Since the launch of Marvel’s Avengers, developers Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix have been operating uphill. The honeymoon phase of the live-service game quickly died and excited fans turned into disappointed ones with repetitive missions, messy gear distribution, and unappealing endgame content. Luckily, Marvel’s Avengers refuses to go quietly into the night and its latest free expansion, War of Wakanda, adds another character to the superhero lineup: Black Panther.
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One of the biggest gripes about Marvel's Avengers, when it launched, was how desolate, bland, and similar the environments were. Wakanda doesn't fix much in the desolate department, but the change in scenery is a sight for sore eyes. The lush foliage looks amazing, and given how important Wakanda and Vibranium are to the Marvel universe as a whole, it was only a matter of time before Crystal Dynamics expanded its game world.
Fight Like A Panther
The majority of the expansion, War of Wakanda, takes place, surprisingly, in Wakanda. While it's quite easy to compare these characters to their MCU counterparts, the similarities end quickly with T'Challa. Instead of growing up with his father, T'Chaka, the late king died when T'Challa was a young boy and was raised by his uncle, S'Yan. Wakanda is hidden through the advanced technologies developed through the workings of Vibranium, though it's revealed that the country was public to the world before A-Day.
It was only after T'Challa thought Captain America had perished that he decided to seal off Wakanda to the world. Although each hero operates the same on a fundamental level, King T’Challa feels like the strongest of the Avengers. The ferocity of his attacks, ripping A.I.M. forces to literal shreds with his Vibranium claws is a stark difference from throwing haymakers as Captain America. Steve Rogers happens to be the closest of the original characters that resemble T’Challa’s fighting style, but ultimately, nothing comes close to the powers of the Black Panther.
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Infused with the powers of the Black Panther god Bast, T’Challa is capable of running on walls and double jumping. In battle, T’Challa can hold his own against virtually any opponent, including the large A.I.M. robots or the giant robot spiders deployed by Ulysses Klaue. War of Wakanda introduces new villains in Crossbones and Klaue, so T'Challa will certainly have his hands full defending his home nation. Other than his normal light and heavy attacks, Black Panther's suit builds up kinetic energy and he can unleash a variety of high-powered attacks and combos. Continuing to upgrade his Intrinsic category will further unlock more kinetic skills for Black Pather to deal serious damage to Wakanda's intruders.
Normal Attacks
| Out Of My Sight | Performs a slashing uppercut that launches the enemy into the air |
| Claws In The Air | After performing Out Of My Sight, T'Challa follows up with two additional claw slashes and extend the Aerial Light Combo |
| Only Kings Stand | Performs a downwards claw strike that slams targets into the ground |
| Panther Scratch | T'Challa can remain perched on a wall and then launch towards a target and perform a powerful claw attack |
| Pounce | T'Challa can launch himself onto a human-sized enemy for a short duration; while on the enemy, he can perform a series of rapid claw attacks or kick off the target triggering a kinetic pulse that hits all nearby targets |
Ranged Attacks
| Devastating Daggers | Each dagger that hits the target will apply a debuff that increases melee damage taken by three percent; the debuff can stack up to three times but the daggers will dematerialize after a short duration, reducing the effect of the debuff when it does. |
| Relentless Daggers | After the first throw, perform a Ranged Combo by throwing multiple daggers in quick succession, with the final throw in the combo being a Ranged Combo Finisher |
| Kpinga Daggers | Daggers that will seek out their target when thrown |
| Armor Crush | Daggers will pierce through its target before coming back around for a second hit |
| Strike True | After throwing the first Ranged Power Attack to throw a second dagger that can seek out a new target |
Kinetic Abilities
| Kinetic Slash | Use the suit's stored energy to perform an enhanced Intrinsic Attack version of the Signature Attack Out Of My Sight |
| Formidable Opponent | Reduces the amount of intrinsic meter depleted by 30 percent when attempting to block or failing to parry a strong or unblockable attack |
| Diminishing Returns | Increase the base intrinsic energy threshold by five percent, allowing the suit to automatically generate more energy when it's low |
| Energy Reserves | All actions that generate intrinsic energy will generate additional energy to fill the meter faster while the Overcharge buff is active, allowing the effect to be retriggered more rapidly or to perform intrinsic attacks more frequently |
| Cat Grab | Use suit's kinetic energy to break through enemy defenses using Pounce and able to grab a tougher and larger enemy |
| Percussive Blast | When the intrinsic meter is full, Black Panther can trigger a burst of kinetic energy that knocks away nearby enemies and increases all damage by ten percent for ten seconds |
| Kinetic Slam | Use suit's stored energy to perform enhanced Intrinsic Attack version of Only Kings Stand |
| Kinetic Daggers | While perched on the wall, Black Panther can kick off and throw three daggers at the ground that explode and launch targets up into the air |
| Ptah's Push | Receive a burst of Willpower when triggering Percussive Blast and extend the duration of the Overcharge buff by three seconds |
| Resolute Power | Use stored energy of Intrinsic meter for enhanced attacks of the Heavy Traversal Attacks |
Heroic Abilities
Unlike other heroes, Black Panther’s Support ability, Kimoyo Beads, can be retrofitted to suit different playstyles. At first, T’Challa deploys the beads to stun and weaken nearby enemies, and in most cases, will leave them susceptible for takedowns. The beads can be upgraded to Recovery Beads to heal yourself and other teammates. So depending on the situation, you can use the Kimoyo Beads offensively or defensively. His Assault and Ultimate abilities are heavily offensive-focused, involving an increase of overall damage and the ability to pin enemies.
