New Player: “What do you mean I can’t use hypersonic speed and blades/claws/fangs?!”

Teacher: “I’m sorry, you can’t. You can only use blades when given a close combat action”

New Player: “But with HSS I GET a close combat action!”

Teacher: “No… You get a close combat attack. Two different things.”

New Player: “AARRRGHH” *Proceeds to flip table*

I can’t tell you how many times we have had this, or similar conversations while teaching someone the game. One of the hardest things for players to grasp is how powers actually interact. And who can blame them, when you first start, it’s like trying to decipher the Voynich manuscript. Even seasoned players, ourselves included, sometimes have to take a second to look up the powers, so it’s important for new players to understand that they are not alone! Fortunately for all you Heroclix fans, new and old alike, we, Stick Figure and YerPalOdin, are here to simplify this as much as possible. We even created a handy-dandy power interaction chart to get you going while you begin to understand the intricacies of Heroclix Powers.

ACTIONS!

Even though at first glance, the wordings on some of these game effects can seem incredibly similar, they are vastly different. It’s important to have a look at the exact wording on all the different actions you can perform.

There are 4 types of actions (with text taken directly from the rule book):

• Free Action- Using a free action does not consume one of your available actions for the turn, and you may give your characters as many free actions as game effects allow. A character may not activate the same game effect twice in one turn with free actions, unless the game effect indicates otherwise.

• Power Action- A power action is an action given to a character that allows it to use a game effect that requires a power action to activate.

• Move Action- A character given a move action can move up to its speed value in squares across the map. A character might have a power or ability that affects how it can move.

• Close/Ranged Combat Action- close combat actions and ranged combat actions. Each of these action types can be used to activate a game effect that requires the corresponding action, but most of the time they will be used to activate an attack. A close combat action can be given to a character

So we know that any character can be given any number of free actions, Power Actions are simply used to activate other powers, Move actions move you, and Combat Actions also activate some powers, but mostly they just lead to attacks. Now, let’s take a look at what that means when it comes to powers.

Powers!

Most powers on the PAC chart require some sort of activation to use. Poison is a free action. Running Shot/Charge are move actions. Hypersonic Speed is a power action, etc. Understanding what activates off of what is the key here.

Let’s start with our personal favorite (and most common area of confusion): Charge, Blades/Claws/Fangs, Exploit Weakness, and Flurry.

• CHARGE Give this character a power action; halve its speed value for the action. Move this character up to its speed value and then it may be given a close combat action as a free action. This character ignores knock back.

• FLURRY Give this character a close combat action. After the close combat attack resolves, it may make a second close combat attack as a free action. The first attack doesn’t activate the Damage Depletion Modifier.

• BLADES/CLAWS/FANGS When this character is given a close combat action, you may roll a d6 after making a successful attack. The result replaces this character’s damage value, then that damage value is locked.

• EXPLOIT WEAKNESS Give this character a close combat action. Damage from the attack is penetrating damage.

So we start off with Charge, a power action. You move half your speed (always rounded up!), adjacent to your target, and BAM! Charge grants you a close combat ACTION as a free action. Now you have a choice. Both flurry and Exploit Weakness require you to give your character a close combat action, and remember, we just got one from charge, and are now deciding how to spend it. You can choose either, but not both. Let’s choose Flurry, because it’s one of my favorite powers. Next, we make our first attack, and for the sake of discussion, let’s say it was a success. Before dealing damage, let’s have a look at Blades/Claws/Fangs. The power activates WHEN a character is given a close combat action, and therefore does not consume the free action we were given by charge. Therefore, we can choose to use B/C/F whenever a close combat action is given. This is why you can use Charge>Flurry>Blades, or Charge>Blades>Exploit Weakness, but NOT Charge>Flurry>Blades>Exploit Weakness.

Most power interaction works very similarly to this. The first power you use grants you a free action power, and you may use any power that activates from whichever free action you get for the action.

A QUICK WORD ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR TURN!

The beginning of your turn lasts until you are given your first non-free action, unless that non-free action states that it happens at the beginning of the turn. The new starter set Captain America (aaou102) has a power that is a great example of this:

HEART OF THE AVENGERS: Captain America can use Leadership. He can use it normally or as a power action. If he uses it as a power action and succeeds, he may remove an action token from all friendly characters with the Avengers keyword within 6 squares.

He is given a power action to activate his power, which would normally end your turn, however, leadership specifically says that it occurs at the beginning of your turn. So this type of power will NOT end the beginning of your turn.

During the beginning of your turn, you may be given any number of free actions. For example, you can use Sidestep to get adjacent to an opposing character, use Outwit to counter their impervious, and then use Poison to deal one damage to them!

That’s all we have for today folks, I hope we have given you a bit of clarity about power interactions! If you are still confused, check out our power interactions chart!