M2E+Pandora

__ Return to Neverborn __ toc
 * Pandora, Neverborn Master**

=__Overview__= Pandora is a 'controller' with different modes of play depending on which of three different limited upgrades you take with her.

- 'Voices' Pandora uses the upgrade of that name to inflict the paralyzed condition on the models she hits with her attacks instead of damaging them. - 'Box' Pandora, takes **The Box Opens** upgrade to become terrifying to all models, and get a short range attack that improves her ability to inflict Horror Duels and cause paralyze. - 'Summon' Pandora uses the third limited upgrade **Woe is Me**, which lets you summon Sorrows from enemy models, and the Poltergeist when a model dies to Misery. The upgrade also allows you to infiltrate Woes from other factions (currently only Guild's Field Reporters).

__ Mobility __
Pandora looks inherently slow due to her low Wk and Cg stats, but this is not the whole story as her **Fading Memory** ability makes her a lot more maneuverable.

The ability gives her a 4" push when she wins an opposed Wp duel against an enemy. This combines well with the **Expose Fears** ability which allows Pandora to use her Wp instead of Df when resisting an opposed duel. The end result is that Pandora will often get to push when enemy attacks fail against her because the duel is a Wp duel for her (as she is resisting with her Wp). Fading Memory will also trigger when she wins with her **Incite** attack action, because the attack value for that ability is **Wp**, and not **Ca** like her other attacks.

With a very good Wp stat, Pandora can be difficult to hit and very slippery. Just remember that pushes can be blocked by terrain and other models, so don't get pinned in!

=__Resilience__= While Pandora's Df is exceptionally low for a Master, she is able to use her high Wp against all duels thanks to her **Expose Fears** ability. Even when the attacker can choose which ability is used to defend, Pandora can still choose to use her Wp. This ability takes precedence over attacks that choose the defensive stat like the Moon Shinobi's Green Fists of Fury.

The other bonus for Pandora's resilience on her card is her **Fading Memory** ability. When Pandora wins a Wp flip, which will be almost all of her defensive flips, she can be pushed 4". This provides Pandora with a solid defense against attacks with a short range, since she can make her save against the first of two or more attacks, and push away from the following attacks. This isn't a guarantee, since you still have to win that first defensive flip, and there are many paths by which your opponent can inflict penalties to Pandora's flips, her Wp, or give bonuses to their own models.

When you choose **The Box Opens** as Pandora's limited upgrade she also gets **Terrifying (All) 13**, which can shut down enemy models that attack her, or end a Walk within 3" of her. Most models have a Wp of five or more, so requiring a flip of 8 or better for most models to avoid being paralyzed. However, there are some extra nuances to this. To begin with, Pandora will want to build her crew around models that inflict Wp penalties, and many enemy models will get bonuses against Horror duels, or be completely immune.

Pandora's defenses can make her seem indestructible, but she's fragile once your opponent figures out how to crack her. She has a low number of wounds for a master, so a solid hit from a few powerful attacks will finish her. This is especially true if your opponent has models in their crew that can inflict Wp penalties, inflict conditions, or attack a stat other than Df or Wp (watch out for Zipp!).

=__Utility__=

Adding to Pandora's relative fragility as a master is her **Martyr** ability. After a friendly woe within 6" of her determines how much damage they will take after all other reductions, Pandora can suffer one point of damage to reduce the damage done to the friendly woe by one point. This means that if a woe has Armor, and reduces the damage of an attack to one point, Pandora can reduce that to zero damage with her **Martyr** ability. If you intend to make heavy use of this ability it might be worth taking the Nexus of Power upgrade on a durable Henchman or Enforcer that will stay near Pandora.


 * Misery** causes a single point of damage to enemy models that fail Wp duels within 6" and line of sight of Pandora. All of the actions on her card can trigger this damage, and most of the attacks from her upgrades can too. This is a utility ability, because any time an enemy model fails a Wp duel near Pandora they take 1 damage. Remember that this only applies for duels in which the **enemy is using Wp**. Attacks against Pandora where she uses her Wp to defend do not count as Wp duels for the enemy unless they are using Wp to attack her. This means that if you want to do 'Box' Pandora, and try to force as many points of Misery damage as possible, you will want a crew made of models that also force Wp duels and Wp checks.


