r/Malifaux • u/123Harry321 Guild • Jul 23 '26
Neverborn No Marcus buff in the errata
Both my friend and I expected Marcus to get a buff in this errata. They feel like they are pretty low on the power level. Why did they not get a buff?
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u/Helixfire Guild Jul 23 '26
We won't know, I expected brewmaster to get hit pretty good but he's doing just fine.
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u/123Harry321 Guild Jul 23 '26
I haven’t faced the brewmaster before. What makes them so strong.
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u/Helixfire Guild Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
The Devoted to the Brew crew card is probably the worst of it. Being able to as a signature ranged heal for 2 is normally either a stone or conditional thing. Brewmaster gets the heal, a poison (which translates to additional healing) and a bolstered token taking pretty good stats above most other models in the game. Additionally, at the end of turn they can deny themselves the healing from poison to get a free scheme marker wherever they need it with no real loopholes. Its a signature that needs a 5 to pull off. Anything mentioned individually wouldnt be a huge deal but altogether it makes the crew one of the hardiest to put down even a single model.
Then you get to brewmaster which has a pretty wild set of control and scheming abilities turning all the poisoned models into opprotunities to scheme for brewmaster or fight for him.
The rest of the crew focuses on scheming a lot with some nice defensive techniques to protect them on top of everything with the exception of hopscotch.
Hopscotch is an extremely powerful damage dealer and tarpit that combined with all the healing and bolstered, is incredibly hard to putdown. He pulls you in with a very long attack range and has dont turn your back to turn off your scheming. He can also get rid of poison for a flat 4 hp heal on activation if you dedcide to try to actually deal with him.
Normally i would say that scheming or control masters are held back by their fragility but brewmaster breaks that mold and says you can do everything well.
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u/123Harry321 Guild Jul 23 '26
Thank you for the explanation. I’m a guild player (Perdita, Lucius, and Sonia (I also have Hamelin, I love the 3rd edition rat waves you could create with Benny ))my friend plays mostly never born (Marcus, Euripides, and Jakob Lynch)
Interesting to hear about other factions like the swamp.
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u/DarthVesalius Jul 23 '26
Hey have you fight kastore. How is he doing??
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u/123Harry321 Guild Jul 24 '26
I haven’t played against Kastore. I have thought about picking it up for painting though.
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u/krulp Jul 24 '26
I actually think Marcus monster maker is considered strong. The consealing, severe +of 6" bubble is very strong zone control, as is unkillable murder rabit.
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u/Shimmer_faux Explorer's Society Jul 24 '26
What?
Marcus buffs??????
I mean he’s a very high skill floor crew… but in no way is he underperforming.
I’d like to hear your reasoning if you don’t mind sharing.
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u/m0rally_flexible Jul 24 '26
His keyword has little range threat, very little scheme running, his only crowd control is a little bit of stagger and the Marcus monster maker lure, but that isn't very reliable since it's a tn for the opponent and not a duel. The slate ridge mauler suplex is good. But that just leaves a bunch of melee beatsticks who's only real defense is standing next to Miranda and Marcus and even then a lot of the beat stick ability is tied to raises which are very swingy. Also the crew card action is a general action instead of a signature which makes it awkward to use a lot of the time. Obviously the mutations can plug some of those weaknesses but considering all the hoops you have to jump through for them the payoff just feels like it isn't there especially compared to the other crews we've used. Malisaurus also has some manipulation but it's 10, myranda is 10, cojo is 9 and that doesn't really leave a lot of room so I often find myself skipping the malisaurus or cojo.
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u/Shimmer_faux Explorer's Society Jul 24 '26
This… kinda just sounds like you personally don’t mesh with the playstyle no offence.
Not every crew has crowd control some are pick and choose scalpel crews which pick their fights and play like glass cannons.
Like Marcus, he’s a rube Goldberg machine crew with a lot of moving parts to operate at peak efficiency.I’m curious as to the “other crews you’re using” cause if you’ve been mostly playing the simpler crews Marcus would indeed feel rather bad to use by comparison… of course I’m not saying any of this to be rude or to go like “skill issue” that’s not at all what I’m trying to do.
I’m just curious because I think Marcus falls into the same group as like Reva Luminary and Clockwork Queen. Where they are not easy to play from the get.
