For a new player (or, for me, at least) this is surprising to learn. Do you suppose that as players learn the game they will align to this strategy, or do you suppose there are other successful playstyles that rely on ambush more frequently?
Here are a few elements of the game’s design that stood out to me in early playthroughs and that had led me to suppose that ambush would be an important component of effective threat management:
- the rules overhead and footprint on the table for denizens and the fact that if you don’t defeat denizens they generally remain unresolved and in pursuit, creating a lingering demand on the player for upkeep.
- the existence of the ambush action.
- the positioning of Vixen as a good “starter” hero, whose special ability “lay in wait” buffs the Ambush action (intimating to new players that this is perhaps an important strategy to learn).
- the frequent experience of trying to keep ahead of denizens in pursuit but then ending up in an encounter that causes time to pass such that I am forced to confront denizens in pursuit at an inopportune time and/or alongside fresh denizens.
All this had led me to the view that if I wanted to experience an emerging narrative, I first needed to find a way to deal with denizens to avoid beat-downs; I am not searching for strategies because I like identifying strategies.
I’ll keep at it, over time, but I guess one way to put it for now – you’ve suggested elsewhere that you’re looking for a 60% win rate, but as someone learning the game and mis-identifying what could work as successful strategies, right now it feels much, much lower. This makes for a challenging learning curve.