Imperial Queen Bee & Workers

[Cross Punisher]

This unit, I believe, is my most complicated unit yet. Usually when making a good unit, you take 1 original idea and work with it to make it balanced. In fact usually when you try to put too much into a unit, people say it’s just too much for 1 unit. I intend to go for broke with this unit.

IMPERIAL QUEEN BEE
"Imperial Queen Bees are both larger and extremely different than other bees. Imperial Queens are able to secrete honey right from their body that hardens quickly acting as a protective coating, but as the Queen grows weaker it secretes less and less honey. Queens also lay their eggs inside their body, and when the eggs leave the body they hatch automatically into Workers but are still linked physically to the Queen. The Workers feed on the nutrients where they’re are laid for additional strength. Due to the complications of being a Queen, Queens are unable to take the offensive themselves."

STATISTICS
Health Points: 42
Power: 0
Armor: Current HP
Movement Range: 4; Teleportation
Recovery: 3
Blocking: 0
Attack Range: 2; Straight line
Attack Pattern: Cross-shaped with the square closest to the Imperial Queen Bee (IQB) not effected, and cannot effect the IQB that cast the attack

I – Imperial Queen Bee
A – Attack Pattern

3 Possible Attack Patterns
OAO OOO OOO
AAA OAO OOO
OOO AAA OAO
OIO OIO AIA


IMPERIAL QUEEN BEE INFORMATION
The IQB attacks with a focus effect, which summons Workers onto the squares it attacked. The IQB must retain focus to maintain Workers. The IQB floats above the ground and is unaffected by mudquakes.

Health Counters
The number of Health Counters and type of Worker summoned depends on the HP of the attacked unit/space. Health Counters (HC) are nothing new to the game. They exist but are not defined to players. The only things with HC currently in the game are Shrubs which have 1 HC. What this means is that 1 HC is destroyed when that unit is attacked no matter the damage. A LW’s 30 power attack destroys it the same as a DT’s 0 power attack, but focus effects however do not destroy HC. Because of this, units with HC don’t have an armor or blocking attribute.


ALPHA WORKER
"Alpha Workers are the top class of Workers laid by the Imperial Queen Bee. They gain their superiority over Beta and Gamma Workers because they are able to overcome whatever unit may be standing where they are laid and use that unit’s nutrients as they’re own. They have a significant increase in health and movement."

STATISTICS
Health Counters: 2, 1
Power: 22
Movement Range: 4; Teleportation
Recovery Time: 1
Attack Pattern: An adjacent square

How to Attain
If a unit with at least half of it’s health is attacked by the IQB, it will be an Alpha Worker with 2 HC. If a unit with less than half of it’s health is attacked by the IQB, it will be an Alpha Worker with 1 HC.


BETA WORKER
"Beta Workers are middle class Workers laid by the Imperial Queen Bee. These Workers are able to feed on the nutrients of Shrubs giving them slight superiority over Gamma Workers. Beta Workers ingest the Shrubs they are laid on for a nutrient boost though the Shrub is no where as helpful as using a unit’s nutrients would have been."

STATISTICS
Health Counters: 1
Power: 20
Movement Range: 3; Teleportation
Recovery Time: 1
Attack Pattern: An adjacent square

How to Attain
If a Shrub is attacked by the IQB, it will be a Beta Worker.


GAMMA WORKER
"Gamma Workers are the lowest class of Workers laid by the Imperial Queen Bee. They gain no extra nutrients after being laid in an empty square and therefore get no addition strengths to add to their own. They are inferior to both Alpha Workers and Beta Workers and won’t survive very long on their own."

STATISTICS
Health Counters: 1
Power: 18
Movement Range: 3; Teleportation
Recovery Time: 1
Attack Pattern: An adjacent square

How to Attain
If an empty square is attacked by the IQB, it will be a Gamma Worker.


INTIMIDATION
A Worker will not attack a Worker that has a higher class than itself. Gamma Workers can't attack Beta or Alpha Workers, and Beta Workers can't attack Alpha Workers.

