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| Hurray for teamwork! (Pfft, that guy with the First Blade totally did all the work) |
Of course, this neglects to mention Together Mode, Uprising's multiplayer mode. To most players, this mode is arguably the game's defining aspect, and with good reason. Not only does Light vs. Dark provide a refreshing take on the team-based shooter, but the hundreds of obtainable weapons add a myriad of different playstyles and strategies to suit just about anyone.
Like any other multiplayer-based game, though, there are bound to be some balance issues. Unfortunately, Sakurai's games (namely Smash Bros) are notorious for their unbalanced gameplay. While his attempt to bring a competitive scene to this beloved old franchise isn't quite as bad, it's clear that some weapons perform much better than others, often unfairly so. With six months experience of the game, I'll try to address some of the absurd and absurdly powerful weapons in Uprising.
Please note that this list is based on my own weapon preferences. Based on what gear you use online, your opinions may differ.
#5 - The Black Club
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| Is that a giant butcher's knife or are you just happy to finish me? |
The issue with this club is rather obvious: its enormous charge shots that pack a punch. If one of its users traps you in a corner, you're finished. Especially in Free-For-All, it's easy to just run up to where a few other players are clashing, fire a huge spinning black-top-thing, and get two or three kills no sweat.
My advice: Pay attention to the Black Club user(s). Most of their kills depend on catching you off-guard, so predicting their shots makes it that much easier to dodge. Be especially careful if they use Energy Charge or Trade-Off. Try not to get too close to them either; like most clubs, their melee is just as nasty as their ranged.
#4 - The Lancer Staff
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| Its charged shot is one that will pierce the heavens! |
The Lancer Staff defies most of those rules and still manages to be powerful. Which is very bad. Unlike most staffs (like my favourite, the Flintlock) the Lancer Staff actually does MORE damage the closer the target is and has incredible melee performance for the weapon type. It's basically a souped-up version of the Knuckle Staff, but with ranged that actually does something.
My advice: Don't stop moving. Don't move in straight lines. All it takes is one dash shot from the Lancer to finish you and let's face it: it's very easy to guide a straight line towards a stationary or predictable target. Staff users tend to use Playing Dead to grant themselves temporary invisibility and invincibility. What does that mean? You won't know where their shots are coming from and even if you do, you can't do anything about it until the Power wears off. So yes, be paranoid and kill them off as quickly as possible.
#3 - Raptor Claws
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| And with this, Pit is one step closer to becoming a Gryphon |
The exception to that are the Raptor Claws, which possess the rapid fire and great speed that Claws are known for. Not only that, but they excel in both melee AND ranged, meaning that you're dead meat once you step into their shot radius. Just about the only drawback it has is a longer charge time than usual, but they can just run up and smack you while they wait for it.
My advice: Stay out of their shot range. Like the Lancer Staff, a dash shot can be a rather quick way to die. Only get into a melee clash with them if you have great dodging skills (or Bumblebee activated) and have a high-priority weapon. Otherwise, use your charged shots to snipe them off from afar and knock them back to keep distance. Raptor Claws users are big fans of Trade-Off as well; get as far away from them as possible until it wears off and then fire at them for a quick kill.
#2 - The Magnus Club
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| I always thought Angels were supposed to empathetic, not sociopathic |
It's weapons like the Magnus Club that really drive this point home. If you've been playing Uprising for as long as I have, seeing someone using this as the match starts usually prompts some profanity. The Club itself has easily the most powerful melee attacks in the whole game (even the loading screen tips warn you about it), but that comes at the cost of also possessing the shortest range of any weapon. That's good, right? Wrong, because the thing actually gives its users a damn speed boost. Where Project Sora at least had the decency to balance out most of the other Clubs by nerfing their speed, this monster can actually outrun most weapons with some speed mods! This isn't even getting into some popular Power sets, the most common being the Black Hole/Trade-Off combo, because its users obviously don't want to feel any effort going into their kills.
My advice: Like with the Raptor Claws, the best advice I give you is to stay the heck away from this mobile guillotine. Direct melee blows from it are life-threatening (like I really need to explain that) and its charged shots, while poor in range, still add to its overall attack radius and pack a mighty wallop, too. If you're playing Light vs. Dark, it may be best to get one of your teammates to help bring him down - by yourself, you don't stand a chance. The aforementioned Trade-Off set-up is more common than you think, so be prepared to run to the other side of the arena if you see its user start glowing like some holy reaper of souls.
#1 - Eyetrack Orbitars
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| And you thought the Eye of Sauron was evil... |
Without a doubt. If you were playing online a couple months ago (or read the Idol description and used some common sense), you know how utterly broken these floating Egyptian-esque eyeballs can be.
You see, in a game where the weapons are powerful but the fighters are (usually) very fast, landing a good shot is crucial. This task is made a lot easier with shot homing, which makes up the entire gimmick behind the Eyetracks. Sakurai must have said to himself, "Hey, I wanna screw over players in multiplayer even more, in a way that doesn't involve Clubs" and the Eyetracks were born. The homing on its shots are absolutely ridiculous. You could have a player doing parkour all the way across the arena erratically, and its big, glowing spheres of doom would still follow them to the ends of Skyworld. And because the things are so slow and even circle around you - waiting for you to dodge one shot so you can run into the other instead - attempting to dodge is pretty much futile.
