Intro:
This is PART 1 of the complete guide to all the Damage Heroes in the game. As the “Damage” category would suggest, these characters specialize in causing a lot of damage as quickly and efficiently as possible. As it is largest category of roles, the heroes featured here also happen to have the greatest variety in functions. Each of them has a place in the game, so this guide will provide insight to each Damage hero’s value.
Disclaimer: This Guide will always be under construction, either through updating information or adding more content as more new heroes are released in the game. I will be doing updates accordingly for as long as I continue to play the game.
Aladdin
Overview
Strengths:
+Very slippery
+Fast attacker
+Useful Friendship Disks
+Great synergy
+Has Tenacity
Weaknesses:
-Easy to peel off
-Naturally frail
-Somewhat weak by himself
Gameplay:
Aladdin was the original high-risk assassin type damage hero. He is as quick and agile as one would expect from a street rat, somewhat off-setting his otherwise high risk playstyle. Aladdin starts every fight with “Magic Carpet Ride”, jumping right into the heart of the enemy team and hitting anything within the vicinity with a barrage of Normal Damage. At this point, Aladdin engages the closest target with regular attacks, making use of “Energy Steal” to dodge melee attacks and drain 150 energy. This tricky counter move allows Aladdin to dodge every 7 seconds while very quickly building up his energy in the process. He’s not actually a very strong attacker by himself, but because he can gain energy so quickly, Aladdin is still definitely capable of getting the job done. Despite the inherently dangerous position he puts himself in, Aladdin’s “One Jump Ahead” allows him to passively evade any attack (including skills) coming at him 25% of the time. This may not be perfect, but it is actually a lot more effective than you may think when done in practice. Aladdin’s agile and tricky movements is best displayed in PvP. He is quite good in City Watch and Invasion Breaker Quests, although he might struggle being consistent against Mama Bots.
Gotta Keep Up:
Aladdin’s Red Skill, functionally speaking, significantly improves his high-risk tendencies. One of the first things he’ll immediately show improvement upon is his Magic Carpet Ride. When landing hits on Control-type enemies, he will do some rather substantial bonus damage. Magic Carpet Ride tends to land him right in the middle of his enemies, so the bonus damage is especially damaging to Jasmine, Genie (ironically), Ursula, and especially the Mad Hatter. Aladdin also experiences a significant boost in his HP and Basic Damage, which are exactly the right stats he needs for the kind of reckless play style he has. The actual main effect of the skill is for Aladdin to completely ignore disabling status effects that last longer than 3 seconds, which are pretty much all (most) of them. At maximum level, Aladdin will be functionally unstoppable and the only way to beat him is to outmuscle the cunning street rat. Unfortunately, to max out any Red Skill is a miracle on its own. If the Red Skill remians poorly invested in, the disable immunity will be essentially nonexistent. Investing in this skill will demand a great deal of dedication, resources, and patience just to maintain its integrity. If you’re only in it for the stat boosts, giving Aladdin lots of Mods is arguably an easier solution.
Frienship Disks:
Aladdin’s disks focus on improving his performance as a high-risk melee fighter, with both making very visible impacts on how he plays. Genie’s disk gives Aladdin an emergency healing mechanic. Should his HP dip below 40%, Aladdin very briefly gains invincibility and will start healing himself passively for 5 seconds. The strength of that healing becomes greater as the disk levels up, relieving a lot of pressure off of Aladdin and giving himself another chance to continue to do damage. Shank’s disk is the much more aggressive option. This disk increases Aladdin’s Basic Damage, improving his regular attacks and Energy Steal. Not only that, he gains an awesome attack speed bonus every time he uses Sabre Slash. This is actually quite easy for him to achieve at least a few times in combat because of how quickly he can gain energy. Both disks are very useful, although the extra survivability Genie’s disk provides tends to help Aladdin do more in the long run.
