Wraith Part 2

Freedom Five Wraith

Base Power Rating: 4.5 / 5

Freedom Five Wraith is best Wraith. This variant has the highest HP out of all the versions and the best base power. “Clandestine Funding” helps Wraith draw through her deck faster getting to the cards that she needs. It also helps the other members of your team get what they need faster too. This is especially helpful if I want to get Visionary’s “Twist the Ether” + Ra’s “Flesh of the Sun God” combo out. “Clandestine Funding” also makes the best use of Inventory Barrage and Combat Stance, since she can immediately discard them in order to help someone else on the team.

Rook City Wraith

Base Power Rating: 2 / 5.

Wraith is the wrong character to give a base power that controls the environment. She has one card that can straight up destroy an environment card that hinders the player and another card that reduces environment damage. Why does she need to control the environment too? That seems a bit much, don’t you think? At least this version of Wraith has the second-highest HP of the bunch.

Freedom Six Wraith

Base Power Rating: 1.5 / 5.

I can’t help but wonder what this version of Wraith has to offer when compared to the other versions. “Last Stand” is essentially “Throwing Knives” with the extra caveat that it hits one less target. What’s worse is that her damage type isn’t projectile so she can’t take advantage of “Micro Targeting Computer.”

Sure, you could have Visionary use “Twist the Ether” and change this version of Wraith’s damage to “Projectile,” but even then all that does is put it’s damage output to be about the same as “Throwing Knives.” That still doesn’t change the fact that she’ll be dealing damage to one less target anyway, so what advantage does this base power have over the likes of “Razor Ordinance” or “Throwing Knives” again?

Another problem with this version of Wraith is that this version has the lowest HP of the bunch. 26 HP is usually considered to be low by the standards of this game, which means that 25 HP is a noticeable negative. If there’s an enemy who deals damage to the hero with the lowest HP, it’s likely that she’s going to get hit by it. If there’s an advantage to using “Freedom Six Wraith” I’m not seeing it.

Synergy

So what’s interesting about Wraith is that all of her variants have virtually the same type of synergy, so this section is pretty easy.

Synergy # 1 - Damage Buffing

               While it’s possible to use Wraith in a capacity that isn’t damage-dealing, the simple reality is that she will most likely be dealing damage to enemies. This means that it’s beneficial to buff her damage. Standard Legacy and Parse are the go-to damage-buffing heroes. Legacy can provide an easy + 2 damage buff, which is like giving Wraith an extra “Micro Targeting Computer.” Parse has “Critical Multiplier,” which can cause Wraith’s damage to sky rocket. She also has “Reveal the Flaws,” which makes Wraith’s damage irreducible. This is helpful for getting “Throat Jab” or “Throwing Knives” past enemy armor.

Synergy # 2: The Visionary

I’ve seen people bring up how Wraith has anti-synergy with Ra’s “Imbued Fire” card. The argument goes that Imbued Fire changes Wraith’s damage to Fire, which prevents her from taking advantage of the + 2 damage buff from “Micro Targeting Computer.” Normally I would agree with this sentiment, but there’s something worth pointing out here that’s been overlooked: You can have Wraith be on the same team with Ra, and even have Ra use “Imbued Fire.” You just need to bring Visionary with you. Visionary has a card in her deck called “Twist the Ether.”

It’s an awesome card that lets you change the damage type of whoever its played next to. In this instance, you play “Twist the Ether” next to Wraith. Then you change Wraith’s damage type to “Projectile.” This combo lets her keep the + 2 damage buff from “Micro Targeting Computer” while also increasing her damage by 1 so her damage is essentially buffed by 3. Meanwhile the rest of the heroes on your team get to enjoy the + 1 damage buff from “Imbued Fire.”

Another way in which Visionary and Wraith synergize with each other is that they both provide protection from the environment. Visionary has a card in her deck called “Mass Levitation.”

This card reduces damage dealt by the environment by 3. “Mass Levitation” is the equivalent of 3 “Mega Computers” from Wraith. Combining “Mass Levitation” with “Mega Computer” results in shutting down environment damage since environments generally do not deal over 6 damage.

Visionary’s “Prophetic Vision” card also combos well with Rook City Wraith’s base power, since you can have Visionary manipulate the deck, and then have Rook City Wraith discard whatever card you put on top. Having Visionary and Wraith is also nice because they’re both capable of manipulating the villain’s deck.

Synergy # 3: The Shutdown Squad - Mr. Fixer, Chrono Ranger and Luminary

Mr. Fixer, Chrono Ranger and Luminary have cards in their decks that do the same thing as Wraith’s “Stun Bolt”.

So what happens when you combine Wraith’s “Stun Bolt,” Mr. Fixer’s “Hoist Chain,” Chrono Ranger’s “Neuro-Toxin Dart Thrower,” and Luminary’s Regression Turret? What you get is a strategy that shuts down villains who deal the “death by 1,000 cuts” strategy. With this combo, you can reduce villain damage by 5, assuming that you have 2 Stun Bolts and a Utility Belt out. This is one way to shut down villains like Spite, Matriarch, and Chokepoint.

Mr. Fixer even has a card called “Salvage Yard,” which lets all heroes bring back any equipment cards in their trash back to their hands. Since most of these are all equipment cards, this strategy is vulnerable to equipment destruction from villains. “Salvage Yard” will let you bring all these cards (except for Regression Turret, but Luminary has ways of getting it back) back and reuse them.

Synergy # 4: Team Leader Tachyon

Yes, I know I already brought this up in the Tachyon article, but Team Leader Tachyon and Freedom Five Wraith really do make an amazing team together. Use Freedom Five Wraith’s base power first, then use Team Leader Tachyon’s afterward. The result is that one member of your team is getting + 2 cards in their hands while Wraith is also getting to draw through her deck faster.

Wraith’s Pros

• Solid Damage Output: Wraith’s damage dealing-equipment cards plus “Micro Targeting Computer” plus damage buffs will lead to some solid damage on a consistent basis.

• Environment Control: With Wraith around, the environment is much easier to deal with. She can either destroy any environment that’s bothering the players, or she can shut its damage output down. Either way, Wraith is super useful in helping the player deal with the environment.

• Villain Deck Control: Wraith’s Infrared Eyepiece can help the player avoid dangerous villain cards.

• Shutting Down Damage: Throat Jab can save you in a tight spot. Preventing damage is always a positive.

Wraith’s Cons

• Vulnerable to Equipment Destruction: While you can make the argument that most heroes are vulnerable to equipment or ongoing destruction, Wraith is extra vulnerable due to the fact that she cannot recover equipment cards from her trash and 58 % of her deck consists of equipment cards.

• Over-reliant on Impromptu Invention for Set-Ups: If Wraith gets “Impromptu Invention” soon, then great! If not, then it’ll take her a while to get set up.

Overall: Wraith is simple to pick up and really fun to use. She’ll always be useful and she’ll fill whatever niche you need to have filled. I’ve enjoyed using Wraith in the past, and I’ll continue to enjoy using Wraith in the future.