Harlequin

[kholmes]

EDIT: Okay I made some serious tweaks. Seriously.

Unit: Harlequin
Type: Beast Fighter
Harlequins are spry creatures driven by insanity. They have lanky bodies and love playing violently cruel jokes on others.

HP: 36
Armor: 0
Blocking: 50% front, 25% side
Power: Attack - 19 (Blockable)
Movement: 4 (see below)
Recovery: 1 (1 for moving, 1 for attack)

Leap move: The Harlequin leaps, dances, and jumps across the field of battle. Her movement is broken up into two separate leaps. First you choose any square within two squares of the Harlequin. Then, you choose an empty square within two squares of the first chosen square. In this manner the Harlequin can travel to a maximum of 4 squares.
The Harlequin doesn't have to move twice, you can opt to only move her once. This movement is similar to teleportation in that the Harlequin can jump over units.

Bounce attack: When Harlequin’s first jump lands on a square occupying a unit the Harlequin attacks that unit. This attack is blockable and considered to be incoming from the direction that the Harlequin initially jumps from.

Harlequin Dance: The Harlequin bursts into dance. This focus ability is the Harlequin’s ‘normal attack.’ While she remains focused her blocking is raised by 70% (as in 120% front and 60% side).

Note on recovery: The Harlequin has a recovery of one from movement. The Bounce attack counts as movement, so it only has a recovery of one. The Harlequin has a recovery of one from when she starts dancing.

Author's Notes:
Tried a simplicity edit on this unit.
Decided to make Harlequin a pure combat unit (no “surprise”) by focusing on her jump attack and her high blocking.
Changed her stats a little bit to match.
Final note, I have to give props to F_A's Zagger for inspiring the move attack.

[Forest_Archer]

1.) I read the last sentence, and I feel honored. :p

2.) Let me have a week or two to read the whole thing.

3.) EDIT: Finally read it. It's alright, but really complicated, and random movement isn't really great. Plus, the OBP is too hard to pull off and make it work.

Overall Rating: 74 / 100

[deleryn]

This is really interesting, though I have to admit that the length of the unit balked me at first. A little simplicity wouldn't hurt but I would have trouble figuring what to shorten (now I can begin to see why some of my units aren't popular). ;) The "oversized Birthday Present" seems unprofessional, but has sort of a bland flavor that could use a little spice; I argree about that.

The movement is described as "jumping", but does that mean it can teleport or is it limited to going around units? Since it can attack and move at once, this ability would mean it can only attack the first unit in a row at any time, not the one behind it, without teleportation.

[Sluff]

I give it an A for effort. :)

[shatterstar]

lol. nice. though i call dibs on recent bouncers with my acrobat. :) :)

it seems good, fairly balanced.
the oversized-thingy is seems a little over-the-top and superflous. imma a control freak so the fact that it changes position on a block (an uncontrollable act) isnt too nice.

question on game mechanics - as of now, for all units, there is a separate move and separate attack. your unit attempts to mingle the 2.
so can i select a target during the movement phase and attack it? (i am moving as well). if i can, can i attack again in the attack phase?

[kholmes]

Shatterstar, I overhauled the unit...
but the answer is that the move IS the units attack and the "Attack" triggers the focus ability.
Yes, this is unlike the other units in the game... that's the point?

[shatterstar]

hmm...i like this version...its pretty good. there's absolutely nothing wrong with making units with completely new abilities, in fact i commend it. however, if you do, you have to be comprehensive and cover all possibilities.