Lost Salubri: Card preview analysis

Hi again! The end is near, with only Gargoyles and Salubri antitribu to cover in our card preview analysis.

www.vekn.net/2-uncategorised/402-lost-kindred-salubri-antitribu

The childer of Saulot also got most of their most powerful tools from Heirs to the Blood, much like Blood Brothers, but even those utility tools like Code of Samiel or Path of Retribution didn't help the clan where their lore lies: melee weapons and their brutal use.

This bruise+bleed and wall oriented clan already hosts plenty of combat cards, some more and some less utilized, and their vampires are nothing to laugh at. Let's see what Lost Kindred brings to the table.

Name: Castiel
Cardtype: Vampire
Clan: Salubri antitribu
Group: 3
Capacity: 6
Discipline: for AUS VAL
Sabbat: If Castiel is in combat and does not have a melee weapon before range is determined, he can equip with a melee weapon from your hand (requirements and cost apply as normal).
Artist: Carmen Cornet

Castiel supplements G2 and G4, sharing the crypt with Dela Eden (a useful and powerful vampire, but only barely playable because of his horrendous art), and once more adds a useful 6-cap with no disctinct personal abilities to the !Salubri roster. His built-in Concealed weapon for melee weapons will be a great addition if you decide to go for the melee weapon route (hardly the only way to play !Salubri, mind you), and if you find an easy way to redistribute those weapons among your vampires (Communal Haven: Cathedral and Heidelberg Castle spring to mind), he could turn your Sense Death rushes into pseudo equip actions. His meager is in line with the G2 weenie crypt, but might feel out of place in G4 which packs older vampires that can utilise . Even with Castiel, G2 feels largely outdated, even if they might make for a better breed crypt for Brothers in Arms. Make sure to find good ways of keeping Castiel alive even if his Fortitude fails him. There should be options for survivability in .

Name: Lailah
Cardtype: Vampire
Clan: Salubri antitribu
Group: 6
Capacity: 4
Discipline: aus VAL
Sabbat.
Artist: Mark Kelly

Lailah is G6's Langa, but without any distinquishable abilities that make Langa memorable. She is a good filler, but suffers for her lack of Fortitude. alone makes for a great hit-back threat, and it might be that and her clan status are all that is required of a vampire these days. When making a G5-6 !Salubri crypt, don't forget to include her as a helping hand.

Name: Michaela
Cardtype: Vampire
Clan: Salubri antitribu
Group: 5
Capacity: 7
Discipline: AUS FOR PRE VAL
Sabbat: Once each combat, Michaela can burn 1 blood to cancel a grapple or aim card as it is played by an opposing minion, and its cost is not paid.
Artist: Mark Kelly

Michaela seems odd with her , but once we take another look at the groups 4-5 and 5-6, we'll see an abundance of and sprinkled across Valeren users. Not many of them are !Salubri, but that doesn't mean there isn't support for Presence builds. Gawiyya and Nahum Enosh boast , while a bit more surprisingly wielders from other clans entirely, Jacques Molay and Pedrag Hasek have access to . As !Salburi themselves have excellent cards, strategies have to settle with Valeren and really think about the inferior and superior levels of each card, but Presence is nothing to laugh at as a discipline. It offers great bleed cards (these days doable in Valeren and !Salubrdi as well, but with more conditions), but more interestingly tempo cards like Mind Numb, and even rushes (even though that's a hard sell when you have access to Sense Death). More interestingly Valeren cards Armor of Caine's Fury and Warding the Beast have Presence outferiors. Even if you'll give up on the Presence route, Michaela's very reasonable age of 7 and a very nice ability (even if burning a blood might hurt) make Michaela a versatile and affordable addition to pure !Salubri crypts as well.

