Powerup PvP guide

The new power up PvP mode is a lot more chaotic and hard to balance due to more characters being able to do more things however there are some simple tips tactics and principles that I'm going to share with you that should help you consistently make it into the top 100.

1. focus! Do not play live PvP when you are distracted when you are making a cup of tea when someone is asking you about something do not multi task while you play this game mode you have to make decisions in a very short span of time and if you do nothing else apart from eliminate distractions and save your tokens for when you have a quiet environment playing your results will skyrocket.

2. Know your end game. this is absolutely crucial. out of your five characters if you can only have one or two of them alive towards the end of the match against one or two of your opponents characters who do you most want to still be alive on your team and who do you least still want to be alive on their team Sho’syl is a great example of this, Due to his drones taking hits for him it is extremely hard to 1V1 sure cell with him summoning a new drawing every turn.

3. Win condition characters. some characters can singlehandedly take over a game. The best example is aleph nul through his scarab multiplication. I'm going to go through some of these separately because it's incredibly important that you know your own win condition characters on which characters on the enemy team you absolutely must shutdown.

3a. Aleph Nul. Scarab splits whilst somewhat rng dependent are the single biggest threat in this game mode.
You should always be looking for an opportunity to summon your scarabs in a position where they cannot be killed for a turn. Even a single turn can be enough for scarabs to snowball out of control. Especially if you are running Makhotep as well which I strongly, strongly advise.

If your opponent has deployed their scarabs it should be one of your top priorities to shut them down. When fighting scarabs you should always check which ones have used their ability to split into a new swarm and focus fire the ones that have not done this yet. If you cannot kill a ‘live’ scarab (one that hasn’t split yet) surrounding it can also stop it from spawning. Be careful however as if another summoned unit can kill a surrounding unit and free up a space the scarab can still spawn.

Another point to consider is that if your opponent has their scarves out and you are about to summon your scarabs if you have Makhotep you do not need to summon your scarabs on their scarabs - relentless March will make this carobs 9 times out of 10 attack the enemy scarab and one shot them if they're in range. With the New Balance changes to Aleph Nul scarabs becoming flying it is rare that a four movement flying scarab swarm will not be able to attack another scarab swarm.

Lastly, try to manipulate your drop so that you get at least one scarab swarm on high ground. Overall Aleph is arguably an auto include in your team and is the best counter to Celestine.

3b. Brother Jaeger WITH melee hits power up. Not everyone knows this but both kinds of hits power ups affect Jaegar’s (and Calandis’) passive.

With a hits power up, Jaegar will do 5~6 hits EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. He is attacked in melee. There are several maps where one side has a ‘free’ or ‘native’ hits power up and it is impossible to stop Jaegar claiming it. If he claims a melee hits power up you MUST kill him from range as he can oneshot even infinite scarabs.

Be VERY careful when using Yarrick on Jaegar as any guardsmen who spawn next to him will trigger his passive and can be overkilled and battle fatigue can trigger. Calandis is a great counter to Jaegar as a high ground crit can do serious damage.

Jaeger isn’t often seen in arena which makes him all the more dangerous when he does show up. If you have Jaegar you can trade into a won endgame with him. Assume the enemy team is Celestine, Aleph Nul, Re’vas Yarrick and Sho’Syl for example. You WIN if you can trade your other 4 characters to kill your opponents ranged attackers. Imagine Jaegar is left against Archie and his bloodletters, Celestine and her angels, and Aleph Nul and his Scarabs. The only threat is Archie’s ranged attacks, kill him and you win.

3c. Sho’syl. Sho’syl is the king of 1v1 me bro endgames. If you summon a drone every turn, on your opponents turn the drone takes the hit for Sho’syl and it is VERY hard for them to win the damage race. If you run Sho’syl keep him alive until the end. If facing him, try to kill him quickly. His 2 movement does hurt him however. You should always check if anyone can be 1 shot by his active and do the maths.

3d. Rotbone in death guard comp. Full death guard is a rare sight but it revolves around Rotbone getting a health power up and the other 4 just surrounding him and killing you. This feels bad when it happens to you! The best counter play is to use your higher mobility to grab the majority of power ups and pray to the god emperor. Due to Corrodius the death guard only get stronger as the game goes on. Your best shot is to catch one unit out of position (ie not next to rotbone) and try to burst them down.

