Earth X releases tomorrow and like most of the recent sets, we have something aside from figures that will be highly desired. Like Batman: The Animated Series and The Mighty Thor before it, this set brings some fantastic new toys to play with.

I quite like the direction WizKids is taking with Equipment. It’s a fantastic evolution of Relics in that they aren’t incredibly slow and risky to play, they give you more fantasy to put together awesome scenarios (like Cap lifting Thor’s hammer), and there’s a great amount of counterplay to them. Equipment don’t have the overbearing lopsided gameplay that resources tend to have, and since we’re no longer getting them at the chase level, they’re actually quite easily accessible.

Batman: The Animated Series saw the second wave of equipment in a major set and while there were some great options, we only got 4 items in total which felt a little light compared to the onslaught of weapons from The Mighty Thor. Earth X takes a similar route as Batman with 6 items (3 rare, 3 super rare), all of which are assigned to different Spider-Man villains. Today I want to look at each of these items and jot down a few characters that will excel with them. There won’t be any team builds, just good synergy so you can come to one place and look at options when you open a booster and find one of these.

Beetle Pod

EX#S001 Beetle Pod

Heavy Object

Points: 8

Equip: Any

Unequip: Drop

Effect: , Toughness, Modify speed +2.

Right away, most people will probably notice the Flight that the pod gives out. That’s really good and almost any figure is improved with it. More importantly, the pod adds a way to give your team a taxi no matter what theme you’re playing for just 8 points. Toughness is also quite good as it gives a character immunity from Poison and knockback damage into walls. It’s not as overpowered as the hammers use to be, but it’s good enough to give your character some protection. Perhaps the best part of the pod is the modification to speed by +2. This is a huge advantage and gives any character with Charge or Running Shot a much bigger threat radius with two additional squares (remember, replace then modify!). This also couples nicely with the taxi idea since you’ll offset the penalty for carrying and still gain a bonus.

The Beetle Pod isn’t overwhelmingly good but it’s a damn good piece of equipment for a low 8 points.

Figures that are going to benefit from the pod the most are those that are slow and heavily impactful once they close the gap, or characters that posses Stealth but no improved movement.

Some of my favorites are:

WKMP16-002 Man-Spider

If you’ve ever played against him, you’ll know how terrifying this guy is once he gets to you. He doesn’t need Flight, but the 7-square Charge swing will help him a ton, and the Toughness will give him a small fall-back since he’s only running 17 Super Senses to keep him healthy.

SWB007b Thanos

Is it the best equipment for him? Probably not, but giving Thanos the ability to ignore terrain is huge as his big weakness is his lack of mobility. Now you can really utilize his traited Stealth/Power Cosmic combo and you have a 13 square reach on your Running Shot.

ADW062 Moon Knight

Charge AND Running Shot for 110 points? The issue I’ve always had with this Moon Knight is his rather small threat radius due to his 4 range, low movement, and inability to stick in hindering terrain. The pod solves the second two of these issues.

Mini-Slayer

s002 Mini-Slayer

Light Object

EQUIP: ANY

UNEQUIP: KO

Effect: When this character hits, if friendly to this equipment, after resolutions you may equip this object to a hit character. (It will unequip other equipment.) // If this character is friendly to this equipment it can use Super Senses but only succeeds on a 6. // If this character is opposing to this equipment it can’t be given actions to equip and modifies speed -2.

Point Value: 4

This is a very unique object in that it doesn’t really grant you anything for using it other than a 1:6 chance of dodging attacks thanks to its unique Super Senses. However, the Mini-Slayer is going to be a game-changer as it has the ability to completely counter and possibly KO any equipment your enemy team has brought to the fight for just 4 points. Since it’s a light object, there’s almost no reason to ever leave this item off your force as worse-case scenario you can just use it as a regular object and it’s such a powerful counter to certain teams with virtually no risk and such a low investment.

Amazingly, the slayer gets even better since it also assigns an opposing character -2 to their movement making Charge/Running Shot characters move at sluggish speeds. This is perhaps the best part of the slayer as you can pick an opponent’s strongest figure, strip them of their own equipment, and then hand them a permanent -2 to their movement.

Unlike the other items on this list, there aren’t figures that this is particularly good with as it’s more of a counterplay item. If you really want to build around it and make sure it’s going to do some damage, I would recommend anyone with a high movement and Hypersonic Speed and good attack values since you’ll need them in order to equip it to your enemy. Speed Demon from Superior Foes of Spider-Man is a great option as he’s incredibly hard to hit if he moves and he has that sweet 11 attack value.

Web Shooters

EX#S003 Web Shooters

Light Object

Points: 6

Equip: Friendly

Unequip: KO

Effect: Incapacitate with a maximum range of 4. When this character uses it and hits, instead of giving an action token you may have hit targets gain Immobile until your next turn. (They still take 1 penetrating if they had 2 action tokens.