WORKER INFORMATION
Workers float above the ground, so they’re unaffected by mudquakes. Alpha Workers do count as endgame units, but Beta and Gamma Workers don’t. Workers can be targets of focus effects. Workers attack with their jaws and their stingers by either attacking with both at once (Blockable for max damage) or by using their jaws as a distraction to attack with there stinger (Unblockable for half damage).

When a Worker is attacked, not only does it lose 1 HC, but the IQB passively receives the damage done without breaking the IQB’s focus. The damage is done after the IQB’s armor has been taken into account. For example if a Scout attacked a 2 HC Alpha Worker, the Alpha Worker would lose 1 HC and the IQB would lose 10 HP putting it at 32 HP with 32 armor. When a Worker is poisoned, both the Worker and IQB lose health depending on the health system they are using; Workers lose 1 HC per turn, and the IQB loses 4 HP per turn, though only the Worker suffers the other effects of poison, and poison damage doesn’t stack for the IQB. If a Worker becomes paralyzed, only the Worker is considered paralyzed.

Multiple Workers can be attacked in the same turn. Damage is calculated normally as if each Worker was attacked 1 at a time, so the IQB’s armor would decrease after each Worker had been attacked. For example if a IQB summoned 4 Workers and a Pyro attacked all 4 Workers together, the IQB would die because the 1st attack would do 9 damage, the 2nd attack would do 10 damage, the 3rd attack would do 12 damage, and the 4th attack would do 13 damage equaling a total 44 damage, and the IQB only has 42 HP.

If you use your IQB on your opponent’s units, the effected units will turn into Alpha Workers. If a unit with at least half of it’s health is attacked by the IQB, it will have 2 HC. If a unit with less than half of it’s health is attacked by the IQB, it will have 1 HC. There are certain advantages to this, namely against units with high HP. The Dragon Tyrant is a perfect example. If you turn your opponent’s DT into an Alpha Worker, instead of having 68 HP it is killable in 2 attacks. It also have the potential of hindering an opponent’s unit’s attack pattern. Instead of a Scout having a range of 6 and being able to attack nearly every square on the board, it would only have a range of 1.

If a unit is turned into an Alpha Worker while in recovery, the Alpha Worker will have 1 recovery. You may think this is an advantage, but it really has no effect on the battle unless your in a hurry to move 1 of your units. The Cleric for example has the highest recovery in the game with 5. Turning the Cleric into an Alpha Worker just to use it faster is just a waste of 2 turns and doesn’t let you use it any sooner.

Cleric’s recovery Using the IQB
5 IQB turns Cleric into Worker w/o moving
4 IQB has 2 recovery
3 IQB has 1 recovery
2 IQB has 0 recovery
1 IQB can now break focus
0 Your Cleric can now be used


When the IQB loses focus, Alpha Workers with 2 HC revert into the unit they were before with full Hp. Alpha Workers with 1 HC revert into the unit they were before with half HP, rounded down. Beta Workers revert back into Shrubs, and Gamma Workers revert back into empty squares.

INFORMATION
There are many things unique about this unit. First there the fact that the IQB uses it’s current HP as it’s armor attribute. The IQB is most durable when at full HP, and grows gradually easier to destroy as it loses health. With this system it can withstand any 2 attacks, but it can’t withstand more than 4 unless healed which just happens to be the maximum number of Workers the IQB can heal. If your able to kill all 4 Workers, you’ll probably kill the IQB in the process.

I’ve yet to see a balanced unit that summoned multiple units onto the field. By summoning multiple Workers you are not simply giving up 1 unit space for the ability to summon 1 unit; This idea basically balances itself. Instead more thought is need to figure out a balanced way for 1 unit to summon 4 onto the field. This also forces you to rethink your turn management. Sure your able to move a total of more units, but your still only allowed to move 1 unit per turn.

Lastly theres the use of counters by the Workers. Counters are an idea I’ve been thinking about using for a long time in which the damage done didn’t matter as long as damage was done. The strategy was that most setups have units that focus on having really high power at the expense of high recovery, but if that high power didn’t do any more damage than a low powered unit, what was the point of having the stronger unit with the higher recovery.

