Time for a break from Team Builds! Location Bonuses have been all over the place with set releases. These new aspects of the game are cheap to play and don’t affect your theme, so they’re an invaluable asset to utilize. But which of these are worth playing, and are they worth your time?

Most games these days allow anything on your team that fits within the Modern age. While stores do run events that utilize “figures only”, a good 95% of games allow anything that is Modern, be it items, ID cards, colossal retaliators, terrain, resources (The Blackbird), etc. However, with the release of Batman: The Animated Series, we saw a brand new feature that you could add to your force that yet again doesn’t hurt your theme team. There were a total of 8 map Location Bonuses that you could tack onto your team and rewarded you if you were able to win map roll and choose the map you paid points to play.

This feature has been skipping every other set with Secret Wars: Battleworld having no locations, Earth X having 4, Rebirth skipping, and Black Panther and the Illuminati sitting as an unknown at the time of this writing.

What’s so good about these Location Bonuses and why are people playing them? Well for starters, it’s an amount of points that your opponent cannot claim unless they completely KO your force. Most competitive games by high-level players go to time as both individuals are very good about not leaving themselves open, so having a map on your team could be difference in you winning or losing by that narrow margin in points. These maps also tend to offer a very good reward for running them and some it’s questionable why they’re so cheap. There’s also no way to totally lose those points as there’s a Consolation reward if you don’t win map roll. Sure, these aren’t as good as winning your map, but it’s still a way to makeup for the points you spent on the map.

So, which of these locations are worthwhile? Which should you prioritize getting and which should you not bother with? That’s what I’m here to help you with!

Gotham Waterfront

Rubble | Bonus: Characters occupying or adjacent to orange squares have “FREE: Roll a d6.” 3-4: Generate a standard light object. 5-6: Generate a standard heavy object. Consolation: When placing objects at the beginning of the game, you may place 3 additional standard objects.

This might be the only map that I think is actually good to lose on. Regardless, item generation is much stronger than it seems on paper as it’s you get flat increases to damage, or a way to possibly generate heavy objects for your Stealth characters to hide in. I covered in my Hulk build (Earth X) on Two Clicks From KO how this map played a huge part in that team as Hulk never has to stop attacking and the constant item generation is better than a Perplex figure which can be taken away.

I say it might actually be good to lose on because generating 3 objects at the start of the game can payoff immediately while rolling for objects with poor luck can mean you get less overall. The odds are in your favor that you’ll get more than 3 by winning map roll, but some teams will be perfectly happy generating 3 addition items at the start of the game instead. Basically rather than working with the mechanic of the map, you’re instantly profiting by losing your map roll.

While the Waterfront isn’t the strongest Location Bonus, I think that it’s one of the safest picks as you can’t really end upside by playing it, and I think it’s Bonus/Consolation is one of the stealthiest advantages of the bunch, meaning people don’t think about this one. I think you should grab this one, but don’t chase after it.

Ha Ha Hacienda – Joker

Welcome to My Humble Abode | Bonus: At the beginning of the game choose a friendly character. That character has “FREE: Roll a d6. You may have this Location make a range attack with 4 range/10 attack/1 damage from the orange square matching the result. Damage dealt by this attack is penetrating. If the character given this action is named The Joker, instead roll 2d6 and choose either d6 as the result ” (This attack can’t target friendly characters”. Consolation: Friendly characters named The Joker modify attack +1.

This map has 2 bonuses that you can play; one for Joker and one for Harley. This is centered around Joker, and it’s easy to see why since he gets a much higher chance at utilizing the map than anyone else. The problem with this map is that it requires a lot of luck to make it worthwhile and your opponent can fairly easily dodge the squares or plan their pieces accordingly. The benefit though is that you’re getting free penetrating damage that doesn’t require you to use your own figures (aside from the FREE action).

That being said, this map doesn’t have a lot of terrain to help you out during the game; it’s fairly wide-open so you’ll have to plan accordingly. Not every team is going to like the lack of protection. You can also counter the map by KO’ing the figure that was chosen for the map which more or less eliminates the bonus.

Obviously this map pays dividends if you play The Joker so if you have him on your force, it’s a much stronger map and again, is arguably better if you lose map roll by giving him a permanent +1 attack that can’t be taken away unless you KO him.

I’ve played this map a few times and it’s incredibly rare to get the effect to work, but when it does it’s fantastic. If you like playing The Joker, I think this is one you should get. If not, it’s safe to dodge it.

