Time Attack: The Silent

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Previous Episode: The Silent Paradox

Next Episode: Sontaran Disturbance: USA

Game version played: 2.5

Time Attack eh? I wonder what that’s all about.

First things first though. We now have the 6th Doctor. What do we do with him? Up to now I’ve been playing with the 11th Doctor, rejecting the 10th for reasons discussed here. Can number 6 usurp his senior self? Naturally the 6th starts at Rank 1, requiring 3 Yellow and 3 Black Time Fragments for promotion. I’m short of that so he has to be assessed as he is.

His special ability is called Cavalier and is a poison ability. The Doctor has used poison on occasion in the show. I can remember the 4th and 5th Doctor doing so but not the 6th, though I could be wrong. However it does fit his sometimes venomous character.

Poison is a useful power as it continues to damage the victim after the first hit. It also affects a percentage of the subject’s HP rather than a fixed amount. At Rank 1 Cavalier damages the victim by 3% or 6% of their maximum HP for 5 turns, 15% or 30% in total. Being a percentage it is feeble against weak opponents but effective against the strong. At later levels you will value this power greatly. What about now though?

Let’s look at the last level, The Silent Paradox. The Blue Paradox started with 2200 HP, our toughest opponent so far. If the 6th Doctor got his full power attack in, which takes 60 combos to build, he would do 132 points damage each round, 660 in total. Compare this to the 11th Doctor at Rank 1. After 30 combos he would inflict 500 damage instantly. He could then repeat this after another 30 combos dealing 1,000 of damage to the Blue Paradox in total, just as the 6th Doctor started his 660. Poison also affects one target only, but the 11th Doctor’s power hits all opponents. If you are facing more than one enemy then the 11th Doctor’s power outdoes the 6th’s completely. In my case I have the 11th at Rank 2 so the advantage is even stronger.

As opponents get tougher then Poison attacks catch up, but for now it doesn’t earn 'sixie' Doctor a place on my team. Of course if you refer to him as ‘sexie’ then who cares what I think? Put him in and enjoy.

He is the first Yellow Doctor, appropriate as he did show an un-Doctorly cowardly streak once or twice. You could use him to build a nice Yellow team, with Vastra, Yellow Adipose and Punishment Soldier if you have them. It would be an aggressive team that could be interesting to play, and start you off on the Exterminate Yellow achievements.

See? 235 seconds left on the clock.
I don't know what all the fuss was about

For me though I’m sticking with the 11th Doctor in this journey through Season 7.

Back to Time Attack: The Silent. We have a potential drop, a Green framed girl that I don’t recognise. Once again we’ll have to win her to know her. Yellow Time Fragments are likely to drop so we will probably face some Yellow Silence again. The time and place are still in line with The Impossible Astronaut but this time we are facing a metal door. Maybe it’s the entrance to the Silences’ control room from Day of the Moon.

My team is once again the 11th Doctor at Rank 2, Jenny Flint and Porridge at Lv.8, Vastra and Rory at Lv.7.

As the level starts we face 3 Silence as expected, but what is different is the counter ticking down at the top left of your screen. It starts off saying “You still have 500 sec”. I’m guessing that Sec means seconds, rather than indicating the leader of the Cult of Skaro. From this you can quickly deduce what a Time Attack level is. If you don’t clear the level before the counter runs out then you’re beaten.

The timer encourages you to hurry, so the tendency is to seize the first half decent opening you see instead of finding the optimum move. In the first wave I certainly fell into this trap and the first 3 Silence died the death of a thousand cuts instead of being blessed with a swift death.

I also find that I use special abilities less often in Time Attacks, especially convert powers where I like to consider the colours of opponents and the make up of the board. In the second wave, against 3 other Silence, I finally got to plant Porridges bomb and see it go off. It made a nice bang.

In Wave 3, versus 3 Silence once more, the central Silent got ready to retaliate with a bomb of his own called Arc Blast. Fortunately I’d let the 11th Doctor build his A Fast Plan ability to maximum and I used it to blow them all off the board before it detonated, winning the level with 235 seconds to spare.

Once again there was no Rare Drop. 5 chances and no wins. Just saying. I did earn the experience to promote Vastra and Rory to Lv.8.

I love Time Attacks. They are a proper challenge and certainly get the heart beating. You’ll come across a few of these in your DWL career so it might be wise, as well as enjoyable, to practice. 

The first thing is not to rush. The doomsday counter makes it easier to say that than do it, but you usually have time for sensible play. Be prompt, not frantic. Snatching at the first 3 gem combo you see is less effective and can even take longer. An extra second or two might mean that you do as much damage in one move as you would in 3 rushed attacks.

Another tip for Time Attacks. As soon as you’ve completed your gem move, start looking for the next one.

After your move is done a series of events is set in motion. New gems drop and additional combos fire until the board stabilises. Damage points are then calculated and boosted, which is afterwards inflicted on enemies who are then marked down or removed from the board. Sometimes Time Fragments or crystals drop. Then the bad guys get their attack. This can all take 5 seconds or more, during which time you can’t move. But you could be using it to examine the board.

Watching the chain reaction that your move initiated is fun but you can’t influence it, it’s dead time. Let the game do its thing while you work out your next move.

Artie- Definitely a boy

There are other strategies. For example relying on a team of Tanks may be unwise. You want to finish the enemy quickly rather than engage in a battle of attrition. Don’t go too far as you still need durability, but adding a few damage dealers to the team should be considered. You could also turn off the Skill cut-in animation. That might save you a second or two but it hardly seems worth it.

Your first Time Attacks may be difficult but stick with it. It's not as if you can go round them.

Now about that Rare drop. I described it as a girl, but when you get lucky you’ll discover that ‘she’ is a ‘he’. It’s Artie Maitland, one of Clara’s charges who were taken to Hedgewick’s World in Nightmare In Silver. He was played by Kassius Carey Johnson. Sorry Kassius. You’re definitely a chap but your DWL portrait looks a little feminine.

Artie is a Balanced character with the special power of Sneaky. Sneaky converts Green gems to Pink, which can be mighty useful if you are in a tight spot. You are likely to be taking more damage by now so he may be a useful team member. When levelling him up my advice would be to boost his HEAL, so that you can take maximum advantage of the Pink gems he creates.

Artie is your third Green potential Companion after Rory and Punishment Medic, all of whom have a healing bias. If I had won all the drops up to now then I’d still be using the 11th Doctor, Porridge, Vastra, Jenny Flint, Rory and Yellow Adipose. If you found that your style of play leads you to taking a lot of damage then you might want to have Rory and Artie together. This would give you a team with the recuperative powers of The Flash.

Just to make it clear, I love Time Attacks. A welcome new play mode for Doctor Who legacy.