At my signal, unleash hell
The cleansing fire walks with him as he roams the HexaDome. His enemies fear his scorching flames as much as his allies crave their comforting warmth.
PADRE-INQUISIDOR MENDOZA
Leading role.
Juan Diaz Mendoza. Father-Inquisitor—what else could we possibly say about him that wasn’t already said in the trailer for the third installment of his biopic?
His legend was forged in flames on the most dangerous battlefields of the emerald hellscape, the ironically named planet, Paradiso. Nothing could be further from paradise than its jungles, teeming with the galaxy’s most aggressive alien races amassed by a maniacal Evolved Artificial Intelligence intent on exterminating humankind.
But, where anyone else would have given up, his unwavering faith kept him strong.
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed am I who shepherd the weak through the valley of darkness, for I am the true keeper and protector. And I assure you that I will strike down with great vengeance and burning anger those who would attempt to destroy my brothers!”
Quote from the trailer for Mendoza: Escape from Paradiso 3.
Padre-Inquisitor Mendoza, or simply "Mendoza" as we will be referring to him from here on out, was added to the Aristeia! range in the Smoke and Mirrors expansion. This expansion is not universally loved by Managers, as the value of some of the other Aristos it introduced is questioned, but Mendoza is a solid character and a great PanOceanian pick.
Although this sculpt is only available in plastic, with no metal option, nor alternate sculpt available, the quality of the model is unquestionable. There is a high level of detail, which takes well to a simple base and wash approach to painting, but also rewards the efforts of truly skilled hobbyists.
There is little argument that the Mendoza model demonstrates that the plastic medium need not mean sacrificing detail or posing. In particular the crisp detail on his shotgun, clean lines of the power armour, beautiful flowing robe and the flames bursting from his thurible and from under his foot stand out.
The key standout attribute for Mendoza is his Defense, which is up with that of the Tanks and off-Tanks like Maximus and Valkyrie. This, combined with his healing output (always including Range 0 so he can heal himself) makes for a tough Aristo.The beauty of Mendoza's universal Switch is that it both draws on Special results, which he otherwise does not use, AND it targets Allies without Line of Sight from his own hex out to Range 5. This means that Mendoza can be healing in his own turn whenever the throws dice, and likewise every time he defends against an attack or an opponent moves away from him.
His Automatic Skill "Sanatur a Deo", likewise doesn't require Line of Sight. This means that Mendoza can keep supporting his team while engaging targets they are isolated from, or while isolated himself. Nor does getting in close with the enemy and becoming surrounded impede him much.
In fact, thanks to his "Deus Vult!" Action Mendoza is very happy when opponents get in close, and this is a rare situation where literally every result on the Dice can be useful (barring multiple Success'), with Blocks putting out extra Burning States (remember they can be stacked) and Specials allowing further healing. Note also that the Switch on the Action doesn't require Line of Sight, so you CAN hit opponents behind a Blocked Space or another Aristo.
With regard to his attack "Flamma Veritatis", there are two key notes to make. The first is its limited range, yet another reason why Mendoza wants to get up close and personal. The second is how effective it can be against traditionally "tough" targets with high Defense, as you can Switch into Burning States in order to totally negate your opponents Block results.
From a Tactics perspective Mendoza is, once again, fairly middle of the road. He offers a mix of "Selfish" and "Generous" Tactics, although even one of his "Selfish" Tactics is pretty "Generous" in terms of result, mostly suffering only from timing restriction.
"Tabula Rasa" is a Tactic which is becoming more and more relevant and interesting as more States come into the game and more Characters do different things with them.
Initially it was largely a disadvantage that this Tactic hit everyone in the Hexadome (even those waiting in the wings), but now that we have Bachmann in play the fact that you can sweep him clear of States while also doing the same to your team is almost pure advantage. Likewise wiping away the Focus State which an opponent with Laxmee in their Team has put out on their own Aristos is nothing but a win.
But no matter what your own team composition, you at least want to ensure that any wounded opponents are in the Infirmary before you drop your Tactic, and be careful of wiping away the Energy penalty of opponents on, or recently back from, the bench.
Generally speaking I've found that the amount of healing which Mendoza puts out is more than high enough without dedicating Tactics to it. But he certainly produces a LOT of Burning Status tokens when he gets going (and can always pull on those produced by his Allies as well) in order to do a big chunk of healing to his entire team, and at any range.
It's probably that last part "at any range" which makes this worth considering for some deck builds, but overall I feel like Mendoza mostly has this well in hand.
The first of Mendoza's "Selfish" Tactics, is certainly anything but! To be very clear, this lets you pull another Aristo out of the Bench and into play beside you (as long as that's not directly into a Scoring Zone) without taking any Energy penalty. Both parts of that effect are important here, firstoff it lets you pull an Aristo into a better position than they could get into by spawning as usual, but it also lets them play two turns without the Energy penalty they would otherwise have taken.
However the timing of this play is essential. You can only pull off the Bench, NOT the Infirmary so you can't use "Hic Et Nunc" in the same turn that an Aristo got put down. And you can't help someone who has already come back, so you need Mendoza to activate before the Aristo on the Bench who you want to target. You also need Mendoza up, so likely you want him to Activate first.
The one truly "Selfish" Tactic which Mendoza is bringing to the table still plays well with others as long as they also deal in Burning Status tokens. Throwing out the Dazzled Status on everyone with a Burning no matter where they are in the Hexadome can make for some highly effective counter-plays, keeping in mind that killing Line of Sight hurts most Support characters just as much as it does ranged Strikers.
In terms of mission matchups Mendoza is bringing a lot to the table any time you are likely to end up with groups of Aristos packed in tight. Missions like King of the Hill suit him in particular as his mobility isn't the greatest, meaning everyone coming to him is a dream. At the same time he's making such a huge difference to the survivability of his Team mates means that Mendoza is also invaluable in matches where scoring on Frags counts highly. Only those scenarios which place the highest premium on mobility will be somewhat tough for him to really make his best contribution.
Because of the huge healing output of which he is capable Mendoza is the perfect Team mate for any Aristo with decent Hit Points. This is simply because they are the ones most likely to take the kind of damage that Mendoza is capable of healing and still be in the Hexadome. However his close range firepower, decent defenses and ability to support from out of Line of Sight also make him a great companion for Strikers and Scorers who might not otherwise like to stick around with the rest of their Team. As a Support character his only real limitation is his lack of effective methods for regularly clearing Status', meaning a team he is supporting can be vulnerable to dedicated Status stacking.
So that's the tea on our friendly neighborhood representative of the Church Militant.
If you want another perspective then head over this way:
ALL the Burning and ALL the Healing, that's our Mendoza!
So, what do you think about Mendoza?
Do you run the Padre-Inquisitor?
Has he been effective in your teams?
Is there anything you think we've overlooked?
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