Rebellion has brought new features to the battle system and changed the way we play the game. The battlefield has a new look, cards look quite compact with level bars on top, and there are new monster abilities that make every battle more challenging than ever.
We'll talk about Armored Strike in this post and see some of the battles fought using a unit with Armored Strike ability. How does it work, what are its benefits, and what is the disadvantage?
What is Armored Strike Ability?
Armored Strike is a new ability given to some monsters in the Rebellion edition. It is a type of attack made with armor of a unit, the damage will be equal to the total amount of armor available to the unit.
Remember, Armored Strike is an additional attack, the monster will inflict damage with Armored Strike and then it will attack with a normal attack. It is like a double-strike attack but with 2 different weapons.
Armored Strike won't trigger if the monster loses all its armor, in this case, the monster will only use its normal attack. It is better to give extra protection and keep repairing the armor using Repair units.
Armored Strike in Action
I have exclusively created this video to show you how Armored Strike works in a battle. For this purpose, I have used Bera Dallin, a legendary Life unit having Taunt and Armored Strike. Watch 3 amazing battles in the following video.
Battle 1 is fought between Life and Water units, since most of the opponents are using magic damage, Bera Dallin can easily use her Armored Strike, you can see her pummeling her enemy with a shield and then she attacks it with melee damage.
Battle 2 shows a different story, I have increased her armor using a summoner with +1 armor buff, so Bera can inflict 1 extra damage with her Armored Strike. But, when she loses some of the armor, her attack is also reduced, and she inflicts damage equal to her available armor.
Battle 3 is about losing all armor in a round and when Bera does not have any armor she simply attacks with her melee weapon and skips Armored Strike. But in the end, she gets some armor repaired and again she starts to hit her enemy with available armor points.
If you have observed the battles closely, you'll notice that I have supported Bera Dallin with Repair unit, this is a very important aspect of keeping the Armored Strike active in each round, otherwise once the armor is all gone, she cannot use Armored Strike again for the whole battle.
Benefits of Armored Strike
- It is an extra attack that can annihilate your opponent's tank unit within a few rounds.
- Buff up armor using Protect and gain 2 extra damage in any battle.
- User summoners that grant +1 or +2 armor to add additional damage to the unit with Armored Strike.
- Add Repair units in your battle team to keep using Armored Strike attacks every round.
- Using an Armored Strike unit with a Flank unit is the best strategy, Flank will grant Reach to the Armored Strike unit in 2nd position and it can be way more lethal than putting it in first position and losing all the armor from melee and ranged damage.
- Armored Strike units can be used in rulesets that grant Sneak and Opportunity abilities; they will work like a unit with a double strike.
Disadvantage of Armored Strike
- Once the armor is removed, the unit cannot use Armored Strike again unless repaired by a support unit or stats increase due to the death of a Martyr unit.
- Since it is counted as a melee strike, the unit will receive Thorns and Reflect damage when attacking with Armored Strike.
- A player will need to fill some slots with repair units to keep repairing the armor to trigger Armored Strike in each round.
- It requires a solid strategy to keep the armor intact in a battle, otherwise, the unit will only attack once.
- Most of the cards with Armored Strike have low Speed, therefore there are good chances of losing the armor before they get their turn, but they can be good in the Reverse Speed ruleset.
Monsters with Armored Strike Ability
There are 5 units with armored strike, of which 3 units are legendary, one is rare and one is common.
Zebajin is a legendary unit from the Life faction, I don't know why this unit has gained a legendary status, although not a good fighter unit except 7 mana cost.
Skyspire Yak is a common low mana Life unit, it is an average unit for battles and good for battles with Little League ruleset.
Bera Dallin is a true legendary unit with Taunt and Armored Strike abilities, she is 2nd best unit among other legendary units with Armored Strike. You have seen her skills in the battle already, so give her a try in your battles and see how it works. Although a level 2 Bera Dallin with Shield is way more powerful than level 1.
Wailing Wraith is a rare Death unit, her Reach ability gives her power to attack from 2nd position, and it is a nice unit for low mana battles as well. She can be lethal in combination with units with Protect, this way she can gain +2 additional armor and a nice Armored Strike damage.
Mantaroth is a neutral beast, he takes 1 less damage from melee and ranged attacks due to his Shield ability, which makes him stand out in the crowd. He is the best fit for 2nd position with a Flank monster in 1st position. He gains True Strike, Repair, and Blast at higher levels, with Repair this monster ensures that his armor remains intact and he can use Armored Strike each round.
I hope you'll like this detailed review of Armored Strike, if you like to share your experience with other readers about Armored Strike, do write in the comments section.
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