I find Mirage’s SP1 to be ok. It’s slow to actually drain. However, once he is unleashed and his basic range attacks drain power he is probably top of the list when it comes to power drain to hit ratio — right up there with Shocky’s ranged for sure.
For those who advocates Kickback, yes he consumes power buffs, BUT you can't imagine: 1. how hard it is to land a melee heavy nowadays; 2. the power buff comes after 5 seconds!
Same for Rhinox concerning the heavy. And Rhinox only keeps the power in check for 4 seconds. Given the power flow mod is on for the whole fight, there's nothing concrete you can do within that timeframe,
It’s really only between Prowl and Shockwave. Rhinoxs only power control is his heavy, and it has a timer to deal with. Kickback has frequent power rate debuffs, but they’re pretty weak individually(he’s still great he’s just not the best). Mirages power burn is good, but ranged attacks are a pain to land consistently, and the buffs from his other two specials are superior. And then there’s Soundwave. He has a powerful power leak, but it’s unreliable, and his power lock comes after he’s already given you 3/4 of a power bar with his special 3, and it’s a very short power lock.
Now on to the power control kings. Shockwave and Prowl. Shockwaves shocks drain power and deal some heavy damage, and they’re readily available through his special 1, which lets you get off six at once if you time it well. His special 3 is good too, but inferior to his special one. Without factoring in all his synergies, you can get off six shocks three times or get off eight one time. It’s weird. And Prowl has the second most readily available power drain, and it’s as powerful as Shockwave/Soundwaves are, but it’s a pretty weak attack overall.
I’m gonna have to go with Prowl just because of that signature. Dash back and avoid some hits, and as soon as your opponent runs at you, you get to let off a five hit combo, and now you have a special 1 and your enemy has a lot less power. It’s just so accessible, it’s hard to say anyone is better. Shockwaves basically goes though.
I wish Power Gain and Rates could be measured/visible during the fight. So many of the bot ability descriptions are incomplete and/or do not match what actually happens in the fight.
With a few exceptions, I find Shockwave to be a hugely effective bot. As long as you get ahead on power control early, you can virtually eliminate the opponent getting off any special attacks while doing major damage at the same time. I've been surprised at the battles I've managed to win as an underdog with him.
Does Prowl's power drain get drastically stronger as you rank up?
I've never been impressed by how much it drains, but looking at my roster, I see I've never ranked a Prowl past 3. If I take him to rank 5 am I going to see a big change in that?
What @Canuck33 says. As much as I like Shockwave you cant compete with Prowl being able to push to sp3 in a matter of seconds without landing a single hit.
SP3? How does this tie into the Power Control though? This sounds more like Power Gain.
Someone must have edited my message LOL. that's supposed to say sp1...
But yes sp3 still locks the power bar hahah
You had it right in your comment man. I was quoting @SkBirdman — I’m genuinely curious too. He usually has some elite level tips.
@JIMMY_SAB the power gain is part of his power control kit too, which is why Prowl is so powerful. What he creates is a massive power variance between him and his opponent. Its similar to the concept of card advantage in a TCG (for those familiar with the concept), taking fewer actions than your opponent for more gain.
That to me has always been why he stands out. He can gain for himself AND drain/lock his opponent.
(Also yeah his SP3 has a huge power lock on it, part of the kit too).
I know people don’t consider these two to be Power Lock experts, but Barricade & Grindor have a duo synergy that is a great Power Control when you need to end a fight in a hurry. The Outlaw Synergy means that if You have both BC & Grindor on your Arena or Mission roster, the first heavy they each connect on initiates a 3-12 second Power Lock. In my case, I get a 12 seconds Power Lock, which is more than enough time to build up each bot’s power to SP2. And with Barricade, a successful SP2 gives Power Steal, which generally gives Barricade the ability to almost immediately use an SP1, which initiates Backfire. Grindor’s SP2 is pretty powerful when it connects as well... just no Power Steal for his. In short, Barricade & Grindor can end fights before the opponents build up their power.
