Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ... average.
5 is the highest rating
Seth R.
He's back! Nearly two months have passed,
but I have returned, and can't wait to take my first
bite into the Crisis set. The first week of
Spring starts off with a remake from the first DC set:
BLUE BEETLE
Points: 65
Range: 6
Team: JLA
Arrows: 1
Movement: Ground
Rarity: Uncommon
Set: Crisis
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
8
8
7
7
7
6
KO
KO
KO
KO
KO
KO
9
9
10
9
9
8
KO
KO
KO
KO
KO
KO
17
16
15
15
15
14
KO
KO
KO
KO
KO
KO
2
2
2
2
1
1
KO
KO
KO
KO
KO
KO
Speed
-- ..No one was expecting anything good anyway.
But comments aside, Leap/Climb is a useful power that
prevents Blue Beetle from becoming trapped in a close
combat assault. If he takes a shot deep into the dial,
Beety can backfire with Flurry.
Attack
-- Very VERY consistent for 65 points. I guess you could
call that a "spike" in the middle of the dial. 9 may not
look so great front-loaded, but I think you'll change
your mind when you still see a 9 popping up four clicks
later. Force Blast with range sounds interesting. Is it
useful? Occasionally.
Defense -- 19 defense is pretty steep
to overthrow. Then you have to deal with an 18 at close
combat. Good luck!
Damage
-- Think 9 attack is a little low? Perplex it up! So
what if you wasted your Perplex on yourself; it's worth
it.
Sculpt
-- And I thought Blue Beetle was a dumb name... look at
his costume.
Feats?
Nah. No reason to juice up the point value.
I anticipated another useless Blue Beetle, but I
thought wrong. Turns out this guy can put up a real
fight. His only flaws are the pitiful six range and slim
dial, which can be fixed. Beety can manage both ranged
and close combat and definitely has enough support to
make his life feel longer. With that said, go get a Blue
Beetle!
COMPARING I give Blue Beetle [Hypertime] a 1 out of 5.
I give Blue Beetle [Crisis] a
3.25 out 5.
ANALYSIS:
The most beloved of all the Blue Beetles in DC's history,
Ted Kord gets a decent upgrade in 'Clix. He starts the fight
pretty mobile with JLA TA and Leap/Climb, so he can fill his
prime role as a backfield Perplexer, thanks to his "Bwah-ha-ha-hah!"
Special Power. Energy Shield/Deflection helps keep him safe
from snipers, too.
But at 65 points, he needs to do some fighting, too, and his
6 range isn't going to be much good for that.
Fortunately, his other SP, "BB Gun" helps in that
regard: in addition to giving him Incap and Force Blast, it
allows him to use a special ranged version of Force Blast
from BEHIND friendly characters.
His AV spikes a bit to 10 at mid-dial, and he shifts to
Combat Reflexes from his 2nd click on. Flurry on his 4th &
5th clicks could prove powerful, and ending with Perplex
means he's never useless to the team.
Finally, his "Bwah-ha-ha-hah" must be mentioned again:
when adjacent with his pal Booster Gold, he gets Outwit in
addition to Perplex.
CARDS?
If you REALLY want Beetle to fight, outfit him with POUNCE;
he can self-Perplex to gain an 11 AV for a solid early hit
and then tie up his target with a Combat Reflexes-enabled 18
DV against close combat. If you prefer to keep him in the
rearguard, HEIGHTENED REFLEXES will further protect from
Running Shooters and other moving attackers.
ETC.
It's hard to recommend any one version of Booster Gold over
the others for using Beetle's special Outwit, but it's SO
worth it in each case. In restricted:
Rookie ORIGIN Booster Gold: cheap, shares a keyword and gets
Enhancement mid-dial.
Exp. ORIGIN Booster Gold: matches most of BB's keywords and
gets double Incap on 2nd click.
Vet. ORIGIN Booster Gold: has 3 damage and 10 range to match
BB's Outwit range. PC mid-dial, too. Costly at 80 points,
though.
In unrestricted, the HYPERTIME Booster Golds are cheap and
not much else. The Vet's probably the best bet at
47 points: with a 10 range he might be able to hit whoever
Beetle's Outwitted.
IN SUM:
Never stellar but never junk either, this sums up Ted Kord
nicely. He can fill a number of roles for any team and won't
stink at any of them.