Ha Ha Hacienda – Harley

My Babies Need Their Space | Bonus: At the beginning of the game, generate either a Bud or Lou bystander in your starting area. If your starting force has a character named Harley Quinn, generate both instead. Consolation: At the beginning of the game, if your starting force has a character named Harley Quinn, generate either a Bud or Lou bystander in your starting area.

Just like with Joker’s Bonus, you really need Harley to get the full use of the map and more importantly the Consolation. But if you do, this is a very strong bonus. Not only do both Bud and Lou have Autonomous, they both have respective values and good powers (Bud has Blades and Probability Control on opponent’s turns, Lou has Poison that can upgrade to penetrating damage).

Bystanders have become a massive part of the modern game, so paying 5 points to gain access to two that don’t hurt your action economy is fantastic. Even if you aren’t playing a Harley Quinn, getting Bud for 5 points is absolutely worthwhile (or Lou if the enemy team is lacking reducers). The same issues apply to this map though; it’s wide-open, so you’ll need to take that into consideration when building your force.

If you’re going to get this map, play it for Harley’s bonus over Joker’s, but again I don’t think it’s necessary to track down.

EDIT: As Paris Gordon pointed out, you can actually pay for multiple map bonuses, so if your team includes both Harley and Joker, this map becomes a lot better.

Iceberg Lounge

Iceberg Lounge | Bonus: At the beginning of the game, generate two Iceberg Lounge bystanders in distinct squares of water terrain closer to your starting area than any other starting area. If your starting force has a character named The Penguin, you may generate up to four instead. Consolation: At the beginning of the game, generate an Emperor Penguin bystander in your starting area or a square of water terrain closer to your starting area than any other starting area.

Those of you in the competitive loop already know that this map has had some killer success. Even without The Penguin, you get to generate two different bystanders of your choice that start the game in the middle of the map which is huge. These little guys can be used to block shots while you get into position, stop on elevation changes to prevent regular characters from getting to you, or the most important aspect, they can waddle over and steal your opponent’s equipment on the first turn (though they can’t equip them as bystanders aren’t standard characters).

The penguins themselves aren’t all that great, but getting 2-4 of these little birds (or even just the Emperor Penguin) for 5 points is fantastic, not to mention that they all have Autonomous as well. Just like with Harley’s map, even if you lose you’re still getting a pog that doesn’t eat your actions, but this guy can bump people around the map if he gets close enough.

This in absolute must-have map and will continue to have a large presence in the game until it rotates out. We are losing the strong Penguins this year so that may have an effect on it’s playability, but I suspect that will be small.

Poison Ivy’s Greenhouse

Conservatory | Bonus: At the beginning of the game, choose a friendly character. That character has “POWER: This location makes a close attack with 10-attack targeting an opposing character occupying hindering terrain. Instead of normal damage, a hit character is given an action token. If the character given this action is named Poison Ivy, the attack may target an opposing character adjacent to hindering terrain. Consolation: At the beginning of the game, place 6 hindering terrain markers on the map outside of the starting area. (They stay indefinitely.)

Not nearly as strong as The Joker’s ability to hit people on his own map, but Ivy has the benefit of hitting anyone she wants that’s in hindering terrain. The key here is that most of this map is hindering, so the odds of this working out are much higher than Joker’s. And that’s the best part about this location: the map itself. Ivy’s Greenhouse is a diagonal corridor with thick patches of hindering, a tiny piece of elevation, and blocking on both sides that drastically reduce how much play area you have. If an enemy team doesn’t do well with hindering terrain, they will hate life here, and the bonus will be very powerful at slowing them down even further.

However, is it worth it to actually use the bonus itself? Most of the time, I don’t think so. Using one of your three actions in most cases to maybe give a character a token is very pricey, and since the map is making the attack, you can’t use Probability Control to re-roll the attack as there’s no character to target. Wouldn’t it be much better to just use an action to make an attack or do something that furthers your game state? That’s not to say that this effect is bad per say; it’s just not all that good.

Thankfully the consolation bonus is actually fantastic on this map and depending on your team can be a huge help, so it’s more of a payment to insure some hindering terrain if you don’t get to play on this really nasty map.

I think the map itself is absolutely worth getting as it’s a pain to play on for a lot of teams, but I wouldn’t prioritize it at all strictly for it’s bonus. If you’re playing Poison Ivy though, it’s probably worth it to fork over those 5 points.