I know people don’t consider these two to be Power Lock experts, but Barricade & Grindor have a duo synergy that is a great Power Control when you need to end a fight in a hurry. The Outlaw Synergy means that if You have both BC & Grindor on your Arena or Mission roster, the first heavy they each connect on initiates a 3-12 second Power Lock. In my case, I get a 12 seconds Power Lock, which is more than enough time to build up each bot’s power to SP2. And with Barricade, a successful SP2 gives Power Steal, which generally gives Barricade the ability to almost immediately use an SP1, which initiates Backfire. Grindor’s SP2 is pretty powerful when it connects as well... just no Power Steal for his. In short, Barricade & Grindor can end fights before the opponents build up their power.
What I like to do with Grindor is Power Lock the Opponent whilst both bots are at 2 Power Bars, allowing Grindor to deal a significant amount of damage and not have the risk of pushing the opponent to SP3.
But without the Synergy, I still don't see the point of Grindor's SP2 doing more damage for the more Power the opponent has. The only way you can do something impactful is if the Oppponent has 2 bars or more, but that comes with a risk of backfiring on you if they have too much. Don't really know why a character with no Power Control does that.
Anyone else like Megatron's Power Rate Debuff with Shockwave? I honestly think it's great. For one, there's the fact that one can be fused, so the Opponent will be stuck for the rest of the fight with decreased Power Rate. Then there's the fact that you can stack a very continous amount of Power Rate Debuffs on them, sometime getting to 4 Debuffs at once (including the fused one). When that happens, even Megatron's Specials give a very little amount of power. It's not the best Power Rate, as it relies on chance, but it's a great ability for a bot like Megatron.
Anyone else like Megatron's Power Rate Debuff with Shockwave? I honestly think it's great. For one, there's the fact that one can be fused, so the Opponent will be stuck for the rest of the fight with decreased Power Rate. Then there's the fact that you can stack a very continous amount of Power Rate Debuffs on them, sometime getting to 4 Debuffs at once (including the fused one). When that happens, even Megatron's Specials give a very little amount of power. It's not the best Power Rate, as it relies on chance, but it's a great ability for a bot like Megatron.
I like it as well. It’s really fun to push his Power Rate debuffs up to 3 stacks to create a discount Power Lock effect.
1 weird thing about this is how insignificant the power gain reduction is against the Power Flow mod on 3.2 . Has anyone tried using OGM against Prowl and the other bots on this path?
With a few exceptions, I find Shockwave to be a hugely effective bot. As long as you get ahead on power control early, you can virtually eliminate the opponent getting off any special attacks while doing major damage at the same time. I've been surprised at the battles I've managed to win as an underdog with him.
Does Prowl's power drain get drastically stronger as you rank up?
I've never been impressed by how much it drains, but looking at my roster, I see I've never ranked a Prowl past 3. If I take him to rank 5 am I going to see a big change in that?
Even an R2 4* Prowl can drain around 1 bar of Power, which is really good imo, as a lot of Bots' Sp2's are really hard to dodge. It's a very good form of Power control, and allows you to take advantage of a battle and turn it to your favour.
Anyone else like Megatron's Power Rate Debuff with Shockwave? I honestly think it's great. For one, there's the fact that one can be fused, so the Opponent will be stuck for the rest of the fight with decreased Power Rate. Then there's the fact that you can stack a very continous amount of Power Rate Debuffs on them, sometime getting to 4 Debuffs at once (including the fused one). When that happens, even Megatron's Specials give a very little amount of power. It's not the best Power Rate, as it relies on chance, but it's a great ability for a bot like Megatron.
I use it religiously, it is so good when you get 2 or more stacks, feels like they gain no power!
I've learned that if G1 Bumblebee's Sig is high enough then he can perpetually power lock you with special 2's.
And as others have mentioned, prowl and kickback are definitely good too
I've learned that if G1 Bumblebee's Sig is high enough then he can perpetually power lock you with special 2's.
And as others have mentioned, prowl and kickback are definitely good too
Another power control effect many players don't utilize is Jazz's ability to effectively lockout S3 infinitely, if you can maintain a confusion debuff at all times.
But why though? I need some context and ideally video evidence. Let’s see you use him vs Tronus on RR. That’s always a good comparison since we all fight that combo so often.
