The Energon Pub

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Overcracker wrote:The moment any minicon can do it, is the moment it stops being essential.

Essential, being the figure is close to unusable or unusable without the specific minicon.

Well, see, Rikkomba is using it to mean "must have", because without the actual partner Mini-Con you're missing substantial play value.

Overcracker wrote:Any minicon can activate any of the gimmicks on Megs and Quick Mix and many other minicons can probably be used as a weapon / target master for either of them.

1. Only Leader-1 can be an additional chest turret for Megs in Full Blast Mode, though.
2. The amount of Mini-Cons that can truly be used as Targetmaster partners is small, because only a few have 5mm pegs. There are a number that can be used as weapons, but...
3a. No Mini-Con can activate anything on Quickmix, because the only activateable gimmick on him is his Cyber Key gimmick.
3b. A good bit of Stripmine's interactivity is unique to him. The ability to neatly form a double weapon with Quickmix's pipe blaster is dependent on his hinged handle peg and the clearances provided by his body design, only he can dock with Quickmix's upper platform (it's shaped for him and again relies on his hinged handle peg), and only he can properly man the control station there because it has pegs specifically designed for him - see the instructions for a clear look.

Overcracker wrote:As I said Blurr is maybe the only other figure that requires their specific partner for something. Maybe if you have Stripmine it may be thin and long enough to push his wing release.

I could even argue Comettor isn't all that essential either. Yes, he does something only he can do and no other minicon can do which is make Jetfire´s landing gear, but Jetfire can still work fine without him.

I disagree. If there's features only present with that specific Mini-Con (or on that specific Mini-Con) that the play value is the worse for losing, then I agree with rikkomba that the Mini-Con is essential. And so, that puts the Seekers on the list (not only can only a few Mini-Cons activate their port without being mistransformed, only Swindle and Thunderclash can dock with the clasp under the cockpit), it puts Cyclonus, Demolishor, and Hot Shot (Jolt and Jolt alone can be that rear propeller) on the list...


Also, do you really consider this to render Rook and Crosswise dispensable?