Man At Arms: Retribution or Bolster as first move?

[Honeycone]

Hi!

I was wondering, what is your opinion on the best first move with a Man At Arms. Retribution (marks him and gives him the riposte buff, counter attacking any enemies attacking him) or Bolster (+Dodge and +Speed to all members)?

Does it change depending on the amount of enemies you face?

[Rex Power Colt]

I'd first give the buffs, then riposte.

[Arcangelo]

I'd say Guard. But depends on your party compostion, positions and enemies.

[SpectralProphet]

It indeed does depend on situation and location.
Lately I stopped using Bolster and started using "Bellow". I like it much more now, than Bolster.
Also stopped using Retribution due to it's weakness. If I've got a moment to hit with MAA - I'll use stun or crush.
And, obviously, Defender.

In Weald, since most of the monsters will attack your 1-2 characters, I'll use Defender first and protect 2nd unit. Then, if required, stun/attack. If stun/attack aren't that required and there are many fast enemies - Bellow. At 2nd round I just annihilate everything that's left standing.

[Muscarine]

If he plays last, bolster.
If he doesn't guard.

If you played bolster first, then you should have enough speed next turn to guard before the enemy plays.
If you played Guard first, chances are it's the right time to use bolster next, but not always.

Guard lasts two turns, so play accordingly to the situation during the free guard turn.
As a general rule i'm not personnaly a fan of Retribution, i'd rather get Crush (support main damagers) and Rampart (stun/repositioning).

And do not spam bolster for dodge stacking unless you're using it along a Jester's Solo, the dodge bonus is just a little supplement on top of what's important, speed, which ensures you have the initiative for the next round.

[SpectralProphet]

Originally posted by Laguna Queen:

I think the houndmaster is alot better because he can do the same thing with protection and also stun the big monsters like the one who carries a tree.

The problem with HM doing Guard stuff is that if Unclean Giant will not miss and will crit = HM on death's door. And maybe even r.i.p. afterwards. You're just increasing risk by using HM as defender. While UG crit on MAA will be 6-12.

[bfc]

Originally posted by Laguna Queen:

I think the houndmaster is alot better because he can do the same thing with protection and also stun the big monsters like the one who carries a tree.

maa also has a decent stun (a bit worse than hm though) and his guard lasts 2 turns, which is a lot better.

[Muscarine]

And HoM doesn't stack entire team speed, which makes for a very different strategy.
Both HoM and MaA are extremely usefull at end game, provided you build proper teams to go along with them.

Generally speaking i like to make
High Speed / Mark centric teams with HoM
Slower / Debuff / DoT centric teams with MaA

It's much more flexible than that though.