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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Huá Xióng 华雄

Posted by Ricky Chua On 12:53 PM 30 comments
Translated Description:
"Demon General 魔将 (mó jiàng)"

Who is he:
On one hand, Hua Xiong is an almost insignificant character in the entire story. You know he is not important by the speed at which he was killed by Guan Yu 关羽, no different from those nameless wrestlers who get trounced by the famous wrestling stars within 5 minutes.

On the other hand, Hua Xiong very nearly changed the entire course of history early in the Three Kingdoms period. The day before he was cut down by Guan Yu, Hua Xiong came very close to slaying Sun Jian 孙坚, and that could have distorted the future of Wu Kingdom 吴国.

In the story, Hua Xiong was credited as being a strong combatant, just shy of Lu Bu 吕布's abilities. I guess there was a need to let the heroes of the story (the 3 sworn brothers) take precedence and thus he appeared for a grand total of one miserable little chapter before his head was served on a platter. Wouldn't you be pissed if you were him?? Little wonder that he is one pissed off Demon!

Character Ability 1: "Reckless 恃勇(shi yǒng)" [Enforced ability]
Every instance that you suffer damage from a red ATTACK 杀 or WINE ATTACK 酒杀, your maximum health limit is reduced by 1.

Ability's relation to story:
Hua Xiong was a strong combatant serving Dong Zhuo 董卓. According to records, he looked like a loathsome American superhero (or supervillain), with a body as strong as a tiger, his waist as powerful as wolves, his head as fierce as leopards and his arms as aggressive as gorillas. In fiction, he was assigned as the protector of Si Shui Pass 汜水关, killing many generals of the coalition. He was eventually killed by Guan Yu in a single slash, to reflect Guan Yu's strength. Six max health relates himself to Dong Zhuo. “Reckless” refers to his defeat over Guan Yu. Nevertheless, he lacks playability…

How to obtain this character:
Hua Xiong is available in the 2012 release of OverKnight Fame, otherwise known as OKF2012 (一将成名2012). Click here to purchase now!

30 comments:

  1. If he takes a wine + red attack does he lose 2 max health?

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    Replies
    1. He loses 1 max. health because he suffers one instance of damage...

      [Q]华雄受到红色的且因【酒】生效而伤害+1的【杀】对其造成的伤害后,触发【恃勇】扣减几点体力上限?
      [A]1点。华雄只是受到一次伤害,因此只会触发一次【恃勇】。

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    2. BTW He's particularly weak against Guan Yu because of Guan Yu's ability, which allows him to use any red cards as red ATTACKS.

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    3. nope. GuanYU's ability allow him to use any red cards as Attack not as red Attack.
      the red card as Attack card GuanYu used will be view as no colour.

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  2. The ability does not say "prevent damage and instead lose 1 unit of max health". Which means to say, if someone uses Red Attack on him and he did not dodge, he loses 1 health AND lose 1 max health?

    Seriously? I don't get it...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, he loses 1 unit of health and 1 max. health...

      Delete
  3. I believe the characters for this ability are incorrect. The official website says 恃勇, not 持勇.

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  4. So what good is this guy? Can someone suggest a strategy play using this character?

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    Replies
    1. Does it look like he has any strategies with an ability like that?

      He has 6 units of health.. I guess it just means he can protect himself a bit better at the start until he begins to wear down, which will happen very easily.

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    2. I have used Hua Xiong several times on the computer program QSGS. While Hua Xiong is by no means a superstar in the SGS realm, he is not as unplayable as he may initially seem. It is important to remember that a player's hand limit is equal to the number of units of health that they have at the end of their turn. Because Hua Xiong has six units of health, he can hold six cards. With more space in his hand, Hua Xiong can store more dodges, attacks, negates, and peaches than the average player. This makes it more difficult to damage him.

      Hua Xiong seems to be at his best when he keeps a low profile. At the beginning of the game, each character is dealt four cards. After Hua Xiong draws two cards on his first turn, he should simply end his turn with six cards and six units of health (unless he has armor or a +1 horse to equip). Because nobody knows Hua Xiong's role at this point in the game, nobody will have any reason to pursue him, especially since he has so many cards in his hand that he will likely be able to avoid damage. When I use Hua Xiong, I continue this strategy of restraint until I can act and still hold six cards in my hand at the end of my turn.

      As other readers/posters have pointed out, Hua Xiong's weakness is that he has no advanced strategies to employ. In team situations, the only thing that he can contribute by virtue of his increased health limit is that he can hold more negates/peaches for the team. Also, the fact that he has to keep a low profile early in the game will put his team at a disadvantage. He is an extremely poor king choice, mediocre as a loyalist/rebel, and serviceable as a spy.

