There are two tanks in Splinterlands, one that deals damage, one that takes damage. In every battle, there’s always that one warrior who stands firm when everyone else starts to fall. While it’s not always about dealing the most damage, having a strong unit that can deal with the enemy with one or two blows are very strong. In Splinterlands, that kind of tank often surprises you by the amount it can do for you. Some players like using fast and flashy lineups but others understand the strength of a unit that just won’t go down easily. These units aren’t only there to take hits. They can slowly turn the fight around. These units might look slow but that is what keeps the battle under control and help your team get the wins. Experimenting with different playstyle and units are one of the most consistent practice to improve in Splinterlands, especially in Modern Ranked Format.

Lore

Vorlox the Bulkhead earned his nickname because he eats like a whale and stands nearly as wide as a ship's bulkhead. He wields scavenged shields and armor in his tentacles, a living barricade where the gangplank narrows.

On the Saltwraith's conclave hauls, he plants himself between longboats and the world, takes the first hit with a laugh, and gives back two: one with a seized breastplate, another with a cutlass fit for a siege door. The plates he carries scrape and shift as he moves, a warning bell heard over the wind and spray of the sea.

https://splinterlands.com/card-detail/895/regular/18?tab=lore

Stats

Salthwraith Bulkhead is a mix of tank and adamage dealer. It has good stats and abilities. With high armor, strong melee damage and built-in sustain at max level. Saltwraith Bulkhead can hold the frontline for a long time if not focused all at once. I think it works best as a bruiser-type tank that is used when you need damage while also requiring a tank at the same time. Due to the lack of defensive abilities like Shield or Void, I think it's best partnered with units that have Flank in order to reduce the enemies first before standing in the frontline.

Abilities

Icon	Name	Description
	Weary	Debilitation: Each round, Weary Units have a 10% chance to become Exhausted. This chance increases by 10% every round, up to a maximum of 80%.
		is a match because if the enemy has Thorns and if Weary skips your attack, you won’t receive any Thorns damage that turn. This becomes an unexpected advantage since avoiding your turn can actually prevent you from taking reflected damage. In some cases, it even helps extend Bulkhead’s life when facing his last breath.
		is a counter because if you have Heal, every time you skip your turn due to Weary, you also skip your heals phase. Heals only works during your turn. Skipping your unit's turn doesn't mean it's not attacking but everything, including ability activations as well. This may kill your Saltwraith Bulkhead if consistently skipping your turns.

	Oppress	Does double damage when attacking an enemy that has no attacks or weapons training.
		is a match because if the enemy has Taunt, it forces focus on a single unit guaranteeing your Oppress damage activates every round. It makes Bulkhead’s already huge attack double against teams with Taunts. If you combine with his high durability, it allows him to shred through tanks that rely on drawing fire. Remember that Oppress only works when the Taunt unit has no attack and not because it has Taunt.
		is a counter because if the enemy has Shield, it halves melee damage. That directly reduces the effectiveness of Oppress. Even when Oppress doubles your attack against non-attackers, Shield brings it back down to normal damage because Oppress double the damage but Shield halves that double damage. This makes it difficult for Saltwraith Bulkhead to break through these kinds of units.

	Armored Strike	This Unit gets an additional melee attack using its armor stat.
		is a match because if you have Repair because every time your armor is restored, your Armored Strike’s damage also increases. The synergy creates a loop where more armor means stronger Armored Strike attacks and stronger attacks help clear enemies faster. Armored Strike is based on the current armor so without Repair or any ability to restore it, this ability will not last long and when your armor goes to zero, then Armored Strike will also not work.
		is a counter because if the enemy has Shield because Armored Strike is treated as a melee hit and Shield halves it just the same. It lowers your overall damage and slows down the snowballing effect that makes Armored Strike so strong. Armored Strike is good because it can pull off high damage but Shield controls this damage to manageable levels.

	Heal	Restores a third of the max health to this Unit's health each round.
		is a match because if you have Life Leech because every successful Life Leech attack raises your max health by a lot due to its high attack. This increases the total amount you can heal each round. Life Leech gives Saltwraith Bulkhead incredible sustain when this combo worked. The longer the battle lasts, the more unkillable he becomes.
		is a counter because if the enemy has Affliction it can completely disable any healing effect, including your self heal. Once afflicted, Saltwraith Bulkhead’s main source of heal is gone making his big health pool much easier to chip away at. It’s one of his hardest counters and can flip a winning match into a loss especially if Saltwraith Bulkhead is your one and only tank in that battle.

Good Rules to Consider

Icon	Name	Reason
	Melee Mayhem	Melee attack Units can attack from any position.
		Allows Saltwraith Bulkhead to attack safely from the back enabling his Armored Strike safe while keeping him protected from early damage that would reduce its armor. With Repair support, he can dish out consistent melee pressure from any spot. His 7 mana cost also makes him an efficient secondary tank or backup tank in this concept.
	Aim True	All units gain True Strike (attacks will never miss).
		Ensures that Saltwraith Bulkhead’s high melee damage and Armored Strike will never miss solving one of the biggest weaknesses of melee attackers. Every attack connecting means maximum value from Weary and Oppress. He becomes a big threat that can’t be dodged which is really strong since he has strong damage and offensive abilities.
	Explosive Weaponry	All units have Blast (deals an additional 50% damage to units adjacent to the target, rounded up).
		Since both his normal melee attack and Armored Strike count as melee, they both trigger Blast damage from this modifier. This lets Saltwraith Bulkhead deal massive splash damage turning him into a tank that can destroy not only the ones in front of him but also behind that unit. Pair him with multiple Protects to increase the damage of Blast from Explosive Weaponry.

Bad Rules to Think Twice

Icon	Name	Reason
	Briar Patch	All units have Thorns (returns 2 damage to attacker when hit by a melee attack)
		Both his melee attacks and Armored Strike trigger Thorns which deals back unavoidable damage. Since he relies on melee attacks, he takes constant reflection damage every round. You can counter this by giving him Deflection.
	Blood and Sunder	All units have Corrosive Ward (-2 to attacker’s armor and maximum armor when hit by a melee attack).
		Armor removed by Corrosive Ward is permanent which drastically reduces his Armored Strike power. Once the armor is gone, his damage from Armored Strike also goes down since it scales off armor. This rule set effectively turns one of his biggest strengths into a weakness.
	Healed Out	All healing abilities are removed from Units and Summoners.
		Heal effects are disabled removing one of his most valuable abilities at a higher level. Without Heal, Saltwraith Bulkhead can’t recover from attacks making him far easier to take down. It heavily limits him being a frontline which is really bad if you don't have a backup tank for him.

Battle

Link to battle

This battle was one of my earlier trials with Saltwraith Bulkhead. I could put Janni Rebel in front of him but I was greedy about Janni Rebel's Inspire. Still, this couldn't have work better as one of Saltwraith Bulkhead's solid 5 attack hit Dread Tafarian in the face allowing my team to eliminate it on the second round. From this on, while the enemy has higher overall health, I have higher overall damage. Also, since their last unit has ranged attack, it cannot attack in the front so I really just need to remove three units instead of four, after Dread Tafarian goes down, in order to with the game.

Images were taken from Splinterlands, made in Canva, drawn in Krita and animated in Photoshop.

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