Trample vs Sweep

[kitsune]

I've been wondering what (if any) advantages Trample has over Sweep. Damage from Trample is reduced by every enemy it encounters, while Sweep is ever undiminished. Is Trample meant to be a poor man's Sweep? If so, there doesn't seem to be too many other examples of Card A being clearly superior to Card B, when Card B is not a starting card. So it seems odd to me. Please help me see what I am missing. Thanks!

EDIT: I'm satisfied with the responses I've gotten on this topic. Thank you all for your insight. I think we're done here.

[Atomsk]

Sweep is better, but you won't find a sweeper with as high attack as the Trample champion without serious upgrades.

[Leopanther]

Trample = Good on a unit with super high attack damage - so that it can kill the frontline tank while still having leftover dmg to wipe out the ones behind (or if you have the means to knock-back the tanky front unit to the backline). It basically ensures that none of the unit's damage gets wasted. If your 200 dmg Siege Engine hits a 5 hp target, that's still just 5 dmg dealt without trample. When you use the Trample Umbra Champ, getting Multistrike on him can be super strong (Hellhorned Tome, or the Umbra card that gives Multistrike with emberdrain).

Swipe = Good on a unit with just enough damage to wipe out the backline. You usually don't expect your swiper to deal with tanks. Swipe is the only ability that you can't get through upgrades or applied by other cards, so if only units that inately have swipe are able to have it at all - and they're generally units with low attack. They often need at least one ATK+ upgrade to be really good, or they apply something else through their sweep attack. Sweep can also profit from multistrike (not as much as trample, since sweep units usually don't have much attack) - more so on units that apply effects with sweep (multi = multiple stacks of debuff).

Quick is an attribute that can be very strong on either Trample or Sweep, as it lets you clear the enemy units before they get to attack you. Can be very helpful when you lack other defensive measures, but it only really helps against the normal units that you kill with the Quick attack - against bosses, it only gives you one extra attack up front then doesn't have any impact beyond that.

Also there's a very interesting interaction when you put Trample on a Sweep champ. Lets say there's a tank with 50 HP, and 2 enemies with 5 HP each. Your unit deals 20 dmg, it has Swipe + Trample. Now first the swipe hits, dealing 20 to the tank and killing the two smaller enemies. Since they only had 5 HP, there's 15 'leftover' damage that trample then directs to the unit(s) still alive - so an extra 30 damage on the tank, just barely killing it as well.

I've seen this happen before, but don't remember if the 'direction' of the damage matters. Like if trample only works front-to-back (in which case the more tanky unit would only take extra damage if he's at the back of the row). But I'm moderately sure that the positioning doesn't matter.

[kitsune]

@Leopanther: Thank you very much! I failed to notice that Sweep was an unobtainable trait, and so Trample is redeemed.

[Leopanther]

Though just that it isn't misunderstood, there is no shop upgrade for trample. It's still exclusive to umbra cards - only the one spell card allows you to put trample on any unit. (in case it was worded unclearly)

The 'add a trait' options per faction:

- Multistrike (Hellhorned, Umbra, shop upgrade)
- Quick (Awoken)
- Endless (Remnant, shop upgrade)
- Trample (Umbra)

Dunno if I missed any. (only counting traits, not stacking buffs or debuffs)

[Neon Black Interactive]

They're two different keywords that different stuff has access to. Trample only naturally appears on penumbra but it can be given to anyone with the tome (trample is only available to umbra). Sweep appear on 5 units (only available to stygian and awoken) and can never be given to a unit that doesn't have it to begin with. As a result comparing them is kinda moot because you'll never be in a situation where you have to decide which is better.

[Dlanor]

They're different, they're not supposed to be the same thing. Notably Trample can be given to any unit through a 2 cost spell, while Sweep can't be given to any unit that doesn't naturally get it, period.

Trample is a "smaller" benefit, in that it doesn't boost damage, merely transfers excess damage, making it very logical for an upgrade to give a huge unit that deals lots of damage or wants lots of kills. Sweep is literally multiplying your damage output by hitting everything at once. It's not a contest, Sweep is meant to be better, it's so good that they literally don't let you put it on anything that it doesn't belong on.