The uses of this unit also has other special additions. If you turn a ward into a Worker you are able to move it around, but it’s a risky business, because you must use 3 turns to turn your ward into a Worker, reposition and wait for the IQB to recover, and a Worker can be killed in at least 2 attacks. You can reposition shrubs by first turning them into Workers, and stop your opponent from healing their unit by turning it into an Alpha Worker.

Also thanks to 22woger22 and legacy67 for helping me make sure everything was understandably done because it's really long.

[ironhorse123]

Ok thats really long and I think I read enough to say a couple things. For the Worker that is created when the IQB attacks an empty square I think that can easily be absued. just keep the IQB in the back and attack empty squares 2 turns later do it again. You can have an army of little monsters. Also I like the main idea a lot, although I think it is a little too much. Maybe take out one of the units you can create like the one that is created from an empty space. I like the one's made out of shrubs that is a great idea. Nice idea overall. I would consider shortening it a little becfause it is a lot of info to take in for one unit!

EDIT: Can you tell me how to get that code box thing? I knew how to then I forgot.

[Cardplayer89]

I like this unit. It can easily be used to weaken your opponent, or strengthen yourself, but not overly so. Say you have 4 damaged units, 2 with 75% hp and 2 with 25% hp, all in the proper formation. Attacking them with this would turn them into Alpha workers, with 2 counters and 1 counter each. Next turn, if you attack your IQB, the units would become themselves again, except with 100% and 50%, respectively. The risk here is if your workers are attacked, you might lose one/have 50% damage dealt to a unit who had 75% hp. Or, if you use it to weaken your enemy, you would have to not only transform them into workers, but also protect your IQB long enough to do damage to the workers. If you don't, your opponent would simply attack the IQB and wind up with units that have more HP than before.

I saw someone who quoted Mith about what makes a good unit, and it went something like this:

A unit that is underpowered in the hands of a noob and overpowered in the hands of an expert is a good unit.

I think this one fits that description perfectly.

Type [.code] and [/code] iron, minus the period of course.

[Sodamoeba]

Okay, it was a long first post, so I think mine will be a long post as well...sit back and shut up so i can talk :D I was VERY skeptical about this unit from the get-go, because usually I HATE summoning units...but this paragraph turned it around:


When a Worker is attacked, not only does it lose 1 HC, but the IQB passively receives the damage done without breaking the IQB’s focus. The damage is done after the IQB’s armor has been taken into account. For example if a Scout attacked a 2 HC Alpha Worker, the Alpha Worker would lose 1 HC and the IQB would lose 10 HP putting it at 32 HP with 32 armor. When a Worker is poisoned, both the Worker and IQB lose health depending on the health system they are using; Workers lose 1 HC per turn, and the IQB loses 4 HP per turn, though only the Worker suffers the other effects of poison, and poison damage doesn’t stack for the IQB. If a Worker becomes paralyzed, only the Worker is considered paralyzed.


That balances it out so perfectly its not even funny. Very nice. I also LOVE the use of hit counters, although I have one problem with them, which can be explained with this paragraph:


Lastly theres the use of counters by the Workers. Counters are an idea I’ve been thinking about using for a long time in which the damage done didn’t matter as long as damage was done. The strategy was that most setups have units that focus on having really high power at the expense of high recovery, but if that high power didn’t do any more damage than a low powered unit, what was the point of having the stronger unit with the higher recovery.
[quote]

This would make the stronger units (GA, DT, DMW) much less useful, because they would be wasting turns beating up units that could better be handeled with knights...this would worry me, except the IQB will only be a small part of a setup i suppose, so having high powered units will still be a good idea...Im just afraid that being able to take out units with low power and low recovery will make high powered units completely useless. :(


Another thing I dont like (and have a question about) Is transforming your opponents units. Does the transformed unit still belong to your opponent? If so, then it is all good, but if they become YOUR unit, I think that would make this overpowered. I think you mean that your opponent maintains control, so im okay with the transforming part.


Also, Ironhorse123, your concerns are answered here

[QUOTE=ironhorse123]You can have an army of little monsters.