The Web Shooters are perhaps the weakest item in the set as they’re only granting a figure Incapacitate with a range of 4 with a nice little twist of the ability to make one figure become immobile instead of giving them an action token. Thankfully WizKids made this item a little better than it seems because it keeps the wording of Incap that says they take penetrating damage if they have 2 action tokens. This gives the Web Shooters some added benefit because you can use it as tempo control by equipping it to someone with two targets and hitting two characters, one of which who is double tokened. It might be hard to pull that off in a game, but it’s neat that you have the ability to gain double usage and it’s not just giving an either/or use of the power.

I like this item best on figures that do exceedingly well at tempo control on their own as it gives them even more options. The shooters also work wonders on figures with multiple targets as you can hand out a bunch of immobile in a single turn and terribly impact the opponents next turn.

EX064 Venom Iron Man

Tony already has a built-in system for punishing people with action tokens, so giving him the ability to immobilize targets for the rest of his team or token down two people on his first attack to make his follow-up on the next turn strong is quite nice. It’s a bit expensive, but it gives him even more tools and tempo control.

EX060 Medusa

Triple targets, 11 attack, and insane mobility on her own coupled with 4 range from the Web Shooters gives Medusa a horrifying reach through practically all terrain and immense control for just 75 points. Leadership will help offset her action cost so that you aren’t feeling the sting of using an action to just control the board. Perhaps my favorite pick for the Web Shooters.

FFADW005 Punisher

Obviously the best use on Frank’s first attack is his rocket launcher, but this is an amazing follow-up since he’ll have to get within 4 squares. Frank has an ungodly 12 attack with 3 targets which means he’s going to token or stop 3 characters easily, and the best part is that his healing mechanic will work if he manages to Incap characters with two tokens. That’s a lot of versatility for a dude with a rocket launcher.

EW033 The Ray

What’s better than hitting 3 targets with Incap? How about 4! Like all KC figures, The Ray has fantastic values and powers for his cost, and giving him a special Incap makes him a destructive tool for tempo control.

Octopus Arms

EX#S004 Octopus Arms

Heavy Object

Points: 10

Equip: Any

Unequip: Drop

Effect: Giant Reach: 2, Flurry, Movement: Elevated, Hindering

Wow, that is one destructive piece of gear. Giant Reach and improved movement is enough to make the arms good, even at 10 points, but the addition of Flurry will make them one of the best items in the game. This triple suite of abilities turns literally any melee figure into an all-star, at a low-cost of just 10 points. On the right map with lots of elevation, you can transform any figure into an absolute terror that can hide on lower elevations and charge in for huge damage without basing themselves for easy retreat on a later turn.

Since the arms drop on unequip, they can continually be used to power up your team no matter who gives them a go first.

Obviously the best figures for the Octopus Arms are going to be those with Charge as you’re effectively doubling their damage output and giving them better engagement/reach. Add in characters with Charge and Blades/Claws/Fangs and you’re giving a character potential 12 damage. However, the best figures for the arms are those than can activate actions at no cost.

AI029 Drax

The Power Gem gives Drax the insane ability to use Close Combat Expert whenever he wants, so you’re getting stupid levels of offense for just 100 points. Outwit protection is icing and since he bestows the gem when he’s KO’d and the arms will drop, you can keep this combination going for quite a while.

ADW052 Hulk

Amadeus has one big issue; he fears terrain. The arms will not only remove that from his kit, they’ll also give him a huge 10 damage thanks to Perplex, gives him a more reliable source of healing throughout his dial, and depending on his targets, turn him into a perpetual motion machine.

M16-002 Rhino

The 10 attack might be risky, but potentially hitting for 12 damage in a turn and moving through walls naturally gives him superiority over all terrain. Giant Reach will also help his small movement value.

BTAS056 Clayface

His movement his perhaps his biggest weakness, and the arms will give him more reach and better movement. The Flurry with Blades is terrifying and rounds out his kit as a downright maddening fight.

SWB015 Molly Hayes

Uhhh… sure, I’ll take 8 damage for just 25 points and Stealth. That seems no a little overpowered at all.

SWB037b Captain Marvel

So much added strength with the arms; Giant Reach helps her hit from farther out and Flurry allows her to heal up to her top click on the first engagement. Having Flurry on her entire dial gives Carol a much better chance at staying in the game no matter what kind of hits she takes.

BTAS052 Batgirl, Shadow of the Bat

By removing 2 Plot Points, Batgirl will get to Outwit a power on her target, then Charge in at no cost, hitting for 6 damage with Prob. Then she can activate Flurry again as a costed action. That’s 12 damage with Prob for 70 points on top of all the other tricks she can pull.

EAX019b Vulture

It doesn’t get any better than this. For just 50 points (!), you never have to base yourself, you get to hit someone for 6 damage, and then if you KO them, you get to do it again. And again. And again. The damage output from this combination against the right team can make Vulture do more damage than practically any figure in modern.