Team Options:
Due to the nature of Aladdin’s skillset, he is relatively easy to fit in a variety of teams. That said, he makes a dangerous Study team with Barbossa(Ti) and Merlin. Barbossa applies the Study effect on all enemies at the start of battle, greatly improving the damage Aladdin can do, especially with the first barrage of hits from Magic Carpet Ride. This kind of initial burst of critical hits is exactly what made Merlin so infamous for a long time. This becomes nowhere near as effective when they are being opposed by Timon & Pumbaa though. Still, even without the Study comp, Aladdin still has the useful niche of being able to redirect attention away from his frontline allies. His heavy emphasis on misdirecting attacks is also why he works so well with fellow movie cast mates. Genie, Jasmine, and Jafar are all very good at dividing the enemy team, with Genie providing support while Jafar and Jasmine both help Aladdin steal energy in alarming frquency. Heroes like Mickey(Ja), Baymax(Ol), and the Queen of Hearts are very good teammates that help Aladdin get even more opportunities to do lots of damage.
Counters:
Magic Carpet Ride puts Aladdin in the best position to distract the enemy team–but he can only make this happen once. If he gets pushed out, he will have no way of getting back in! As such, he needs to be careful of Violet, Tia, and Rex. Timon & Pumbaa get a special mention because Hakuna Matata not only ruins his synergy with Barbossa and Merlin, it also devalues the damage Aladdin can do, to the point where it’s almost as if he hits with the force of a wet paper towel. Finnick and the duck Triplets are also strong peelers that can even potentially stun Aladdin. Goofy is also an incredibly effective counter who can blind Aladdin, mitigating so much of Aladdin’s value.
Anger
Overview
Strengths
+Extreme burst damage
+Rising power levels
+Speed boost for the entire team
+Useful Friendship disks
+Can block Disables
Weaknesses:
-Power levels reset
-Naturally very slow attacker
-Susceptible to AOE attacks
-Terrible Armor growth
Gameplay:
With his unique set of utilities, Anger proves to be a reliable choice for most kinds of teams. He starts battle with a single regular attack, followed by a team-wide boost in attack speed. Once the speed boost is applied to the whole team, that’s when Anger really starts to pick up steam. Under normal circumstances, Anger will gain a stack of Rage every time he successfully connects his regular attacks (misses and blocks don’t count) and can have up to a maximum of 5 stacks. “Rage Against” is a wonderful skill that allows Anger to block any disables coming at him adding 1 stack of rage each time he does. To round it all up, “Berserk” gives Anger more and more Basic Damage for every stack of rage he has presently. So technically speaking, this does mean that each regular attack will be stronger than the last. Once he reaches max energy, Anger uses up all stacks of Rage he had at the time, inflicting a tremendous burst of Fantastic Damage. Assuming everything went well, “Boil Over” arguably does the highest instance of damage in the game. With about 4 stacks or more, Anger can potentially wipe everything off the map in explosive fashion. Once he uses all his stacks, his power resets back to normal. This kind of power makes Anger a top contender in PvP. He is a great choice for City Watch and his speed boosting really comes in handy for team Yellow’s Invasion week.
Friendship Disks:
Anger’s disks greatly affect the way his dynamic plays out within a team. Zurg’s disk puts a large emphasis on Anger’s off-support nature. With it, his stacks of Rage also gives other “Damage” role allies a boost in Basic Damage. Further adding upon his support, this disk also extends the duration of Fired Up. With enough stars, the speed boost can match and surpass that of Goofy’s “Bust A Move”! Hades’ disk on the other hand purely focuses on Anger’s individual performance. With it, Anger’s regular attacks can cause (Normal) damage over time while also increasing his maximum stacks of Rage all the way up to 10. Just as importantly, this disk gives Anger more natural attack speed, somewhat compensating his otherwise sluggish offense. In practice, anger tends to never reach 10 stacks unless he is facing high level Mama Bots. Still, the damage over time and attack speed he gains makes him a much better hero altogether. Both disks are very good–Zurg’s disk can really help out naturally slow teammates, but otherwise these disks are very easy to apply.
