideal. As such the less movement she has do on her own, the better. Hexxer’s Vade Retro and Unlimited Power are obvious ways to help with that but don’t forget about Maximus and Scram or Jotun Shield.
  • Tactics options
    • Spot An Opening is a good card for the team as a whole. This is a good way to deal with Criticals if you don’t have the means to do so otherwise. Its not guaranteed since it is a reroll, but the odds are relatively in your favor.
    • Holographic Sight is a great card for this team in general. While its only for one action, this will give Maximus’ Jotun Shield more potential for displacing (and thus more chances to Taunt via switch).  Giving Hexxer’s Gotcha and Vade Retro more range adds some safety for her. Parvati having more range for SMG Akimbo, Reset, and Medkit is fantastic.  And of course, Lunah herself benefits from this.
    • Ricochet is a very useful card for Lunah. A great reason to use this is in support of vulnerable teammates (good offense is a good defense). Softening enemies for other characters is important as well. Max isn’t a massive damage dealer, for instance. Likewise, Parvati might need defending should an enemy get inside her minimum range.
    • Snake Bite can take advantage of Gotcha from Hexxer plus Vade Retro/Rag Doll or Freeze from Maximus. Using Suppressive Fire before attacking would be great too. That said, the additional Orange die plus Success does help even if the bonus damage condition isn’t met.

Parvati keeps the team moving.

  • Healing and State Removal is the bread and butter for Parvati for many team compositions. Here? She’s going to have to split her attention between team support and attacking enemies because of Maximus’ low damage and Hexxer’s lack of attacks. Damage mitigation via Hexxer and Maximus will be very important since she will be in this split role.
  • Submachine Guns Akimbo will be important for their damage. The range isn’t as good as Lunah’s, but with two Oranges it ought to be reliable. With those and the Yellow? Her Switch ought hit regularly.
  • Tactics options
    • Reset 2.0 is very powerful in that it can happen during any of your character’s turns and has no range on it. It does not specify that it has to be used on an allied target  so you could remove beneficial states from an enemy such as Hidden (Dart), Focused, Poison on Hammerhead, and everything on Bachmann. That said, it removes ALL states, so consider the benefit versus cost should you use it on a friendly teammate with a positive state on them (only +Initiative on Parvati in this case).
    • Nanoid Cloud is a nice little heal for a single point to all ally. It’s not a strong heal, but costs no energy and has no range. That said everyone but Maximus it effectively restores 33% of their health, so that’s nothing to sniff at.
    • Advanced Surgery is a pre-emptive Reset 2.0. The only state you’re dealing with is –2 Energy for the most part, but this is quite significant when you consider how little health this team has overall. Also note that it does not specify ally, so you could remove –2 Energy from Bachman from the get-go. While this team is overall inexpensive in terms of energy costs? -2 Energy is still detrimental to performing well.
    • Field Analysis is good for all characters and turns when you need to decide who goes first. Its only usable once, so it’s a card with a discernable opportunity cost.