Cry Havok! Let Loose Special Operations 6!

In case the title didn’t tip you off, Special Operations 6 is underway in the always-in-danger world of Marvel: Avengers Alliance. This time around, the hero that could be yours for the taking is Alex Summers, also known as Havok.

 

The second Summers brother.

Havok is a blaster, the first blaster made available through a Spec Ops event. So far, in order of appearance, we’ve had a generalist (Mockingbird), a tactician (Emma Frost), two scrappers (Magik and Ghost Rider), and a bruiser (Valkyrie). While Valkyrie had to go through some powering up to be made worthy of being a prize (I’ve gotten her when her first two skills were still very underpowered), I can definitely say that when Havok hit the game, he lived up to his name. Why do I say that? Oh, for four reasons.

 

SHATTERING PUNCH

First, his basic attack costs no energy at all, and inflicts the Melt Armor status on the unlucky target for two rounds. That means the poor sap has an effective defense stat of 0 when computing combat damage, meaning he or she is going to take a lot of damage fast.

PLASMA WAVE

Second, his single-target ranged attack, while leaving a lot to be desired in terms of accuracy (it’s less accurate than the player favorite damage-for-accuracy weapon, the Golden Screaming Eagle), inflicts the Burning status on the victim and Removes Buffs if it connects. This includes special defenses (like barriers and shields that aren’t natural to the target) and other boosts, like damage ups and dodge ups. Also, a Burning target loses around 10% of its total defense while on fire, in addition to taking damage over time. All this goodness however comes at a steep cost in stamina - almost half of his maximum.

CHANNEL ENERGY

Third, he gets a free action that not only restores 20% of his stamina, but also buffs him with an effect that makes his attack critical hits for two rounds. Can you say pain for the bad guys? Oh yes, you can! While this does not solve his energy issues in full, it certainly helps with that problem, and critical hits are always welcome, whether you play PVP or just stick to PVE.

 

PLASMA SPHERES

His ultimate (jargon for the ability gained at level 9) is a Catastrophic attack that slows and dizzies all the targets (note the plural) that it hits. As with all Catastrophic attacks, this attack can’t be protected against, and ignores avoidance abilities. It’s an area attack that inflicts two inconvenient status effects on enemies in addition to damage, so what’s not to like? The answer – stamina cost. Similar to his Plasma Wave, Plasma Spheres also drains about half of his stamina bar.

Observant players have commented that causing the Dizzy status effect on all enemies makes a great setup for the much-maligned Nightcrawler and his ultimate, a multi-hit, single-target stealthy attack that also hits all Dizzy enemies. Whether this will affect the upcoming PVP tournament or not remains to be seen.

Havok’s an energy guzzler – no questions about it. Both of his ranged plasma attacks drain roughly half his stamina bar per use. Fortunately, he comes with passives to help him with that stamina problem of his – and by that, I mean his inability to continuously blast away with plasma against his enemies. Mind out of the gutter, you!

So when you see a lot of beam spam and pew-pew flying about, that’s the best time to unleash Havok!

Spec Ops 5: Ride of the Valkyrie!

Spec Ops 5 just went live a few hours ago, and the heroine up for grabs this time around is an Asgardian (same race as Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three) named Valkyrie.

She's a female Bruiser (for those of you who prefer to keep or field a "girl power" team / theme), so that means She-Hulk isn't the sole "native" Bruiser anymore - "native" in this case meaning "without purchasing an alternate costume."

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll save myself over 9000 by letting you see screenshots from my game. Again, numbers may vary based on agent levels.

Our apologies to those who were expecting a transforming jet armed with more missiles than possible.

I've had the opportunity to use her against the mini-bosses and boss of SO5's mission 1, and from what I've seen she has severe stamina issues - which may go away with the proper Iso-8. She isn't an offensive powerhouse, like say, Hulk, Thor, or (when fully buffed) Hercules. Instead, she's used to support your frail team members by preventing them from being one-hit KO'd, which is typical in PVP - provided she can get her buff out first. While I haven't seen it in action yet, she's supposed to automatically step in front of a weakened ally and take the hit for him/her, unless Valkyrie herself is in critical health, or if the targeted ally is under her Deathwatch buff. 