      Some people probably think that Hua Xiong is the weakest character in San Guo Sha. I don't think that is a fair assessment. Hua Xiong is probably in the same 'tier' as non-SP Cao Ren, non-SP Zhao Yun, non-SP Lu Meng, and Liu Biao. Like the rest of these character, Hua Xiong can do a pretty good job of keeping himself alive, but he cannot really help a team, which is critical in this game. While most characters are more useful than Hua Xiong, he is certainly better than the bottom dwellers, such as Ma Su, Liao Hua, Gon San Zan, Xu Chu, etc.

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    3. ^ I am afraid I can't agree with you. Hua Xiong IS one the weakest characters, so far I have tested.

      Team Cooperation IS the most important thing to concern when playing SGS except you are a DEFECTOR who chooses the way of staying alone without disguising (which would be very weak). Keeping PEACHES and NEGATE is not really gameplay, especially if you do not have additional drawing abilities. Even HX have +2 max. health and +2 on-hand limit, he is not that good. I am afraid Ma Su and Liu Biao is much stronger since they have additional drawing abilities to draw PEACHES more easily...

      He would be a disaster to his own team for losing an active seat, yet he is not a good defector. Many character can defeat him in single duel even if Hua Xiong preserves himself in the early game. Okay, I would say Liu Bei Ruler is quite vulnerable to this defector.

      BTW, there are characters who make peach-storing vulnerable, let say Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Deng Ai and the deadly Jia Xu.

      I think Hua Xiong would be better if he is a Wu character, so as to respond to Sun Quan's ruler ability.

      P.S. QSGS is an outstanding software to play, but the AI is either foolish or omniscient with your role, so you cannot rely on QSGS to test characters precisely...they would do very stupid thing like Younger ZGL arming a RATTAN ARMOR even though I have already equipped the FEATHER FAN...

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    4. Totally agree. Not doing anything in your first turn is also a recipie for disaster. People are not stupid.. they will know your role by the first round (or second at best!).

      This guy just sucks. Having an extra two cards at the end of your turn will only get you so far.

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    5. Compare with Zhang Liao or even Liu Bei who can take two cards (and use it for your team) or give two cards to those that can use it best, which is already a much bigger advantage.

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    6. I feel like my comments were taken a little out of context here. I never said that Hua Xiong is a good character. I said that he was not completely unplayable and that I felt that he was not the absolute worst. I compared him to non-SP Zhao Yun, non-SP Lu Meng, and non-SP Cao Ren. That should tell you that I don't think very highly of him. I was simply responding to someone asking about strategies to use with him. As I said in my post, he is good at keeping himself alive, but he cannot contribute much to a team, which I also said was critical in a game like this.

      As far as the QSGS program goes, there is a way to turn off the omniscience of the AI so that it is more realistic. I agree with you about AI sometimes doing stupid things. However, human players are not perfect either. For example, I once played a game on a web.sanguosha.com test server in which two rebels picked Xiahou Dun and Fa Zheng when the king chose Zhang Chun Hua. Also, I routinely run into trouble with human spies acting like loyalists and not turning against the king until it is way too late.

      All things considered, I feel that QSGS is a useful tool for comparing characters. Even if it is easy to sometimes out-maneuver the AI, the AI does not become better/worse depending upon the character you choose.

      ^^ You would be surprised how effective keeping a low profile can be. If you are in a game with 4-6 players, you are right - one can quickly figure out the roles. In games with 8-10 people, it can get tricky to keep track of everyone, especially when there is the possibility of a spy feigning loyalty to side.

      I once played an 8-person game with a couple of friends in which I was a loyalist and they were rebels. I was Guan Xing & Zhang Bao and for the first three turns, my power failed. Instead of attacking and giving away my role, I just ended my turns and kept as many red cards as possible. Even though everyone else was identified (except me), they were so pre-occupied with those who were playing that they did not make the connection that I was a loyalist. On the first turn that my power worked, I killed two rebels. I feel that if there is not much that you can do, it is sometimes better to keep a low profile and enter the game with a bang.

      Anyway, I am sorry for the super-long post. Sometimes I just can't stop taking about SGS!

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    7. If everyone is identified, that means you are too. Also, I'd say normal Zhao Yun is better than this guy :P. I'd even say Lu Meng is better than this guy, which is going pretty far.. At least he won't lose max health and he can hold as many cards as Hua Xiong..

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    8. And I'm not really surprised at how effective keeping a low profile can be.. because it's usually not..

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    9. If you want to know why:

      1) It doesn't stop people finding out who you are. It really doesn't, unless someone else is being an idiot. On that note, if you are a HVT (high value target), they will still go for you.

      2) While your teammates are busy trying to kill the other team you are effectively putting them (and yourself) at one man down.

      The reason why you won that one is because you had some lucky cards, good team members or poor enemy team. Try that in an evenly matched game and watch the cards fall against you very quickly.

