Dim and Dimmer

Of the four giants currently in the game, Dim and Dimmer can feel a bit of an oddball.

Dim & Dimmer’s card.

Unlike his other massive mates, Dim and Dimmer doesn't have one straightforward obvious use or strength. When compared with the other giants, he has the lowest damage output of them all! What he does have though is a bizarre mix of esoteric abilities which grant him very unique ways of tackling many different problems.

‘Constantly Bickering’

The first of these abilities explains his rather pathetic base energy of 1. 'Constantly Bickering' means Dim and Dimmer must flip an arcane card as soon as he activates and gain X energy, or suffer 3wds on a catastrophe. In isolation, this is a neat little ability that will keep him at an average of roughly 2 energy and will every so often give him more energy than the average giant. When applied to certain specific situations though the ability offers so much more. If playing against faeries, goblins or someone else who can drain energy this ability offers the best and perhaps only defence in the game. With his base energy of 1, Dim and Dimmer will likely be reduced to 0 energy, but will then immediately gain X upon activating making him extremely resilient to draining.

The other use of this unique energy generation comes from within the Dominion, rather than from against them. With immediate energy upon activation, Dim and Dimmer is the only model in the game who can be reanimated by the Mortician, activate next and immediately attack! This can make him a great model to take alongside the Mortician especially if you expect to keep losing models or want to use Dim and Dimmer very aggressively with little concern for his health! The final unique use of this ability comes from within Commonwealth with Young Jack. As with any ability which flips arcane cards off the top of the deck, 'Lucky' can reliably lead to 3's, supercharging Dim and Dimmer and giving you a 4 energy giant for most of his activations!

Melee and Damage Reduction

“Oi! You did dribble in me ear in me sleep!”

Dim and Dimmers next two abilities cover some melee damage bonuses and damage reductions. For melee bonuses, he receives +2 damage on slicing and impact damage, which covers every damaging card apart from thrust. For damage reduction, Dim and Dimmer only reduces impact damage but reduces -2 of it. The reduction of only one type of damage means that Dim and Dimmer will often be taking full damage when compared to a model like Gotchgut. However, when taking primarily -2 reduced impact damage alongside his 14 wounds, Dim and Dimmer will be nigh unkillable. Much like 'Constant Bickering' this will be an ability that you will utilise by drafting Dim and Dimmer into your troupes to counter other specific troupes. For example, a pirate list. This is as they often rely on many small amounts of impact damage through their pistols. It can also be utilised pretty well against Poppycock troupes, severely limiting Poppycocks melee output and Flintlocks ranged output.

‘Two Heads are Better Than One’

Offsetting energy-draining and reducing impact damage is great, but how does Dim and Dimmer go about achieving his main job, damage. As previously mentioned Dim and Dimmer deals increased slicing and impact damage, but this isn't his only passive that affects melee. 'Two heads are better than one' is truly unique and can completely turn combat on its head if Dim and Dimmer chooses to use it. With it, you can attack and guard if you want to deal damage but you're scared of a specific card your opponent might have, use two guards to almost guarantee a follow-up attack or attack twice to all but guarantee dealing damage. Some of the best combos for this are Low and high guard or rising attack and falling swing, but different opponents may require different combos. The final component of Dim and Dimmers melee abilities is his signature which is another very specific counter to some troupes.

‘Packed Lunch’

'Packed lunch' will be either a terrific or terrible signature depending on who Dim and Dimmer is in combat with. In terms of damage, it's a very weak rising attack that deals less damage against sweeping cut and nothing against a high guard. However, the damage is not what you use it for, you use it for its excellent end step effect. When used against a model with evade -1 or lower it will remove them from play if they suffer even 1 wound! As a side effect, troupes with access to abilities like 'Look out!' can be dissuaded from spamming it as they run the risk of getting models removed from play by Dim and Dimmer. Since the model is removed from play and not slain there are some significant upsides and downsides to this. One advantage is that models which have been removed from play can't be targeted by the Mortician's 'Reanimate' and therefore can't re-enter play. However, models that are removed from play retain moonstones so using this on a model with moonstones can often backfire.

All in all, this leaves Dim and Dimmer as a very specialised model for tackling specific enemies. This means he will often be playing against Dominion where he can ignore energy-draining and can effectively remove low evade models from the table. There will also be times when Leshavult and Commonwealth use models that he effectively counters and the trick to using him here will be learning what they are and when to draft Dim and Dimmer. He can also be used by Dominion effectively when they make use of the Mortician. This leads him to play in a very aggressive style, getting repeatedly slain, reanimated and energised to make a giant number of attacks again and again!