Anyone else like Megatron's Power Rate Debuff with Shockwave? I honestly think it's great. For one, there's the fact that one can be fused, so the Opponent will be stuck for the rest of the fight with decreased Power Rate. Then there's the fact that you can stack a very continous amount of Power Rate Debuffs on them, sometime getting to 4 Debuffs at once (including the fused one). When that happens, even Megatron's Specials give a very little amount of power. It's not the best Power Rate, as it relies on chance, but it's a great ability for a bot like Megatron.
I like it as well. It’s really fun to push his Power Rate debuffs up to 3 stacks to create a discount Power Lock effect.
1 weird thing about this is how insignificant the power gain reduction is against the Power Flow mod on 3.2 . Has anyone tried using OGM against Prowl and the other bots on this path?
I'm guessing it just affects basic Power Rate and not Power Gain (?)
But why though? I need some context and ideally video evidence. Let’s see you use him vs Tronus on RR. That’s always a good comparison since we all fight that combo so often.
If you can keep a power drain on them, you can practically lock them out of sp3 while you kick away. Providing you dodge the inevitable sp2, it’s a good strategy for an aggressive playstyle.
Combined with the bleeds from sp2 (as good as it is, I value the power drain more than shocks from sp1), paired with enforcers synergy, and he’s a very astute versatile damage dealer.
That’s my take on KB anyway. Others can probably chime in better as I’m not a regular KB user
But why though? I need some context and ideally video evidence. Let’s see you use him vs Tronus on RR. That’s always a good comparison since we all fight that combo so often.
But why though? I need some context and ideally video evidence. Let’s see you use him vs Tronus on RR. That’s always a good comparison since we all fight that combo so often.
I use KB vs Tronus on RR all the time.
I assure you he is an excellent counter.
That he is. Even in AM. Well, maybe not high-level AM due to his lack of durability. But I can usually get away with using Kickback on Ratchet, Skyfire, Shockwave, Soundwave, and Wheeljack and still have enough hp to do minimal amounts of damage against Tronus. The good thing is with Kickback, you rarely ever have to worry about lifesteal.
But why though? I need some context and ideally video evidence. Let’s see you use him vs Tronus on RR. That’s always a good comparison since we all fight that combo so often.
I use KB vs Tronus on RR all the time.
I assure you he is an excellent counter.
That he is. Even in AM. Well, maybe not high-level AM due to his lack of durability. But I can usually get away with using Kickback on Ratchet, Skyfire, Shockwave, Soundwave, and Wheeljack and still have enough hp to do minimal amounts of damage against Tronus. The good thing is with Kickback, you rarely ever have to worry about lifesteal.
Not sure why my comment was interpreted as KB wasn’t effective vs Tronus + RR. I use KB during AM when my Shocky is tied up. Also think he can be very effective for AM. @Manthro@Hijacker2531
My comment was in reaction to @SneakyAutobotYT stating it wasn’t even a “challenge” in the context of this thread which is best Power Control. I just wanted an actual case or reason. I used the Tronus example cuz it’s so prevalent.
No one mentioned Scout BEE? Mine 4* has 100 sig(I assume I got him to 100 first in the world. lol) he lock most of the opponent power in a fight FOREVER.
I mean I lock enemy power before they reach sp 3, then i quickly reach and land a combo+heavy before they could counter-attack or use their special(Bee is very very quick) by the time my Bee increase his power to sp2, quick enough to lock them again and again. His power lock is very long.
For power mods in spotlight mission, the Bee help me alot. Even I am a mediocre player.
I think it needs high enough sig to do this trick.
Sorry my Engrish here. but Scout Bee is underrated bot.
Comments
Same for Rhinox concerning the heavy. And Rhinox only keeps the power in check for 4 seconds. Given the power flow mod is on for the whole fight, there's nothing concrete you can do within that timeframe,
Now on to the power control kings. Shockwave and Prowl. Shockwaves shocks drain power and deal some heavy damage, and they’re readily available through his special 1, which lets you get off six at once if you time it well. His special 3 is good too, but inferior to his special one. Without factoring in all his synergies, you can get off six shocks three times or get off eight one time. It’s weird. And Prowl has the second most readily available power drain, and it’s as powerful as Shockwave/Soundwaves are, but it’s a pretty weak attack overall.
I’m gonna have to go with Prowl just because of that signature. Dash back and avoid some hits, and as soon as your opponent runs at you, you get to let off a five hit combo, and now you have a special 1 and your enemy has a lot less power. It’s just so accessible, it’s hard to say anyone is better. Shockwaves basically goes though.