Name: Nuriel
Cardtype: Vampire
Clan: Salubri antitribu
Group: 6
Capacity: 8
Discipline: cel dom AUS FOR VAL
Sabbat: Nuriel gets 1 optional additional strike (limited) during the first round of combat. He inflicts +1 damage with melee weapons.
Artist: Christopher Shy

What is it with *riel names and this clan? Maybe we should ask Saulot. Anyways, G5-6 seems to even further differentiate from the original game plan !Salubri had in G2, which was very weenie based. The more recent additions are mid- to high-cap. Nuriel shares with both Silas and Pedrag Hasek, which is usable since Nuriel out of the trio is the only to possess for bounce. The trio's capacities are evenly distributed from 5 to 8, and could be reasonably influenced out during the game. His combat abilities are excellent. Additional Strike is good on it's own, and +1 melee weapon damage is a more conditional boost. Just because he has that ability doesn't mean you have to commit to melee weapons, since !Salubri have other excellent combat packages as well.

As a whole we got nice vampires to fill the gaps many clans obviously still have in G3 and G6, but given the weird power level of G2 and the abundance of great vampries in G4, we'll still most likely see G4-5 (or G3-4 if you push it or really want to have Well-Marked, flaming Kerrie laibons) as the prominent !Salubri crypt of choice. G6 shows promise, but works mostly as a experiment at this point.

Name: Blade of Bellona
Cardtype: Equipment
Clan: Salubri antitribu
Melee weapon.
Strike: strength +1 damage, with 1 optional maneuver each combat, only usable to maneuver to close range.
Artist: Ginés Quiñonero

This is what we all have been waiting for, in a form or another: a melee weapon with an attempt to rival Baseball Bat and Dagger (Weighter Walking Stick not included in the initial comparison). They all share damage output of Str+1, but it's their abilities that make them different, all usable in different scenarios. Baseball Bat is inherently easier to equip, as it's only half-an-action; Dagger is a pseudo-Kerrie when lit aflame, since it can be thrown from range; Bellona's Blade has that extra manouver. That it doesn't have a cost makes it better, but not an auto include over the other two if your combat package warrants other effects. What's more interesting, a melee weapon now finally compares to .44 Magnum, the choice staple out of all weapons in the game. Without a Strength boost, it's a 2 damage with a manouver, but it still falls flat in straigth comparison in that Magnum still can fire both close and long (that manouver will help Bellona but won't ensure the damage), and close range makes you vulnerable to hitback. With set up, !Salubri can definitely take some hits, but it's still more and more set up. Finally, it's no Weighed Walking Stick, as nothing is. Even though Bellona is great with melee weapon support vampires, effects and cards, it doesn't automatically trump other options, and won't be seeing play in great amounts or outside +Strength vampires without Valeren (anyone can use it, !Salubri equip it). Play a couple, Jourmon's Axe, and complement them with Walking Sticks and Gift of Bellona (and make good use of that outferior).

Name: Blessed Blade
Cardtype: Combat
Discipline: Valeren
[val][REFLEX] Cancel a grapple card played by the opposing minion as it is played.
[val] Strike: use a melee weapon strike at +2 damage.
[VAL] Strike: use a melee weapon strike at +3 damage.
Artist: Riccardo Fabiani

!Salubri and Valeren haven't had a shortage of different damage output strategies. Each of them were made better with the astounding addition of Death Seeker in Heirs to the Blood, which single handedly rewards good knowledge of combat strategies with a cancel of any combat card. You can only play one, so using that on Immortal Grapple alone is not great. That's where Blessed Blade comes in, finally offering Valeren with a reflex card to get rid of Grapples. That extra damage is nice as well, but I wonder if this card alone makes weapon strategies better than non-weapon strategies.

Combat with Valeren can go many direction:
a) Loving Agony, Blissful Agony and Morphean Blow all are excellent cards to avoid combat altogether, and do something weird on the side. They have a mix of action delivery, unlock and combat deflection mechanics, and now with a Path they are made more affordable. For most parts they are still best used out of clan in Saulot and Nahum Enosh, with their huge action capabilities and all, but these cards should be given another look in !Salubri builds as well.
b) Melee weapons were already discussed in more detail above with Blade of Bellona. Cards to complement them with are Sword of the Righteous and all constant effects you chose your vampires with. Gift of Bellona can be seen as a semi-combat card as well with a good outferior. Blessed Blade is an addition to this strategy, and the reflex ability enables it past Potence. But who's playing that many Grapple combat these days anyways? You'll more often use this for extra damage, but remember to use a hefty number of deck slots for tool up. Best used with a flaming walking stick with only one counter, paired with Death Seeker for delivery.
c) Do you really even need melee weapons and cancel grapples when you can use your hands (and extra strength) with Vengeance of Samiel? Compared in a vacuum, Blessed Blade and Vengeance are an odd pair. The other helps get past Grapple to deal damage, while the other deals damage through Grapple. You'll probably only ever choose either, not both, but that is largely dictated by meta and preference.
d) Eye of the Unforgiving Heaven. Boom. Extra fun with Rötscreck.