No you cannot. The IQB must maintain focus to keep her 4 bees on the field, so she can only have a max of 4 bees at a time, because if she broke focus to make 4 new bees, the old ones would be destroyed. Of course, you would say she can just keep spewing out new bees when the old ones die, but remember, when the old ones die, the IQB takes a helluva lot of damage. That is what makes this units so balanced.

GREAT JOB. This unit is getting nominated NOW! :)

[legacy67]

I had the opportunity to see this unit a few days before it was posted and i have been thinking about it. In the hands of an inexperienced player it could be usless, just a novelty. In the hands of a really good player it could be great. I do , however see a few problems.

First, I think that this would be one of the most important units to have late in the game. The ability to summon 4 new units late in the game could make this invaluable in the closing rounds. That being said, I think you would see a lot of people trying to ensure that their IQB remained intact as long as possible (not to mention going for the opponents IQB). I envision a lot of matches coming down to IQB vs. IQB and that sounds boring to me. I may be wrong, but that is just something I feel would be likely to happen.

The defesive capabilities are endless, particualrly protecting a unit that is close to dying. For example, throwing a batch of worker bees in the LOS blocking a shot on a cleric, a move which could provide at least one, if not more turns for defensive action. This seems kind of cool, but also could prove to be prolong the game excessively, but I may be wrong.

Workers attack with their jaws and their stingers by either attacking with both at once (Blockable for max damage) or by using their jaws as a distraction to attack with there stinger (Unblockable for half damage).


This is the one part of this unit that I am sure I do not like. The ability to chose to do an unblockable attack is very unbalanced. This is like saying that the knight can do his 22 power blockable attack, or an 11 power unblockable. Now thi presents 2 problems. Against a unit with low HP, what was before a very hard front shot for a kill now becomes an assured kill. Secondly, late in the game you can assure a kill in those "knight in a corner" situations.

Now I know that the fact that damage to the Workers damages the IQB is a very good balancing factor, but I am still not convinced. I think it is important to think about how this would change the game (because believe me this is a game changing unit)

Would this unit be useful in a freestyle setup? Or would you have to specify specific "Queen" games?

Would this create a new genre of match, like the Stoney did for the turtle? Would it simply become a novelty? Or would it just find its way into the general patterns of play?

I would like to hear everyone's opinions on this, but especially Cross Punisher's.

How do YOU envision this unit fitting into the world of TAO?

[Sodamoeba]

yes...the unblockable attack presents a problem, but pyros and witches can do it too you know, and they are just slightly easier to kill than the IQB. Also, they do MORE damage. maybe the unblockable attack is bad, but I really dont think so. Saving the IQB for the purpose of endgame is like saving the DMW for endgame. But perhaps when using its unblockable attack, the worker should have to wait 2 turns? Just a thought...it seems like the unblockable attack part was just thrown in to make another special ability (special abilities are cool, and sometimes people (like me) will go out of their way to make unneeded special abilities).

I think that this is a new type of unit entirely. There have been no good summoning units so far, so this would, of course, create a whole new branch of TAO. That is without a doubt. But thats the price of inovation, and I think its a price well worth paying for this unit :)

[Cardplayer89]

I could see this being used to finally unseat the throne of the GA.

Imagine how pissed off a GA user would be if you catch both his GA and his Muddie in the same attack...

I could see this unit being used as a sort of Turtle unit, because you could shrub, then create units to help you defend against rushes and bombs.

I do NOT see this as a rush/bomb unit, as the Focus is short range and could be taken out easily.

However...

You say that the bees are connected to the IQB for HP, so what happens if you kill an enemy bee? Or do bees made from enemy units come under your control? Sorry if these are already answered, but I didn't recall seeing them in the description.

[Cross Punisher]

In reply to: ironhorse123
As Sodasomeone already mentioned for me, the IQB must retain focus, so neither side can ever have more than 4 workers on the field. Yes it was a lot of information and believe it or not, this is the shortened version. I believe the total is about 9,990 characters, and I didn’t want it to be 2 posts. I think if it takes me 2 posts for me to explain the unit, I didn’t do a very good job of explaining it.

In reply to: Cardplayer89
I had meant to include more information about the positive effects of turning your own units into Workers, and the way you put it sums it up pretty well.

