There’s a certain unit in the game that often gets thrown into the wrong role just because of how it looks. The artwork and its stats looks like it is meant to be the destructive frontline but in practice, this one needs to have a gentler touch. Endless Ape has big health that makes him appear like a tank but putting him in front usually cuts his life short. Without abilities that reduce damage like Shield or Void, high health alone can’t save him if the enemy hits too hard and since Scavenger only grows stronger with time, wasting him early often hides his true value.
The real magic of this card shows up when the fight drags on which is a lot of player overlook. Equal Opportunity Modifier shifts enemy focus away from him, giving enough space for Scavenger to build up. By the time he finally steps into the spotlight, his health pool is so massive that you don't need a team anymore. His attack hits harder than expected especially at max level. It’s the kind of late-game behemoth that enemies does not expect and most players don’t realize how dangerous he can be until they played him properly.
Battle Breakdown
Modifier in this Battle:
- Equal Opportunity - All units have Opportunity (targets the enemy unit with the least health).
- What Doesn't Kill You - All units have Enrage (+50% melee power and speed if not at full health, rounded up).
My Thoughts on Modifiers
- The combination of Equal Opportunity and What Doesn't Kill You modifiers scream melee units for me. Enrage only gives extra melee damage and not magic or range damage which means melee units have advantage in this modifier. Opportunity grants melee units the flexibility to attack from any position which also solves melee unit's weakness.
Team Composition
Archon: Chuul Jujinchi
- Chuul Jujinchi can use both Earth Element and Life Element units, one of the element or both of them at the same time. This opens more combinations that catch enemy off guard because they cannot predict what units you bring.
Units Chosen
Unit 1: Grimbardun Smith
- Has Void ability halving any magic damage this unit gets. With the help of the unit behind this, you can halve all the damage he gets making him survive longer than most tanks.
Unit 2: Virid Venomancer
- Virid Venomancer has Shield Ward which gives the unit in front of him Shield ability. This made Grimbardun Smith even stronger because he now has both Void and Shield at the same time.
Unit 3: Arcane Skinwalker
- Has magic attack and Inspire that increases the team’s melee attack by 1. This was very useful with What Doesn’t Kill You Modifier since more melee damage means higher damage output especially since I want to add melee units to take advantage of both modifiers.
Unit 4: Endless Ape
- Has high 11 health and 2 melee attack. Scavenger increases health further and with Equal Opportunity Modifier everyone target least health first which made them avoid this unit maximizing its Scavenger. The strategy will be revolving with this unit for a sure-win strategy. If they cannot reach this unit, it would stack more and more health until he becomes the beast that he is.
Unit 5: Conclave Tracker
- Has Repair which is good because there’s What Doesn’t Kill You Modifier encouraging players to use melee units which attacks can be blocked by armor. This means keeping armor up can be the difference between winning or losing.
Unit 6: Mad Ogre Anarchist
- I don’t have better units that can be added so I added him. Still, he added more body and melee damage which complements the modifiers and Arcane Skinwalker's Inspire. This helped Endless Ape get more health when units fall.
The Battle
Opening Rounds:
At the start, I feel like at a disadvantage. My tanks will be untouched due to high health and the ones targeted first are the units that deals my highest damage like Virid Venomancer and Arcane Skinwalker. The enemy's biggest hitters like Giam Root and Kicking Roc are safe creating a difference in safety.
Mid-game:
During the mid game, the scales started to tip a bit into my favor. My units have a lot of armor with a Repair unit supporting them while my enemy's units have melee and range attacks which means their attacks get blocked while mine doesn't. I also have a higher damage output because of Inspire increasing the damage of my two melee units.
Final Rounds:
Towards the final rounds around round 5, I got a clear winning path as the enemy hasn't eliminated any of my units yet while theirs only have two remaining units in which one of them, Ujurak Elder, only have 1 magic attack and the other, Giam Root, is a range unit that cannot attack because it is in the first position. All of my team are free to attack which means it's about anytime now until I win.
m
👉 Watch the full battle replay here
https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_94b6d50ee89006681bccd4cffbc9061d
Results & Reflection
What strategy I was aiming for:
Since Endless Ape gets more health the more units die, the chances of him getting targetted by attack gets less and less. This means you can maximize his Scavenger giving you a max of +10 health every battle. In a fight with Equal Opportunity Modifier this makes him survive until very late rounds and carry the battle. I just have to make sure that I have other tanks that would defend my team first because Endless Ape won't be in the front line for a long time.
What surprised me:
I honestly never thought of using Endless Ape not as a tank. He has high health, armor and an ability that gives him health. It just makes sense making him a tank but I was surprised to know that Endless Ape is better not as a tank but as a late game carry.
What I learned:
Changing point of view can unlock more options and opportunity for your units. Narrowing your view on what a unit can do just because they fit the bill on the stats page doesn’t mean it’s all they can do. This fight taught me to experiment more with placing units in different positions and roles which worked really well. On the next opportunity (no pun intended) that there's the same modifiers, I will surely have Endless Ape as part of my main army.
Closing Thoughts
This battle showed me that Endless Ape is not always a front line tank. With Equal Opportunity Modifier protecting him early, he stacked health and became too strong to stop in the late rounds. His role shifted from bulky front to a backup hidden carry and I think it worked perfectly even though I didn't have to use it.
Sometimes, winning is not just about picking strong units but also about changing how you see them. Endless Ape proved he can be more than what his stats suggest.
Posted Using INLEO
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:gll6fcm6ppi2g7t2hj2xq7ky/post/3lzy77ko2cs2q
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:gll6fcm6ppi2g7t2hj2xq7ky/post/3lzy77ko2cs2q
The rewards earned on this comment will go to the author of the blog post.
Congratulations @ashenova! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 20 posts.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out our last posts:
View or trade
LOHtokens.@ladiesofhive, you successfully shared 0.1000 LOH with @ashenova and you earned 0.1000 LOH as tips. (4/50 calls)
Use !LADY command to share LOH! More details available in this post.
!LADY
View or trade
LOHtokens.@hive-124452, you successfully shared 0.1000 LOH with @ashenova and you earned 0.1000 LOH as tips. (36/50 calls)
Use !LADY command to share LOH! More details available in this post.