Team Options:
Of course, Anger goes well with a sprinkle of Joy. Together, both emotions provide high-impact support through healing and speed, forming a solid, balanced core for any team comp. Because he can continue to function without having to worry about being disabled at any point, Anger tends to work well with just about anyone. He can abuse speed by partnering with other speed boosters such as Goofy, Woody, Animal, Duke Caboom, Alice, and Judy. Anger does tend to favor teams that lean more on aggression rather than teams that excel at stalling or defending.
Counters:
Unfortunately, Rage Against does not protect Anger from debuffs, and he is especially annoyed by slows. Even if he can somewhat alleviate this problem when he uses Fired Up, he actually takes up a lot of precious seconds trying to use his speed boost, leaving him with less opportunities to build up stacks of rage. Finnick is an obvious problem, even more so than the Mad Hatter in this case. Simba & Nala can also slow down Anger, and they can shred Armor too. The Beast is a powerful melee fighter who can often reach Anger very quickly. When the Beast activates his own rage, he can survive the otherwise devastating explosion of Boil Over and consequently punish Anger with ease. Hercules(Ma) can also be an interesting response to Anger. Should he lead a multi-tank team, his invincibility can force Anger to get only one or two stacks and fire off a low-powered Boil Over, weak enough that Herc’s non-tank allies can survive it too. Joy is an indirect counter who can build tons of Reality to protect her team. Even if she gets KO’d early, the Reality left behind from her stacks of Happiness will continue to persist in her teammates, and enough stacks will actually allow them to survive a high-powered Boil Over.
The Beast
Overview
Strengths:
+Remarkable power
+High survivability
+Amazing synergy
+High HP growth
+Mixed attacker
Weaknesses:
-Small effective range
-High aggro
-Slow early game
Gameplay:
The Beast showcases the immense power of 2019’s new generation of heroes. “Rage Of The Beast” is one of the very best White skills in the game, turning him into a nearly unstoppable physical force. It’s like having Mr. Incredible’s emergency comeback factor, but with no need for him to be in immediate danger to activate it. As long as he is in a rage, he will never go below 1 HP either. This skill does not actually give him true invincibility, but it is arguably better that way. This is because Beast heals himself every time he inflicts critical damage. The lack of invincibility causes him to also gain energy by taking hits, which means he will very quickly activate his rage once again. He is rather slow before he activates his Rage though, so he can be KO’d before he gets full energy. And every time he activates his Rage, there is a very small window of vulnerability that can catch him, KO’ing him before he can rampage again. Still he has a lot of HP and defensive stats, so it’s not that easy to exploit these weaknesses in general. Beast’s incredible power make him a force to be reckoned with in any game mode.
Friendship Disks:
Beast’s friendship with Sulley rewards him with a disk that makes him more effective against opposing Damage heroes. Whenever he activates his rage, he also deals raw Normal damage through his roar, but this does only apply to Damage heroes. Additionally, it improves his Armor and further multiplies that stat for every opposing Damage hero he faces.
Team Options:
Beast’s relatively straightforward skillset allows him to fit in almost any team. He is an excellent choice when there’s a need for a Normal Damage specialist. His Leaping Claw even allows him to do a burst of Fantastic damage too, so you can almost get away with having him be the solo Damage hero. Beast excels in dealing critical hits, so pairing him with Barbossa(Ti) easily forms a devastating partnership. Similarly, he works very well with the various Armor Shredders available like Merida, Timon and Pumbaa(Sc), Simba & Nala, etc. One of his best partners though, is Bo Peep. Together, they can quickly mow everything into a corner for maximum brutality.
Counters:
Unless the Beast has the support of Timon & Pumbaa, Merlin can very easily shut him down. Beast’s high stats makes him a high priority target for Teacher’s Pet. Jafar is also very annoying–Snake Charmer can exploit Beast’s raw power and turn it against his team. Ursula can potentially deny Beast from activating his rage, but she is utterly helpless should Beast manage to close in. Although not a direct counter, Hercules can usually withstand the Beast’s relentless assault, becoming invincible and nullifying Beast’s chances of ever making it to the backline. Hercules cannot take on the Beast by himself though, as he lacks the means to shut him down reliably. Beast should be wary of Huey, Dewey, and Louie–their traps make it difficult for Beast to make a proper approach and can sometimes leave him vulnerable long enough to be KO’d. Sap users like Hook and Flynn Rider are quite troublesome. Flynn is especially annoying because he can frequently steal energy on top of sapping Beast. Without his Energy, Beast is all but dead weight.