Gotham City Downtown – Batman

I Am The Night | Bonus: All characters named Batman have Improved Targeting: Hindering. (This includes Obscuring Terrain). Consolation: Friendly characters name Batman modify defense +1 when they have 0 or 1 action tokens.

I’ve never used this bonus as I don’t play Batman too often, and it’s easy to see why. Unlike the other bonuses, you get nothing unless you have him on your force, and even if you do, the bonus isn’t all that grand. There isn’t a lot of hindering on this map (26-squares to be exact) EDIT: I didn’t realize there was obscuring terrain, and the bonus applied to enemy characters named Batman as well which could completely blow up in your face.

The Consolation Bonus is the real winner of this map as it just flat out buffs your Bat when he usually has an 18-defense to begin with, further making him an issue and usually for not many points. I can see this map as part of a team with a higher-cost Batman that doesn’t necessarily want a theme team or has such a small bonus to it that there’s a decent chance he loses map roll.

The map itself is pretty cool, but this bonus is a hard pass.

Gotham City Downtown – Robin

From the Rooftops | Bonus: All characters named Robin have improved movement: Elevation, Hindering, and Outdoor Blocking Terrain. Consolation: Friendly characters named Robin modify speed +2.

What’s interesting about this bonus is that unlike all the others, it’s only 2 points, so it’s much easier to fit onto your team when you have some odd point values. But this one is even worse than Batman’s as it gives Robin something he most likely already has, or it increases his speed which is a stat that you don’t really need an increase to when he almost always serves the roll of a support figure.

No reason to go on any further; not worth your time.

Gotham Museum

Heist | Bonus: At the beginning of the game, generate a special light object with Indestructible named “Cat’s Eye Diamonds” in the orange square. It can’t be used in object attacks. While it’s held, the holder has “FREE: If this character occupies a starting area, KO this object and modify either speed or attack +1 this game. If the character given this action is named Catwoman, modify the chosen value by +2 instead”. When it’s KO’d in this way, generate this object again in the orange square. Consolation: Friendly characters that can use Stealth can use Super Senses when occupying hindering terrain, but only succeed on a 6.

I’ve tried to make this map work a fair number of times, but the reality is that you’re spending a lot of actions (unless you have a high speed value) to slowly build your stats up rather than trying to win the game. It’s not a bad mechanic at all, and I think it’s actually pretty fun to play on, but it’s a huge time suck.

Not all teams will dislike this though. Undying forces will have a ton of fun here, like Daredevil from Earth X as the stat boost never goes away and you can keep racking up that attack value until you hit a permanent +3 for free. If that character is fast, even better as you’ll be done in a good 4 turns. You can also spend a bit of time destroying walls to make your path to and form the diamonds that much quicker.

Consolation on this map is quite good as well since it’s just a blanket effect for any of your characters that can use Stealth. Super Senses on just a 6 might not seem that impressive, but that could mean points or even the game if you manage to evade an attack that otherwise would have hit.

I think this one is worth getting, but I would be very forgiving on how it works. You’ll need the right team to make it payoff, but even if you only get that effect once, it was only 5 points.

Stark Tower

Iron Avengers, Assemble! | Bonus: At the beginning of the game, choose a friendly character of 50 points or more. That character has “POWER: roll a d6. If the result is odd, generate the matching Iron Avenger in the square equal to the result if that Iron Avenger isn’t already on the map. If EAX056 Iron Man is on your starting force, he must be the chosen character. If so, he can’t otherwise generate Iron Avengers. Instead, this Location Bonus is a FREE action and he generates an Iron Avenger on any result. Consolation: At the beginning of the game, generate a Tank, Crimson Sage, or Bolt bystander in your starting area

I covered this location in my Murder Machine build, so check that out if you want more details. Basically, this location is dumb. It’s incredibly powerful and I cannot believe that it only costs 5 points… that is if you’re using Iron Man, but then you’re realistically paying 130 points for him and giving him an incredible effect rather than playing the map on any force.

On it’s own, the map is still very good (and the layout is punishing for the right team), but there’s only a 50/50 chance that you’ll generate a bystander with a POWER action. Thankfully these bystanders are VERY good with Flight and Indomitable, and a power in every slot (except for Bolt). Tank is a fantastic melee fighter that’s tough to put down, Crimson Sage is a taxi with Probability Control, and Bolt is a nuisance with Hypersonic Speed and Precision Strike.