Stay safe from hit back, kids! Tool up with preventation form Kevlar Vests and Guardian Angels, and don't forget to either make good use of that Fortitude you have (even on inferior) and Armor of Caine's Fury.

Name: Righteous Aura
Cardtype: Combat
Clan: Salubri antitribu
Only usable if this vampire is ready and the opposing minion is not.
Put this card on this vampire. This vampire gets +2 bleed. Burn this card if this vampire is about to leave the ready region. A vampire can have only one Righteous Aura.
Artist: Noah Hirka

The whole set has been a triumph for bruise and bleed, and that is something we're waiting from the gargoyles as well. !Salubri get the best prize for torporizing minions, rivaling the power of Samedi's Loa, in Righteous Aura. Instead of raw forward momentum focus of Samedi, !Salubri are rewarded with hefty bleed bonuses for their work as a world (of darkness) police. Rush backwards or control the balance across table, and STILL get this bleed bonus reward. There are plenty of directions to go with !Salubri combat, but it's still a combat clan if there ever was one. Now you really have a reason to offer others a resting place in torpor. As if you didn't before.


In conclusion, !Salubri got much needed vampires to even try playing various groups (G2 and G6), but the middle groups will probably still reign supreme with an abundance of choice. They already had respectable combat packages, and the only one they were supposed to reign supreme in, melee weapons, definitely got a slight boost. The winner here however is Righteous Aura, which complements the !Salubri playstyle no matter where you go or how you look at it.

Stay tuned for the gargoyles tomorrow, and as always, feel free to challenge these initial thoughts and share your strategies!

Kraus wrote:

What is it with *riel names and this clan? Maybe we should ask Saulot.

For anyone interested, the suffix -riel is Hebrew for 'of God', which is apt as Saulot is considered by many to be Vampire's Jesus... or is it "vampire Jesus"? Hmmm...

Also, Ariel has always been a cool looking vampire with his 3 superior disciplines and 6cap. Talk about a wall, this guy is a flaming sword. Now that he's got support and his team is coming together, I expect to see him and co. in the TWD.

LivesByProxy wrote:

Kraus wrote:

What is it with *riel names and this clan? Maybe we should ask Saulot.

For anyone interested, the suffix -riel is Hebrew for 'of God', which is apt as Saulot is considered by many to be Vampire's Jesus... or is it vampire Jesus? Hmmm...

Also, Ariel has always been a cool looking vampire with his 3 superior disciplines and 6cap. Talk about a wall, this guy is a flaming sword.

Jesus or Devil, depending on who you ask I guess. I remember him basically creating the Baali, and hunting down entire clans to (almost) the last?

Kraus wrote:

What is it with *riel names and this clan?

Just -iel (see: Rashiel). They're all the names of angels. No idea why some of the !Salubri take angel names, though.

And looking up the origin of Aredhel, it appears to be from...Tolkien? Pretty hilarious to think that one of the !Salubri is a fantasy nerd, but there's no entry for Aredhel in my copy of Davidson's Dictionary of Angels.

Kushiel wrote:

Kraus wrote:

What is it with *riel names and this clan?

Just -iel (see: Rashiel). They're all the names of angels. No idea why some of the !Salubri take angel names, though.

"The Warrior Salubri were founded during the Baali Wars by Saulot's childe Samiel. Samiel renamed himself after an angel of the Lord, in a secret ceremony that is called the Blooding. Since then, every Salubri Warrior was expected to undergo the same ritual and be granted an angelic name."

whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Salubri#Warrior_Caste

Apparently Doris, Kervos, Thomas, and Wolf didn't get the memo.