Buzz Lightyear
Overview
Strengths:
+Good keep-away game
+Great spatial control
+Useful Friendship Disks
+Good AOE skills
Weanknesses:
-Weak by himself
-Poor Reality growth
-No Evasion or Tenacity
Gameplay:
Buzz is a long range Normal Damage specialist who can also guard the immediate area in front of him. Through the use of “Anti-Gravity Cage” and “Pulsar Push”, Buzz can peel off any hostile presence off himself or of course, his allies. “Laser Action” is a standard offensive active skill that deals AOE Normal Damage, and “Power Up” further adds to this by turning every third regular attack into a piercing refracting laser that can hit enemies behind Buzz’s primary target. This means that he can put pressure even against enemies beyond the frontine. Unfortunately, he does have pretty low damage even for the standards of the Damage category. He tends to heavily compete against other backline snipers, especially Merida. He does have a strong niche for team Blue’s Invasion though. His quick, piercing attacks allow him to apply tons of supplementary Normal Damage to clean up mobs very efficiently. This allows stronger allies like Bo Peep and Ducky & Bunny free to pummel Mama Bots without needing to turn around.
Friendship Disks:
Buzz’s disk provide his skillset some very nifty utilities that make him a better teammate. Kevin’s disk increases Skill Power, strengthening the damage of Laser Action and Pulsar Push. But more importantly, it gives Buzz an off-support ability that will actually allow him to help protect his allies. Should an ally’s HP dip below 50%, he can use Anti-Gravity Cage as a shield for them instead. He also gets to use his Anti-Gravity Cage sooner and more frequently. On the other hand, Zurg’s disk increases HP and Basic Damage, thus improving regular attacks and especially Power Up. Buzz will also gain attack speed every time he activates Power Up, and can stack this speed bonus up to 3 times. Both disks are actually pretty good. Zurg’s disk tends to be more useful in many situations, but if Buzz has allies that can increase attack speed and/or Basic Damage, then he can get away with using Kevin’s Disk instead.
Team Options:
Buzz works very well with fellow Toy Story heroes. Woody makes for a very interesting partner who can pull a vulnerable backline target in while Buzz stuns a frontline target to help secure a safe KO. This, of course, assumes the timing of the execution isn’t being disrupted by hostile CC. This combination tends to be much more consistent if Woody isn’t using Jessie’s disk. Otherwise though, Buzz excels at pushing enemies into a corner together with of Bo Peep(Wo) and/or Rex. Buzz especially appreciates Bo’s Armor shredding. With Zurg’s disk, Buzz’s high-speed offense gets a ton more value when teamed with Study users (Barbossa, Baymax, Robin Hood) or with other Armor shredders (Merida, Miguel, Simba & Nala). As he has very pitiful Reality growth, he absolutely appreciates the protection he gets from Joy. Although he also gets some decent protection from Kevin and Sally(Ya) as well.
Counters:
Buzz’s terrible Reality means he will struggle to survive the intense damage of powerhouses like Ducky & Bunny, Jafar(Sc), and Anger. Jack Skellington, Sally(Ti), and Elsa are also dangerous Fantastic Damage specialists who can snipe him at the backline. Sally does have to be wary of getting stunned and pushed away through. Even though Buzz can normally peel off most divers like Aladdin and Moana, he will certainly struggle shaking off Darkwing Duck. With his invisibility, he can avoid being targeted by Buzz and can even stun him. Most importantly, should Buzz be able to push him out, Darkwing can usually just jump right back in. He also has to watch out for Bo Peep, who can block most his attacks. Her Evasion may fail to avoid Buzz’s stun however.
More in Part 2 (CLICK HERE!)
. Love your guides though they are extemely well written and very useful in building teams together. Thank you for your time spent on these guides!