What's in a name?

The namesake of this blog originates from one of my favorite powers to use - exploit weakness (or EW). It's not enough for me to just get my close combat piece in there as tie up. I need it to dish out some pain and be a threat all on it's own. Pieces like Wolverine, the 2nd version of KC Magog, and Iron Fist come to mind but even the greats like Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Hulk, and Sentry have a version where this power is utilized. But why is this power so good? Because it can be used in a variety of ways and your opponent will be unable to reduce the damage you are dealing. Here are a few ways to use this wonderful power.

By itself: When you are adjacent to an opposing figure with some sort of damage reducer, all it takes is a close combat action and viola, you're full damage is dealt. If they have shape change or super senses, they may be able to avoid the attack altogether but people pay points just to have damage reducers and it won't save them this time!

With Charge: With the exception of The Runner LE, the only power that you can move and then attack with and still use Exploit Weakness is with Charge. This is invaluable to get you're piece into battle and deal damage at the same time. Charge let's you move at half you're speed value and then dish out a close combat action. There is nothing better than hiding behind a rock, building, or pillar and then all of a sudden running in and smashing some to bits.

With an object: Objects can modify your damage by +1, +2, or +3. Say your figure with 3 damage and Exploit Weakness is ready to charge in on an unsuspecting victim. Along the path is an object. How great would it be to hit that figure for 4, 5, or 6 damage instead? Well, you can if you have Super Strength. Having the option to deal even more damage is an opportunity you should only pass up if you can KO the figure with your base damage. You may need to save that object for later.

With Blades/Claws/Fangs: This power lets you roll 1D6 after you successfully hit an attack. Whatever number you roll is the amount of damage you deal. When you have a low damage value, this is a great way to bump up the damage. If you have a 1 as your damage value, b/c/f will almost always net you an increase in damage. When you have a 2, you can almost guarantee a 2 or better so roll that D6. When you have a 3, it is still in your favor to roll since you have a 67% chance of rolling a 3 or better. When the value is higher than that, use at your own risk. But, don't discount your smaller point pieces just because they have a low damage value. 100 point Fandral from the Hammer of Thor Fast Forces set is a good example. Say he runs in next to a target he wants to hit next turn. He has EW for 3 damage he can use next turn. Well, this piece he just ran next to doesn't want to be hit for 3 damage by EW so he smacks Fandral for 4 damage, reduced to 3 by Toughness. Fandral laughs and decides to attack with EW and b/c/f. That base 1 damage looks horrible but with b/c/f it could be a 6 if you get lucky!

With Steal Energy: Whenever you damage a figure with a close combat attack, you get to heal 1 click. So why not guarantee that damage with EW. Attack and heal up any damage you may have taken so far! This is also good against attacking a figure with the Mystics Team Ability. When you damage one of those, you take 1 click of damage immediately. However, you have steal energy so guess what? You take 1 click from Mystics then you heal it right back with steal energy!

That about covers the different ways you can use Exploit Weakness. As you can see, there are many effective ways to use it so now you just need to figure out of it's something you wanna try out. There are many pieces in Heroclix with EW, 485 to be exact (from the publishing of this post). My favorites have varying uses.

SM035 Magog: Can charge, super strength, and exploit weakness for a base 4 damage or all the way up to 7 with an object. On top of that, when he KOs a figure, he can do it one more time! So if you're lucky, you can dish out up to 14 damage in a turn with 1 figure! 

Then there are the smaller pieces like IH035 Wolverine who can move 2 squares and use EW and has a nice 11 attack (12 if you have 3 different team abilities on your team) or SI004 Iron Fist that also has an 11 attack and 3 damage EW.

Finally there is the middle of the road piece, like AN051 Wonder Woman at 100 points. She can charge, super strength, exploit for base 3 damage or up to 6 with an object.

Finding the right piece for the points can be tough but when it comes to using EW, you can't go wrong no matter how many points you spend.