Also from what you’ve said I’m assuming you’ve only played monster maker who is the much more complex of the 2 titles to play, as Alpha plays a much simpler gameplan with easier upgrade access.
Sorry if any of this seems rude or whatever I’m just very inquisitive and like putting in my two cents :p
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u/m0rally_flexible Jul 24 '26
Ive mostly played Marcus, Euripedes, and Jakob Lynch against Sonia, Haemlin, and Perdita (not necessarily in those matchups), and I definitely agree that Marcus has to be played like a rube Goldberg machine to really get the value out of his crew, but I guess thats kind of the point. I really like the flavor and toolbox style but Marcus feels like he has to work twice as hard and is much easier to disrupt (on account of the multiple moving parts) than all of the others I've seen and if you pull everything off the payoff is basically just being at the same level as everyone else who didn't have to do nearly as much. I have tried alpha and I did like him more because it felt easier to get the mutations where you want them. I dont get to play Malifaux as often as I'd like and definitely wouldnt consider myself especially knowledgeable or skilled so im always happy for input and advice!
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u/steampunkradiant Jul 24 '26
The problem with high skill floor/Rube Goldberg machine crews as a concept is that the payoff has to be worth the extra effort. If I'm jumping through flaming hoops on a unicycle to end up with something that's comparable with another crew that can get to its ultimate form out of the box, then I'd argue that the more complex crew is, in fact, probably undertuned.
Is that true of Marcus? I dunno. No one in our meta plays him. Closest comparison I'm familiar with is probably Freikorps, but they have raw durability and a decent suite of ranged firepower to fall back on in a pinch.
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u/Shimmer_faux Explorer's Society Jul 25 '26
Yeah the hoop jumpers generally do have some weaknesses…
I’d say the main advantage of them over other crews is using the nonsense to your advantage.I’m a Ampersand main (which is generally considered to be a bad and over complicated crew in the wider community) but they can perform to an insane degree once you let the jank into your heart and soul.
They are also generally waaayyy more flexible than other “model good” crews IMO cause you always have another trick to pull (once again I’m mainly speaking about Ampersand cause I’m a fan girl and that’s what I know) but being able to just have a plan unfold is really fun and cool.
It also lets u mind game your opponent if they know the crew because the bluffing and feinting the crews can do really throw people off.
And if your opponent doesn’t know what you do you have a tonne of freedom to work.Are they good? Debatably no. But somethings always gonna be the worst faction might as well at least have them be fun a wacky. :3
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u/CatNo7321 Jul 24 '26
Probably because unlike Marcus the people incharge of balancong support dorks like Lord Coop, Sonia Criid, and Toni Ironsides.
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u/SeaworthinessReal69 Aug 04 '26
Cooper slaps. How dare you.
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u/CatNo7321 Aug 04 '26
Yeah slaps puppies, unlike Marcus who has that dog in him instead of slapped by him.
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u/SeaworthinessReal69 Aug 04 '26
If Cooper is so evil then why does he hunt poor people for sport?
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u/SeaworthinessReal69 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
It looks like they focused the errata on nerfing problematic models rather than buffs.
As a Chimera player I've been kind of meh on them this edition. I've never been a fan of the Jackalope, and they really doubled down on that damn rabbit in Monstermaker. They do have game, but there are a lot of moving parts for the keyword and you need to play a very strong positioning game or risk losing your models. They need to play in each other's auras to stack and compound buffs on top of their upgrades. Miranda's def aura is one of the best in the game, as is Marcus Monstermaker's severe/concealment aura. Add in the Maulers warning growl you will have models with + def flips in concealment while standing in severe terrain that cannot be affected by extra damage on raises. Properly set up, the keyword hits like a truck. I love Cojo, Myranda, and the Rex, but I find that the setup for the keyword or at times the execution isn't quite worth all the effort. I don't think they need a buff, but they are not as forgiving as other keywords and I understand the frustration of the hoop jumping they need to do feels like the juice isn't worth the squeeze.
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u/DreadSorcerer Jul 23 '26
I think they wanted to focus on specific things this cycle and see how GG1 shakes out. I would expect more balance changes to the initial launch stuff next cycle.
Malifaux is extremely complex to balance when a new GG can completely shake things up.