3e. Re’vas. Re’vas is best used to jump as far forward as possible, pop active and deny space to your opponent. Works great with Makhotep and especially Aleph Nul who can repair Re’vas.

Re’vas, in my opinion contributes massively to first turn advantage as on some maps they can deny so much space with their active as to severely limit your opponents options.

Countered somewhat by Volk and Thaddeus or any character with suppression and 3 range. You can also try to pop a summon adjacent to Re’vas to block overwatch beyond 1 range.

4. Countering Power ups. The early game is an arms race to grab the various power ups scattered across the map and deny as many as possible to your opponent. With this in mind, it is important to know how to counter the power ups your opponent gets:

4a. Armour. Scarabs, bloodletters and high pierce tear through armour

4b. Health. IMO better than armour as more versatile. Even after the shield has worn off, you are likely to need to focus fire with several characters to kill someone with a health pickup whereas it is far easier to 1shot someone with an armour powerup.

4c. Damage. If this is on a single hitter like calandis swarms and terminator armour (and gravis if low pierce) are a great counter. Scarabs in particular don’t care how much damage a single hit does. Another reason why Aleph Nul is S tier in this mode.

4d. Hits. Armour counters multiple hits. If a high pierce character like Archimatos gets a hits power up taking them out should be a priority.

In general you want to trade your opponents buffed units for your unbuffed units all things being equal.

5. Mobility & Positioning. Unless you consistently make top 50 with a different strat you should run Makhotep. Even then I’d strongly advise it. +1 movement to ALL factions is amazing. Early game it helps Calandis grab 2 power ups in 1 turn. Mid game it helps you move out of range of your opponents characters. If a character cannot attack, that turn is basically a 5v4 for you. You will generally want to be in the centre rather than the flanks as next turn you will have more choices as to where to move.

6. ‘Trading’. Often you will have a choice as to whether to kill an enemy unit, knowing your unit will surely die on your opponents turn. As a rule of thumb if you can kill AND drop summons do it, if Archiematos summons 5 bloodletters and kills one enemy the next turn archie gets 1 shot your enemy has 3 ‘activations’ to kill 5 bloodletters. Any leftover are effectively a 4.5v4 for you. You can also advance behind your summons, using them to screen your other units as they get into position for a killer follow up. Also KNOW YOUR ENDGAME. It’s fine to trade all your other units if your Hits power up Jaegar survives to an endgame against melee only units with no powerups.

7. Phases of a game. I’m going to divide the game into the opening, middlegame and endgame, just like chess.

7a. Opening. First 1~2 turns. Arms race to grab as many power ups as possible while stopping your opponent from doing the same.
Transitions to middle game after first ~2 units die and all powerups claimed.
Standout characters include summoners (create unit advantage), Calandis (grab 2 powerups in one turn) in particular, Makhotep (+1 movement) and Re’vas (for space denial).

7b. Middle Game. After powerups claimed OR first 2 deaths. Are you playing a 5v3 or a 4v4?
This phase is about maximising your summons while minimising your opponents. You should be looking to keep your endgame threats alive while trading off your opponents. You should also be trying to kill off your opponents buffed units while preserving your own.

7c. Endgame. Last 3~4 characters alive (not including summons). You should try to steer towards a won endgame from your first move. If in a 2v2, make sure you keep your best endgame threat alive. IE if I was fielding Sho’syl and Yarrick (all summons assumed to be dead on both teams) against Sho’syl and Yarrick I’d happily trade my Yarrick for their Sho’syl. Often decided by whose buffed units survive longer.

8. Warming up. If running a new team, or if you’re not quite ‘in the zone’ trust me and run some casual games until you feel the flow.

9. Conclusion. Overall this is a game about accruing ‘force multipliers’ in the form of powerups and summons and stopping your opponent from doing the same. In the opening, your goal is to grab buffs and drop as many summons as possible. In the middle game to make favourable trades to arrive at a won endgame.

I hope this is helpful and remember brothers,

Walk softly, and carry a big gun.

**Pmeistergeneral, PoH Word Bearers Captain**

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