Best and Worst Designed Nodes
So I thought it'd be time to discuss something that we all have to deal with on a daily basis: Nodes on opponents! Some are fun and add a neat little bit of difficulty and challenge to a fight that makes us play creatively and in a fun, unique manner. Some are just painful, whether as relics of a bygone age or simply didn't get enough playtesting and Kabam rolls it out because it gets kills.
Here's my votes.
Best: Breakthrough: An old node but possibly one of the original examples of a challenge node that benefits players for skill. Huge armor at the start of the fight that makes all attacks do little damage, but the more you hit them, the more damage you do, leading up to negative armor and huge hits later on. This was used to great effect during the Sasquatch side quests, and I enjoy simple nodes like this that provide an enemy benefit that goes away in time with good skill.
Worst: Oscillate: This node is the epitome of bad design. Not only do you rotate between a gigantic attack boost that makes anything but intercepts risky, in armor mode you cannot do any damage at all without guaranteed crits, Quake, or some way of dealing lots of damage over time. That on its own is lousy, but the AI also changes with it. In Attack mode, they are hyperaggressive, meaning the only time most champs can do meaningful damage is when a single mistake can cost your your entire life, even against lower level opponents. In Armor mode, they sit in block forever, only popping out to punish you for thinking this is Mordo and that you can heavy them. And even if you do hit them, you're not doing anything.
Pair that with other nodes that punish you for having poor timing or aggression, especially Brute Force and Bane, and this is one of the worst nodes in the game for gameplay that is just an annoying slog no matter what you do.
Post your personal best and worst nodes to fight! Note: _____ Vulnerability doesn't count, since it cannot benefit the opponent in any real way. Insight and Reprisal do count since they reward specific plays and playstyles that can benefit the opponent if you're not good at them.