If you lose map roll, you get to cut out the work of POWER actions and hoping you roll well and just start the game with whichever of the three is best suited against your opponent’s force. That’s some killer value for just 5 points as these bystanders are going to outclass any of the DC Location Bonuses earlier on this list.

If you own the Earth X Iron Man, this map is a MUST-HAVE. If not, it’s still very good and I would recommend picking it up. You can easily assign the bonus to a lower support figure and attempt to pump out a bystander every other turn which greatly increases their value.

Wakanda

The Living Spirits Will Guide Us | Bonus: Once per turn, a friendly character occupying hindering, obscuring, or water terrain may reroll its d6 roll for either Blades/Claws/Fangs or Super Senses. If a character named Black Panther is on your force or your force is an Animal theme theme, friendly character’s Blades/Claws/Fangs and Super Senses have Protected: Outwit. Consolation: Once per game, you may reroll a friendly character’s roll for Blades/Claws/Fangs. Once per game, you may reroll a friendly character’s roll for Super Senses.

This right here is the map that makes me scratch my head and say “how the heck is that only 5 points?” This bonus is incredible and pushes a team based on Blades or Super Senses that much farther providing them a do-over whenever they use that power which is just insane. Heaven forbid you meet the other requirement with either Black Panther (who often has Blades and/or Super Senses), or an Animal Theme Team (which also usually have Blades and/or Super Senses) as now there’s no way around them aside from Pulse Wave or other unique and specialized effects.

Even if you lose map roll, the once-per-game re-roll is incredible and once again can mean the difference between a win or loss.

We’ve seen this map played in competitive already with the amazing Chase Black Panther from Secret Wars: Battleworld who is already insanely hard to deal with, giving him rerolls on his Super Senses for just 5 additional points.

Yeah, you’re going to need this one. The fact that it works with generic theme teams that are often times filled with low-cost figures to make sure you win map roll is gravy and pays for the map. Not to mention the success of Black Panther at the box office is driving a huge pool of new clicks for the King of Wakanda.

Skull Camp

I Keep The Trains Running | Bonus: Orange lines indicate numbered tracks. Each track has the number of the die icons near its edges. At the beginning of the game, choose a friendly character. That character and the character occupying the dotted orange square have “FREE: Roll a d6. You may have this location make a close attack with 10-attack and 2-damage targeting all characters in that resulting track. 6: You may choose a track. After resolutions, each attacked character is placed in a square adjacent to their current square that is not in that Track (active player’s choice). If the character given this action is named The Skull, instead roll 2d6 and choose either as the result. Consolation: Opposing characters modify defense -1 when targeted by Mind Control, Incapacitate, or Telekinesis.

Very similar to The Joker’s map, but you can count on this one working a lot more of the time as the tracks go across the entire map creating bands of “no-mans land” that your opponent won’t want to stop in. This makes the effect much more terrifying because at any given time, a massive strip could prove fatal for their characters rather than maybe hitting them with an attack from one of 6 squares on the map. The fact that this map can hit multiple people rather than just 1 furthers its effectiveness.

The Consolation Bonus isn’t all that great as you’ll need characters on your force that utilize these specific powers, so you could end up with basically nothing if you lose map roll meaning this map more than any other on this list requires a theme team to make sure you win (or requires you to add certain characters to your force). This map also punishes you for running larger-based characters since they can be hit by the trains themselves and you don’t get to pick whether the train runs or it doesn’t; just if you want to “call them in”.

I like this map a lot and I think it’s much better than The Joker’s map if you’re looking for something to lay in free damage to your opponents. I highly recommend getting this one.

Note: I’m not including the NY Waterfront map as it’s the same location bonus as the Gotham Waterfront map, so the same applies there, although I do like the layout and visibility of the Gotham map more.

Locations are the newest and to me, most exciting new game element with Heroclix and I’m very excited to see where we go from here. What other locations and bonuses will we get in the coming years? Will we see new maps that put Wakanda to shame? How far will WizKids go before we start to see effects that are simply too powerful for their points and these new maps become must-play items for competitive teams? Only time will tell. I do hope we see some new DC locations though as we’ve only gotten Batman related maps and there’s so much more they can use.

What are your thoughts on these locations and their bonuses/consolations? Which are your favorite and which don’t you like? Let me know in the comments section!

If you didn’t catch it, I released my set review for Avengers, Black Panther, and the Illuminati on Friday of last week, so be sure to visit Two Clicks From KO to read up on the set. I’ll be back there next week with Chase or Pass? for this new set.

See you all then!