Advantages

Strong single attacks.

Places powerful buff/debuff combo on opponents and team members.

Phases on certain attacks.

Can inflict disorientation, other debuffs on attackers.

Disadvantages

Area attack causes light damage and costs an extra round.

Defense initially very low.

If you were lucky enough to get Moonstone as a lockbox reward during a recent Special Operation mission, you have a powerful and quite underrated Tactician in your stable. She isn’t a game-changer, and she won’t be your next great PVP hero, but she’s strong, multi-faceted, and well worth the effort it takes to level and chip her to full effectiveness. With some thought and strategizing, she can be very effective as part of your three-man strike force.

Moonstone’s main effectiveness is her one-two combination of her Blinding Attraction and Forceful Personality. The first is a single ranged attack that causes Blindness in its target, crippling that target’s ability to hit on his/her next attack. The second is a powerful punch. When Moonstone delivers the first attack, she goes into Phase, rendering herself effectively immune from most attacks; even better, her follow-up punch does extra damage when it strikes a Blinded opponent and prevents the opponent from using his melee abilities for a round. (Remember, when she attacks from Phase, she returns to normal.)

Her third attack, Gravity Syndrome, is an area attack that inflicts no damage whatsoever, but it does put an interesting combination of buffs and debuffs on everyone involved. The bad guys get Exhausted (rendering them unable to take multiple turns and turning Quick Actions into normal actions) and Heavy, which essentially makes Flying opponents vulnerable to ground attacks. Not such a much, but the buff on your team, Gravity Well, increases your melee damage. And attacking with Gravity Syndrome does not take her out of Phase.

Her fourth attack, the inaptly named Big Bang, is a pretty big disappointment. Moonstone needs to charge up for an entire round, essentially taking herself out of play while she accumulates energy. When she finally does get to unleash her attack, it does not (usually) do a ton of damage, as you might have wished. It is Catastrophic, meaning it almost always hits regardless of defensive capabilities, and if it manages to hit with critical damage, its Deadly Crit capability can ring the cherries, but her chance of inflicting a critical hit is very small. (If you can get an enhancing buff on her such as Epiphany, Strengthened or other damage enhancers, this attack can be much more powerful.)

She has an interesting defensive capability. Before an opponent’s attack, she randomly, and frequently, hits them with Psychological Manipulation, which places one of several debuffs on the attacker: Cower, Disoriented, Distracted, Intimidated, or Shell Shocked. This can make a big difference during battle, especially since the attacker has no time to remove it before launching his attack. The attack is Subtle, so it will not trigger countering actions.

Note: Like most lockbox heroes who used to be villains and Bosses, Moonstone’s Hero does not play the same way as her bad-guy persona.

PVP: Moonstone pops up on occasion in PVP, and I personally believe that with the right leveling/chipping strategy, she can be relatively effective in the arena. Her array of debuffs makes up in part for her lack of a truly devastating offensive weapon, and her ability to Phase, if used wisely, can keep her alive in the face of powerful opponent attacks. She is not particularly strong defensively no matter how you chip her, so that is a serious limitation.

Alternate Uniforms: Moonstone has no alternate uniforms, and as a lockbox hero who is currently unavailable, I strongly doubt she will get one in the foreseeable future.

Strategy Suggestions

To maximize Moonstone’s effectiveness, use her attacks in combination. Her ability to strike twice during a round if Blasters are present is even more valuable than it is for most Tacticians. If you find yourself facing a Blaster, use her Blinding Attraction on him (making her Phased), then follow with Gravity Syndrome. This keeps her in phase for the next round, and slaps the buff/debuff combo on the participants. Another option is to follow Blinding Attraction with Forceful Personality, giving the second attack a chance to do extra damage at the cost of Moonstone being Phased. If you really want to try the Big Bang, launch it while she is in Phase, rendering her immune to most attacks while she stands immobile gathering energy.

She is strong, but she is better used as a support hero than the major weapon on your squad.

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