 * Misery** from different models does stack, so if you get an enemy model within 6" and LoS of both Pandora and one or more of the Sorrows from her box set, that model will take one point of damage for each of the Misery auras it is inside when it fails a Wp check.

=__Offense__=


 * Self Loathing** and **Self Harm** are Pandora's main offensive abilities, and are essentially the same. **Self Loathing** is a 3" close combat attack, and **Self Harm** is a 10" projectile attack. It uses the damage profile of one of the target's (1) close combat or projectile attacks, but other effects or triggers are not included. For example, the December Acolyte's automatic slow if it damages the target would not be applied if Pandora hit it with Self Harm. The fact that it uses damage profiles from other models can be a problem. While there are plenty of models with high damage (masters especially!), peons and minions that don't hit very hard are almost worthless to spend Pandora's AP on. Don't forget that these attacks target Wp so will trigger the **M****isery** ability.

If you use **Self Loathing** to stop an enemy model from moving out of Pandora's engagement range, and the enemy model fails to disengage, this counts as failing a Wp duel, and **Misery** will cause one point of damage.


 * Incite** is a (0) attack action that uses Wp as the attack value, so if it hits, Pandora can push 4" with **Fading Memory**. It has the longest range of all her attacks, so can be used to push her up into range for her other attacks and Misery aura. Adding a book to the result will let you use it a second time, which will usually be worth spending a stone for the suit or cheating in a card to get that trigger. Incite doesn't do damage, but instead inflicts **Mood Swing** on the model hit. Although it does no damage, this is one of Pandora's best attacks, because before your opponent activates anything during their turn, you can force them to activate a model with Mood Swing instead. If you have enough knowledge about how your opponent's crew works you can mess them up badly by forcing them to activate models out of their planned order. If they have a crew with a 'summon engine' you can cause that engine to break down by forcing their models to activate in the wrong order for the engine to function correctly. An example would be using this attack against Slop Haulers in a Gremlin summon list, so the haulers are forced to activate before the Gremlin player can summon the models that the slop hauler is supposed to heal.


 * Inflict** - A tactical action that would easily fool you into thinking it's an attack, **Inflict** is a 4" pulse that causes enemies to pass a TN14 Wp duel. If they fail they suffer 1 damage. **Remember Misery!** Whenever Pandora uses this ability it is really doing 2 points of damage because the enemies failed Wp duels within 6" of her. If any Sorrows are around, enemies who fail this duel will also suffer damage from their **Misery** auras as well. This action can stack up damage **very quickly**. With two Sorrows nearby, every enemy that fails the duel will suffer 4 damage. It is very useful for clearing out groups of weaker enemies as well as draining your opponent's hand by causing a large number of moderately difficult duels. This is a big part of the strategy with 'Box' Pandora, which focuses on creating a 'death bubble' around Pandora where you can inflict numerous Wp duels on enemy models and flick one or more points of damage each time.

=__Upgrades__=
 * The Box Opens ** - One of the three Limited upgrades for Pandora that gives her ** Terrifying (All) 13 **, increasing her resilience, and adding yet another way to deal damage with ** Misery ** . This upgrade provides the **Those Who Dwell Within** attack that targets Df, and provides a damage track of 1/3/4. The damage isn't great, the range is short, and it won't trigger Misery damage, but the attack gives an option against models that are tough against Wp attacks like Zoraida. It also has two triggers, one that forces a TN 13 horror duel, and another that strips all immunity to the Paralyzed condition and horror duels, including the immunity gained by passing a Horror duel. A model that passed a horror duel caused by a model could be forced to take it again in the same turn. ** Terrifying ** helps Pandora to hang out in the thick of things. She becomes more difficult to hit, making her a less desirable target, and allowing her to carry on without worrying about being pulped. Pandora can be played as an in-your-face damage-dealer, but it really requires this upgrade to do it, and some enemy models (or even entire crews) will be highly resistant or even immune to this strategy.


 * Voices -** One of the three Limited upgrades, Voices makes it impossible for **Misery** damage to be reduced while enemy models are within 6" and LoS of Pandora, and adds the **Mental Anguish** trigger to **Self Loathing** and **Self Harm** that causes paralysis at the expense of all damage. The trigger does require a crow on the flip, while both of those attacks have only a mask baked into them. This means that if you take Voices you will need to stone or cheat for the crow. You could also consider the Depression upgrade on Pandora, because it gives you a reliable way to make that trigger happen.