This is her defining skill, her level 6.

Deathwatch supposedly revives you at 25% Health if you're KO'd, so not stepping up to shield a dude with Deathwatch makes sense. The thing to note is Deathwatch doesn't last the entire match - it expires after a few turns. This means timing is important. The loss of health is significant, but she won't die even if she's killed she takes lethal damage thanks to the buff affecting her as well. Should you find your Valkyrie revived at 25% Health, you'll want to make sure you pay your attacker back, using her spear, with this:

Be sure to growl before clicking on your target. "Geirrrrrrr..."

When her health is still high, meaning 75% or greater, you'll want to attack with Dragonfang, her enchanted sword, instead. It's a great attack when used alongside Storm, or an agent with Capacitive Impeder (which luckily I have), and it's easy on the stamina meter as well, so let them eat steel! (The attack animation is just badass!)

Electric-type damage needs more love.

Based on experience, when I take out an enemy that has the Deathglow effect, Valkyrie recovers 988 Health, out of her starting 3952. Doing the math, that's exactly 25% of her Health, the same amount she loses when she uses Sacrificial Blessing! Note also the number of hits: 3. For the PVP-oriented, 3 hits means that it bypasses Digital Decoy's two layers of protective illusions, and still leave a third hit to tag an opponent with Deathglow. If your target already has Static Charge, then he or she gets shocked too. Although if you really want to bypass Digital Decoy's protection, there's always this:

I'll not apologize for the pun, because it wasn't my idea.

Note the low stamina cost (lower than her Level 2, Dragonfang)! You can literally ride them down with her winged horse (!!!) every turn and not worry about retaliation - the damage leaves a lot to be desired though.

I'm currently waiting to finish the research on Task 6. 

I'm glad to see they resisted calling the buff that this item grants "Drunken Fist."

Here's a hot tip for the boss fight on mission 1 - the Enchantress is protected by a Jotun bodyguard in the first two waves, but is alone on the third. She'll be protected by a Scrapper first, then by a Bruiser. In this fight, Valkyrie is a forced Team-Up. It's not difficult, though - the Enchantress has a nasty habit of fleeing the fight if she senses danger, so the bodyguard is good as toast once his mistress flees.

So, strategy - I brought Sif for backup, because the Enchantress can set enemies on fire with her Magic Missile. This made 2/3 of my team fire-proof thanks to their Asgardian biology, so I can get away with the cheaper, single-target Extinguisher instead of costly Flame Suppresants. Also, Sif can inflict the Tenderized status on an enemy, which will go long toward improving Valkyrie's slashing damage.

I suited up in a Blaster Trenchcoat, and brought the Faulteater (to hit the Enchantress with Damage Over Time effects despite her huge protector), a Magnetic Field Generator (I now never deploy without it), the Signpost (useful whenever you're fighting waves that contain more than one enemy), and a Possessed Pistol to ensure more damage.

"You've got a psychic machine pistol, a demonic staff, and two artifacts captured from super-villains. Standard S.H.I.E.L.D.-issue, my ass."

The fight was amusing, because after losing a certain percentage of her health courtesy of the Faulteater's Burning and Biofeedback effects, the Enchantress ran away. She did so twice, but there's something up with the passive on her Jotun bodyguards - weren't they supposed to be KO'ed when the Enchantress flees? Why are they still up and fighting?

She also has a nasty trick called Charm, which causes the character to lose an action per turn. This essentially locks the character out of the fight until he or she receives damage. She hit Sif with it (hmm, Girls' Love?) and then had the bright idea to hit all three of my team members with her Emerald Wave. 

Needless to say, Sif was not pleased, and since she, being a Scrapper, was the natural counter to the Enchantress' Infiltrator class, well, let's say what ensued was not the sort of intense girl on girl action promised on so much of my junk mail.

So what are you waiting for? Go and kick some Jotun and thugs to the curb and get on the path to recruiting Valkyrie!