Goblin Glider

EX#S005 Goblin Glider

Heavy Object

Points: 8

Equip: Any

Unequip: Drop

Effect: . Running Shot. If this character is named Green Goblin or can already use Running Shot, this character can use Hypersonic Speed.

Arguably the best equipment out of the set and in a fierce fight with the Octopus Arms, we finally have our damn Goblin Glider! This thing is disgusting. As I mentioned with the Beetle Pod, Flight is a drastic improvement, but the Goblin Glider takes a completely different approach awarding Running Shot to figures or Hypersonic Speed if they can already use that power. Charge, Running Shot, and Hypersonic Speed are perhaps the biggest powers in the game and giving one piece of gear two of those options is rather insane. Not as overpowering as the Exospex, the Goblin Glider has the benefit of adding in Flight and giving you multiple options rather than just one.

The best picks for the Goblin Glider are going to be people who desperately need Running Shot to be good. Runner-up goes to figures that already have said power and just get that much better with Hypersonic Speed.

SWB007b Thanos

Yep, he’s making the list again. If you have the Glider, it’s a better option than the Beetle Pod. You still get the flight, but Thanos now has access to Hypersonic Speed or Running Shot, meaning you have a better chance at making duplicates if you want and he’s almost impossible to base. Power overwhelming.

EAX058 Loki

We’ve been getting a lot of bricks lately that have Phasing on their top click, and Loki lacks willpower making him very slow. The addition of Running Shot and Flight to take advantage of his Stealth turn him into the Asgardian god he’s depicting. 8 Range is a lot these days, and with all his tricks for rerolling, you have a fantastic brick for 158 points total.

WKMP18-003 Thanos

A terribly efficient Thanos for a moderate cost, the Glider fixes his biggest weakness; his slow nature once he hits that STOP click. Up front, Hypersonic Speed will give him a terrible amount of harassment.

AI Chases

The big issues with the chases from Avengers: Infinity was that they were all incredibly slow to engage in fights. While Mjolnir is undoubtedly the king for these guys, the Glider gives them Running Shot so that they can actually engage in fights.

Venom Symbiote

EX#S006 Venom Symbiote

Light Object

Points: 4

Equip: Any

Unequip: Drop

Effect: Plasticity, Shape Change. This character breaks away automatically.

This equipment shouldn’t look very unique as WizKids basically repeated the Symbiote object we still have in modern from Superior Foes of Spider-Man. However, there are a few big differences. The new symbiote is no longer immobile and is instead a light object. This makes it much easier to equip but it can now be destroyed. It’s now equip: any meaning your opponents can steal it from you. It also lost the ability to possibly up your combat values, but that also means it can no longer “break” if you roll low (which always happened for me). Lastly, it dropped from 6 points to 4 points which is perhaps the best part.

Unlike the other objects, the Symbiote already has a history. All you need to do is look up reports from the last 2 years and you’ll see tons of teams with the Symbiote special object. This is a fantastic piece of equipment that gives a character so much utility that practically any figure you play it with is instantly better. The only figures you don’t want to play the Symbiote with are those that already have the Alien Symbiote trait (Venoms, Carnages, etc.) or those that absolutely need other equipment to be better (AI Chases, etc.).

Because we have so much history for this object in its previous incarnation, I’m not going to list any figures that this is good with. It will be fun to see teams playing both Symbiotes for the next few months before the original rotates.

Batman: The Animated Series had some great equipment, but I don’t they compare to how good some of these new items are. The Octopus Arms, Goblin Glider, and Mini-Slayer will most likely become staples in the competitive scene, and the new Symbiote will continue the reign of perhaps one of the best items ever printed in the game. My favorite part of these items though is that you can always make Sinister Syndicate teams better for all-time. In my book, that makes them legacy worthy. There’s nothing wrong with friendly ruling that these signature equipment can be auto-assigned to golden age versions of characters, and I really like that idea.

Which of these items are your favorite? Which character do you think is the absolute best for each item that I didn’t go over? I’d love to have this thread become a compiling of the best figures for all of these equipment, giving players a single resource for all of them, so if you have something to add, throw it in the comments section below!

I recently received a message on HCRealms last week from a user there that was super kind and thanked me for writing the various blogs. They talked about how my writing has helped him progress through the ladder and has helped him become a better player at the game after starting up fairly recently. That put a HUGE smile on my face and I wanted to share because this is truly why I do this. Sure, it’s fun to write about the game, but helping people become better (not professional, but better) is something I enjoy so much. Your comments mean a lot to me, so a big thank you to anyone who takes the time. And no pressure to those of you who don’t want to comment. That’s totally okay too!

See you guys next week over on Two Clicks From KO where I’ll be covering our Chase or Pass? series with the Earth X set including the Ultra Chase, Captain Marvel. Oh, and if you didn’t see, I posted our MASSIVE set review of Earth X over there with Sealed scores as well – a first for me! I highly recommend it. I don’t know if I’ll ever include Sealed scores again because good god was that a lot of writing.

See you guys next week! Excelsior!