Hello there.
In my last post I discussed some of the card abilities, interactions, and common strategies. This is part 11 in this series of posts. Let's get to it.
Thorns
| Thorns | Weak Against | Good Against | Good With |
|---|---|---|---|
 |     |    |          |
When hit with a Melee attack, does damage back to the attacker. Mylor is a Summoner that gives the Thorns ability to all allies. There is also a pretty new ruleset "Briar Patch" that grants all monsters the Thorns ability. Reflection Shield is the biggest counter to Thorns since it negates the Thorns damage. Since Thorns is a physical damage, Shield and Protect can block some of the damage. Thorns work on Melee attacks, and Enrage increases Melee damage. So in a Spreading Fury ruleset, or Skargore matchups, you can prematurely trigger their Enrage with Thorns and increase their damage early.
Thorns can trigger the Divine Shield. Putting Thorns in the front and the back can be a good strategy in Melee only and Super Sneak rulesets. Doing so can take care of Reach and Sneak Melee monsters. Amplify increases the Thorns damage. The Thorns damage killing an enemy triggers Bloodlust. Reducing the opponent's attack with Demoralize and Halving can help your units survive longer, as well as possibly dealing more damage than you're taking. Weaken can lower the opponent's health to 2 which is fatal with the Thorns damage. Abilities that keep your monster healthy like Heal, Tank Heal, Triage, and Life Leech can help you trigger more Thorns damage to opponents.
Trample
| Trample | Weak Against | Good Against | Good With |
|---|---|---|---|
 | |  |       |
When a Monster with Trample hits and kills its target with a Melee attack, it will perform another Melee attack on the next Monster on the enemy Team [moving towards the back]. Possibilus the Wise is a summoner that gives Trample to allied monsters. The Stampede ruleset improves the Trample ability; enabling it to keep on activating after a kill, instead of just stopping at 2. Since Trample needs to kill enemies to activate, Demoralize and Halving counter it by reducing the damage.
Trample can be good against Camouflage if the Camouflage unit is after the killed enemy. This can happen in the Opportunity and Sneak rulesets. Abilities that increase the Melee damage like Enrage and Inspire help Trample kill more enemies. Piercing helps make sure the damage is not wasted on just armor. Double Strike and Retaliate give additional chances for Trample to trigger. Blast can help lower the next enemies' Armor/HP, thus setting it up for a good Trample attack. Opportunity can target the middle backline and kill low HP targets. Weaken can lower the enemies' HP and help Trample activate faster.
Triage
| Triage | Weak Against | Good Against | Good With |
|---|---|---|---|
|   |     |      |
Heals the friendly back-line Monster that has taken the most damage. In case of a tie, the closest monster from the front is healed first. Chanseus the Great is a summoner that has the Triage ability. Affliction prevents the Triage heal. Cripple and Weaken are abilities that lower the max HP, and can lower the amount healed by Triage. Triage can help mitigate some of the damage from attacks that hit the backline. These can include Blast, Snipe, and Scattershot. Triage can heal the damage from Redemption. Poison deals 2 damage every turn. Triage can help heal that damage, and is especially useful during the Noxious Fumes ruleset.
Since the heal amount of Triage is reliant on the max HP of the monster, abilities that increase HP make it stronger. These include Life Leech, Scavenger, and Strengthen. Abilities that revive like Resurrect and Rebirth can make use of Triage to help get their HP back up. Lastly, there are Taunt monsters that work well in the backline. Triage can help keep it healthy.
True Strike
| True Strike | Weak Against | Good Against | Good With |
|---|---|---|---|
 | - |        | - |
This Monster's attacks cannot miss. Byzantine Kitty is a summoner that grants the True Strike ability to all allies. Similar to Immunity, True Strike is a very powerful ability that counters a lot of other abilities. These include Backfire, Blind, Dodge, Flying, Phase, Slow, and Swiftness. It has no direct weaknesses, and it also doesn't need any ability that can make it stronger as an ability.
Void
| Void | Weak Against | Good Against | Good With |
|---|---|---|---|
 | |      |    |
Reduced damage from Magic attacks. Immortalis is a summoner that grants Void to ally monsters. While Void can negate 1 magic damage, if it has Cripple, then its max HP will still be reduced by 1. Void can reduce the damage from abilities that multiply the damage. These can include Deathblow, Fury, Giant Killer, Oppress, and Recharge. Blast damage from Magic attacks are also reduced by Void. Abilities that reduce the Magic damage work well with Void. These can include Halving and Silence. Since Void is geared towards countering Magic Damage, abilities like Magic Reflect and Void Armor make this stronger. Protect can help block some of the damage from physical attacks which Void is weaker to. Since Void is taking less damage, abilities that heal damage can help keep it alive longer. These include Tank Heal, Heal, and Triage.
Void Armor
| Void Armor | Weak Against | Good Against | Good With |
|---|---|---|---|
|   | - |  |
Magic attacks hit this Monster's armor before its Health. Grandmaster Rathe is a summoner that grants Void Armor to ally monsters. Cripple, can still lower the target's HP even thru Void Armor. Abilities that counter Armor abilities work well against Void Armor. These include Piercing, Rust, and Shatter. Since Void Armor is reliant on Armor, abilities like Protect and Repair work well with it. Since Void Armor is good at countering Magic attacks, Silence and Void will help it do its job better. Monsters revive with their full Armor intact, which is why Rebirth and Resurrect work well with Void Armor. One common strategy is to use Legionnaire Alvar together with a lot of Resurrects. It can tank for a long time with its Void Armor and high innate Armor.
Weaken
| Weaken | Weak Against | Good Against | Good With |
|---|---|---|---|
|  |  | |
Reduces the Health of all enemy Monsters. Weaken can be Cleansed. Weaken is both good and weak against Strengthen depending on the perspective of the user, but they basically cancel each other out. Healing abilities like Heal, Tank Heal, and Triage rely on max HP, Weaken is a counter because it reduces the max HP. This is also true for Last Stand that takes note of the max HP. Weaken is good with abilities that deal collateral damage. These include Blast and Redemption.
This is the final abilities post for the old abilities. In my next post, I'll share my thoughts and info on the 3 new abilities that was just released. Feel free to inform me of any interactions or strategies that I might have overlooked.
And as always, these are Not Financial Advice, and Do Your Own Research.
If you want to start playing Splinterlands, you can use my link:
Splinterlands Referral Link
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Thanks for sharing! - @alokkumar121
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