Shielding mechanic I don't understand, or bug?

Discussion in 'Battle of the Legends (PvP)' started by Krossmark, Apr 7, 2021.

  1. Krossmark Level 30

    Hey, probably giving off salty new-pvp players vibes here, and that's accurate, but anyway:

    Recently had a match with a player that I've had close fights with before, but this time around he soundly squashed me into the dirt and I don't understand why, a good portion of the fights I don't appear to be doing any damage to him and it doesn't seem to be due to any consumable shields that I can see or understand. Is it a bug that maybe sometimes the shielding capsules, or iconic powers graphics won't be visible, or the animations for them can be cancelled? Any insight anyone can give me can be helpful, I just don't understand what happened here, video below:



    Thanks!
  2. Krossmark Level 30

    Did some testing, aka using the eyeballs on my own powerset, and saw that this is due to my opponent using Rocket Retreat on cooldown, which seems to give a considerable amount of damage absorption and so I guess I just couldn't outpace it?

    Sorry for wasting anyone's time, wish there was a better visual indicator of the absorption though, was totally confused.
  3. ShadowTheHunter Well-Known Player

    I don't really use Munitions, so you can make more educated choices related to this powerset based on your own experience, but it does appear to me that there's a couple things going on that contributed to what happened in that match.

    First, as you already noticed, your opponent used Rocket Retreat/Rocket Jump (probably both based on how he seems to use it back to back at times) and both of those moves give damage absorption for a short duration. You need to be doing as much damage as possible to be able to both break the absorption and deplete his health. Which brings me to the second thing.

    It looks like your loadout and weapon combo rotation isn't optimal. So I can see that you're both Munitions trolls, and you're both rotating debuffs. From what I can tell, those debuffs don't do a lot of damage on their own. After you have all three debuffs on him, I notice you kept re-applying them even though they were still active. Because they don't really do much damage to begin with, that's a good chunk of why he seems so tanky. You're better served using weapon combos after you initially get all three debuffs going and just reapplying them as they expire. I noticed that when you were doing damage to him, it was usually during the times you were getting full weapon combos in on him.

    You also need to use optimal weapon combos. You can rotate between Dual Wield 1-tap hold, and 3-tap+ holds. You can also use weapon mastery cross-combos like your opponent was. You should never be lunging at him or using range taps or block breaks unless it's for the specific purpose of countering him to obtain immunity. This brings me to the third point.

    I noticed you were using Small Package very aggressively. This move does do damage but this is a 35% finisher. An ability that does at least double its normal damage when your opponent is at 35% health or less. These moves typically have a high power cost and, most importantly, are vulnerable to interrupt. Every time you use it your opponent can just lunge at you and gain immunity. This not only gives them immunity to getting countered but also damage prevention for a short time (about 1.5s). So that's another reason why he didn't seem to take damage. You usually use moves like that after his health is below 35% AND after you've countered him. In this specific situation, you may have been able to pull that off, but in most arena fights you really aren't going to get the opportunity to use Small Package safely very often.

    You have a supercharge ability in your loadout that was basically useless the whole fight. Honestly, my answer for all of this just so happens to mirror almost exactly what your opponent was doing. Keep your debuffs, replace Small Package, the SC, and Survival with Rocket Jump and Rocket Retreat. I'd play around with replacing Survival with Killer Instincts, a weapon buff that lasts 12 seconds that increases your weapon damage. I'd go weapon expert spec with the rest of the skill points put into Precision. Get weapon mastery for Dual Wield. As soon as you get all debuffs going, use optimal weapon combos. And see how that works for you, or use your own discretion.

    Honestly, though Munitions isn't at all what it used to be in arenas. Compared to certain other powers it's really lacking. You're going to have trouble with unblockable Might-based powers like Rage, Hard Light, Atomic, Mental. But that's a different discussion.
    • Like x 2
  4. Krossmark Level 30

    Thank you very much for the tips sir! This video definitely taught me a lot and got me reconsidering several things about my loadout, but you've given me insights I had not even begun to think of - I don't expect for ever body people in PVP on the whole, just want to steadily work towards that Deadshot mask. Thanks again!
    • Like x 1
  5. xxHELLSTROKExx Loyal Player

    I've got nothing to add but just wanted to say wow to that answer. The forums can be such a good place sometimes.
    • Like x 1
  6. ShadowTheHunter Well-Known Player


    No problem man, I remember being exactly where you were when I first started PvPing! I came to the forums LIVID lol. That was way back in 2015 during the advanced mechanics era. Powers used to do way more damage back then and fire tanks were op. I thought the game was super broken back then, but that era is a dream compared to now in my opinion. Anyway, I hope you have a good experience learning PvP. If you're dead set on using weapons, I'd recommend playing legends to help hone your skills. Nightwing is dual wield if that's your weapon of choice. And don't hesitate if you have any other questions!
    • Like x 1
  7. loupblanc Dedicated Player

    - Be familiar with all weapon combos, so you can anticipate opponent's hold combos and block to counter it.
    - Cycle shields/moves with damage mitigation/absorption.
    - Have one or two power with a cc component.
    - Never use vulnerable to interrupt powers unless opponent is countered and down on the ground.

    Try 2v2 pvp mode first.