So I got a couple Risen Grenadiers. Initial response was: "Eh, whatever." But being the Johnny that I am, I like to mess around with things, so I built this: http://poxbase.com/deck/C8yCgPC20Co_CpaChYCawCjUs6=s6Tsqs4US33s1gsms46rGr2HrWE2w The main thing, was that I noticed that the Long Fuse Bomb does not need to last till the end of the next turn to explode. As long as it's destroyed, it will go boom. So for me, the most natural reaction I had was to both have a method to get the enemy clumped up together, and to detonate the bomb on my own turn. This means Slamming things into it. It's only got 3 health, so if you even get just 1 tile worth of extra knockback into it it'll detonate, and being deployed at range makes it much easier to set up slams, and even theoretically possible for a Risen with Explosive Attack to self trigger against an enemy exactly 3-4 spaces away if he starts the turn with 10 AP, provided the Enemy isn't immune to Ranged, Fire, or Knockback (good luck with all of that coming together). In any event, it's fun, but I wouldn't say it's great. Those times you can pull of perfect slam opportunities and do 40-ish damage to the main target from one attack? Pretty awesome, and you can do it fairly often with both Long Fuse and Land Mines available from the Torts. But it's also relying on key synergies, there are few champions that do much more than delay the opponent on their own. So if the opponent can pick them off you're screwed, and it means you can't be as aggressive on contesting fonts without some luck. Combine that with a high average nora cost and it could easily get snowballed against if you lose early engagements. PoxBase is misleading on a few points: 1. Long Fuse does 18 damage at base, not 15, I assume the guy just hasn't updated it properly yet 2. In part as a response to the number of high cost champions, I downgraded most of the Upgrades, so the actual average Champion cost is 78 rather than 80, and the average Rune cost is 60.4-ish. You could get it a bit lower too. Go with regular Backfire, maybe trade out the Flood for another Marshsong or Noraweave (whichever you prefer), and so on. As for the Risen Grenadier itself, the Long Fuse Bomb is obviously it's high point. Even if you're not running a Slam module or something to get immediate use, it can at least zone out enemy champions from an area, or punish their choice to be aggressive. Still, I think it does need the option for immediacy. It's one of the reasons I'm posting here instead of Split or FW. They don't have many options in that regard, and other than Boon and the nice option for some alt-damage, it just feels very much like an FS-only Rune. As a basic ranged unit, the alt-damage is again fairly nice, even for FS (or Torts in general) which have a decent amount of Fire damage access. It's range and damage are not impressive, considering Ponderous and it's over-80 nora cost. While the Long Fuse Bomb is very powerful, it also has an absurdly long CD of 6, so in all likelihood you'll only get one off per Risen (or you're probably winning anyway if you're able to keep it alive). For myself, I think unless you particularly need some supplimental AoE damage, it's hard to justify. And even then it's competing with Tortun Mortar or even Tortalleon Gunbattery, which are both much cheaper, have more consistent AoE (or at least more frequent in the case of the Gunbattery), and better range, albeit at the hefty cost of SPD. To say nothing of more generic AoE providers like Darkmarsh Sorcerer, Boghopper Toad, or Poison Elemental. It is, I suppose, at least worth noting that Long Fuse will never harm your own units though. So again it's good for trying to force your opponents to back off from an objective, while moving in on it for yourself. So what about you other Swampies? Anyone else try it out, and/or would like to add their own thoughts?
Relocate: Foe from the FW Siren can bring an enemy near a bomb (or Elven Strategist, but I'm talking FW now). Grim Well makes it harder to escape. These 2 suggestions don't HAVE to be used at the same time. Crypt Guardian can relocate the relic wherever, increasing threat range. The Desecration spell is cheap broad AoE for detection/finishing off and it can trigger the bomb. Splitting with FW also grants access to the awesomeness of Timothy. Find a way to use these runes in the same deck for additional, non-gimmicky purposes, and you've got yourself a split. Just pointing out that the split with FW has its own perks.