In reply to: Sodamoeba
Thanks, I go for balance.

Also remember that even though any amount of damage destroys a Worker, the IQB still receives the damage done, so it still pays off to attack with really powerful units. I doubt there will be a day when powerful units become useless :D I also noticed that all the units you put down as “strong units” have 3 recovery. It’s just a choice you have to make. Attack the with the powerful, high recovery unit, and do a bit more damage to the IQB, or attack with a less-power, low recovery unit, and be able to use that unit again sooner.

With me it goes without saying that your opponent’s units will stay your opponent’s units. That’s one thing I won’t mess with. Legacy did express some concern about just turning your opponent’s units into Workers and then killing them with the leftover Workers, and that’s why I added the Intimidation Special Ability.

I’m glad that you like the unit.

In reply to: Sodamoeba
I find the special ability of an unblockable is needed for the Workers to be effective. They have no kind of defense at all, so in order to survive they would need to be used as finishers. You wouldn’t use a Worker against a full health knight because even if the attack did hit, it wouldn’t kill the knight and then the knight could kill the Worker in one hit. You would normally use the unblockable attack on units with high blocking, and most units with high blocking have armor. Any unblockable damage done by a Worker, even the strongest Worker- can be healed in one turn. Besides blocking sucks. Say you attack a Witch with a knight leaving it with 6 HP, and they have no cleric. You now attack the Witch from the front with a Worker. Wouldn’t it just be your luck to have the Witch block kill the worker and do damage to the IQB? You may call it part of the game, but I’ve had it happen to me to many times for me to just accept it and call it part of the game.

There have been good summoning units that summoned only one thing, but not very good ones that summoned more than one thing at a time.

In reply to: Cardplayer89
It would be difficult to setup the IQB like you say in a turtle setup in which you use 1 turn to stone your units, another to summon shrubs, and then use another to turn the shrubs into Workers. Your opponent isn’t just going to sit still and wait until your ready. It also could be useful in a rush/bomb because your opponents would most likely be occupied with trying you withstand your rush. In other words this isn’t a unit you can just use on your first turn, just like you can’t use a chanty/frost golem on your first turn; There are simply to many other useful decisions to make at the beginning of a game.

If you turn your opponent’s units into Workers and then attack them, the IQB still receives the damage done, and the opponent keeps control of his unit.

[Match Strike]

Well balanced, although exceedingly complex.

My only complaint is that I fear instead of a highly tactical fighter, this unit is a cleric-killer. Place on front line, summon alphas, and let rip.

Edit: Even being a focus attack, you don't have to place her right up front. She can teleport to an advantageous position and summon from there.

[Cross Punisher]

First, I think that this would be one of the most important units to have late in the game. The ability to summon 4 new units late in the game could make this invaluable in the closing rounds. That being said, I think you would see a lot of people trying to ensure that their IQB remained intact as long as possible (not to mention going for the opponents IQB). I envision a lot of matches coming down to IQB vs. IQB and that sounds boring to me. I may be wrong, but that is just something I feel would be likely to happen.
I found the best way to respond to this statement is just to simply changing the word, “IQB” to “Enchantress,” and take out the 2nd sentence. I find that the most common endgame unit is the knigh
t, and 1 knight would easily annihilate the IQB by itself. Though an encounter of IQB vs. IQB could still prove interesting: Do you try and overcome Workers with you Workers or try and break the IQB’s focus?

The defesive capabilities are endless, particualrly protecting a unit that is close to dying. For example, throwing a batch of worker bees in the LOS blocking a shot on a cleric, a move which could provide at least one, if not more turns for defensive action. This seems kind of cool, but also could prove to be prolong the game excessively, but I may be wrong.
Why not just use a furgon which can summon 5 shrubs at once, doesn’t take damage when shrubs are destroyed, and can create an infinite amount of shrubs without staying in focus?

