THE JOKER (Arkham Asylum)

boot speed

97 points

Team Ability: Batman Enemy

Range:  8 x 1

Keywords: Gotham City, Injustice Gang, Injustice League, Monster

DIAL & CARD:

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/dc/figuregallery.asp?unitid=14281

STRENGTHS:

He's got Poisonous. He's Stealthy. And he's got the best range of any non-cosmic Joker yet, which is good given his starting with Ranged Combat Expert and later, Psychic Blast. His Attack Value starts at 11 and never drops below 9...that's great news for his fellow Batman Enemies copying his attack. He's got the Indomitable defense symbol, enabling him to push freely. Later in his dial, he gains a bit of mobility with Leap/Climb and some team worth with Perplex.

WEAKNESSES:

He's got no defensive power AT ALL, and while his 16 DV is steady through his whole dial, it's not a great number. His Speed's a little low, especially late-dial when he may want to run most. And despite his having Poison, he's really not very good in close. No LAMP* here!

CARDS TO CONSIDER:

Aside from PROTECTED and ALIAS to give him SOME sort of defense beyond Stealth, the new feat SKULLDUGGERY is one of the only good fits in Restricted cards IF you plan to use Poison...add INFILTRATE or SNEAK for the same reason. (Frankly, though, Joker's much better at range on those clicks. But if you're determined to Poison, be sure to field the KINETIC ACCELERATOR to make sure he's got the Speed to get wherever he's headed. In Unrestricted games, ARMOR PIERCING will help with that Poisoning, but you really want LIFE MODEL DECOY every time you play him. EVERY TIME, ALL THE TIME.

IN SUM:

Still half in his straitjacket, this just-escaped Joker is largely solo and lacks the Mastermind power usually associated with the mad clown. This hurts his playability a bit. But his Stealth and stats and powers make him workable...just needs more finesse than the old LAMP-friendly versions.

*Lockjaw+Armor-Piercing+Mastermind+Poison: an old tactic of taxiing a character with Poison and Mastermind in base with an enemy, who'd be unavoidably damaged thanks to Armor Piercing feat and couldn't KO the Poisoner, who'd just pass off the damage to their taxi, usually the deep-dialed Lockjaw, who could chase anyone around the map.