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Evek's Cardassian Review #35: Altovar
by Evek When we look at the Cardassian Affiliation as a whole, we see some patterns emerge:
The Cardassians, while being the best of all affiliations in the game, have a few problems. For instance, they're a bit low on SCIENCE and MEDICAL. But have no fear, the Non-Aligneds are here! Today's subject is DS9's Altovar. Altovar
Combos: Altovar + Dr. Nydom: With Nydom's Honor, he could serve as the calming Yin to Altovar's raging Yang. That, and you get MEDICAL x2, Biology, and Exobiology between the two of them (look out Beverly). Altovar + Eliminate Virus: Throw in a Cardassian with Computer Skill and you've got yourself a quick and easy 30 points. Altovar can even help cure the Harvester Virus, if that costs you your points. Altovar + Your Cardassian Traps: A must have in a capture deck. His Empathy can keep your Cardassians safe, while your traps rake in the captives. Embiggening his cromulence,
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Well, Altovar may not be as multi-skilled as some personnel (considering that the standard number of skills on a single personnel nowadays is somewhere in the area of 11 or something), but he's got some dilemma-passing skills the Cardassians need. First, there's the MEDICAL-classification. The Cardassians have only two MEDICAL-class personnel, and only three other personnel with MEDICAL as a skill (four, if you count the forthcoming Lemec). Basically, they're short. But with Altovar, the Cardassians can fill some holes in their decks- send Altovar and one of the above six Cardassian MEDICALS (Derell, Ghoren, Makbar, Macet, Telle, and the aforementioned forthcoming- woah, big words- Lemec) and you've got yourself a working Genetronic Replicator. And don't forget about the dilemmas he can help pass- Terellian Plague Ship, Barclay's Protomorphisis Syndrome, DNA Clues, and Hippocratic Oath to name the nastiest of the bunch. The other skills just sweeten the deal: his Exobiology can help cure Garak's Issues as well as the nasty Coalescent Organism- it's one of the most valuable dilemma-solving skills out there. Empathy is also a rare commodity; it doesn't appear as a requirement on many missions, but it can help save the Cardassians from their own trap. It's always good to have around just in case your opponent seeds some dilemmas that require Empathy. Greed has become more valuable as a skill nowadays; the 47th and 33rd (already one of my favorites) Rules of Acquisition can play on Altovar. All in all, the aforementioned personnel makes quite a utilitarian addition to an efficacious Cardassian deck (translation: Altovar = good. Gotta love them big words :-)