| Kimoyo Beads (Support) | Throws a set of Kimoyo Beads that seek out enemy targets, dealing a large burst of Stun damage and reducing the target's impact resistance making them easier to interrupt |
| King's Mercy (Assault) | Constructs and throws a Vibranium Spear at enemies capable of pinning up to three targets; the spear will pierce through targets, it is unable to pin. |
| Bast's Chosen (Ultimate) | Reduces damage by 20 percent, increases damage dealt by ten percent, and automatically use the unlocked intrinsic attacks without consuming intrinsic energy |
T'Challa's Vibranium Spear can be a devastatingly powerful ability that can be further upgraded to create even more chaos for enemy forces. By unlocking A Crown’s Weight, the spear creates a vortex upon the impact that staggers surrounding targets. Forged In Vibranium increases the overall damage of the spear by 15 percent if thrown with the intrinsic meter full, and instantly triggers the Vibranium Status.
For his Ultimate, you can increase the duration of Bast's Chosen by ten seconds with Divine Empowerment and also enable strong and unblockable attacks to now be blocked or parried while the Ultimate is active with the Ancient Defense upgrade. There are many different options for the specialization skills for you to choose from, as well.
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Kimoyo Beads Specialization 1:
- Kimoyo Armor: Recovery Beads provide energy armor while active, absorbing 20 percent of the damage from enemy attacks
- Kimoyo Blast: Recovery Beads provide additional offensive capabilities, targeting nearby enemies with bolts of energy
- Kimoyo Stinger: Kimoyo Beads that target enemies will periodically release a small burst of energy that staggers the enemy they are linked too
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Kimoyo Beads Specialization 2:
- Shadow Physics: Extends the duration of Kimoyo Beads that target enemies by ten seconds and the Recovery Beads for allies by ten seconds
- Kimoyo Missiles: Recovery Beads will automatically shoot and destroy enemy projectiles fired at the hero
- Kimoyo Bombs: After the Kimoyo Beads acquire an enemy target, T'Challa can detonate the beads creating a large burst of kinetic energy at their location
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King's Mercy Specialization 1:
- Immovable Object: In addition to pinning targets, the Vibranium Spear will now pulse with energy dealing 30 percent of its base damage over time to all targets pinned by the spear and dealing additional damage to enemies it cannot pin
- Meteoric Impact: Construct a Vibranium Spear designed to release a kinetic pulse on impact, hitting all enemies within a large area; removes the ability to pin enemies
- No More Mercy: Construct shorter Vibranium Spears designed for rapid throwing, increasing the number of heroic charges to three and reducing the time it takes to build up each charge; the smaller spears can only pin one target per spear
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King's Mercy Specialization 2:
- Invaders' Regret: Increase the power of the spear's vortex, allowing it to affect a large area and destroying enemy projectiles caught in its path
- Plentiful Harvest: Enemies defeated by the Vibranium Spear have a ten percent chance to drop a Heroic Orb; tougher enemies have a higher chance of triggering the effect
- Your Father's Son: Every enemy hit by the spear grants ten percent intrinsic meter; the effect does not apply to the spear's vortex
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Bast's Chosen Specialization 1:
- Adored Ones: Summons two spectral Wakandan warriors to aid in battle
- King Of Necropolis: Revive nearby fallen allies and restore Willpower; can be triggered while in the downed state to self-revive
- Panther's Roar: Applies the Mark of Bast debuff on all nearby enemies, increasing their damage taken from all sources by ten percent and reducing the damage of all their attacks by 15 percent
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Bast's Chosen Specialization 2:
- Ancestral Memory: While Ultimate is active, the kinetic burst from the Percussive Blast is supercharged, dealing additional damage and making it a Heroic Attack; damage scales with his Valor rating
- History Is Shared: Triggering the Ultimate will grant all nearby heroes a burst of energy that will fill their intrinsic meters
- Realm Shift: While the Ultimate is active, T'Challa can have Bast teleport him towards a nearby enemy
Black Panther's Mastery
Once the majority of T'Challa's basic and special skills are unlocked, you can focus on his Mastery abilities. While the majority of the abilities look to upgrade his overall offensive prowess, focusing on the Melee and Intrinsic Upgrades will push the Wakandan king to the next level.