 * Voices** gives Pandora an effective attack against models that are highly resistant to damage. This can be combined with the **Mood Swing** condition inflicted by Pandora's **Incite** and Candy's **Wail** attack to force the paralyzed model to activate before your opponent can use other models like Witchling Stalkers or Nurses to remove the condition. This can work especially well when combined with **Ill Omens** from the Doppleganger to ensure you win initiative on the next turn.

[Special note with this one - the enemy model does not need to have an attack for Self Loathing or Self Harm to target it. Normally there would be no point as there will be no damage track for Pandora to use against them, but with the Mental Anguish trigger you are reducing all damage to zero in order to paralyze. The fact that there may have been no damage in the first place does not matter].


 * Fugue State -** is one of the two remaining upgrades exclusive to Pandora. It controls your opponent's ability to score with interact actions. Enemy models that declare an interact within eight inches and LoS of Pandora must pass a TN15 Wp duel or take a point of damage; plus an extra point from **Misery** if they're within 6" of Pandora or a Sorrow. It also adds the **Nullify** attack to Pandora, which targets **Wp** (**Misery!**) and makes the target **Insignificant**, removing its ability to take interact actions. It works well if you like playing a purely control-oriented Pandora, one that focuses less on damage and more on really messing up the opponent's game plan. It still has a heavy **Wp** duel focus, though, meaning **Misery** will come into play if you're close enough, or if you have Sorrows near your targets.


 * Cry for Me -** is the last of the upgrades for Pandora exclusively. This upgrade provides a ranged attack called Project Emotions that targets **Wp**//,// and gives the target a condition called **Pity**. Models with the **Pity** condition take a negative flip on all **Wp** duels. The **Dark Thoughts** trigger on this attack requires a mask be flipped, cheated, or stoned, and places a blast marker. All models touched by the blast marker must succeed on a high TN **Wp** duel, or also take the Pity condition. The attack has a solid attack value, and a good range, but does burn up one of Pandora's actions that could otherwise be used for attacks. This makes Cry for Me an upgrade for players who want to use Pandora as a control master who sets up the enemy, or simply shuts down the enemy crew with a mass of conditions.


 * Depression -** is an upgrade for any woe, but can only be taken for one model. The primary reason to take this upgrade on Pandora is the (0) **Delight in Despair,** which allows Pandora to discard a card to add the suit of the discarded card to the duel total of all duels she makes for the rest of her activation. This should be taken with Voices, and a Primordial Magic totem for extra card draw at start of turn, so there's a reliable way to paralyze enemy models. The other effect is to give all other woes in LoS of Pandora the **Melancholy** attack, which is similar to Pandora's (0) attack Incite, but instead of forcing enemy models to activate before other models, the **Nobody Likes Me** condition it causes forces them to activate at the end of the turn, and your opponent can chose the order of activation for those models. Melancholy provides a (1) attack that is resisted by Wp to Woes that don't normally have that as an option, like the Sorrows that come in Pandora's crew box.


 * Fears Given Form -** can be given to any two Neverborn Master or Henchman models in a crew. **//ANY MODEL//** that begins its activation within the engagement range of the model with this upgrade must pass a high TN **Df** duel or take three points of damage. This includes **your own models** as well as your opponent's models! While this is a general upgrade it's closely associated with Pandora because it is usually a part of the Box Pandora strategy, which is to build Pandora and her crew around building a 'death bubble' that provides multiple sources of non-attack damage on enemy models. The especially interesting thing about this attack is that it is not an aura, and makes no distinction between friendly and enemy models, so defensive tricks that will prevent damage from auras will not work against this. This is a high-risk/high-reward strategy, because if your opponent can't work around the bubble or stop their models from taking damage their models will get blasted of the board by multiple pokes of one to three points of damage every time they fail a duel. If your opponent can win the duels or ignore the damage, or heal back from it before going down, Pandora will get splattered.

The Wave 5 book, **Broken Promises**, introduces two new upgrades for each master. Pandora gets **Rile Them Up** and **Woe is Me**:


 * Rile Them Up** - gives Pandora the ability to take the **Incite** action as a (1) instead of a (0) once per turn, doubling the amount of **Incites** you can get off in a turn - increasing Pandora's mobility a ton, thanks to **Fading Memory**! It also gives Pandora's two offensive attacks a trigger that gives the target a (1) Attack that she can hit them with, and damage from these attacks can't be reduced. Remember that you can target a model without a close or projectile attack with either **Self Loathing** or **Self Harm** anyway, but without this upgrade it doesn't do any damage.


 * Woe is Me -** is Pandora's third Limited upgrade, and allows Pandora to summon Sorrows in contact with an enemy model with a condition at the cost of a high mask, and the Poltergeist for free if an enemy model is killed by **Misery** - no matter where! Taking this upgrade means not taking **Voices** or **The Box Opens**, but allows you to build a **Misery** bubble out of nowhere and get the Poltergeist for free! This helps get around the fragility of Sorrows and the Poltergeist as you don't need to move them up to engage, instead putting them right where you want them - amongst the enemy. Note that after a successful summon, the enemy model can choose to end any condition on them, so you may only get one Sorrow from one enemy. Make sure you get familiar with conditions that you can put on the enemy - there are plenty!

The upgrade also gives **Infiltration (Woe)**. At the moment, this only allows her to take Field Reporters out of faction, but the limit of 4 suggests more Woes will appear in future. Much like in the real world, Field Reporters get most of their power from **Misery** - while they don't have it themselves, they can cause plenty of **Wp** duels with their **Exclusive Interview** attack action, which has four triggers that must be declared if able. The built in trigger is a 5" push away from the Reporter, and the other three can cause damage, slow or a debuff to attack actions. Reporters also have Manipulative, turning **Misery** effects into a defensive trick as well. They can also cause some Scheme Marker shenanigans, able to replace enemy Scheme Markers with their own.

=__Tactics and Tips__= As discussed, there are three basic ways to play Pandora; the 'death bubble' Box Pandora, ranged controller Voices Pandora, and the new 'summoner' version with Woe is Me. The upgrades can be mixed and matched to provide a different spin on each strategy, but which of her limited upgrades is used strongly influences how Pandora will be played.


 * Box Pandora** is an in-your-face type of setup that requires a boost to Pandora's defenses, but still requires some control tricks like pulling enemy models in, reducing their Wp, and draining your opponents control hand. **The Box Opens** is required, read its section above for details. **Aether Connection** is recommended to help keep her alive. For maximum effect in melee, **Fears Given Form** further strengthens the card-hungry vortex that will add multiple sources of damage to the 'death bubble'. This build works very well in the strategy 'Turf War' as the enemy models need to be in the center of the board. This allows you to keep your crew fairly tight while engaging a number of enemy models. **Misery** auras will be in great effec,t and a couple Sorrows can help to maximize Pandora's damage output and make coming close to the turf marker a dangerous proposition.


 * Voices Pandora** is a setup is better suited to strategies and schemes that are spread out across the board. **Voices**, almost always taken with **Depression** to ensure you get a crow for the **Mental Anguish** trigger, allows Pandora to paralyze up to three models a turn, and is the cornerstone of the build. The third upgrade is up to you, and depends on the type of play style you want to build on, **Fugue State** to shut down your opponent's ability to work with interact actions, **Cry For Me** to set up enemy models to fail Wp duels inflicted by your other models, or any one of the other Neverborn general upgrades like **On Wings of Darkness** to improve Pandora's mobility, and be even more certain of getting a crow in your hand.


 * Woe is Me Pandora** is a sort of patch to the Poltergeist and Sorrows, which have been superseded by other models. It also lets you recruit Woes from other factions, but it's mostly about being able to summon in a Sorrow or two next to an enemy model, blowing it up with Misery, and then bringing in the Poltergeist by killing a model with Misery damage.

=__Leading a Crew__=

Strategies

 * Turf War -** Possibly the best Strategy Pandora can hope for. Models will gravitate toward the center of the board making it easy for her to push to and fro, bouncing in and out of combat as she pleases. Most enemy models will remain in range of **Incite** letting you better control the game. Sorrows do well in this Strategy as they can spread **Misery** very easily to many models.


 * Reconnoiter -** If Turf War is the best strategy for Box Pandora, this Strategy is the worst. You will want to go with Voices Pandora, and even then Pandora will have a limited ability to spread her control tricks across the entire board. She can nail down one corner very effectively, and can set up enemy models to be destroyed by powerful beaters like Nekima. Howver, other masters and crews like Lilith (who can see through terrain and control enemy model's movement and placement) might be better suited to this.


 * Reckoning -** Box Pandora doesn't have much trouble killing, and she can take down multiple models per turn if your opponent allows it. Although you're looking to maximize damage in this Strategy, you may want to reconsider bringing Sorrows. These can be easy points for the enemy. One is probably fine, but more than that is pushing it. A crew of beaters that cause terror and other Wp duels is recommended as well as models can can drag enemy models in. Consider Barbaros as a Henchman, because his challenge ability will protect Box Pandora while also forcing more Wp checks when they try to attack something else.


 * Squatter's Rights -** Pandora can have problems similar to Reconnoiter with this one, though at least your opponent will be gathered around small areas at the center of the board. You can focus on one area of the table to keep your crew together and use Box Pandora, but this can limit your ability to actually complete the Strategy. Voices Pandora will have an easier time if you concentrate on playing her as a control master. With the **Fugue State** upgrade, Pandora can make interacts a pain for the enemy. Her large engagement range can also protect multiple Squat Markers. If your opponent can pin Pandora down, and work around her death auras and control tricks, they can have an easy time of it with this one.


 * Stake a Claim** - This is by far one of the worst schemes for Pandora, because she cannot improve the speed or interact abilities of her own crew, so getting your models onto your opponent's side of the board and doing (2) interact actions with them will be challenging. Take the **Fugue State** upgrade, and try to shut down your opponent's ability to do this strategy at all, and then focus on your schemes.

=Schemes= Box Pandora crews tend to prefer Schemes that allow them to stick together, while Voices Pandora Crews will prefer schemes that can be stopped by enemy models taking actions or interacts. Whether you take Voices Pandora or Box Pandora will also depend on the scheme pool. If you feel certain that your opponent will take schemes that rely on keeping models alive and move them across the board like Undercover Entourage, then Box Pandora will be the ideal choice. There are a few fairly safe go-to options though: =Denial= Voices Pandora is especially good at is preventing the enemy from scoring, and she seems to be a popular option in Gaining Grounds 2017 for that very reason. Consider game with the following:
 * Breakthrough - Pandora can move up to 20" by walking three times and making two successful **Incite** attacks. Even without minions dedicated to completing Schemes, Pandora can quickly get to your opponent's Deployment Zone and complete this.
 * Entourage - Pandora is great at this for the same reason as Breakthrough, she can move very quickly.
 * Assassinate - This can be great for Pandora if two conditions are met: the enemy Master has a strong melee attack and Wp lower than 7. Lilith, for example, is Wp5 and has a damage spread of 3/4/6. "But wait," you say, "if they have a strong melee attack, won't Pandora be in danger of being Assassinated, too?" This is true, but remember that Pandora can use her Wp in place of Df, so she almost always resists with a 7 and has the ability to use **Fading Memory** to push away. Now, Pandora should not be the only model in her crew capable of killing the enemy master (a few **Hugs** from Teddy will get the job done), but this is specifically about what she is good at doing.
 * Murder Protege - For reasons similar to Assassinate, Pandora can take down many of the game's heavy-hitters by turning their weapons against them. If the enemy's highest Soulstone cost model has a good damage spread and fairly low Wp, Pandora should be able to take it out easily, especially if it is an Enforcer instead of a Henchman since Enforcers cannot **Use Soulstones**.
 * Strategy - Guard the Stash : Keep models near two markers on centerline at end of each turn.
 * Scheme - Claim Jump: Put two scheme markers near centerline, and not next to enemy models or each other, to score at end of each turn.
 * Scheme - Eliminate the Leadership: Murder the enemy Leader
 * Scheme - Dig Their Graves: Kill an enemy near a scheme marker once per turn to score a vp
 * Scheme - Hidden Trap: At end of game, score a VP for each enemy model near a friendly scheme marker
 * Scheme - Recover Evidence: Opponent puts up to five markers each next to one model. Take an interact to pick one up for VP.