Some geniuses saw the usefulness in this and totally abused the poor Orbitars: Shot Range + 4, Shot Homing +4 (as if it didn't have enough of that), Energy Charge/Trade-Off, and Slipshot was pretty much the cookie-cutter set for any and all Eyetrack users back in the day. Yes, they literally just stood in place, firing over and over without budging an inch as their shots followed players through walls. Some even use Invisible Shots for added unpredictability, but I like to think some didn't just to laugh at fighters who tried and failed to dodge the orbs of death.
My advice: If you're going to try and take them out, make sure to either snipe them off from afar, or melee them into submission real quick, depending on your weapon. The Eyetracks are the absolute king of mid-range combat, so you'll either have to sic 'em outside of their range or invade their space. If you try the latter, make sure your weapon has good priority and at least four stars in melee. In Light vs. Dark, at least one person on your team should make an effort to actively engage the Eyetrack user so he isn't finishing you guys off behind your backs.
The Eyetrack Orbitars were incredibly popular a few months ago, but it's mostly died down to the point where they only rarely appear in matches now - usually through the use of some bigshot whose name is full of weird characters. My guess is that players have realized how much they broke the game and universally agreed not to main them anymore. (I wish someone would tell that to the Magnus Club fans...) If you plan on using them, keep in mind that you'll be labelled "the biggest jerk this side of Hades" and rewarded with laser beams, bullets, and arrows of love to the face.
All of that said, I still think this game's multiplayer is very enjoyable and one of the best to come out in recent years. This list was made to inform of Uprising's unbalanced weapon system, warning new players before they go online, and for enriching the knowledge of all gamer nerds out there. (Not that they didn't already know most of this.) I'd say Uprising is a game worth checking out even just for the multiplayer alone, but just be aware that the weapons are very obviously prioritized.
Blah. Clubs get munched by too many things 1HKing. They are not only redundant, but can't convert the power advantage they are supposed to have into a defense edge because, oh right, they don't have a power advantage.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I wish I was exaggerating when I got melee 2HKed by claws that weren't abusing Energy Charge or Trade Off.
It's true that many weapons can fall into OHKO territory given the right stats and mods. But at least for Clubs, it's easier for them to become overpowered because they definitely have a general advantage when it comes to raw power. A decent speed boost or big charge shots is all that's really needed to overcome their shortcomings -- coincidentally, the Black Club and Magnus Club abuse those two and it's very apparent online.
ReplyDeleteNow don't get me wrong, because I've played enough battles that I've been 1-2HKO'd by much more than just Clubs. But of them, Clubs definitely have a far easier time doing it. Then again, I wouldn't call myself a real pro at this game so you might have a better say on this topic. It's just, from my experiences, Clubs are the most common of the "OHKO variety" of weapons.
Problem is, ANY weapon can 1HK with casual attacks with just weapon modifiers, which provide NO counter play to hope to make up for it. That 2HK scenario I'm ranting about? I was using SUPERLATIVE DEFENSIVE POWER MODS IN THE FIRST PLACE. Really, clubs in general can't pull the worst bullshit in the game. In fact, 1HKing isn't even needed to pull intolerable amounts of bullshit.
DeleteHonestly, it ain't no surprise that the game degenerated into whoever has the "best" weapon, AKA who has the biggest e-dick. There is simply no other explanation for so much of the metagame revolving around that God awful fusion system.
Any efforts to patch the game's balance ultimately run into one fatal problem: at the end of the day, Kid Icarus Uprising's core mechanics are sickeningly shallow. If you don't believe me, play Hyrule Warriors and then play Kid Icarus Uprising right after. You'll be left wondering where KIU's move variety is if you do that. The problem gets to the point where even the power system, the reason I got into the game in the first place and easily the game's strong point, is nothing more than dress up with HORRENDOUS execution.
Why isn't the Viridi palm on this list? That thing grants absurd shot homing, with shot speed and range. On top of that, it's shots get slightly stronger in close range. Unlike every other weapon in the game, the side-dash continuous fire is timed perfectly so that if you dodge the first shot, you get hit by the last. I'd say these are more broken than the Eyetrack orbiters, because at least those shots have weak cancellation value, and travel fairly paced. These are just all in one package. Give it some shot range and range starts, and who knows how powerful this thing can get?
ReplyDeleteAlso, the compact arm. Oh boy, this one's never leaving my list. If I had one option to ban one weapon from the game forever, it would be this. The compact arm's homing ability isn't that of the Viridi palm, but still has enough to the point where you can practically shoot anywhere and not have to care. It's continuous fire is the 3rd most rapid-fire in the game, next to the beam claws and hedgehog claws. It has crazy range for an arm, and it's cancellation value is nothing to talk about, but enough shots from that thing could take down a backwards-dash charge shot from the black club. At this point, all you need is some defense mods and some range stars, and maybe a standing continuous fire modifier, then bam. You instantly win every match.