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    10. Keeping low profile itself is not really a problem. The problem is that you cannot contribute to team. As I have stated before, team cooperation is the most important part in SGS.

      He might be a good LOYALIST if he is a Wu character, so he would respond to the Ruler Abilities of Sun Quan and Sun Ce well, by storing PEACHES for Sun Quan or giving essential cards to Sun Ce. Unfortunately, he is a Heroes character, and he cannot respond to those Ruler's Abilities. He cannot deal additional damage to respond to Dong Zhuo's "Tyranny" nor end the game quickly before Dong Zhuo dies. Although he can give excessive DODGES to Zhang Jiao an passively increase the on-hand limit of Yuan Shao, his low profile makes the ruler more vulnerable.

      He is absolutely a bad REBEL as the advantage of REBELS lie on focus fire. A DEFECTOR may like his low profile, but fact proves that he wears down easily in 1 to 1 battle, even worse than Liu Bei...and I am quite sure that he is the most terrible RULER...

      ^^^ If you turn off the omniscience, the AI of QSGS would become too stupid...

      BTW, I also can't stop talking SGS too. Discussing tactics is really interesting. Someone should really start up an English SGS forum as a platform for such discussion.

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    11. Just so that you guys know, QSGS has since been updated and the AI has been much, much improved. Just make sure you don't include the 2012 pack as the AI for it hasn't been programmed well yet. However, the AI for the original characters and previous expansion packs have been programmed quite realistically. I sometimes tell with some of my friends that the AI's skill outlasts theirs, and I'm not only teasing here.

      In context with this post, as a rebel, Hua Xiong is still better than Lu Meng. Usually Lu Meng just hoards cards, doesn't use any SHAs to damage the enemy. All he does it hold cards and end his turn. Meanwhile, Hua Xiong players usually actually do something during their turns.

      Anyway, when I am a rebel, here are the characters that would make me think "OMG WTF hope you're not on my team"

      Lu Meng, Ma Su, a Huang Gai who just kills himself, Cao Ren, Wei Yan, Xiahou Dun, Hua Xiong

      Delete
    12. Add 公孫瓚 to that list.. this article summarises the order of characters pretty well.

      http://wangyou.pcgames.com.cn/zhuanti/sgs/exp/1205/2519582.html

      If I see 公孫 on my team I flip. Whilst he is put above some other rubbish characters, I disagree slightly and still think he is more of a turd than 曹仁 and 陸遜. Nevertheless, I totally agree with the overall groupings of ZDCBAS and that they are all useless anyway :P.

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    13. Link not working. Can repost please?

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    14. ^^ Perhaps I should translate it?

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    15. That would be a lot of work - I think the key thing is the table which hopefully shouldn't require too much chinese skills (it would be simple to convert it to pinyin anyway).

      It is very important to note that this is for 8 player games. As the number of players decreases, the bad characters often become good and often the good ones become bad.

      P.S. The link works :)

      Delete
  5. I had this discussion earlier with my friend when OKF2012 just came out. Before, the Chinese community jokingly gave 8 characters "8 Gods" title (八神) and another 8 "8 Useless" (八废). The "8 useless" refers to those who they think are basically a pain in the ass to have on your own team when you are playing, as they serve virtually little significance. Hua Xiong's 华雄 arrival raised discussion about who should he replace in the 8 useless squad, as...well you can see.

    However if there's one thing he's good for: He's made to deal with Cai Wen Ji 蔡文姬...

    PS: If you are interested in knowing, here's the "8 Useless" list:

    3 Primary Colors Brigade: Wei Yan (魏延), Zhou Tai (周泰), Cao Ren (曹仁)
    Lu Xun (陆逊)
    Zhang Jiao (张角)
    Gong Sun Zan (公孙瓒)
    Yu Jin (于禁)
    Ma Su (马谡)

    Lu Xun's inclusion is somewhat of a joke...the trend in China right now is to poke fun at him simply for being too young (and also he looks like a girl)

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    Replies
    1. Also if I remember correctly, "8 Gods" are those 8 who you definitely don't wanna mess with and can only hope they are on your team:

      Liu Bei (刘备)
      Lu Su (鲁肃)
      Sun Quan (孙权)
      Diao Chan (貂蝉)
      Zhang Liao (张辽)
      Xun Yu (荀彧)
      Zhu Ge Liang (诸葛亮)
      Yuan Shu (袁术)

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  6. Do any of you guys know what QSGS is? And if so, where can you get it?
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. QSGS is a program which allows you to play SGS on your computer either against AI or against other friends by using VPN software such as Hamachi. It doesn't have a server unlike the official SGS Online (at least AFAIK). They also include various custom characters.

      Latest version: http://qsanguosha.org/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=6420&extra=page%3D1
      You have to register to get that.

      Older version that doesn't require registration: http://dl.pconline.com.cn/gamelink/57739-1.html?

      Delete

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