The Pile Image: Enormous, towering mass of ... something, fleshy, surrounded by tentacles and flailing limbs. The image is from a downward angle, and the mountainous creature blots out the moon. Where you would expect to see birds for scale, you instead see dwarven flying contraptions or small dragons; it's real big. Text: The stars aligned and the dead-still waters of the Quietus shook; all the armies of the world would only fuel its hunger. Faction: FW Race: Undead Worm Mutant Size: 3x3 Deck limit: 1 20 DMG ~+10 nora 3 SPD ~-24 nora 1 RNG ~+2 nora 0 DEF 100 HP ~+46 nora ~+34 nora Attack: Phys +2 Cleave +8 Opportunistic Assault +8 Gluttony +4 Worm Lord +6 World Walker +~5 (This unit ignores all terrain, including chasms, impeding terrain, damage from lava, and elevation.) +33 U1 Initiative 1 +5 Reinforcement 2 +10 U2 Majestic 1 +9 Calcify +4 Tough 3 +15 +9-+25 Total: 86-102 (without any modifiers -- that 3 speed really cuts it down, as does using a log-scale for HP. Not paying for Defense also helps.) This is one of many takes I've kicked around for a giant, 3x3 Worm Lord. Having a 3x3 unit would be super cool for worms, because that's already a theme-specific interaction: only worms can ever acquire the deployment zone necessary to actually field the thing. I wanted this unit to be terrifying to melee units, while somewhat vulnerable to range. Here are some notes on the abilities and design. Yes, Cleave and Opportunistic Assault work together to be just as terrifying as you might imagine: any unit that attempts to disengage will prompt the Pile to attack every unit to which it is engaged for 20 damage, and as a 3x3, it could engage 3 or even 4 units with relative ease. Initiative/Reinforcement plus Gluttony means that he could theoretically come out of the gate and wipe out an entire front of units; he could come in with 4 AP, attack once, then Gluttony for 125 HP and attack again. While that's very unlikely because of the required sequencing, he is a big boogeyman to opposing mid-cost melee. He can more easily pull off the CitP double attack with Reinforcement, but that also requires having 4 other friendlies out, which can sometimes give worms trouble. Gluttony sadly doesn't give Defense, which I thought it did when I first recalled the ability. He would be much better if that were the case. I was thinking of Magnate's Blessing (bit awkward how those two look together -- similar yet very different). Even so, it does give AP, which works wonderfully on a high-damage unit with abysmal speed: if he can get in range of a couple units, he can usually Gluttony and then rush them down. As for defensive options, I knew Majestic would work well. With no actual Defense stat, he really relies on those upgrades to mitigate damage, and Majestic is the go-to for stopping high-DMG opposing melee, the kind of units that often give worms trouble. Tough 3 seemed like a sensible enough include, even though it's incredibly expensive. It will stop DoTs from ripping through his raw HP. Finally, Calcify is the best bet for guaranteeing that he sticks around the turn after, assuming he deploys into a large opposing force. At his HP value, Calcify can do a lot of work, and also clocks in at only 4 nora. Unfortunately, it does nothing to prevent him from getting harassed down by ranged units. World Walker combines a lot of different terrain abilities (and is probably costed too aggressively at 5 nora -- Mountaineer is only 4), but seems necessary for a unit that large. Without it, he literally couldn't move around on some maps such as Snarling Tangle. He still can't move around well on Elemental Plateau or Grove of Ashes. On Plateau, he must stay firmly on one side of mid-font, and he must move through exactly 1 set of tiles to get through the gap on Grove. On Ironfist Pass, the pillars around mid font make reaching any units a nightmare, and he would have better luck circumventing it entirely. Speaking of mid-fonts, moving around a font to attack something on the other side is an enormous hassle. He would likely be unable to ever catch a 6 SPD, 2-4 RNG unit that just kited around the font. His great power and playable cost do come at a price. There are a million different ways to take the idea of a 3x3 worm unit -- versions with Swallow Whole, or which use the 3x base to create huge Bolt attacks -- but this one fills a particular hole in worms right now, so it's worth a look. Obviously making a 3x3 base poses some fundamental problems, and could be buggy or unpredictable. But it would be so darn cool!
This design would be super interesting if they ever decided to make a 3x3. Massive drawbacks but also massive power in the right circumstances.
With the current way that pox is coded, you could only deploy the champion at your shrine and only if you had annex in play.
OR if you were playing worms and had the SDZ expansion from Necrosis. That's sorta the point. No room on abilities, it's already maxed out at 8. Always been a fan of Blood Fiend and Essence Devourer, guess it shows up here.