This is the one part of this unit that I am sure I do not like. The ability to chose to do an unblockable attack is very unbalanced. This is like saying that the knight can do his 22 power blockable attack, or an 11 power unblockable. Now thi presents 2 problems. Against a unit with low HP, what was before a very hard front shot for a kill now becomes an assured kill. Secondly, late in the game you can assure a kill in those "knight in a corner" situations.
What is unbalancing about a Worker choosing between a blockable attack for max damage and an unblockable attack for half damage? A knight that could choose between a blockable attack and an unblockable attack would be overpowered because a knight is so durable from the front with 50 HP, 25 Armor and 80% blocking. A knight can withstand a lot of damage, but a worker can’t withstand any damage. If you are unwilling to take the risk of a blocked attack from a unit you know is not going to survive until it recovers, you can go for the weak unblockable attack.


I can only think of 1 unit that I would consider to have low HP and high blocking, and that’s the Assassin. It would take 5 hits to kill an Assassin with a Gamma Workers unblockable attack, but you only have 4 workers and the Assassin can kill any Worker that attacks it in one hit. In an average scenario that would leave the IQB with no workers on the field and leave the Assassin with 3HP, so if worst comes to worst the Assassin can always just blow itself up to kill the IQB.

In reply to: The rest of what legacy67 said
Those are some deep questions, and I’m sorry to say it’s impossible for me to answer them as accurately as I would like. This unit is not limited to any one setup like a stone golem. What kind of setup couldn’t benefit from having a possible of 4 extra units in it’s formation. An IQB will win in almost all situations against a pyro, cleric, chanty, witch, speaker, furgon, wisp, frost golem, stone golem, DT, and GA because those units either have such high recovery or can’t kill a unit. Units with to high of a recovery are unable to react quickly enough to a swarm of Workers while units with low recovery are able to withstand a swarm of Workers.

Take a minute and think what the game of TAO would be like without enchantress and frost golems. The threat of paralzation stops your opponent from attacking as they would like to and forces them to coordinate their attacks more to have their units in a threatening position to the paralyzer because they know that if they keep sacrificing one of their units for one of their opponent’s, and it ends up coming to one of their units versus a chanty/frost golem, they’ll lose because those units are the ultimate end-game units. What if there was something that could prove an answer to those 2 units. Would they be any LESS effective or would that just make the IQB MORE effective?

To be used effectively you first must find an effective way of using your IQB’s Workers. You have to find a way to have your Workers in a beneficial position, and yet keep your Workers from taking any damage at all.

In all truth, I’m not sure how this unit could completely change the game any more than any other summoning unit, and I’m not completely sure how to answer your questions.

Well balanced, although exceedingly complex.

My only complaint is that I fear instead of a highly tactical fighter, this unit is a cleric-killer. Place on front line, summon alphas, and let rip.

Edit: Even being a focus attack, you don't have to place her right up front. She can teleport to an advantageous position and summon from there.
Yep this unit was made complex because my last unit was simple. ;)

What unit could you turn into Alpha Workers from the front line. They would then be behind the IQB letting it be easily attacked getting rid of the Workers.

If you teleported into the middle of your opponent's setup and summoned Workers for a quick cleric kill the opponent simply has to attack the IQB to break it's focus. You way your talking about using it is the same way you would avoid using your chanty. You don't just rush into your opponent's setup with you chanty in the hopes of paralyzing some units.

[22woger22]

Yes, a very good unit. I had a similar concept in my mind weeks ago, but you have improvised on the concept more than what I would have done. I had a concept of something summoning more units with a special power which depends on the distance, HP, and the number of smaller units of what this certain unit has summoned out.

But back to this unit. Well-balanced, original, outstanding in tactcisal potential, easy to understand if you have time and no way of abusing this unit in some way. Excellent, excellent. I may have to agree with Kyir and give it a "HELL YES" vote :D.

-22-

[Mike...]

i like the idea its very good

[legacy67]

If anyone (particularly Cross Punisher) wants to read my final analysis on the IQB&W, you can do so at post #200 on the CAU Certification Committee thread. I included the link to my post below. The post includes my vote as a committee memeber and my reasons for that vote.

By the way, congrats Cross on 2 new certified gold units.

http://www.tacticsarena.com/forum/showpost.php?p=515257&postcount=200

[Cross Punisher]

I don't know what else to say, so I'll guess I'll just say I'm glad that everyone throughly liked the unit.
:yahoo: