I don't like Bellona as a concept. It's not a bad agenda by any stretch of the imagination nor is it an overly strong agenda. What it is is a ridiculously safe agenda. It's a 5/3 Hyperloop Extension that defends itself. If you can slam it down early enough you can score it on thoughts and prayers alone and the opportunity cost to trying is close to zero with only Film Critic or the rarely-seen Whistleblower really countering it. Either the Corp scores 3 points with zero momentum lost since the Runner didn't contest, the Runner steals Bellona and is down 5 plus however much it took to break the Corp's token defenses, or the Runner is short trying to break in and are now down however much it took to break the Corp's token defenses and the Corp scores 3 points with zero momentum lost. It is the 5/3 I have to compare other 5/3's to in yellow since they're competing against what is often a free and riskless 5/3.
I really don't like Bellona as a concept.
Bellona rebates the 5 credits used to score it. That is what I meant by zero momentum lost. The Corp spends nothing but their time to earn 3 points if they're scoring Bellona. That econ ability to pay for itself is very potent on a defensive agenda since defensive agenda are usually balanced by being blank when scored. Bellona rewards the Corp for doing what it's supposed to be doing anyway while having an unusually wide scoring window. It is overtuned and opens the door for bs combos.
— KoRayvenValkyriez_Gaming on reddit found a hilarious combo that exemplifies what I mean. Mushin No Shin -> Bellona -> NAPD Cordon. It costs the Runner 15 credits to steal that naked Bellona and it costs the Corp -3 credits to score that naked Bellona. The Corp actually got paid to score 3 points and it only took two cards.
— KoRayvenI think the key factor here is Mushin more than Bellona. E.g. Mushin -> Armed Intimidation -> NAPD Cordon. Assuming they don't have 10 (!) credits early to steal it, next turn you score Armed Intimidation on click 1. Disembowelment imminent.
— superheronation
I understand what you are saying, but I think what this does is help protect Corps from early and explosive multi-accesses from Runners if your agendas are inconveniently stacked. In the mid/late game, the Runner should have enough money and tools needed to break into the server to stop a 5/3 from being scored. As for “zero momentum lost”, I think that is a bit of hyperbole as you had to install and rez ICE to keep them out and spend 5 click and credits to score it. If the Runner cannot stop all of this from happening, then the 5 credits is not going to swing the game already in the Corp’s favor, but it will help stop the Runner from stealing 2-3 agendas a turn outside of Film Critic/Whistleblower.
— Daddy249Kart