I would pick Shockwave, GS bee, prowl, GS megatron and Jazz
When you add enforcers synergy to this, he has formidable power control, it's just not as quick to take effect as prowl or Shockwave.
Once it gets rolling it is very good, though.
Does it make him the best power control bot? Probably not... But it would be hard to argue against being the most versatile of this sub class.
This^^^
Guess it will always be anecdotal.
Does Prowl's power drain get drastically stronger as you rank up?
I've never been impressed by how much it drains, but looking at my roster, I see I've never ranked a Prowl past 3. If I take him to rank 5 am I going to see a big change in that?
@JIMMY_SAB the power gain is part of his power control kit too, which is why Prowl is so powerful. What he creates is a massive power variance between him and his opponent. Its similar to the concept of card advantage in a TCG (for those familiar with the concept), taking fewer actions than your opponent for more gain.
That to me has always been why he stands out. He can gain for himself AND drain/lock his opponent.
(Also yeah his SP3 has a huge power lock on it, part of the kit too).
What I like to do with Grindor is Power Lock the Opponent whilst both bots are at 2 Power Bars, allowing Grindor to deal a significant amount of damage and not have the risk of pushing the opponent to SP3.
But without the Synergy, I still don't see the point of Grindor's SP2 doing more damage for the more Power the opponent has. The only way you can do something impactful is if the Oppponent has 2 bars or more, but that comes with a risk of backfiring on you if they have too much. Don't really know why a character with no Power Control does that.
I like it as well. It’s really fun to push his Power Rate debuffs up to 3 stacks to create a discount Power Lock effect.
1 weird thing about this is how insignificant the power gain reduction is against the Power Flow mod on 3.2 . Has anyone tried using OGM against Prowl and the other bots on this path?
Even an R2 4* Prowl can drain around 1 bar of Power, which is really good imo, as a lot of Bots' Sp2's are really hard to dodge. It's a very good form of Power control, and allows you to take advantage of a battle and turn it to your favour.
I use it religiously, it is so good when you get 2 or more stacks, feels like they gain no power!
And as others have mentioned, prowl and kickback are definitely good too
Another power control effect many players don't utilize is Jazz's ability to effectively lockout S3 infinitely, if you can maintain a confusion debuff at all times.
Comes in handy against specific mods and bots
But why though? I need some context and ideally video evidence. Let’s see you use him vs Tronus on RR. That’s always a good comparison since we all fight that combo so often.
I'm guessing it just affects basic Power Rate and not Power Gain (?)
If you can keep a power drain on them, you can practically lock them out of sp3 while you kick away. Providing you dodge the inevitable sp2, it’s a good strategy for an aggressive playstyle.
Combined with the bleeds from sp2 (as good as it is, I value the power drain more than shocks from sp1), paired with enforcers synergy, and he’s a very astute versatile damage dealer.
That’s my take on KB anyway. Others can probably chime in better as I’m not a regular KB user
I use KB vs Tronus on RR all the time.
I assure you he is an excellent counter.
That he is. Even in AM. Well, maybe not high-level AM due to his lack of durability. But I can usually get away with using Kickback on Ratchet, Skyfire, Shockwave, Soundwave, and Wheeljack and still have enough hp to do minimal amounts of damage against Tronus. The good thing is with Kickback, you rarely ever have to worry about lifesteal.
Not sure why my comment was interpreted as KB wasn’t effective vs Tronus + RR. I use KB during AM when my Shocky is tied up. Also think he can be very effective for AM. @Manthro @Hijacker2531
My comment was in reaction to @SneakyAutobotYT stating it wasn’t even a “challenge” in the context of this thread which is best Power Control. I just wanted an actual case or reason. I used the Tronus example cuz it’s so prevalent.
I mean I lock enemy power before they reach sp 3, then i quickly reach and land a combo+heavy before they could counter-attack or use their special(Bee is very very quick) by the time my Bee increase his power to sp2, quick enough to lock them again and again. His power lock is very long.
For power mods in spotlight mission, the Bee help me alot. Even I am a mediocre player.
I think it needs high enough sig to do this trick.
Sorry my Engrish here. but Scout Bee is underrated bot.