Pandora has limited ability to deal with scheme markers, but this pool has four schemes that reward scheme marker placement, so you'd better take **Fugue State**. Pandora is incredibly efficient at killing in her 'Box' incarnation, and in her way able to go toe to toe with enemy Masters. In this case, with the entire pool oriented around getting up close and personal to claim markers or do interacts, **The Box Opens**, is the clear winner. Any one of a few different upgrades, or none, will work for the third. Pandora will probably want to take a Sorrow and Candy, and put Depression on Candy, so she can reliably get the triggers to inflict Mood Swing or heal models. I'd recommend taking 'Eliminate the Leadership' and 'Claim Jump', because scoring VP off Claim Jump is a great way to lure enemy models up near Pandora and her Sorrow. Stay far away from schemes like Hidden Trap, which requires both scheme marker placement, and leaving enemy models alive by the end of the game. Not unless you go with 'Voices' Pandora, and plan to repeatedly paralyze enemy models with an eye to keeping them alive to the end of the game.

Building a Crew

 * Pandora's Crew Box**
 * ** Sorrows - ** The box set comes with three of these, and they are the weakest and cheapest of her Woes, though they are still a bit expensive given their fragile nature. Sorrows have low Df, low Wd, and only ** Incorporeal ** to reduce damage they take, which does nothing against untyped attacks. Pandora's ** Martyr ** ability can help keep Sorrows alive a bit longer, but they will be a high priority target for opponents experienced enough to know what happens when their models get caught inside multiple **Misery** auras.
 * **Poltergeist **- The poor poltergeist suffers the same problem that many Neverborn totems suffer. The Primordial Magic is cheaper and better in many respects, and a lynchpin model for Voices Pandora. The Poltergeist has been given a new lease on life in Box Pandora lists when used with Will O Wisps. The Poltergeist is still good in Box Pandora lists, where it clumps up with Pandora and Sorrows to inflict negative flips on Wp duels, and force additional Wp duels and discourage your opponent from charging your models with Paranormal Activity markers. It is nearly unique among totems in being a minion that can take interact actions.
 * **Candy **- Candy is Pandora's signature henchman for good reason. She has a couple of built in tricks to punish enemy models that activate first or last within 3" of her, has a large engagement range for the Fears Given Form upgrade, and with an extra suit to set off triggers can distribute more Mood Swing conditions, or heal your own models, so if you don't put the Depression upgrade on Pandora Candy is a good alternative. She's often taken in Box Pandora lists, and no slouch with Voices Pandora. If the scheme pool has a scheme that requires a Henchman to be alive by the end of the game, her Best Behavior upgrade makes her incredibly survivable.
 * **Kade **- It's a baby with a carving knife who plays with giant man-eating teddy bears. The main reason to take Kade is in a Box Pandora list for his **Lure** ability, and because he has pounce, and gives an option for taking out enemy models that have a weaker Df than Wp. Unfortunately for Kade, Lilitu and Lelu have supplanted him and Teddy in the opinion of many players.


