Swaysil by
@
Maklar the Silver Prince
HeroScape is no stranger to familiar clichés and fantasy tropes, but we’ve never seen a centaur tread the grounds of Valhalla before. Is Swaysil worthy of being the first one, or will she have to return to her Northlands?
BALANCE
Swaysil has an interesting balance: she’s a very swingy unit when played as intended, which is somewhat uncommon in VC. Sometimes she’ll land a devastating Run Down and Point Blank Shot 1 to win the game; sometimes, she’ll just fail spectacularly and outright lose the game. In my testing, I found the temptation of this combo to often be a trap—killing two figures is nice, but not if it gets Swaysil killed prematurely—especially because of her meager 4 life and 2 defense. Ironically, she was most effective by
maximizing her distance and avoiding engagements at all costs, only utilizing her abilities as a last resort to avoid getting cornered.
This resulted in some natural comparisons to Me-Burq-Sa. He’s obviously an exceptional figure, but Swaysil is essentially him without bonding, slightly worse durability, no Paralyzing Stare, and improved offensive power in close quarters. Given that she won’t last long in those close quarters anyway, she manages to avoid overshadowing Me-Burq-Sa and instead exists as an alternative. If anything, I find that Me-Burq-Sa is generally the better choice, but she’s unique enough to carve out her own niche.
Overall, I found Swaysil to be well-balanced, even if she often fell on the lower end of the power curve in my tests. Much like Me-Burq-Sa, she certainly still has plenty of devastating potential in her ideal clean-up scenarios, aided by Point Blank Shot and the potential for a double kill.
THEME
Swaysil has a perfectly serviceable theme. She’s a fast archer with very aggressive stats and powers. She is also surprisingly weak for a centaur, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. I do feel like there’s a better personality out there than Bold, though—especially since both of her powers encourage a reckless playstyle and are most effectively used cautiously. Bold certainly works, but it doesn’t add a ton of flavor there.
These are all relatively minor qualms, though. Her theme is fitting to the character and there’s nothing really wrong with it.
CREATIVITY
Swaysil takes the niche of a Me-Burq-Sa without bonding and twists it into something more aggressive and swingier. It’s a neat take on a centaur while still fitting many of the fantasy tropes common in HeroScape.
The true creativity of the design comes from pairing Run Down with Point Blank Shot 1, though, which creates a fun tension. A failed Run Down essentially removes both bonuses from play and leaves Swaysil in an incredibly dangerous position, but if it works, it can set up a great shot afterwards. Her low durability exacerbates this point, as she often falls after a single poor turn. Overall, I thought that Swaysil is a creative addition to the game that doesn’t detract from any of the other units.
PLAYABILITY
Swaysil may not be reliable enough to truly upset the balance of the game, but she’s far from unusable. After a bad string of initial games where she failed to make an impact, I was concerned that she might disappoint too frequently, but it quickly became clear that playing her more carefully (mostly using Run Down as a Hail Mary to get out of a bad situation) was far more effective and gave her a decent chance of making a sizable impact.
She obviously benefits a lot from being saved for the endgame, when the opposing forces are limited and scattered. Against melee, she can kite for a decent time while taking potshots, but Me-Burq-Sa already does this (and better, too, thanks to his Paralyzing Stare). Even in these scenarios, she’s far from overwhelming and can be cornered with smart play.
Swaysil doesn’t really have any synergies of note, but that could certainly change in the future if more suitable centaur sculpts are found. In that case, she is an easy addition to any potential faction, providing a solid first step while keeping the design space open.
SUMMARY
Swaysil doesn’t set the game on fire, but she still exists as an interesting new clean-up option. If more centaurs are designed down the line, then she’ll fit right in to any potential army with her risky playstyle. Ultimately, she was a pleasure to play with, and I look forward to more games with her.
I vote
to induct Swaysil into the Soldiers of Valhalla.