Warner Brother’s newest game and the fighting game that’s taking Steam (and consoles) by storm, MultiVersus, has a lot of different characters to play as. And, to categorize them, the characters are broken up into different Classes such as Assassin, Mage, Bruiser, Support, and Tank.
Tanks, in particular, and an interesting Class for a fighter, as they specialize in tanking hits without getting KO’d, using armor to push their attacks through their opponent’s, and more. But, how are MultiVersus players meant to utilize this Class (once they unlock the relevant characters) to their utmost potential? Well, let’s take a look.
6 They're Designed To Tank & Not Deal Damage, Right?
First up, let's get this out of the way first, the Character Classes in MultiVersus are nothing more than general guidelines that each character in the "Class" follows. And, even then, not every character follows those guidelines. For example, Tanks were designed to be heavyweight, damage absorbing, Armored Attack-having brawlers that deal less damage and move slower in exchange for staying alive longer than anyone else. But, in practice, all three Tanks deal way more damage than they likely should, can move fast if played properly, and are overpowered team-carriers more often than not. Just to give some examples:
- If played correctly using Armored Attacks, Ten-Ton Tackle, and Go Long, Superman can easily KO an opponent and sub-60 damage. Additionally, even if Superman players don't go for this early KO, all of their Armored attacks deal absurd damage as well, so they can stack it up almost as quickly as an Assassin does.
- Wonder Woman is not a heavyweight, doesn't move slowly, and also puts out a lot of damage. She's essentially a Bruiser but with the ability to block and reflect projectiles as well as give herself and her ally Armor.
- Iron Giant is the closest "true" Tank in regards to his weight and damage-absorbing capabilities, and these are also his weaknesses. But, again, most of his moves output more damage than some of the Bruisers, but their attacks don't cover half the screen as his attacks do.
This is all to say that the Tank characters aren't strictly defined by the idea of a "Tank" and players can experiment with their playstyle much more than it might seem like they can. Though be aware, that since the game is still very early in its life cycle, these anti-Tank concepts that the Class currently has could be "fixed" in a future patch.
5 Learn What Armored Moves & Specials Are
Moving on to mechanics, players need to figure out in The Lab which of their Attacks, Specials, and Aerials have Armor on them. For example, Superman has Armor on his Overhead Strike, Super Punch, Downward Swing, Locomotive Charge, the start of his Meteor Liftoff, and even while using his Heat Vision. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman doesn’t have many naturally Armored attacks but can actually grant herself and her ally a "Shield" which nullifies the next hit with her Defense of the Gods instead.
And finally, Iron Giant has his Thorn Armor, Bolt Friends, and Rage Mode mechanics, all of which either reduce his knockback or completely nullify it in different ways. So, players interested in the Tank characters need to play around with the Tank of their choice in the Lab or in matches and figure out when to use these different Armored or Tanky abilities. Thankfully, even beginners who don't want to go that extra step and just want to pick a heavy character will still find success with the Tanks too.
4 Play Around The Fact That They're Heavy
Additionally, Tanks are heavy, with the only exception being Wonder Woman. Superman and especially Iron Giant are the heaviest characters in the game, and even Wonder Woman is still the seventh heaviest out of seventeen characters. So, players need to internalize the fact that they’re a heavy character and use that to their advantage.
For example, if two players go for a trade with aerial attacks at the same damage percentage, the Tank has a higher chance of living through the trade by default, meaning that this is actually the advantageous thing to do in this scenario, and Tanks should feel more confident than other Classes going for a trade in the hopes they'll win.
Additionally, this weight means that Tanks can play a bit more comfortably near the lower sections of the stage as it’s very difficult for their opponent to hit them out from the top. That said, they can still spike them down or knock them out the side of the stage, so they shouldn't get "too" comfortable.
3 Armored Attacks Aren't Just For Safety & They're Also Mind Games
This next tip ties back into the Tanks’ Armored attacks, but players can use this Armor as a way to bait, a last line of defense, and even as a feint. A Superman player can go for a raw fully-charged Overhead Strike, knowing that this will bait their opponent into trying to hit them out of it. And, when they get close enough, the Superman player can then just let go of the charge early, swing through the opponent’s attack thanks to the Armor, and get a free gigantic hit against their enemy.
Or, alternatively, a Wonder Woman could use her Defense of the Gods ability, bait her opponent into going off stage to chase her, and then spike them. And, even if they spike her first, Defense of the Gods nullifies their hit, and then she'll spike them. There are tons of other methods of using the Armor in these attacks in all sorts of crafty ways, so try and play around with it.
2 Learn Where Each Tank Excels The Most
Just because Wonder Woman, Superman, and Iron Giant are all Tanks doesn’t necessarily mean they play the same. In fact, they couldn’t be more different. So, when playing a Tank, figure out where they're designed to excel. For example, Wonder Woman has great ground combos that chain easily into her powerful aerial attacks.
Meanwhile, Superman’s Aerial Specials are absurdly strong and can easily Ring Out enemies at low percentages. And finally, Iron Giant has tons of tools to punish the players stacking on top of him and turn their own momentum against them.
1 Figure Out Their Mobility Options
One of the biggest downsides for the Tank characters in MultiVersus is their mobility, by design. These characters are meant to be slow, though Wonder Woman is sort of an exception. Still, because of this, players should try and figure out the best method for them to get across the stage and make the best of their mobility. And, it should be easy, considering Wonder Woman is free after completing the tutorial and Superman is currently part of the free character rotation.
For Iron Giant, a lot of his attacks also move him forward in some capacity, especially Rocket Boost, so players can actually move while attacking. Meanwhile, Superman’s default jump height is much higher than the average character, so he can use a jump into his Ten-Ton Tackle to get across the map relatively safely. Just because they run slow, doesn't mean the Tanks have to "be slow", especially when players use Dodge Jumps to increase their momentum as well.
MultiVersus is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.