 * Models That Are Good With Pandora **
 * ** Stitched Together ** - Pandora loves minions that cause Wp duels so these guys are a no-brainer. They are slow, so watch out for them lagging behind.
 * **Insidious Madness** - It has the word madness in its name, definitely up Pandora's alley. Everything it does is Wp based. It's also very fast and great at completing Schemes, especially since it's **Incorporeal**. It has supplanted the Sorrows in the opinion of many players, as it costs the same number of points, has better defenses, inflicts Wp penalties, is faster, and forces your opponent to discard cards if they want to cheat on Wp duels!
 * ** Iggy ** - Another of the child-themed Woes, Iggy brings ranged damage plus an additional **Incite** to Pandora's crew. He also has **Martyr**, meaning he can help keep other Woes alive at his own expense.
 * ** Teddy ** - A very scary unit with surprising mobility and a strong attack. He just wants a hug! He is relatively fragile and slow, so ranged crews can make short work of him.
 * **Doppleganger** - It's a Woe and **Ill Omens** helps Voices Pandora by giving you the jump on initiative. Make sure there are models that have attacks that don't rely on triggers or require suits not baked in; Don't copy Candy with it!
 * **Lelu **- Taken with his sister Lilitu, you never use him with Pandora on his own. He's a woe that can add some hitting power and improve Lilitu's chances of survival.
 * **Lilitu** - She is one of the best Lure models in the game, and tough with her Wispers in Blood giving a bonus flip to all duels. Her Barbed Whip can inflict Wp duels on the trigger. She often replaces Kade.
 * ** Bad Juju - ** He's **Terr** **ifying** and has a 0AP actio n that causes Wp duels. His only problem with Pandora is that he can't always keep up with the rest of the crew.
 * ** Barbaros ** - The main reason to take him is in a Box Pandora list for his Challenge action, which forces enemy models to succeed at a Wp duel before they can attack any model other than Barbaros.
 * **Widow Weaver** - She brings a lot to the table for Pandora. Horror Duels as well as being able to place the infamous web markers which will reduce enemy WP by 1 for each they are near. She isn't the most resilient model, and will need some protection.
 * **Nekima**- Nekima's alpha-strike potential, combined with Pandora's activation control can make for a wicked combination. Use incite to prevent an opponent's beaters from activating after Nekima, dive with Nekima, then use Doppleganger's initiative cheat plus Pandora's incites to allow both Pandora and Nekima to attack again before any enemy beaters. This works especially well on enemy enforcers who cannot stone to survive. Nekima's **The Bloody Beauty** and **Teach Them Fear** can also add up to a lot of Wp duels for your opponent. Arguably, Nekima is one of the most, if not THE most, powerful henchmen in the game, and finds herself working for many masters. If she can be said to have any disadvantage, it's that she's very popular, so canny opponents will have plans in place for dealing with her.



=__Playing Against Pandora__= First determine if your opponent is likely to play Box Pandora or Voices Pandora. If the strategies and schemes involve occupying a small area of the board it will likely be Box Pandora. Other types of strategy and scheme will be a Voices or Control Box Pandora, and that will be the more common build.

Regardless of which type of Pandora you're playing against, she is all about forcing Wp checks, and inflicting conditions on your models. You need condition removal against more masters than just Pandora anyway. If you're playing Guild you'll want Witchling Stalkers for the condition removal alone. The mercenary Johan is popular just for his ability to remove conditions with his Rebel Yell attack. Take models that have high Wp, or defenses against Wp attacks and horror duels. These are generally good abilities to have anyway, so you can hardly be accused of tuning your list just to take down Pandora.

Box Pandora wants to push or lure your models in close to a clump of models all working together to foul your Wp checks and flick one or more points of damage on your model at a time. She'll have models like Lelitu and Will O Wisps to force your models to come close, and then get sandblasted into oblivion a few points of damage at a time. Your opponent may use this tactic with Voices, because Voices shuts down your ability to reduce or ignore damage from Misery. The weakness of this strategy is that if your crew is oriented around ranged attacks, blasts, and shutting down conditions and casts, and can pass the Horror duels when attacking her (Sonnia Criid for example) Pandora is going to be in real trouble if she fails her defense flips, or even if she succeeds, and has to choose whether to advance and get attacked more, or retreat and be out of range next turn.

Voices Pandora is a more challenging prospect, as your opponent can shut down your crew with Mood Swing, Paralyze, and other conditions; and then just focus on fulfilling strategies and schemes. If you have a summoning engine that requires you to activate a model to put down a token to summon off of, and then activate the summoner, and then activate other models to remove slow or heal damage from the summoned model Pandora will use Mood Swing to force your summon engine to activate out of sequence. She can make a Ulix pig summon or Som'er gremlin summon list activate slop haulers first, for example. She's slightly less vulnerable to ranged crews than Box Pandora. In addition to defenses against Wp effects and condition removal, the best advice is to avoid using complex and involved model interactions, and if you do have important utility models that your crew depends on, keep them safe and take multiples of them.

Again, this is hardly advice unique to just this one Neverborn Master. Neverborn masters delight in screwing up your elaborate and careful plans, so when up against Neverborn, try to avoid crews that require careful chains of activations unless each model in the sequence can do Chain Activations.

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This page was filled in (mostly) by Wyrd Forum user 'therat.' Special thanks to Wyrd Forum users 'Joel' and 'eternalvoid' for assistance in bringing it all together.