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Melee Upgrade:
- Panther Pride: Increase the critical attack chance on all Light Combo Finishers by 15 percent
- Your Majesty: Increase the impact on Signature Attacks making them more likely to interrupt targets
- Reach The Stars: Increase attack damage by ten percent while performing air melee combos
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Melee Upgrade:
- Cat Got Your Tongue: Increase the Stun damage of all Heavy Combo Finishers by 20 percent
- Pouncing Fury: Increase the damage of all Pounce Attacks by ten percent
- Make Way: Increase the damage of all Sprint, Dodge, and Wall Attacks by ten percent
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Melee Upgrade:
- Intrinsic Spirit: Performing a Takedown generates an Intrinsic Orb
- Heroic Spirit: Performing a Takedown generates a Heroic Orb
- Regenerative Spirit: Performing a Takedown forces enemies to drop a Regen Pack
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Ranged Upgrade:
- Final Flourish: Increase the maximum amount of times the Devastating Dagger debuff can stack by +1
- Seeking Surprise: Swap out the dagger thrown in the Ranged Combo Finisher with a Kpinga Dagger
- Explosive Present: Swap out the dagger thrown in the Ranged Combo Finisher with a Kinetic Dagger
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Ranged Upgrade:
- Armor-Piercing: Increase the effect of the Devastating Dagger debuff by 30 percent and the duration that each of the daggers remains in the target by three seconds
- None Left Standing: While aiming with the Kpinga Daggers, mark up to two targets with the reticle to select which enemies the daggers seek out and hit
- Ear Ringing: Increase the Stun damage from Kinetic Daggers by 15 percent
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Ranged Upgrade:
- Panther's Challenge: Increase the critical attack damage dealt from all daggers by ten percent
- Ph.D. In Physics: Increase the impact on the Ranged Combo Finisher, increasing the chance that it will interrupt enemies
- Oxford Graduate: Increase the Stun damage of all ranged weak point attacks by ten percent
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Intrinsic Upgrade:
- Early Years: Reduce the cost of all Intrinsic Attacks by 15 percent
- Kinetic Armor: Reduce the amount of damage taken from attacks based on the amount of intrinsic energy stored, up to a maximum of ten percent
- Kinetic Absorption: Build up a small amount of intrinsic energy on each successful Melee Attack
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Intrinsic Upgrade:
- Kinetic Damage: Increase the damage of all Intrinsic Attacks by ten percent
- Eternal Drum: Increase the amount of intrinsic energy gained when Blocking or Parrying attacks by 20 percent
- Last Panther Standing: Increase the base intrinsic energy threshold by five percent, allowing the suit to automatically generate more energy when it is low
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Intrinsic Upgrade:
- Stunning Burst: Increase the Stun damage dealt from all Light Intrinsic Attacks by 15 percent
- Speed Of Sound: Increase the damage dealt by all Heavy Intrinsic Attacks by ten percent
- Enemy Ferocity: Increase the damage inflicted to the enemy when Parrying an attack by 15 percent
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Intrinsic Overcharge Upgrade:
- Vibranium Taunt: Increase the range of the kinetic burst by 20 percent and Taunt all enemies it hits
- Danger On The Wind: Increase the damage of kinetic burst from Percussive Blast by 15 percent
- Wakandan Style: Increase the Stun damage of the kinetic burst by 20 percent
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Intrinsic Overcharge Upgrade:
- Cool Vibrations: Increase the critical attack chance by ten percent and critical attack damage by ten percent during the Overcharge buff
- Long Live The King: Increase the amount of Willpower recovered when triggering the Overcharge buff by ten percent; requires Ptah's Push to be effective
- Percussive Surge: Restore five percent intrinsic energy when defeating an enemy while the Overcharge buff is active
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Intrinsic Overcharge Upgrade:
- Vibranium Mastery: Defeating an enemy while the Overcharge buff is active has a 20 percent chance to drop an Intrinsic Orb
- A Nation's Hero: Defeating an enemy while the Overcharge buff is active has a ten percent chance to drop a Heroic Orb
- Nine Lives: Defeating an enemy while the Overcharge buff is active has a 20 percent chance to drop a Regen Pack
Because of his high-powered kinetic abilities, Black Panther excels in close combat. Focus on equipping gear that increases his Might especially, but also Valor if you choose Ancestral Memory for his second specialization for Bast's Chosen. It's also important to focus on his Heroic rating with his Intensity to increase his ability to apply Stun damage to enemies.
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